Have you ever thought about starting a bucket list? Just thinking about all the things you’d like to before you kick the proverbial bucket can give you a sense of hope, something to live for. But the majority of bucket lists you see are often way out of reach, with items like visiting the pyramids or taking a cruise somewhere exotic. Sure, those are fun things to wish for and make for amazing memories, but having a list of achievable things that you can do today is more likely to motivate you to get out there and try something new. One of the best lists I found was from the blog Get Off the Couch: Achievable Bucket List. (Many thanks to them for allowing us to repost the list here!) It’s a great list with everything from altruistic activities like signing up for organ donor sites or volunteering at animal shelters to fun things like making homemade ice cream or going geocaching (if you haven’t tried it, I totally recommend it.) As you read through the list, you’ll probably find yourself either remembering things you’ve already done, or remembering things that you once thought of doing (who hasn’t wanted to bury their own time capsule). Some of them cost a little money, but most are free or pretty close to it.
And for anyone in recovery, it’s always good to have some simple, achievable goals to keep you in the habit of accomplishing things. ‘One day at a time’ is a mantra many live by, so add a little fun into each day and start checking off some things on your list that you’ll want to brag about.
Where to start with my bucket list?
It’s easy — just copy and paste this bucket list into one you will make for yourself and start editing. Take out the things you aren’t interested in, change some others to suit your tastes, and then add all the new ones you think of along the way. As for how quickly you accomplish them, well that’s up to you — maybe try for one a week in the beginning. Many of them require no preparation at all while some will take some planning. Have fun!
- Create your own bucket list of at least 100 things you want to do before you die
- Be a tourist in your own city
- Spend the day at a spa
- Adopt a shelter animal
- Participate in Free Hugs
- Volunteer your time at a shelter, or other worthy cause
- Go on a ghost hunt
- Do 50 random acts of kindness
- Take a flying lesson or discovery flight
- Watch every movie on the imdb top 250 list
- Watch a sunrise and sunset in the same day
- Visit five different museums
- Try 15 types of ethnic cuisine
- Ride a skateboard
- Knit something
- Get a massage
- Take public transportation
- Sing karaoke in public
- Feed animals at the zoo
- Order room service
- Ride in a canoe and/or kayak
- Go caroling
- Sew something wearable
- Throw someone a surprise party
- Ice skate
- Roller blade
- Ride a Segway
- Get a makeover at a salon
- Sponsor a child
- Name a star
- Go to a comedy show
- Learn and perform a magic trick
- Bake cookies for your neighbors, co-workers, etc
- Take a cooking lesson
- Learn to make one really nice meal from scratch
- Create your own personal recipe book
- Shoot a gun
- Shoot a bow and arrow
- Give up meat (for at least a week)
- Write letters to 5 people who positively influenced you
- Tour a factory
- Participate in NaNoWriMo
- Host a dinner party
- Pay the toll for the car behind you
- Take a bubblebath by candlelight with champagne, wine or sparkling cider
- Go on a hayride
- Wish upon a star
- Play the lotto
- Take a lesson to play a musical instrument
- Learn to swim
- Identify 10 constellations
- Drive or ride on a motorcyle
- Climb a rock wall
- Climb a tree
- Toss a coin into a fountain
- Send postcards from your home city
- Join postcrossing and collect postcards
- Vote
- Sell something online
- Visit a nursing home
- Play chess
- Eat caviar, brie, and lobster
- Play golf
- Become an ordained minister
- Speak in a foreign accent for a whole day
- Build a snow, sand or dirt man
- Read a holy book from cover to cover
- Meditate
- Make and bury a time capsule
- Take a jumping pic
- Write your will
- Plan your own funeral
- Host a scavenger hunt
- Take the scenic route
- Buy stock
- Ride in a limo
- Paint a picture
- Get a caricature done of yourself
- Go to a religious service of another faith
- Learn to say hello in 26 languages
- Shop on Black Friday
- Get a complete physical done with blood work
- Get hypnotized
- Have a past life regression session
- Dress up fancy and go somewhere mundane
- Play darts
- Play pool/billiards
- Play poker
- See a play/musical
- Change a flat tire
- Donate blood
- Register for bethematch.org
- Become an organ donor
- Learn a dance
- Make spaghetti sauce from scratch
- Take a class on Craftsy
- Ban negativity from your life
- Do “it” in public
