40 Before 40: The Bucket List

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40 Before 40 The Bucket List

When I first left my job to become self-employed I created a Bucket List. Some of it consisted of small goals that were designed to push myself forward in my new career path, while others were seemingly far more outrageous and frivolous at the time, being included in a ‘pipe dream’ section at the end.

Rather unexpectedly I managed to complete the entire list, with the final item being ticked off after I had the chance to meet Dolph Lundgren – my ultimate celebrity crush of 30+ years – in December 2017. However, since then I haven’t really focused on major goals, instead choosing to go from day to day with little direction other than getting through the month ahead.

In November I turned 38 and so I decided that I would create a 40 Before 40 Bucket List – 40 things to see, do and achieve before I turn 40 years old – in which I have just under two years to complete. I’ve seen quite a few of them online and after a period of time of feeling like I have little direction this seemed like the perfect solution: acknowledge what I want to do… and do it. By putting it in a public forum I am making myself accountable to not only myself, but for those who read and follow Suzie Speaks regularly.

Like my initial Bucket List, some of the items on the list are small and exist as a ‘just because,’ while others are much larger and seemingly out of reach at the time of writing. Additionally, some of the items I have decided to keep as ‘private’ as they are more personal, but I will acknowledge them on the blog as and when I achieve them.

My 40 Before 40 Bucket List

1. Private

2. Visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney, Florida. Both The Bloke and I are huge Star Wars fans and I can’t imagine how excited he will be.

3. Reach my goal weight. I’m not interested in being skinny, but I want to feel good and not have issues when attempting to buy new clothes. I’ve already made a good start with the regular aerobics classes.

4. Private.

5. Private

6. Visit Neuschwanstein Castle. It’s an absolutely stunningly beautifully place – there may be tears.

7. See the Grand Canyon. There may be more tears.

8. Raise money for charity. In 2015 I raised money for Dementia UK by running the Birmingham half-marathon. I want to do something similar: create a project and raise money for a charity from it.

9. Declutter, tidy and organise every aspect of my home. It’s been an ongoing series of battles with decluttering and tidying my home, but I want to reach my 40th with different habits and less things.

10. Host a dinner party. Always wanted to, never have.

11. Wear the little black dress on a night out. On my 30th birthday I wore an absolutely gorgeous strapless black dress. I haven’t been able to fit into it in years.

12. Help with wildlife conservation.

13. Donate regularly to a food bank. It’s an unfortunate fact that more and more people are turning to food banks to help feed their family. I want to help.

14. Have Afternoon Tea at Sketch in London. An indulgence, but it looks incredible.

15. See Stonehenge.

16. Visit Bath.

17. Visit the Eden Project.

18. Create a reading list… and read them! I used to read every night, but as I now spend a large amount of time reading and writing online, my reading habits are severely lacking. I haven’t actually read a book properly in over a year.

19. Have a weekend in Bibury. We attended a wedding there a few years ago, and it’s a beautiful place! 

20. Visit Eilean Donan Castle.

21. Watch every film in the Marvel Universe in order.

22. Attend a cooking / baking class. I can follow a recipe (with mixed results) but I would like someone to show me how to do something properly.

23. Spend a weekend at the beach.

24. Research and trace Grandma’s family tree. I’ve already made a start on this, but I want to have a comprehensive background like I have for my Grandad.

25. Visit Grandad and Emily’s resting place. I traced his family history a few years ago and found his birth mother. It turns out that they are buried near each other in the same cemetery. I’ve never visited either.

26. Make something in a pottery class. 

27. Private.

28. Be able to touch my toes. Because, why not?

29. Learn all the words to One Week by Barenaked Ladies. Bonus points for performing it at karaoke.

30. Go axe throwing.

31. Visit Hampton Court Palace.

32. See Highgate Cemetery.

33. Private.

34. Pay my respects at Auschwitz. 

35. Private

36. Break through the negative thought process. I’ve been doing some CBT training and it has started to really help, but I want to be more conscious of the negative patterns in my daily thought processes and try to stop them before they spiral.

37. Have lunch at the top of the Shard.

38. Visit the Sky Garden.

39. See Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ in person.

40. Private.

What about you guys? Have you got a list of goals that you want to achieve?

You can also find me on Twitter @suzie81blog, and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks.

39 thoughts on “40 Before 40: The Bucket List”

  3. Great list hun! And if you need any tips on visiting Neuschwanstein Castle let me know 😀

  4. I love your list and I’m currently making a list of things to do before I turn 60 at the end of the year! Still trying to think of some more so it was great to read your list, you might have inspired me! Again 😊

  5. I worry about the crushing disappointment of not achieving any goals I establish for myself so there will be no such list for me, I’m afraid.
    But you have the ambition and moxie to make your dreams come true, Suzie, so have fun!

    And by the way, good job on meeting Dolph; he’s awesome!

    • Haha! yes. Yes he is. And all blonde and massive haha!

      I have the sane worries sometimes – I think setting 40 things means that I have options of what to do and when so I know that i will have achieved something at least.

      • Well, I kinda fly by the seat of my pants. I get a feeling and just do it..

        Travel, New York, kenya, Singapore, Dubai, india.
        Got dream jobs
        Faced my fears in terms of many things like, teaching certain raja yoga meditation, still getting over it.
        Driving places I haven’t been

        I am not a brilliant cook but sooo much better.

        Climbed .. but that was years ago… now fear of heights is even worse.

        Blogging wasnt a bucket list thing, wasnt on radar at all.. but here I am doing it.

        Would love to write a few non fiction books

        … just a few

  9. Happy New Year!!
    This is such a great idea, live how you actually gave yourself time to do it, normally I’m a last minute kinda gal!
    Visit Hampton Court Palace is on my list for this year 🙂

    • I think I needed to make the list achievable, and there’s no way that I would be able to do all that in just 12 months haha! I’ve always wanted to go to Hampton Court and never quite managed it – perhaps because it’s a lot further out? Let me know what you think when you visit!

  10. I have a jar at home, where I put pieces of paper with goals I set for myself… Some silly, some not so silly 😉 And once a year, I empty it, to see what I have achieved, and what’s left to do… It is surprising to see that what once seemed impossible can come true, when we least expect it!

    Congratulations for checking all 40 goals off your list 🙂 And especially for meeting Dolph! It just gave me a little more hope to someday meet Mads Mikkelsen 😉 Like you, everyone who knows me is aware of my crush (understatement) for the Danish actor, and my boyfriend even bought me a “Mentally dating Mads Mikkelsen” sweatshirt for Christmas… LOL

  13. I’ve actually done some of the things on your list! For this year I want to see my grandson born healthy, sell my new book, enjoy our trip to Scotland. Long term I want to sail in an America’s Cup sailboat and swim with the white sharks off the California coast.

  14. This inspires me to create a 60 before 60 list since that is a little less than two years away. Also, whenou ever decide to come to Orlando to meets your #2 goal then plan an extra weekend so you can meet your #23.

  15. Hahaha, I love this. I was just telling my husband yesterday that maybe I should create a 31 before 31 list but with the birthday only a month away it would have to be small things. To which he responded, do you mean it includes going to stores? Maybe I will make a 32 before 32 list for next year and buy some time 😆😆
    Love love love your list and I feel like there’s a few common things in there.

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