Last week marked the beginning of a new year and a new decade. In the first 24 hours of 2010 the usual torrent of text messages came from virtually everybody in my phone book. One of them referred to the next ten years as “the teenies”, in the same vein as the twenties and thirties.
I want to begin 2010 the same way I begin every year: with a manifesto; a wish list, a list of action items and ambitions, and this year I’m going to post that manifesto on my blog (because now I have a blog. Last year, I did not).
Recent years have required me to do things that were not really me so I want 2010 to be all about reclaiming myself and my life. Getting back in contact with childhood dreams and being true to myself. And as hairy-fairy as some of that sounds, I believe it is true that to be truly happy, you have to be the person that you would be if there was nobody else to judge you for it.
So, here we go, in priority order…
#1. Date somebody seriously
I’ve achieved a fair bit in my life. I started my first business at 19, have got a Masters Degree and have done a few things that most people my age haven’t even thought about yet. But one thing I haven’t done is had a serious relationship. And it’s something I think it’s about time I did. I am, I must regretably admit (and it’s a pretty difficult thing for a 24 year old to say out loud), one of those hopelessly eternally single people who are not only “on the shelf” but have been there for so long that it has become a strange kind of comfortable. This year, I hope to put a stop to this.
#2. Generate a major part of my income online
This one is fairly close to fruition. There is no reason to believe that with continued effort this will not come true by the end of the year. I have several online assetts that can together be used to generate enough money to support me. As the income I generate online increases, I will slowly reduce the hours of day job that I do. The aim is that by the end of 2010, I will no longer need to do my day job at all. But we’ll see how it goes.
#3. Make (Or Begin Making) A Movie
Movies, especially feature films, can take years to make – and even those that don’t take years to make usually take years to write – so I’m not banking on completing anything this year but it would be nice to make a start. This is something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember. And I’m already due to attend a film-making course in London in February. After that, I’ll probably have more of an idea of how to proceed with this one.
#4. Start doing magic again
I noticed that on this blog I’ve branded myself as an illusionist. And I am one. I guess I’ve just been “non-practising” like a Christian who doesn’t attend church. Well, practising is much more fun so it is time I started again, whether professionally or just for fun. I need to start doing magic tricks again.
#5. Write a book
There are a couple of ideas for books in me – both sort of self help/how to/autobiographical – I’m just unsure whether I’m ready to write the book yet. Either way, I would really like to become an author; better yet, a best selling author.
#6. Build a public profile
In other words – get famous. This will be an interesting experiment. Will it really be that difficult to get known? If I do succeed in creating some degree of known-ness, this can then be leveraged to create wealth. This would be a way to make large amounts of cash without really doing very much.
#7. Start a charity
According to the last few personality tests I did, I have a fairly large social conscience, which is probably why I want to start a charity. I want to fund scientific research into causes that will help humanity, save the planet and human lives. This will probably happen in the second half of 2010.
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Of course, my trials and tribulations, successes and failures will all be richly documented on my blog as they happen (or shortly after). I’m quite excited to get started!
Until next time,
Jake Mogul
