Ten years ago my answer to this question was to find a better paying job and then eventually to get married and have a family. These did not seem like unreasonable goals, I thought. So I asked myself what I needed to do to get where I wanted to go. Achieving these goals would take some planning, patience, and persistence. And maybe even a little luck.

I concluded that my current skill set was not very marketable. I had some skills, but they just were not of much use in the job market.

In college I majored in PPE. Anyone know what that stands for? Something like pre-physical education maybe? No, it was philosophy, politics, and economics. It was interesting, but not very useful. I also had a law degree – which was not much better.

I did some research into other kinds of work that I might be able to do and that I could learn relatively quickly. I decided to go back to school and study computer science. I did that, and after I finished my studies I was hired as a software engineer here in the Valley. That was five years ago.

Not long after that, I met my future wife Julia. She was working as an economist at American Express. After dating a while we fell in love and got married. We now have a fifteen-month old baby boy, named Alex.

By the way, I tried my speech out on Alex for practice. He cried through the whole speech. Then when it was over, he got up and delivered his own speech in baby talk. He had a boisterous voice and waved his arms as if he were lecturing. He saw me giving a speech, so he wanted to give one too, even though he does not know any words.

So ten years later, how would I answer the question “What do you want out of life?” Your answer to this question changes over time. It depends in part on your age and your circumstances. So it’s a question you need to re-ask yourself periodically. Now I would answer the question by saying I’d like a work/life balance. Work is part of that. Family is part of it. A third part of it is staying healthy, which includes getting plenty of exercise.

I heard some one say once “Whenever I have the urge to exercise, I sit down until it goes away.” I feel like that too sometimes. Seriously, exercise is good for your health. It is a good way to relieve stress, anxiety, and cognitive dissonance. Also, I need to be in shape to keep up with our baby. For exercise I do yoga, jog in the park, and work out at the gym.

When I analyze what my life consists of right now, it boils down to work, family, and exercise. That is not necessarily all that I want out of life, but it is about all I have time for at the moment.

How does the question of what do you want out of life tie in to Toastmasters? The answer is simple - improving your communication skills will improve the quality of your life. Every day we interact with other people in a variety of settings, such as at meetings at work, while picking up a child at day care, or when working out at a gym. The speaking, thinking, and listening skills taught at Toastmasters are useful both at work and in everyday life.

I’m glad to have the opportunity to be a member of Toastmasters. I’ve learned a lot already from going to meetings and listening to many excellent speeches, table topics presentations, and evaluations. I’m looking forward to future Toastmasters meetings and speaking opportunities.