Why your bucket list is hindering you from reaching your full potential
I recently turned 29. The idea of turning 30 frightens me a bit, so I’ve been thinking about creating my first ever bucket list.
People say you need a bucket list to give your life a direction. It’s supposed to give you a clearer picture of the things and places you want to have/visit/experience.
But the more I think about bucket lists, the more I’m more convinced that they’re problematic. Say for example that you’d like to go to Greece someday. It’s your dream vacation—the one place you’d really like to visit before you die. So you put this on your bucket list.
How realistic is it though that you’d ever go to Greece? Your bucket list items are supposed to be grandiose—and herein lies the problem. Because they are big dreams, they also seem unattainable. And as a result, they could discourage you to take action, to work on making them a reality.
A better option is to couple your bucket list with more short-term, attainable goals. If I want that dream vacation, then I need more money. That means I need to somehow find a second job or get a promotion soon. This kind of goal-setting is a lot more actionable—and a lot more encouraging.
Having big dreams is fine; just don’t forget to think about the steps you need to go through to make those grandiose plans happen.
