Dream It. List It. Do It!
After collecting several “Things to Do Before You Die Books” (at the continuous mocking of my husband), I’ve recently purchased a small but packed book which I believe houses the best Living to Do suggestions I’ve come across yet. The book, Dream It. List It. Do It! How to Live a Bigger & Bolder Life, from the Life List Experts at 43Things.com, has an astronomically long title. It also has thousands of great ideas for your own Living To Do list.
Like the title says, the book was created from the people who made the website 43Things.com. 43 Things is the world’s largest goal-setting community. Users set 43 goals, track them, comment on them, and see other users who want to do the same things they do. Some goals are pretty basic, such as drinking more water; others range to the very specific, such as attend a Dave Matthews Band concert or learn Japanese. Their book is pocket-sized but thick, with over 4,000 ideas listed on 430 pages. Each idea has a small check box next to it to allow readers to check off items as they go along, but why do that when you can simply add the items you like to your own Living to Do list? Then you can pass the book on to a friend or the library so other people can enjoy it.
Going with the book’s theme, there are 43 different chapters covering that many areas of life. Each chapter lists dozens of possible goals that people might want to accomplish in their lives. Chapters range from “Living in the Moment” to “Cook More” to “Develop Supernatural Powers” to “Ignite Change.” Serious topics, such as health and spirituality, are covered, as are more whimsical topics, such as being silly and being happy. Topics that might be boring but necessary in life are also listed—being more organized, fixing financing—as are exciting topics like accomplishing daring feats.
The authors include a fun, inspiring introduction about deciding what you want to do with your life, as well as a list of ten rules to use for creating and conquering your own list. While I don’t agree with all of these rules, they can be useful. For example, rule number one is to make your list public. Of course the authors want you to do this, as they want you to post your goals on their own website—but some people (myself included) would not want the world to see every single thing they’d like to do in their lifetime.
Another rule is to document your progress. But many things do not require documentation; for example, when I finally crossed of “Build a Castle Out of Leggos” from my list, I didn’t actually have to take steps toward completing it. I simply scheduled it in my planner and did it. I would add that to the rules—schedule your goals, if you can. For example, my goal to ride a go-kart will finally be checked off on August 21 this year. Other rules, such as including both fun and serious goals, can be very helpful.
Once you start going through each section, you’ll find that this book is pretty comprehensive. Chances are that if you’ve created your own Living to Do list already (and I hope you have!), you’ve included many things on this list. The first section even reads like journal prompts, and I’m very excited about diving into it this summer.
Are there any other life list books that you’ve come across that you would recommend? Please post about them here at Living To Do.
