Embarking on a journey to transform ‘someday’ into ‘today’, Dan Davison launches a four-year odyssey to complete 100 life-changing goals.
Owner of Nottingham-based agencies Bloody Marketing!! and Leapfrog Marketing, Dan Davison, has started work on a personal project that promises to make these next 4 years the most interesting of his life. Towards the end of 2023, Dan noticed that he was feeling unfulfilled in his personal life, so decided to take action in a very intriguing way. At the start of 2024, he set out a list of 100 things he wanted to do in the next 4 years, ranging from learning how to ride a motorcycle, to getting into flying.
Some of the items on the list are based around travel, or life experiences, while others are based around community engagement or conservation. Dan explains how the 4 year timeline is supposed to help him complete the list without putting things off.
“Often I hear people say that they’d love to visit Hawaii someday, but they never actually put a timeline on when they’re going to visit. Without putting a clear timeline in place, I feel that it’s easy to put plans off. I put the 4 year deadline in place because it gives me a sense of urgency. Every day I know that I can be working towards something special.”
Project Bucket List, as Dan has named it, is based off a system called SMART goals. Everything on the list must be specific, measurable, and achievable.
“You have to know when you’ve achieved something. “I’ll go for more walks” is quite vague, but “I’ll walk 500 miles, then walk 500 more” is specific and measurable.”
So far, Dan has obtained his motorcycle licence, visited America, planted 100 trees with the Friends of Colwick Woods group, driven boats, and attended various classes to cross goals off his list. The different goals include a variety of different themes, such as personal development, travel, and community engagement.
Dan, who has a background in film and television, is producing a documentary as part of this project, and has already entered discussions to turn the project into a book.
“I can’t go into any details for now, but it’s looking like once the project is finished, in 2028, I’ll be getting it printed on real paper! Whether it’ll be autobiographical, a self help book, or a novelisation is yet to be seen, but it’s incredibly exciting.”
“There have been some nice moments that make for great stories. We tried to kayak across Windermere and couldn’t fit two of us in one kayak, so we rented a speed boat instead, talk about a James Bond moment! And getting involved with the community and planting over 100 trees was really inspiring. It’s amazing to see how much impact a small group of people have when they work together.”
Other people have taken up their own personal Bucket List projects too.
“It’s great to see, I’ve had people take inspiration from the list, and do things like take up hobbies that they’ve put off for years, or even visit cities they’ve always wanted to, like Paris. It’s quite humbling to realise that my jabbering about this personal project has excited people enough for them to take action. I am so proud every time I hear that somebody has started on something new.”
Some of the goals on the list rely on other people, so Dan is looking for help for a variety of different activities, ranging from breathing fire, to conservation efforts and taking singing lessons. He’s asked for anybody interested in getting involved to look at the list itself and see if they’d be able to help.
“I’m out of my own head, I’m doing the things I always wanted to do, and I feel so much more fulfilled and at ease because of it. I find myself feeling excited for the future, and I’m booking holidays, experiences, and trips. Friends have commented that I’ve become incredibly adventurous and exciting, and I’ve even entered a happy relationship, all because of this list!”
Visit the website to view the full list and find out how you can participate in or support Project Bucket List: https://dan-davison.com/project-bucket-list/
To contact Dan about participating in Project Bucket List, dan@dan-davison.com
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