Joel Oleson 2025 Goals and plans for the year
I have ADD/ADHD, I shouldn’t be much of a goal maker, but it’s time to be reflective and look at 2025 and what I want to focus on going into 2026.
March 2024 – Finished my life goal of visiting every country in the world while staying married and my kids not hating me. I’m now 52 with a plan to retire (on paper?) at 55..
I’m working full time at PlayStation, yes it’s a dream job. We are spreading *Kando throughout the world, I’m making good money as an architect working on enterprise productivity and gen AI, supporting my family with big ambitions to making a real difference in the world, reduce suffering and promote health and wellbeing and opportunity through education and travel. I like the ring of that… Here goes… a new mission statement.
Joel Oleson Mission Statement:
“To reduce suffering and bridge the great divide by merging technological innovation with ancient truth. I am dedicated to a life of healing, discovery, and limitless opportunity for my family, friends, and humanity through a legacy of education, travel, and eternal wisdom.”
*Kando = the deep emotional response you feel when something profoundly moves you.
Not just happiness.
Not just satisfaction.
It’s the moment when emotion + meaning + experience collide.
2025 Goals:
Education:
Start an MBA program and maintain a B average: Success.
2026 Goal: Graduate CSUSM MBA Program. TED speaker or TEDX talk. Speak at a university.
Financial/Career:
Make a name for myself in the industry and at PlayStation beyond my past. Be an AI speaker/Influencer. Progress
Stay out of credit card debt or any high interest debt. Pass
2026 Goal: Launch an AI Business with agents as main employees with minimal interaction from me. An AI-native company with minimal human oversight.
Spiritual:
Eliminate cognitive dissonance and build a solid foundation. Pass
Ancient tradition podcast – caught up! Let Love lead. Stand up for right. Pass + Progress
Daily Prayer. Advanced Scripture study Fail/Needs improvement
Singing from my heart and sharing for all to hear Success
2026 Goal: Daily Streak: Daily prayer and meditation. Let light in my life and live more fully.
Help others find answers that heal. Help establish dialogue for a common framework that provides insights across the ancient tradition.
Philanthropy:
Be more generous, mentor and learn the non profit business and come up with clear strategy to launch a non profit in 2026. Pass.
Finance/Build a school has been on my list and with Chloris’s help who has a similar goal. I see a vision for this happening in 2026/2027. (Multi year effort, but land has been acquired in 2025.) In progress
Travel: Travel is a life time goal: Visit more MTP/TCCs (Finish the TCC list before I pass), not major focus this year.
Get more involved in the travel community as a speaker and influencer. Pass
Health
Lose weight and Get in shape. Fail
2026: Run a half marathon and full marathon.
Education as the Anchor
This year, I started an MBA program at Cal State University San Marcos.
For a long time, I thought I had to choose. I put off getting my MBA because I wanted to travel the world, and somewhere along the way I convinced myself those two paths were mutually exclusive. Education felt like settling down. Travel felt like staying alive. So I chose travel, and I committed fully.
Last year, after finishing travel to every country in the world, I decided it was time to go back to school and I found the perfect program. Most Wednesday’s are virtual, and Saturday in person with some flexibility. I have a new class every 5 weeks. I’ve been enrolled at California State University San Marcos for the past 6 months where I’m in the fully employed MBA program. I’m loving this hybrid program that allows flexibility that I really enjoy. AI for tutoring has been a game changer, and my vibe coded quizzes have been a hit. After applying early in the year I was admitted, and started with a statistics class that previously was my hardest undergrad class. I got out of there with a B and have been able to maintain a B average. This past semester I got an A in my marketing class which has put me on cloud 9. In a year from now I plan to be walking with my diploma in hand. Why? I believe in life long progress. I have wanted to become an MBA for many years and this is a goal I’m happy to be fully engaged and absolutely see my kids and others taking note. What will I do with it? Lecture, Speak/Teach, start a business and a non profit. More on that later.
Part of where I want to go with my educational goals is to speak and share more and inspire others.
Travel, Philanthropy and Spirituality Reframed
Even in an education focused year, I didn’t give up travel. I visited nine countries in 2025, but travel felt different this time.
Award by MTP: Joel Oleson Grandmaster – Verified and Awarded for visiting every UN recognized Country. Thanks so much to all those who contributed to making this happen including Charles Veley, Luis, and David Yang for verification.
