How to Build Your Ultimate Bucket List
Recently I was listening to inspirational speaker Terri Savelle Foy share a powerful story.
A survey conducted in several retirement homes asked residents what their biggest regret in life was and without hesitation the overwhelming majority said it was not things they did but didn’t do.
Many also said as children they had big dreams but were never encouraged to pursue them.
In adulthood they delayed them until “One day when . . .” and “Someday” and sadly that day never came.
Often we are wrongly told that when we become adults our imaginations must remain in childhood therefore we stop dreaming of adventures and possibilities.
At 15, John Goddard (considered the “greatest goal achiever”) overheard his parents and their friends discussing regrets of trips they never took, people they never met, books they never read and adventures they never experienced.
He decided not to make that mistake and sat down and created his “Life List” of 127 adventures he wanted to experience, including climbing mountains, learning several skills and languages and reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.
John Goddard has passed away but not before achieving 109 of his goals because he dared to imagine his life and pursue his dreams.
At 16, I created “My Life Adventure List” and while I have yet to cross off every experience, the pursuit has been incredibly rewarding!
In the process I have faced many fears (heights, flying), overcome negative beliefs (I can’t. It’s impossible. Who do I think I am?) and learned to ignore the naysayers (You can’t. It’s impossible. Who do you think you are?).
Women often ask “What is the difference between a bucket list and goals list?”
A bucket list includes adventures you want to experience. A goals list contains desires you intentionally, actively pursue daily.
For example, “My Life Adventure List” includes:
1) lie down in a lavender field in Provence and inhale deeply;
2) take a trip on the Orient Express;
3) observe a lioness in her natural habitat; and
4) step down into the sea of Galilee.
While my “Goals List” includes:
1) walk 100 miles for Charity Miles by end of 2018 (I0 more to go);
2) create an online Bible study for the Chic Inspired Community beginning January, 2019 and
3) continue to schedule speaking opportunities to women’s groups around the Metro area.
These lists are different yet both are necessary to living the Chic, Inspired Life.
They differ in that my bucket list is adventure/experience oriented and often requires long-term planning or time to accomplish.
My goals list contain immediate desires requiring daily action to achieve.
Kissing the Blarney Stone is an adventure (and one I highly recommend).
Losing 15 pounds is a goal pursued by daily eating healthy and exercising.
You can add and delete items from your list allowing it to evolve and grow with you.
Some adventures I wanted at 16 (be in an MTV video) I no longer want at 50.
Creating and pursuing my list fills me with joy and gratitude for experiencing adventures once only imagined.
To inspire you in creating your list I have included areas of interest used when creating mine along with examples.
* Places to travel/Landmarks to see (Paris, Austria, Italy and Mt. Ranier)
* Restaurants and culinary experiences to savor (enjoying Maine lobster IN Maine)
* Books to read (classics and biographies of people I admire)
* Hobbies/Skills to learn (pottery, photography, French)
* Entertainment//events to attend (Tony Bennett was a fave)
* Generosity to express (pay for a stranger’s groceries, teach an illiterate person to read)
* Health/Fitness (complete a half-marathon, 5K)
* People to meet (Steve Perry, Diane Von Furstenberg)
* Experiences to have (hold a Koala Bear, go glamping)
Friends, it is never too late to start envisioning and experiencing the life you dreamed of as a child.
As Morgan Freeman so wisely states in the movie Shawshank Redemption – “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
Create your list today!
Sandra Hubbard
“And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets . . .” Hab 2:2
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