Crossing Things off Your Bucket List
I was recently listening to a podcast by a former Bachelorette star (don't judge me!) and she was interviewing Ben Nemtin from the show The Buried Life. I don't know if anyone remembers this, but it was about four Canadian guys who asked themselves, "What do you want to do before you die?". They made a bucket list of 100 things and their two week road trip turned into an MTV show about trying to accomplish some of those things. Along the way, every time they crossed something off, they helped a stranger do something off of their own bucket list.
It was just a really nice, fun reality show. Some of the things they did included playing basketball with President Obama, going on the Oprah show, kiss the Stanley Cup, crash a party at the Playboy Mansion, write a #1 New York Times best seller, etc. You can see their full list here.
One of the guys, Ben Nemtin, did a TEDx Talk in 2015. You can find it on Youtube here. I find it so inspiring. I encourage all of you to check it out. Especially you, Jacob!
Here are the 6 steps Ben gives to cross anything off your bucket list:
- What's important ? Think about what's important to YOU. Listen to your gut and your heart.
- Write your list down. It's the first step and makes something intangible seem tangible. It makes it real.
- Talk about your list. If you don't talk about your dream, no one is going to help you.
- Be persistent. You will hear no a lot more than you hear yes. People sometimes fail because they stop trying.
- Be audacious. 99% of the world is convinced they can't do great things, so they shoot for realistic goals. That means realistic goals are the most competitive place to be. Therefore unrealistic goals are less competitive. Don't overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself.
- Help other people. Call it karma or call it common sense, but if people see you helping others they are more likely to want to help you.
This is a theme I'm going to talk more about in upcoming blog posts. I'll share some of the things I've already crossed off my bucket list, and some things that are on my list now (see #3 above).
So the question to leave you all with today is….
