Last week, Jayme Soulati wrote a blog post called, “20 Things to Do Before I Die.”

It was an off-the-cuff blog post; not something she’d been thinking about for years, nor her “final” bucket list.

In it she described things she can control (write a book on how to buy colored stones) and things she can’t control (never say goodbye to my parents).

I learned things about her I didn’t know (she likes rocks), but most importantly, she asked the meme be passed along from blogger to blogger.

Because yesterday’s blog post was so intense, I thought we’d have a little fun today.

So here we go. I ran out of time, so here are the 10 things I want to do before I die.

  1. Ride the Tour de France route. Maybe not all 2,200 miles, but a good portion of it, particularly through the Alps. And I’m talking on my bike. Not in a car.
  2. Grow – and sell – a business. Sure, I could sell Arment Dietrich today if I really wanted to, but it wouldn’t allow me the flexibility to retire if I wanted to. So I guess the real goal is to sell a business that affords me that luxury.
  3. Adopt some kids in need. Mr. D always jokes he wants a built-in basketball team. I don’t want that many kids (I’m the oldest of six; I’ve experienced it already), but I would love to adopt siblings who would otherwise be split up.
  4. Make enough money to provide scholarships. Mostly for our 14 nieces and nephews. And, if there is money left over after that, provide it to under-privileged kids.
  5. Write Spin Sucks, the book. It won’t surprise any of you on this one. This is likely the next book. I am looking at 2014 to get it done. I need a break after this year first.
  6. Ride (and drink) through Italy. Again, on my bike. I’d love to ride from Italian winery to winery, sipping and tasting.
  7. Take cooking classes from a renowned chef. I love to cook and it’s my stress release when it’s too darn cold in Chicago to ride outside. How cool would it be to take lessons from an Italian or French chef?
  8. Write a novel. You would think this blog affords me the flexibility to write business books. And it does. But I’ve also began crafting my fiction, based on some of the bigger and loftier things we discuss in the comments about the change we’d like to see in the world.
  9. Support my mom. Not just when she gets old and can’t take care of herself, but even just provide her a little spending cash to go to the scrapbook store or fabric store or kitchen store. That way she could retire for good.
  10. Take one big vacation every year. I have this really bad habit of not taking time off. The last time I had a real vacation was when Mr. D and I went to Europe to celebrate our five year anniversary…four and a half years ago. That’s stopping this year. I don’t know where we’ll go this year, but somewhere warm after it gets cold in Chicago.

What about you? Care to comment below or blog about the 20 (or 10) things you want to do before you die?

Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, host of the Spin Sucks podcast, and author of Spin Sucks (the book). She is the creator of the PESO Model and has crafted a certification for it in partnership with Syracuse University. She has run and grown an agency for the past 15 years. She is co-author of Marketing in the Round, co-host of Inside PR, and co-host of The Agency Leadership podcast.

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