Benefits of a Bucket List

The Team at Upper East Side Psychology

Aug 6

6 min read

Introduction

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I would love to do that someday”? Maybe you want to visit a new place, learn a fun skill, complete a creative project, or spend more time with someone you love.

A bucket list puts those hopes into words. It can include major adventures, but it can also reflect smaller goals involving relationships, creativity, learning, or personal growth.

For young adults, it can bring together both fun things to do in your 20s and longer-term goals for the life you want to build.

Creating a bucket list gives you a chance to step outside your daily routine and think about what feels meaningful to you. It may help you clarify your priorities, turn vague wishes into clearer goals, and create experiences to look forward to.

Benefits of a Bucket List

A bucket list can be more than a collection of future plans. When it reflects what genuinely matters to you, it can help turn broad hopes into clearer goals, give you something positive to look forward to, and encourage you to make more intentional choices about your time.

The following benefits highlight how creating a thoughtful bucket list may add greater direction and meaning to your life.

It Can Help You Identify What Matters

Daily responsibilities can make it difficult to step back and consider what you truly want from your life. Creating a bucket list asks you to consider the experiences, relationships, interests, and goals that feel meaningful to you.

This reflection can be especially helpful when you are trying to understand how to find purpose as a young adult and separate your own priorities from outside expectations.

Sometimes, this process is called life crafting, which involves reflecting on your values, passions, abilities, relationships, and ideal future. It also includes setting goals in important areas of life and making plans that better align your life with your values and wishes (Schippers & Ziegler, 2019).

A bucket list can serve as a simple starting point for this kind of reflection. As you write, you might ask yourself:

What experiences would feel meaningful to me?
What have I always wanted to learn or try?
Which relationships do I want to invest in?
Does this reflect what I want or what I think I should want?

These questions may help you identify which goals genuinely belong to you.

It Can Turn “Someday” Into a Clearer Goal

Writing down a wish does not guarantee that it will happen. However, it can make the idea more specific and give you a place to begin.

Life crafting includes writing down goals, anticipating possible obstacles, and developing concrete plans for reaching them. Detailed goal-attainment plans can help connect an ideal future with specific action (Schippers & Ziegler, 2019).

For example, “I want to travel more” can be difficult to act on. “I want to visit Italy within three years” gives you a clearer direction. A first step might involve researching costs, choosing a season, or setting aside a small amount of money each month.

You do not need to plan every item immediately. Choosing one meaningful goal and identifying one manageable next step can help your bucket list become more than a collection of distant wishes.

It Can Give You Something Positive to Anticipate

Part of the enjoyment of an experience may begin before it happens.

Research indicates that individuals who spend more time anticipating positive future events, activities, or goals ultimately report more positive emotion in the moment. Positive anticipation is also related to greater motivation and feelings of control during periods of chronic stress (Leslie-Miller et al., 2021).

These findings aren’t necessarily proof that a bucket list will improve everyone’s mood. Still, the research suggests that thinking about something positive in the future may provide a source of positive emotion during uncertain or stressful periods.

A bucket-list item does not need to be happening soon for you to enjoy planning it. Researching a destination, imagining a project, or discussing an experience with someone may give you something meaningful to look forward to.

How to Create a Meaningful Bucket List

Start With Your Values

Think about what gives your life meaning or direction. It can help to reflect on your values, passions, relationships, abilities, and the future you would like to create (Schippers & Ziegler, 2019).

Your bucket list might include travel, but it could also involve learning, creativity, relationships, community, or personal growth.

Make the List Personal

A bucket list can easily become a collection of experiences that look impressive to other people. Try to notice whether each item feels personally meaningful.

This can be especially important during a period of personal growth in your 20s, when your interests, priorities, and vision for the future may still be evolving.

Choosing goals that align with your own values and wishes is vital. A goal that reflects your interests may feel more meaningful than one chosen because it seems like something everyone should do (Schippers & Ziegler, 2019).

Add a First Step

Choose one or two items and write down a specific action. The life-crafting approach connects reflection with goal-attainment plans, including identifying obstacles that could interfere with progress (Schippers & Ziegler, 2019).

“Write a book” might begin with drafting one page each week. “Reconnect with an old friend” might begin with sending a message. “Run a race” might begin with finding a realistic training plan.

Let the List Evolve

A bucket list does not have to be a contract. You can remove an item that no longer feels important, change a goal as your circumstances shift, or add something you had never considered before.

When a Bucket List Becomes Pressure

A bucket list may feel less helpful when it becomes another way to judge your progress or compare your life with other people’s. Research suggests that falling short of a demanding goal can affect mood, self-esteem, and motivation, especially when the goal becomes tied to your sense of success or self-worth (Höpfner & Keith, 2021).

You may want to reconsider your list when:

Most items reflect what you think you should want
Every goal feels unrealistic or out of reach
You treat unfinished items as personal failures
The list creates more pressure than excitement
Completing the list becomes more important than enjoying the experiences

Keeping your list flexible can help reduce this pressure. An unfinished item does not mean you have failed, and changing or removing a goal does not make your list less meaningful. Your priorities can evolve as your interests, values, and circumstances change.

How Therapy Can Help You Explore Your Goals

Sometimes, knowing what you want is more difficult than it sounds. You may feel disconnected from your interests, unsure about your next step, or caught between your own values and other people’s expectations.

Therapy can provide space to explore what feels meaningful to you and what may be making it difficult to move forward. You might examine fears about failure, pressure to make the “right” choice, patterns of postponing meaningful experiences, or uncertainty during a major life transition.

A therapist can also help you break a broad goal into manageable steps and consider how your goals fit into the life you want to build.

Q&A

What should I put on a bucket list?

Include experiences, projects, relationships, skills, or milestones that feel meaningful to you. Reflecting on your values, passions, relationships, and ideal future may help you decide what belongs on the list.

Does a bucket list need to include major goals?

No. Your list can include ambitious dreams alongside smaller, more manageable experiences. Because failing a very demanding and specific goal may affect mood, self-esteem, and motivation, it can be helpful to avoid treating every item as a strict measure of success.

Can a bucket list improve your mood?

Research has not indicated that bucket lists themselves are directly correlated with an improved mood. However, creating one may give you something positive to look forward to. Anticipating future experiences and goals has been linked with greater positive emotion and motivation, particularly during stressful periods.

What should I do after making my list?

Choose one personally meaningful item and identify a manageable first step. Connecting goals with detailed plans and preparing for possible obstacles can also be helpful.

Final Thoughts

The benefits of a bucket list go beyond completing exciting experiences. Making one can help you reflect on what matters, create clearer goals, and give yourself something positive to anticipate. It can also support living intentionally by encouraging you to make room for meaningful experiences instead of continually saving them for “someday.”

For young adults, goal setting in your 20s can be an important part of personal development and creating a meaningful life. Start with one goal that genuinely matters to you and choose one small step you can take today.

Your list does not need to be impressive or permanent. It can change as your interests, values, and circumstances evolve.

At Upper East Side Psychology, our clinicians help clients explore their values, goals, and sense of direction. Whether you are navigating a life transition, feeling uncertain about the future, or struggling to take the next step toward something meaningful, therapy can provide support.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to learn more about how therapy can help you create a life that feels meaningful to you.

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