- Zipline
- Jump off a diving board
- Slide down a waterslide
- Ride a rollercoaster
- Send a care package
- Thank a veteran
- Carve a pumpkin
- Be passionate about a worthy cause
- Be passionate about a sports team
- Be someone’s biggest fan
- Plant a tree
- Geocache
- Plant a garden
- Paint a room purple, hot pink or neon green
- Host a theme party
- Have a signature look
- Have a cool nickname
- Attach notes to balloons and release them
- Get a tan
- Grow your hair long
- Cut your hair really short
- Start a blog
- Speak pig latin
- Do a charity walk/run
- Make s’mores over a campfire
- Go camping
- Get something pierced
- Get a tattoo
- Get something besides your eyebrows waxed
- Try out for a reality show
- Decorate your yard for a holiday or occasion
- Take a CPR class
- Make something out of clay
- Go bowling
- Go to a concert for a band or singer you’ve never heard of
- Watch a Shirley Temple movie
- Make homemade ice cream
- Make homemade root beer
- Go to the opera
- Mosh
- Release sky lanterns
- Play the harmonica
- Read a classic novel
- Take a day trip someplace new
- Take a tennis lesson
- Hire a maid for a least one day
- Write a letter to an editor
- Write a letter to a senator/congressperson
- Sign a petition
- Start a petition
- Listen to the other political party with an open mind
- Write a poem
- Research your family tree
- Ask your elders to write down their stories for you, or write them down for them. If you don’t have elders, write your stories down for future generations
- Attend a professional sports game
- Attend a minor or little league game
- Sew a memory quilt
- Eat at a fancy restaurant
- Eat with chopsticks
- Write down your dreams for at least one week
- Sleep on a satin pillowcase
- Read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Try to juggle
- Start a campfire
- BBQ with charcoal
- Buy something for a stranger off their wish list/registry
- Leave an inspirational message on a sticky note in a bathroom or public place
- Write to a celebrity
- Be a pen pal
- Complete a crossword puzzle without cheating
- Make reservations
- Use the valet service
- Bleach or dye your hair, or wear clip on hair extensions
- Sleep under the stars
- Listen to classical, new age, jazz and world music for one hour each or longer
- Try to break a world record
- Study a foreign language
- Send someone flowers, just because
- Continue your education
- Busk
- Complete a couch to 5k challenge
- Eat a pickle pop
- Try 10 new restaurants
- Go to a festival
- Make something out of duct tape
- Take an art class
- Watch a movie outdoors
- Take a hike
- Picnic in the park
- Eat food from a street vendor
- Do something that completely terrifies you
- Learn to love yourself
- Listen to a radio station you don’t normally listen to for a day
- Choose different pizza toppings
- Make and decorate gingerbread men
- Create passive income
- Watch a game at a pub
- Quit a bad habit in 21 days
- Bake homemade bread
- Crochet
- Ride a horse
- Go to the symphony
- Win something
- Memorize “Who’s on First”
- Tie a tie
- Learn to play something on the piano and/or guitar
- Learn and use the envelope system of paying bills
- Star gaze
- Master the art of self confidence
- Hand write letters to your friends and mail them
- Have nice undergarments
- Take a great picture, print it, frame it and hang it on the wall
- Watch at least one game of soccer, hockey, and cricket
- Cheer wildly
- See a foreign film at the theater
- Wear a crazy hat out in public
- Feed the ducks
- Spend the day at the beach or lake
- Completely plan your dream home down to the fine details
- Play truth or dare
- Follow people who inspire you on Twitter and/or Facebook
- Go somewhere where you are the minority
- Learn the origins of the holidays you celebrate
- Hold the door open for strangers
- Join a club or team
- Shop at a flea market, swap meet or garage sale
- Start a collection
- Contribute to someone’s kickstarter
- Donate to an animal shelter
- Write a note and leave it in a library book
- Make a giant rubber band ball
- Get a mani/pedi
- Share your wisdom with someone
- Walk in the rain
- Fast for a few days
- Start a retirement fund
- Eat something really crazy
- Have the restaurant staff sing to you for your birthday
- Learn self defense
- Learn 5 or more yoga poses
- Compost
- Recycle
- Start a scrapbook with mementos and souvenirs
- Stay in a bed and breakfast
- Play relaxing sounds or music as you sleep
- Nap in a hammock
- Write a list of everything you’re grateful for
- Imagine you won $5 million, and plan what you would spend it on down to the penny
- Buy something from an auction
- Start a fan page for someone or something, doesn’t have to be a celebrity!
