My3Goals Blog

I recently saw in a commercial that the average person had 25 friends in 1980. Today, the average person has over 200. 200 friends! There is just no way that anyone can be close with 200 people. 200 acquaintances, perhaps, or 200 friends-but-we-don’t-know-anything-about-each-other. It’s a lot of effort to stay in touch with that many people, and I feel like many relationships suffer the consequences of people spreading themselves to thin.

So how do you keep your friendships strong? How do you make sure that you stay close with those 25 people from 1980? It can be especially hard as people grow and change and chase their dreams in a different direction from where you’re going. One thing I’ve found that really helps is Facebook, which is ironic because it seems like Facebook is also the culprit of this upswing in friend-count. But Facebook has wonderful features that can help you keep in touch with your friends who might be far away. I studied abroad for a few months last year and when I got back, all of my new friends lived all across the United States, so what we did was create a message thread on Facebook that we could all read and contribute to. A year later and we’re still all catching up on the thread – in fact, three of my friends will be visiting me this week!

When I feel like I’m drifting away from my friends who live nearby, I generally don’t turn to Facebook; this is the occasion when you need to make that extra bit of effort. I know you’re busy, and your friend is busy, and you both have lots of other busy friends, but make time. You need to eat lunch anyway, so why not meet up with a friend? Or go out to see a local theater performance together instead of watching reruns on TV by yourself. Or call up your friend to go shop at a local flea market or vintage store instead of online shopping at home. Or meet your friend and hit a bucket of balls at the driving range instead of watching ten hours of the US Open at home. Or…anything! Just make the effort, think of something new and fun that you can do together. Show your friend just how important they are to you.

It’s a wonderful thing to have a lot of friends, but it can put stress on the friendships that mean the most to you. Make sure you identify who those people are, and do everything you can to take care of those relationships.

All the best,
Margo Winton
My3Goals Blog Manager

Sometimes I feel like Mother’s and Father’s Day can be a little underappreciated. They certainly come at a busy time of year, with kids starting summer vacation, graduations, parties, barbeques and all sorts of other distractions. When I was younger I didn’t really take the time to make these days too special for my parents, but now I’ve come to realize how wonderful it is to really celebrate your parents and all that they do for you because there is a whole lot of unappreciated, behind-the-scenes work that Mom and Dad do for us as we grow up, and the least we can do is take a day to thank them for it.

My family generally doesn’t do a whole lot on Mother’s and Father’s Day, but we do make an effort to be together. Spending time with your parents is very likely the best gift you can give them, and the thing they want most – show up on their doorstep with a big bow on your head and see if I’m wrong. Family dynamics are often completely different from one family to the next, but love is pretty much universal. Perhaps we all express it differently, but it’s there. And giving up your time to be together is a wonderful, wonderful gift.

Another thing I love about Mother’s and Father’s Day is that you can reinterpret what they mean a little bit to make the day special for a wider range of people. Send your mother-in-law a bouquet of flowers. Write your grandfather a letter telling him how he’s been a guiding light in your life. Give your favorite teacher a card thanking them for being your mentor. Take the day to thank the all mother- and father-figures in your life for helping you along. Sometimes we don’t tell the people closest to us how much they mean to us, which is unfortunate because they’re the people we should be telling the most. Take this time to tell your loved ones not only that you love them, but why you love them. And spend the day celebrating them.

All the Best,
Margo Winton
My3Goals Blog Manager

I consider myself to be a very fortunate person. I have experienced a lot of wonderful things in my lifetime, one of them being that I have been able to live in San Diego for the past four years and enjoy all of the fantastic things that this part of the country has to offer. But I have to admit that I haven’t taken full advantage of my time here; you might even say that I took it for granted. Sure, I went to the beach a lot and I went on adventures with my roommates here and there, but I don’t think I really pushed myself to get everything I could out of San Diego. I never even made it to the San Diego Zoo – although I did check out Sea World!

One thing that I wish I had done was to realize that my time here was limited, because I knew that I would be moving back to the Bay Area at the end of my college career. I feel like there is a lot of San Diego that I didn’t get the chance to experience, and I have no one to blame but myself. I guess I kept thinking to myself that there would be more time later, that I could go explore on another weekend. But now I’m out of weekends, and there is still a lot left unexplored.

The only way I can think to remedy this is not to make the same mistake when I move home. The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most wonderful places to live in the world (hometown bias!) and there is so much to do and see. I don’t want to let it get away from me like San Diego did just because I think “I can do that later.” NO! Do it now! Grab a friend and head out of the house, and do something! You’ll always regret the things you didn’t do more then the things you did.

So whether you just moved to a new city or you’ve lived in the same place your entire life, whether you love your home or you think it’s terribly dull, give it a chance. Look up your city’s tourism board online, join your local Groupon.com, make a Bucket List, do whatever you need to do to get some ideas for fun things to do in your hometown, and go do them! And if that doesn’t do it for you, take a look at My3Goals and find a goal that suits your interests, and then go find a way to make that goal an achievement. Take advantage of what you have at doorstep. And have fun!

All the Best,

Margo Winton

My3Goals Blog Manager

I came across this website a few weeks ago and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. As a recent college graduate, I’m at a point in my life where I’m very lucky to be able to look around and take the time to start figuring out what I want. And honestly, what I want right now more then anything is to really enjoy my life. I want to work hard and accomplish great things, but I want to enjoy it, too. So a website titled “The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun” is hard to pass up, and for good reason; the advice it offers is exactly the sort of validation that I’m looking for at the moment. The encouragement and support to have fun. The great thing about it, though, is that you don’t need to be a 22-year-old without a life plan to take advantage of the lessons this website offers. You just have to be open to it’s ideas. You have to be willing to take the initiative, and recognize that you want a bit of a change in your life. If you’re already having fun, major kudos to you! If you’re not, then take a look. See if it works for you – I promise that video is much more interesting then the rules simply laid out in print below, so consider this just a little teaser…

1 Get focused – stop hiding who you really are.
2 Get focused – start being intensely selfish.
3 Be creative – stop following the rules.
4 Be creative – start scaring yourself.
5 Use your wisdom – stop taking it all so damn seriously.
6 Use your wisdom – start getting rid of the crap.
7 Take action – stop being busy.
8 Take action – start something.

Looking for more? Pop on over to My3Goals to find some more encouragement. What you’ll also find is a community of like-minded people offering support for you to follow your dreams and help for you to get the best you can out of life. Good luck, and see you there!

All the best,
Margo Winton
My3Goals Blog Manager