The Amazing Thing About a Reverse Bucket List

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably got a laundry list of things you’d like to see, try and do in your one and only life, but there just isn’t enough time, money, or energy to get it all done. So your dreams and desires sit on a list waiting to be achieved. These bucket lists can be super motivating at times, but at other times, it can be depressing to think about all that you have yet to accomplish. That’s where the reverse bucket list comes in. The amazing thing about a reverse bucket list is that you can give yourself a helluva morale boost when you take a few minutes to think about the things you have ALREADY done, instead of focusing on the things yet to come.

The Inspiration for a Reverse Bucket List

I was inspired to write this article after seeing an Instagram post by a woman talking about fashion. She was talking about how our clothes and style need to grow with us and sometimes, when we look into our closets and don’t see anything we want to wear, it’s because we’re not the same person who bought those clothes. I opened my own closet and nodded in agreement. Yeah, that’s wildly true.

But something interesting happened when I was taking inventory of my clothing too. I took a walk down memory lane and thought about the things I’d done, seen, heard, and become in these clothes. And now I’m here writing this piece about a reverse bucket list. I’ll get back to the clothes sorting (and maybe shopping) later.

We’re often reminded of good times when we come across a smell or eat food we loved as children, but there’s plenty of memory wrapped up in the everyday of our lives too.

What Will Inspire You?

For example, I’ve got this pair of black Adidas track pants that I’ve had for about 8 years. I bought those pants because I had a similar pair when I was in university and I wore them until they literally fell apart. I’ve had them and worn them (both pairs) through all sizes and shapes and refuse to get rid of them. They’ve traveled around the world with me, been a comfort when jeans felt too tight, and the burn marks on pant legs remind me of campfires.

And that’s how I landed on the idea of a reverse bucket list. I’m currently engaging in a creative sabbatical from my consulting business and while the time is certainly flying by — I’m already two months into this adventure! — I’m still trying to figure out what I’m doing with the time I’ve given myself. Just yesterday I decided I was going to start walking in the morning before I did anything else.

I also committed to writing my current novel manuscript for at least an hour a day for the rest of the summer. But I didn’t get much further than that because as soon as I catch myself whispering the word, “goal”, I tend to retract. I like systems, not deadlines. But that’s another post for another day. Instead of getting wrapped up in all the things I have yet to do and accomplish, I sat down and journaled about all the things I’ve already done. And holy hell, there’s a lot of things.

Crafting a Reverse Bucket List

I have a tendency to enjoy a straight line. My brain, while a bejewelled mess most of the time, is fond of linear systems. So I started with the most recent things I’ve crossed off my to-do list and worked backward. But you can start anywhere you see fit. I got lost in the Adidas track pants for a while too, writing down all the fun memories of have while wearing those pants.

Were some of those memories a little foggy because of apple wine? Yes. Do I care? No. So pick a starting point and let your mind wander. In no particular order, despite how I wrote it down in my journal, here’s a list of things I’ve done in my life that were at one time or another, on a bucket list of sorts. In no way do I mean for you to read this list and feel like you should have more on your list. I’m simply sharing what I found to be inspiring to me this morning in the hopes that you might hit pause on whatever you’re currently work on and practice some gratitude for yourself too.

My Reverse Bucket List

Buy a sports car	Learn to paint	Eat chocolate in Belgium	Move to a different town or city
Go to Las Vegas	Take up a yoga practice	Buy a house	Get a tattoo
Learn to play poker	Learn to run	Drive a super car	See a bear in the wild
See the Mona Lisa	Road trip through Europe	Take a trip a quarter	Do a thru hike
Drive across the country	Run a 10k	Start my own school	Work with a personal trainer
Go to Disney World	Own a cottage	Host a podcast	Drive through the desert
Go on a cruise	Get a Master’s Degree	Work from home	Lose 80 pounds
Write a book	Earn 6 figures in one year	Become a life coach	Cut my hair short
Start a business	Take the summer off	Hire employees	Overcome fear of flying
Start a blog	Drive through the Rocky Mountains	Become a speaker on stage	Take a year off

No Need to Explain Your Dreams

As I was writing out this list, I decided I wasn’t going to explain any of the things on the list. It’s not because I don’t want to share the stories and insights from crossing those things off my bucket list, but because my motivations are going to be different from yours. And I want you to know that you don’t need a single reason other than “because I want to” to chase these dreams.