I attended the Most Traveled People Summit in Addis Ababa, where I was honored as a UN Grand Master and had the opportunity to speak and participate in the largest gathering of UN Masters ever assembled, inspiring others and pushing the travel community forward.
More meaningful, though, was returning to Ethiopia and reconnecting with people I met thirteen years ago in Lalibela. Seeing Rocky gave me gooseflesh/goosebumps. I was already seeing my Ethiopia trip as being metaphysical, but having a child who I met 13 years before accidentally be my driver in another part of the country feels like 1 in a billion. It’s not chance it’s alignment. Seeing Abiy, now married, thriving, running a successful travel business, and preparing for a child, was a reminder that the real value of travel isn’t stamps in a passport, it’s continuity.
Chloris is so important to me. She manifests generosity and charity. She was recognized by her family at a thanksgiving celebration. She’s been able to help 30 kids attend school who otherwise wouldn’t through boarding and paying school fees. She shared that even in some small way I helped her in her efforts. I don’t know all of the logistics, but I just want to lean in and say I love it and want her to be successful. I’m working with her on her plans to build a school. Something that has been a stated goal, but never written down. I have shared that with her and she’s an important partner in making progress.
2025 included a personal visit to Heal the Nation Ethiopia which had a presence at the Most Traveled People conference. My year won’t be complete without opening my wallet to important causes like this.
Through a chain of trust and long-standing relationships, electronics I brought to Addis to Abiy were delivered to Chloris in Uganda and on to Ignace in Rwanda. Chloris is helping over 30 students while running her own business, and then Ignace, who is working hard to support his siblings and mother while building his future.
Chloris (left)- You first go on Chloris’s tour as a tourist, but come back family. I attest to this as Chloris’s child’s godfather.
Ignite (right) – Happy to have supported Ignace in his school fees. Now as a mentee he’s connecting with the expert. Chloris who is inspiring him and helping him get started in his career. She delivered a tablet I left with Abiy.
Divine intervention in Africa is something I’ve seen a lot of this year. None of this happened by accident. It happened because relationships were built. Anyone interested in helping out a student who is interested in going to school and has fees to pay… I’m happy to make intros. My non profit will be launching next year, but don’t let me slow you down.
Abiy and Rocky – What 13 years does! These were barefoot rag tag kids all grown up and now successful entrepreneurs.
I also visited a nonprofit in Ethiopia, visited Dallol and the Danakil Depression, and connected with inspiring travelers along the way.
My spiritual journey this past year was also impacted by the decision to go back to school. I was released as the Deacons quorum advisor (11-12 yr olds) and now teaching the Come Follow Me 101 course every other week. It focuses on fundamentals of Jesus Christ’s gospel. I was turned onto The Ancient Tradition podcast from a good friend, thanks Valerie. It has been incredible in connecting so many traditions around the world and leans in on my personal experiences traveling to 197+ countries around the globe. My own spiritual encounters with Orthodox Ethiopian, Hindu, Buddhist, Islam, Tao, Christianity, Judaism, and ancient Egyptian, etc… and so many others have enriched my life and the tapestries continue with indigenous cultures and traditions. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. So many have been giving up their traditions with AI and science as having all the answers, but let me encourage you to exercise caution in throwing out all tradition as you seek answers. Not sure the right level to go here, but let me suffice to say that finding harmony and answers is absolutely possible and cognitive dissonance need not rule your life.
Singing in the Saints Choir has brought much spiritual soul food. This year was both Millennial Choir & Orchestras (MCO) and San Diego Saints Choir. Feeling the influence, comfort and guidance of the spirit will continue to be at the forefront of my spiritual life.
Travel in 2025 wasn’t about discovery. It was about stewardship.
Family in Japan
2025 brought travel accomplished goals:
Osaka Japan World’s Expo – my first and not last world expo. I absolutely plan on visiting these now every opportunity. See you in 2030 in Saudi.
New TCC – Aruba on a family cruise where we visited Curacao and DR.
New Animal! Tarsier – I’ve been wanting to see Tarsiers for years and this was a great accomplishment. Bohol island in the Philippines and on the same trip experiencing a typhoon in Manila.
