Your Bucket List's True Purpose

Call it a “Bucket List” “Dream List” or just “A List of Random Stuff I want to do before I’m dead!” They are programs and goals you have in your life to accomplish things you have always wanted to do.

I’ve always been a “list” guy so I’m all about formulating these in my life.  I think they motivate, inspire, and invigorate people and I always love asking others what is on theirs.  It leads to fun, engaging, and exciting conversations.

When we start tapping into our passions and do things we love every day I think getting excited about having a list like this is easy because it seems possible to start doing stuff now rather than waiting until retirement to begin the process.

Looking back from eight or nine years ago here’s a few things I put on my list:

1)Run a Marathon…we will get back to this one in a moment…yes my knees are still sore four days later but no injuries and all toenails are intact!!

2)Write a book

3)Drink red wine in Italy

4)Launch something in my community for kids that matters

5)See the Egyptian Pyramids

6)Bill more in a year than any person in history at the radio station

7)Wear a hot dog suit on the cover of the book I write (Wait I actually don’t know how the whole hot dog costume got so out of control…but I like it!)

8)Grow relationships with your family and friends

9)Friend a homeless person

10)Climb a big ass mountain!

On and on the list went and I’m grateful that a lot of the list has been getting crossed off and more has been added and even a few have been subtracted because they are no longer important to me.

But the true purpose of your bucket list isn’t about ourselves I’ve realized.  

The real purpose of it is for you to learn about yourself, become inspired in your life, and do something as a result of the list that helps others around you in the world!

I ran my first marathon last Sunday (well I power walked a few miles when my left knee said “What the hell are you doing to me man?!”).  If you are unfamiliar with the Columbus Marathon you can check out a brief video HERE on it but it is a few hours of excitement, smiles, tears, pain, and laughs all mixed up into big pile of wild emotions.  I totally recommend a half or a full marathon if you haven’t done one!

But I’ve heard people say that it can be a selfish deed.  All of those hours training, spent running by yourself or with a small team, and taking so much time to just “run”.  I agree.

IF

You don’t take anything from it when it’s over.  But if you do learn from it running one can serve such a larger purpose for the world.  

What did running a marathon teach me?

1)It taught me that physically I can do anything in this world if I put my mind to it.  

2)It also showed me how grateful I should feel for my health and there are a lot of sick children out there that we need to help.  

3)The power of community is stronger than ever and we can launch something from the ground up to help and people will embrace it if it makes sense.

4)There’s a strong desire for healthy living out there still no matter what the obesity stats might say.

5)Young, old, white, black, asian, male, female, rich, or poor it’s never too late to start doing something that matters and it’s never too early to start either.

And that’s the true purpose of a bucket list.  When you scratch an item off of it to be able to look back at it and have takeaways which then lead to action.

Speaking of action I have a couple visiting every National Park in America all set for my newsletter next Wednesday.  Sign up HERE to join the crew, hear their story, and get my 2nd book free!

It can’t just stop with the takeaways though.  It needs action.

The action step I offer you today is look at the next thing you want to do on your “list” and formulate a plan to do it.  After you do it come up with five takeaways that you learned from it and an action step to put one of those takeaways into motion to help a friend, your community, or the whole world!

Your bucket list’s true purpose is that it can become the whole world’s bucket list if you let it!

Email Mike@MarketingFunWithMike.com if you are stuck on your list of takeaways or how you can turn it into an idea.  Or leave your comments below to let others in the crew help out.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

If you want to demand Carpe Diem from yourself…you are in the right place…

Mike