The easy but unique bucket list ideas in the following post are not for thrill-seekers. They are for simple people who find happiness in purposeful pursuits. (+Free printable pdf bucket list worksheet to get you started. This post contains affiliate links)
Making your meaningful unique bucket list of ideas is the first of the four-goal planning steps for 2021. I’m setting goals for 2021 a certain way that I learned from Ruth Soukup’s Do It Scared Coaching. The first thing she asked us to do for settings goals for the new year was to pull out our bucket or life list.
I didn’t have one so I took some time to create mine. If you are setting up your planner for the new year and following this method with me then in this post, I share some important details and ideas to get you started. You’ll find it useful if you are new to the concept or haven’t actually tried making a bucket list before in your life.
I’m using this planner and the first page after the year goals is blank. I’m using it to put my dream list here so I can see it whenever I open the planner and cross off as I go.
Here’s an image of the planner page I use for my bucket list:
Each new year I plan to:
- revisit and refresh my list,
- take out what doesn’t inspire me anymore,
- add new things that I now dream of,
- then keep the ones I still haven’t but want to accomplish,
- and just copy the revised list from my previous year’s planner into the new one.
You can first practice creating a rough list before you put your dreams down into your planner and pursue them.
Just click the yellow button above to access the cute printable bucket list template to jot down your life goals.
How to make a bucket list?
Find a peaceful corner. Sit down with a piece of paper and pen, just look inside your heart and write down everything you desire to do or experience in life. Don’t self-edit. No one is judging you.
Ruth said to even add the things you’d be afraid to say in front of others. Don’t worry about how you’re going to make it happen right now, just write what feels good when you visualize it in your mind’s eye.
In short,a life list is about thinking bigger than our everyday mundane thinking style.
You can look for dreams in the various bucket list categories. Some of these are:
- Traveling
- Money related
- People
- Learning
- Food
- Spiritual
- Skills
- Experiences and feelings
- Charitable acts, etc
Now, let’s help you get started with.
What is a bucket list and what is its purpose?
So what are bucket lists?
A bucket list is a list of to-do items or activities you desire to accomplish in your life before reaching a certain age or things to do before you die. It’s your list of items, ideas, plans, life goals, dreams, wishes; the things you want to experience in this life.
But why should you have a bucket list?
The purpose of a bucket list is to keep your eyes on things and experiences that are meaningful to you in life. So you don’t end up spending your life away in the routine grind and instead also take out time for things that inspire you, make you feel fulfilled and gratified.
You can not have a bucket list in your mind. Those would be just dreams. Making a bucket list includes the writing down part too. This is important because a written form is the first physical form of your otherwise intangible dreams. Science proves that writing things down increases their chances of getting done significantly.
If you believe in the Law of Attraction, then writing down your bucket list also means you have sent a message out to the universe about what you desire and expect to experience in life.
The purpose of a bucket list is also determined by who it is made for, it could be:
- a bucket list for couples or a bucket list for families usually made for strengthening their companionship by experiencing things together
- a bucket list for kids, made for their entertainment and growth
- otherwise, a bucket list for summer or any other season to enjoy it fully
- or the age of your life, like 30 things to do before you’re 30
- or one just for your own self.
What are the most popular bucket list items?
Most popular bucket list items are traveling, doing a charitable thing, learning or experiencing something new that you have not done before. But really, your own bucket list can have anything that is dear to your heart.
What are good ideas for a bucket list?
Good ideas for a bucket list can be so varied. Honestly, this is a subjective question, because what is ‘good’ for one person may not be the same for another.
For example, I see most bucket lists full of thrilling activities but I’m a simple person, not a travel blogger with a big budget. I seek gratification in purposeful or simple peaceful pursuits. If you are like me, I have a list of suggestions for you to get started with. (This is not my own bucket list, my current one looks like I have martyrdom syndrome. But I have seen harsh realities of life and all I want to do now is make an impact. Nonetheless, I’m learning to love myself and add things to my list solely to nourish various aspects of my own being too.)
My suggestions for unique bucket list ideas for 2021 you can try
- Come up with a list of your unique bucket list ideas, put it up where you can see it daily and cross off at least one item/month
- Write letters of gratitude and acknowledgment to your parents
- Learn self-defense techniques on Youtube
- Write a lesson filled memoir of your life
- Start a blog to share the struggles of life you overcame/ are overcoming
- Learn your partner’s favorite song on an instrument
- Learn a skill from professionals
- Sponsor an orphan child’s education
- Take a vow of silence for a day (or 3 for added benefits)
- Drive to a safe unknown corner of your city on a Vespa (with your mask on!)
- Sleep on the rooftop with family
- Visit a border and share some homemade food with the guards
- Learn the language of the country you desire to visit one day
- Take a 1-month media fast challenge
- Start playing a new sport weekly
- Adopt and name a jaguar/tiger/leopard after your child or nephew/niece (through WWF, it’s as low as £3/mo.)
- Locate and connect (online!) with your childhood best friend
- Create our family tree till you reach a famous name in your ancestry
- Write a meaningful poem
- Remarry your spouse in a different tradition
- Write a letter to an inspiring famous personality (Oprah? Marie Forleo?)
- Have a professional photo shoot of your family and put the best one in your house in a large size (covid versions, with a quote, we lived through this together!)
- Write your Will
- Self cook meals with your spouse and arrange an at-home buffet for your kids.
- Start your own vegetable garden
- Get into your best health (weight and energy-wise especially)
- Drink 10 glasses water for 30 days (restart if you miss a mark any day, use this habit tracker printable)
- Get a new pet
- Take an online yoga class
- Learn a handcraft (sewing, knitting, painting, pottery, etc)
I would love to see you add some of these bucket list ideas for 2021 into your personal life list this year.
Free Printable Bucket List Template
Use this free bucket list template printable to make your own list of dreams now.
Want me to send you a bucket list template word doc? Just email me at hena@literacyahas.com.
Keep Reading: Goal Planning: Your Step by Step Action Plan For Crushing Goals
Keep Reading: How To Choose The Correct Guiding Word Of The Year?
Keep Reading: 14 Powerful Time Management Tips For Moms To Get More Done Today
Did these unique bucket list ideas get your creative juices flowing? This was the first step in our goal-setting series. In the next post, I’ll share with you how Ruth made us take some of these dreams and convert them into goals for the year.
For now, share your top 3 things from your own unique bucket list ideas here for the universe to see and for others to feel inspired.
Click the image below to save these 2021 bucket list ideas to your favorite Productivity board on Pinterest.
For now, share your top 3 things from your own unique bucket list ideas here for the universe to see and for others to feel inspired.
