Do you have a bucket list? Why you should start one today

Research continuously proves that making progress towards goals leads to greater happiness and satisfaction. Coined after the term, ‘kicking the bucket’, a bucket list is designed to motivate you to do all those things you keep putting off - before there’s no time left to do them. While some might say this sounds a little morbid, the idea is to use the recognition of your own mortality, to really understand what your deepest desires are.

There’s no need to fill a bucket list with bungee jumping, skydiving or world travel, if those things don’t appeal to you. Nor should it have anything to do with washing the dishes or finally clearing out the shed. The items on your list need to be those that you’d regret never doing, that make you feel instantly inspired and passionate about life in general. Big or small, these are the goals that really sing to your soul.

Here’s why you should start one today.

For a sense of clear direction

You know that feeling when it’s the end of the year and you have no idea where the time went? In fact, you can’t remember accomplishing much, in the whirlwind of daily activity. A bucket list helps to give you a sense of direction, so you’re always taking steps towards ticking off the next item.

Though there’ll always be things in life competing for your time, you’ll feel more compelled and accountable towards fulfilling your dreams when they’re written down and pinned up somewhere you can see them, complete with achievable timelines and actionable steps. Even if you only tick one off in a whole year, because bucket list goals speak to your deepest values, you’ll remember it forever.

To ensure you don’t waste time waiting

Busyness leads to prioritising all the little things in life, to the point that our dreams are put on the backburner for a better time. The problem is there never will be a better, or easier time. A bucket list helps you focus on what’s really important to you and serves as a reminder to move towards it.

For example, let’s say you’re hanging out the washing. You think, “I wish I was on a tropical island,”. If you had a bucket list with, ‘a holiday in the Caribbean’ as your next item, you’d most likely smile and immediately devise ways to save even more money for it, in the budget that week. You’d feel excited about the fact that it’s not just a dream, but a very real goal that’s getting closer and closer.  When you don’t have a bucket list, and therefore an actionable plan, you’re likely to just presume you’ll do it one day, move onto the next chore and forget all about it.

One thing you will regret in life, is forgetting about your dreams, which is reason enough to start your bucket list, right now.