I believe that at the end of our lives we walk through our own museum of experiences and memories!
But HOW can you increase the number of pleasant experiences? This article gives you answers like this - in 7 steps with tips and concrete recommendations.
And - WHAT do you have to do today to experience something tomorrow? Well, only you can answer these questions. With these suggestions it will be a little easier.
Children write a wish list to Santa Claus. Adults have a bucket list. Many of them have things in their heads and would like to do this or that "someday".
"Maybe" - but often not.
That's why it makes sense to plan your experiences. Create your " business plan for living ."
Much of it is also useful in the workplace or for companies - especially when it comes to innovations or breaking new ground.
But first of all, in private. So, what can you do today to ensure that you experience something tomorrow ?
Change begins with the development of your bucket list - by breaking out of your comfort zone.
Have fun with the 7 steps to your own museum and managing your bucket list!
1. Let’s start with the simplest thing: looking back!
You have already experienced many exciting things and are invited to review these experiences - and, if you want, to structure them straight away.
In doing so, you will become aware of everything you already have to tell and at the same time you will be building your museum.
It is best to choose a medium that you would like to use to organize your bucket list later:
Old-School - in a notebook
Classic in Word or Excel
Especially in your own tools or apps
The first step is to write down everything you have experienced - what immediately comes to mind from the last 10 years?
This will create categories into which you can classify your experiences. To start, take the pillars of life (family, career, health, relationships) – but you will also find your own categories.
Then you can get inspiration from old photos - whether analogue ones in photo albums or from your digital photo collection. There will be many beautiful "aha effects" and beautiful "experiences in the rearview mirror".
While you're at it, we recommend saving the best photos/videos separately for later use (e.g. for your photo wall).
My dear grandma always said, "She used to be beautiful - now only the picture is pretty!"
By the way, you are never too old to create your bucket list or write down your experiences. If you still think you are old, then the first point is all the more interesting... more exciting than any film or series. It is the "documentary of your life"!
2. Dreamstorming: formulate your dreams
What do many people do when they watch television or scroll through social media channels? Exactly - they watch other people achieve their dreams.
The second best thing is dreaming - you will now brainstorm and formulate your dreams . Anything can be written here. Don't let yourself be limited - anything is allowed when brainstorming. This list is not your final bucket list!
Ask yourself so-called " clicking questions " – where does something immediately click or make you happy?
What else would you like to do or see?
What if you only had a few days left to live?
What if money doesn't matter?
What did you want to do as a child?
What have you always wanted to learn?
Who would you like to get in touch with again?
...
Macabre but useful - write your own eulogy . This method also helps some people find topics.
Do you know the " 5 things that dying people regret the most" ? Nurse Bronnie Ware asked many people in the palliative care unit at the end of their lives what they regret the most - these 5 things emerged:
I wish I had had the courage to live my own life.
I wish I hadn't worked so much.
I wish I had had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had kept in touch with my friends.
I wish I had allowed myself to be happier.
Other ideas and impulses will give you further ideas:
Books on specific topics (especially for travel)
Experience providers such as Jochen Schweizer or Mydays
Pinterest
conversation or bucket list party with friends
3. Turn your dreams into goals
Then you ask yourself what will remain a dream (for now) and what will become your goal? A dream doesn't have to come true - you work towards a goal with all your strength!
Condense your ideas and get an overview of your goals .
Select the most important goals from this list – and remember: less is more.
Ask yourself what you want to achieve with each goal . Each goal can focus on a different topic that is important to you - for example, one is for your health, one with your family, or the other something crazy and unusual with friends.
Put this list aside or, even better, look at it regularly. By the way, your list doesn't have to be called a bucket list - you can give it any name you like. You can also have different lists...
Complete list of ideas - my pool of dreams
My goals for 2024
Before I am 40, 50 or 60
Season Lists: This Summer
Once you have defined your goals, here's an insider tip: create a vision board! Use the power of images and choose a strong and meaningful image for each of your goals. Most people respond to visual stimuli and the power of imagination almost happens automatically.
Hang your vision board at "nostalgic points" - i.e. where you can see it every day. For example, while brushing your teeth in the bathroom or as a screen background/screen saver.
Here you will find a template to easily create your vision board - just drag your pictures into it and you will have a beautifully prepared vision board:
4. Create the framework
Now we can slowly get going. Make your goals tangible and think about the next steps to achieve them.
Don't forget - joy shared is joy doubled . So who would you like to experience this together with, who might also enjoy it or benefit from it?
Plan your time . Set time slots, plan appointments and create the framework for free time. What do you need vacation for or are longer weekends enough? What can you experience during the week and incorporate into your days? Do you need to invest a lot of time and is there the possibility of longer breaks, maternity leave or sabbaticals?
