Two weeks ago I got inspired and made a Pinterest board of my 101 lifetime goals (I don’t care much for the term ‘bucket list’). See my complete list here. At first, I was going to keep my list a ‘secret’ board, so no one else could see it (I was afraid some of my writing goals might sound egotistical or shallow). But then I thought, ‘Hey! Maybe we don’t talk about the big things enough and if even one person is inspired, it’s worth a little teasing (No, I don’t have to marry Joseph Gordon-Levitt — he may be just a placeholder(!).
The interesting thing about this exercise (which I got out of Jack Canfield’s wonderful book The Success Principles) is that it makes you think about the rest of your life. Really. However old you are now, however long you think you’ll live, there is a finite amount of time left. According to one Death Clock, I have 54 years left. Now, that’s a long time — but it will pass fast.
And to me it’s not even about some sort of ‘seize the day/savor the moment’ creedos. It’s about the kind of person who would be doing all the things on this list. They would be fit, and ready for adventure. They would make time (and save money) for the big things. They would say ‘YES!’ to the unknown void of awesome.
These goals also remind you to get going. I’ve now made a list of 20 of those goals that can be achieved in the next couple of years. Visiting every continent? Might take a while. But eating at Cinco y Diez (an upscale local restaurant), cycling 50 miles in a day, and going ziplining are quite doable (you’ll have to trust me about the cycling one 😉
So I encourage you to make your own list, board, collage or whatever inspires you. Then pick a couple of goals and start taking the steps to complete them by the end of this year (or this quarter if you’re feeling feisty). According to Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, “Our mission is twofold. The first half is to help people discover the things that they love. The second half is to enable people to go out and act on those things, to make them actually part of their life.” (Wired, Aug. 2014)
That’s what you want to do with your list: discover what you want to do with the rest of your life and then go do it.
For myself? I’ll be celebrating my birthday this year at Cinco y Diez and coming home to cross a life goal off the list.
Stay Extraordinary 