7 Tips for Creating Your Bucket List ...

A great start to putting your bucket list together is to invest in a special notebook that will be dedicated solely to this task. Whilst we will all most probably have smartphone and tablet apps that are specifically for the purposes of writing a bucket list, it is absolutely vital that you have a hard copy somewhere. If you carry this notebook with you in your handbag you will be able to jot down any new ideas as they come to you at any time during the day.

Of course, a bucket list is by its very essence a dream list, but try not to set yourself up for disappointment by including goals and ideas that you know are going to extremely difficult to achieve. For example, if you have a crippling fear of flying, perhaps a sky dive is not going to be the best idea in the world. The joy of a realistic bucket list allows you to have some of the fun you have always dreamed of while actually being able to complete it.

A first draft can be as long as you like and really only serves the purpose of getting all your ideas down on paper, no matter how silly or farfetched they may seem in comparison to others. This is your opportunity to think long and hard about all the things you’ve always wanted to do from childhood to present, so think hard and don’t leave anything out!

Now that you have an absolute ton of ideas to work with, you can begin to go through them and eliminate the least important or least realistic options and begin to craft the list into something that resembles a final draft. Try to include ideas from throughout your life, letting the child within you have some fun at the same time as your adult targets. Thinking about it this way leads to a balanced and interesting list.

To help you whittle down your ideas to the precious few that will make up the final draft, go through the exercise of trying to attach a meaning to each of the goals you have written down on your notepad. The most fulfilling bucket lists are undoubtedly the ones that have a more spiritual and meaningful motivation behind the ideas. If you are undecided between two choices, always go with the one that stems from the more important memory.

Don’t think of your finished bucket list as an unmovable object. In the months and years after you complete your first draft you may experience changes or events in your life that mean you want to add or remove ideas from the list. Always be vigilant and open to new ideas; inspiration can come from the places that you least expect.

If you are the kind of person that thinks big, some of the ideas on your bucket list may be massive, but at no point should you ever think about giving up. If it means saving a bit of extra cash or making certain lifestyle changes or sacrifices to achieve your dreams, just think about the sense of achievement when you will be able joyously tick off idea on your list one by one. Keep going, you can do it!

I’m dying to hear about your bucket list. Is yours short or impossibly long? What’s at the top?