Before we begin, I want you to ask yourself one question: what would you like to accomplish before you die?
I know, it's an extremely loaded question, and more often than not the response is not just one thing. Think deep and take your time. I want you to truly understand that your answers to that question - should not be stored away in the back vaults of your memory. They should be up front and center, they should be a priority in your life no matter what age you may be. These objectives are not just things that you want to do in your lifetime, but what you want to live, breathe, feel, experience and truly be a part of. I have written in the back of my book reminding me that my list should not be completed alone, but with the people that mean the most to me, and I think you should too.

To give you a little background, I'm 19 years old and I have a formally written out bucket list in a book, and of course I continue to add to it as I go along with my life. I'm also 19 years old and already have a couple of these aspirations crossed off my list. It's hard to put into words the emotions that were running around inside of me when I was standing on top of a rock, overlooking Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California. #7 - Hike Yosemite National Park. The reason why I've started so early in my life is because you absolutely never know when that day will come. That day that we're instinctively so scared of from the second we enter this world, until the second it's come. At the end of the day, though, it's inevitable - and it's up to you to make sure you have lived your life your way when that day does come. I don't know when my time will come, but I know that every day of my life will be spent towards working for that next cross off the list.

Here is my challenge for you; take out a blank sheet of paper and a pen, and write down all of those dreams you thought of earlier. It may be hard getting started, but trust me, as soon as you blowing the dust off those long lost dreams of your childhood, or the stories your grandparents told you that you always thought it would be cool to live yourself. The reason why I physically write down my bucket list is because as humans we crave the satisfaction of crossing things off. The same reason why it feels so good crossing that errand off the to-do list or crossing that piece of homework off in your planner. We naturally crave that feeling of accomplishment. So if you actually write out your bucket list and have it visibly there always reminding you what needs to be done, you're significantly more likely to do it. Everybody has a bucket list in their head - but how hard do you have to think to bring every goal on that list to your attention? I believe a bucket list can literally change a person's perspective on life, as it has done to mine. When I promote to people about writing a bucket list, the most common response I get is:

"I'm a college student - I can't afford it."
"I'm way too busy with work and school and just don't have time."

These are both very valid reasons to have to delay getting through your bucket list, but there are compromises! Maybe take a specific amount of every paycheck and put it in a Bucket List fund in a shoebox in your closet. Maybe pick a date in the future and have that be the goal of when you'd like to accomplish a list item by.

Lastly, written bucket lists also give your best friends, family, husband, wife, son, daughter, whoever it may a be, a platform for their own closure by completing an uncompleted item. It is also something they can remember the items you accomplished together. Think about it.