After the movie The Bucket List a lot of big dreamers, myself included, wrote down a scraggly list of “things to do before death” and stuck it on the fridge to immortalise our life goals, and remind ourselves to do them….some day.
The problem with a bucket list is that, though it sets goals, they aren’t accompanied by any deadlines, so it’s very easy to never get around to actioning any of them. Without any defined timeframe in which to complete each task, it’s almost impossible to find the motivation to make any of them happen. The idea of a bucket list is that you sit down, compile a list of things that you want to do before you kick ‘the bucket’ and then put the list somewhere with the intention of doing those things…at some stage: preferably before you are in a retirement home, drooling into a cup and unable to remember your own name. Bucket lists are something you keep in a drawer in case you ever get diagnosed with a terminal illness, but the Impossible List is different. You write a list of goals that you want to start aiming for right away – not because you are going to die, but because you are going to LIVE.
In the spirit of actually making the bucket list happen, I have created this “Impossible List” The idea is not mine, but rather was created by Joel Runyon, who decided that a bucket list needed to transcend its static state, and become an evolving, fluid list that builds on itself and is constantly in progress. (You can read more about the Impossible List here.) The idea is that the impossible list has small achievements that you can work on right now, mark off and then progress to the next goal. Goals are also added onto it throughout life, when smaller goals are achieved, when opportunities present themselves, or when your life changes direction and you feel that fresh priorities need to be included.
The following is my Impossible List. It’s obviously a very personal list, but public accountability is encouraged so that the motivation for achieving these goals is higher. I’ve divided it up into sections, and have left the ‘travel’ section until last, since it accounts for almost half of the list itself.
I will be striking out items as they are achieved!
Graduate with a diplomaGraduate with a degreeGet accepted into my master’s degreeBe accepted into an overseas university for undergraduate studiesReceive a partial scholarship (Eight!)Receive a full scholarshipBe a mentor for another student- Study abroad
Finish my arts diploma in English- Present a paper at a conference
- Present a paper at a conference overseas
- Graduate with a Masters Degree
- Get accepted into a PhD program
- Graduate with a PhD
- Present my research at a university
Get a tutoring position- Get an adjunct position
- Get a tenure track position
- Go overseas for research
Write a tertiary course
Writing / Reading Goals:
- Read 52 books in a year
- Read every book on Rory’s Book List
- Write a children’s book
Write content for an appHave an e-book I ghost-wrote publishedHave a tree book I ghost-wrote published- Have a fiction book I wrote published
- e-book
- hardcover
- Have a non-fiction book I wrote published
- e-book
- hardcover
- Have a book I wrote made into an audiobook
Edit a magazineRead a poem I wrote aloud in front of othersGet a book signed by a favourite author- Attend a writer’s conference
Be accepted into the New Zealand Author’s SocietyJoin Christian Writer’s NZBe the editor of a newspaper- Plan and take part in a literary pilgrimage
- Attend a writer’s group
- Go on a writer’s retreat
- Complete NaNoWriMo
- Start a niche blog
- Write a play which is performed on stage
- Mardi Gras, New Orleans
- Super Bowl
- San Diego Comic Con
- A Broadway Musical
- A West End Musical
- An Olympic Opening Ceremony
- A Drive-In Movie
- The Macy’s Parade
A Steampunk event, in costume- A Cirque Du Soleil show
A Fashion Show- Attend a show at the Pop-Up Globe Theatre
- Be a prison aid or chaplain
Get marriedHave a child3!4!
- Own a Brussels Griffon
- Learn to Moonwalk
- Get my full driver’s license
Gain 100 YouTube Subscribers- 250
- 500
- 1000
- 2000
- 5000
- 10000
- Meet my grandchildren
Take a film class- Live in another country for at least six months
Record a song in a studio- Write a song
Perform on stage- Take an art class
Be a DJ for a day- Achieve fluency in:
- French
- Te Reo Maori
- Solve a Rubik’s cube
Own a designer purseOwn a designer handbag- Be an extra in a movie
Ride in a limo- Lose weight
- 10 kilos
- 20 kilos
- 30 kilos
- 45 kilos
- Go on a cruise (preferably Disney)
Celebrate my 10 year wedding anniversary- 20
- 30
- 40
- 50
- Get professionally fitted for a bra
Meet a celebrityAttend a red carpet premierGo to a concert- Buy an Amish quilt
- Have a professional photo shoot
- Watch the IMDB Top 250 Movies
- Cook every dish in a cookbook
- Have a White Christmas
- Visit a ghost town
- Master dancing ‘The Robot’
Entertain the elderly at a Rest Home- Serve food at a soup kitchen
- Serve food to the homeless on Queen St
- Start a charity
Join a church music team- Commit a random act of kindness every day for a month
- for a year
