What is a Bucket List?
A Bucket List is a list of items that you would like to accomplish before you kick the bucket. The term has been made popular by the 2008 comedy-drama movie, The Bucket List. In the show, two terminally ill men go on a road trip with a wish list of things to do before they die. The movie stars Academy Award winners, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.
(Item #36 of Bucket List. Photo taken of my daughter and husband parasailing during my recent trip to Penang.)
Essentially, the message you need to heed is this: do the things you have always wanted to do before it is too late. You wouldnt want to wait till you are knocking at deaths door before you start to realize how fast life has been passing you by. Should this be the case, your final moment may well be one of regret on what may have been instead of a sense of contentment over what has been. You mull over, if only I have lived life with a little more freedom, laughed a little more and loved a little more.
Hence, a bucket list is not just a list of everyday tasks; such as hanging out your laundry, getting your hair done or driving your children to their piano classes. Instead, it is an itemized list of things that are purposeful, meaningful and reasonably challenging. Some items, such as publishing a memoir, are intended to create legacies that last beyond lifetimes.
Accomplishing worthy items on your bucket list help you to create compelling stories about how you have lived. Is the bucket item about courage, inspiration, breaking through fears, living passionately or/and enhancing your creative side? Whatever it is, it innately embodies the energy of expansion. You are doing something that you have not done before. And you have lived the experience to tell it. Accomplishing your bucket list represents your unique physical expression of what it means to lead a full and abundant life.
Tips To Make Your Bucket List
1. Create one by listing the items so that you can check them off one-by-one easily.
2. You can also add a rating score for each item. So you rate each item according to ease of accomplishment, satisfaction or thrill level.
3. Split your bucket list into major categories and prioritize them. For example, if you have the category Travel, list down which countries and what you hope to see or do there.
4. You may also want to create vision boards for some of the items on your bucket list. Download a free Vision Board Tips report here.
111 Items For Your Bucket List
Need ideas about what items to put in your bucket list? The following are 111 items to help you with some.
Travel
Your experience of the world becomes more vibrant, colorful and exciting with traveling. You learn to appreciate the differences in cultures, nationalities, religions and lifestyles.
1. Travel round the world. You may want to do it all in one single trip or break your trips down into one country per year.
2. See the Seven Wonders of the World. The Seven Wonders of the World is a list of the worlds most spectacular natural or manmade structures. Read about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_the_World
3. Fly first class on an international trip. You like the idea of being given the royal treatment so that you can arrive in style.
4. Travel the Silk Route a network of trade routes across the Asian continent. It connected the Asia with Europe and Africa. The route has been used for almost 3,000 years. It gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade during the Han dynasty (206 BC 220 CE).
5. Visit Bhutan reportedly one of the happiest countries on Earth! Bhutan is one of the most unusual countries in the world. It is a small, landlocked nation nestling in the Himalayas tucked into the gap between India and Chinese-occupied Tibet.
6. Scale Mount Everest or any other mountains.
7. Attend a street party like the Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras celebrations refer to festivities after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday.
8. Visit an Indian ashram or place of spiritual interest.
9. Go whale watching in Alaska or New Zealand.
10. Go on a road trip.
11. Go on a luxury cruise vacation.
12. Attend New Years Celebration in Times Square.
13. Spend a night in a medieval castle in England.
14. Admire Antoni GaudÃs works including his magum opus, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.
15. View the famous Northern Lights in Iceland.
16. Explore ice caves, pinnacles and seracs in New Zealand.
17. Visit Japan during the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Sports & Special Interests
Sporting interests move you into action. They get your adrenalin going.
18. Engage in an extreme sport like wakeboarding, ice yachting and snow boarding.
19. Go on a diving expedition. Consider diving in some of the best dive spots in the world: The Great Barrier Reef, the Bahamas or the southern Red Sea.
20. Take part in a marathon or triathlon. Marathons or triathlons challenge you both physically and mentally.
21. Fly in a helicopter for a birds eye view of the world.
22. Ride in a hot air balloon.
23. Master the art of Kung Fu. Like Kung Fu Panda. Like the Dragon Warrior.
24. Be able to do the difficult yoga poses or asanas.
25. Learn taichi or qigong.
26. Bungee jump.
27. Be able to do the splits.
28. Do 100 consecutive pushups.
29. Execute a somersault.
30. Learn snow-skiing or water-skiing.
31. Fly a plane.
32. Experience zero gravity.
33. Go white water rafting.
34. Play golf in the best spots around the world.
35. Horseback riding.
36. Parasailing. It is not as scary as it seems. Really.
Food & Cuisine
Food is another category that you can have on your bucket list.
37. Sample exotic cuisines from all over the world.
38. Become a vegetarian.
39. Cut gluten from your diet.
40. Reduce sugar intake.
41. Bake a birthday cake for a special someone.
42. Be able to cook and churn out delicious meals for the family.
43. Go on a detox diet for 21 days.
Charity
Charity is your contribution to mankind. Life becomes more fulfilling when you extend your services for others.
44. Volunteer in your local community.
45. Build a home for the poor in a less developed country. Join Habitat for Humanity.
46. Make a difference in the lives of others. It may be a simple random act of kindness or it may be a dedicated effort or cause that you join.
