A couple of years ago, I came across an article about a gentleman named John Goddard. I was extremely impressed by this man's life and with his philosophy of life. There have been many articles written about him from Life Magazine to Reader's Digest, and currently Mr. Goddard has been featured in over 200 T.V. shows.
John Goddard, at the age of 15, sat down and created a list of 127 goals for his life. His life from that day forward, has been an amazing lifelong quest in achieving each and every one of them. The goals that John Goddard set for himself were not small and meager goals, by any means. His life's journey has included "retracing Marco Polo's route through the Middle East, Asia and China", "reading the Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover", "climbing Mt. Everest", "explore the longest river in the world"--just to name a couple.
John's foremost goal was to explore the Nile River, the world's longest at 4,220 miles. He felt that the Nile was very important, especially due to its influence on the development of civilization for thousands of years. John Goddard became the first man to explore the total length of the Nile River and he did it on a kayak! During his journey on the Nile he met with thunderstorms, crocodiles, raging rapids and even water pirates. John Goddard successfully overcame each challenge he faced and completed one of his 127 life goals--exploring the Nile River.
John Goddard created his list of life goals in 1940, as a young man of 15. Throughout his life, he refused to give up and consistently strove to achieve all those 127 goals that he had listed. When at the age of 70 he was asked about age, Goddard replied, "age is only important in terms of wine and cheese...The man who taught me to hang glide was 76 at the time". I have often asked myself how long I will be able to continue working, being active and achieving the goals I have set for my life. How will I know when I should stop or if I should? John Goddard did not allow age to hold him back, he just kept charging forward.
I read about Ulrich Inderbinen, who died at the age of 103, and was the world's oldest mountain guide. Ulrich had been a lifelong resident of Zermett, which can be found in the shadow of the Matterhorn. He first began guiding in his 20's, for climbers and later for skiers. It was during the 1930's that Ulrich built his own home and for 70 years did without a car or a telephone. He served on Swiss Ski Patrols during World War II and when necessity required he labored as a carpenter, electrician and lumberjack. He was later able to support his family solely on being a guide. When Ulrich's time came, he left his life's work much the way he had climbed...one step at a time. Ulrich made his last climb shortly before his 90th birthday, the last of over 370 climbs up the Matterhorn. He later gave up guiding skiers at age 95, and mountain guiding at age 97. It is reported that he quit guiding when he realized "that he had taken 10 minutes longer than it should have" to descend a 13,600ft peak near his home. Ulrich lived for another 6 years afterwards.
John Goddard and Ulrich Inderbien both demonstrate that age is only a number. I'm sure each of these gentlemen would tell us to "wear out...not rust out", keep pressing on and never give up.
I'm including the list of goals that John Goddard created at age 15, so that you can see how "great" these goals truly are. The ones that have been completed are identified. Until next time...may the life of John Goddard encourage us---to be goal setters and "goal achievers".
John Goddard's "Life List"EXPLORE | |||
| No. | Achieved | Goals | Comments |
| 1 | | Nile River | |
| 2 | | Amazon River | |
| 3 | | Congo River | |
| 4 | | Colorado River | |
| 5 | | Yangtze River, China | |
| 6 | | Niger River | |
| 7 | | Orinoco River, Venezuela | |
| 8 | | Rio Coco, Nicaragua | |
| | | | |
| STUDY PRIMITIVE | |||
| 9 | | The Congo | |
| 10 | | New Guinea | |
| 11 | | Brazil | |
| 12 | | Borneo | |
| 13 | | The Sudan | |
| 14 | | Australia | |
| 15 | | Kenya | |
| 16 | | The Philippines | |
| 17 | | Tanzania | |
| 18 | | Ethiopia | |
| 19 | | Nigeria | |
| 20 | | Alaska | |
| | | | |
| CLIMB | |||
| 21 | | Mt. Everest | |
| 22 | | Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina | |
| 23 | | Mt. McKinley | |
| 24 | | Mt. Huascaran, Peru | |
| 25 | | Mt. Kilimanjaro | |
| 26 | | Mt. Ararat, Turkey | |
| 27 | | Mt. Kenya | |
| 28 | | Mt. Cook, New Zealand | |
| 29 | | Mt. Popocatepetl, Mexico | |
| 30 | | The Matterhorn | |
| 31 | | Mt. Rainier | |
| 32 | | Mt. Fuji | |
| 33 | | Mt. Vesuvius | |
| 34 | | Mt. Bromo, Java | |
| 35 | | Grand Tetons | |
| 36 | | Mt. Baldy, California | |
| 37 | | Carry out careers in medicine and exploration | (studied premed, treats illnesses among primitive tribes) |
