Mapping The Pursuit of Awesome: Part 1 - Where are we going?

So far, we've all agreed that The Pursuit of Awesome means taking a path through life which allows to work hard, have a blast, and add value to both our own lives and the lives of others.

We've also agreed that each of our individual pursuits are going to be incredibly different, and that what matters to me most likely won't matter to you.

That's all well and good of course, but the real question is this:

How do we start this pursuit?

The answer is really quite simple: We need a map.

Much like a real map that gets us from A-Z across the geography of the earth (or our nearest convoluted city), if we don't have a map for our Pursuit of Awesome, we'll have no idea where we're going, or what we're supposed to look out for along the way.

Also much like a real map, we first need a destination before we can start to plot our course.

Where are we going?
Before we go any further, let me reiterate an important point: The Pursuit of Awesome is more about the journey than it is the destination.

It's the things we'll experience, the people we'll meet, the knowledge we'll gain along the way that really matters here.

That said, if we don't have a destination in mind, we'll only find ourselves wandering around aimlessly and miss out on most of the opportunities to do experience, learn and meet other awesome folks.

So yes,we need a destination, or in this case, a list.

The List of Awesome
You may choose to call it a Bucket List, a Life List (my preferred term), a List of Awesome or anything else. Call it Bob's Super Epic List if you like, it really doesn't matter, as long as you call it something you're happy with.

The point is that our list will be our destination, the Awesome we're pursuing. When we've done everything on this list, we will have pursued awesome to its fullest and can look back knowing that we lived a remarkable life.

Hopefully, once we've achieved everything on this list, we can make a brand new one and start the pursuit all over again, but that's another post for somewhere way down the line.

Deciding on your destination: How to make your list.
Keeping in mind at all times that this is your destination and nobody else's, it's time to start thinking about what our list is going to look like.

How? By allowing yourself to day dream.

Set aside some time when you're going to write your list, and allow yourself proper time to think before that time arrives.

Preparation
In the days leading up to List Building Time, you may allow your thoughts to wander, finding spare moments here and there to let your thoughts wander away and imagine yourself pursuing all kinds of awesome adventures.

You may decide to set a time a specific time to lie back, relax, close your eyes and go through the same process;, really letting your mind come up with all the things you want to get out of, and give back to, the world.

It doesn't matter how silly they may seem at first, nor does it matter if you don't feel their achievable right now. Remember, you're probably better, and more equipped, to pursue a life most awesome than you really think.

Drafting your list
When the time comes to make your list, grab a pen and piece of paper and let rip. Write down everything you could ever possibly hope to do in your life.

Write down whatever you feel will make you the happiest you can possibly be in life.

Need a few suggestions? How about:

• The countries you'd to visit
• The people you'd like to meet
• The skills you'd like to learn
• The things you'd like to own
• The things you'd like to see
• The things you'd like to do
• The movies you'd like to see
• The projects you'd like to learn
• The amount of money you'd like to have
• The things you'd like to do to repay the world for helping you in your Pursuit of Awesome

And anything else you can think of.

How many things should I have on my list?

It doesn't matter. I started off with around 175 items, whittled it down to about 120 and then gradually built it back up again to the point where it now stands at the awkward number of 153 items, though to be fair, this will either decrease to 150 or increase to 155 the next time I do a proper evaluation of my Life List.

You may decide to only put down ten things, or a thousand, it doesn't matter. This is your list and you can do as little or as much as you like with it.

Making the second draft or 'Working Copy' of your list.

You'll notice just then that I mentioned evaluating my list. You may have also noticed that the last subheading was drafting, not writing your list.

That's because things change; your priorities, your financial circumstances, your environment and a whole bunch of other things.

It's for this reason that it becomes crucial that your Life List (or Awesome List, or whatever), isn't a stiff, rigid and inflexible document.

It needs to change as you change, grow as you grow, evolve as you evolve.

I recommended first drafting your list with pen and paper, since personally I always find that a better way to indulge in creative thinking than at a machine, but now it really is time to sit down at your computer.

Open up a word document, or a fresh blog post if you're making your list public, and type out your list. 

You can print this out if you'd rather have your list as a hard copy, but having an electronic copy somewhere on file will make it easier to edit or expand your list whenever you feel it's appropriate to do so. 

After all, your Pursuit of Awesome may change its route over the course of your life and you'll need to be able to alter your list, or destination, to make sure you're still heading in the right direction.

But that's something we'll discuss at a later date.