Until you play the box: how to make a list of the most important things

The term bucket list came into use almost ten years ago, after the release of the film “Before I Boxed” with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. According to the plot, two terminally ill neighbors in the ward decide to finally come off to the fullest and go on a trip around the world. To kick the bucket in translation means “play in the box”, “drop the skates”, “lean back”, and the bucket list, respectively, – a list of the most daring desires that must be fulfilled before you find yourself on your deathbed.

Today, thousands of people have already got their own bucket lists, printed them out and hung them on refrigerators. The lists predictably top the list of travel around the world, extreme sports like diving with sharks or conquering Everest, learning foreign languages, meeting celebrities, as well as plastic surgery and tattoos.

University of Michigan psychology professor Christopher Peterson believes that such lists are an attempt to make our lives memorable, and they directly correspond to the “last impression” theory. This theory is that we best remember incredible, out-of-the-ordinary events, pleasures. Everything that happens between them is perceived as an inexpressive background. Bucket list helps to build a structure from such pleasant memories and give meaning to life.

According to him, the main mistake in compiling a list of the most important cases is that we borrow goals from others: many people download ready-made lists from the Internet and are fanatically accepted to fulfill them. By following them for the chance to tick the box and make an impression, such people do not listen to their inner needs.

How many items on the list would you remove if you knew for sure that you would not be able to tell others about them? What if no one finds out about your expedition to the Amazon forests? Do you need it on its own? What if no one sees your tattoo? Will you do it? This is a reason to think.

In addition, Christopher Peterson believes that the bucket list has gone very far from its original idea – the ability to pay attention to the most important thing in life in the run-up to imaginary death. Let it necessarily contain goals that would come to the fore if you had at your disposal not centuries, as some imagine, but just a few days.

A few more questions to sort out the priorities

1. Which important people would you like to meet and talk to?

2. Where would you like to go? Name three dream places.

3. What achievements give you the biggest boost of self-confidence?

4. What goals did you think about, but abandoned them, fearing that people around you would not appreciate them?

5. What do you like to create yourself (hint: use reading-writing, watching a movie-making a movie or acting in a movie, buying clothes-designing clothes pairs)?

6. Imagine a moment of absolute happiness. What is he, what are you doing?

7. What did you love to do as a child but gave up as an adult?

How long or detailed your bucket list will be is up to you. It’s important to have a to-do list two hours at the end of each week: subject it to revision and plan steps to achieve the cherished goals.