Life Goals
- Alexandra Partell
- Sep 12, 2023
- 4 min read
You can also find Life Goals as a Youtube video and a Podcast.

I hate the question 'So what do you want to do?'. We have been fielding that question since we were in our mid teens...when we had to ultimately decide the rest of our life track by choosing higher education courses or trades.
Which is a bit ridiculous - because what I wanted to do when I was 15 (be the Prime Minister of Australia) versus what I want to do now (Have a Ted Talk and write a book) means that I have changed my mind about my goals over and over again. And changed career tracks many times.
I have also come to the heavy realization that my goals and what I want to do with my life is considerably different to others in my age group. I am now in my 30s and I don't crave a family structure or want to own a property and settle down. I have never wanted children, nor do I have a maternal bone in my body for them. And all of that has come with some heavy judgement - but not from friends or family (to my face anyway) but from greater society, on the internet or people I don't know well.
Last year in December, I quit my job to follow my dream. I want to have a Ted Talk and write a book. I am going back to study in a months time - some postgraduate studies in psychology. I am interested in people and creating a better world for women who feel they don't have much choice when it comes to their lives. I want to create safe online spaces for young people who grow up feeling alone and I want to ensure that the uncomfortable conversations are being had.
It is never too late or too early to move out of your comfort zone and start doing something you want to do, start something impactful. If you have the means and the drive, you will create magic. I worked in tech for many years - and it ate my life away. I had a stable 9-5 role which was expected globally so it was more of a 24/7 thing and I hated it for myself because you lose your sense of self in something like that. Plus I was working towards somebody else's dream, not my own. And I didn't find my work particularly impactful, nor the company I was dedicating most of my life to.
If you think you need more knowledge, start utilizing the free resources around you or if you have access, go and study something you want to.
And if you are reading this and thinking, 'it's too late'. You are wrong. Most success stories, especially the big ones, Oprah, Eric Yuan (Zoom creator), Laverne Cox, Vera Wang, Martha Stewart - they all begun in their 40s. But if you are in your 20s now, and you have a budding idea, go and do it. Because even if you fail, it'll be much easier than looking back and wishing you took the leap.
As a woman, you will come up against systems in place that will tell you that your dream is not valid. That if you are aged 25 and over, you don't get to do what you want anymore because the societal expectation is that you settle down and have a family. And if you want to do that, do it - we aren't fighting that here, we are fighting for the accepted choice that there women out there who don't want that. And could lead their own lives without the ridicule of the patriarchy.
So it might take guts and it might take time but the longer you stay in the place that you are, the longer you are making that CHOICE. Because every single day that you don't make a move towards what you want, you are choosing to stay where you are.
Find a book club, go on LinkedIn and DM people who are where you want to be, find likeminded people who want to take steps to becoming a better version of themselves, read books, listen to podcasts from the industry you want to be in. Find friends that are willing to give you constructive criticism on your journey and learn not to take it personally, be willing to put yourself out in the business world to find yourself a mentor and have your goals somewhere visible so that your subconscious can see what you are working towards. Every single one of these small things counts as a step towards change.
Our society still very much smiles upon a nuclear family unit. Two parents, two jobs, a house and children. And those goals are both acceptable and hard to attain as well. What I need you to understand is that its more than okay to want more, or want different. Accept yourself as the disruptor.
If you ask any tech giant's founders, any successful business owners, authors, comedians etc - they will tell you that the only way to make sure you reach where you want to go, is to disrupt the industry, rock the boat and learn to take feedback seriously only when it comes from people that are actually in the ring with you.
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