Despite deep rooted foundations in materialism, I think keeping wishlists is a healthy thing. They can take over your mind and rule your finances if you let them, but they can also reflect your goals and future paths if you handle them correctly. While I wouldn’t venture to say I use wishlists for proper purposes, I certainly enjoy keeping them as a way to see where I want to go.

I keep wishlists for everything: camera kit, pens, Field Notes, furniture, and travel destinations. I also keep long-term goals in the same format as my other wishlists, such as career goals, family goals, financial goals, religious goals, and community goals. Generally, I keep all these wishlists as long-term projects in Omnifocus and I try to knock a few off each list every year.

By keeping my wishlists in the same format, I’ve tricked my mind into remembering to have fun while remaining frugal and thoughtful at the same time. Each wishlist is on an equal playing field. The argument could be made that materialistic ventures like my camera gear wishlist shouldn’t be on the same level as my spiritual wishlist. To that end, just viewing the spiritual wishlist is enough to remember to keep it active and consistently in motion.

Here are my wishlists in no particular order.1

Travel Destination Wishlist

  • London, United Kingdom
  • Paris, France
  • Venice, Italy
  • Prague, Czech Republic
  • Northern Ireland
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • Tokyo, Japan
  • Moscow, Russia
  • Los Angeles, United States
  • Vancouver, Canada
  • Berlin, Germany

Pen Wishlist

Field Notes: Colors Edition Wishlist

Camera Gear Wishlist

Furniture Wishlist

Career Wishlist

  • Complete CPA: PREP Modules 5-12
  • Complete CPA: PEP and Work Experience
  • Attain CPA designation
  • Build rapport and a respectful reputation
  • Pay my dues (metaphorically and literally)
  • Respect the experience around me

Family Wishlist

  • Complete the “Career” wishlist without forgetting this wishlist
  • Go on a date with my wife once a week
  • Create a structured and stable home for a future family
  • Teach respect, patience, humility, compassion, honesty, and integrity to my future family
  • Never go to bed angry

Long-Term Goals Wishlist

  • Never:
  • Lie
  • Cheat
  • Steal
  • Sometimes:
  • Photograph
  • Give up
  • Persevere
  • Jump
  • Fall
  • Always:
  • Write
  • Read
  • Pray
  • Smile
  • Forgive

For all my materialistic habits, these lists act as a map for my life. From my hobbies, to my family, to my career, and to my spirituality, my wishlists deeply reflect who I am and what I want.

I don’t think keeping wishlists is so bad. I don’t think the kind of wishlist matters either. Write it down. Get it on paper. And use the lists as guides to find meaning in the mundanity of everyday life.

Is this just an affiliate link list to get you to buy stuff? No. It’s a guide for my wants and goals heading into the future. I settled on using affiliate links after I finished writing because I figured it might be good to reflect on this list in the future. If you feel like buying something though, I’m certainly not going to complain — especially if you photograph it and write a review about it afterwards. ↩