Dave, who blogs over at Accidental FIRE, wrote a great post a few months back that explores the idea of a “Reverse Bucket List” to take inventory of all the cool stuff you’ve done. As someone who is constantly looking to the next to-do list item, I was really appreciative of his insight as a way to be grateful for what I have already accomplished.
If you ever find yourself longing for things you have yet to do, he suggested it might be beneficial to take stock of all the things you have already done to help give you a boost. Dave is big into adventure sports, so his bucket list was filled with tons of mountains yet to climb, trails yet to hike, etc. Every time he feels like he’s not ticking these adventures off his list fast enough, he uses a reverse bucket list to reflect on all the great mountains he’s already climbed and trails already hiked. This helps ease his frustration and allows him to (I imagine) recognize the badass he already is.
For me, the exercise was useful in that it allowed me to put my life into a bit better perspective. My drive to learn and accomplish things serves me really well, but I’m often a bit late to the party, so to speak, when it comes to putting it all into context/reflecting.
By way of an example, I’m often pretty hard on myself when it comes to exercise. My competitive nature always drives me to be better, work harder, lift more, run faster, etc. I get hypercritical of myself for not being motivated in a particular workout, or skipping a workout altogether. If I eat too much junk food (rarely an issue) or drink too much alcohol (admittedly, a bit more routine), I get pretty unrelenting in my self-criticism.
Maybe, instead, it would be beneficial for me to occasionally re-examine where I’ve already been to ward off some of that dick-ish inner monologue. And a reverse bucket list might help me in this instance. So what might be a good reverse bucket list for me that pertains to exercise and physical fitness?
- Deadlifted over 450 lbs at 165 lbs body weight
- Ran a sub-5:00 mile
- Competed in a triathlon
- Bicycled back-to-back centuries with camping gear on a dirt path
That was two minutes of brainstorming. And when I look at those feats, I do feel pretty accomplished.
Even when I view these accomplishments against my current capabilities, I feel pretty good. After all, some of these accomplishments (like running a sub-5:00 mile) were over 20 years ago.
Even with an additional 50 pounds (which I actually prefer to have, since I worked hard to get most of it), I can still probably run a sub-7:00 mile. I can still deadlift over 300 pounds without hurting myself. My body can stand up to hours of grinding manual labor. I can ride my bicycle everyday (weather-permitting) to pick up my son at preschool. These are really awesome things that I’m able to do right now.
It’s funny that, even juxtaposed with when I sat down to write this post, I now feel better about myself with that perspective.
I can link this to a myriad of subjects besides physical fitness: personal financial goals, home renovations, developmental milestones for my Little Man, travel,* buying property and building a kick-ass cabin on it…
And what about you? How might you benefit from a reverse bucket list?
*And speaking of travel, I put together this neat little graphic of countries I have visited for free using this website. Let’s be honest, peoples’ bucket lists so often include travel destinations, so…
In heard you guys almost made it!