Everybody knows what a bucket list is, right? It is this crazy list of things that you want to do or accomplish before the end of your life. Things to do before you “kick the bucket”, as it were. As I was thinking about this subject I was wondering what the difference is between a bucket list and a vision board. Because to me they sound the same and have the same fate in my life. Dreams and only dreams.

Bucket List vs Vision Board

So I had to do a little research on this because like I said, they feel like the same thing to me. Don’t get me wrong, I created a vision board about 10 years ago that was pretty and looked good hanging behind my desk, then was moved to my closet where it still is. Heaven forbid I get rid of it because then maybe my visions won’t come true.

To me everything on that vision board is a sort of bucket list. Things I want to accomplish and places I want to go. But in my research, other places say that vision boards are more for short term wants and bucket lists are for long term wants. Sure, whatever.

For me, and maybe it’s just me, but anything put on an arbitrary vision board or on a bucket list are just there for safekeeping, they are goals without a plan to achieve them.

Goals vs Dreams

A bucket list to me feels like a list of things that you try to run through when you find out you are going to die. Or maybe I’m just thinking about the movie The Bucket List that came out in 2007. Two men who are terminally ill decide they need to fulfill their bucket lists. A last ditch effort. But there are many times, when there isn’t enough time left to complete these bucket lists.

My mother-in-law had on her bucket list to travel across country on a train and she talked about it several times in her last few months. But it was too late. Cancer came up and grabbed her fast. She had no time to live out that bucket list item.

If something is that important to you, dump the bucket list idea and get that bad boy on a GOAL list. A bucket is for holding the idea. Writing them down in a goal notebook moves it to become an action item.

Should You Have A Bucket List And A Goals List?

That is a good question. Maybe it should start out as a bucket list. A brainstorming session of sorts. Write down everything you think you would like to do or accomplish – no holds barred. This is a fat list. Then go back through and pull out the things that are most important and that there is no negotiation over – they must happen. Move those to your GOAL list. Assign a timeframe and get moving on them.

You can focus on just one at a time or several. And once you reach one, go back to your fat list and pull something new over. A bucket list should always be filling up and there shouldn’t be an end. Some things you will accomplish, some you won’t have time for.

Making A Goals List Work

A bucket list holds someday items, but the second an item gets moved to the goal list, it becomes a action item. An item that requires a plan and timeframe put into place to make sure it happens. Sometimes it is just as easy as booking those plane flights, but other times it takes much more planning. That’s when it is time to realize that you just can’t wait for the right time, because there is no right time than right now.

What are you going to move from your bucket list to your goal list today? Work the plan and the plan will work for you. Daily and monthly intentions turn into goal reaching. Get the tools you need, like the You Deserve It Notebook: Goal Tracker, Planner, & Journal to help you get started.

Get Your Goals Notebook at Amazon HERE

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