That’s a wrap! With my 60^th birthday behind me, it’s time for the final update on my 60 before 60 list. How close did I get to 60 out of 60? Read on to find out.  

About my 60 before 60 list

When I celebrated my 59^th birthday, I decided to do something a little fun and different in my 60^th year. I made a list of 60 things I wanted to do before my 60^th birthday and shared it here to keep myself accountable.

In my first 60 before 60 update, I reported I was off to a great start with 26 of the 60 items complete. At the halfway point, I was still ahead of schedule with 39 out of 60 tasks checked off the list. Then, things slowed down. I completed just 3 items in the third quarter of the year, bringing my nine-month total to 42 out of 60. I had a lot of work to do in the last three months.

My 60 before 60 list – Final update

Here’s what I ticked off the list in the final three months.

Green living

• #15 – Buy an outfit at a thrift store. In June, I bought two summer dresses at the thrift store. At $7.99 each, that was a big win for my wallet and the environment.

Health and wellness

• #21 – Start a walking group. I wouldn’t call it a walking “group”, but I did get out for a couple of long walks and chats with friends I haven’t seen in a while so I’ll call this a win.

Home

• #24 – Plant a pollinator’s patch. You can read about this one in Attracting pollinators to your garden.

Learning

• #26 – Take an online course. I’m counting this one as done as I’ve taken several educational webinars over the course of the year. I also put together a pilot workshop to get my practice coaching hours for #28, and I did an actual online course for #27.
• #27 – Complete another plain language course. I completed this in May and have just one more course and the final project to earn the Plain Language Certificate.
• #28 – Complete retirement coaching certification. I completed this at the beginning of May. Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with it!

Leisure

• #34 – Read 30 books. I exceeded this one with 35 books read.

Travel

• #58 – See Cher in Chicago. Done in May. By the way, this is my friend Cher from The Chicago Files, not “the” Cher, although I’m pretty sure Chicago Files Cher would consider herself “the” Cher.

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What I didn’t get done

I gave it my best shot and completed 50 out of 60 items. Despite my good intentions, the timing didn’t line up for a few of the items. For a few others, I just ran out of time. That’s okay. I now have 10 more items for my retirement “curious list”.   

Here are the things I didn’t get done.

• #2 – Make a snowman. We had a mild winter with very little snow, so the opportunity didn’t present itself.
• #3 – Watch a parade.
• #6 – Pick berries. My husband picked strawberries several times, but I can’t count that. I do plan to pick blueberries before the summer ends, though.  
• #23 – Attend a live fitness class. I thought I’d tick this one off when I purchased a membership to Marion Brand’s Fit and Fabulous After 50 site, but all her live classes were during my working hours.
• #29 – Sign up for a course at the community centre. I looked through the brochure but all the courses that interested me were during my working hours.
• #30 – Learn sign language.
• #31 – Take a creative class.
• #42 – Learn 3 songs on piano.
• #43 – Perform at a live show. My band is on hiatus at the moment so I didn’t have a chance to get this done. Does singing in the choir at church count?
• #47 – Pen a short story. Although I meet my goal of writing a poem and a children’s story, I didn’t get to the short story. I do have an idea though, so stay tuned.

This was a fun exercise, but I won’t be making a “70 before 70” or even a “61 before 61” list. Instead, I’ll keep chipping away at the things on my retirement “curious list” as the mood strikes me.

Have you ever made a similar list as you approached a milestone? What would be on your list of things to accomplish before your next birthday? Drop me a comment below and let me know.