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3 Reasons You Need a Professional ‘Bucket List’

What do you want to accomplish before you retire?

· Bucket List,Engagement

A week ago, my 12-year-old daughter asked me ‘What’s a bucket list?’ I explained it’s a set of goals that a person hopes to achieve or experience before they die a.k.a. kick the bucket. She looked at me with a puzzled expression and said, “Why wait that long to do what’s on your list”? I decided against giving her a lecture on the realities of life because…she had a good point.

Why not apply the same logic to your professional life? Let’s pretend you are 65 years old and today is the day you retire. What do you want to have accomplished? What do you want your peers to say about you? What do hope you’ll be most proud of?

Here are three reasons to take a few minutes and make your own professional ‘bucket list.’

  1. Knowing what your long-term goals are can help you see opportunities differently. Perhaps you will try a new position at work or give a presentation that you would have said no to otherwise.
  2. You can better justify ‘making the time’ for professional development. Maybe this will be the year you attend that conference you keep putting off.
  3. A ‘bucket list’ doesn’t have to be practical…or public for that matter. But, the act of creating the list can help you get your mind around doing the work you don’t enjoy if it brings you closer to meeting your personal goals.