You don't need any money for many experiences - some of them will probably just come with you. If more intensive efforts are required, plan your financial resources . Put the money aside over a longer period of time and create a savings plan - do you know Philipp Müller's pot model ? Also consider whether there are perhaps cheap or even free alternatives? Perhaps there is sponsorship - or you can ask for the experience for your birthday.
There are plenty of excuses - you will find enough reasons why you can't do something: too little time, too little money, too soon, too late, too little, can't do it, doesn't work, too complicated, ....
Get rid of these excuses. Nothing comes from nothing. You can't run a marathon straight away - you have to train. If you want to, you'll find ways, if you don't want to, you'll find reasons... in other words, excuses.
In short : You are doing this for yourself (and your fellow campaigners)! On the other hand, there are certainly enough reasons for you WHY you should do this - right?
5. DO - Experience and Enjoy
Many people talk, but only a few DO! Implement your plans and make them a reality.
Enjoy the moment and live in the moment - inhale everything consciously. This inevitably triggers happiness hormones and feelings of happiness are released. But don't forget to capture the moment as you experience it - whether mentally or with photos/video, so that you can process the experience later.
And if something doesn't work out the way you thought it would - hey, it doesn't matter: the journey is the destination! At the end of the journey, you shouldn't have any regrets!
6. sustainable processing
Experiences create happiness in the moment - experiences are derived from them and by holding on to them, lasting memories are created.
One of the first things you do is tick the experience off your bucket list – this also triggers feelings of happiness through the reward hormone dopamine.
Write down your memories ! Sounds like work? But it's actually not - and you can do it almost "in passing". One thing is certain, you can't remember everything - especially when a lot of time has passed or you're getting older and can't be as active anymore.
Maybe your children or grandchildren will be interested in your life - you will also be writing your memoirs at the same time ;-)
So immortalize your experiences - offline or digitally.
One recommendation is the 5 Minute Journal app ( Apple or Android ). There is also the option of a printed version . In the morning and evening it only takes 5 minutes in total:
In the morning: 3 things I am grateful for? What am I doing today to make the day great? My daily affirmation.
In the evening: My highlights of the day (with photos or videos)? What could I have done better?
A little gratitude and positive thoughts can't hurt - and the memories are documented too. In addition, older memories are suggested daily, so you can actively look back . A few words or sentences can take you back there. The app is extremely convenient, as you always have it with you, it is protected with a password and you can print it out annually for security and documentation purposes.
Mixtiles.com is a quick and easy way to turn your photos directly from your mobile phone into a museum picture - photo and frame. No shipping costs and always good offers for bulk orders. Mixtiles can be easily hung up (and without drilling) using a pre-attached double-sided adhesive tape (and can be rebuilt at any time without leaving any residue).
Other ideas are photo collages, photo puzzles, mosaics (a picture made up of several photos). Perhaps you would like to display your best memories as a screen saver or as a background image? There is also the option of having an image printed on infrared heaters . And much more.
Do you know the film " The Big Fish "? A beautiful fantasy drama in which the protagonist tells such incredible stories that they are almost unbelievable - and are not believed. Spoiler alert - so stop reading now if you want to see the film: At his funeral, everyone the adventurer had talked about came - and they really existed. They should have believed him...
You can really show your experiences ... and prove them ;-)
7. Use your memories
Share experiences and adventures with others in conversation or via social media - many will be happy for you, some may be jealous, but that doesn't matter to you. In any case, you will inspire other people to do the same.
And if you have something to say, it makes you more interesting for others. In any case, it also contributes to your personal brand - personal branding.
Remember experiences - consciously or unconsciously when talking to others. By the way, if you experience something and then remember it, you remember it twice.
A mirror always does what you do - when you cry, your reflection cries too. When you're feeling bad, experiences will help you remember what's important - and remind you to smile.
Look back regularly and be proud of what you have achieved. Become traditions - take the time between Christmas and New Year to look back - and at the same time look forward. What are your plans for next year? Less is more!
And - keep your bucket list dynamic - your wishes change over time, disappear once and maybe come back.
Finally, an important tip: don't let yourself get stressed ! You might think that a bucket list like this would be stressful or make you unhappy if you haven't ticked everything off. It doesn't have to be that way if you think it through and plan well. It's better to have 3 out of 5 experiences than 0 out of nothing.
Have fun experiencing and being happy in the moment - and hanging your pictures in your own museum.
These were the 7 steps to your own museum and how you can manage your own bucket list. If you have any other ideas or additions, please leave a comment!
If you need experience impulses or know someone who might enjoy them - you can order 500 experience impulses here:
Or generally the impulse to get up and start walking:
Good luck = )