#30before30 Bucket List

July 16, 2018

"If life has taught me anything, it's that 95 percent of the people are always wrong" - Edward Cole, The Bucket List

So I'm in the last year of my twenty's *GASP*

After I turned 29, I decided to make a bucket list before I turned the BIG 3-0.

Now, I'm not saying that 30 is some magical age where you cross a Rubicon to a "point of no return" (thank God).

Rather, the bucket list was inspired after my conversation with a mentor who challenged me:

"Why aren't you doing what you really want to do?"

After that talk, I reflected the next few days on the core reasons for my excuses and it boiled down to three things:

Laziness
Fear
Did I mention it's scary?

So after much revision, I came up with my #30before30 bucket list (and progress).

Here's 30 things to do before turning 30:

Win a BJJ White Belt Competition (DONE - Won Gold in 170lb weight class!)
Go to Japan and Korea (DONE - Hi Grandma!)
Kimono Challenge (DONE - Shoutout to Jefferson)
Salsa Dancing in Union Square
Acting/Improv class (DONE - read about it here!)
Learn new languages - Japanese & Spanish
Cross-Country Road Trip
Break a World Record
Mentor/Volunteer for Students
Fly Business Class
Make a Family Tree
Bake the "perfect" NY Cheesecake
Start blogging once a month (aiming for once a week!)
Write hand written notes to close friends
Make an iPhone app
Make 갈비탕 (short rib soup) from scratch
Complete a (half) marathon :P
Buy a dinner for a family anonymously
Meet a role model - GSP/Will Smith/Tim Ferris
Do a flying trapeze class
Stand Up Comedy - amateur night in NYC
Critical feedback from closest peers
Practice Wim Hof Method for 30 days
Read one book a month (finished Tipping Point, Power of Habit, Promise Me, Dad, and Moonwalking with Einstein)
Explore all NYC museums (so far: MOMA, the Met, Guggenheim)
Perform a magic trick (any ideas?)
Visit a NY State Prison (DONE - Read about it here!)
Go Sky Diving
Memorize all 50 states/capitals and US Presidents
Memorize and Recite “I have a Dream” speech by Dr King Jr.

Here were some guidelines for my bucket list:

Make sure it creates "butterflies" in your stomach
Leave room for failure
HAVE FUN!

I want to convey that these items aren’t meant to stay in the list forever, and that I may not be able to even succeed at all of them. However, I wanted to make sure that life didn't pass me by and I was left with the "I wish I had...".

I'll end with this inspirational quote:

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals" - Zig Ziglar

For any of you who with a #XXbeforeXX bucket list, please share them with me.

And don’t listen to the naysayers saying it’s too late…they're most likely wrong!

Let's live.

-Pai