Everyone is different. Everyone will have different goals in life, often radically different. Everyone will want a different amount of money, a different looking family, a different career, want to live in a different place, etc. This is normal and it’s probably for the best. (I shudder to think what the world would look like if everyone had the exact same goals in life.)

That being said, there are a few goals that everyone in the western world should have. Regardless of your age, gender, or personality type, I think there are a few “baseline life goals” that you should have to ensure that you live a life of maximum fulfillment, happiness, and peace.

These baseline life goals are:

• No major health problems before age 70. (Problems caused by genetics you have no control over would be exceptions.) It’s a real statistic that if you avoid all major health problems (like cancer, heart attack, etc) before turning 70, your life expectancy suddenly skyrockets past the average.

• Enough money saved by age 65 so you do not have to rely upon social security or any other government retirement assistance. With all those people in Europe protesting about this, and all the fear and angst we Americans have on this issue, wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry about whether or not social security was solvent when you need it? I think you should have enough money in the bank by the time you’re in you’re sixties to consider any government retirement insurance or assistance as a nice bonus, not something you need.

• A fulfilling relationship life. I don’t care if you’re a man or woman, gay or straight, married or single, devotee or player, introvert or extrovert, or whatever. By the time you’re in your early thirties at the latest, you need to have a relationship life that fulfills you. This can look like anything you want, as long as it fulfills you. Spending long swaths of your life being lonely isn’t going to cut it.

I honestly can’t think of a single adult in the western world for whom the above three goals would not apply. I also consider those to be bare minimums. Hopefully, you have goals beyond those three things that really excite you..but you should at least have those three goals, or something that looks very similar.