A few months ago I read Laura Vanderkam’s book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, and it completely changed my life. (You can read my full review of the book, including more about how it impacted me, here.)
Vanderkam points out that we all have the same amount of time each day and week, and we get to choose how we spend that time. She advocates for determining your priorities and core competencies in order to make sure that you are spending time working on those priorities. If I say that my faith is one of my priorities but spend very little time during the week praying, reading spiritual books, going to church, etc. then there is a disconnect.
One of the exercises that Vanderkam prescribes is making a List of 100 Dreams. Now, if you know me, you know that I love lists. So I began this List of 100 Dreams eagerly. However, I discovered that it is actually quite difficult to do.
I wanted to make sure my dreams were mostly realistic–I have no intention of becoming an astronaut even though I think it would be cool to walk on the moon! But I also wanted to push myself to dream big. I hoped to find a balance between small things that I would love to do (and that I knew would make me or others happy) and the big things that I don’t tell anyone about because I am too scared.
I thought I would share a few of the items on my list with you today. I share these because:
-I want to inspire you to create your own List of Dreams
-I find it interesting to hear about other people’s dreams and hope that you will share yours with me
-I hope that sharing these dreams may push me to pursue them
My List of Dreams
Faith
1. Spend a weekend at a monastery
2. Work with missionaries overseas for an extended period of time
3. Call all of my godchildren on their birthdays
4. Learn the tones for each week/ service
5. Commission a handwritten icon for our house
Professional
6. Publish an article in an education journal
7. Build a classroom library that rivals the school library
8. Write an Orthodox children’s book
9. Write a young adult novel
10. Write a nonfiction book for Orthodox mothers
Travel
11. Visit all 50 states (I have been to 43 already)
12. Go to an Orthodox Church on 4 different continents
13. Take the kids on camping trips to the national parks
14. Visit all of the Smithsonian Museums in DC (fairly local to us)
15. Tour a lighthouse
Personal
16. Take an adult ballet class (I’ve never danced ballet but have always wanted to!)
17. Start a book club
18. Grow a vegetable garden
19. Raise chickens
20. Host a real dinner party with namecards and everything
21. Learn how to give and receive a compliment
22. Perfect a signature dish
23. Run a half marathon
24. Get good at giving myself pedicures
25. Plant fruit trees in my yard
What about you? What would you write on your List of 100 Dreams?
I haven’t read that book, but I will have to give it a try. I read her What Successful People Do on the Weekends and I loved it! I will never look at my weekends the same.
I need to read that one and What Successful People Do Before Breakfast!
We planted 3 apple trees 2 years ago for my birthday…so another year or two and we should have apples! It’s good to dream. I should update my dream list again.
Ooooh, apples sound good. About how long does it take before you get fruit? I’ve been thinking about peach trees and possibly a fig tree. Yum.
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 I have a ton of dreams.. some on paper, some not. I think I need to go back and write my list of 100 again! 😉
I’d love to see some of your dreams!