On Bucket Lists, Goals and Following Through

You’ve had it on your list for years now. I can’t see it on there again! This is the year it’s going to happen.

This was the conversation with my friend Christine that led to the moment when I signed up for my first half marathon. A crazy life moment slowly occurred as I entered my credit card details and clicked ‘confirm.’ It didn’t feel like it, but it did because I was following through on a goal.

I’m someone who makes goals almost constantly. I add to my Life List regularly and make a list of goals on every birthday (see: 26 Things to Do Before Turning 26) that I want to accomplish before the next one. Some are small, like donating blood for the first time, and others are big, like traveling around Asia.

I’ve thought a lot about bucket lists and goals lately. There are so many people, myself included, that set goals for themselves and their lives at random, adding items to a list that they probably will never get around to. They’re things like climbing Mount Everest or sailing around the world.

Before you get the wrong idea, there is nothing wrong with having a bucket list. I have one myself, as you may have seen. But what frustrates me to no end is to see people say they’ve always wanted to do something when they know deep down that they’ll never follow through. Do you want to spend a working holiday in Australia or get scuba certified in Mexico? Then do it! You’re the only one standing between you and your goals.

Decide What’s Important to You

Don’t set any goals for yourself that you don’t actually want to do. I tell myself that it would be cool if I got a job in international politics, but is that what I really want? No. It isn’t. The items I’ve included in my Life List or yearly goals can be broken down into a few categories: travel, life and career.

Others might not get excited about going on a Jane Austen tour of England, but it’s something I would love to do at some point. So before you assemble any sort of bullet points or list, ask yourself a few questions.

What do I really want to do? In the words of elementary school, eyes on your own paper. Don’t let anyone else influence your goals.

Will these goals or list items better my life? Look for goals to push you outside of your comfort zone. If you’ve always wanted to be a writer, push yourself to pitch your first article within the month.

Do they say something about me as a person and my interests? If you’re not interested in hiking, don’t list “hike the Appalachian Trail” as one of your goals. Choose what you’re passionate about.

Am I including this item because it will impress others or because my friends are doing it? I will admit that I started running and signing up for races to have something in common with my friends. But now, it’s more to prove that I can do it.

Am I willing to make the commitment to accomplish my goal, even if it means sacrificing time and money to do so? Change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s in the early morning wake ups and late night sessions and certainly doesn’t come cheap.

Hold Yourself Accountable

I’ve been reading a free e-book called Stop Making Excuses and Start Running by the fabulous Nicole Antoinette of Life Less Bullshit. In it she talks about accountability propelling you towards your goals. You should be accountable to yourself, but also have people to make sure you follow through with them. In this particular book, it’s about talking to your friends about your running goals, but she also talked about how she has used her blog as a way to do the same.

External accountability requires you to tell at least one person what your goals are, what you’re changing in your life to make them happen, and why. Mothers, brothers, best friends, blog audiences– there are tons of choices for who to pick to keep you accountable– and you can tell as many or as few people as you’d like, but you have to tell at least one person.

– Nicole Antoinette

Follow Through

It’s time to take my own advice. Once you say on the Internet, “I’m running a half marathon,” you pretty much have to do it. I’ve had this goal on my Life List and subsequent lists since 2010. I ran my first 5K in 2009 and my first 10K in 2010. Since then, I’ve run a race every month for a year.

Running and walking are certainly not new to me, but this level of commitment is. I start training this week and have a general time goal in mind, but I just want to finish. I’ll need your help to keep me accountable as I prepare, adapting my schedule to include workouts when I would normally be blogging, for my first half marathon in March 2014.

I am willingly admitting that working towards this goal scares the hell out of me, but that’s the thing about life-changing experiences: they should scare you.

What big, scary goals have you followed through with?