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What’s on your bucket List? Do you have some big ideas that are almost a little bit scary?
If you are not sure, it is most likely the one that just flitted through your head for a split second when you read the word “scary”! It probably didn’t stick around because scary can be uncomfortable
What Is A Bucket List?
The root of the bucket list is actually kind of weird and maybe a little bit morbid. It stems from the idea of listing our all of the things you’d like to do and experience before you, well… Kick the bucket!
Kind of a tough thought but really, when it’s over, it’s over! Life was given to us to be LIVED!
Bucket lists are great because:
- They make you stop and think about what you really want to do, experience, and achieve in your life
- They are a great reminder that life is short and you should live it passionately and with intention.
- They keep you in touch with your dreams and encourage you to get creative and curious!
The key to a successful bucket list… is to remove the limits from your mind!
Get it out of your head for a moment about what you “think” is possible… and dream BIG!
Really, when we think about it… Why would we want it any other way?
Why do we want to live just and “average” “safe” life?
I ask myself this all the time… If I don’t do this for me… who will?
What Is Your “Story”?
What is the story you are telling yourself about why you haven’t done this bucket list item?
- I am not brave enough
- I don’t have what it takes
- What if I fail
- I am not an athlete
- I don’t have the money
What have you already convinced yourself of? What is the story holding you back?
When you think about it, this story is just that… a story. It is not even real. These are the things we, or someone else have been telling us our whole lives that we have chosen to believe. Often, we let the story tell us who we are!
As long as we hold on to this story, we have made it more important to us than getting out and living life. The truth is, we often can’t even entertain any other ideas of living life in any other way because this story is all we know .
The crazy thing, is the story is something we made up… So why can’t we just make up a new story?
All it takes to change the story, or many of the stories, we tell ourselves is to stop listening to the story in our heaads and challenge it!
Ask yourself… What good is thhis story doing for me?
Is it helping me grow or holding me back?
Is it lifting me up or squelching me down?
Does it make me excited or scared?
Do I feel like an amazing person when I listen to this story or do I feel inadequate?
Is Your Story Helping You or Holidng You Back?
The beliefs might be than “keeping us safe” or “protecting” us but in reality this “protection” is an illusion. It can be an excuse for staying comfortable.
So what if you DO fail? Who really cares?
The nay-sayers that helped create that story in your head?
The ones that are sitting at home not living life?
Why not consider “failing forward” this year? In every failure there is a huge lessoned learned and often more doors opening for new opportunities. At the very least, when you try something and fail, you will learn how not to do it that way again, or what you DON’T want for your life (Big lesson for me this year).
In my book, these discoveries are actually WINS!
Who has time or desire to keep beating their head against the wall to be successful at something they discover they don’t really want.
Why not try, fail, discover and move on! Whether this be a new career, an adventure, a physical test, a new relationship, a new hobby… Whatever it is, just break through the story and TRY!
There is always a way. There is always a possibility. Other people have done it before you and I.
If you’ve never done the “thing” how do you know it won’t work… That’s simply the story telling you it won’t work.
The story is actually not even real… It is just our theory about what we’ve been told or been lead to believe (whether by ourselves or someone else) all of our lives.
Why are we holding on the the story? What good is it actually doing us?
It’s much easier not to try, but is it really WORTH it?
Now I agree this is not easy… Much like me sitting here in my warm, cozy bed next to my coffee cup writing this post, considering climbing out from under the blankets and enduring the chill of my 65 degree bedroom (the power is out – getting chillier by the minute) to get into my workout clothes so I can walk out into 1 foot of fresh snow ( and still snowing) to go to my gym and bust a move.
Why would I DO that. It’s going to be cold, my workout clothes aren’t nearly as fuzzy and comfy as my fleece jammies, it’s lower body day and… snow!
But, just like the story I tell myself, I’ve got to peel off the snuggly bathrobe to experience whatever it is that waits for me on the other side of that workout…
An invigorated mood?
A revved up mindset?
The creative thoughts I get while working out ( which could then open up a whole other realm of possibilities to be brave about) ?
The satisfaction of being stronger than my pillow top mattress? A better booty 😉
Think about this… Those people you see on Instagram and Facebook doing amazing things aren’t any different than you!
They’re not.
They simply made the choice to live life. Now, you might be saying, “well, the make more money than me and can afford to do those things” But is it possible that they made different priorities with their money to make these things possible? Or maybe they chose a career path intentionally that would allow them to do these things. It is not too late for that! You know the phrase, where there is a will there IS a way and these days with the internet at our fingertips there are SO many ways so see our “will” come to fruition.
