Last evening, I watched the movie The Bucket List with a few friends over dinner. The movie is a story of two terminally ill men fighting cancer in the same hospital room with 6 months to live.
One of them is a billionaire who owns the very hospital (played by Jack Nicholson) and the other is a blue-collared mechanic (played by Morgan Freeman).
The two become friends during their stay in the hospital as they undergo treatment. They’re told they have less than a year to live. Realizing that life’s too short to be wasted, they decide to embark on a new adventure.
The write their Bucket List. What follows is a series of adventures through which the two men make the best of their dying days.
What’s in a Bucket List?
A bucket list is a list of goals, dreams and the ideal life that you’d like to achieve before you die. Daily goals are a must, but that’s not what I mean when I talk of a bucket list. It’s something much bigger than that.
You can have anything and everything you ever wanted to be, do or have in your bucket list. Of course, some items will require more planning than others. You want the most amazing, the best of experiences on your list. Something that talks to you.
And you don’t have to do it all by yourself or alone. There are places where people write their bucket lists for others to see. 43 things is one of them. Barefoot is another.
Create Your Own Bucket List
Sit somewhere you won’t be disturbed for at least 20-30 minutes. Get your favorite notepad and a pen or open up Word on your laptop. Start writing what you’d like to do before “you kick the bucket”.
For inspiration, check out the following bucket list prompts to help you. Most of all, enjoy the process!
- If you only had one day to live, what would you do next?
- How would you spend the last 24 hours?
- What would you do if you had unlimited courage?
- What would you do if money was not a problem?
- How would you live your life if you didn’t have to work anymore?
- What is the one thing you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done it yet?
- What places in the world fascinate you?
- What rare experiences you long to experience?
- What would give life the greatest meaning?
- Whom have you always wanted to meet?
- What if you had a magic wand for a day – what would you ask for?
Go on, answer those questions. Keep going until you’ve come up with 101 things to do. Don’t let doubt stop you – remember you’re thinking about things before you die, which could be any day. So stop being overly “logical” and don’t be afraid to go wild!
101 Things to Do Before You Die
Could death bring happiness? At least that’s what the two men in the story experienced. The news of death made them do things that mattered. It brought them richer experiences they’d otherwise never be able to live.Ever wonder what are we doing here? Why are we here? Where do we go from here? Well, I can answer #2 for you at least. We’re here to experience life the best we can. We’re here to live.
It sounds ironic that the thought of death could make one realize this. Hopefully, you won’t wait until it’s too late.
To bring you some inspiration, here is my partially-completed Bucket List (WIP). I’ll keep adding to it.
You may have already done some of the things; some you’ll want to do, and others you will never do. Copy it, print it out, use it, abuse it – your call! But definitely do something with it.
- Write the story of my life
- Build my own house
- Publish a book in print
- Swim in the ocean
- Swim with the sharks
- Run a full marathon
- Survive the 10-day Vipassana meditation course
- Backpack on a holiday
- Visit a haunted house in London
- Spend the day in the pyramids
- Live the life of the locals in Egypt
- Live the life of the locals in Xinjiang
- Live in a Himalayan/Tibetan monastery
- Create a completely passive 6-figure income online
- Interview people with most bizarre/rare experiences
- Write a book for those people
- Launch a suite of my own digital products in personal development
- Visit space
- Watch the sky on a clear night through a telescope
- Live in a tree house
- Visit a psychic
- Do a Psychology degree
- Meet and interview an inmate
- Fly a kite
- Drive an orange Lamborghini
- Create a million-dollar business
- Ski
- See a space shuttle launch
- Practice archery
- Win a lottery
- Learn astronomy and read the sky on a clear night
- Spend the New Year’s at an exotic location
- Learn about shamanism
- Be OK with saying the F-word
- Visit the Amazon and live in the wild
- Learn belly-dancing and perform
- Check out all places mentioned in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code
- Outsmart the mechanical bull J
- Dance all night to hip hop
- Become a professional poker player
- Write 10 Kindle books (2 completed!)
- Become a top Quora writer
- Sponsor a child
- Be a part of a dance group
- Go on a ghost hunt
- Speak Spanish fluently
- Sing karaoke in public
- Coach an organization
- Give up meat
- Climb a tree
- Get a past life regression session
- Donate blood
- Do something for a veteran
- Find one thing I am most passionate about (there are several at this time)
- Host a theme party
- Hold the door open (properly) for strangers
- Cheer for someone playing music on the road
- Do a cleanse
- Have my own a catchphrase
- Listen to someone in need
- Compliment 10 people in one day
- Get to know my neighbors
- Witness a supermassive blackhole
- Coming soon. . .
Next Steps
Once you’ve composed a fresh bucket list, start acting on it with these tips:
1. Print it out and keep your bucket list in front of you as much as you can. Put it up on your desk and save it as your screensaver.
2. Keep coming back to your list. It’s OK if you are no longer keen to pursue one item. Replace it with something else.
3. Tell your friends and family about your list.
4. Last but not the least, share your bucket list items below! :) The more people you tell, the better.
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