How to Create a Bucket List

I don’t usually write down things unless it’s absolutely necessary and for the most part, I do write my plans down for trips and anything that requires planning and important notes through my phone. I always kept an idea of the things I’m planning to do in my life mostly in my head and sometimes, that’s just my way of going with a plan is envisioning it. I do, however, take note of what I plan to write about next for this website but with places to travel to? Things I want to do one day? I never really thought of writing those down. And before you jump ahead and question this, I know it is definitely not easy to accomplish everything and it may take lots of time, possibly years or never for them to happen.

However, a bucket list may be something that can keep you in track of what you want accomplished in life; it’s something you can refer to to keep you motivated to work hard or just a reminder that life has a limitless and infinity of possibilities. It could be specific or anything in your life that you badly want to experience. The thing about bucket lists is that you mustn’t just want to get each piece done and over with, you want to remember the journey that you took to get there and the main thing to keep in mind about your bucket list is to be realistic. I’ll talk more about this in a little.

Here’s my bucket list that I’ve had in mind. The ones with a check mark were obviously accomplished already or if it says semi-accomplished, it means I’ve done some of it already but not to the extent it has been truly accomplished.

1. Go to the best museums in the country (semi-accomplished)
2. Go to the best and top National Parks in the country (semi-accomplished)
3. Hike lots of mountains in one state ✓
4. Go to the best Electric Dance Music festivals in the east coast (semi-accomplished)
5. Go see one or more of my favorite artists live in concert✓
6. Go to at least 3 continents ✓
7. Go to Africa, South America, Australia
8. See the Northern Lights
9. Hike Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu
10. Go to all the states all through the east coast of the country (semi-accomplished)
11. Go to all the states all through the west coast of the country (semi-accomplished)
12. Go whale watching ✓ (Didn’t see whales though, just dolphins in the middle of the ocean, still an experience!)
13. Swim with shark whales or sharks
14. Take a road trip through the southwest ✓
15. Take a road trip through all the way down south of the east coast ✓
16. Visit these I-always-wanted-to-visit Asian countries: Japan, Thailand, Philippines✓, South Korea
17. Visit these I-always-wanted-to-visit European countries: Italy✓, France, Switzerland, Greece, Ireland, England, Iceland✓
18. Swim in the Gulf of Mexico✓
19. Swim in the Pacific Ocean✓
20. Take a touring plane ride around an island
21. Go swimming in the Devil’s Pool Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Africa

While there are so much more that I could add to do that, I kept it short, which is better than having hundreds of things. It can seem nerve-wrecking looking at a long list and it might remind you how much more you have to go through. So now I have showed you my bucket list, why don’t you try creating one too?

How to create your own bucket list

1. Think about what you want your bucket list to be about like it can be specifically on the adventures you want to tackle down like I did or if you want to make a lifetime one (ex. “Things I want to do before I turn 30”), including accomplishing school, landing your dream job, having a family, etc. Your bucket list can be tied specifically to anything, even goals to accomplish to a bigger goal like losing weight, getting more toned or muscular, etc.
2. It’s better to start small: for example, I only listed 22 things. Going up to 100 might seem a lot and overwhelming to look at or handle.
3. Think individually. You can create a separate list with your group of friends or with your significant other, but the most important happiness is your own happiness. List things that YOU want to do so that way if things do fall out with another person, you’ll have things to do without anyone else’s help.
4. Find purpose or meaning in your goals. List things that you believe will grow on you or positively impact you. You want to be able to make some of them long-term so when you’re looking at it months or years later, you won’t feel different about them but it can easily be re-adjusted to your liking.
5. Don’t check off something just to say you did it; be moved by it. Of course, this sounds ludicrous but sometimes this might be tempting so that it can give us a temporarily good feeling to say you did something, you want to make sure you’ve had a great journey towards it or something that will truly make you remember it in a lifetime. That’s why it’s important these goals are long-term ones.
6. Don’t think of your bucket list as something you should wait for or to put a hold in your life; live in the NOW. This is something that many people can get into their heads is admiring an idea a lot and ignoring other possibilities. It’s important to work on your life as it is, “just go with the flow”, and simultaneously work on your goals. Balance.
7. Most important thing: be realistic. List things that you feel you can really get to, not something illegal or too dangerous to accomplish.

A bucket list should seen be as a way to inspire you. It doesn’t necessarily mean it should be a check list of things to do and places to go because you’re not going to go with the pattern it has been listed; it’s something to look back on when you want to feel inspired by your own moving ideas. Remember, do not put a timer/a date when something should be done because that can be more discouraging and disappointing to realize you didn’t meet your expectations.

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