web-portfolio/articles/goalstooearly.md
Cayden Schwechten 20aa7fbfd8 Squirt.
2026-08-04 21:39:39 -05:00

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---
title: "Achieving your dreams: what next?"
category: "personal"
date: "04-08-2026"
---
# I achieved most of my dream goals much earlier than I expected. Now what?
I'm in a pickle mentally; this is a situation in which I was never truly expecting to get to where I am at currently.
I would like to preface with the fact that I have always put my best foot forward. Image is incredibly important to me,
but work is paramount; if you are unable to hold up both to the best of your ability, I believe one will fail.
## Past In Leadership
I started at a young age in Cub Scouts, before quickly climbing the ranks and moving on to Boy Scouts. I quickly became
the troop's Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (ASPL), and I took on additional responsibilities such as leading troop
meetings, organizing campouts, miscellaneous administrative tasks, and teaching my fellow scouts valuable safety and
personal life skills.
Past my scouting life, I have dedicated multiple years of my life to building safe-space communities for all on
platforms such as Discord and in real life, even creating and leading the Southern US's largest interest-based community.
## You _will_ swim - sinking isn't an option.
_You are never too young to succeed. It just matters when you start._
I am _incredibly_ hard on myself as an individual. This is generally not a good tactic to have on yourself, as it can
cause failures to feel much worse than they actually are. I just haven't learned.
Part of my dedication to my craft is that I will dedicate 100% of my time and power to it. I take on projects as a
personal mission every time if the project aligns with my interests; anything less than perfection means failure, and I
will not rest until I have achieved my goals.
This means that I am very often obsessing over small details on my work and do regularly end up re-writing my work or
plans many times. The reward of having it _just right_ is absolutely worth the effort.
## Proving It
I have maintained relative proof of my achievements and have been able to demonstrate my skills and work to a great many
people. This is incredibly important and necessary; you may be able to vouch for yourself, but other people won't see
you for who you are if you can't back up your claims.
Keeping track of everything has enabled me to move very far very fast in life; I am now a software engineer working in
the medical industry at just 20 years old, and have achieved my lifelong dream of becoming a developer since childhood.
## And what about nowadays?
In all honesty, it feels kind of... empty, knowing you've achieved what you set out to do.
Work has been challenging me well, and I am thrilled with where I am now. I've set myself up to be
able to comfortably live where I am and work on these projects, but I am finding that the lack of future goals is
leaving me ambitionless.
I am beyond happy and excited to shape my new future, and I look forward to contributing to amazing projects and
spearheading innovation where I can.