Setting Goals: Creating a Life List or a Bucket List

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by Mom It Forward on January 3rd, 2019 | 1 Comment »

This was first published in 2011 and we reshared because of the fabulous tips that are extremely relevant. I attended Camp Mighty this last year in Southern California for a fun retreat with fun and creative people. The camp was kicked off by doing a group service project for Charity Water.

In the weeks before Camp Mighty, we were divided into teams and raised funds for wells to bring clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. The hope was to start getting to know each other, while we used our collective talents to do something cool before we even met.

Once we were at the camp, we spent an afternoon renewing and creating a life list. The goal was to come to the camp with a list that included 100 things that you wanted to accomplish. At the retreat, we broke that down to our top five goals and then went around the room and verbally shared those items with our group.

This was a very vulnerable activity for me. Over the last few years, I have held back from creating, wanting, and expressing my dreams. We have had a devastating business loss, children that were struggling, and health issues in our family. I am realizing that I had shut down a side of me that takes chances and dreams. I have been reactive instead of proactive.

I pushed through the activity and realized that as we shared our dreams verbally with the group, the people in the group were very supportive and willing to help make those dreams a reality. One woman shared that she wanted to go to New York and start a business. A woman in the group that said she lived in New York and she could come and stay with her for a short time. Another woman was struggling to get her business off the ground and make a profit. Immediately another person said he had several successful businesses going and that he would be willing to help her develop a business plan that could help her business. I was amazed at the love and generosity that complete strangers had for one another. This proved to be a very productive exercise.

What I learned from this experience was that in order for your dreams to come true, you have to express them. You also need to develop a plan or strategy to accomplish them.

What goals or things do you want to accomplish this year?

5 Ways to Make Your Life List Come True

Take some time alone to write them down, dream, and express them. I spent time in a yurt meditating and visualizing the things I wanted to accomplish in my life. I did this at Camp Mighty.
Break down your list and focus on your top 5 goals.
Find a mentor that will help you accomplish each of your goals. We all need a little help from time to time, or someone to check up on us. Find a mentor for each item on your list and reach out to them and ask them to hold you accountable.
Make a commitment today! Once of the biggest reasons why people fail is they don't make a commitment to see it through. They want everything to be perfect before they start their goal.
Make an action list. Brainstorm every possible thing you need to do in order to accomplish your goal. If you want to work out more, your brain storming list might look like this:

Go to the gym 4 days a week
Cut out sugar from my diet
Eat more fruits and vegetables
Reduce food portions

Once you have written everything down go back through the list and break it down even more. Create a list of simple action items for each thing. For example, "Go to the gym" may become:

On Monday take Zumba class at 8am
Tuesday go to 6am Yoga class

Review this list often so you can add or revise it.

Type out a statement and put it in a place you will see everyday. Put it on your fridge or your bathroom mirror. It could read, "I promise that I will do one thing, even if it is a small thing, every day. I will review my list often, and if I need to change a goal or revise my goals, I will do it so that I can be successful. I will be successful in accomplishing my goals this year!"

Create a life list or a bucket list today. Allow yourself to dream about the things that you want to accomplish or do in your life. Take the first steps towards making these New Years Resolutions really come true.