What Is The Purpose Of A Bucket List?
Almost every digital nomad has one… that selfie taken at Machu Picchu. 5,000 visitors come to Machu Picchu every day and most of them will take ‘The Selfie’.
Many will check MP off their Bucket List of “100 Things To Do Before I Die.”
Like some people, and I would guess most ‘nomads’, I wrote a Bucket List of global experiences I would like to have before I die. It was fun to brainstorm, it is motivational to re-read, and it paints an exciting action-packed future!
Then, I Googled some other people’s lists:
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Some people want to see the Taj Mahal. Others want to walk the Great Wall.
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Some want to visit Spain. Others want to go to the UK. A few wanted to see every continent, or even every country in the world.
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Some people wanted to ‘Drink a beer in Brussels’, while others wanted to ‘Sip wine in France’.
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Some people chose ‘Scuba diving’ and others chose ‘Sky diving’.
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Some people chose challenging goals such as ‘learn to dance Salsa’, ‘climb mountain X’, or ‘run a marathon’.
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Almost everyone wanted to visit Machu Picchu…
Bucket List Decisions Seemed So Random
I got the sinking feeling that fundamentally, everyone’s Bucket List, including my own, was random, pointless, in no way unique, and in some cases hopelessly egotistical. (Nearly ALL lists were heavily influenced by Peru’s Tourism Marketing Office.)
In addition to the list being random, I was reminded that there are millions, of things you could devote a portion of your life too. There are 5 lifetimes worth of Bucket List material between these 2 books alone.
After reading so many Bucket Lists and having done a small bit of ‘checking off’ on my own List, I’ve come to this conclusion:
The Specific Items On Your Bucket List Do Not Matter
The fact that you created a list, and then did the things you planned to do, is what matters. This gives you a feeling; the feeling of being free and in control of your life. The list is random and meaningless, but it serves this emotional purpose.
After you write a list, you will begin to check off those experiences, one by one. You realize “Yes, I can do that thing, see that beautiful place, and visit that country!”
But, after answering “Can I do it?” with “Yes I can!” repeatedly, for trivial items… you start to more seriously asking “What For?”
When you ask “What for?”, investing your time, money and life into ‘seeing’ things as a tourist loses its appeal. Once you’ve proven (to yourself, mainly) that you can set, plan and achieve these Bucket List goals, you look for more purpose and consequence from the activities you devote your time to. In an extreme fantasy, you want to send people to Mars like Elon Musk or cure AIDS like Bill Gates, both of whom do not need to prove anything to themselves.
Most likely, you’ll gravitate towards a few big goals, rather than a hoard of micro-achievements that can be completed over a 2-week vacation abroad.
Should You Create A Bucket List?
I have my Bucket List of ‘life experiences’ and I love it. It’s motivating when I work, inspirational when I daydream, and self-empowering as I check those boxes. Yes, I think you should write one.
But I know that my Bucket List activities are generally pointless and random, and that the real life benefit is the life I live in-between checking those boxes.
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The Feeling of Internal Power and Self-Trust that comes from setting and achieving clearly defined, trackable goals.
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Knowledge About the World, learned while actually visiting these far-off places.
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Grit and Endurance – From pushing through your more difficult Bucket List items.
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Financial Independence, reached because you are excited and motivated to work and earn money for your Bucket List items.
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The Friends you’ve made in unique situations outside your normal environment.
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The Fitness and Good Health you maintain, in order to be ready to go scuba diving.
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The Lack Of Regret when you’re old, questioning if you ‘spent too much time at the office’.
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The General Excitement for Life, that comes with having a list of future adventures written down, and knowing that you have the capability to make them reality.