The milestones I thought mattered

The milestones I felt strongest and proudest about at the time had little effect on my real life.

When I finished school, I was the first in my family to attend college and the first to complete it. At the time, I felt it was a huge milestone and I was so proud. I still believe the lessons I learned there helped me hone my research capability and disseminate info. However, college did not open any new career doors for me or change my earning power one way or another.

The milestone that really changed things for me was buying inexpensive real estate, living there while fixing it up and reselling a few years later. Not only has this supported me financially through the difficulties of the pandemic, I've also been able to add sustainable features into the community. I've planted food bearing trees when moving in, and added solar panels or insulating properties. This has also given me wiggle room to play around with stocks.

If I had one thing I wish I had done more of, I would have added more fruit bearing trees, especially in light of recent food crises. This is my goal for the upcoming year... I want to plant at least 10 food bearing trees this year. I'm hoping this will guard against inflation and food scarcity.

The other thing I was surprised by was feeling more pride in volunteer experiences than for career related ones. As a child, I dreamed of a cool, fun job... And while my definition of cool and fun has changed over time, I can directly see the positive value and impact I've added through volunteering.