Almost all of us have aspirations and hopes and dreams for experiencing big things before the end of our lives. We want to scale Mount Everest. We want to cross the Sahara. We want to hike through what’s left of the Amazon rainforest.

We call these bucket list items because we want to do them before we kick the bucket, we want to feel like our lives meant something and that we connected to something bigger than and outside of us.

We want to experience a connection that is not easily forged and create long-lasting memories along the way.

And not only is it possible, it’s preferable and downright important, to experience your bucket list items before it’s too late.

Before your body won’t cooperate.

Before something drastic happens.

And if you have the right plans in place, they won’t be on your ‘bucket list’, they’ll be on your DONE list.

Those plans start with having the right perspective.

An ‘I want to Experience’ list, not a Bucket List

Bucket list items do not necessarily have to be those big mountains that we want to scale, or the exotic flavors we want to taste (in their countries of origin!).

Your ‘I Want to Experience’ items can be as minute as a walk on the beach with your spouse after a long, wonderful day together.

They can be as tiny as sitting on the floor to play with your little ones when they want to play.

Memory-making experiences are about connection, fun and wonder. There is no rule that says they have to involve any or all of the Seven Wonders of the World. (Although they can!)

When you’re making your list be sure that it encompasses more than traveling around the globe.

What small moments, what people in your life, do you want to include as part of your adventures?

Business is wonderful. But without experiencing life, business becomes empty.

Machu Picchu, Italy, Summer in Alaska. All noble ventures that you can happily take part in…along with the stroll on the beach with your spouse.

All It Takes Is Planning

With the right planning, the right strategies, and the right team in place, you can actually check off all the little moments, as well as the big ones.

Don’t be the one lying on your deathbed, looking at a list half-complete. Especially if those “not ticked” items are the ones that do NOT involve global travel.

Plan. Plan. Plan.

Don’t just dream. Make time for it in your schedule. Find ways to make it happen financially. Align yourself with a coach/strategist/mentor who will help you get there.

Otherwise you’re going to spend your last days looking at an unchecked list.

Italy is on my list this year. It’s my goal to take a handful of business owners with me to Tuscany, to see their faces light up as I share one of my favorite places.

I also want to see Machu Picchu, go to Tokyo, see the Antarctic, visit Vietnam.

But none of that will matter unless I also make the time to walk next to Alan after one of his magnificent meals, holding hands just because.

Or host a Sunday family dinner and spend a few hours laughing with my kids.

Or bring my Nourish tribe together to celebrate our circle of friendship.

I want to take the time to enjoy moments with my people, whether they are in Portland or on a mountainside in Peru.

Planning, and implementing that plan, is going to get me to pay attention to every moment just like it’s going to get me to every country I want to see.

My wish for you for 2018 is that you discover which precious moments are the ones you want to experience and with whom.

Together we can plan for them and walk hand-in-hand as we implement those plans.

Until next time…stay passionate!