Have you ever wondered what a “Bucket List” actually is? Unfortunately, “Bucket List” tends to echo with the dark but subtle thought of one day “kicking the bucket!” You might want to call it a Pursuits List or Life List instead. It just be semantics, but I prefer to stick to the positive view of a bucket list. Mostly because I am familiar with research in the area of positive psychology, which has gone a long way towards trying to uncover what it is that makes us happy and fulfilled:
- Finding Meaning – discover your strengths and use them to achieve meaningful goals.
- Do activities that you love – activities that allow you to be fully immersed, in a state of flow. Activities like dancing, singing in a choir, sports, creating, baking, writing or art. (Being actively involved in what we love is what Happiness of Pursuits is all about).
- Do good deeds for others – we feel energised and warm when we do kind things for others. Go on, help someone else and experience the “helper’s high.”
- Nurture Relationships – connection with friends and loved ones is an important ingredient in the chemistry of joy and happiness.
Ultimately, a Pursuits List is a list of personal goals that you set for yourself. These goals are part of the process of moving yourself from where and who you are to where and who you want to be.
Use your mind and Pursuits List to achieve more contentment and joy in your life. What we focus on and how we choose to see events impacts on our happiness. Research tells us that if we use our Pursuits List to include the items above, we are likely to be a lot happier in life.
What do you think?