14 Things I Strive to Do in this Lifetime
Glen / 
47 Comments / 
March 24th, 2009 / 
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I, like millions of others, believe that we are spiritual beings in human form and there’s much more to our existence than the life we lead on this earth. I also know that there are millions of other people that also believe this isn’t it and there’s more out there, whether it be heaven, reincarnation or something else.
Yet while I don’t think this is all there is, I’m still someone who wants to make the most of this experience. I don’t care if I’m remembered as Glen Allsopp the [insert something positive here], simply because I won’t be around to witness it. However, I would love to see the things I’ve done through my time on earth go on to help people around the world long after I’m gone.
There are times when I tend to slip into habits that I would rather not keep, such as procrastination, generally laziness and feeling like the world owes me a favour. It doesn’t. Therefore I decided to put together his public list of the things I want to stick to during my lifetime, and hopefully it might inspire you to do the same.
You can’t keep to a list if you don’t know what items are on it, so here goes…
1. Take Responsibility for my Actions – I believe that everything that happens to us in life is our own responsibility, and it’s up to us to deal with things to the best of our ability. I know exactly what I want out of life, so it’s up to me to get out there and make things happen; I don’t blame anyone for holding me back and know my successes and failures are based solely on my own actions.
2. Value Nobody Above or Below Me – While I don’t see the world as flowers and roses, I do see everyone as equal, even if I forget it sometimes. The blonde with the fake boobs means no more to me than the computer nerd who lives with his mom even though, for some reason, the blonde will always have more social value. I wish to view everyone as an equal and become friends with people based on who they are, not their status.
3. Express Gratitude on a Daily Basis – In the last week I’ve devised a list of all the things I’m grateful for, as I believe everyone needs a reality check now and then. Some of the items on the list include my health, my family, my friends and the environment in which I was brought up. Every morning I go through this list and feel truly grateful for each item and I believe this is an important practice which helps us to stop taking things for granted.
4. Live Life Without Regrets – I tend to live in the moment, so there’s nothing in my life that I currently regret. However, by this point what I mean is that I don’t want to hold back from anything that I want to do in the future. If I think a girl is pretty I want to tell her, if I think someone is acting inappropriately I want to tell them etc. On top of that, I don’t want to ‘waste’ life by procrastinating and messing around, I want to constantly be taking action.
5. Encourage Everyone, Discourage Nobody - I don’t think there’s anything worse you can say to a child than telling them that they can’t achieve their dreams. Of course, everyone has to be realistic, but not everything possible today was a realistic dream in the past (flight, electricity, phones etc). I want to be someone who pushes people to follow their dreams, rather than tell them they are wasting their time.
6. Constantly Look to Grow – Throughout life I’ve been learning non-stop. Whether it’s in school and college, or in my spare time where I’ve learned graphic design and website development. The next area I would really like to delve into is NLP, and after that who knows. Either way, I always want to be expanding my skills and my knowledge.
7. Make Sure the People Who Matter, Know they Matter – P Diddy once joked that sleep is for when you are dead, and I’ll go one step further to say that so are grudges and anger towards another person. You never know when loved ones will not be around any longer, so I want to make sure that everyone who means something to me knows about it, and I’ll save the unforgiving side of me for another lifetime.
8. Help People See What is Possible – I had friends in South Africa who were very unsocial and never thought they could change that. I even went out with a 24-year old guy from work and he said I’m the first person who’s ever seen him dance. It’s never too late to make a difference in your life or even someone else’s by showing them what is possible and what they can achieve.
9. Be Authentic – This is me, and always will be. I’m no millionaire or model and I’m not a saint either; I want to come across as the ultimate definition of ‘What you see is what you get’. It’s so obvious when people are trying to be something they are not, when they are needy and looking for validation. Just be you, whether people like it or not, at least you are being honest to yourself.
10. Face my Fears Head On – Less than two months ago I was terrified of public speaking, so I knew exactly what to do, join a public speaking club. The last sentence of my first speech was ‘I want to be the kind of person that fears public speaking then joins a speaking club‘. Face your fears head on; after all, they are nothing but a fragment of your imagination.
11. Never Forget my Roots – For any of you that know me personally (a lot of my friends read this site) you’ll know that I have some huge ambitions. I believe I can become a millionaire, I want travel the globe in my early 20′s and I want to build some of the biggest websites in the world. No matter what I achieve, I don’t want that achievement to make me think any more of myself, and would like to stay grounded throughout my life.
12. See the Positive in Every Situation – Everything that happens in the world is completely neutral, and we have a choice to see it that way, or as something negative, or positive. In life we tend to label many things as negative, resisting what already is because they ‘shouldn’t have happened’. There’s also a positive angle you can put on every situation, and I want to be a person who always finds it.
13. Always Work Towards my Goals – To me, there’s nothing more amazing then being able to visualise what you want, work towards it, and achieve your desired result. If we aren’t growing then we are remaining stagnant; it’s only through working towards our goals that we can achieve them. Even if time is nothing more than an illusion, I want to spend as much of it on working towards the things that matter to me, while I can.