47. Shave your head for a good cause.
48. Make micro-loans to the poor and provide financial assistance in setting up small businesses at Kiva.
Leaving a Legacy
You leave something for others to remember you by.
49. Write your memoir. So your life with its trials, tribulations and triumphs has been pretty unique, if anyone is to ask. You have got experiences that you would like to record.
50. Publish a book. Writing a book and actually publishing it is two separate things. Your book may or may not be a memoir. But it is your literary piece, your contribution to the world. To publish is to see it in print and distributed.
51. Plant a tree and name it after you.
52. Establish a foundation in your name.
Learn Something New
Pursue a hobby or interest that you had been thinking of doing for a long time. You hope to develop basic proficiency with some active learning.
53. Learn a new language. Consider Japanese, Thai, French, German or Navi.
54. Learn how to bake.
55. Learn to meditate. You have heard about the benefits of meditation and you would like to try. Read my beginners guide on meditation.
56. Learn sign language. Learn sign language for common words. It can be rather fun!
57. Learn to play a new musical instrument.
58. Learn how to balance your own accounts without hiring an accountant.
59. Learn how to invest excess funds to improve your earnings yield.
60. Learn how to interpret dreams.
61. Learn how to do intuitive card readings.
62. Learn painting.
63. Learn photography.
64. Learn how to start a business.
65. Learn animal communication.
66. Learn how to do magic tricks.
67. Learn self hypnosis.
Success Breakthroughs
What does success mean to you? It may mean just one or more of the following indicators..
68. Start the business of your dreams.
69. Achieve financial freedom.
70. Start a blog.
71. Public speaking. Public speaking is supposedly one of the greatest fears that many have.
72. Conquer your fear of __________ . Fears that you can work on include heights, cockroaches and snakes. If you have more than three, you may want to create a list of fears that you wish to conquer over.
73. Meet someone famous. You have got a role model that you look up to. Having the chance to meet means the lifetime opportunity of being touched by his or her presence.
74. Get featured in the media for something that you did. Being featured in a public media may be an experience that you desire and getting your first shot at stardom.
75. Ride in a limousine.
76. Own your dream home.
77. Own your dream car.
78. Attend the concert of your favorite pop or rock singer.
79. Graduate and make your parents proud.
80. Create meaningful work.
81. Own multiple investment properties all over the world.
82. Build assets worth US$____ million.
83. Reach the top of your profession.
Love, Romance and Family Relationships
What are your ideas about love, romance and starting a family? This is an important category with bucket items to think over.
84. Fall in love. Falling in love is a big deal to many of us. To be in love is to experience a warm fuzzy feeling of connection with a special someone. You love being in love.
85. Find a soul mate. Finding a soul mate may not be quite the same thing as finding a romantic partner. Finding a soul mate is for life. You are ready for commitment.
86. Have the wedding of a lifetime.
87. Become a parent. You have a deep longing to have your own children.
88. Sleep on the beach with your loved one under the stars.
89. Kiss passionately in the rain.
90. Be able to write a poem or compose a song for your loved one.
91. Have a romantic getaway at an exotic location.
92. Celebrate important anniversary milestones in your marriage.
Others
The category of Others is a useful one. It allows you to brainstorm into all kinds of possibilities.
93. Get a tattoo.
94. Become an acclaimed food critic.
95. Become an extra in a Hollywood Blockbuster movie.
96. Swim with the dolphins.
97. Swim with the sharks.
98. Ride on a horse into the most amazing sunset.
99. Build a tree house.
100. Invent something new and revolutionary.
101. Attend a high society gala event or costume party.
102. Participate in a street parade or carnival.
103. Heal yourself from _________ (sickness, disease or illness).
104. Migrate to a country of choice.
105. Get reunited with a long lost parent, relative or friend.
106. Fold a thousand paper cranes to make a sincere wish. According to Japanese legend, if you fold 1000 paper cranes, you get to make a wish.
107. Go on a Noble Silent meditation retreat. Try a Vipassana Goenka retreat, for instance.
108. Assume a leadership position.
109. Survive an endurance camp.
110. Be complaint-free for a period of 30 days. Join the movement started by Rev Will Bowen. Already, more than 6 million purple Complaint Free bracelets have been sent to people in over 106 countries. Check out this website http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org/
111. Practice gratitude for 21 days. Learn how to get started on a gratitude journal here.
Resources for Creating Bucket List
Need more ideas for your bucket list? Check out the following online resources:
http://www.bucketlist.org
http://www.43things.com
http://www.reaperlist.com
What is on Your Bucket List?
I have accomplished quite a number of items on my bucket list:
Visited Barcelona for its famed Gaudi works,
Climbed the Great Wall of China,
Parasailed (twice),
Sailed, windsurfed and wakeboarded (many times),
Dived in Cancun Mexico,
Snorkled at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia,
Rode in a helicopter over Alaska,
Watched the sunset at Key West,
Visited the ruins of Pompeii in Rome,
Published a book,
Run an online business with clients from all over the world,
Married my soul mate,
Done volunteer work,
Fulfilled my desire to be a parent, etc.
However, I still have got more to go!! It is my intent to live fully, authentically and meaningfully!
What about you? What items do you have on your bucket list? Do share in the comments below.
Abundance Always,
Author. Adventurer. Life Artist. More About Me.
Travelling is my life
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