The Reverse Bucket List
A Bucket List, But Backwards
Many of us have a bucket list.
Maybe you want to climb Everest, run a marathon, or grow your own vegetable garden. Perhaps you want to paint a room in your house, learn to play guitar, or start a blog!
Whatever the task, whatever size, and whether we know it or not, many of us possess a bucket list.
But a bucket list has us looking forward to an imaginable future. What can we do in the present to create positive feelings for what we’ve already achieved? Hence arises the Reverse Bucket List.
Where We’ve Come From
Rather than writing what you want to achieve, write down what you already have achieved. It’s an encouragement rather than a discouragement exercise. If you’ve had “do a skydive” on your bucket list for what feels like three hundred years, it could make you feel like you’re not going after your goals enough. That you’re slacking, or even worse, that you’re lazy!
In life, we still have so much to celebrate. We can’t do everything we hope to in the future. We can suffer through this thought with our endless bucket lists, or we can create a reverse bucket list.
What have you achieved in this past year that you’re proud of? That’s the concept of a reverse bucket list.
It’s founded in gratitude, another journalling concept I’ve adopted over the past year that has changed me for the better.
Motivation
It’s easy to think that setting goals will motivate us. But we can set the bar too high, and we’ll get nothing done. There’s a reason I struggle to get myself out of the house to do a run. It’s because I used to run 5km twice a week, and I still think I can reach this same level with no work, after not running for over a year. I set my bar too high, and it leaves me stagnant. Then I beat myself up for not going for a run.
However, if I look backwards at what I’ve achieved, it can be these elements of the reverse bucket list that propel us towards our future aspirations.
A reverse bucket list can even help us realise what’s important in our lives. When you look back over the last year and what you’re most proud of yourself for doing, perhaps it’s these aspects of your life that align with your values and are pointing you in the direction of your purpose.
Concluding Remarks
So think, what did you do in this last year that scared you? What are you proud of yourself for doing that would have been unimaginable just 12 months ago? Which experiences gave you the most energy in this period, and how can you create more of these energy-creating moments in the future? Whether you perceive the achievement as big or small, it doesn’t matter! What pops into your head first?
In a summarising sentence, what have you achieved over the last year that made you happy?
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I'm glad that I started a newsletter last year to put down my thoughts and to resonate my ideas with like minded people. I think that has made me happier. Even though it's a side project, it has given me an additional purpose to look forward to every week.