- Live off our own garden grown vegetables exclusively, for 3 months
- For 6 months
- For a year
- Read the Bible from cover to cover
Meet the Dalai Lama
Go to a Disney Park- Go to Walt Disney World
- Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum
- Stay in a Disney hotel
- Take a class at the Walt Disney Animation Studio
- Become an annual passport holder
- Make all the meals in a Disney cookbook
- Go on a Disney cruise
- Wear only Disney clothes for a month
- Visit Walt Disney Studios in California
- Watch every Disney film, in order of their original release
- Paint Disney nails
- Visit Disneyland at Christmas
- Visit every Disneyland on earth
California- Florida
- Tokyo
- Paris
- Hong Kong
- See a Disney Broadway show
- Attend a D23 convention
See a Disney on Ice showHave a Disney themed room in my home
- Eat at every Hard Rock Cafe on earth
- New Zealand
HobittonAttend a show at the Civic TheatreTe PapaGo to Rainbow’s EndMotatSky Tower- Go Skiing at SnowPlanet
- Visit Weta Workshops
Howick Historical VillageSee a display at the Stardome ObservatoryTip Top Factory- Visit the Holy Trinity Cathedral
Fairymead
- Go Swimming in Every Ocean
Pacific- Atlantic
- Indian
- Arctic
- Antarctic
- Visit all 50 US States
- 48 to go
Visit AustraliaMelbourneGold CoastBrisbane- Uluru
- Sydney
- Opera House
- Bondi Beach
- Harbour Bridge
- Port Jackson
- Fly First Class
- Visit 10 Countries
- Visit 20 Countries
- Visit 50 Countries
- Visit 100 Countries
- Visit Las Vegas
- Walk the Strip
- See a Show
- Caesar’s Palace
- Planet Hollywood
- Hard Rock
- Graceland Wedding Chapel
- Visit Massachusetts
- Mark Twain House
- Salem
- Bewitched Statue
- Harvard
- Yale
- Plymouth Rock
- Visit Pennsylvania
- Buy an Amish Quilt
- Liberty Bell
- Dutch Wonderland
- Hershey
Visit HawaiiWaikiki Beach, HonoluluGot Lei’d!Pearl HarbourHard Rock Cafe, HonoluluIHOP- Jurassic Park filming locations
- See the pink hotel
- Visit New York
- Grand Central Station
- Niagara Falls
- Time Square
- Central Park
- Empire State Building
- Statue of Liberty
- Rockefeller Center
- Museum of Natural History
- Guggenheim
- Ground Zero
- Chinatown
- Radio City Music Hall
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Madison Square Garden
- Chrysler Building
- Washington Square Park
- Visit Washington
- Thomas Jefferson Memorial
- White House
- Smithsonian Museum
- Capitol
- Lincoln Memorial
- Washington Monument
- Madame Tussauds DC
- Visit Tennessee
- Grand Ole Opry
- Sun Studio
- Graceland
- Visit Florida
- Walt Disney World
- Universal Orlando
- World of Harry Potter
- Kennedy Space Center
- Visit Arizona
- Grand Canyon
- Red Rock State Park
- Monument Valley
- Visit Utah
- Meet Extended Family!
- Temple Square
Visit CaliforniaUniversal Studios- MGM Studios
- Disney Studios
Warner Bros. StudioHollywood Walk of FameMadame Tussauds Hollywood- Santa Monica Pier
- Newport Beach
Hollywood MuseumDisneyland and Disney Downtown DistrictDisneyland California ParkHard Rock, LALegolandSunset Boulevard, Hollywood BoulevardCelebrity Homes TourTitanic MuseumRide in a yellow taxiDrive up the 101Go to WallmartVenice BeachSee the Playboy MansionMarilyn Monroe’s grave
- Other US
- Mount Rushmore
- Drive Route 66
- Stand on the Four Corners
- Ride a cable car in San Francisco
- Visit Italy
- Trevi Fountain
- Tower of Pisa
- Ride a Gondola in Venice
- See Michaelangelo’s David
- No 17 Basilica of St Francis of Assisi
- Write Something For Juliet’s Wall, Verona
- Colosseum
- Pantheon
- Vatican City
- Visit Austria
- Sound of Music tour
- Visit Egypt
- Pyramids of Giza
- Sphynx
- Sinai
- Visit The Holy Land
- Float in the Dead Sea
- Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Sea of Galilee
- Dome of the Rock
- Mount of Beatitudes
- Golgotha Hill
- Western Wall
- Church of the Nativity
- Garden Tomb
- Gethsemane
- Mount of Olives
- Petra
- Visit France
- Notre Dame
- Moulin Rouge
- Crazy Horse
- Eiffel Tower
- Louvre
- Disneyland Paris
- Paris Opera House
- Monet’s home in Giverny
- Versailles
- Arc De Triomphe
- Sacre-Coeur
- Visit London
- Abbey Road
- Buckingham Palace
- Ride a Double Decker
- Use a Red Phone Box
- Go on the London Eye
- Madame Tussauds London
- Tower Bridge
- Big Ben
- Westminster Abbey
- Trafalgar Square
- Globe Theatre
- Harrods
- Wembley
- The Shard
- Charles Dicken’s Old Curiosity Shop
- Charles Dickens Museum
- Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
- Platform 9 ¾
- Other UK
- Stonehenge
- Chawton House
- White Cliffs of Dover
- Ireland
- Oscar Wilde’s House
- Titanic Museum in Belfast
- Scotland
- Loch Ness
- Rosslyn Chapel
- Bath
- Roman Baths
- Jane Austen Centre
- The Circle
- Visit Gisbourne
- Meet whanau
- See my grandfather’s picture hanging in Penu marae
- Stand on the Maori land my family inherits
- Visit India
- Taj Mahal
- Visit Netherlands
- Meet Stephen’s extended family
- Eat at Lekke Ite
- Anne Frank’s house
- Van Gogh Museum
- Visit Germany
- Visit Belgium
- Visit Denmark
- Hans Christian Andersen House
- The Little Mermaid
- Legoland
my gosh, youll need to live to 300 and win the lotto twice!
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