Reverse Bucket Lists
You are probably familiar with the concept of a bucketlist: a list of to-do or to-acquire items, that you check off as the year or life progresses. Checking-off these items by some deadline (often, death) is seen as a win. Arthur Brooks, co-author of Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier, wrote such a list at the age of 40. He wanted to write books, travel to lecture, teach at a top university and so on. Eight years later, he had achieved every item on the list, but those achievements brought him only fleeting joy. At most a month, he says. As soon as one item was checked off, he would start the quest to accomplish the next one. Satisfaction was eluding him. I’d devoted my life to climbing those rungs. I was still devoting my life to climbing—beavering away 60 to 80 hours a