Anna S. E. Lundberg

Coach, Speaker, Writer

100 Things to Do Before You Die: How to write your own bucket list

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It’s exactly two years since I wrote my bucket list while travelling in South America; I had been watching the film with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and felt inspired to create my own list of things I want to do before I die. Since then, I’ve been working on ticking things off, while the list itself has also evolved over time. I almost feel like I don’t need it anymore, since doing random fun things is becoming more of a habit, but I still enjoy doing things on this list!

So here’s what I’ve done since I wrote the list two years ago:

Northern lights
Magic in the Arctic Circle: seeing the aurora borealis in Swedish Lapland

5. Visit Iguazú Falls *DONE July 2013*
6. Fly over the Grand Canyon *DONE June 2015*
11. Witness the Northern Lights *DONE March 2015*
16. Go to Hobbiton and visit Weta in New Zealand *DONE November 2014*
17. Do a Thelma-and-Louise style US road trip. Without the suicidal ending. *DONE November 2014 – sort of! In New Zealand… and DONE again June 2015 in California/Nevada/Arizona*
38. Visit the glowworm caves in Waitomo *DONE November 2014*
41. Sing Evita songs in Buenos Aires *DONE July 2013*
53. Go paragliding *DONE August 2013*

Hot air balloon ride
Early morning balloon ride over Napa Valley, California

54. Fly in a hot air balloon *DONE June 2015*
55. Gallop across a field (on a horse. Not with coconuts à la Monty Python) *DONE July 2013*
83. Reach 1,000 Twitter followers *DONE May 2015*
95. Have a lead role in a musical *DONE directed and starred in Starlight Express in Geneva October 2013*
97. Find a snow globe of St Paul’s Cathedral like the one Mary Poppins has *DONE October 2014*

Only 87 more to go!

It’s actually surprisingly difficult to write your own list. Try it! I bet you’ll get stuck around 30 or 40 – at that point it requires a bit of creativity to keep going beyond the more obvious, often travel-inspired, goals.

I think a good list should have a mix of things that you can do quite easily, such as reading that book you’ve always wanted to read, and things that take more effort or time, like running a marathon or visiting every country in the world. So what have you always wanted to do? What would you wish you had done if you were to die tomorrow? Here are some ideas and categories to get you started…

Travel

An obvious one but an area that a lot of us want to do more of. Try being specific, rather than just listing countries you want to visit: What do you want to do there? When do you want to go? Who do you want to go with? Something particular you want to eat? What about the wonders of the world (Wikipedia has all sorts of different lists, including the original ancient wonders as well as the natural wonders, industrial wonders, etc.). Want to join Oktoberfest in Germany, National Cherry Festival in Japan, the Rio Carnival in Berlin? You might be able to fill the whole list just with travel!

Sports and fitness

Always wanted to learn to play a particular sport, like tennis, football, basketball? Are there sporting events you want to compete in, like a marathon or an ultra-marathon, a triathlon or Ironman…? Think beyond the obvious sports as well: what about rowing, cross-country skiing, archery? Want to get your sailing or diving licence? Or maybe do 50 push-ups, hold a plank for five minutes, or reach your goal weight?

Adventure

What about “extreme” sports and activities like skydiving, bungee jumping, kite surfing? Dog sledging in the Arctic Circle? Want to go rafting down the Colorado River? Swimming with dolphins? Hiking to Mount Everest?

Food

Ever tried snails or oysters? How about taking a cooking class in Tuscany? Going wine tasting in Napa? Catching your own fish and eating it? Eating at a three-starred Michelin restaurant? Having afternoon tea at a posh London hotel?

Transportation

Want to drive that Formula 1 car, or why not a Harley Davidson? What about riding on the Orient Express or the Trans-Siberian Railway? Or flying in a hot-air balloon or in a private jet? Have you ridden in a Tuk-tuk in Asia or in a gondola in Venice?

Books and films

Do you want to read every one of Jane Austen’s books or William Shakespeare’s plays? What about religious texts like the Bible and the Quran? Maybe you want to watch every one of the James Bond films or watch a series back-to-back? Or visit the location of your favourite film?

Music

Did you always want to learn to play the piano, or the alto sax? Again, be specific, for example is there a particular song you want to be able to play (I want to learn to play Somewhere over the Rainbow on the ukulele)? Do you want to perform in front of a certain number of people? Try karaoke for the first time?