14. Live in the Moment - I left this till last, because it encompasses all of the others. If nothing else, this is the number one thing I want to do in this lifetime. I believe everyone should try to be emotionally and mentally in the present moment as often as possible. I’ve found it’s the only way to an amazing sense of peace and bliss that we miss when we go about our hectic lives. Now is all there ever is.
What do you strive to do in this lifetime? Let me know in the comments, then print yours out and put them somewhere that you can see them. Remember: take responsibility for everything in your life, if you don’t like your current situation, take action.
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Great list!
I like number 14 the best – Live in the moment. I would add a number 15 – See reality clearly.
Hey Roger, thanks for the addition and the comment. I like that one
Hi Glen!
ouch my english!
i really like your blog man!
it´s a great starting-day-reading
“I even went out with a 24-year old guy from work and he said I’m the first person who’s ever seen him dance. ”
this is so beautiful! i love when things like this happens…being able “to be present” in this moments…
cheers!
tatiC
Hey man, your english is fine!
I’m glad you are enjoying the blog, thanks for visiting!
Nice comprehensive list, Glen.
Good point that many people strive to immortality through leaving a legacy when it’s not what we’ve done, but what we are being that matters.
Thanks Rob!
Glen,
This is a superb list. I love number 2: value nobody above or below you. To me, this is a true sign of humility and self-knowledge. Reading this post restores my faith in humanity. I am happy that you are reaching out to so many people with your authentic message.
As far as #2 – Value nobody above or below me – I disagree with this statement, somewhat. I would rather be friends with someone that is investing time in their own personal growth, is kind, and proves to be a good friend, as opposed to someone who is constantly living below their potential, has a very negative attitude, and causes harm onto others.
My choice between the two is me saying, I value one over the other. I’m sure this is what you meant by getting to know them though, and not judging by the superficial appearance. So, that means, I don’t really disagree with your #2
That is liking someone for who they are though, not based on their value. Of course you ‘value’ certain aspects of them, but you wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) put them up on a pedestal.
Yes, exactly (to your last part)
Hi Glen,
Your list looks pretty much like my list but just with different words!
Life is short and you get out of life as much as you put into it. I have always said that if people really accepted the fact that they will die, then they would really live life.
Hope all is well!
Hey Nadia, thanks to your blog I’m currently listening to the beatles
Well said, I completely agree with that!
I love lists, they help to actually getting stuff done. when i have some things on my mind i wanna do, i hardly do anyhing until i write, organize and prioritize, so it`s great you put it all this way.
im actually gonna print this and start putting checkmarks when i start to fulfill each task.
so, little checkmark for ¨Express gratitude on a daily basis¨
THANK YOU GLEN!!
Hey Rose, you’re welcome. Haha, I love your enthusiasm!
Thanks Glen… pulled me out of a slump today…
My List:
1. Write, Record, Produce and Relase my own albums.
2. Travel the world (at least each continent once)
3. Live self sustainably while doing something I love.
4. Utilize Free-energy, geo-thermal, solar to live off the grid for an extended period of time growing my own food.
5. Be creative and artistic in all aspects of my life. Music, Design, Art, Photography..
6. Be here in the moment… always!
7. Express love and gratitude.
Wow! That was fun… now it is public… better get to it.
Great list Alan, thanks for putting this together!
I really like number 4, something I would love to try myself someday.
I like it a lot.Two things have been resonating in me. Numbers 2 and 9; I would have expressed them together saying Being you, congruent, because whenever we think about others as equals, we seem to be qualifying them, comparing them to us or to somebody else.Express uniqueness maybe is better.What do you think? I hope I could express myself well as I’m not native speaker
Hey Patricia, thanks for your thoughts.
I do understand what you are saying on an intellectual level, that saying everyone is equal kind of makes them the ‘same’.
I’m more referring to a status value that people have, there’s no doubt that if Tom Cruise walked down your local high street he would have much more value than some random guy. I like to think that I wouldn’t act any differently just because of his presence.
I.e. He is of no more value and no less value than me or anybody else.
I hope that makes sense
Of course it does.I totally agree with you.Thanks for answering back
i would add to number 2:
Not compare myself to others because if i do, i wil always find someone better or worse than me and that doesn`t help at all. We have to always try to be better than ourselves, not others.
Glen, this is the best post you’ve made since I started reading your blog. Fantastic. I tried to look through it and find my favorites and I can barely do it because I don’t want to diminish the others. But if I had to say, it would be the following:
Live Life Without Regrets – Regret sucks. It hurts bad because in life you don’t get a do-over.
Live in the Moment – I’ve only recently discovered that living in the moment abolishes regret and worry. Fabulous feeling.
See the Positive in Every Situation – My DNA has a negative bend to it so I struggle with this daily. However, having turned the corner on abolishing negativity and promoting positivity, this may be the most importing thing I have ever done.
Thanks Stephen, I really appreciate that. I’m glad that you’ve discovered the benefits of living in the moment, awesome isn’t it?
