10 Tips for Creating the Summer of Your Dreams

Imagine this: this summer, you live the life you have always dreamed about. You explore new places, create memories and stories you will tell for the rest of your life, and you fall head over heels in love with life. Your summer looks like one straight out of a movie.

I have good news for you: a summer that good is entirely possible, and it is in your control. Life isn’t picture perfect, not for anyone, but you definitely have the power to create a pretty incredible summer for yourself.

Here are 10 tips to help you create that off-the-charts-incredible summer of your dreams.

1. Create a Bucket List

Bucket lists are so fun. They’re just a to-do list, but only of fun things. They’re a list of things that make you feel alive and a measure of all the cool, exciting things you do throughout your life.

You can have life-long bucket lists of everything you want to do in your lifetime. You can also have bucket lists for the week, a mini bucket list full of mostly simple things that reminds you to do the things that make you feel alive.

This summer, create a summer bucket list. A list of everything you want to do, places you want to see, and things you want to experience this summer. Include both big and small items so it doesn’t feel impossible.

2. Cross One Thing Off Your Bucket List Every Day

Or whatever time frame makes sense for you and your life.

Definitly include smaller things on your bucket list so this doesn’t feel impossible.

3. Get Outside Every Day

The Earth is alive and green, the sun is shining, and the air is warm. Enjoy it is as often and as fully as possible.

This summer, make an effort to get outside every day. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be as simple as sitting in the sun for a while. Just make it your goal to get outside every day, then maybe, just maybe, it will become your reminder and motivation to go on an adventure.

Maybe in the effort of getting your outside time, you start trying new things and exploring new places. Maybe you’ll fall in love with hiking, swimming, or biking and discover your new hobby. Maybe you’ll start exploring new places and end up seeing many, many new places this summer. Maybe you accidently create the adventure summer you’ve always dreamed of simply by making yourself get outside every day.

Nothing is guaranteed, by why not try? Why not see what good can come by something so simple?

4. Start Saying, “Why Not?” and Do Things That Scare You

On the topic of why not, why not start saying, “why not?” more often, cause why not?

When an opportunity comes up, even if it’s beyond your comfort zone and you can think of eight and a half reasons to say no, what if you tried saying, “why not?” instead?

It can be, “why not?”, “screw it,” or anything other little saying you can think of. The point is to push the limits of your comfort zone and get yourself to experience and try new things.

Do things even when they’re scary and see how many cool memories and moments you create.

5. Try Something New

The things available for us to do, learn, and try is literally a bottomless pit of possibilities. There are endless opportunities to learn, grow, and try new things in this life.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn a new language. You want to feel comfortable communicating in another language to open up a million more opportunities for exploring new places and trying new things in countries other than your own.

Or maybe it’s an instrument. You’ve always secretly envied people who could “effortlessly” play beautiful music and wish you yourself could simply create music for the world to hear.

Maybe it’s learning to skateboard, paint, crochet, or any other hobby you’ve “never had the time for” or thought you’d be “bad” at.

This summer, just try it. Download the language learning app and pick up that guitar and start watching some Youtube videos. Whatever it is you want to try, just start.

Remember: no one is perfect at anything when they first start, and you don’t have to be perfect at something, or even remotely good at your hobbies to love doing it.

6. Chase the Little, Happy Moments

… and fall in love with them too.

I think that summer is when everything moves a little faster in all the right ways, but it also slows down. Maybe it’s just the excitement of the Earth being alive and the warmth and freedom summer has always meant. As a kid, summer probably meant a time off of school and probably the majority of your responsibilities. It was exciting. You felt free and suddenly had all this time on your hands to experience the world and watch how it moves without keeping up with the fast pace of life during the school year.

As a kid, your summer days were probably filled with fun, and if you think about it, half of this fun was probably really simple things.

Maybe you collected rocks, loved finding cool bugs, or laying in the grass finding cool shapes in the clouds. You could spend hours blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, or running through the sprinklers. Life was simple, but you had so much fun. In those simple moments, your imagination went wild and you came up with your best ideas for play or what to do next.

This summer, live like a little kid again. Fall in love with the little things. Try the same things you loved as a kid, and also cater some of them more to your adult interests. Fall in love with the simple things, whatever that means for you.

Watch the sunrise and sunset as much as possible, drink your coffee slowly and find every piece of joy in those moments. Do nothing but lay in the sun and see how good your body and mind feel with a few slow moments in the sunlight. Ride your bike, but do it like a little kid: don’t do it for exercise, go really fast down hills, and probably have no destination either.

7. Give Yourself Full Permission to Rest

Whether you’re still in school and get to enjoy a summer of less responsibilities and more time to yourself, or you work year round, this summer still find time somewhere in your schedule to rest and give yourself full permission to do so.

Even if you’re working a ton this summer, still find somewhere in there to let yourself rest and relax because it is so important.

And never, ever feel guilty about resting.

8. Take About a Million Pictures and Videos

Every day, start taking more pictures and videos. Even if it seems simple or even mundane right now, I promise you’ll want them in a few years.

Years from now, you will be so grateful to have these physical memories to look back on and remember exactly what this memory looked like through your eyes at whatever age you are. You’ll love to watch videos of yourself now and hear your mannerisms and remember how your friend’s voices sound. You’ll love hearing your young laugh and remembering old jokes and the things that made you laugh.

You’ll love to look back on old photos and show future friends and family what you looked like at this age. You might laugh at the clothes you’re wearing, and you’ll definitely smile remembering the day the photo was taken.

Also, don’t be afraid to post whatever you want this summer. Don’t worry what others might think, just post it if you want to.

9. Find Your Confidence

Find your confidence this summer. It’s there, somewhere inside you, you just have to find it.

Where do you feel most like yourself? What are you doing when you feel the most comfortable in your skin? Go there. Do that more often. Find where you feel most comftoraoble then take that further and expand the limits of that.

If you have an outfit that makes you feel confident and reminds you how beautiful you are, go get more clothes similar to it.

If you’re happiest painting, drawing, or writing, find ways to be creative in more areas of your life.

If the place you feel at peace is being alone in your own space, find ways to establish this feeling of comfort and safety in everything you do.

Who are you with when you feel the most supported and free to be fully yourself? Spend more time with those people and less time with the people who make you feel the opposite. Think about what the positive people do and say that make you feel comfortable and consider looking for these qualities when it comes to making new friends.

Whenever you catch a moment of ultimate confidence, go with it and build on it. Start with little moments of confidence and slowly turn these moments into your whole life and being. Think about what exactly you’re doing, wearing, or who you’re with that is making you feel this good.

The moment you find confidence, happiness, and peace within yourself, the happier and more exciting your life will be. This summer, search for this confidence and see how much happier your life becomes.

10. Remember a “Summer Body” is a Body in Summer

Your time on this Earth is already so short. Don’t waste the little time you’ve got hating yourself or chasing unrealistic expectations.

Use your time living, that’s what your body is for. It brings you to the places you want to see and lets you move and do all the things that make this life is worth living.

I promise you look perfect just as you are. Take care of yourself and be kind to your mind and body.