Life Lists and The Completed List
I’ve always been a list maker. I make to-do lists almost every day and I’ve made so many lists of things I want to experience and places I want to go that I could probably create a book out of them. When I started this blog I decided to rewrite my life to-do list so that I could publish it and gain some sort of accountability. I want to make sure the things on it get accomplished, so I’ve put it online for that reason.
As I was writing it I went exploring online and found a lot of amazing life/to-do/bucket lists from other bloggers. Since reading all of these lists and recreating my own I’ve been pondering the idea of life lists.
Are life lists really necessary? Can’t you just do the things you want to do without having a list to check off?
Why write a life list?
Life is short. Figure out what you want to do and then do it. You don’t have the time to mess around.
Lists make you focus. The reason we write to-do lists is so we can focus on what needs to get done without getting distracted and forgetting tasks. Life is very distracting at times and those awesome, fun, creative things we want to do can be forgotten in the midst of daily living.
Progress is fun. Creating a life list can give you a sense of progress and accomplishment as you look back at the things that have been finished and marked off.
Accountability. You know what is on my list now. Remind me. Let’s do some together. It is out there for all the world to see and follow as I make it happen. Writing out a list gives you more accountability to make things happen, even if that is just accountability with yourself.
I mentioned that I’ve written out my life list before. Several times, once even on individual post-it notes. So I’d like to share some of the experiences that were previously on my life list but have been completed before the list became digital in its version 2.0. Progress at it’s best – the COMPLETED LIST:
Study abroad. Go paragliding. Visit California. Visit Mexico. Graduate college with honors. Win at intramurals. Stay up all night. Complete my thesis. Present at an academic conference. Learn how to snowboard. Snowboard in the Rockies. Visit Jessi in Orgeon. Swim in the Pacific Ocean. Sing Karaoke. Ride a moped. Eat deep dish pizza in Chicago. Go to BlogHer. Meet blogging friends in real life. Go ziplining. Spring break trip with the girls. Visit Paris; Rome; Athens; Vienna; Brussels; Prague; Budapest. Go to Puerto Rico. Get a job through Twitter. Kayak in Spring River; Lake Tahoe. Backpack around Europe. Take a train ride in the US; Europe. Take a Greyhound bus. Blog for over a year. Inspire someone.
I’ve done a few cool things already and have plenty of things left to experience.
How about you? Do you have a life list out there somewhere?
[...] adding and refining it as I contemplate the goals I have or even want to have. I’ve also written about my completed list, or the things that were once goals on my life list but have since been completed. After [...]
I liked the video very much. The guy enjoyed very much.
I wrote a post just like this a few years ago! :) Although I still haven’t accomplished most of the big things on my list, I did knock a few of the smaller goals off. And it was fun/rewarding to be able to edit the post, crossing through the items on the list with the strike-through function and tacking a little addendum “Edited. Done March 08″, or whatever, to the completed ones. Good luck on crossing off your own list!
Wow you have done so much already! And your list is so ambitious too..but considering what you’ve already accomplished, its probably totally do-able. I make lists, but only for things like shopping or to do at work for the next day. Im not a goal oriented person, not really capable of planning too far ahead. Combining comments from this and the other blog, my goals are short term but movable. So maybe today I say I want to do 3 things at work and go to the gym and the grocery store. Probably I’ll only get 2 of the things done at work… and I might have some other random errands to do that get shifted from week to week till they eventually get done. I think its pretty wow people that can make overall big goals and also follow through, like you. Most people I know (and me) cant even get to the list stage, never mind doing them. Yay to you!
I’ve enjoyed this post. I only have a mental list for the bucket items. There are to-do’s and there are the “it was so good, go do it agains”. I’ve been toting that list in my head for a couple of decades and although it stays fairly consistent, I know I’d benefit from typing it out.
Why yes, I do happen to have a life list of sorts… and I do believe you linked to it ;) Your reasons are similar to mine. I think for me, it’s more about not forgetting. Not just not forgetting to do things, but not forgetting that you’ve done them. That’s why I keep a blog, really. A log of things I’ve done so I can look back and say I really did it.