Big Dreams

Do you have a bucket list?

Your bucket list is the list of things you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket. It's also known as a "Things to do before you die"/"Life Goals"/"Death Wish" list.

I kind of have one in my head, but lately I've encountered a couple of things that are making me take it a little more seriously.

1. It's one of the steps in The Power of Focus book I referred to in a previous post.

2. It's one chapter of Mark Batterson's latest book, The Circle Maker, which I just did as a study.

And here's the kicker...my husband apparently has one, because the other day he called me from out of town to let me know he bought a Lamborghini.

"You bought what?"

I couldn't believe what I heard, so he said it again. "I bought a Lamborghini, it'll be great. You'll look so hot driving it around town and I just crossed that one off my bucket list."

Now you may think I was astounded that he'd buy something so expensive, but in reality, I was astounded by the fact that he has a secret bucket list. If I hadn't just read about it in the other two books, I might not have been as sensitive, but when I talked to my husband, I really started to think about it.

Then I started to think all sorts of other things and realized I was feeling jealous about my husband's ability to set major goals and reach them.

Why DON'T I have an actual bucket list? And, why are the things on the list in my head so small? Is it mostly men who dare to dream about big things? Or things that other people may think are ridiculous? I want some pretty big things but when I think about the miracle and amount of hard work it'd take to achieve them, I shrink a bit. I start to wonder....do I dare dream so big?

Here's what The Power of Focus says about it. They call it a Goals List and ask you to set 101 of them! "Setting and achieving goals is one of the best ways to measure your life's progress and create unusual clarity. Consider the alternative - just drifting along aimlessly, hoping that one day good fortune will fall into your lap with little or no effort on your part. Wake up! You've got more chance of finding a grain of sugar on a sandy beach."

Here's what Mark Batterson says in The Circle Maker. He calls it a Life Goals List and has 115 in his book:
"What do life goals have to do with dreaming big? For that matter, what does goal setting have to do with praying hard and thinking long? The answer is everything. Goal setting is a great way of doing all three simultaneously." He combines the setting of goals with prayer as a way to accomplish God sized goals.

So I have started working on my bucket list. I got quite a ways and thought highly of myself until I realized I don't have enough - only about 30. Even my list is thinking small! As soon as I get finished, probably by Saturday, I'll publish my list and start praying.

    How about you? Let's start thinking like women who have a huge God behind us!

Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might. Psalm 21:13

Unproductive Habits

Ok...here it is, my complete list of all of the habits that make me unproductive (or less productive). As a side not: This does note include the list of things that make me feel guilty, but now I realize that they are related. That list will be next:)

Lack of daily exercise
Frequently I don't want to communicate with others
Procrastinating on tasks I find boring or difficult
Letting others (esp. my husband) change my scheduled plans
Not clearly coordinating or communicating my schedule to my husband
Not checking bank accounts daily
Not asserting myself aggressively when opportunity arises (i.e. I can be too polite)
Taking myself too seriously
Taking others too seriously
Not following up on relational e-mails in a timely fashion (I hate Google stacking)
Not following up with Unstuck e-mails urgently (I hate Google stacking)
Not setting work related goals high enough to be challenging
Getting distracted by other people's problems
Using too many journals/notebooks (I have a pretty paper addiction)
Not giving myself time to learn difficult tasks (persistence)
Forgetting people's names (this is new)
Not fixing broken things in a timely manner
Impulsively switching between projects
Not writing every day
Not setting writing goals
Not checking in enough with extended family
Being lazy about marketing
Keeping piles of photos out in the open (irritant)
Not checking e-mail every day
Delaying critical/important conversations
Inconsistency in listmaking
Not giving myself the luxury of time (for too many things to list)
Buying cards and not sending them out (I like cards:))

So there you have it! Tonight, I'll pick the top three to four that mess me up the most and outline my action plan about correcting them. Planning is half the battle here, the other half is following through.

The best part about this exercise is that I spent the last 3 days in a state of mindfulness, which oddly gave me clearer insight into how much other people's productivity levels negatively affect my own. More to come on that!