WEBVTT - Make progress on your bucket list

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how you can make progress on

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<v Speaker 1>your bucket list. In a previous episode, I urged listeners

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<v Speaker 1>to create something called a list of one hundred dreams.

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<v Speaker 1>This list, which was an exercise shared with me by

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<v Speaker 1>career coach Caroline Deniza Levine, is a completely unedited list

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<v Speaker 1>of anything you'd like to do or have more of

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<v Speaker 1>in your life. It's basically a bucket list, that is,

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<v Speaker 1>those things you want to do before you kick the bucket.

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<v Speaker 1>But most people's bucket lists aren't that extensive. One items

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<v Speaker 1>is a lot. The upside of going all the way

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<v Speaker 1>to one hundred is that you really have to think.

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<v Speaker 1>You have to come back to the list again and again,

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<v Speaker 1>and so you come up with dreams that are both

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<v Speaker 1>big and small. The small ones, some of which could

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<v Speaker 1>be done this weekend, can be incredibly motivating. But today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is not about the small ones. Today we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about the big ones. I recently received an

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<v Speaker 1>email from a listener who asked exactly how to tackle big,

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<v Speaker 1>audacious goals. Let's say that your bucket list involves renovating

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<v Speaker 1>a historic estate. Well, I applaud the ambition, but this

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<v Speaker 1>is at best a multi year undertaking. Maybe it's a

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<v Speaker 1>decade long undertaking. So how do you keep from getting

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<v Speaker 1>discouraged or feeling scattered? Especially if your list also contains

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<v Speaker 1>other big items, maybe such as scuba diving on the

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<v Speaker 1>Great Barrier reef and by the way, you're not scuba

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<v Speaker 1>licensed yet and you should brush up on your swimming too.

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<v Speaker 1>Or maybe your list includes writing an epic historical novel.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a good question, but I do think it's possible

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<v Speaker 1>to build some big, complicated dreams into life. There's both

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<v Speaker 1>a systematic way to do this and something i'll call

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<v Speaker 1>the serendipitous route. You can do both. First, the systematic

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<v Speaker 1>I encourage you to make your list of one dreams.

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<v Speaker 1>Separate these dreams into categories. The first is those that

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<v Speaker 1>are doable in a few hours. If you've always wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to try soul cycle, or read The Great Gatsby, or

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<v Speaker 1>attend a production of lam Is, well, basically you need

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of hours on a Saturday. You can do this.

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<v Speaker 1>The next category is those that will involve a few

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<v Speaker 1>days or maybe a week or two. Most of your

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<v Speaker 1>travel goals will actually go in here. They might require

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<v Speaker 1>a fair amount of money, but in terms of time,

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<v Speaker 1>a week or two is about where they land. Even

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<v Speaker 1>fairly involved ones. Your bite tour of the Loire Valley

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<v Speaker 1>is not going to take more than two weeks because

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<v Speaker 1>your legs will be too sore to go longer. Eating

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<v Speaker 1>at French laundry will likewise take some time to score

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<v Speaker 1>your reservation and travel to call Fornya, but not that

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<v Speaker 1>much time. Then create a category of those goals that

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<v Speaker 1>will be far more involved but you do see a

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<v Speaker 1>way to do, and finally, a category that's going to

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<v Speaker 1>involve factors outside of your control. Revisit the list frequently.

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<v Speaker 1>You can always choose one of the short ones to

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<v Speaker 1>execute on, but in November or December of each year,

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<v Speaker 1>think through your next year and maybe choose one of

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<v Speaker 1>the more straightforward travel goals for a vacation, and finally,

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<v Speaker 1>choose one of your more complicated or nebulous ones as

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<v Speaker 1>a focus for the year, just one. You can really

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<v Speaker 1>afford to be patient here, because you can accomplish a

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<v Speaker 1>lot over a long time horizon. If you're listening to

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<v Speaker 1>this at say age forty, you've probably got at least

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<v Speaker 1>another thirty five years for active dream pursuit. If you'd

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<v Speaker 1>like one dream a year will get you through a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>But by aiming for one, you can focus us and

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<v Speaker 1>not get discouraged. And even if you're not done with

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<v Speaker 1>that goal by the time January rolls around again, which

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<v Speaker 1>you won't be for the longer ones, that's fine. You

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<v Speaker 1>have built up enough momentum that you can keep going

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<v Speaker 1>while starting something else. So, for instance, let's say that

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<v Speaker 1>this is the year of the epic historical novel. You

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<v Speaker 1>aim to write five words four days per week, and

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<v Speaker 1>so you'll have about a hundred thousand words by the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the year. This is actually a fairly long book,

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe you're done, or maybe you've got another fifty

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<v Speaker 1>thou words to go, But by this point you'll be

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<v Speaker 1>enough into the story that you can start the project

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<v Speaker 1>of learning to paint portraits with oil pestels, with the

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<v Speaker 1>goal of doing an exhibition at the end of that year.

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<v Speaker 1>And so you spend the first four months of the

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<v Speaker 1>year in intense study with a class on Wednesday, nights

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<v Speaker 1>and Saturdays, and then you spend the next eight months

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<v Speaker 1>producing work as you get feedback from the master painter

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<v Speaker 1>you've enlisted to guide you. You see how this goes.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, you should leave room for serendipity too. I

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<v Speaker 1>faithfully plan out annual vacations with my family's list of

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred dreams in mind. That's how we wound up

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<v Speaker 1>at Yosemite last summer and Yellowstone summer before that. But

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<v Speaker 1>I'm open to other things, and as part of that,

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<v Speaker 1>I publish my evolving list of a hundred dreams. From

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<v Speaker 1>time to time. I put it up on my website,

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<v Speaker 1>and then something fascinating happens. People read it and decide

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<v Speaker 1>to help me. This summer, for instance, I'll be giving

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<v Speaker 1>a speech somewhere that was on my bucket list precisely

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<v Speaker 1>because someone read my list and sent an invitation. You

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<v Speaker 1>really just never know what will happen, So tell friends, family, colleagues,

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<v Speaker 1>and social media followers about your desires. That just might

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<v Speaker 1>help you make more progress than you thought possible. In

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<v Speaker 1>the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd

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<v Speaker 1>love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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<v Speaker 1>your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.

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