- Toast to something with champagne or sparkling cider
- Get a book signed by the author
- Visit a different state, country or province
- Do the Clean Sweep test and try to improve your score
- Donate 10,000 grains of rice on Free Rice
- Give a loan on Kiva
- Do a 365 day photo project
- Make an origami crane
- Try 25 new recipes
- Order something different off the menu
- Visit a farmer’s market
- Wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual
- Boycott something
- Send a post card to Post Secret
- Ask an elderly person to tell you a story
- Ask a child to teach you a song
- Flirt with someone
- Go bike riding
- Beat a video game
- Put together a 1,000 piece puzzle
- Pick up litter
- Play Rock Band, Guitar Hero or Band Hero
- Spend the day watching cartoons
- Enter a writing contest
- Go surfing, sledding or four-wheeling
- Have professional pictures taken
- Raise butterflies, tadpoles, praying mantii or have an ant farm
- Cut down on or give up caffeine
- Donate some money each month to your favorite charity
- Start watching a TV show you’ve never seen before
- Try a new hairstyle
- Watch a car race
- Have an emergency fund
- Build up a one month food stockpile
- Buy a word of the day calendar and learn a new word every day
- Try a different type of coffee, tea, soft drink, beer, or mixed drink
- Try kombucha tea or kefir
- Find the coolest thing in your city and photograph it
- Take a photo from a skyscraper or tallest building you can find
- Give someone else a massage
- Watch a movie marathon
- Pick your own fruit
- Take a photography class
- Watch a documentary
- Write a letter for future generations to read
- Write a letter to yourself to open in 10 years
- Forgive others
- Forgive yourself
- Have a hot stone massage
- Ride in a horse drawn carriage
- Try 10 new fruits/berries/veggies
- Try juicing or make smoothies
- Get lost on purpose
- Have a water balloon/water gun fight
- Think of something you are grateful for every morning when you wake up for at least a week
- Make a dream board
- Change a diaper
- Know what you like and not be afraid to articulate it
- Learn to properly use basic hand and power tools
- Use a soldering iron
- Do a home repair project yourself
- Learn basic car maintenance
- Be interviewed on video
- Build and fly a kite
- Jumpstart a car
- Have your home safety inspected
- Make sure your home is properly insulated and weatherproofed
- Be a FLYlady (or FLYguy) for at least a week
- Clip coupons
- Find the event calendar for your city, or a bigger city nearby, and make note of the fun stuff coming up you can do. Set reminders to do them!
- Use reusable grocery bags
- Take a morning jog
- Create an alter-ego
- Say YES more often
- Say NO more often
- Haggle
- Take a vow of silence (for at least an hour)
- Play a prank on someone
- Break a superstition
- Realize how beautiful/attractive you are
- Do your own taxes
- Go a full day without spending any money
- Eat nothing but fresh food for a week
- Make a blessings jar
- Go mirrorless for a day
- Sit in a sauna
- Find someone with your same name
- Bake a cake
- Learn the janitor’s name
- Write to your hero
- Do bookcrossing
- Create a budget
- Go on a news fast
- Start a gratitude journal
- Make something out of paper mache
- Write down your regrets then flush or burn them
- Apologize
- Have a catchphrase
- Get to know your neighbors
- Get a mammogram or prostate exam
- Give up TV for a week
- Go commando
- Write your personal manifesto
- Eat at a restaurant alone
- Go to the movies alone
- Tell a joke on open mic night
- Make fresh squeezed juice
- Get someone to help you pick out new clothes
- Shop at a resale clothing store
- Get properly fitted for clothes/bra/etc
- Delete your social media profiles for at least a week
- Have a passionate love affair (your spouse counts! Don’t cheat!)
- Pay off your debt
- Make rock candy/crystals
- Have at least one really nice outfit for special occasions
- Go on evening walks
- Hit a baseball
- Dribble a basketball and shoot a goal
- Throw a football in a spiral
- Kick a goal with a soccer ball
- Get a facial
- Buy something from an infomercial
- Make homemade pickles
- Host a game night
- Memorize a great joke
- Know your limits
- Ask for a raise
- Listen to someone worse off than you
- Write thank you notes
- Get tested
- Open your chakras
- Learn to identify poisonous and edible plants in the wild
- Be a clown for a day
- Learn how to make balloon animals
- Participate in the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World has Ever Seen
- Spend a day giving high fives to everyone you see
- Compliment 20+ people in one day
- Learn to sew something
- Learn to knit and/or crochet
- Read 100 of the greatest books ever written