The List of a Visionary

I have written often of the importance of vision in the life of leadership. The Bucket List is a movie about two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward a vision of completing a wish list of to-dos before they die. But, John Goddard (pictured to the left), a real-live individual who stands at the top of my list of forward thinking visionaries. He composed his bucket-list at age 15. One rainy afternoon in 1940, he sat down at his kitchen table with a yellow legal pad. He decided to make a list of life goals – he ended up listing 127 specific goals to accomplish in life. Many of the targets were not simple or easy goals. They included climbing the world's major mountains, exploring the longest rivers of the world, flying the world's fastest aircraft, and reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. Now, over seven decades later, he has fulfilled 109 of these quests.

According to his personal website,(http://www.johngoddard.info/), Goddard was “the first man in history to explore the entire length of the world's longest river, the Nile, in a 4,160 mile expedition which the L. A. Times called 'the most amazing adventure of this generation.'" He also became the first man to explore the entire length of the Congo. John climbed the Matterhorn in a raging blizzard; established numerous records as a civilian jet pilot; visited 120 countries, and studied 260 primitive tribes; Goddard has been bitten by a rattlesnake, almost drowned twice in running rapids, charged by an elephant, experienced several earthquakes and was trapped in quicksand.

John graduated from the University of Southern California with a majors in anthropology and psychology. He has researched obscure cultures and learned many global languages. He currently lives in California with his wife and two of his five children. Goddard used his list not as motivation to seek frivolous thrills, but rather to pursue experiences that would achieve a worthwhile end.

Just to give you a quick look at some of the items, I will provide an abbreviated list. For a complete list of his goals check out his website.

On the following list, a check mark indicate a successful completion and an “x” marks a failure to finish the task (so far!) John wanted to explore, so his list is filled with places to explore:

EXPLORE:

Nile River(√) Amazon River (√) Congo River (√)


Colorado River (√) Yangtze River, China (x) Niger River (x)


Orinoco River, Venezuela (x) Rio Coco, Nicaragua (√)

STUDY PRIMITIVE CULTURES IN:

The Congo (√) New Guinea (√) Brazil (√) Borneo (x)

The Sudan (√) Australia (√) Kenya (√) The Philippines (√)


Tanganyika (√) Ethiopia (√) Nigeria (√) Alaska (√)

CLIMB:

Mt. Everest (x) Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina (x) Mt. McKinley (x)

Mt. Hauscaran, Peru (√) Mt. Kilimanjaro (√) Mt. Ararat, Turkey (√)

Mt. Kenya (√) Mt. Cook, New Zealand (x) Mt. Popocatepetl, Mexico (√)

The Matterhorn (√) Mt. Rainier (√) Mt. Fuji (√)

Mt. Vesuvius (√) Mt. Bromo, Java (√) Grand Tetons (√)

PHOTOGRAPH

Iguacu Falls, Brazil (√) Victoria Falls, Rhodesia (√) Sutherland Falls, New Zealand (√)


Yosemite Falls (√) Niagara Falls (√)


Retrace travels of Marco Polo and Alexander the Great (√)

EXPLORE UNDERWATER:

Coral reefs of Florida (√) Great Barrier Reef, Australia (√) Red Sea (√)

Fiji Islands (√) The Bahamas (√)

VISIT:

North and South Poles (x) Great Wall of China (√) Panama and Suez Canals (√)

Easter Island (√) The Galapagos Islands (√) Vatican City (saw the Pope) (√)

The Taj Mahal (√) The Eiffel Tower (√) The Blue Grotto (√)

The Tower of London (√) The Leaning Tower of Pisa (√)

Climb Ayers Rock in Australia (√) Follow River Jordan from Sea of Galilee to Dead Sea (x)

SWIM IN:

Lake Victoria (√) Lake Superior (√) Lake Tanganyika (√)

Lake Titicaca, S. America (√) Lake Nicaragua (√)

ACCOMPLISH:

Become an Eagle Scout (√) Dive in a submarine (√)

Land on and take of from an aircraft carrier (√) Fly in a blimp, balloon and glider(√)

Ride an elephant, camel, ostrich and bronco (√) Skin dive to 40 feet (√)

Catch a ten-pound lobster (√) Play flute and violin (√)

Type 50 words a minute (√) Make a parachute jump (√)

Learn water and snow skiing (√) Go on a church mission (√)

Become a ham radio operator (x) Build own telescope (√)

Write a book (On Nile trip) (√) High jump five feet (√)

Broad jump 15 feet (√) Run mile in five minutes (√)

Perform 200 sit-ups and 20 pull-ups (√) Learn to fence (√)

Teach a college course (√) Watch a cremation ceremony in Bali (√)

Read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica (x) Read the Bible from cover to cover (√)

Explore depths of the sea (√) Appear in a Tarzan movie (x)

Own a horse, chimpanzee, cheetah, ocelot, and coyote (yet to own a chimp or cheetah) (x)

Bag camera trophies of elephant, lion, rhino, cheetah, buffalo and whale (√)

Visit birthplace of Grandfather Sorenson in Denmark (√)

Visit birthplace of Grandfather Goddard in England (√)

Study dragon lizards on Komodo Island (Boat broke down within 20 miles of island) (x)

Compose music (√) Play Clair de Lune on the piano (√)

Light a match with .22 rifle (√) Visit a movie studio (√)

Climb Cheops’ pyramid (√) Learn to play polo (√)

Circumnavigate the globe (four times) (√) Visit the moon (“Someday, if God wills”) (x)

Marry and have children (√) Live to see the 21st century (√)

Travel through the Grand Canyon on foot and by boat (√)

Milk a poisonous snake (bitten by diamondback during photo session) (√)

What an amazing list and what an incredible number of accomplishments in this man's life!

John has written a couple of books. One is Kayaks down the Nile. I have reserved it at the library and will give you a review when I finish reading of his adventures.

Photo of John found on his website www.johngoddard.info/