“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”~Helen Keller
Several weeks ago, I wrote a post about Challenging Yourself to Achieve More in which I mentioned that I would be compiling a list of 39 things I would like to do before I turn 40 (about a year and a half away). I have a lot of things I would still like to do and places I would like to visit so thought this would be an easy task – it wasn’t. It was a great exercise however and really got me thinking about making time for the important things in life and my overall “bucket list”. My bucket list has grown as a result with many items to check off – just maybe not within the next year and a half.
After almost of month of thinking about my priorities and reviewing others suggestions, I was finally able to come up with a list of 39 things. It’s not an easy task but it’s definitely worthwhile, so much so that I would like to personally challenge each of you to set your own goals and share below in the comments. Whether it’s 10 things you’d like to do within the next year or your lifelong bucket list, challenge yourself, put it in writing, and share it with others. When you do those things, it establishes the accountability that can be helpful when your motivation levels get low. I’ll keep you posted on my progress and may even highlight some of the tasks in my blog.
39 Things To Do Before I Turn 40
- Be a friend and role model to my daughter.
- Learn soap making.
- Re-establish my yoga practice.
- Travel to a foreign country (other than Canada which I have already visited)
- Perform a kind deed to at least 3 strangers without expecting anything in return.
- Give a heartfelt surprise to someone.
- Send a letter to teachers who touched my life.
- Learn candle making.
- Return to my goal weight and maintain it.
- Finish becoming debt-free.
- Write my first e-book.
- Run a 5k race.
- Donate a website to a non-profit.
- Attend a meditation retreat.
- Take martial arts classes.
- Improve my writing and blogging skills.
- Improve my photography skills.
- Study astrology.
- Learn to knit.
- Meet Deepak Chopra (fingers crossed).
- Learn to bellydance.
- See the Grand Canyon.
- Climb the Seattle Space Needle.
- Learn to play chess.
- Become an early riser.
Take dance lessons.Drink a Mai Tai.- Get prepared for potential disasters or emergencies, including food storage.
- Refine my business plan, goals, and strategies.
- Get my first massage.
- Learn HTML.
- Learn Photoshop.
- Find a way to help rescue animals.
- Learn Thai Cooking.
- Create my “bucket list” of items that extend beyond 40.
- Practice living “in the moment”.
Challenge 5 of my friends to create their own personal challenges (along with each of you)- Create new and meaningful holiday traditions.
Go to the dentist (very important, thanks Rocky).
Hopefully this will inspire you to take action on your own challenge. If you need some ideas for your own list, check out:
Some inspiring quotes:
“Let your life mean something. Become an inspiration to others so that they may try to do more and to become more than they are today.”~Thomas D. Willhite
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”~Henry David Thoreau
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”~Joseph Campbell
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all”~Oscar Wilde
“Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.”~Mary Manin Morrissey
Remember to share your personal challenge below, even if you don’t have your specific list yet. Wishing you all the best on your challenges! 
LifeOhm is the creation of Monica Ray. It is about living a balanced life, challenging yourself and enjoying the moments along the way." 
Okay, okay already! ;-D
1) Continue to volunteer in the community even when I have a J-O-B.
Quit (once and for all time) smoking!
2) Continue to improve my photography and start selling my art!
3) Get hyper serious about Photoshop.
4) Take photos of the Aurora Borealis, finish my ‘Long Shadows of Winter series, recreate my photo bucket list!
5) Commit to The Zeitgeist Movement, start working the Montana Chapter to it’s fullest.
6) Ride my bike over all the hills to town and back in place of my truck.
7) Get healthy.
9) Become 100% financially independent.
10) Build and live in an Earth Ship.
Christopher – I love it
I hope you achieve all of those things! Thanks for posting.
Ok – one more thing – what is an earth ship?
The nice thing about turning 40 is the balance between feeling like you still have time and knowing that life is truly very precious. Good luck meeting your goals and keep making new ones!
Thanks Sarah – much appreciated
Thank you for the inspiration, Monica! Sounds like we are about the same age : ) I went with your 39 things to do before 40 theme…
Finish writing my book
Rent an Airstream for at least a week
Get back to England to see Paul’s family & friends
Take an Ayurveda class
Join Toastmasters
Pay off school loans
Really learn to embroider
Go back to a vegetarian diet
Build up my Beachbody business
Spend more time with my little brother and sister
Take a digital photography class
Make Caretaking Couple a lucrative business
Sell the 4Runner (don’t need it here)
Continue my search for vintage buttons & ephemera
Join ancestry.com with my Mom
Make my own soaps and candles again
Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity
Get back to my yoga classes (at Exhale)
Start a poker night at our new digs
Calligraphy
Polish up on my geography
write a letter a week to a friend, family member, or stranger
Blog on a regular basis (3x a week?)
Garden (3 raised organic beds at our new digs – yay!)
Get a monthly massage
Finish my scrapbooking projects
Run
Find a tennis partner
Learn how to play my guitar
Go ziplining
Continue vision boarding
Visit my friend Laura in Valencia, Spain
Treat myself to a spa day (for the first time)
Practice more acts of random kindness
Finally visit Pike Place Market!
Figure out all of the functions on my Mac & use them
Continue to transform our rental house into a “home”
Get into the habit of staying in the moment
Focus on people and projects that bring me joy
I would love to keep in touch with you regarding our lists ~ maybe revisit them periodically. Seems we have a lot in common!
V
Valynne – I’m so psyched that you put this list together and shared it here, thank you
I’d love to share our progress together and maybe tackle a few of them together, in fact, I’d love to add a few that are on your list. I’ve always wanted to try ziplining but didn’t think to include it 
We’ll have to catch up soon!
Hope to see you at Tabor Place this week ~ if not, maybe we can chat over a cuppa in the near future?!
I would love that