We all have things we’d like to do during our lifetime and creating a bucket list is a great way to stay focused on your dreams, so you make them a reality.
Being intentional about how you spend your time is essential to living the life you wish for. Yet, it’s all too easy to go from one year to the next, without pausing to think about what it is you really want to do or achieve. Time is our most precious commodity, and once spent it can’t be replaced. So, it’s important we spend it well.
Creating your bucket list is an opportunity to think about ways to create future happy memories, learn some new skills, or spend more time with your loved ones. The possibilities are endless.
Your list is personal to you, and it doesn’t have to include travel destinations or big-ticket items if they don’t spark your interest. It can include health and wellbeing goals, lifetime ambitions and a vast range of experiences.
To help you get started, here are some practical tips to creating a bucket list that excites you and ensures you’re living the life you truly want.
Writing it down is the first step towards making it a reality
“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” Greg S. Reid
We’ve used the term bucket list in this article because it’s instantly recognizable, but thanks to the 2007 film The Bucket List, the term can be seen as a reminder of our mortality.
Rather than cramming in what you can before you die, your list is about living your life to the fullest and doing the things you’d like to do. It’s your “what’s next for me?” guide to your life.
We’ve chosen to call our version a “Life List” and offer an editable PDF version you can download. If you’re a very visual person, perhaps you’d prefer sticking some pictures on a board that represent the things you’d like to do.
Either way, you’ll always have your written list or collection of images to refer to when you’re looking for some inspiration. And they’re both a great starting point for building a plan – find out why below.
Take inspiration from everywhere
We can take inspiration from everyday things like magazines, TV shows and movies, social media and, of course, friends and family.
But you could also try looking back as well as forward. According to a recent study, 48% of the bucket lists created during the pandemic were inspired by people’s childhoods1. A few questions that might trigger some ideas are:
- What do you or did you enjoy, that you would love to do more of?
- Do you have any dreams you’ve forgotten you had?
- Is there a skill/language/instrument that you’d like to learn?
- Is there a new hobby you’ve always wanted to try?
Some broad categories that might trigger some inspiring thoughts are education, health and wellbeing, charity, family and friends, creative activities, adventures at home, travel, hobbies, and experiences.
Discuss it with others
As well as inspiring you with ideas, other people may have shared or similar items on their list. Discussing your list with friends and family can be really useful. You might even decide to create a joint list for shared items, so you can plan these activities together.
Knowing you well, your loved ones may also be able to add ideas to your list that hadn’t previously occurred to you.
You may also find a companion (if you want one!) who could join you doing activities that you thought you’d do alone. Using a site like bucketlist.org can be a great way to make friends with like-minded people. Hearing about others’ achievements and experiences could also inspire you.
Now is the perfect time
Often it takes a life-altering event for people to reflect and identify the things they’d like to do in their lifetime. But the earlier you start, the more time you have to plan and spend doing the things you want to. That means the perfect time is now.
If some of your goals require a lot of time or money, the chances of achieving them will greatly increase the earlier you start to plan for them.
Turn your list into a plan
- Prioritise your list – decide what’s important to you and put it at the top.
- Once you’ve identified your priorities, you can start to add more specific details.
- Be realistic, mix big goals and small goals, so you can enjoy a sense of progress.
- If you have a lot of goals, split your list into categories. This makes it easy to pick a broad range of goals when you’re planning each year.
- Identify your actionable steps and key considerations for bringing your list to life.
Think of your list as a work in progress – as you tick one thing off you can keep adding things on. And don’t forget to take lots of pictures so you can look back on the fun memories you’ve created.
Take this opportunity to ensure you don’t look back on your life and wish you’d done the things you dream of.
We’ve created some templates to help you get started. If you’re a fan of pen and paper then you can download and print this version, but if you prefer something you can save and edit, use this version.
If you’d like help creating your Life List or integrating it into your financial planning, we’d be happy to help. Contact us at your@lifemattersfp.flywheelstaging.com or call 01202 025481.