I’ve had some version of a Life List since high school.  But it was 2007 on my trip around the world when I made it officially, official — I was going to be one of those humans with a Bucket List.

I still remember sitting on an outdoor staircase in Spain listening to an audio book from Tony Robbins.  He’s chanting in his deep man voice, “What do you want? What can you improve? What will you learn? How will you contribute? How much will you make? What will you buy? What will you create?”

It was the first time I ever really let myself dream bigger than the world I currently occupied… It was the first time I let myself call the shots on what would constitute a well-lived life ON MY TERMS.

It gets added to, deleted from + tweaked every year during Expectations month in Reclamation — but it has existed in this format since 2007. It’s inspired vacations, Stratejoy offerings, and many life choices. It reminds me of who I am + what I value, especially when I’m feeling stuck.

Life lists may not work for everyone, but this kind of goal-tracking is really inspiring to my Enneagram 7 self — the enthusiast lover of life + experiences. My list reminds me that boredom is a choice. It reminds me I have ownership of my desires + expectations. And having this list reminds that in order to honor my dreams, I must steward my own personal resources (money, energy, time, attention) carefully if I really to live THIS life.

(Example.. Ken + I have been saving (autodraws monthly) since we got married to celebrate our 10 year anniversary in with a splurge on some tropical huts over water. August 2020 baby!)

My List changes as I grow into new seasons of my life. I love reading back over my desires + my accomplishments (even the ridiculous ones) each year, but I have no problem axing items that I’ve outgrown…

(Meeting James Franco? Winning a volunteer award? Playing blackjack for big money in Vegas? Gone, gone and gone.)

Just as my life is a growing, breathing, changing offering — my life list is the same.

And let me say this clearly — whether or not I accomplish all 101 items on my list is beside the point.  I’m trying! I’m dreaming! I’m pushing my own limits! And I’m having one hell of an adventurous, meaningful life in the meantime.

