Have you got a bucket list?
Yes? What’s on it? Do you keep it close to hand or do you drag it out once every 5 years?!
No, you don't have one?
What are you playing at? Life it seems! Come on, you need to get serious.
The average life expectancy is only 69 so we really are here for a good time, not a long time.
A bucket list is a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish in a lifetime. It comes from “kicking the bucket"
A good bucket list should be balanced that will take us through our life as we grow.
Things such as get a full time job and pay your own rent that are easier to accomplish. As you grow older things such as “Earn £100,000 a year” or “Own your own home”.
There should also be BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goals) on there such as “Reach £1 million in savings, assets and investments” or “Own a holiday home”.
What do you want out of life? Whether you’re 20 or 80 writing a bucket list can excite you, can hold all your dreams and give you the focus to do them.
You need to define what you want out of life. Isn’t it time that you ran your life rather than your life running you?
So, if you’ve not got a bucket list then why not? What are you doing with your life if you don’t know what you want out of it?
What are you doing for fun? What do you want to achieve? What do you want to see? What do you want to have?
So how do you write a bucket list?
You could add in things that challenge you, add in things that you will find fun and add in things you can build upon such as running a 5K up to a marathon.
You could keep most of the items on your bucket list achievable, but make it that finishing everything would be really tough.
I've had a bucket list for years and I have some best practices that I've developed to help you build yours.
Here's My 7 tips to Writing Your Bucket List
1. Add in travel destinations
This is usually the biggest section on most people’s bucket lists. Travel is something that is often delayed until we have time and or money to enjoy travel. Many people equate this to be retirement but why wait until then! Get going while you’re young and energetic! Take the kids with you! Go!!
2. Add in new skills to learn
The days of going to school and stopping learning are a distant memory. To keep up with competition you need to keep learning new things related to your field to stay competitive or to embark on a new career or business mid-way through your life. Alot of things that you learn are fun and stress relievers. Think of the things that you would really like to learn.
3. Add in life milestones
Things such as the first kiss, children, first cars or homes, getting a degree, going on holiday with friends, moving out of your parents’ home, getting married and being there for your baby’s first step.
4. Don't forget giving back
Giving to charities or in other ways gives a great deal of satisfaction. Life is not just about you or me, it’s what we can do for others. Being charitable feels good, it may be that you actually get more out of it than how you would feel doing things for yourself. Things such as adopting an endangered animal, becoming a blood donor, volunteering for a charity, starting a non-profit organisation or doing a run for charity.
5. Add in sporting events or entertainment
Finding ideas for this should be easy if you like your sports! Going to the Olympics, tennis, getting an athletes autograph, seeing one game at every football stadium or watching a film outdoors.
6. Personal and family goals
These goals should make you feel better in some way. They could include creating a family tradition, cooking a new recipe once a week for a year, developing an exercise habit, reading a book a week for a year, taking a photo every day for a month or getting a coach to help be the best version of yourself.
7. Love food & drink
What about trying dishes from different cultures or environments? Tying these in with travel make for an exciting twist. What about eating gelato in Italy, pizza in New York, having a drink in an ice bar or (my personal favourite) eating chocolate from a Godiva Chocolatier in Belgium.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to create your own bucket list, why not pick something to do each month or each quarter? Having a bucket list will keep you focused on the things that you actually want to do.
Love
Nik xx
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