Life lists: I debunk the 5 most common excuses, and this month’s free printable

I am extremely passionate about life lists.

I simply love the idea of living life to the full and enriching your experience by tapping into all the little and not-so-little things you’ve always wanted to do.

When I speak about life lists, dreaming big and why I think it’s so important to have one, some people tell me they don’t “do life lists”.

Today I want to offer you a different way of thinking about some of the most common reasons people are opposed to the idea of life lists.

1. The idea of writing a list makes me freeze up

No problem. To be honest, when I see a blank page with 100 empty lines, I also get a bit of writer’s block.
That just means you’re probably not a linear thinker. Try to use a mind map to jolt your thinking, start doodling and see what emerges or start building a vision board.

Once you start with a more creative process, you’ll often find the ideas keep flowing.

By the way, life lists often take a couple of iterations to completely get to 100 items or whatever your stretch number is. When I first did mine, I only got to 100 after 3 sessions of playing with my lists.

2. Writing a list stops me from thinking big because I get stuck in the nitty gritty details

That’s okay. Go with the flow. At some point while you’re writing out your laundry list of little items, you’ll hit a zone where you cross over into big picture thinking about things that really matter to you. It’s around 10 – 15 minutes for me.

Try it and see where you go. You’ll find you start putting more things that are higher priorities than just a list of things you think you should have.

3. What if I’m setting myself up for failure?

This is a big one. Have you ever heard the saying, “reach for the moon and you’ll touch the stars”?

That’s my philosophy.

It’s in the reaching that the magic happens.

If you have a list of 100 and you only get to 20, so what? You’ve done 20 more things than you would have done had you had no list. But if you don’t have a list at all, you’d never have got to those 20 at all.

4. I struggle to set realistic goals

Add things to your list that are really teeny-tiny and super achievable and once you’ve built up a track record of reaching them, start stretching.

I like to suggest that you have many really doable, once-off items like making a roast chicken (an item on my own list at one point) and also some stretch items like taking a trip somewhere you’ve always wanted to go.

The little items will motivate you to get going and keep you going once you see success.

5. What if I get disappointed?

I can’t promise you that won’t happen but I can promise you that you’ll be much more disappointed if you never try anything and live with regrets.

I’ve done some things like write a book because I’ve always wanted to have a book of my own with my name on it. I don’t know why that was important to me but it was, and now it’s done. I knew that I’d regret it if I never did it, so I just did.

My book isn’t a bestseller so in that respect, it’s been somewhat disappointing but I’m still glad I got it done.

Have I convinced you to make a life list yet?

I’m challenging you to grab a piece of paper and write just 10 things on your list you’ve always wanted to do, big or small, silly or serious, and see where it takes you.

PS I designed a free life list for you which would have arrived automatically if you’re on the list, but is now also included in the welcome pack for new subscribers. Enjoy my photography!