So here is a little personal story for you. (If you want to skip my story just scroll down to “Let’s get to the bucket list” further on down the post)
23 years ago (at 23 years old) I found myself a divorced single parent of one amazing child who was 1 ½ years old at the time. I lived in a small town that I had just recently moved to from the San Francisco Bay Area where there were LOTS of opportunities for a girl with a degree in Exercise Physiology and emphasis in corporate wellness and Fire Science Technology (Yes, I was going to be a firefighter when I grew up). Upon moving to the small town I found that there were no facilities for women firefighters and VERY few corporations to grace with all of my fantastic ideas on wellness! Haha… Bummer.
It was time to rewrite the story. All I knew was I didn’t want to be a single mother working 60-70 hours a week and a “job” just to barely get by (maybe) and not see my son. NO! I wasn’t having it! I had to make some things happen… Some scary bucket list kind of things. Driving and hour each way 3x a week to get a massage license, getting roommates to help pay my mortgage so I could pay for massage school, asserting myself back into the fitness industry in a small town without a ton of options…
I’m telling you this to say that I eventually (with God’s grace) an awesome little life. I do what I love, my gym is 30 steps from my front door. I have a very supportive husband and two more awesome kids… BUT, I a began to lose sight of some things while DOING.
I began to work so hard to create “more awesome life” and actually created another “job” for myself. The exact thing I set out NOT to do so long ago. I began to let go of the things that create enjoyment in life and replace them with a big, huge, ridiculous “to do” list every single day
Here is the story I keep telling myself around this…”My value and worth is based on how productive I am each day. I must create MORE awesome life”. I have no idea where that lame story came from but I repeatedly see myself measuring the quality of my day by how much I got done. But what about the people in my life? What did I contribute to them?
One thing on my bucket list this year is to stop working so much and get out and ENJOY the life that I set myself up with as a self employed personal trainer. I am going to actually list out what this enjoyment will look like for myself throughout this year…
More time at the beach, less time on the laptop.
More time having coffee with neat people in person, less time thinking “I’m too busy”.
More time being in the moment, less time being preoccupied with a to- do list.
More time being “Ok” with things as they are, Less time writing that “to do” list.
More time rating myself as successful by my experiences, less time calculating my productivity.
I will list specifically what this looks like and put these things on my calendar as PRIORITIES so they get done!
I will find ways to surge ahead in my local studio business without forgetting to LIVE
I will double check every choice or task and ask myself “Will this eventually bring be both growth in business AND enjoyment in life?”
Now, that’s just me. This may not be your thing but I KNOW this is something I need to do. I need to be ok with setting aside the to do list and really experiencing the simple things.
I am telling you this for my own accountability and to maybe stir up some ideas for you.
Let’s Get To The Bucket List
So, the first step is to brainstorm ideas and try to think of things you’d like to do this year as if there are no limitations.
Your bucket list should get you excited. It should stir up some emotion inside of you- if it doesn’t, then don’t add it to your list!
But I am not saying to bite off the big mack daddy of bucket list items right off the get go… Some of these things will take time BUT if you start to do a brave thing today, and invest in yourself – whether it me time, money or intention – you will begin to see that your eyes and your mind are open to more and more “Yes”es leading to a fuller life!
Who doesn’t want a fuller life?
So, the first step is to brainstorm ideas and try to think of things you’d like to do this year as if there are no limitations.
Your bucket list should get you excited. It should stir up some emotion inside of you- if it doesn’t, then don’t add it to your list!
Now, ask yourself…
- What would life be like if I actually DID that thing?
- Would I think about myself differently?
- Would I see life differently?
- Would it open up new opportunities for me – then leading to more opportunities?
I want to know now, are you willing to poke holes in this story you tell yourself?
Are you willing to disprove what you believe today about the path your life is going to take?
Are you ready to prove yourself wrong?
All of the above take COURAGE!
To avoid having too much on your list this year, try putting just one thing on your list for each month or quarter of the year. This way, you have a plan for something fun and exciting and life won’t get away from you!
Are you up for trying something new this year and challenging yourself with a 2018 bucket list!?
Are you willing to prove yourself wrong this year? Are you willing to rewrite the story to really start living and experiencing the things.
How To Organize your List
I love to use a page in my Passion Planner – The best planner EVER!! ( And you can use code Missi432 for 10% off at checkout
This way, when a great idea strikes I can jot it down quickly so I won’t forget and miss an amazing opportunity
OK! It is your turn.
Go do a brain dump of the things you would do and move fast enough that the stories in yoru head don’t stop you from writing it down!
