Do you have something that you’ve always wanted to accomplish? A place you’ve always wanted to visit? A food you’ve always wanted to eat? And are you having a hard time motivating yourself to do it? Make a Bucket list today. This will help you to set goals and prioritize what you want to accomplish in your life. A bucket list is a list of things you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket. This is kind of a depressing thought. Many people don’t take the time to think about this ahead of time and it takes a life altering event for people to start thinking about what they want to accomplish before they die.
However, we want to focus every day on accomplishing our goals and living our lives to their fullest. Our lists help us to review our priorities and ensure that we are making decisions that will help us to be fulfilled and happy.
Many people wait until later in life to write down their bucket lists but we believe in starting young. The first thing on Paula’s list was added at the age of 5 (and accomplished by 30). It’s so important to write your life’s to do list today so that you can start accomplishing things.
Life is uncertain and our bodies are unreliable. One of the things on our bucket list is climbing the Grand Canyon. We don’t want to wait until our knees give out to try that. However, there are also things on our bucket list that require age and preparation. Our bucket list has “Retire” on it. That’s something that will likely require age but will also require our constant attention and savings now in order to make it happen.
How to Write your Bucket List
Set the Mood
Creating a bucket list should be a fun activity for everyone. Don’t focus on the dying part, focus on getting the most out of your life. Creating a fun atmosphere is so important to putting yourself in the right mindset for creating your bucket list. Along these lines we love turning bucket list creation into a fun couples activity.
DATE NIGHT IDEA
Burgers, Beers and Bucket Lists
Creating our bucket list was a fun date night activity. Because we like alliteration, we created our ultimate bucket list over burgers and beers. This was a really fun way to think and talk about what is important to us as a couple while still being part of a casual atmosphere. So we brought beautiful notebooks and fancy markers to a local bar, ordered greasy food, got “refreshed” and started creating.
Decide How Long Your List Will Be
The length of your bucket list is completely up to you. Our bucket list is about 30 items long and we will most likely continue to add to it. We recommend putting a variety of different types of things on your list so that you can accomplish them at different point in your life and with differing levels of commitment.
However, you could also decide to create several different themed bucket lists. Our lists could easily be divided into smaller travel, food and finance lists. You could also create smaller bucket lists for your age range (30 before 30, 40 before 40, etc.). Breaking things down into smaller sections may help some people stay motivated to accomplish their goals.
Make Your Bucket List
Once you’ve decided on your length of list, start creating. Talk your bucket list through with your partner, parents and friends. What are things that you’ve always wanted to accomplish? You’ll likely start with those few things you’ve wanted to do since childhood.
Next, add things that you’ve always assumed you’ll do. For us, this was adding things like retiring and owning our own home. Just because you assume you’ll do them doesn’t mean they can’t be on your bucket list. Writing goals down is also a very effective way of making them a reality so don’t overlook the obvious ones.
How to Find Inspiration for Your Bucket List
After writing down the most obvious and the most desired bucket list items, you’ve probably run out of ideas. So turn your eyes to some inspiration to continue creating. The internet is full of some amazing bucket lists. Explore other’s lists to generate ideas for your own. Another way to generate new thoughts is to think about the different aspects of your life and list 1-5 things you want to accomplish in each area:
- Athletic Activities
- Career
- Creativity
- Education
- Family
- Financial
- Food
- Personal Development
- Personal Legacy
- Travel
- Wildlife/Nature
Another great way to spark ideas for your list of things to do before you die is to imagine you are dying. If you have one year to live, what would you do in that year? Is there anything you would regret not doing on your deathbed? What kinds of things do you want people to say about you once you’re gone?
On a more happy note, think about what you would do if money wasn’t an issue. Now what if you won the lottery? Even if you think a goal is financially out of the reach for you, add it to your bucket list. Writing it down may make you more motivated to save and plan for something in the future even if you think it is financially strenuous now.
Nothing should be out of reach for your bucket list. Make sure to add things that are inspirational and things you actually want to do, not just get done (no repainting the house or finishing that work project). Put things on your list that you are passionate about and that will motivate you. Also, add things even if they scare or intimidate you. Your bucket list is meant to push you and ensure that you leave this world with no regrets.
How to Make Your Bucket List a Reality
One of the easiest ways to make your bucket list a reality is to make sure you know where it is and refer to it often. We love the idea of creating a bucket list and framing it. Our bucket list is kept in our travel journal and we can refer to it each time we plan a new trip. Wherever you decide to store your list, make sure you are referring to it often.
Another way to make sure you are accomplishing your goals is to set deadlines for yourself. A deadline could be an age that you will accomplish things by. For our goal of hiking the Grand Canyon, we want to do that by the time we turn 40.
Another way to set a deadline is to set a financial goal. For example, once you save up a certain amount of money, you’ll accomplish a certain goal. However, make sure you are actively saving for this goal. Your savings goal could be to save the change in your pocket each day in a glass jar or to save the money you would have spent on that expensive latte that you skipped.
Lastly, remember to sit down after your bucket list is done and prioritize it. What are the things on your list that are most important to you? Asking yourself these questions may help you to decide what items to focus on. Alternatively, asking yourself what is best accomplished early in life and what can wait for later is another way to help you decide what you focus on now.
Now that you’ve created your bucket list, we hope that this will help you to move your life forward and accomplish your goals. Now get out there and get checking that list. And remember to celebrate yourself every time you accomplish a goal!
Wha about a drive to list and a fly to list. Plus an eating list, and a drive list. I know a guy that needs to drive a Ferrari and Lamborghini.
I think I know that same guy! That’s a great idea. We’ll have to add those to our list. Thanks for the suggestion!
Great post! I’ve started writing a bucket list recently but it could be a lot longer!
I get it! We have several short ones by topic and then one ultimate one that we put a 15 item cap on. I figure we can always add more later 🙂