“There is no time to be bored in a world as beautiful as this.” -Unknown

On Bucket Lists

Bucket lists are common place. We all know what they are. A collection of all the things we want to do before the candle burns out.

I’ve found there to be three main problems with bucket lists. The first problem is that for most people, a majority of the tasks never get accomplished. We put off the things on the list for some future time that may never come and at the end of our lives we look at the list as more of a collection of things we regret having never done at all.

The second problem is that most of our lists are entirely too long and we could never actually accomplish everything on them. Life is finite and we won’t all be billionaire’s with six pack abs who do nothing but travel the world having amazing experiences and seeing all that life has to offer. Deep down we know this and instead of accomplishing what we can, we either get overwhelmed and never do any of them or we pretend we can do everything, inevitably fail, and instead of looking at all that we did do we just feel regret for what we didn’t.

The third and final problem is that bucket lists are based solely in the future. A future that is never guaranteed. I really do hope that I get to live to 110 so I can see three different centuries in my lifetime. Statistically though, it’s unlikely to happen. When my last day comes I don’t want to be thinking about the things I didn’t do, see, or experience. I want to be grateful for the time I was given, the people I shared that time with, and reflect with joy on the wonderful things I got to experience in the years that I had.

And so, I created the The Impossible List; an anti-bucket list of sorts. The impossible list is a two part list.

Part one is the inbox. A list of every crazy, ridiculous, outrageous, or otherwise thought to be impossible thing that I think might be fun. Think of all the times you’ve uttered phrases like “Wouldn’t it be awesome if…” “Could you imagine….” “What if…” “Someday it’d be awesome to…” You get the idea. Anything that slightly resembles one of these phrases goes on the list. See mine here.

The second part is what I’m really talking about when I say The Impossible List. Anytime you do one of the tasks from the inbox, it goes on your Impossible List. Adventures had and memories created, over the course of your life The Impossible List becomes a collection of all the things you did while there was still time remaining. A list of fulfillment, created with gratitude, by someone who did all they could with what they had.

That’s my hope for you. That you get to the end of your life and instead of a bucket list filled with regret, you look back on a list of all the things you did that in their own way each seemed impossible at some point in your life. So go out there. Face your fears. Seek discomfort. Dream big. And…

#LIVEIMPOSSIBLY

Travel

  • Grand Canyon

    • Hung my feet over the edge of Horseshoe Bend

  • Niagara Falls

    • Saw them lit up and watched fireworks over them at night (twice)

      • Once from the Canada side and once from USA side

  • Drove the Pacific Coast Highway

    • Both directions

  • Bryce Canyon National Park

    • Stayed the night inside the park

  • Death Valley National Park

    • Stayed overnight in the park

    • Watched the sunrise at Zabriskie Point

  • Drove through Big Sur

  • Visited all 48 Continental United States

  • Mexico (East and West Coast)

  • Slept overnight at the Royal Gorge Bridge

  • Yellowstone National Park

  • Lake Tahoe

  • Mount Rushmore

  • Visited the Mall of America

  • Hiked in the Red River Gorge

  • Washington D.C.

    • Rode bikes to all of the monuments at night

  • Visited the oldest continually operating restaurant in the U.S.

    • Union Oyster House in Boston, MA

  • Canada

  • Went on a cruise to the Bahama’s

  • Road-tripped solo on a motorcycle

    • Omaha, NE to Indianapolis, IN and back

  • Turks & Caico’s Islands

    • Visited an uninhabited island (Iguana Island)

    • Had a villa with our own jeep and infinity pool overlooking the ocean

    • Noah’s Ark Bar in the middle of the ocean

  • Took a Solo Roadtrip

    • 6 days | 5 states

Adventure

  • Snorkeled in the ocean

  • Went skydiving

  • Went to a Mexican zoo and held a baby lion

  • Walked the Freedom Trail in Boston

  • Jumped off a bridge into a river

  • Swam across a river in Florida and nearly drowned

  • Went Parasailing in Myrtle Beach and Florida

  • Backcountry camped in the Michigan UP in the winter

  • Swam in a Cenote in Mexico

  • Climbed a Mayan pyramid in Mexico

  • Ziplined down a mountain

  • Explored caves in Kentucky

  • Rode 4-wheelers through the jungle and across the Jorullo Bridge

  • Did a polar plunge

  • Rode the Top Thrill Dragster

  • Went hunting and killed a deer

  • Went hunting and fishing with my grandpa before he passed

  • Went to the top of the tallest skyscraper in Cincinnati, OH

  • Ate lobster roll in Maine

  • Hiked Camelback in Phoenix

  • Hiked trails in Hocking Hills State Park

  • Did a tequila tasting in Mexico (twice)