Entertainment

Want to watch a Wimbledon game or attend the Superbowl live? See a West End or Broadway musical or see an iconic band live before they retire? How about being a member of a TV studio audience or even a game show contestant? Going to a drive-in movie?

General knowledge and education

Ever had the ambition to learn all the world’s countries and their capitals or perhaps the US states and their capitals? What about the world’s flags? The 88 official constellations? How about memorising the periodic table? Want to be able to count to ten, or say hello, in 100 languages? What about learning to code?

Family and relationships

It’s easy to forget this one but if you have goals in this area then why not include them! Want a big wedding? Five children? Think of smaller goals to: want to call your mum once a week? Get back in touch with an old school friend? Want a dog?

Giving and volunteering

Want to do a charity walk? Build a house with Habitat for Humanity? Volunteer in a soup kitchen? Be a mentor for someone? Donate £1,000 to a special cause?

Creativity

Want to knit a scarf, sew a dress? How about doing a sketching or a watercolour course? Taking a life drawing class? Fancy writing a novel? Starting a blog?

Career

Want to start your own business? Become CEO of a big corporation? Get a PhD? Be invited to speak at Ted? Have an article published?

Random

Ever wanted to get a tattoo? Ride a unicycle? Meet a childhood hero? Solve a Rubik’s Cube? Learn to juggle? Get married in Vegas? For some more imaginative ideas like delivering a baby, playing rugby naked and kissing a celebrity, have a look at Seb’s 100 things.

I hope that’s enough to get you started! Please share your own crazy ideas in the comments below…

Goodbye 2014: So how did you do on your theme for this year?

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Is it just me, or has this year gone by faster than any other year? Is this how it’s going to be now, each year going faster and faster as one year becomes a smaller and smaller portion of my life? When you’re little, one year is a big thing: you tell people you’re eight and three-quarters, almost nine! Now it’s just one of many…

For the first time last year, instead of writing a long list of resolutions that I would never keep, I defined a theme for the new year: FOLLOW-THROUGH. A theme is less restrictive than a list of action steps but still gives you a framework for making decisions throughout the year. So now it’s time to look back on 2014 and see how I’ve done – then tomorrow I’ll look ahead and define a new theme for 2015.

SUCCESSFUL FOLLOW-THROUGH IN 2014:

  • I maintained this blog, posting at least once a week and sometimes twice a week. I also started and sustained the Fearless Fridays series of interviews with people who have quit their corporate jobs to do something different.
  • I completed my MatadorU travel-writing course that I had started more than a year before but left to drag on.
  • I travelled to New Zealand to see my friend who has already been living there for almost two years. This also meant that I could tick off two items from my bucket list: Hobbiton and Weta and the Waitomo Glowworm Caves.
  • I went to two new countries, as is my goal every year: this year it was Malta and Malaysia – both highly recommended, by the way.
  • I stopped going to interviews for full-time jobs, said no to recruiters, and on 11th February I officially established my independent digital marketing consultancy. I’ve maintained a business blog on that site and completed several big client projects this year, keeping busy and gaining an income far above what I had expected during my first year of freelancing.
  • I joined a gym and got into a rhythm of going three times a week. I even went four times at my hotel during a weeklong beach holiday.
  • I read 36 books this year – not quite the 50 that I had set as a Goodreads challenge but definitely more than I’ve been reading these past few years.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT*:
*This is what we used to call weaknesses or failures at Procter & Gamble. Good, eh?

  • I stopped going to the gym when I left for my big trip in November and abandoned all attempt at eating healthily. Oops. My weight has crept, or rather leapt, up in the meantime.
  • My big consultancy projects meant that I was busy and didn’t always make time for writing, working on my business website, or making plans to grow the business.
  • Although I’ve been blogging quite conscientiously, I sent off only one article for publication and I haven’t even started on any of my book ideas.

All in all, I’ve had a great year and I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. Going independent was absolutely the right decision for me and has brought new challenges, opportunities, and friends. I’ve worked hard but also had plenty of time to spend with my family and to travel. I think I’ve shown dedication both at work and at home, and I’m happy with how I’ve followed through on my decisions and commitments this year.

So, what’s next, what’s the new theme for 2015? You’ll have to wait until next year to find out…

 

Did you set a theme for 2014? How did you do? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

100 Things to do before you Die: My bucket list one year on

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One year ago, in July 2013, I was sitting in a hostel in La Paz, Bolivia, finalising a list of 100 things to do before I die. That blog post has since received 12,789 hits. It seems it’s a common desire among many of us to want to see the world, do interesting things, and make sure we’re not missing out.

