Hi everyone!
Ever feel like you are living day-to-day, without really feeling like you accomplish your goals? Ever wondered what you really want to do in this lifetime? How would you want to change the world? Which great adventures would you want to take on? What (big or small) dreams would you want to accomplish?
Imagine you have only six months left to live, what would you do? If money was no issue, what would you do?
Would you travel the world? Would you continue in your career or would you jumpstart a new career or business? Would you thank all your friends for being there for you?
To get a better view on your answer, you can start writing a Bucket List today.
What is a Bucket List?
A Bucket List really is a list of all the things you want to do in this life, before you kick the Bucket.
That’s it. A very simple idea, but a very powerful tool for you to get in touch with your dreams and what you want to do in this life.
In the 2007 film “The Bucket List”, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman go out to live their Bucket List Life.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OltHNarHA9A]
Inspired by this film, I started writing my own Bucket List a few years ago (2011). In the meantime, some items have been checked, others have left the list and new items were added to it. It constantly changes, as your life changes and your priorities shift.
What can I put on my Bucket List?
A Bucket List is not meant to make you worry about dying, or to push you into achieving more or making you rush to get things done. It is a LIFETIME list – that’s why it will change every now and then!
Many Bucket Lists seem to be all about travelling the world. Of course you may have a dream to see the pyramids or to go on a safari! And of course you have to write those down in your Bucket List.
But some things just can’t be measured. Think about “living your best life”, “helping others” or “loving your partner”. You’ll never finish living your life according to these life philosophies, nor can you actually measure them.
Get a piece of paper or open a text document, and start brainstorming on you Bucket List. This will take about 30 minutes, and I guarantee you will feel tremendously energized afterwards!
Here are some questions to get you going :
- If you had only six months left to live, what would you do?
- If you had all the money, time and resources you needed, what would you do?
- What are your most audacious dreams?
- What do you want to be remembered for?
- What is very important to you in living your life?
- Which countries or cities would you like to visit?
- Would you like to learn new skills? Sports? Languages? Others?
- What would your ideal work life be like?
- Who would you love to meet?
- Is there anything you would love to say to people / do together with them? (friends, family, …)
- If you had three wishes granted to you by a Genie, what would you ask for?
- Do you have any childhood dreams you would still love to accomplish?
Inspiration for your Bucket List
Travel
- Travel around the world
- Go to # countries (list of all countries in the world)
- Visit every continent
- Visit the Seven Wonders of the World
- Visit specific monuments, like the pyramids in Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, …
- Visit Disneyland or other theme parks
- Go on a safari
- See the Northern Lights
- Visit the wreckage of the Titanic aboard a submarine
Extreme & Sports
- Kitesurfing
- Bungee Jumping
- Paragliding / fly
- Skydiving
- Rock climbing
- Go canyoning
- Dive with sharks
- Hike up a glacier
- Climb a volcano
- Fly a helicopter
Love
- Find a soulmate
- Fall in love
- Be in love
- Love yourself
- Grow old together
- Be passionately kissed in the rain
- Write/receive a love poem
- Fall in love all over again
- Surprise your loved one
Family & Friends
- Get married
- Have children
- Go camping with your parents/kids/friends
- Take your brother/sister/best friend on a trip/out for dinner/…
- Be a great parent
- Be a great son/daughter/brother/sister
- Surprise your family once in a while
- Research your genealogy
- Bake a cake for someone special
Lifelong Plans / Life Philosophy
- Live to be my best self
- Be healthy
- Be happy
- Help others
- Explore your spirituality
- Live true to yourself
- Find your life purpose
- Make your passion your career
- Start a blog
Learn something new
- Learn a new language
- Learn sign language
- Take dance classes
- Learn how to cook like a chef
- Finish school
- Get a new degree
- Improve public speaking skills
- Learn to whistle
- Learn to play a musical instrument
- Take singing lessons
- Learn how to fly a plane
- Speak 5 languages – or more!
Good Deeds
- Donate to a good cause that speaks to you
- Give something away every time you get something new
- Volunteer
- Be a role model to someone
- Donate blood
- Donate a kidney
- Visit an elderly person
- Donate your toys/books/clothes to charity
- Raise funds for your preferred cause
Other Ideas
- Walk in the rain without worrying about getting soaked
- Fall asleep in the grass
- Walk in the forest and really absorb the smells, light and everything around you
- Watch classic movies
- Watch a sunrise/sunset
- Dye your hair in a new colour
- Bury a time capsule with your personal memoirs or childhood toys
- Open the time capsule after a few years
- Have dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town
- Choose a country and learn not only the language that is spoken there, but also study its customs, its cuisine, its art, and its history.
- Plant a tree
- Rescue a cat or dog from animal shelter
- Create your own perfect cocktail
For more ideas, visit these websites:
- 101 Things To Do Before You Die (Celestine Chua – Personal Excellence)
- 161 ‘Very Different’ Bucket List Suggestions (Trav Bell – The Bucket List Guy)
- BBC’s 50 Things To Do Before You Die
- More Bucket List Ideas on Squidoo : 10.000 Things To Try
- 43 Things – make your own list and get inspired
- Barefoot List
Action time!
Share your list with friends and family and inspire them to write one of their own.
Take action on the items you can do now. Look for ways to achieve some of your Bucket List items in the near future and start planning.
Review your Bucket List every now and then. You can check things of, and add new dreams. It should never be finished, because there’s always something new to try, to learn, to do or to share!
Have fun with it!!
