Lessons Learned From A Bucket List
Do you have a wish list of things you want to do in your lifetime? Some might call this list a bucket list, courtesy of the popular 2007 comedy-drama movie “The Bucket List”. I created a list of things I want to do in my lifetime before I actually knew the term bucket list even existed. In fact, I have two lists, one is called my “travel wish list” and the other is “things I want to do list”. But they are both basically a bucket list only the travel wish list has an “accomplish by” date.
I have been encouraged by several friends to share this idea and what I have learned as it might inspire or help someone else. I created both lists in my early twenties before I was married and had kids. While I realize not everyone likes to travel, I have learned the most thus far from trying to complete my travel wish list, so I am going to focus on that one and share with you my lessons learned.
As you might guess by the title, “travel wish list”, it contains all the places I want to visit, at least as of my early twenties. Over the years I have added a few new places to the list but not many. The goal was to complete the list by the age of 50, which at the time seemed pretty far away. Now that I am in my 40′s, age 50 doesn’t seem too far away. With that said, over the last couple of years I have become much more strategic in my travels in hopes to check a city off of my list as often as possible.
I included about 26 places on my list. The plan was to complete the cities in the United States and the Caribbean by the time I was 50 and leave the international travel with no “accomplish by” date. Here are some of my lessons learned from my travel wish list:
- Writing your goals down helps to keep you focused. Having places I want to visit written down has made it easier when I am planning a vacation. The same is true for any bucket list. If you have it written down it makes it easier for you to know exactly what you want to accomplish so when you have the time you already know what you want to do. It is a big time saver.
- Setting your intention is key. My intention when I created my travel wish list was to complete it by age 50. When we set an intention it prepares us and we are more likely to work towards the intention that was set even when we come across obstacles. I am happy to report that my intention of completing this list by age 50 looks pretty good.
- Look at your list. This is a critical piece. If you write your bucket list and never look at it then you might