When he was fifteen, he overheard his grandmother saying, "If I had done that when I was young....". Determined not to make that statement at end of his life, the inspired teenager sat down at the kitchen table in Los Angeles one rainy afternoon and wrote three words at the top of a yellow pad, "My life's list." Under that heading he wrote down 127 goals for his life.

He named 10 rivers he wanted to explore and seventeen mountains he wanted to climb. He set goals of becoming an Eagle Scout, a world traveler, a pilot. Also on his list was: ride a horse in the rose bowl parade, dive a submarine, retrace the travel of Marco Polo, read the Bible from cover to cover, read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.

He also planned to read the entire works of shakespeare, Plato. Dickens, Socrates, and several other classic authors. He desired to learn to play the flute and violin, marry, have children (he had five), pursue a career in medicine and serve as a missionary for the church. John Goddard completed 108 out of 127 at the age of forty-seven.

Culled from the book "How to fire your boss" by Uju Onyechere.