Start a bucket list of lifetime goals

Brainstorm the experiences you want to have in your lifetime — then pick one to start planning.

Time:: 45 min
Cost:: free
Difficulty:: easy
Where:: Indoors
Best:: Solo

A bucket list of lifetime goals usually gets written once, contains forty expensive things, and is never opened again. The difference between that and a list you work through is deliberately including cheap and nearby items, and putting a date against one of them before you finish writing.

Why start a bucket list of lifetime goals is worth an hour

A list containing only expensive, distant ambitions has no achievable next step, so it functions as fantasy rather than intention. Mixing in items that cost little and could happen next month gives the list momentum. Completing anything on it also changes how you regard the rest, from a wish list into something with a track record.

How to start a bucket list of lifetime goals step by step

1
Write fifty without filtering
Quantity first, no judgement about feasibility. Editing while generating produces a short conventional list.
2
Sort by cost and distance
Cheap and near, cheap and far, expensive and near, expensive and far. Four groups, and the first is the important one.
3
Check the ones you actually want
Some items are there because they sound impressive. Cross those out; they will never get done anyway.
4
Pick one from the cheap and near group
Something possible within a month. The list becomes real the first time you complete an item.
5
Put a date on it now
In the calendar before you close the document. This is the step that separates a list from a daydream.

Tips to get more out of it

Include skills and experiences, not only places. Learning something is often more achievable than travel and lasts longer.
Note roughly what each costs. Some items turn out to be far cheaper than assumed and get postponed for nothing.
Revisit annually and delete freely. A list you no longer want is a source of guilt rather than direction.

Ways to mix it up

If the whole idea feels too large, write a one-year list instead, which is more actionable and less prone to fantasy. If you share your life with someone, write separate lists first and then compare, since combined lists tend toward the safest overlap.