Some of the items on my reverse bucket list were a big deal and things I worked on for years, while others were spur-of-the-moment opportunities that I decided to seize before I chickened out. See: cut my hair short and get a tattoo. Funny enough, I’ve got three tattoos now. Guess I got over that one pretty quickly.

Reflect on Where You’ve Been

When creating your reverse bucket list, I want you to spend some time reflecting on who you were when you set the intention of achieving those things and who you became after you got them. Not all experiences re going to change you, but some might. For example, starting a business was on my bucket list for decades. And I’d started lots of businesses along the way to the one I have now, but nothing stuck.

I had to really overcome a lot of garbage in my head about what it meant to be a business owner and how I could do it in a way that felt good to me. I became a different person in the pursuit of entrepreneurship. But seeing the Mona Lisa didn’t change me at all. It was a moment in time that I thought was cool and I’d wanted to see the painting, but then the moment passed and I was more interested in seeing the Egyptian installation at the Louvre instead.

Taking Your Reverse Bucket List Even Further

When I was going through my reverse bucket list, I found myself feeling really inspired to dig into some of these achievements. And when I found was that most of the things I’ve set as goals for myself weren’t just one-and-done aspirations. In order to see the Mona Lisa, I had to plan a trip to France and get to the museum. Those things don’t happen overnight. And in fact, I wasn’t even supposed to be in France when it happened: I was originally supposed to be in Greece.

Sometimes it’s funny to reflect on what was and what might have been and laugh at how life works out in our favour. What did I want to see in Greece? I don’t even remember, but I know I wanted to see the Mona Lisa.

Doing versus Becoming

Think about what it took for you to check those things off your list. Starting a business is one thing. Keeping it running is another. Going out for a run on a Sunday morning is one thing. Signing up for and completing a 10k run is another. Consider the seeds that you planted at one point in your life that blossomed into something amazing later in life.

Going to Las Vegas was a life-long dream of mine and I know some people are absolutely turned off by the idea of the stripe, but I’d heard many stories of how amazing it was when I was growing up and I knew I would want to go there some day.

Fast forward to 2025 and I’ve been to Vegas 7 different times. I didn’t just go and check it off my list, I went hard and loved it every time I’d been there. And the first time I went? I planned my trip around a scrapbooking convention (yes, I said scrapbooking convention) and stayed for 8 freaking days. Who goes to Vegas for 8 days? This kid. I didn’t become a different person by taking those trips, but I did become more of the person I thought I was. Scrapbooking and all.

Creating a New Bucket List

While I was writing down all the things I’d done in my life, I found myself wanting to add to the list with things I’m working on now or that will come in the future. I’ve always been someone to run down a dream, whether big or small, but it’s only in looking back that I can see how far I’ve come. It’s helpful to see how far you’ve come when you’re feeling like you’re spinning your wheels.

You can do this in your career, your marriage or your life in general. Taking stock has always been a helpful tool for me and even though I was already feeling pretty great this morning, I decided to do it anyway. That Instagram post about clothes really sent my ADHD brain a whirl and I loved what came from it.

My Current Bucket List

In the interest of transparency and in wanting to inspire you to create your own reverse bucket list and new bucket list to boot, here’s a list of things that came up for me when I was doing some reflection today. Seeing what has been possible for me so far has really helped inspire me to keep dreaming and working toward the things I want in life. Some of them are inconsequential: I’d just like to do them because they are of interest to me. Others have been on my bucket list for years and maybe it’s time to start working on those too.

The point of a bucket list is not to check everything off the list, I don’t think. I think the point of a bucket list is to give you something to strive for, to consider, and to evaluate your life on your own terms. These aren’t goals, although you might think of them that way. I see them as milestones or markers and what I get really excited about is the systems I need to put in place to make these things happen. It’s cool to do a thing, but it’s even better to become someone who can do the thing.

In no particular order, here’s a quick hit list of what’s on my current bucket list:

Learn to scuba dive	See John Fogerty perform	Sell my art	Host a retreat
Hike a long-distance trail	Have a psychic reading	Get a book contract	Own an original Robert Bateman

If you’ve gotten this far and you’re feeling inspired to write your own reverse bucket list or even add to your existing bucket list, I’m thrilled for you. Want to challenge yourself to do more things by yourself, journal more or even be more creative in your life? Consider checking out my free email challenges. Each challenge is 5 days long and helps you identify and address what’s holding you back from being excited about your life.