On the other hand, some people are critical of lists like this. They don’t think you should just “tick the box”, or they argue that it’s more about who you’re with than what you do. I agree on both points. And The List is not my only resource in life – I’ve done all sorts of things in the past year that aren’t written down anywhere, including many wonderful moments with friends and family doing seemingly mundane things, watching new films and reading good books, starting my own company and making new connections…

For me, though, having a list is a way to ensure that I also look at the bigger picture, that I plan a few longer trips, that I invest time in the things that won’t be achieved just overnight; ultimately, that I don’t wake up dead one morning wondering, “What did I do all these years?”

So one year on, where am I with The Bucket List?

Iguazú Falls
Getting wet at Iguazú Falls, on the Brazilian side…

#5 Visit Iguazú Falls – DONE! Argentinian and Brazilian side. My first major waterfalls, and well worth the experience.

#11 Witness the Northern Lights – I need to do this soon, who’s with me? We’re experiencing a peak in sun spot activity this year and next, so now is a great time to see the auroras…

#15 Visit Pompeii – I’m planning to do this with my mum next year to celebrate our 33rd/66th birthdays. We already went to the exhibition at the British Museum, so we are well prepped!

Thelma and Louise
What colour are my eyes?

#16 Go to Hobbiton and visit Weta in New Zealand – I just booked my trip to Auckland for November. Not all those who wander are lost…

#17 Do a Thelma-and-Louise style US road trip – Well it’s not the US but I do plan to drive from Auckland down to Wellington with my friend with whom I dressed up as Thelma and Louise for a fancy dress party at uni, so I think it counts…

Casa Rosada
Outside the Casa Rosada crying Eva Perón

#41 Sing Evita songs in Buenos Aires – Done! I went through my full repertoire outside the Casa Rosada and gave the city just a little touch of star quality…

#45 Visit Iceland – Could combine this with #11 next year?

#47 Travel to 100 countries – Almost halfway there! I think I’m at 45 today and I’ll be at 48 by the end of the year…

Paragliding
Feeling happy after my 15-minute flight

#53 Go paragliding – Done! I was going to do a little arty video clip from my GoPro footage but it was 16 minutes long and all a bit jumpy, so I think you might either get bored or experience motion sickness…

 

#55 Gallop across a field – Done! In Argentina. Amazing.

Horse riding in Salta
I’m on a horse. My first proper horse riding experience with Sayta Cabalgatas in Salta, Argentina

 

#71 Read the Bible – So I started last year. I had a bit of a break. Now I’ve started again and I just have 77 hours to go, so says my Kindle. Hmm…

#73 Watch all three Lord of the Rings films back to back – Well I obviously need to do this before #16.

#83 Reach 1,000 Twitter followers – I’m halfway there at almost 500 followers. I just need to make sure I reach my target before Twitter stops being a popular digital platform! 😉

#89 Do yoga daily – I was doing it just a few months ago and now I’ve completely lapsed.*Sigh*

#90 Speak fluent Spanish – I was well on the way last year but I must admit that I haven’t really been working on it since my South America trip…

#91 Learn Mandarin. Or possibly Japanese – I tried Mandarin. It is hard. So I’ve gone for Japanese instead, and I’ve completed a foundational course. Maybe if I plan a trip next year I can have that as a goal..

#100 Watch a tennis match at Wimbledon – DOH I completely missed the fact that there was a ballot. Oops. Apparently there are some tickets released every day online so will try that. Or does someone with friends in high places want to invite me as their plus one to the Centre Court Final? …

What’s on your list?

 

Revisiting The Bucket List: Why are we all so concerned about death?

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Something strange has happened to my blog. Or, rather, to the traffic on my blog. For the past few weeks, I’ve been getting hundreds of visitors to one of my posts. Which one, you ask? The one with the gun? In fact, it’s the one with The Bucket List, a post whose essence is a list of 100 things that I want to do before I kick said bucket. Every day, people are arriving at my blog having searched things like “things to do before you die” and “things that should be on a bucket list”. I find that quite fascinating.

Personally, I love to-do lists, I love travelling, and I love learning and experiencing new things; and I suppose that on a planet of over seven billion people it’s unlikely that I’m the only one with such interests and goals. Today, more than ever, the pressure is on to achieve things, to outdo each other in the far-off places we visit or the extreme sports we undertake, to have great stories to tell of our unusual experiences. And it feels amazing! I get a thrill most of all from the experience itself, then from the feeling that I’ve done or seen something meaningful, from sharing that experience with other people, and finally from feeding off of the memories of the experience for days and years to come.

