How to Make a Life List

You find them on the hard drives and bulletin boards of tweens and their grandparents, street musicians and hedge fund managers. You see them online, on scraps of paper, and, in at least one case, on the cardboard liner of a pantyhose package. They're life lists, a free-form jotting down of everything you want to do before you've ditched this earthly realm. Fueled, perhaps, by the uncertainties of global events (not to mention the movie The Bucket List), making the most of the life you've got-and not wasting time about it-is the order of the day.

The concept is simple: Write down your major life goals and, in the process, motivate yourself to actually achieve them. If, like me, you find the word "goals" too reminiscent of what you do from 9-to-5, then think "dreams," "intentions," "desires." Remember, it's a wish list, not a decades-long to-do list.

Are life lists gimmicky? Sure. But they're a gimmick with a strange tendency to produce results. "I'm not a fatalist. I don't believe things happen for a reason," says Jackie Keller, a wellness and lifestyle coach in California. "But I do believe that by putting elements of what you want in life at the forefront, those things will come to you."What follows are the five immutable laws of life lists. Put them to work with your own list and see what happens. Who knows? You might even uncover aspirations you never even knew you had.

Get started: Print out our easy-to-use

life-list worksheet

First Published: April 2008