I first heard about this idea a couple of years ago from my goal-setting buddy. (If you don’t have such a person in your own life, I highly recommend you find one.) If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s a list of 25 things to do before you turn 25. You can adjust the numbers to whatever works for you. 30 before 30! 25 before 50! These can be big things or small things. The idea is simply to remind yourself to make the most of your time.
I think many of us worry so much about planning our next steps that we can forget to live now. Right here. In this moment. It’s been easy in grad school to tell myself that I can wait to be healthier, read more, start this or that hobby, or generally be happier when I graduate and get on to the next stage in life. How sad!
First, it’s not necessarily going to get any easier. It’s not as though we will suddenly have less to do or fewer responsibilities. Our excuses will always be there if we let them. Second, we don’t have to wait for anything. What if you were happy now? Wouldn’t that be great? I’ve always been inclined to make academic/career goals, but this year I wanted to be sure I’m living my life now. Why not? It’s on us to figure out how to be happy in the current phase of our lives, and there are actually things we can do right now that make life more fun or a little more exciting.
Keep reading for my list of 25 before 25, my attempt to add a little more living to my life! Hopefully in a few more months, I can report back that I’ve crossed off all the rest.
- Complete the Philly half marathon
- Do a craft – See the proof here.
- Finish my knitting project – I finished a puzzle. Can I retroactively change this to finish a puzzle?
- Volunteer for something
- Launch website
- Visit my alma mater
- Do a handstand – Does maybe half a second as I’m crashing back to earth count?
- Make an inspiration collage – Pinterest board in progress…
- Read a self-improvement book – Read You Are a Badass. It was okay.
- Read On the Road
- Read The Four Agreements
- Bake something new
- Go produce picking (ideally apples)
- Take a dance class
- Be a tourist in my own city for a day
- Learn to make better schematics for work and blog
- Do something I’ve never done before – I’m currently regretting how vague I left this. Lack of specificity is never recommended in the realm of goal setting…
- Go someplace I’ve never been – I went to Cleveland. One might not call it exotic, but I’d never been there before!
- Get a pedicure
- Get a massage
- Go to a movie alone – This is perhaps my favorite thing from this list. It’s wonderful. Seriously, try it and tell me I’m wrong.
- Splurge on something awesome
- Learn to actually change a tire – Does googling “how to change a tire” count?
- Watch a movie I’ve never seen from IMDb top 250 movies of all time – I have some remarkable gaps in my film-watching repertoire, such as The Titanic. I can hear you now crying incredulously, “You’ve never seen The Titanic!?” Well, I don’t know what to tell you other than who really wants to watch a three-hour movie about people dying on a ship?
- Celebrate my birthday!! – Nope, I don’t care if you think this is cheating 🙂
