As day-to-day activities fill our schedules, life keeps moving forward and the years pass by. One way to take inventory of the things you want to do and experience during your lifetime is to make a bucket list. Have you been so involved in taking the kids to soccer practice and fulfilling the dreams of everyone in your family that you’ve neglected your own dreams? While some people cringe at the thought of a “things to do before I die list”, it is a great way to assess if you are living up to your own expectations.

Some key benefits to maintaining a bucket list are listed below:

-Checking in with yourself to be sure you are living the life you want to lead
-Reconnecting with yourself, friends and family through shared dreams
-Evaluating your achievements and expanding personal growth
-Leaving no regrets from having lived a fulfilled life

Different types of buckets lists will help you to check in with different aspects of your life. The following will help you assess different aspects of your life:

1) A travel bucket list would focus on travel destinations. Ask yourself, where have you always dreamed of visiting? Did you just jot down a visit to Paris and the Monet Gardens? Great, now you know what to ask your husband for, for your 50th birthday!

Other items to fill in your travel bucket list could include the following:

-Swimming with Dolphins in Hawaii
-Booking a Mediterranean Cruise
-Riding in a hot air balloon in New Mexico

2) A family bucket list would help you outline those items you wanted to do as a family before your kids are suddenly graduating from college. Are there things that you wanted to do as a family, maybe things your parents never did you with? Items you may see on a family bucket list could be:

-Have family portrait taken
-Implement family game night

Periodically reviewing these bucket lists might inspire you and you’ll remember that you never did implement family game night.

3) The personal fitness bucket list helps make sure you are focusing on you. Items on this list may include the following:

-Run a 5K
-Walk 2 miles a day
-Attend 1 fitness class per week

Not only is this personal fitness bucket list a great idea from a health perspective but it also will remind you of the things you like to do, such as run, walk or attend classes. It also reminds you to take time out each day or each week for yourself, creating a healthier, happier and more physically fit you.

Bucket lists are not meant to be a depressing task, they are meant as a way to take inventory of the life you are living and confirming that you are on track to leading a life fulfilled, leaving room for little regret.

Asking yourself questions can help to expand your bucket list, as well as rekindle sparks from the younger you. Bucket lists can also serve as a great tool to reevaluate your job situation. Think about your career path and ask yourself the following questions:

-What do I want to be when I grow up? What did I want to be?
-What is my current career path? 
-Do I suffer from the Sunday night blues?

Asking yourself questions can lead you to realize that you haven’t been leading the life you wanted. In addition to expanding your bucket list, you are reconnecting with your true self. Have you always wanted to be a dental hygienist and if so, why are you still working as a receptionist at a software company? Have you thought of opening up a craft store but never had the time? Maybe the time is now, or maybe it’s a goal you forgot you had. Creating a bucket list is a cause for reevaluating your life’s path and making changes before it’s too late to make those adjustments.

Items on a bucket list can be simple things which take an hour or a few hours, or they can be items that you will need to plan both time and budget to make happen. 

Do you ever have those weekends when you “have nothing to do?” Really? Maybe you can take that golf lesson you have been putting off. Have you been looking to expand your cooking skills? Go ahead and find the recipe for eggplant lasagna and see what you can do with it. Use your bucket list to expand your horizons and to help you grow as a person. Having a bucket list to reference can help remind you of those smaller things you forgot you wanted to do and may just give you the inspiration to do them.

By opening up and sharing some of your bucket list with those closest to you, you might find that you have more in common than you thought. Who knew that both you and your husband have always wanted ballroom dance lessons and to take a sunset cruise. This can be a great way to reconnect and learn something about your friends and family members.

A bucket list can be reevaluated as well. It is very possible that the bucket list you made when you were in your mid-30’s is no longer relevant now that you are in your mid-60’s. It’s OK to not complete all the items on your bucket list, the important part is that you are frequently evaluating your life and what is important to you. It is entirely possible that at age 60, you do still want to go dancing at Studio 54, just like you did when you were in your 30’s. Well, who’s stopping you? Put on that glitzy outfit and fancy shoes and go light up the dance floor.

The world is there for you to conquer, the bucket list is there to help you remember and achieve those dreams and goals. Go ahead and start your bucket list and enjoy living your life to the fullest, with no regrets.