Friday, January 8, 2010

30 Before 30

Dear Internets,

I've discovered that the best time to blog is when I'm procrastinating about doing other things. I may have discovered my new secret formula to regular blogging!

I'm turning 30 in about eleven months. Every year for the past few years, I've made a list of 26 things to do before I turn 26, 27 before 27, etc. A week or so after my 29th birthday, I made a list of 30 things I'd like to do in the next year. While my list this year doesn't contain only things that I would consider Important Life Goals or anything (and several are things I've done before) I did decide to push myself a little more with my goals this year.

30 before 30
  1. meet 30 new people (I'm kind of an introvert)
  2. read 30 (non-self help) books
  3. watch 30 of the IMDB Top 250 films
  4. get married (hopefully this one won't be too hard) :)
  5. travel outside the country
  6. run a half marathon
  7. launch an Etsy shop
  8. try 30 new foods
  9. save $5000 (after IRA and retirement contributions)
  10. volunteer at least 30 hours of my time
  11. every 3 months, donate 30 items to Goodwill or Salvation Army
  12. sell 30 items on Craigslist or Ebay
  13. take a language class
  14. learn to sew
  15. redo floors in living room (I promise this was on my list before the remodel was planned)
  16. be able to do 30 military style push-ups
  17. take a stand-up or improv class and perform in front of an audience
  18. try 30 new recipes
  19. go on a road trip
  20. win a contest of some kind (this is my favorite, because it's so open-ended)
  21. take a dance class
  22. go to the dentist (twice)
  23. pay off student loans
  24. learn to make a daisy chain (Achilles told me there's some sort of dirty meaning to this, but I just want to string flowers together.)(Also, boys are gross.)
  25. learn to play 30 songs on the ukulele (this was originally one song, but I've already learned about 5, so I decided to increase my goal)
  26. learn to drive a stick shift
  27. attend 30 yoga classes
  28. complete savings vs. lottery experiment
  29. make a list of the top 30 things I'm most happy to have already crossed off my bucket list
  30. skip at least one item on this list
I figure I'll update on these goals in groups (adventurousness, travel, creative, health, financial, inspired by watching too many episodes of Hoarders, etc.) What do you think? I'm I being too aggressive? Not aggressive enough? What are your big goals for the next year?

Love,
Jane

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

these are awesome!! i am totally going to have to steal a few, especially win something.... haha. also, let's see some of these uke talents! i'm still practicing before i even attempt to record anything, but at least tell us what songs! the first song i got really excited about is ring of fire - it's like 4 chords! :)

Nicolle B said...

Great idea to match your age to the items in a bucket list!

Since I'm 32, I guess I better get busy with my own list (I'll start by stealing some off yours) ;-)

Love your blog <3

Nicolle

Rachel said...

I should have made one of these. But now I'll be 27 in a little over 4 months, so I think it will have to wait.

Though I'm curious: what's the savings vs lottery experiment?

Kim said...

This is a great list. I'm considering making a list of my own. Driving a stick has always been on my non-verbalized mental lists of things to do.

Anonymous said...

This list is fantastic! :) Why didn't I know you played the Ukulele? How did I miss that? Anyway - you should totally do a video of you playing.

Jane said...

wanderingtex - I am far from a ukulele hero. The songs I'm most proud of learning are "All I Have to do is Dream" and "Have you Ever Seen the Rain." I can mostly only play slow songs that only consist of chords. But I'm trying to get "Tiny Bubbles" down.

Nicole B - Thanks! I really have a fun making the lists. And giving myself an annual deadline helps keep me honest. :)

Rachel - I totally recommend the lists. I'll give you a rundown on Savings vs. Lotto in one of my next couple of posts. I forgot that no one would know what I was talking about.

Kim - I always wanted to learn how to drive a stick. I hope I don't break Achilles' car.

sleepyjane - I will do that, as long as you promise not to make me sing. Your ears would never recover from the horror show that is my singing voice.

Kelly said...

Very nice, great idea! Although I don't think you have to do everything 30 times. That's a bit much for a year unless you have nothing to do. Also, once you hit 30, it's ok to have a few things you still WANT to do...it's not an end of the road thing. I like the "skip one" from the list too.
What can I say? Maybe I'm just lazy. I couldn't watch more than 2 episodes of Hoarders, though. Those people are CRAZY!

Jane said...

Kelly - Yes, I'm a little worried I might be overdoing it, especially with the trying 30 new recipes and 30 new foods. I was on a roll in December, but that's a month with a lot of time/opportunities to try new things.