Complete your bucket list by outsourcing it

Wayne Clelland joins us again as guest blogger on Realise Your Dream…

Following on from Peter Kelly’s earlier blog entitled ‘Where are you going’, an article about goal setting and how to achieve those goals, and Mark Teale achieving his goal of running in a marathon in South Africa, I wanted to shine a little extra light on the subject.

Personal goal setting has evolved into what is now referred to as ‘creating a bucket list’. Essentially a list of things you want to see, do or achieve before you die. It used to be 10 things to see before you die. I stopped at nine because I didn’t want to tempt fate. Now-a-days, one hundred seems to be the magic number.

Personally I’m not a great advocate of generating wish lists. They can be quite stressful and frustrating. What if you’re lying on your death bed and you still have three things to do?

I do however, have the antithesis of a bucket list. It consists of activities or events which are unpleasant, abominable, detestable and pointless. Events which have robbed me of precious time that I will never get back. They are things that you never ever want to go to, see, visit or take part in ever again. Like watching an under 8s ribbon twirling and hoop spinning competition at the CWA temperance hall on a Wednesday evening in May when you could be at the local pub watching the Maroons beat the Blues in a State of Origin match.

To be honest I haven’t actually been to a ribbon twirling competition but I have it on my antithesis list just in case it rears its ugly head.

However, the point of this article is not to belittle or deride those who wish to follow their dreams and aspirations. No, it’s for those people who want to achieve greatness…but in the shortest time possible. Get that bucket list ticked off and out of the road so you can get on with life, I say!!

When developing your list be as imaginative, challenging and creative as you can. There are no boundaries here. This isn’t about you, it’s about creating a list that will impress and astound your friends and family alike.

The most important factors which will help you achieve these outstanding feats are:
 

• Persistence. You don’t want to end up as a failure on life’s scrapheap. Don’t give up. But remember, you can always change your goal. As the founder of a well renowned pre-mixed concrete company once said ‘Nothing is set in stone you know’.
• Creativity, adaptability and flexibility. Pythagoras, the ‘father’ of mathematics and an exceptional lateral thinker was famous for saying, “Try to think outside the dodecahedron”. Remember, there is more than one way to skin a cat…Not that I’m suggesting that should be one of your goals.
• A Thesaurus. This allows you to choose your words carefully to help guarantee success.

So how do we go about completing such a large list?

There are two guiding principles to remember:

• Only attempt those goals that are easy to achieve and enjoyable to do; and
• Outsource those seemingly impossible goals to someone more willing, determined and capable (e.g. family, friends, strangers).

So, let’s take a look at some bucket list goals and how my approach may assist their completion.

Your goal: Rise early and commence a fitness program.
This is all about persistence. If you sleep in that’s okay, try again the next day. That is what persistence is all about. Note that there is no time frame. That is what flexibility is all about and you don’t need to complete the program, only commence it.

 

Your goal: Experience the conditions at the Base Camp on Mount Everest
You don’t want to actually be ‘at the base camp’ you merely want to experience what the conditions would be like there. Be creative. Sitting naked in a freezer, with a fan blowing on you while you try to heat a mug of tea using a box of matches would probably be a good approximation. N.B This one could be outsourced if you don’t like the cold.

Your goal: To compete in a marathon.
Use your Thesaurus. According to the Thesaurus, compete also means to participate, which in turn means to join in or contribute. To achieve this goal you will need to rise early (see ‘persistence’). Position yourself somewhere along the course and clap loudly as the runners pass. Say things like ‘I’m with you all of the way’. The more you clap the more you participate (compete) in the marathon. A classic example of outsourcing your bucket list to strangers. N.B. You can also enter a marathon. Simply pay the entry fee and then refer back to the guidelines for persistence. Never have a goal of actually racing in a marathon. That would be utterly ridiculous, totally unachievable and not capable of even being outsourced.
Some other examples to inspire you…

Your goal: Drop 3 dress sizes.
Go to your nearest fashion boutique. Take sizes 20, 18, and 16 dresses off the rack. Drop them on the floor.

Your goal: Experience a feeling of weightlessness.
Try losing 5 kilograms

Your goal: See the world.
Buy an atlas

Your goal: Sail solo around the world.
According to the Thesaurus, sail means to go in a boat, and solo means single or unaccompanied. Book yourself into a single cabin on the Queen Mary II. Sit back and enjoy the 120 day around the world cruise.

You will have that bucket list completed in no time.

Wayne Clelland
Wayne has been involved in the financial advice industry for too many years to mention (easily over 20!) Prior to working in financial advice industry Wayne worked for a number of years as a nurse and a nurse educator so has a wonderful wealth of knowledge and experience. Spending most of early life in regional Australia, Wayne brings a dry wit and candor to Realise Your Dream.