My Life List

In 2010 I sat down and wrote my first “life list”.  Some call it a “bucket list”… I call it a life list because it lists out things I want to do while I’m full of life. My first shot at making my life list in 2010 got me through #60 on this list. Then I put the piece of paper away… found it a couple years later and added up to #73. Then in September 2015 I added up to #89. Up to now it was all on a ratty old crumpled piece of paper… until my buddy Sean Ogle inspired me to put it online. So voila, here we are.

So this list is a living breathing work. As I nail things I’ll cross them off and celebrate! And as I want to add new things I’ll drop them on the list here. If you don’t have a life list go out and create one! No matter how simple it is, just sit down and write down some of the things you want to… do, experience, feel, achieve… places you want to visit… impacts you want to make… and even stupid little trivial things that you think would be pretty darn cool to do in your life. Have fun with it and put out your intention to live an amazing life.

Enjoy!

  1. Master Spanish & have a full conversation with a native Spanish speaker
  2. Build a business worth $100M (never thought I’d get here, but got an offer for $65M in 2021!)
  3. Start a scholarship at my almamater (OIT) – Started two in 2011! 
  4. Learn to play guitar – Started, but still long way to go! 
  5. Finish a triathalon
  6. Volunteer after a disaster
  7. Skydive over a tropical ocean – Been there done that! March 2011!
  8. Hang out w/ Richard Branson on Neckar Island
  9. Take a full day Kayak trip
  10. Catch a steelhead on a fly rod
  11. Take 3 weeks off, no phone, no computer, no watch – Took 4 weeks off July 2016. But did have my phone. D id 3 weeks Dec ’22 w/ no work, no computer, no watch, and no social media
  12. Get 100,000 views on YouTube 
  13. Master a surprising cocktail
  14. Watch the Masters live
  15. Shoot even par on a round – Haha, second guessing this one. My game is going backwards! 
  16. Go to New Zealand
  17. Travel Europe for a month… twice
  18. Get baptized
  19. Raise $1,000,000 for an amazing charity
  20. Teach a college class – Doing Spring / Fall 2016 at OIT
  21. Create my own wine with grapes I grew myself
  22. Bike the entire North Umpqua Trail in one trip
  23. Take McKinley to Mt. McKinley
  24. Learn photography and win an award with a picture I took Boom! Nailed summer ’22. Won 2 first places for pics entered into Douglas County Fair
  25. Be published in Entrepreneur Magazine
  26. Create an awesome “Entrepreneur Mastermind” house in a tropical location we host entrepreneurs at
  27. Help my parents retire
  28. Golf the top 5 courses in the world w/ some great friends
  29. Spontaneously jam w/ a band in a pub
  30. Hold a charity golf tourney that raises $10k $30,000 (aimed too small – thanks RJ!)
  31. Help another person achieve their dream to tick something off their bucket list every month of a year
  32. Own an awesome rare classic car, drive for a couple years and sell it at an auction for a profit
  33. Visit all 50 states in the U.S. – 26 so far
  34. Help 5 friends and family start a cool business OR quit their day job – 2 so far! 
  35. Take a 4 week road trip across the U.S. to watch baseball games at Fenway, Wrigley, NY, and others along the way
  36. Write a book that goes to #1 on Amazon and makes the NYT best sellers list
  37. Read the entire Bible
  38. Start a business incubator for young entrepreneurs that creates 10 $1mm+/yr companies in 10 years.
  39. Take a spontaneous roadtrip to another state w/ Carly and the kids w/ absolutely no plans Essentially did to Colorado and had a blast. 12/22
  40. Learn to ballroom dance
  41. Fly in a fighter jet w/ my dad (didn’t get this done before dad passed. But we did get up in the air in a private plane months before he passed!)
  42. Raft the Rogue River
  43. Mentor a teen who has a huge gift to give to the world but doesn’t have the confidence to do it
  44. Wake up before 6am 30 days in a row – Did 25 in 30 days May 2016. Gonna nail it this year
  45. Be quoted or interviewed on national TV
  46. Own a house on a lake or a river – Bam! Moved into our river house on 3 acres June 2016
  47. Get in the best shape of my life by 27  29  31  34 Nailed it at 35!!!!  Again at 38
  48. Snorkel dive on a kick ass reef (snorkeled barrier reef in Roatan Honduras in ’25)
  49. Hit a hole in one
  50. Go to Oktoberfest in Munich
  51. Attend the olympics
  52. Surf a full wave
  53. Catch a Salmon in Alaska
  54. Invest in a company that grows to $200mm in value (one of my earliest investments is now $100M +, and growing!)
  55. Build my and Carly’s dream home
  56. Get 10,000 subscribers on YouTube – Hit May 2020! (moving this to 100k subs)
  57. Present at T.E.D.
  58. Walk the Great Wall of China
  59. Celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary
  60. Move people enough with a talk to receive a standing ovation
  61. Really own who I am (feels weird to type this, but in ’25 my perspective shifted. Amazing clarity).
  62. Read 24 books in a year
  63. Build enough value to charge $10,000 for a day’s worth of consulting – $12k for a day on a big project in 2016. Now I charge over $4k/hr (in ’25)
  64. Have 50,000 users of a software of ours
  65. Have my entrepreneur organization work w/ Richard Branson or Mark Cuban on a project
  66. Make lifelong friends w/ someone from another country
  67. Help create a school of entrepreneurship at a college
  68. Write or do 30 videos / articles in 30 days
  69. Pioneer a new strategy or trend that makes a massive impact Evergreen marketing has been huge for our industry
  70. Organize / participate in a nationwide / statewide scavenger hunt
  71. Be 100% clear on how I am and BE that person the rest of my life – ALWAYS WORKING ON THIS THOUGH! 
  72. Take an entire year off of everyday work
  73. Hit the Inc 500/5000 list  YES! Hit #699 in 2018, list again in ’19-’21. 5x in a row! (fastest growing software company in Oregon 2x) 
  74. Buy and renovate a historical building YES! Bought 1888 historical building and renovating! Update, bought another ’21 and renovating!
  75. Speak my message in front of 1,000 people BAM! At WELive in Dallas 2019 – 1,200 (Gary V spoke right before me! haha, I can always say Gary V opened for me 😉
  76. Start a quarterly adventure with each of my children w/ just me and them that lasts decades – Started it in ’22! Did amazing trips w/ my kids doing again in ’23.
  77. $20M+ net worth by 40 (hit by 36 – on paper 😉
  78. Have a grand child
  79. Document the wisdom from my dad, Pa, Mom, and Danny Miles w/ video
  80. Start and write a letter every year to each child & give as a gift at their wedding
  81. Hold a bottle of wine for 15 years to drink on our 25th year anniversary
  82. Live in another country for at least 6 months
  83. Donate at least $1mm over my lifetime to charity – ( $800k In as of 2020) ($1.3M by ’25)
  84. Do a 100 mile bike trip
  85. Help Carly live her dream
  86. Write an autobiography worth telling / reading
  87. Visit Greece and Mykonos
  88. Start a company with my dad
  89. Fly my entire family in a private jet to an amazing location somewhere in the world (parents, brothers and their families, my family)
  90. Visit Yellowstone and Yosemite
  91. Solve the rubix cube
  92. Own all or part of a winery (happened in ’25. Archer Vinyards. Try some!)
  93. Do something with the word “marathon” in it 🙂 – Did first half-marathon in ’20 under 2 hrs. 2nd one in ’23.