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Create a Bucket List

Pursuing your passions is good for your well-being

By

Staying Sharp

Updated April 21, 2023

Updated April 21, 2023

A woman with her arms raised standing by a lake at sunset

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Quick Win

Spell out your life goals — big or small — and start going after them. Setting attainable goals may improve mental health and quality of life.

Try This Today

Let yourself dream. What would you do if you had unlimited time? Are there skills you’ve always wanted to learn? Places you’d like to visit?
Make a plan. Create your bucket list and pick one goal to start on. Break it down into steps and plot your path to achieving it.
Get started. Now block off time on your calendar each week to check your progress and cross off steps as you complete them.

Why

Research suggests that you’re more likely to achieve a goal if it’s “self-concordant,” meaning that it aligns with your interests and values rather than being imposed on you. The act of pursuing these types of goals may benefit your well-being. Enter the bucket list! If your bucket-list aspirations are aligned with your sense of purpose, so much the better. Having a higher sense of purpose was linked to a lower risk of dying prematurely in a study of more than 13,000 people over age 50 reported in 2022 in Preventive Medicine.

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Legal Disclaimer: Staying Sharp, including all content and features, is offered for informational purposes and to educate users on brain health care and medical issues that may affect their daily lives. Staying Sharp is based on a holistic, lifestyle approach to brain health that encourages users to incorporate into their daily lives activities that are associated with general wellness. Nothing in the service should be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Features including the Cognitive Assessment and Lifestyle Check-Ins, Additional Tests, exercises, and challenges assess performance at a particular moment in time on certain discrete cognitive tasks. Staying Sharp games are intended for entertainment and recreational purposes only. Various factors may affect performance, including sleep, tiredness, focus, and other social, environmental, or emotional factors. Performance is not indicative of cognitive health and not predictive of future performance or medical conditions.

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