My Epic Life Quest

When I was in high school, I only had two goals: own a 28′ sailboat by the time I was 28, and own a 45′ sailboat by the time I was 45.

When I was about 30, I discovered the Getting Things Done framework, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’d started to understand more about myself, and I needed the inspiration to take a step back and see my life as a long-term project. GTD made a world of difference in how I shaped myself and my goals.

When I was 34, Jeremiah Peschka pointed me to Steve Kamb’s Epic Quest at NerdFitness.com, I knew what I had to do: build my own! I’ve always had a bucket list, but Steve turns that into a giant game. Desires turn into goals, goals turn into levels.

How It Works

Life is like a huge role-playing game: you have choices to make every single day, and any choice can lead to fun outcomes. The sum of your experiences, no matter which choice you make, can lead to you leveling up – being a better person.

Like Steve, I’ve set up my list of future achievements. Whenever I knock out five of them, I hit the next level. Join me and let’s see how things go, and I hope I can help inspire you to take your life to the next level, too.

Level 2 Quests In Progress Now

Running the Portland Half Marathon

Here’s what I’m working on now. If you can help out with these – even if it’s just by motivating me to get ‘er done – please let me know by emailing me at BrentO@BrentOzar.com. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate your support.

Hire our first employee at Brent Ozar PLF – Completed 2012 – I’m paranoid. I didn’t want to hire anyone until I could be absolutely, positively sure we wouldn’t have to lay them off for the next several years. I want our employees to be as comfortable with our company’s success as they are with technology. This is going to be a huge gut check when it happens, and it’s gotta happen if we’re going to scale this thing.
Run my second half-marathon – Planned for 2012 – when I finished the first one, I said out loud, “No way am I ever doing this again.” Now, though, I think I can, I should, and I will. From here on out, I’ll be adding a new one every year. In 2012, it’s the Seattle Half-Marathon with Yanni Robel.
See the red light district and the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam – Planned for 2012 – I’m attending TechEd Europe in Amsterdam in June. Yes, there’s more to Amsterdam than Anne Frank and hookers, and I’ll see much more, but those are two things I’d love to see.
Attend high performance driving training – I suck at driving fast, even in video games. I’m not one of those guys who goes fast on public roads, but I’d love to have the confidence to attack a track and not feel like Hellen Keller at the wheel. I need to knock this one down in 2012 so that I can register for the 24 Hours of Lemons in 2013.
Take my sister Emily on a cruise – I’ve already done this with Mom, Dad, and Caryl (my stepmom), and I’m really, really looking forward to doing this with Em. I’m hoping to do this in the winter.

Level 1 (Done Before 2012)

Sailing the Chicago-Mac Race

Here’s some of the things I’m most proud of up til I started keeping track on January 1, 2012. I giggle when I think of this as Level 1, because I’ve achieved so many tasks that I really cherish, but I gotta start counting somewhere.