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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dreams are Free

There's an awesome little vegetarian cafe in Auckland (actually, there are 2 of them, one on Fort St and one on Lorne St I think it is) called Revive. Although I don't get to eat there as often as I'd like to (Europe savings and all that!), I do get the weekly email cafe owner Jeremy sends out each week. The emails have that weeks cafe menu as well as recipes and inspiration.

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One of the best he ever sent was around January 2010, talking about Dream Lists.

The idea is, either with pictures or words, on a board or in a book, you list everything you could ever possibly want to do in your life. Kind of like a bucket list, but no limits whatsoever. It could be as small as one day wanting to have a picnic with all your friends, own a really nice dining suite, do a bungy jump... or as big as one day joining a flight to space. The list can be as long or as short as you want, as long as everything goes on it. It doesn't matter if you think it's unreachable, put it on the list.

So, I made my list and every so often I add more to it. The point of the list, is that you choose a few things off the list, and every day you do one thing to make them happen. I believe Jeremy goes so far as to have 3 on the go at any one time, write them out every morning so they are fresh in his mind, and do one thing towards them every single day. It's your list though, so it's up to you what you do with it. Personally I don't rewrite them or anything but any time I pull it out (every month or two, whenever I think to) I refocus on the ones I've decided to work on and if I've completed any, I pick a new one to replace them.

It's just nice to have everything you could ever want, all in one place. When I go back to the list, I remember things I've 'always' wanted to do but don't think of on a day to day basis. It gives me accountability for the life I lead and motivation to correct the path I'm on if I realise I've gone astray.

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Long before Revive was ever invented, when I was 11 or 12, I made a list of what I wanted in life. Yeah, yeah, we already know I'm a list person, have a laugh and move on. Anyway, it wasn't so much a Dream List, but I wrote that I wanted to buy a house, get married, do an African safari and visit Europe. I still have it and every couple of years it surfaces and even now makes me reinvest in getting those things. Almost like I don't want to let my 11 year old self down.

Give it a go and see what happens. If it works for you, awesome. If it doesn't, you only wasted an ad break of TV to do it.

This is mine -

Be TV free 
Have a blackboard wall 
Start Pilates again 
Start singing lessons again 
Go on a cruise 
Get Debt free 
Get a Blanket box 
Buy a house  
Get a friend for Toby 
Renovate a house and sell it for profit 
Own a bach/holiday house 
Own an investment property 
Own a boat 
Get a motorbike 
Get a 1969 Ford Mustang convertible 
Foster as many kids as possible 
Get married 
Go to Europe 
Do a safari in Africa 
Go to Phuket 
Go to South America 
See New York at Christmas 
Go to Glastonbury festival 
Go to Coachella festival 
Go to Lollapalooza 
See Egypt 
Tour the South Island in a bus 
See Abel Tasman National Park 
Do the Tongariro crossing 
Visit Queenstown  
Do aid work somewhere 
Get fit - Pilates. Walking Toby. Walking at lunch.  Bootcamp. 
Give up processed foods 
Be 100% vegetarian 
Give up chocolate 
Stay cancer free 
Give up drinking 
Play guitar on stage  
Finish my degree 
Be in a working band  
Get a job that doesn't feel like job 
Be someones boss 
Stop swearing 
Learn to knit 
Learn to cook - properly 
Do Cake making classes 
Volunteer nail-paints in Retirement Homes 
Be a Guide Dog Puppy Walker 
Be a Zoo Volunteer 
Be an SPCA volunteer

8 comments:

Unknown said...

One way I found to achieve a similar outcome was to make a commitment to stop saying " I wish....." Not so that it defeats the purpose of of a "wish list" persay, but I just promised to stop saying I wish I could do this or that.....and now I try and make it happen. "I wish I could play guitar" stopped, and became lessons, "I wish I had tried archery", become a beginner course.....I guess its a case of finding what works for for you as a way to achieve your end.

Deborah Francisco said...

I love Dream lists!!! I do one every year, usually right at the start of January to help me refocus and figure out what I want to do with my life and who I want to be. Good luck with your list! Remember that it always changes and grows with you.

MonacoNailArt said...

@Harry - Ooh I like that! Can-do attitude at its finest :)

@A Girl Who Dreams - do you carry things over from your last years list or start fresh? Mine has just evolved over the last 2 years and changes any time I think of something new :)

m. said...

very inspiring :) i hope you accomplish all these dreams.

Steff Metal said...

That is one incredible list! With a lifetime ahead of you, I've no doubt you'll accomplish everything on it!

I'm one of those mad crazy people who made a list when I was very young - maybe seven, and added to it over the years. By the time I left the shitty small town full of mean people that were the inspiration behind writing the list, it was about 50 items long. But the time I was 25, I'd done everything on the list. EVERYTHING. And it was a rather ambitious list. So I had to make another one. It totally CAN be done. Good luck!

BTW: I saw your profile on 20 Something Bloggers in the Metal forum and came here cuz I saw you were in Auckland and thought I might know you. I don't think we've really met, but I know Courtney. Hi! \m/

MonacoNailArt said...

Fingers crossed! :)

Haha mad, crazy - and just like me! Now thaaats a list I'd like to see :D

Awesome! I think I might have seen your blog and shown Courts - did you go to Wacken last year?

\m/ :D

Steff Metal said...

I will publish it on my blog one day, I did another one on my new list last weekend - I got to drive a steam locomotive.

We went in 2009 - Did a 4 month trip through Europe and the Middle East, similar to you guys, except we had a campervan (we'll not in the middle east - I wouldn't want to drive with those crazy folk!) Courts told me he'd seen my article about "5 Metal Things to Do in Hamburg" and figured out it was me. Do you have any friends going over to Wacken who you're meeting up with? You're welcome to come camp with us if you'd like. There's 6-8 of us from NZ plus our German friends.

MonacoNailArt said...

Theres one girl we know going, not really a friend just an aquaintance. We should definitely find each other, that would be awesome :)

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