Basically what he said is this: creating bucket lists is an excuse for people to not really do anything. It's another word for someday which in real life often means never. Instead, he argued, people go on leading a life full of work they don't want to do, chores they don't want to do and so on. You can read the entire post here. I respect Jonathan and think his posts are very thoughtful. He is also definitely right about not committing to any time frame and using nebulous descriptors instead. But if you set yourself a time frame, like a lot of bucket list bloggers have done, the list becomes a great excuse to
- learn something new
- commit to something that scares you but that you know will be very rewarding
- do things you always wanted to do
- do some silly things as well
- think about your values and spiritual priorities and convert them into actionable items
- see the world
- start working out finally
- think about where you can send your money so that it creates or supports something good
- have different conversations with the people you love
- document your life
- appreciate art, beauty, music and other good stuff more often
- act out the movie scenes you always wanted to be part of
Could you do all these things without a bucket list? Certainly. So why the bucket list? Daily life has this way of taking up more and more mental space. It's a bit like running a business: so easy to get sucked into the routine where you put down your head and work. But working and living mindlessly can never compete with a business which has a sound strategy, emphasizes monitoring and getting better. If you have another way of reminding you of your values, your dreams, the places to see and the experiences to share that's great. I for my part can't think of anything as simple as this little 60-item list that reminds me of life outside the office and grocery shopping (yeah mum you are right, I don't really do that very often).
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