Tarsier (Bohol Philippines)- Their eyes are bigger than their brains
Fed a hyena by the mouth in Harar (It’s an ancient tradition)
Travel & Speaking in 2026:
- MVP Summit – Yes, I’ll be in Redmond and planning to visit somewhere in Canada leading up to this TBD. That planning is where the Canadian arctic trip came from, but August is better than March.
- Mexico – new states. I’ve been working on visiting all of the states/provinces/territories of Mexico and Canada, but at a snails pace right now. I let my Volaris pass go in 2025 when I started working on my MBA. I expect that will come back in 2027. Hoping to hit 2 new states in 2026.
- Tahiti – new TCC (family travel)
- Slovenia Thrive Conference – Romania/Transylvania, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia (I’ll be covering Enterprise AI topics) +Family trip.
- Canadian Arctic – Nunavut new territory/province, major bucklet list item: Narwhal! (That will be an incredible goal if I can see this.) I plan to spend a week in the midnight sun. No sunset or sunrise during the first week of August.
- Extraordinary Travel Fest – ETF III Bangkok – Myanmar and/or Suluwesi (new TCC) – Ask me for a code for a discount.
Career and Financial Milestones
Professionally, this was a year of quiet but meaningful milestones.
I crossed $1M in retirement savings.
I reached $1M in real estate equity.
The condo in Cabo, Oceanside, and house in Seaside have all been going well. Cabo was rough at the first part of the year, but Luis new property manager has turned things around. I’m also now up to date on real estate taxes in Mx. Yikes.
Real estate and stock market investing were two of the best lessons and decisions of my financial success and world. We can talk investing some time. I do have a passion and willingness to share. Traveling the world these past 20 years would not have gone at the pace it did without successful investment decisions. Some may think it was crypto and while that could have been the case it wasn’t. In the long run I am definitely up on my investment in crypto, but was not a crypto millionaire despite the fact I owned more than 30 bitcoins, I sold them for a downpayment on my house in California when they were less than $1500.
(Yes I’m oversharing here, but I want to motivate people who may be thinking you can’t travel the world and save for your retirement at the same time. Thanks Johnny Ward for your transparency and inspiring mine in this moment. Was great meeting him this year in Ethiopia. Johnny Ward inspired this blog post as well based on his 2025 goals and reflection.)
Johnny Ward – First to do the Ultimate Grandslam… He’s visited every country, highest peaks per continent, both poles, rowed across the Atlantic on and on… Triple ultramarathon’s in the Sahara desert… Check out his eye of the Sahara ultramarathon. Hard to not be inspired.
I was renewed as a Microsoft Regional Director in 2025, I’ve been able to participate in multiple industry events as speaker and panelist, mostly at virtual events, but decent progress despite juggling work commitments and school. Was great to be at MVP summit and Vegas community events and planning on Summit again in 2026… Hilton hotel booked. Thanks Janell. Gold on Hilton has been nice. I let my airline loyalties lapse over COVID and will remedy that not in 2026, but 2027.
Financially I now have a longer term goal where in 2028 (the year I turn 55), I could retire (execute the “Rule of 55”) and serve a philanthropic mission or even be a mission president or simply unplug and buy an RV and travel or travel from Borrow, Alaska to Ushuaia. There’s more that’s rattling around in my brain on that topic, but I’ve got some epic ideas stewing for 2028.
Health, Family, and Perspective
Health and family increasingly became non-negotiable pillars this year. Not perfectly, but intentionally.
I went wake boarding and wake surfing for the first time this year. Not only did I get up, I really enjoyed myself. Incredible core workout.
The focus shifted toward sustainability. Toward being present. Toward making decisions that support long-term well-being rather than short-term wins. Supporting my kids in their success has become one of the clearest priorities moving forward. Both older children have had productive relationships and independence this past year. I don’t need to go into those details, but suffice to say my home has had one dependent child who is rocking it with much success in school with honor roll and a higher than 4.0 GPA. I can’t take much credits for that, but I do want to say paying for good grades has worked well with my youngest. Allow him to focus on his studies. He’s already very focused on success in college and has great aspirations. I just feel like I need to help him better understand AI and how it is a tool.
Watching an outdoor theatre performance at Moonlight with my supportive wife and my youngest who is a true thespian. We saw some incredible performances including Les Mis and Weird Al this past year. Live performances have been important goals over the past decade.
