A Bucket-list For a Better Lifestyle in 2019

I am surprised and equally glad that I am here in 2019 with my second post, continuing my blogging. It’s a small step on my part to make 2019 worthwhile. To start with, let me assure you one thing. Making a bucket-list and trying to stick to it, has its benefits. Because I made 9 trips in 2018 as opposed to zero in most of the years before that, all because of the bucket-list I had prepared.

Since my earlier bucket-list sort of worked, here I am creating another one for 2019.

Why a Bucket-list?

Most of us grovel under the weight of the things that we have to do, and want to do. But often, we neglect the important things and don’t realize that we are wasting away valuable time. Sometimes, I even forget that there were a dozen things I had to do. A bucket-list is a road map of sorts,

• Giving you an idea of things you can do.
• Reminding you the things you want to do and,
• Giving you the push.

The goal isn’t to finish all the milestones. But to strive and complete at least a few in place of doing nothing at all.

If you aimed at reading 12 books but finished 8 books, instead of fretting over the 4 unread ones, you should be happy that you kept a goal in the first place. Without the goal, you might have read only 2 or 3!

My Bucketlist 2019

1. Volunteer at an Old age Home – This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, but never got to doing. I have always wanted to make a difference; be the reason for someone’s happiness and be the source of someone’s inspiration. This year, I need to constantly remind myself to make it happen. I want to give back to the Universe.
2. Read 12 books. Read Everyday – I always keep this goal in my list but never really get to finishing it. Cell phones have reduced our attention span. I cannot finish reading a page without checking my phone in between – A perfect example of low productivity and lack of focus due to cell phones. I want to get back to reading as well as improve my concentration. A book a month is achievable.

   

   The Books ready to be read

3. Write a blog post a week – This post is a part of the one post a week plan. The important part is to keep this going. This time I intend to focus more on the topics that I choose. I want my blog to become more useful. I want people to find happiness and help in my blog.
4. Gratitude Journaling – I am just conjuring this up in my head. Just today, I thought I should write down the things I am grateful for. Either on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. So I’ll either write a post at the end of every month or write in my diary at the end of every week as to the things I am grateful for. That means, I just missed 2 weeks!
5. Travel – I have decided to make 2 long trips this year and 4 to 6 short trips. This means I will be exploring North or North East India for the first time. It scares the hell out of me, but also, I am excited!
   Did you know that I haven’t been to any of the mainstream places such as Goa, Pondicherry, Gokarna or Hampi? Well, so one or more of those will be covered as well, I hope.
6. Listen to Myself and My Needs – As I grew, at some point or the other, I began to move things around to suit everyone else’s lives. When I listen to music I am always wondering if I am disturbing others. If I am switching on the fan, I am looking around and seeing if anyone else has a problem. And these questions keep resurfacing in my head. Instead of being in my own element I am always wondering if everyone else is happy. This is a habit I need to stop – obsessing over others’ comfort and ignoring mine!
7. Eat Responsibly – Staying in a PG has its cons. The biggest of all is the lack of nutritious food. I need to try to include some nutrition in my diet. Oats, sprouts and boiled eggs are a few to start with. I am also trying hard to eat my food on time so that I do not compromise my health.

This is a rough list and I intend to come back and make changes or additions so that I improve for the better by the end of 2019. It is always a great thing to start. So I am starting by putting this out in the Universe.

So far I have gone on one trip and am reading a book that I had started last year. I have bought Oats, eggs and green grams but haven’t started using them. The first baby steps have begun. It is up to me to be consistent.

Do you have a bucket-list? What do you want to achieve by the end of 2019?

 

Maintaining a Journal – Not Your Regular One

No. We aren’t going back to, ‘Dear Diary, today was a normal day. I got up, brushed, pooped, ate, loafed around…’. No! Nor is this going to be something artistic. You don’t have to be a writer to make this. Think of this as a book to account your life. Something where your dreams and thoughts take a form and you make a record of them as the first step to fulfilling them.

 

Image Courtesy: Rossifox.com

 

We are going to make a Handbook of life. Nothing too complex. It is basically the things you want to do and the things you feel about strongly. Just a few lines will suffice. But in 10 years’ time, it must remind you of important things in your life. If you are really into it, work on it in such a way that you have enough points to write your autobiography someday. J

Here are 7 pointers to help you –

1. Invest in a Journal

Invest your time or money. This is a journal meant to store a significant part of your life. It should be majestic and inviting, shouldn’t it? I have always wanted one of those moleskin journals or the huge heavy leather ones. Their size, smell and classy looks give a sense of pride and you’ll feel like doing justice to the journal. Or convert an old Diary into a tempting one by redoing the covers. You will find enough and more DIYs on the same.

 

Source – Here

 

2. Places You Want to Visit

Travel bug bites most of us at some point of time or the other. Make a list of places you want to visit and write down the reasons too. If you are on the artistic side, you could fill it up with pictures and doodles. If not, plain words would do.

Another way to utilize this section is challenge yourself – 5 historical places, 5 hill stations and so on. The places I want to visit are related to phenomenon and activities – Beaches with Bioluminescence, Aurora Borealis, Star gazing areas etc. This is another category you could go for.

You see it now? Get innovative, get quirky, get it exciting.

3. Your Wishlist

I have e-commerce store wishlists boasting of so many things I want. Yet in a few days time, I lose interest in some of them. But there are those things I have always wanted to own. The more time it takes, the surer I am of what I want. All of us have such wishes right? Don’t let it evaporate. Write it down. Seeing it again and again will make you work for it. One day, gradually, you will check things off the list.

Do you know what the first thing in my list will be? Harry Potter Books – Hardbound ❤

4. Your Bucketlist

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. Those things you have wanted to do apart from purchasing and traveling. Food related? How about this? Learn something you have always wanted to learn. Start something you were scared to begin – making Videos, starting a blog, an art form, something that involves getting out of your comfort zone.

Mine will have; getting a tattoo, starting a youtube channel and moving to a self-hosted platform.

5. Things You have done

What about all those things you have done until now? Record them. Attach a picture, write a few words and the date if you aren’t much into writing. Else, elaborate. Either way, you have a record of a remarkable thing you did in your life.

 

Courtesy: Here

 

6. Your Ideas

I think one common thing we humans have is, the generation of ideas while we take a shower. All of us get ideas. Some of us process it and ruminate over it and later on forget it. Some of us shrug it off the same moment. Only a few act on it.

Act on it. Write it down. Don’t let doubts hold you back! It is too ambitious. I am not that talented or rich to do it. I can’t do it. Not an excuse. Write it down. People don’t get an idea and be rich overnight. We will have to work.

Dhinchak Pooja got an idea, she decided to work on it. No matter what we think of her talents, she is out there minting money. What if she thought she isn’t good at singing and slumped back?

7. Random Thoughts

An explicable feeling. You helped someone cross the street. You gave your seat to an old woman in the bus. You saw a sad sight and it weighed you down. You saw a rainbow. Your friend said something nice. Your mother wore a lovely saree today. Your father said something touching. You had a thought. Something about office. You had a nice moment of eye contact with a stranger.

No. Don’t elaborate if you aren’t so fond of elaborating. Just write a line or two. Maybe like couplets or paragraphs. You never know what you will have there in 10 years.

Remember. Your thoughts, ideas, dreams, and ambitions are abstract things as long as they are in your head. They could vanish at any moment and never come back. 80% of our thoughts don’t take shape because we do not act on them. Give them a shape and you are halfway there. You read it another three times and you will know if that is what you really want. If it is so, you will work for it and succeed. Do not let your success die in your head.