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!
- Master Spanish & have a full conversation with a native Spanish speaker
- Build a business worth $100M (never thought Iād get here, but halfway there!)
Start a scholarship at my almamater (OIT)– Started two in 2011!- Learn to play guitar – Started, but still long way to go!
- Finish a triathalon
- Volunteer after a disaster
Skydive over a tropical ocean– Been there done that! March 2011!- Hang out w/ Richard Branson on Neckar Island
- Take a full day Kayak trip
- Catch a steelhead on a fly rod
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 mediaGet 100,000 views on YouTube- Master a surprising cocktail
- Watch the Masters live
- Shoot even par on a round – Haha, second guessing this one. My game is going backwards!
- Go to New Zealand
- Travel Europe for a month… twice
- Raise $1,000,000 for an amazing charity
- Teach a college class – Doing Spring / Fall 2016 at OIT
- Create my own wine with grapes I grew myself
- Bike the entire North Umpqua Trail in one trip
- Take McKinley to Mt. McKinley (damn! Obama changed the name of the mountain :-/)
Learn photography and win an award with a picture I tookBoom! Nailed summer ’22. Won 2 first places for pics entered into Douglas County Fair- Be published in Entrepreneur Magazine
- Create an awesome “Entrepreneur Mastermind” house in a tropical location we host entrepreneurs at
- Help my parents retire
- Golf the top 5 courses in the world w/ some great friends
- Spontaneously jam w/ a band in a pub
- Hold a charity golf tourney that raises
$10k$30,000 (aimed too small – thanks RJ!) - Help another person achieve their dream to tick something off their bucket list every month of a year
- Own an awesome rare classic car, drive for a couple years and sell it at an auction for a profit
- Visit all 50 states in the U.S. – 26 so far
- Help 5 friends and family start a cool business OR quit their day job – 2 so far!
- Take a 4 week road trip across the U.S. to watch baseball games at Fenway, Wrigley, NY, and others along the way
- Write a book that goes to #1 on Amazon and makes the NYT best sellers list
- Read the entire Bible
- Start a business incubator for young entrepreneurs that creates 10 $1mm+/yr companies in 10 years.
Take a spontaneous roadtrip to another state w/ Carly and the kids w/ absolutely no plansEssentially did to Colorado and had a blast. 12/22- Learn to ballroom dance
- Fly in a fighter jet w/ my dad
- Raft the Rogue River
- Mentor a teen who has a huge gift to give to the world but doesn’t have the confidence to do it
- Wake up before 6am 30 days in a row – Did 25 in 30 days May 2016. Gonna nail it this year
- Be quoted or interviewed on national TV
Own a house on a lake or a river– Bam! Moved into our river house on 3 acres June 2016Get in the best shape of my life by27293134Nailed it at 35!!!! Again at 38- Scuba dive on a kick ass reef
- Hit a hole in one
- Go to Oktoberfest in Munich
- Attend the olympics
- Surf a full wave
- Catch a Salmon in Alaska
- Invest in a company that grows to $200mm in value
- Build my and Carly’s dream home
Get 10,000 subscribers on YouTube– Hit May 2020! (moving this to 100k subs)- Present at T.E.D.
- Walk the Great Wall of China
- Celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary
- Move people enough with a talk to receive a standing ovation
- Really own who I am
- Read 24 books in a year
Build enough value to charge $10,000 for a day’s worth of consulting– $12k for a day on a big project in 2016- Have 50,000 users of a software of ours
- Have my entrepreneur organization work w/ Richard Branson or Mark Cuban on a project
- Make lifelong friends w/ someone from another country
- Help create a school of entrepreneurship at a college
- Write or do 30 videos / articles in 30 days
Pioneer a new strategy or trend that makes a massive impactEvergreen marketing has been huge for our industry- Organize / participate in a nationwide / statewide scavenger hunt
Be 100% clear on how I am and BE that person the rest of my life– ALWAYS WORKING ON THIS THOUGH!- Take an entire year off of everyday work
Hit the Inc 500/5000 listYES! Hit #699 in 2018, list again in ’19-’21. 5x in a row! (fastest growing software company in Oregon 2x)Buy and renovate a historical buildingYES! Bought 1888 historical building and renovating! Update, bought another ’21 and renovating!Speak my message in front of 1,000 peopleBAM! At WELive in Dallas 2019 – 1,200 (Gary V spoke right before me! haha, I can always say Gary V opened for me šStart 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.$20M+ net worth by 40(hit by 36 – on paper š- Have a grand child
- Document the wisdom from my dad, Pa, Mom, and Danny Miles w/ video
- Start and write a letter every year to each child & give as a gift at their wedding
- Hold a bottle of wine for 15 years to drink on our 25th year anniversary
- Live in another country for at least 6 months
- Donate at least $1mm over my lifetime to charity – ( $800k In as of 2020)
- Do a 100 mile bike trip
- Help Carly live her dream
- Write an autobiography worth telling / reading
- Visit Greece and Mykonos
- Start a company with my dad
- Fly my entire family in a private jet to an amazing location somewhere in the world (parents, brothers and their families, my family)
- Visit Yellowstone and Yosemite
- Solve the rubix cube
Do something with the word “marathon” in it š– Did first half-marathon in ’20!