Fu#k It List: A list of inspiring things that you have done in your life to date. Things that you may have thought long and hard about. Things that you had deliberated for some time and then said ‘fu#k it!’, as we say in Australia, and just did it anyway. Your Fu#k It List can really inspire you to say yes to life more often, to feel the fear and just do it anyway.

Bucket List

Your Bucket List is different to your Fu#k It List.

Your Bucket List is a list of things you would like to do or experience in the future. It is a wish list.

Many of us wish but few of us actually take the action, waiting for some mysterious force to make things happen, waiting for the stars to align before we ever do anything.

Welling On The Past

A Fu#k It List isn’t about looking back at the past in a way that glorifies it and creates a glow, an aura around it. It isn’t meant to take you away from your present.

Instead of dwelling on the past, your Fu#k It List is there for you to draw water from the well of inspiration. To remember the times you said ‘Fu#k It‘ to your fears and took action.

Fu#k It!

‘Fu#k it!’ , this is such an Australian colloquialism. I would guess the British equivalent would be ‘sod it!’, and the American, ‘to hell with it‘.

Probably the most commercial equivalent would be Nike’s moniker, ‘Just do it!’.

You Only Live Once

It is when we stop being so cautious and say to ourselves, ‘you only live once‘, and let the spirit of excitement and adventure wash over you and wash away the fear.

My Personal Fu#k It List

Some highlights of my Fu#k It List include, running off overseas with a cousin to back pack for 18 months when I had turned 21; running with the bulls in Pamplona; starting my own business; hitch hiking through Papua New Guinea; traveling through Madagascar; and the latest fu#k it moment was deciding to pack in my business and walk from London to Jerusalem.

Fu#k It List

What are some Fu#k It moments in your life? Your Fu#k It List can be ‘big’ or ‘small’ moments. It doesn’t matter. The goal is to write down these moments. They are the water in the well that you can draw upon in the future when you need that little bit of extra inspiration in order to get you to do something that you are passionate about.

Buck It

Referring to your Fu#k It List regularly and especially at times when you keep going back and forth with a decision can help you to ‘buck‘ your usual thoughts. It can be the tipping point to help you dive off the edge and into the unknown, exciting and adventurous possibilities of life.

Three Days

It took me three whole days of driving my wife nuts talking about the walk to Jerusalem before I knew I had no choice but to do it.

Poor thing, for three days she heard me argue back and forth with myself why I had to do the walk and then listen to every excuse why I couldn’t do the walk right now, from not having enough time to train, to having to let go of my business and clients I have had for many years.

After three days I got so sick of hearing myself talk and think that I just said ‘Fu#k it, I’m going!’. I am sure she was mightily relieved just to not to listen to me anymore!

The Power of Fu#k It

There is great power when we say Fu#k It. It is a determined final decision. It comes from waters that dwell deep inside of us. It is the ocean, the salty blood within us pumping through our veins.

It is the primordial sea that summons forth our need to expand and grow through pushing our limits. A good Fu#k It!, has the power to transform lives.

Life Is Too Short

Life is too short to be live with regrets. Have you noticed the times when you have taken a chance on life then life rewards you?

It may not give you what you asked for but it will give you what you need to grow. It often takes hindsight to see the blessings that life gifts us. Even traumatic experiences can give us wisdom if we choose to see the lessons that they provide.

Fuck Its Aren’t Fu#k Ups

Another great Australian colloquialism is ‘Fu#king up‘. It is when we make a mistake or something doesn’t work out the way we wanted, planned or expected it to.

As Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.

There are many things I have done in life where I had said Fu#k It and at the time just seemed like a big Fu#k Up. Some of them have taken a long time to undo. But they weren’t really Fu#k Ups and I don’t regret them as they taught me many lessons. I am grateful for having said Fu#k It after much deliberation than doing nothing at all for ‘fear of failure‘.

Non, je ne regrette rien

A few weeks ago as we were walking our way through France, it was raining and we had stopped outside a church in the beautiful village of Hermonville, in the Champagne region of France. We had been walking in rain all morning and it was cold and wet.

After having lunch outside the portico of an ancient church in the bitter wind, we found an empty cafe a few metres away. It was open, warm and welcoming. The owners were very hospitable. We took off our muddy wet shoes and socks and dried them sitting in the heated building that was an old converted farm house.

We soon warmed up with hot chocolate with lashings of cream (I love cream) and a generous delicious slice of home made fresh apple pie.

Since we had set out on a journey a month earlier, this was our first real day of cold rain, any regrets that may have lingered with the damp socks for a moment disappeared with the warmth and beauty of the hospitality.

Just when the moment couldn’t get better, on an old record player, the young owners played Edith’s Piaf’s haunting song, Non, je ne regrette rien.

It filled my heart with joy, and my eyes with tears. I could never listen to this hauntingly beautiful song with dry eyes. In this poignant moment the feeling of decision to committing to five months of walking – the passion and excitement came flooding back.

Below is an audio recording of the warm atmosphere that a group of pilgrims, cold and wet brought to this cafe on this day:

No Regrets

Your Fu#k It List will give you more energy and passion if you can really get into the moment when you committed to a decision in life. All of a sudden one wells with excitement and possibility. All of a sudden caution is replaced by great possibility.

I have heard the saying before that the thing that a person regrets the most at the end of their life isn’t the things that they did do and didn’t work out the way they thought they would, but the things that they wished they had done and didn’t.

Butterfly Landing Moments

I remember seeing along the journey as we climbed the imposing hillside to the town of Laon, a cemetery. It was just outside the ancient city walls. On the building next to it was an image of a lady waiting for  a butterfly to land on her hand. This image has stayed with me the whole journey.

I think that the energy, passion and joy that we feel at the moment of saying Fu#k It and committing to a decision is a butterfly landing moment.

On my journey in previous blogs I have mentioned butterflies at least a couple of times.  One was entitled,  ‘The Butterfly Effect: What It Taught Me About Living‘ – it was about finding joy in the little things and moments in life.

The moment in the cafe in the little village of Hermonville in the Champagne region of France, rain nurturing the verdant green vineyard covered hillsides, Edith Piaf echoing over conversation, good company, warmth and hot chocolate and homemade apple pie – this too was one of those butterfly landing moments.

Butterfly landing moments can be more powerful than the initial Fuck It moment as it confirms to us that we have been rewarded for letting go of fear and embracing action.

Time to get started on your Fu#k It List. Time to start saying Fu#k It more often. No regrets.

Non, je ne regrette rien

Written July 21st, 2017.