Haha yeah you’ve said you have a problem with negativity, maybe you should try a 7 day positivity challenge? Basically you have to turn every situation into something positive for 7 days. If you think of negative for more than 2 minutes then you have to start from day 0 all over again.
Glen – You are wise well beyond your years. It is hard to believe that you are hardly 20 years old. If we all lived your list, we would be pretty happy. One more addition though…”Don’t necessarily believe your thoughts” cause they are often wrong….or at least question your thoughts – Byron Katie.
Nice list Glen,
More importantly, you are working to actually to make the most of your life experience, and you have defined some meaningful ways to do that. Posting your personal list for all to see tells me that you are seriously striving to manifest these qualities to a fuller degree. How nice that you can inspire others along the way.
how do i put a picture in my comments??
HTML is disabled in the comments so you wont be able to add a picture. It helps prevent people from hacking the site. Feel free to link to one though
Very nice post. I prefer number 1: Taking responsibility. I believe this is the best advice one can get and that it should help anyone to become a better human being.
If everybody was taking responsibility for their actions, I believe the world would be a far better place, with less wars or misunderstanding.
If people were willing to accept what they are and take responsibility for that, there is no limit to what they could do.
Glen, I hear you about leaving something of yourself behind – not necessarily something attached to you as a person, but something which is good and has a lifespan which exceeds the 80 (or so) years we have here on earth.
Great list!!
Hey Candle.
80 years? Pfft…at least 100
Glad you liked the list, I hope life is good!
Hey Glen, let me give this a shot, mine is nowhere near as eloquent as yours
1. Live without regrets
2. Quit my job, find one that suits me, utilises my talents and passions and doesn’t make me dread waking up on week days
3. Travel the world and leave a piece of myself there
4. Learn to speak my language fluently
5. Raise a boy into a gentleman
6. Accept myself completly and fall madly head over heels in love with me
7. Laugh with my entire heart at least once a day
Theres so much more but I dont wanna bore you lol!
Haha, thanks for sharing your list Julz. I love number 6, I had to read it again to make sure I understood what you said!
Thanks for contributing
I love your list. Those are the truly important things to strive for in our lives. You are an uncommon man!
Hi Glen.
Point #8 is one that we have to be reminded about at times. We forget that others see closed doors where we see open doors, so providing them with knowledge that lets them see the available opportunities as well can be a huge item to them; at the same time, it can seem like a negligible point of assistance for us until they inform us of the changes that resulted. Help like this tends to result in lines that we have heard from people getting awards like “I never could have done this without the help of…”, which shows how powerful some well-placed information can be.
Hi Glen,
I love the point on live life without regret. We only have a single life time and if we don’t do what we want to do now, when are we going to have the 2nd chance to do it?
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
I strive to be more of service to my fellows. I strive to think of myself less, not less of myself. (old cliche’ I know but…)
Taking responsibility is hard. If we’re not a victim of something or someone, who are we going to blame? If we can’t blame someone, that means we are responsible. And if “I am” responsible, that means I have to do something about it. I can be lazy sometimes…
So it just comes down to how much pain I’m willing to put up with until I do something about it. Until the pain of doing the same thing outweighs the fear of trying something different, I’m stuck. There use to be two things I hated, 1)The way things are, and 2)Change. Crap, what a dilemma I was in. Now I take responsibility and action before I get to the point of pain… except when I don’t
Howdy Glen…
Another great article, probably the one that have inspired me the most to this date.
As you know, I’m a big fan of your website and this post confirm that status yet again.
This is actually totally what I need in my life. I have transformed the idea to a kind of code of conduct for my life. I will every morning read my own list to myself and it will strengthen my focus in the bullets every day and with practice I will be fully congruent with them.
I wish the best for your blog, you have helped me a lot.
Actually you have unconsciosly inspired me to move to another country. I’m moving to Barcelona this August, I’m so excited : )
Take care..
Peace
Glen,
Your post was inspirational as these things are what I focus on and define my life with.
Me? I try to remember to be here now. In the moment. Every moment.
I’m going to link to this post from one of my sites…WomenDayByDay.
I wish a lot of people would read this.
mkpelland
be yourself
I really enjoy your post. I print it and put on my office desk. Thank you!
I did that too and put it in my room
Let me join you in your belief that we are spiritual beings in human form. Also I would like to add that we are offspring of our heavenly father(God)and this makes us co-gods with “him”. This human form of course is a temporary “experiment”. Aside from this, we are destined to go on in other dimensions to have additional experiences.
It would behoove us to take this all very seriously and to realize that everything we do think and say has a result that will impact us
impartially because every I will be dotted and every T will be crossed because we will be held accountable for every intent that we
perform. This means also that we can create as we will and all that we create will be made manifest precisely as we intend it.
Meditate on this and be free and do not allow any religion manipulate your beliefs or tell you how to think or what to believe. Each of us is a free agent and not answerable to anyone including our heavenly father the great spirit, God.——Doug Rosbury
ETERNALLY
Excellent post Glenn. I never thought of making a list of things I want to do in this lifetime. I get caught up in my short-term goals that I forget to look ahead!