What is Jack Dashed's Bucket List?
A bucket list is a list of things to do before you die (or 'kick the bucket' - geddit?)
I don't like the term 'bucket list' because it has, well, fatal connotations. I'm not planning on dying anytime soon but I do intend to complete this list inside a year. So it's really a list of affirming, challenging and exciting life goals designed to create some juice in what I hope to be a pretty long life. Maybe I should have called this a 'life list' instead. Oh well.
My own view is that if one lives their life on a day-to-day basis without some firm, clear, compelling goals in mind then one finds themselves forever caught up in endless minor day-to-day tasks. And if those endless drudgery tasks are the only ones in front of us then they're the ones we'll do. Days run into weeks, weeks into months, months into years but nothing really changes. We end up with a life made up of the trivial, the dull, the pointless.
The aim of this bucket list is to put something better in front of me. Because, as has been said by others elsewhere: on my deathbed I'm not going to look back on my life and wish I'd spent more time in the office (or doing household chores, or mowing the lawn - etc).
The list so far
At the time of writing this page (Tuesday, 17th August 2010) I have listed 81 of my 101 things to do.
So the list isn't quite complete. I'm 20 short but that's okay. I think the other 20 will reveal themselves when they're good and ready. The list of 81 has taken me a couple of days to compile but will keep me busy for the foreseeable future. One of the 81 is to create a blog to act as a journal as I work my way through my list. So in setting up this blog I've completed one task on the list already. Fabulous...
The blog
This blog describes the mad rush to finish all these items in just one year. Hopefully it will also be an interesting read - even, occasionally, humorous! Maybe you'll need to read the 3 or 4 most recent posts first before making that judgement!
The Challenge
I have set myself the task of doing everything on my Life List within 365 days (including those items I've not yet thought of but which will make it onto the list just as soon as I do think of them).
The list, when it's complete, will contain 101 items, few - if any - of which can meaningfully be completed in a single event or day. A couple - like learning Russian or writing my novel - will take most of the year.
The timescales
Doing this whole list in one year is a tall order. I don't know how testing some of the items will be and, of course, I also don't know what life might throw at me over the coming 12 months. Maybe that's what is going to provide part of the juice for this challenge. What a year it's going to be! But the 101 things in my list represent 101 ambitions, wishes, tests - dares, even - each of which will give me an experience, some of which will give me some meaningful skills but, certainly, in all cases I'll have a story to tell. No more awkward silences at parties!
The benefits
The massive, massive benefit of compiling this list is that it has made me switch my focus onto all those things I would like to do but would probably never have got round to do if I hadn't written it all down. Some of the items are a little unusual ('build an igloo', anyone?) but that's fine - I want to do it and that's all it requires to get on the list. Certainly, if I hadn't taken the time to think about a Life List then many of these items - most of them - would never be done.
Having to cram them all into 365 days only adds to the thrill.
At the time of writing (17th August 2010) I am unemployed and searching for a job. So I have some time on my hands which I will use to kick-start this programme because if, as I hope, I find a job soon then time will be at a premium.
The challenge begins Monday 30th August 2010!
What's on your life list?
If you don't have one yet but feel inspired to produce your own then grab a pen and some paper and get writing. It's so easy. It only requires that you get onto paper all those things you really do want to do or try or learn or create or change or improve or... or... And, as I have done, the list can be compiled over weeks rather than all in one go. Just get it started.
The basic 'rules' of creating a list (which I will expand on in due course) are:
it's not silly if you really want to do it;
the tasks have to be meaningful to you - they need not mean something to anyone else;
they should be fairly measurable (ie it should be clear whether you've succeeded or not);
you should intend to do each one of them - the ambition to 'make a blockbuster movie' is fine if you genuinely believe you'll make the effort to write/learn to direct etc
Read other people's lists for inspiration (mine is here). Ask friends and family-members what would be on their list. You could share your ideas with your spouse (actually the asterisked items on my list are ones Mrs Dashed decided she wants to do too). Give yourself time to compile the list - it might take a couple of weeks but there's no hurry. In the meantime, work with what you have already got and enjoy the process.
And feel free to add your comments to my posts - it's good to know people are actually reading what I'm writing..!
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