So much of my life, I’ve just kind of let life happen to me. And I said I would never be “that” person who frolicked through life with no real intent… and here I am. I’ve lazily frolicked and I’m so ready to be awake and shaking my groove thing into the future. And also soaking up each moment I have with my friends and family.
But over the last few years I’ve been recognizing I need to be more intentional in how I show up and with what I want to accomplish.
And knowing that I’ll be 40 in 3.5 years was a HUGE wake-up call. It really got me thinking about what I want to do with my life. But it also has me thinking about the example I am for my kids and what I’m doing to show them how to get out of their comfort zone, how to “fail” and keep on moving.
I thought, what better way for me to be an example, to live more and laugh more and get out of my comfort zone than to make a list and do all the things.
And there is no real rhyme or reason with how I’ve chosen this list. There were a few non-negotiables that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time (hello Bora bora) and others that came up when I was “researching.”
Spoiler alert: I googled a bunch of things people do before milestone years. And it helped me to finish this list off!
My 40 Before 40 Bucket List
I’m not holding the expectation that it needs to get done, but I’m setting the intention to get as many done as possible. However, I will be be grateful, excited and pumped to get done what I can. And of course, to share it with you too!
There are a few that are priorities and I’ll share those as we go 🙂
Here is my 40 before 40 list:
- Take a cooking class – I took an online one this past year but I’d like to do an in person one this fall at this place in Milwaukee I’ve been following for years
- Skydive
- Parasail
- Take an Improv Class
- Take singing lessons
- Become a millionaire – (including net worth – house, retirement, savings, etc)
- Move into our until the kids graduate high school/college house – This was done this year! Woot woot!
- Forgive people who have hurt me (knowingly & unknowingly) and forgive myself
- Speak at a live event
- Get a nose piercing
- Buy a boat
- See the northern lights
- Go on a safari
- Publish a book
- Go on a ski trip with family & friends
- Publish 100 articles
- Publish 100 YouTube videos
- Go on a vacation without anyone – and not just locally
- Enjoy an expensive bottle of sweet wine
- Shower in a waterfall – this feels incredibly sensual and grounding
- Go in a hot air balloon
- Get my pilot's license
- Go bungee jumping
- Go on a meditation retreat
- Do a DIY project on our house
- Create 30 new recipes and share them with you
- Do an all weekend spa experience
- Go on a “honeymoon” with my husband (we never took one)
- New York at Christmas – specifically AFTER they put up the Christmas tree
- Start my Christmas Blog/Website – this is in the works right now!
- Watch the sunset in Santorini
- Do a 100% full arm pull-up
- Go on a mom-son trip with my son
- Go on a mom-daughter trip with my daughter
- Help each of my children cross off one of their bucket list items (my son wants to go to Bali and my daughter wants to go to Paris)
- Dance in the rain
- Stay at a luxury resort at Christmas and participate in the festivities
- Go to Bora Bora
- See Beyonce live (and meet her)
- Get featured on a TV show
Is it funny that #32 I think is going to be the HARDEST one to accomplish out of all of these? Even when I was in the BEST shape of my life, a full pull-up was not possible. While this might feel like the hardest, I know that I’ll be working on this one the most.
As I started to get my juices flowing and it made me incredibly grateful. I was sharing this list with my hubby and he said, “You know, you’ve already done some of these things.” And he’s right. What I'll do is share what I've already done above and then for the ones that need more explaining, I'll share that too!
In conclusion, I can’t wait to share my updates with you as I cross some of these off my list. And of course, I wanna know… do you have a bucket list? Are there things you want to do before a certain age? Or just in general? Share in the comments below!
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