It’s that time of year again! Filled with resolutions and promises the window between an old year and a new one ushers in a multitude of wishes and desires. I myself have quite the bucket list for 2018! Yet, for 2018 I am challenging myself to take stock in a different way. Time to reclaim this list so that it not only is a reflection of me NOW, but also so that I can actually grow along with it and manifest what I most desire!
First of all, lets evaluate the concept of the “bucket” itself. By design, buckets are big and perhaps sloppy—associated with mopping floors, or containing drips. Buckets show up in our lives as useful vessels for collecting dirty water and overflow. Or, we may use the phrase “kick the bucket” to refer to the death of something or someone! Not a likely place to entrust our hopes and dreams!
So, let’s lose the bucket.
I am opting to eliminate the idea of a conventional bucket and replace my old bucket list bucket with a beautiful box. My box is gold and glitzy and of a medium size, but you can envision any box you desire. Any size as well. Remember…it’s YOUR box. Your box list! Since it is your box, you get to decide if you are “thinking out of the box” or staying put with the current contents! All too often, we are encouraged to venture out, perhaps to abandon all that we have previously known. What shifts in your perspectives if you envision e-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g that box rather than abandoning it? Expanding those boundaries so that you can let out what no longer works to allow in what does? This is a more subtle approach to thinking out of the box, which means that you are more likely to do just that! After all, you are magnificent because you have filled this box with all that you are. The secret is to make the contents work for you in the current moment. This is the where you have the opportunity to make use of all that you are and simply discard what no longer fulfills you.
Now that you have replaced your bucket and perhaps set new boundaries around it, a closer look at the contents of your bucket list are in order. When you moved from a bucket to a box the contents naturally shifted. Take a look at what the mix is now. For me, I am going to really examine the bottom of my bucket list. What are the things that I consistently place at the bottom of the list—year after year? Will I ever get to these items? Do they need to be on a list at all? Conversely, do they need to move up to the top of the list, because if I keep coming back to them, they are somehow calling to me, right? For instance that book that I say I want to write keeps floating to the bottom, yet it is ALWAYS on my list. What is that about? If it is important enough to be on my list, why am I not moving ahead on this? Researching the bottom of your bucket list is a great way to edit the entire list and to make certain that the contents of your “bucket box” are genuine and actionable for you in 2018!
Remember this is your “bucket box or new box list.” Imagine that you can fill this box with whatever you want and you can keep it wherever you want as well. In front of you, tucked away, visited daily! Where will you display your list and will it be committed to memory or simply a memory?
Imagine that this box contains your legacy. What shifts in your mind if you suddenly have the power to curate what you want to happen next in your life? WOW! If you can redirect what you want, if you can really, really see it…can you be it?
I say YES! The concept of owning and directing your own legacy is at the center of my coaching practice, and it is a tool that I use with all of my clients and audiences to challenge the way we think, to disempower fear, and to promote personal action.
Here is what I am going to do with my new bucket list box in 2018…I hope you will join me to make this “list” your most actionable yet!
Edit this year’s list. Paring down to no more than 5-10 items allows you the opportunity to really manifest what is on this list.
Place your written list on an index card that will fit inside your new box. This list is now your official revamped bucket list (which you can reinvent at any time…because…if you made the list you get to edit and redirect it over and over.)
Now, here is the fun part! Every time that you take any small step at all---even researching one of the items on your list---you will be placing a small note inside your box documenting your achievement. Every one of these notes will connect you over time toward your own personal success and growth toward living your list!
Every month, review all your “love notes.” Where are you making the biggest strides? Have you not taken action on what is at the bottom of your bucket? Do you need to revamp and reframe the items on the list itself?
At the end of 2018, grab a glass of wine and a serene few hours and hit replay on your year in review. Go through all of the items on your list. Go through all of your notes. Where are you in alignment with your list? What did you manifest? Where was your greatest success?
Your bucket list no matter what form it takes is a gift you give to YOU!
Randi Levin CPC, founder & CEO, Randi Levin Coaching—is a nationally recognized transitional life strategist, author, speaker, and reinvention expert. Her core belief is that we have the choice and the power to carve out and curate our own legacy based on embracing our ongoing evolution. At the age of 22, women make sweeping life-long decisions that no longer align with a 40, 50, or 65-year-old version of who they are. Utilizing a “what’s next mindset,” Randi applies her Signature GPS Coaching System incorporating growth, purpose, and success steps to support her clients in pivoting and refreshing their lives, empowering them to be the best reflection of who they are today. She is a contributor and featured expert for ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, HuffPost, Thrive Global, DivorceForce, Three Tomatoes, Women for One, and a variety of national publications and podcasts. Her workshops have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and she is a contributing author in the anthology series Get RESULTS!
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