Need help creating a bucket list?
Whilst I was on maternity leave, I used my time to create a bucket list. It took me quite a long time to decide what was going to make it onto my final list, so I thought I’d share some tips to help other people to get started:
1) Think about why you’re creating one — Sometimes there is a tendency to try and add as much onto a bucket list as possible or to get to a perfect list of 100 items. If you do that, you’re missing the point. It is not just about going through and ticking things off. It’s about focusing on what’s most important to you. Think about how you’d feel if you didn’t achieve it. If it doesn’t bother you if you weren’t to achieve it then don’t add it to the list just for the sake of it.
2) Think about what’s important to YOU — Some people want to run a marathon. Some people want to write a book. Some people just want to enjoy each day as it comes. Having two boys has highlighted to me how we’re all unique beings. We don’t all have the same goals in life and neither two bucket lists should ever look the same. Make it personal and think about what YOU want. It should not be about what you think someone else thinks you should achieve. Just focus on you.
3) Dream Big — Don’t be put off adding things to your list that might seem impossible or daunting at first. Just write down things as they come into your head as you can think about how you can achieve them later on. Just having them written down is the first step.
4) Enjoy it — Creating a bucket list isn’t there so you have another to do list with a bunch of items to tick off. The idea of it is meant to be fun. It’s nice to look back a year down the line and see all the wonderful things that you’ve been up to.
5) Talk to other people about what you want to achieve — sometimes sharing what you want to achieve with others, is a great way to give you the push that you need. Once you say it out loud then you’ve got a greater chance of achieving what you set out to do.
6) Write it down — whether you stick it on the wall or write it in your notebook, it’s good to have your bucket list written down somewhere. I once read that once we write down what we want to achieve then we’re more likely to achieve it.
7) Complete the sentence, I would love to …. — by completing this short simple sentence, it will help the ideas to start flying from your mind. I would love to do a bungee jump. I would love to own my own café one day. I would love to write a book etc etc.
I also thought it might be useful to post a few tips to stop you from feeling overwhelmed in the process of working through your list:
1) Don’t feel daunted by how much you have on your list — this is after all a bucket list so you’re not expecting to achieve it all in a year or even 2 years’ time. The idea of a bucket list is that once you’ve written it down you can take steps towards achieving your goals. Remember that any progress, no matter how small, is still taking you closer to achieving your dreams.
2) Your list doesn’t have to remain static — A bucket list is something that you can constantly review as time goes on. What might seem important to you when you’re 20 might not then be important to you when you’re 40.
3) Break it down — It makes sense to start with the bigger things that you want to achieve. For example, if your dream is to pay off the mortgage in 10 years’ time, start thinking now about how you can achieve that. Break your goal down into small simpler steps to move you ever closer to achieving it. What can you do today to get you one step closer to achieving that goal? It might seem big now but if you start taking small steps to achieve it then you will get there.
4) Rearrange your list into categories — choose categories which help you make sense of your list can stop it from feeling overwhelming. You could break it down into short, medium and long-term goals. Or you could categorise it by the type of activity e.g. health and fitness, fun one day activities, travel etc.
5) Use online tools to help you — I’ve uploaded my bucket list to Trello which I personally find a fantastic tool to use. This has helped me to organise my bucket list into categories, I’m able to add checklists so I know what small steps I can take to work towards my goals, I can add due dates to actions that I add. Find a system that works for you as there are so many tools out there.
I hope this has been helpful and if you’d like any help with creating your own bucket list, then please feel free to get in touch.