Now, for the public declaration…

101 Things To Do Before I Go

1.    Have a piece of writing published
2.    Go skydiving  (Skydive Oregon, June 2011, with 44 other World Domination Summit attendees)
3.    Sail in Greece (Catamaran Sunset Sail off Santorini with Mom & Kate. June 2011)
4.    Buy a brand new car (Honda Odyssey Minivan. Bahahaha. October 2016)
5.    Get married (August 28th, 2010) & have babies  (Maximilian James Mahar 2012. Juliet Layne Mahar 2014.)
6.    Plant and nurture a herb garden (Started in Shell Beach backyard in 2019)
7.    Speak at a TEDx conference
8.    Meditate 30 minutes every day for a year
9.    Hire a personal shopper/personal brand expert
10.  Host a Oktoberfest Party complete with picnic tables, steins and sauerkraut (Index Weekend Tradition! Sept 2011 and 2013)
11.    Speak conversational Spanish
12.    Visit every National Park
13.    Ski an A-Z shoot in Big Sky
14.    Learn to play 10 pop songs on the piano
15.   Drive a convertible down Highway 1 in California (June 2019 on a day date with Ken before he sold his BMW)
16.    Design my own cowboy boots
17.    Learn how to roll sushi
18.    Take boxing lessons
19.    Guest DJ a radio show (A hilarious story involving a TV Pilot, a Utah Casino and Sean Ogle. August 2011.)
20.    Go on a silent meditation retreat (June 2010 7 days at Cloud Mountain Retreat Center)
21.    Become a Life Coach  (Though not certified, I’m claiming this one.)
22.    Live in Mexico for a month
23.    Slam poetry at an open mic
24.    Attend a Hoyne family reunion at the cottage in Wisconsin  (Wautoma! August 2013.)
25.    Take a week long trip with my best gal pals
26.    Stay in a beach hut over water
27.    Backpack Vancouver Island
28.    Get booked as a speaker at a major conference  (SXSW Interactive– 7 months preggo! March 2012.)
29.    Volunteer as a burlesque greeter at the Moisture Festival (2010- Leopard Hat, tiger shorts, wig & specs!)
30.    Spend a week with my mom & sister at a spa/yoga/surf camp
31.    Own a home  (Shell Beach, CA. July 2014.)
32.    Buy 10 sexy bra/underwear sets
33.    Volunteer as a guide with a girls + outdoors organization
34.    Decorate my own office/room/loft  (Shell Beach, CA. February 2015.)
35.    Plan a Stratejoy retreat  (First one — Elevate Mastermind January Retreat in Woodside CA. January 2013.)
36.   Win a gold medal (Junior Olympics Pole Vaulting 1996 or some such)
37.   Complete a Masters in positive psychology
38.  Live on a sail boat with my family for 3 months
39.   Travel around the world (made a loop from C America to Europe to S Africa to SE Asia and then home)
40.  Start investing (Timing was wrong, but that’s life…)
41.   Go dog sledding in Alaska
42.  Sit on a board for the Arts
43.  Spent 3 months alone in Nature
44.  Have a conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert
45.   Ride a zipline in Costa Rica   (Backpacking Trip with Ken, 2007)
46.   Buy an giant expensive watch
47.    Climb Mt. Rainier
48.    Learn how to surf & look sexy while doing it
49.    Build an igloo
50.    Take my parents on a big trip wherever they would like
51.    Write a book that people read
52.    Host a foreign exchange student
53.    Go on an African Safari (Backpacking Trip with Ken, 2007)
54.    Design/build a modern, green home
55.    Visit Egypt and Morocco
56.    Bungee jump (Twice! Including the world’s highest bungee jump in South Africa)
57.    Experience the Sundance Film Festival
58.    Have backstage passes at a big show
59.    Take Demi Moore-esque pregnant photos  (Under the wire! Two days before Max was born. May 2012.)
60.    Experience a Sweat Lodge (Hidden Creek Ranch, 2000)
61.    Live abroad for a year with my family
62.    Go heli-skiing
63.    Throw a Cooking Competition Dinner Party
64.    Own a cabin retreat in the woods (May 2010 in Index, Washington)
65.    Attend TED
66.    Drive through New England in the fall (Fall, 2010)
67.    Go on a wreck dive
68.    Ride in a seaplane   (For work at Columbia Hospitality, 2009)
69.    Dance at a Masquerade Ball
70.    Trek in Nepal
71.     Go to a retreat at Eselan  (2019 with Ken to Michaela Boehm’s Radical Intimacy Workshop) + The Omega Institute
72.    Start a summer camp (Stratejoy Summer Camp August 2015, 2016 +2018)
73.    Take cooking classes in 3 different countries (Thailand down, 2 to go)
74.    Learn how to swing on the trapeze
75.    Have a color coordinated closed with a little chandelier
76.    Write, direct and produce a neighborhood play
77.    Travel to New Zealand and do something wild
78.    Become an amazing Salsa dancer
79.    Make a time capsule with my kids on their first day of school that they open when they graduate
80.    Teach a course at a university
81.    Have a yard filled with twinkly lights, comfy nooks and an outdoor bed
82.    Ride naked in the Fremont Parade (Seattle tradition- I was a ravishing Jungle Princess in 2008)
83.    Crush grapes in Italy
84.    Open a wellness/retreat center
85.    Sit ringside at a big boxing match wearing a sequined gown
86.    Learn more about my heritage/mythology and visit my “homelands” of Poland, England + Sweden
87.    Dress up for the Dirt Bag Ball in Big Sky
88.    Host a murder mystery weekend
89.    Go scuba diving in Thailand (Got my advanced certification in Koh Lanta)
90.    Get mentioned in a national magazine
91.    Go skiing in Banff
92.    Become a Death Doula
93.    Spend a summer road tripping & creating art
94.    See the gorillas in Uganda
95.    Make a million bucks in a year by coaching, teaching, writing & speaking
96.    Do 5 pull ups in a row
97.    Take my grandchildren on a Christmas sleigh ride
98.    Host a television show
99.    Go to the Jazz Festival in Montreal
100.  Learn how to river kayak
101.   Be on a best-seller list for my future book