We’ve all experienced events and circumstances that shape and guide how we approach our life going forward.
This has certainly been true for me. Throughout my life and career I’ve enjoyed many incredible experiences.
In 2002, I made the most significant financial investment of my life. At that time I began thinking about two things – What do I want my life to mean? and What do I want to experience in life? To be clear, these are two very different questions for me.
What do I want my life to mean?
I’ve written much about my SIMPLE Personal Life Plan and how it has dramatically improved my life and work. It helped me once-and-for-all address the question, What do I want my life to mean?
Writing out my SIMPLE Personal Life Plan has been the single most important decision I’ve made in the past 10 years. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to spend a few moments reviewing our previous articles about life planning.
What do I want to experience in life?
About 15 years ago, I came across Ted Leonsis’ 101 list – his bucket list. I began thinking about significant experiences I would like to enjoy in my lifetime.
I had never thought intentionally about life experiences, but I knew that if I was going to accomplish many of them, I’d have to start by making a list (you know the whole if you fail to plan, you plan to fail thing).
So I spent several days jotting down ideas for my own list. Over the years I’ve added to it and checked off many of the experiences. There are currently 86 items on the list. So far I’ve completed 41 of them and I fully intend to complete them all (although some of them may be a bit of a reach considering I spent many years early in my career serving with non-profits).
If you don’t have a bucket list, write one. It’s a blast!
My Life 86
(I’ve completed the 46 items in blue)
Family
1. Fall in love and get married
2. Have a daughter
3. Have a son
4. Zero family debt
5. Leave trusts for family members
6. Help guide children into career paths
7. Help children plan to pay their own way through college
8. Ensure that Parents are cared for
9. Ensure that In-laws are cared for
10. Have grandchildren
Financial
11. Pay off all personal debt
12. Pay off our home
13. Net one hundred thousand dollars in an investment
14. Net one million dollars in an investment
15. Net ten million dollars in an investment
16. Net worth of one million dollars
17. Net worth of ten million dollars
18. Leave financial matters in great shape for family members before passing on
19. Own my own business
20. Start a company and sell it
21. Establish a School of Leadership that focuses on coaching leadership
22. Establish a Coaching and Counseling Retreat Center
Charities
23. Give one million dollars to charity – $693,300 through December 31, 2018
24. Change someone’s life through a charity
25. Start a charity foundation
26. Have a building or perpetual memorial named for the family
Sports
27. Run a marathon
28. Go to a University of Tennessee football game
29. Purchase Tennessee football season tickets
30. Watch a University of Tennessee football game from a luxury suite in Neyland Stadium
31. Watch an NFL football game from a luxury suite – Jacksonville
32. Watch a Washington Redskins game from a luxury suite at FedEx Field
33. Develop a golf handicap under 10
34. Play TPC Sawgrass
35. Play Augusta
36. Catch a foul ball
37. Go to the Daytona 500
38. Go to a Superbowl
39. Go to a World Series
40. Go to the Olympics
41. Go to the Players Championship
42. Go to the Masters
43. Go to the US Open Golf Championship
44. Go to a World Cup
Travel
45. Visit the Grand Canyon
46. Visit all 50 US states
47. Visit Israel
48. Visit Hawaii
49. Visit Jamaica
50. Visit Hong Kong
51. Visit Italy
52. Visit Paris
53. Visit London
54. Go an a Caribbean Cruise
55. Go on an Alaskan Cruise
56. Visit South America
57. Visit Central America
58. Visit the Philippines
59. Visit Nepal/Mount Everest
60. Visit Africa
Personal
61. Complete an accredited Masters Degree
62. Complete a regionally accredited Doctoral Degree
63. Own a hand gun
64. Get a pilot’s license
65. Be a guest on a Radio show
66. Be a guest on a TV show
67. Write a book and publish it
68. Make a movie
69. Visit the White House
70. Swim with dolphins
71. Ride an elephant
72. Live overseas
73. Take a year sabbatical (August 2005 – July 2006)
74. Be on a magazine cover
75. Be the subject of a newspaper article
76. Start a regular blog
77. Start a regular podcast
Possessions
78. Own a home
79. Own a commercial property
80. Restore an antique auto
81. Own a beach home that stays in the family – Florida
82. Own a rural home that stays in the family – South Carolina
83. Own a boat
84. Own a plane
85. Own a restaurant
86. Own a log home
Priorities
It’s been fun checking the items off my bucket list – especially with our family. (Just a few of weeks ago, Madison and I caught a foul ball at a baseball game.)
Yet my SIMPLE Personal Life Plan has become significantly more important to me than my bucket list. Don’t get me wrong – I plan to complete the items on my bucket list. But fulfilling my SIMPLE Personal Life Plan will always be higher priority.
Life doesn’t come with a road map – and there’s no universal list of pros and cons for your path in life. You must simply find what you were made to do and commit to it – no matter what.
A SIMPLE Personal Life Plan helps you do that by regularly bringing you back to what’s most important. So, start the adventure today! And experience the power of living and growing on purpose.
I’m so committed to helping you succeed in your life and work that we developed the SIMPLE Personal Life Plan Guide and Template just for you! I want you to enjoy the freedom and clarity that comes from identifying your top priorities and I want you to avoid the struggles that I faced personally.
Click here to download the Simple Personal Life Plan Guide and Template.
Once you download it and try it out, shoot me an email. You can even send me your draft to review for you. I’m looking forward to hearing about the dramatic improvements to your life and work.
Really enjoyed your list. I need to do my own.
Thanks man. It’s definitely helped me to live and play more intentionally.
I’m convinced that I stumbled on to your life list this morning for a reason. (God working, right?) It’s wonderfully great! NOW…I want to help you mark something off your list. Not sure what just yet…maybe run a marathon? I’m a chronic list maker who is trying to take the cultural phenomenon of life lists/bucket lists and turn it on its head. It’s called “Live the List” and it puts other people’s hopes and dreams in the spotlight. I’m excited about following you on Twitter and reading your e-book…downloading NOW!
Let me know which one – would love the help! 😉
I have always had a bucket list but never really shared it with anyone (including my wife). My list looks similar to yours. Thanks for your post.
Share it – you might find people are willing to help you accomplish some of the items!
This is brilliant Michael. Visit the White House is something I would also want to do.
Here is my list – http://www.wishberg.com/beingpractical
Great list!!
I am going to add couple of them from your list.
I love how you have integrated your bucket list into your Life Plan and drilled down specifically to each Life Account! I have a vision and purpose for each account in my Life Plan but have not written out a S.M.A.R.T. bucket list. Thanks for sharing, I’m heading out today to begin working on this!
Thanks David. Let me know if I can help you along the way. I’d love to hear from you as you make progress.
Great idea. TOUGH idea, but great nonetheless. I have a few lists like this but they are very short and usually the goals are only for a year or so in advance. I’m going to get started on my life list. This has inspired me.
That’s great Katie. You bring up a good point. We need both long and short lists. We can and should start with a dreaming list – then we can get more specific with when we will do them.
For example, a couple of years ago I realized that I wasn’t making much progress on my bucket list, so I picked 6 to 8 items to complete that year. I completed most of them.
Although I created my list when I was single, we now have fun with it as a family. When we consider vacation destinations, we’ll often look at the list to decide where to visit next.
A book is in the works – details coming soon. 😉