Let’s just say I had a lot of fail fast as it relates to health in 2025. I started focusing on my health and did get 1000 miles on my onewheel (since purchase) and was able to visit a lot of trails, but my steps have been awful and my weight has fluctuated. I did do a 1 week liquid diet and lost 10 pounds, but gained 5 of it back. I’m now in a better place, just signed up for EOS Fitness with the full meal deal where I can bring a friend and we can use all of the facilities and classes including the massage chairs. So hit me up if you want to work out. I think I found I was waiting for a friend to motivate me in this part of my life and I’m done. I now recognize health requires personal motivation and you can’t blame anyone else. I was able to navigate the awful insurance hoops and I’m getting treatment for my sleep apnea, the new machine is so quiet and Virginia is much happier at night. While I’ve had some bad bouts of Gout this past year, I haven’t had any kidney stones which have been an issue in the past.
One of my presents this year was the Oura ring. I attached it to my FSA (flexible spending) for the service for data and I’m very committed to gathering, analyzing data and adjusting my life to get more healthy. I’ve got a goal of hitting post mission weight and even getting to pre mission weight of 210 this year. I’ve got 30 pounds to lose this year, but it’s not all about pounds… It’s about building muscle and losing fat especially visceral fat. I’ve also been very DNA focused… more data is better.
I’ve learned “I do not crave sweets, I crave savory.” I also have the “longevity gene,” and while I don’t get the “runners high,” I do have the “sprinter gene.” I haven’t done much running in the past. I did a tiny bit in high school… and completed a triathlon at the birthplace of triathlon. In high school track (shout out to Declo HS!) I impromptu ran a 2 mile race. The school would make points if I finished with only 5 runners, I didn’t get last and I scored a point for the school. I was “winning” the first 2 laps and learning that pacing yourself is definitely a thing. All of the yelling to pace myself after those first couple of laps, didn’t mean much until the last couple of laps…
Declo Idaho High School Reunion (Class of 1992) – Surround yourself with friends. Amazing how many of these true friends I met in kindergarten. Lots of great memories growing up in Declo, Idaho.
In 2026 I’m getting off the couch. I’m going to be working out at least 3-5 times per week with walking to running being the focus for this year. 10 Pull ups is the goal this year, flexibility and losing my gut are the other focus areas. I love Yoga and Tai Chi and hope to start most mornings with one or the other.
I haven’t shared this with many people. I believe I can live to 120 (at least, I like to think with improvements in health tech, 150 isn’t unreasonable) and I vocally share that with financial planners and anyone asking about my future. I plan to be around a long time and live well. Longevity needs to be a very important part of my plans.
From Preparation to Choice
If I had to summarize the difference between 2025 and what comes next, it’s this:
2024 was my 50th year and the year I finished traveling the UN countries (a 20 year goal) Thanks to those that came to my birthday party with the fire dancer. Very memorable.
2025 was a year focusing on starting my MBA and supporting home
2026 is about focus and achievement. Finishing the MBA and launching the non profit and AI biz.
2027&2028 will be gear shifting and big movements as Dean Graduates and big big life decisions… but we’ll save that for another time.
I’m moving away from ad hoc, one-off charity toward launching a focused nonprofit organization with clear goals, accountability, and intentional impact. Helping people and families around the world not by accident, but by design.
Ethiopian trip 13 years ago where I first started real interest in Philanthropy (sitting next to a blind boy and his friend)
Ethiopia Philanthropy: You may hear me tell the stories of going to a nearby hut and purchasing all of their notebooks inspired by the love in their friendship.
I’m also preparing to launch an AI company aimed at democratizing access to AI-driven film and entertainment, with real value creation at its core. It’s incubating…
Health and spiritual wellness will take center stage, including running a half marathon in the first half of the year and a full marathon in the second. I’ll also be speaking at ETF III, the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Bangkok, on the intersection of AI and travel.
Looking Ahead
A year from now, I want to be holding my MBA diploma in December, looking back at the work, the discipline, and the choices it took to get there, and saying:
You really can do anything you put your mind to.
That’s the direction.
Now it’s time to commit.
Feeling it too? Link your goals to mine in the comments. Happy to share and build our community.