I considered the first half of the year fairly uneventful but made up for it by moving to Adelaide and having a 10 day road trip along the way, so it wasn’t all bad. As for big holidays, two major overseas holidays in 2012 (Italy in Jan/Feb and Scandinavia in Dec/Jan) saw the bank balance take a sizeable hit but they were worth every cent and with my job finishing mid 2013, any forward travel plans were severely restricted.
I managed to cross six things off the Bucket List. They were a varied bunch of things, some required a bit of time and effort on my behalf and others relied on money and opportunity…..and being the opportunist that I am, I ran with it.
- swim with a dolphin
- learn to paint and draw
- learn to play the violin
- go to Stradbroke Island
- go Stand Up Paddle Boarding
- go to a dawn ANZAC service
Several years ago I saw something on Facebook asking people how many books they were going to read in the year and I had absolutely no idea how many I read, so I started keeping a list averaging about 26 books a year. This year I somehow managed to read 39 and was still part-way into two others. This doesn’t include magazines or photography manuals, ebooks etc, so I was quite surprised. I’m not sure I’m out to top that number this year but with so many books sitting by my bedside and a huge wishlist with Book Depository, I’m definitely going to give it a crack. Now maybe that’s a career path….professional book reader!!
My annual review involves looking back on the year that was and seeing what worked and what didn’t, then setting goals for the year ahead. On looking at my goals list for 2013 I realised several things, mostly that it was more a wish list than a goals list. We all know about making SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely or something along those lines)….well my goals were none of those things. The fact that I even managed to achieve any of them was pure chance and nothing to do with forethought and/or planning. The other sad thing was that once the list had been written, I’m not sure I looked at it for the rest of the year. So, I’m not going to dwell on that too much.
And now to 2014. I try to write a few goals for each area of my life – photography, family/friends, finance etc etc and it was only this morning as I was doing my morning pages that I was chiding myself for not really having started all the goals that require daily input that I realised the list is way too long and yet again, they aren’t SMART goals. The goals within each category are achievable and may be SMART but put together as a whole, they are very unSMART, so I am going to do a major review, into something more attainable. However I am going to endeavour to complete eight things on my bucket list this year.
Now speaking of bucket lists, I have a question that I’d love to hear your thoughts on. In 2013 I was part of the World’s Biggest Orchestra and we set a Guinness World Record. Now, setting a World Record was never on my list because it never crossed my mind and it’s not something I ever gave consideration to however, I’ve been told I should add it to the list and then cross it off, after the fact.
Can you add something after you’ve completed it even though you’d never considered it?Is that cheating? Is it breaking the Bucket List code of ethics or some Bucket List etiquette? Are there any ethics or etiquette to Bucket Lists and should there be?
While I’m at it, do most of you have Bucket Lists and if not, why not? (My full Bucket List is under the goals heading) And how many books do you read in a year?
I’m really curious to know your thoughts…..assuming anyone actually reads these blogs or has managed to read this far. ;P
Hi Lindy,
No I have never had a Bucket List – afraid I am a “gunna” person and not a “doer” person so not sure of any rules but I think you should definitely be able to add things as your circumstances change and especially add great achievements such as your world record (and delete anything that becomes less inviting over time). Interesting to know how many books I read – not sure. Will have to count this year. I mainly read on the bus to work, which is a half hour each way so dont get through too many unfortunately.