I have been making checklists, to do lists, and planning out my future for as long as I can remember. Regardless of this, my bucket list was almost entirely unfinished with things I wanted to do before I “kicked the bucket” and nothing I was actively attempting to achieve. After stumbling onto Thomas Frank’s website, I was led to Joel Runyon’s website Impossiblehq.com, where the first ‘Impossible list’ was created.
What really inspired me about this list was the immediate call to action. At the time I found the ‘Impossible List’ I was debating between studying abroad or finding a career here in Canada. After writing out my impossible list I made the decision to dive head first into my European adventure.
August 2015, I checked off ‘Live in another country’. This led me to seeing the Colosseum in Rome, St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland and etc. Without my Impossible List I may not have achieved these goals until I was much older, if at all!
The trick to this list is that once an item is checked off, it evolves. For example, if I manage to master 10 strict pull ups without failure, my new goal will be to master 15 pull ups! A Bucket List that will eventually be completed (you hope). The Impossible List will never be complete, it will only get bigger and better.
For my Impossible List I have assembled goals and experiences that are impossible to do without actively working on them. I have broken down the list into manageable categories.
Although this list is quite personal to me and tailored to my life, I am posting it online with the hopes that it will keep me more accountable and force me to follow through. I want to experience as much as I can in this lifetime and hope you do too!
Fitness
- 10 Chin ups 2017
- 12 chin ups
- 10 Pull ups (currently at 8)
- 12 pull ups
- 25 push ups in one set
- 50 Push ups in one set
- Learn how to execute a muscle up
- Participate in a Warrior Dash event
- Participate in a Spartan Race event
- Participate in a Tough Mudder event
- Push Press 135lbs
- Bench 165lbs x 5 reps
- Bench Press 185lbs x 5 reps
- Deadlift 200lbs x 6 reps (4 sets of 10 reps completed – 2018)
- Deadlift 225lbs x 6 reps
- Squat 200lbs x 3 reps
- Squat 225lbs x 3 reps
- Learn how to do a pistol squat (May 22, 2018)
- Do 5 free-standing pistol squats per leg
- Maintain a healthy weight of 165-175lbs
- Learn how to do a wall handstand (April 23, 2018)
- Learn how to do a handstand by pushing off wall
- Learn how to do a free-standing handstand
- Start Jiu Jitsu (February 2017)
- Earn my first stripe
- Join a CrossFit Gym to see what the hype is about (February 2018)
- Track my progress over three months
- Don’t miss a workout for 1-month
- Workout for 3 months without taking a break
- Find my abs!
Personal
- Move away from my home town for a year or more (August 2012)
- Start and maintain morning routine for 30 days straight.
- Journal Daily for 30 days straight.
- Play Guitar at least 30 minutes per day for 30 days straight.
- Read 25 pages a day for 30 days straight
- Live in another country for more than 3 months. (August 2015 – Ireland for 10 Months)
- Start College Word to the Wise
- Write a free e-book
- I want to one day live “off the grid” in a sustainable home.
- Donate $1,000 to charity (As of May 2018 = $115)
- Raise money for Movember 2018 (Current = $353)
Professional
- Join the AATO (June 2017)
- Attend an Architectural Conference (April 2018)
- Join the OAAAS (August 2018)
- Attend an OAA Conference
- Start a professional website/portfolio
- Maintain a successful blog with 100 regular subscribers
- Maintain a successful blog with 1000 regular subscribers
- Attend a networking event/seminar
- Write an e-book (current word count 7,901)
- Sell e-book to at least 1 person (that’s not a family member or friend!)
- Sell e-book to at least 100 people
- Learn how to take and edit photos (Learned basics 2017/2018)
- Learn intermediate photo editing on GIMP
Education
- Graduate high school
- Attend and graduate College with a 3.50 GPA (Earned a 3.49…close enough)
- Attend and graduate University Earned B.Sc. from The Sligo Institute of Technology – 2016
- Take a random Course to expand my knowledge
- Learn another language (Spanish or French)
Financial
- Start Investing for retirement
- Automate savings and debt payments
- Build a ‘nest egg’ of 1 month living expenses
- Build a 3-month emergency fund
- Build a buffer of 1-months living expenses in chequing account
- Set up a lifelong financial time line with key stepping stones along the way
- Start earning passive money from a ‘side hustle’
- Pay off all student loans by age 28 (3 years after graduation)
- Start putting 10% of my income into a saving/investment plan (October 2017)
- Purchase real estate by the age of 35
- Obtain a net worth of $100,000
- Obtain a net worth of $500,000
Travel
- Visit every Continent (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica)
- Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
- Visit the Roman Colosseum (December 2015)
- Visit the Great Pyramids of Giza
- Visit the Great Sphinx
- Visit Harry Potter World
- Attend Oktoberfest in Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- Attend St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin, Ireland (March 2016)
- Spend time in a foreign country alone (Berlin and Amsterdam – May 2017)
Crazy List
- Bungee jump
- Sky dive
- Publish a book
- Go zorbing
- Break a world record
- Go to the airport and buy a ticket on a whim with no planned destination
- Learn to wake board
- Learn to surf
- Learn how to back flip (Trampoline – August 2018)
- Change someone’s life for the better
- Attend Burning Man
- Read 100 books in one year
- Attend Tomorrowland in Boom, Belgium
- Experience the Walker Library of Human Imagination