Coincidentally, I read a post from Lonely Planet today “In defence of the ‘tourist trail’” and visiting well-known sites around the world. So many cool traveller dudes would scoff at any kind of box ticking, working your way through common tourist places like the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Giza, the Grand Canyon… But there is a reason why these places have become such tourist attractions: THEY ARE AMAZING! I found this when I was at Machu Picchu: yes, it’s become increasingly commercialised as thousands of additional tourists flock there each year, and, yes, I’ve seen pictures of the ruins from the exact same angle many times both from the media and from my friends. But that didn’t make it any less spectacular when I arrived there after my four-day Inca Trail and took that same famous picture.

20130815-190840.jpg

Since writing my list of 100 things to do before I die just over one month ago, I’ve achieved four of them:

5. Visit the Iguazú Falls

20130815-191033.jpg
41. Sing Evita songs in Buenos Aires

20130815-191133.jpg
53. Go paragliding (today!)

20130815-191709.jpg
55. Gallop across a field (on a horse).

20130815-191510.jpg
And I’ve also had countless moments and experiences that weren’t on my list – such as meeting my niece for the very first time, going for an inspiring coffee with a colleague, playing with my friend’s adorable one year old, eating ice cream by the lake, watching L’auberge espagnole at an outdoor cinema – and the list in no way detracts from those experiences. Life is much more than a list of tourist attractions, sports, and languages.

But in the end, it seems that many of us are searching for meaning, we’re looking for ways in which to experience life to the fullest before that life comes to an end – and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We just need to remember to keep living in the present, and enjoy the little moments as well as the big WOW adventures. And if we don’t manage to tick off all those 100 things on the list then that’s okay! We will have had a pretty good run…

The Bucket List: 100 things to do before you die

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before I dieSo I’ve realised that I’ve watched 18 films so far on this trip, most of them forced upon me during long-haul bus rides, a couple in a hostel, and three that I actually chose to watch at the cinema. One of the good ones was The Bucket List, in which a selfish capitalist Jack Nicholson finds himself sharing a hospital room with loveable family man Morgan Freeman. Both suffering from terminal cancer, they are each given a matter of months to live; so they decide to go off together and experience the world. Their bucket list (a list of things to do before you ‘kick the bucket’, as I’ve just discovered – duh) includes a mix of each of their ideas, from the more material skydiving, getting a tattoo, kissing the most beautiful woman in the world on the one hand, to the more poetic, like witnessing something majestic, on the other.

The film is poignant and sweet though all the time heading towards the inevitably sad ending. But if there’s one thing we can learn from this film, isn’t it that it’s better to write such a list, and most importantly to start ticking things off that list, long before you actually expect to kick that proverbial bucket? I’ve started this list in the past, in the form of ‘100 things to do before you die’, never getting further than about 40 – it’s harder than you think! You need to be quite creative. But it’s also an ongoing endeavour, as you tick things off, mature and change your priorities, and get new ideas. Some of my great achievements from previous versions of the list include running a half-marathon, growing mermaid hair, wearing red lipstick out, trying a Bloody Mary, visiting a porn shop, and of course, visiting Machu Picchu.

Travelling alone, and now even without my iPhone (SNIFF), has given me a lot of time to think. So here it is, my 100 things, varying in how easy they are to achieve. I’m baring part of my soul here, revealing things that are important to me, so try not to be too critical! We all have different things we want to do. And you should know that I have actually done some things in my life already – skydiving, bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, swimming with dolphins… But any constructive builds or new ideas are very welcome, and if you want to do any of these things with me, just let me know 😉

