I took the above photo while on a morning run earlier this summer. It’s a view of the New York City skyline from Hoboken, NJ. Whenever I run along the river and look over at the city, I can’t help but feel alive. New York gives me this energy. It’s a city so full of action, adventure, and surprise. No, it’s not perfect. But it does not fail to keep you on your toes. Running along the river makes me feel alive, but it also gives me time to reflect on those things that I want to accomplish in life.
For the past year or so, I’ve been collecting and recording moments and accomplishments that I’d like to experience or achieve at some point throughout my life. I’ve been developing the Flux List. You could call it a bucket list, but I like to think of it as a living, breathing record of what I want to do throughout my life. As I grow and learn and assess my priorities, some things may be added. Some may be removed. The Flux List represents my personal zeitgeist. It represents what I want to do in life and what is important to me. Some will be easier to achieve, some will not. Some will be crossed off the list years and years in the future. Some might be crossed off next week.
I plan to use it as a tool to encourage me to work towards my dreams, but also as a tool to remember how much I have been able to accomplish. Unlike goals, the items on my Flux List do not have timelines.
Without further ado, here is my Flux List. It will undoubtedly change, but this is how it exists at this moment in time. As I cross items off of the Flux List or add/remove items, I will keep track of it on this blog. Be sure to check out The Flux List page to see the most-up-to-date list.
Life
1. Complete a half marathon in under 2:00
2. Live to experience the US’s tricentennial
3. Run a marathon
4. Meet Leonardo DiCaprio
5. Live in another country
6. Become fluent in a language other than English
7. Attend a taping of SNL
8. Take an improv or comedy class
9. Take part in an Improv Everywhere stunt
10. Spend the night in a yurt
11. Watch all movies in the AFI Top 100
12. Break the habit of biting my nails
13. Journal every day for 1 month
14. Get a tattoo
15. Attend the Olympic games
16. Drink coffee while watching the sun rise (preferably from a balcony overlooking an exotic location)
17. Purchase a DSLR
18. Host a dinner party
19. Read at least 1 book a month for 12 months
20. Tour the White House
Career
21. Run a successful blog
22. Achieve 100 subscribers to this blog
23. Achieve 1,000 subscribers to this blog
24. Acheive 10,000 subscribers to this blog
25. Start my own successful business/side hustle
26. Write and publish a book
27. Have my work featured in a popular magazine or news source
28. Speak in front of a large crowd
29. Sell a photograph
30. Learn to program and subsequently build an iPhone app
31. Join a UX/Design/Technology networking group
32. Get a mentor to help guide me through my career
33. Own a business where I employ someone else
34. Be a mentor for someone else
35. Participate in a startup weekend
Money
36. Pay off my student loans by the time I turn 30
37. Save $15,000 in an emergency fund
38. Donate $1,000 to an important cause
39. Donate $10,000 to an important cause
40. Fund a student’s college education (someone NOT related to me)
41. Max out my yearly IRA contribution
42. Earn six figures in a year
43. Contribute to a Kickstarter campaign
44. Make $2K per month on the side
45. Earn steady passive income
46. Invest in something
47. Identify the best $1, $5, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000 I’ve ever spent
48. Earn money from selling upcycled furniture
49. Win a large amount of money
50. Earn money from selling art
Travel
51. Go on a cross-country trip via Amtrak
52. Stand in 4 states at once
53. Fly on an airplane in first class
54. Travel to every state in the U.S.
55. Visit 6/7 continents (I have ABSOLUTELY no desire to go to Antartica)
56. Travel to India and visit the Taj Mahal
57. Visit Machu Pichu
58. Explore Rome to its fullest
59. Book a RTW trip using airline miles
60. Visit the pyramids at Giza
61. Check out the sweet churches in Moscow
62. Travel to the Ukraine (aka 1/4 of my homeland)
63. Travel to Napa Valley and drink a lot of wine
64. Travel to Japan
65. Travel to a tropical island
66. Travel solo (or with someone else) around the world or across a significant part of a continent in one trip
67. Visit Chicago
68. Visit the Grand Canyon
69. Visit Mt. Rushmore
70. Check out Christ the Redeemer in Rio
71. Visit Stonehenge and the English countryside
72. Visit ancient ruins in Greece
73. View the Pamplona casket in Pamplona, Spain (I once wrote a 15-page paper on it – hello, art history major!)
74. Visit Norway
75. Fill up my passport before it expires
76. Travel to another country without planning
77. Ride a high-speed train in Japan
78. Walk on the Great Wall of China
79. Swim in the world’s largest swimming pool (San Alfonso del Mar in Algarrobo, Chile)
80. Walk on a glacier in Alaska
Do you have a bucket list or a Flux List? What’s on it?
