Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Life Lists v. 2008
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A new you for 2008 and beyond may be within reach with the help of an au courant 21st-century approach – commit your goals to a life list. Popularized by life coaches and ubiquitous in a variety of current books, movies and social networking sites, the life list has emerged as a must-do to live what you may have long dreamed.
Homo sapiens are the only animal capable of thinking about the future, and for Gen-Xer’s looking to fill their lives with purpose and inspiration, life lists hold a lot of appeal. Birdwatchers have long known that you can’t leave it up to chance if you want to see a malachite kingfisher, and if you have had in the back of your mind a secret desire to climb Mt. Everest, make a mille-feuille or step away on stage with Riverdance!, you need an action plan to make it a reality. Forward inertia (simply being propelled forward into the next stage of life – college, job, better job, family) slows considerably at life’s midpoint, and soul-searching thirty- and forty-somethings of today have proven themselves to be much more purpose-driven and satisfaction-oriented than their parents.
Life-changing events and illness are often the catalysts for lists, such as in the recently released Rob Reiner movie, “The Bucket List,” which tells the story of two terminally ill men and their comic journey to complete the life lists full of death-defying stunts before they kick the bucket. Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race, created his own life list program, N.O.W. – No Opportunity Wasted – after a near-death experience while diving. He wrote his first list at 19, “…looking for a way to replicate that ‘rush’ of coming face-to-face with death. It seems crazy, but when you have an episode like that, you come out feeling more alive than ever before.”
Personal catastrophe may provide a sense of urgency to our mortality, but the success of Patricia Schultz’s “1001 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List,” (a New York Times best seller and current number-one travel book on Amazon.com) suggests that lists have also resonated with the average professional in this age of productivity.
Numerous social networking sites, such as 43 Things, the self-proclaimed most popular site, have emerged to support enthusiasts as well. Members can list up to 43 goals (a seemingly arbitrary number) for free on the site and network with other people who have the same goals, cheer on the others and receive support themselves. Some of the goals feel suspiciously like resolutions – lose weight, kick butts – and some are shockingly mundane (five people listed sharpening their knives, but those of us with dull knives probably shouldn’t mock this need for culinary organization). But scrolling through the lists offers a very liberating and hopeful sense of the possibilities that are out there.
Superviva is another social networking site that includes the celebu-list angle, proudly displaying the list of internet pioneer Ted Leonsis, who has been fortunate enough to achieve all of his net worth goals – $10 million, $100 million, $1 billion. The celeb-angle is undoubtedly amusing. The Ellen DeGeneres Show has featured both Ellen’s list (learn how to use her computer and wash her hair less) and guests’ life lists (Beyonce wants to learn Arabic); and Justin Zackham, writer of The Bucket List, will be releasing a book of life lists of prominent people.
Could a life list be a set-up for disappointment? Set the bar at a reasonable place – you can’t run 26 miles tomorrow, but you can start a fitness program that will get you there before the year ends. It is easy to put off today that what doesn’t seem important, so the motivation, simply the raison d’etre of a life list, might make completing a triathalon or learning guitar attainable.
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