Here goes, not in any kind of order of priority, though it starts with lots of travelling ones, which is inevitable given the context in which I’m writing the list:
1. Visit the Great Wall of China
2. Visit the Taj Mahal
3. Visit the Victoria Falls
4. Visit the Niagara Falls
5. Visit Iguazú Falls *DONE July 2013*
6. Fly over the Grand Canyon *DONE June 2015*
7. Visit Mount Rushmore (“Oh, and by the way: There is no Count Rushmore!”) *DONE July 2016*
8. Go on a romantic trip to Venice. WITH A MAN. *DONE in July 2015 – not with a man, though, SNIFF*
9. Visit Moscow
10. Visit St Petersburg
11. Witness the Northern Lights *DONE March 2015*
12. Take the Orient Express
13. Visit Slovenia
14. Eat sushi and sing karaoke in Japan *DONE April 2016*
15. Visit Pompeii *DONE September 2015*
16. Go to Hobbiton and visit Weta in New Zealand *DONE November 2014*
17. Do a Thelma-and-Louise style US road trip. Without the suicidal ending. *DONE November 2014 – sort of! In New Zealand… and DONE again June 2015 in California/Nevada/Arizona*
18. Visit Nepal
19. Visit Tibet
20. Go on a yoga retreat in India
21. See the Pyramid of Giza
22. Visit Wat Phra Si Sanphet in Thailand
23. Visit Petra in Jordan
24. Visit Mexico
25. Go to Rio de Janeiro
26. Dance salsa in Cuba
27. Visit Mongolia
28. Travel to Timbuktu
29. Eat pizza in Naples *DONE September 2015*
30. Cycle across Gotland, Sweden
31. Take the boat down Göta Kanal, Sweden
32. Go to Alton Towers
33. Go back to Jorvik (the rotten fish smell on the museum ride!) *DONE October 2018*
34. Climb Kilimanjaro
35. Go hiking in Switzerland (still haven’t been after nine years in Geneva!)
36. Visit the reconstructed Amber Room
37. Visit Jerusalem
38. Visit the glowworm caves in Waitomo *DONE November 2014*
39. See the Panama Canal
40. Sleep in a Scottish castle
41. Sing Evita songs in Buenos Aires *DONE July 2013*
42. Go driving in Tuscany
43. Leave the gun and take the cannoli in Sicily
44. Spend Christmas in New York, Home Alone 2 style (minus the criminals)
45. Visit Iceland *DONE January 2016*
46. Travel on the Trans-Siberian railway
47. Travel to 100 countries
48. Visit NASA
49. Learn to identify and name all 88 constellations
50. Drive an Aston Martin
51. Go on a Harley Davidson
52. Ride a jet ski
53. Go paragliding *DONE August 2013*
54. Fly in a hot air balloon *DONE June 2015*
55. Gallop across a field (on a horse. Not with coconuts à la Monty Python) *DONE July 2013*
56. Climb to the top of a climbing wall
57. Run a marathon
58. Walk on hot coals
59. Learn archery
60. Get my sailing licence *DONE September 2018*
61. Do a watercolour course
62. Learn to knit
63. Have a garden
64. Have an ocean view
65. Kiss a Swedish man *DONE August 2015*
66. Learn to ice skate
67. Go kayaking in the Stockholm archipelago
68. Meet Andrew Lloyd Webber
69. Meet Cameron Mackintosh
70. Meet Leonardo DiCaprio (yes, I know, but the teenage me would be really happy)
71. Read the Bible
72. Read the Quran
73. Watch all three Lord of the Rings films back to back *DONE January 2016* (over three days! I decided that 12 hours is too much to watch in one day…)
74. Watch all eight Harry Potter films back to back *DONE September 2018* (over a week! Again, I’m too old and wise now to make myself watch TV continuously without a break…)
75. Attend a film premiere (on the red carpet, not from behind the fence)
76. Have a walk-in wardrobe
77. Learn to juggle with three balls
78. Learn to salsa (important for #26)
79. Learn to swim properly!
80. Learn to dive (as in, off the edge of a pool. Nope, can’t do it)
81. Receive a bunch of roses *DONE February 2017*
82. Get a tattoo
83. Reach 1,000 Twitter followers *DONE May 2015*
84. Get 1,000 subscribers to my blog
85. Learn the names of all the countries in the world, and their capitals
86. Own a hammock
87. Fall in love *DONE June 2017*
88. Learn to play guitar
89. Learn to play Somewhere over the Rainbow on the ukulele *DONE December 2015*
90. Speak fluent Spanish (I’m getting there!) (update: oops I’m forgetting it all…)
91. Learn Japanese *This was work in progress ahead of my trip but not such a priority now*
92. Learn Latin
93. Have an article published in a known publication *DONE January 2016*
94. Have a book published *DONE June 2016 (co-author) and October 2018 (sole author)*
95. Have a lead role in a musical *DONE directed and starred in Starlight Express in Geneva October 2013*
96. Do a French cooking course
97. Find a snow globe of St Paul’s Cathedral like the one Mary Poppins has *DONE October 2014*
98. Voice a cartoon character
99. Have a dog
100. Watch a tennis match at Wimbledon *DONE (centre court!) July 2017*

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#55 achieved today. No, sorry, I don’t have one mid-gallop…