| 38 | | Visit every country in the world | (30 to go) |
| 39 | | Study Navaho and Hopi Indians | |
| 40 | | Learn to fly a plane | |
| 41 | | Ride horse in Rose Parade | |
| | | | |
| PHOTOGRAPH | |||
| 42 | | Iguacu Falls, Brazil | |
| 43 | | Victoria Falls, Rhodesia | (Chased by a warthog in the process) |
| 44 | | Sutherland Falls, New Zealand | |
| 45 | | Yosemite Falls | |
| 46 | | Niagara Falls | |
| 47 | | Retrace travels of Marco Polo and Alexander the Great | |
| | | | |
| EXPLORE UNDERWATER | |||
| 48 | | Coral reefs of Florida | |
| 49 | | Great Barrier Reef, Australia | (photographed a 300-pound clam) |
| 50 | | Red Sea | |
| 51 | | Fiji Islands | |
| 52 | | The Bahamas | |
| 53 | | Explore Okefenokee Swamp and the Everglades | |
| | | | |
| VISIT | |||
| 54 | | North and South Poles | |
| 55 | | Great Wall of China | |
| 56 | | Panama and Suez Canals | |
| 57 | | Easter Island | |
| 58 | | The Galapagos Islands | |
| 59 | | Vatican City | |
| 60 | | The Taj Mahal | |
| 61 | | The Eiffel Tower | |
| 62 | | The Blue Grotto | |
| 63 | | The Tower of London | |
| 64 | | The Leaning Tower of Pisa | |
| 65 | | The Sacred Well of Chichen-Itza, Mexico | |
| 66 | | Climb Ayers Rock in Australia | |
| 67 | | Follow River Jordan from Sea of Galilee to Dead Sea | |
| | | | |
| SWIM IN | |||
| 68 | | Lake Victoria | |
| 69 | | Lake Superior | |
| 70 | | Lake Tanganyika | |
| 71 | | Lake Titicaca, S. America | |
| 72 | | Lake Nicaragua | |
| | | | |
| ACCOMPLISH | |||
| 73 | | Become an Eagle Scout | |
| 74 | | Dive in a submarine | |
| 75 | | Land on and take off from an aircraft carrier | |
| 76 | | Fly in a blimp, balloon and glider | |
| 77 | | Ride an elephant, camel, ostrich and bronco | |
| 78 | | Skin dive to 40 feet and hold breath two and a half minutes underwater | |
| 79 | | Catch a ten-pound lobster and a ten-inch abalone | |
| 80 | | Play flute and violin | |
| 81 | | Type 50 words a minute | |
| 82 | | Make a parachute jump | |
| 83 | | Learn water and snow skiing | |
| 84 | | Go on a church mission | |
| 85 | | Follow the John Muir trail | |
| 86 | | Study native medicines and bring back useful ones | |
| 87 | | Bag camera trophies of elephant, lion, rhino, cheetah, cape buffalo and whale | |
| 88 | | Learn to fence | |
| 89 | | Learn jujitsu | |
| 90 | | Teach a college course | |
| 91 | | Watch a cremation ceremony in Bali | |
| 92 | | Explore depths of the sea | |
| 93 | | Appear in a Tarzan movie | |
| 94 | | Own a horse, chimpanzee, cheetah, ocelot, and coyote | (yet to own a chimp or cheetah) |
| 95 | | Become a ham radio operator | |
| 96 | | Build own telescope | |
| 97 | | Write a book | (About his Nile trip) |
| 98 | | Publish an article in National Geographic Magazine | |
| 99 | | High jump five feet | |
| 100 | | Broad jump 15 feet | |
| 101 | | Run mile in five minutes | |
| 102 | | Weigh 175 pounds stripped | (he still does) |
| 103 | | Perform 200 sit-ups and 20 pull-ups | |
| 104 | | Learn French, Spanish and Arabic | |
| 105 | | Study dragon lizards on Komodo Island | (Boat broke down within 20 miles of island) |
| 106 | | Visit birthplace of Grandfather Sorenson in Denmark | |
| 107 | | Visit birthplace of Grandfather Goddard in England | |
| 108 | | Ship aboard a freighter as a seaman | |
| 109 | | Read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica | (Has read extensive parts in each volume) |
| 110 | | Read the Bible from cover to cover | |
| 111 | | Read the works of Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Dickens, Thoreau, Rousseau, Conrad, Hemingway, Twain, Burroughs, Talmage, Tolstoi, Longfellow, Keats, Poe, Bacon, Whittier, and Emerson | (not every work of each) |
| 112 | | Become familiar with the compositions of Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Ibert, Mendelssohn, Lalo, Liszt, Rimski-Korsakov, Respighi, Rachmaninoff, Paganini, Stravinsky, Toch, Tschaikosvsky, Verdi | |
| 113 | | Become proficient in the use of a plane, motorcycle, tractor, surfboard, rifle, pistol, canoe, microscope, football, basketball, bow and arrow, lariat and boomerang | |
| 114 | | Compose music | |
| 115 | | Play Clair de Lune on the piano | |
| 116 | | Watch fire-walking ceremony | (In Bali and Surinam) |
| 117 | | Milk a poisonous snake | (bitten by diamondback during photo session) |
| 118 | | Light a match with .22 rifle | |
| 119 | | Visit a movie studio | |
| 120 | | Climb Cheops' pyramid | |
| 121 | | Become a member of the Explorer's Club and the Adventure's Club | |
| 122 | | Learn to play polo | |
| 123 | | Travel through the Grand Canyon on foot and by boat | |
| 124 | | Circumnavigate the globe | (four times) |
| 125 | | Visit the moon | ("Someday, if God wills") |
| 126 | | Marry and have children | (has six children) |
| 127 | | Live to see the 21st century | |
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