Forget being old

As we Boomers age we know that life gets shorter so its important to prioritize your life s desires and to dos. I suggest you don’t follow the aging herd but break away and use the Nike Philosophy of “Just Do It! Before your ready to go for it, I encourage you to make a “Bucket List”—a list of all of the dreams, goals and activities, experiences you want to fulfill before you die.

Write down and itemize all that will motivate you to pursue your real passions before it is too late. Anything and everything you have ever wanted to do or try. And don’t be afraid to Dream and make them Big and Audacious! At our stage in life we should stay away from playing the regret game.

Why think about all this now? Because as we age time becomes our most precious commodity and how we spend it is crucial. Most of us live routine day to day activities that we accomplish in a rote fashion. Many boomers live by to do lists and goals that are family, personal or professionally oriented and framed within a societal context.

The key is to look introspective and ask your self do many of these activities and tasks really mean anything to you if you were pass away tomorrow?

So I suggest you take a moment and plan for the rest of your life by creating your personal list of what activities are and will be important to you. It is not a race against time—it’s a way to maximize your time in engaging in fulfilling activities.

Your “Bucket List” is your way of benchmarking how you want to live the rest of your life to the fullest. It can be as few as 10 or as many as 50 things you want to do or partake in before your life ends.

To get your soup started after you read this, get out your laptop or tablet and start writing down what comes to mind when you read the following questions:

What would you do if you were to die tomorrow?

What wish list would you ask for before you die?

What is it that you always wanted to do?

Who do you want to see and what would you say to them?

If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?

What have you been dreaming about doing all of your life?

What difference did you make while you were alive?

What would like to achieve before you die?

Create your list with as many realistic wishes that make sense to you and are achievable and knock them off one at a time savoring the experience.

To help get you going, the following are some items from my BL:

• Visit India
• Travel to the birthplace of my family ancestors
• Make a difference in someone’s life
• Achieve my ideal weight
• Volunteer for a new community cause
• Attend the Kentucky Derby
• Spend more meaningful time with family
• Trek Machu Picchu
• Do more to appreciate friends
• Learn a new game
• Participate in the Senior Olympics
• Ride horses more
• Travel the historic Route 66

Once you have your list keep it with you or in a visible place where you can refer to it. I would start out first with doing the simplest and easiest to undertake to give you a sense of self-accomplishment.

It will be important to keep your mental/physical health and passion up for these new endeavors. Your list should give you a sense of purpose for moving forward. Keep the juices flowing for all that you want to experience. Let your Bucket List be the driver of an action plan for your end of life strategy and keep focused on accomplishing it.

Remember what Morgan Freeman said in the Bucket List Movie:

“Its not about worrying about dying—its all about living”!

Work on Knocking Off Your Bucket List versus Kicking It!