  • Fasted for 3 days

  • Ran a 5k

  • Ran a 15k Trail Run

  • Ran a Quarter Marathon Trail Run at Night

    • Finished Top 100 (86th out of 275)(1:18:55.82)

  • Finished Top 50 in Quarter Marathon Trail Run

    • 42nd out of 216 (1:04:55.05)

  • Swam with the sea turtles

  • Had a shark and stingray swim by me in the ocean

  • Ate conch raw and straight from the ocean

  • Had drinks at an off-grid bar in the middle of the ocean

  • Drove in a country where they drive on the opposite side of the road

  • Went ice skating at an outdoor rink

  • Rode a dirt bike through the streets of Omaha, NE

  • Played golf in the Redwood’s Forest

  • Walked across the World’s Smallest Suspension Bridge

    • Wiggly Bridge in York, ME

  • Visited the world’s only cryptozoology museum

    • International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, ME

  • Walked the entire Monon Trail from start to finish

  • Met and got to know Omar Soliman

    • Co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk

  • Met and stayed in the home of a NY Bestselling Author

    • Cliff Michaels (The 4 Essentials)

Events

  • Sports

    • Bruins game in Boston

    • Reds game in Cincinnati

    • Went to motocross

    • Went to Monster Jam

    • Colts game (multiple)

    • Wisconsin vs. Nebraska football game in Wisconsin

      • Russel Wilson was the quarterback

    • Notre Dame football home game (multiple)

    • Indy Fuel hockey game (multiple)

    • Indianapolis Indians baseball game (multiple)

    • Pacers game (multiple)

      • Sat courtside for one of them and got to meet Brad Stevens who was President of Basketball Operations for the Celtics at the time.

    • Louisville Bats baseball game

    • Omaha Mavs hockey game (multiple)

    • Omaha Storm Chasers baseball game

    • Indiana Hoosiers football game

    • Purdue Boilermakers football game

  • Comedy

    • Joe Rogan

    • Aziz Ansari

    • Daniel Tosh

    • Craig Robinson (twice)

    • Bob Saget

    • Kevin Hart

    • Don’t Tell Comedy Show in Indianapolis

    • Trevor Wallace

    • Dave Chappelle

    • Donnell Rawlings

    • Taylor Tomlinson

    • Pete Davidson

    • Matt Rife

    • Erik Griffin

  • Magic

    • David Blaine

    • Cris Angel (twice)

      • Sat front row and he brought us shots of tequila

  • Music/Concerts

    • Lindsey Stirling

    • Evanescence (twice)

      • First time was with a live orchestra

    • Lil Wayne

    • Blink-182

    • Thomas Rhett

    • The Black Keys

    • mike.

    • 3 Doors Down

    • Seether

    • Cole Swindell

    • Gabby Barrett

    • Walker Hayes

    • Breland

  • Miscellaneous

    • Went to a Jordan Peterson talk

    • Mind Tripping show in Indy (3 times)

    • Saw Blue Man Group in Chicago

    • Attended the Yuletide Celebration show in Indy (multiple times)

      • Got to take my mom and grandma for Christmas as well

    • Attended the Circle of Lights Celebration in Indy

    • Witnessed (and photographed) a Total Solar Eclipse

      • Watched from my back deck in Indianapolis, IN on April 8, 2024

    • Snuck into the 2012 InterFace Student Housing Conference in Austin, TX

      • Met Bill Bayless, Co-founder and former CEO of American Campus Communities

MY IMPOSSIBLE LIST

Miscellaneous

  • Start a YouTube channel

    • Made my 1st $ from the channel (2022)

  • Achieved 10% body fat

  • Started a tradition

    • Annual NYE trip with friends since 2018

  • Bought a house

  • Bought a second home

  • Became a real estate investor by renting out my first home

  • Moved to a new state on my own

    • Omaha, NE (August 2011 - September 2012)

  • Started a business