Most of us keep a bucket list—a very extensive and occasionally exhausting catalog of what we feel we need to experience and attain before we die. Run a marathon. Publish a book. Have a house with a wraparound porch. Visit Paris. The list keeps growing, and with it, the weight of maximizing every second.
Somewhere along the process, experiences had been made into a competition. Social networks are full of status posts of individuals hiking up mountains, launching startups, and ticking off major accomplishments. The message being communicated: If you’re not chasing something big, then you’re not accomplishing anything.
But constantly striving for more can leave you with the feeling of being somehow not enough. Every unchecked task on the list can feel more and more like a failure.
A reverse bucket list isn’t a matter of giving up on aspiration. It’s a matter of understanding what brings happiness, not what’s expected of you. It’s accepting the reality of letting some goals fall away because they don’t coincide with your reality today—and this is okay.
Revisit your original bucket list. If you’ve written down your dream experiences and lifetime goals, take a second look. Tell the truth. Which ones are you excited for? Which ones feel more of a task and not what you really want? If your goal feels more of a task and not a challenge, then perhaps it’s time to check them off.
Maybe once, you vowed to learn scuba diving, and today, the thought of being underwater scares the bejezus out of you. Or, you figured for certain you’d be your own boss, and after discovering what’s really in it for you, you’d rather take something with stability. Let. It. Go.
We evolve. What felt right at 25 might not make sense at 40. Holding on to outdated goals just because your younger self wanted them doesn’t make sense.
A reverse bucket list isn’t necessarily about removing things from your list. It is also about prioritizing your well-being and doing things that actually make your life great. Taking care of yourself has to be the very beginning of any list—reverse list or not. Trying something new can also mean doing things for the parts of you you don’t necessarily pay much heed to, like setting yourself up for a hearing test or checking your eyesight. You’d be amazed at the tiny things you can do to make your day-to-day experience great. Curious about how hearing aids can improve quality of life? Take time to explore how this works—understanding how your senses support your overall health can bring more joy than ticking off random goals. And after all, the greatest joy is being good from the inside out.
A reverse bucket list isn’t just about letting go, however. It’s also a matter of paying homage to what’s been achieved. Remember the experiences and what made them worthwhile, even if they didn’t end up on some master list.
Many believe that success is determined by constantly checking off accomplishments on an endless to-do list. In reality, true success comes from recognizing what truly matters to you and letting go of everything else. The freedom of letting go to release unnecessary goals does not mean that you are giving up. It just means that you are clearing up some space. Letting go of commitments that don’t excite you anymore creates space for experiences that truly connect with who you are today.
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