Impossible List

This list is inspired by Impossible List from Impossible HQ. I started this list in 2014, but added a few impossible things from the past to get myself motivated.

“This list of impossible things contains all the things I never thought I could do because it was ‘impossible.’”

Professional

  • Be my own boss (2010)
  • Teach: online class Skillshare.com | university class – guest lecture at Bentley U (2015–) | Day-Long Training (2016 – Mobile UX for Developers) | full semester class (on the way, chair of Brandeis UCD program as of 2017) | Harvard or MIT class
  • Get paid for writing | publish a book | start a book press
  • stalled 🙁 –  Make 5K | 10K | 30K | 50K | 100K/year in passive income
  • Make: ONE MILLION DOLLARS! In a lifetime  (2016 – well, that was “easy”) | In a decade | In a year
  • Speak in front of 1000 people (900 at UXPA Boston conference – close enough) | give keynote | get paid for speaking
  • Build mobile app (in progress – 2018)
  • Launch startup (2019)

Communication & Language

  • New! Alphabets/Calligraphy: Sanskrit (in progress – 2018) | Greek | Hiragana | Katakana | Relearn Arabic | Relearn Russian
  • Read a novel in the original: Spanish | Italian | French (stretch goal)
  • Publish a short story | a novella | a novel
  • Play Fur Elise on the piano (in progress – 2018… only took 30+ years of wanting to learn the piano to get started…)
  • Learn to sing
  • Draw a Cartoon | Win New Yorker Caption Contest
  • Speak a second language fluently (English)
  • Overcome fear of public speaking (2007)
  • Perform at an open mic or story slam (2016 – Improv 201 Showcase)
  • Compose | Perform a rap song

Travel

  • New! Visit Tea Plantations in: Charleston, SC | Azores, Portugal | India (Darjeeling & Kerala) | China | Japan | Ceylon
  • Live in a foreign country: Italy | USA
  • Live away from New England in winter| 2 weeks (2014 – CA) | a month | the whole winter!
  • Road trip: Boston>FLA | Boston > New Orleans | X-country
  • Train trip: Vienna>Prague (2015) | Paris>Barcelona (2016) | Scottish Highlands(2017) | US Cross-Country? | Canadian Railway | Norway | The Orient Express | Train across India
  • Major Landmarks: Machu Pichu | Eiffel Tower | Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal (2016) | Taj Majal | Pyramids
  • (3/5) Every Continent: Europe | North America | South America | Asia | Australia | Africa
  • (3/10) Islands: Bahamas | The Florida Keys | Barbados | Bermuda | Jamaica | Cuba | Azores | Canary Islands
  • (completed 2014) 10 US Cities: Boston | New York | Portland, OR | San Francisco | Savannah | Charleston | DC |  San Juan | Portland, ME | Denver/Boulder (2014) | Seattle (Bonus)
  • (completed 2015) 10 countries: Peru | Mexico | Poland | Czech Republic | Bahamas | Italy | Canada | France |  Costa Rica (2015) | Austria (2015)
    2nd set of 10: Hungary (2015)     | Portugal (2016) | United Kingdom (2017) | Croatia | Morocco | Turkey | Japan | India | Slovakia | Belize | Argentina | Greece | Brazil | China
  • Completed in 2016) 10 foreign cities:  (11/10)  Rome | Paris | Prague | Cracow | Montreal | Lima | Madrid  | Vienna (2015) | Budapest (2015) | Barcelona (2016) |  Lisbon (2016)
    2nd set of 10:     London (2017) | Edinburgh (2017) | Glasgow (2017) | Vancouver | Bratislava  | Amsterdam  | Florence | Venice | Istanbul | Tangiers

Photography

Home & Garden

  • Own a condo | single family house | vacation home | greenhouse
  • Re-flower an orchid: phal | oncidium | dendrobium | paph | angraecum
  • Hybridize & name an orchid: red | blue | black
  • Build mason bee habitats | Keep honeybees
  • Build a butterfly puddle
  • Build and have birds nest in birdhouse

Physical & Sporty

  • 1 pullup (working on it!) | 5 pullups | 10 pullups
  • (start over) Trot (pre 2010) | Canter (2013) | Gallop | Jump on a horse | Learn Polo
  • Learn to swim breasttroke | front crawl (2015) | Master Total Immersion Swimming | swim a mile without stopping
  • White water rafting | stand up paddle boarding (2016) | skate skiing | Water skiing | Boogie boarding | Sailing
  • Take agility class with Tuco | compete in agility contest | win dog agility contest
  • average 8K |  10K steps per day over a month period (August 2015)
  • 10 real pushups | 20 pushups | 50 pushups
  • Complete yoga teacher training | teach a yoga class
  • (start over) Get a purple belt (Shotokan Karate in my 20s)  brown | black belt in a martial art

Events

  • Agility Dog Show | Westminster Dog Show | Spoleto Music Festival | SxSW
  • Orchid Show (pre 2010) | International Orchid Show
  • Horse Race Track (2014) | Polo Match (2014)| Kentucky Derby

Totally Random

  • Own a teahouse/apothecary
  • Change a law
  • Learn to play bridge