The Reverse Bucket List

In today’s edition, we’re diving into a concept from Arthur C. Brooks' book, From Strength to Strength. In a world where acquiring and doing more is the norm, Brooks points out the importance of letting go…

🎯 The Idea In a Nutshell:

• The equation for satisfaction is simple: what you have divided by what you want.

• The default in our search for happiness is to drive the numerator up, acquiring and doing more and more.

• But doing so never leads to lasting satisfaction.

• Brooks argues that a key ingredient to lasting happiness is to push the numerator down, keeping our “wants” in check with what he calls a “Reverse Bucket List.”

📝 Diving Deeper

As driven men, the thing that comes most naturally to us is to acquire. We want the new house. The fancy car. The exotic vacation. And to be clear, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with ambition.

Brooks argues, however, that acquisitiveness is not a recipe for lasting satisfaction. The reason is simple: the shine always wears off. There’s always a nicer house, fancier car, and more exotic vacation to pine after. It’s called the Hedonic treadmill for a reason.

Brooks encourages us to balance our drive with an exercise he calls the “Reverse Bucket List.” Imagine yourself truly content five years from now. Ten years. Twenty years. Really try to picture it. What does it look like?

All the research suggests you shouldn’t be envisioning material things. Instead, you should be picturing solid relationships, work that fills you with purpose, good physical and mental health, and so on.

Now, consider what you need to let go of to achieve this vision. Perhaps it's the pursuit of admiration. The need for recognition. The weight of other people’s opinions. Maybe it’s the late nights at the office that pull you away from time with family.

Consider how the pursuit of prestige and material possessions might be pulling you away from the work that really matters in the long game of life.

👉 Why it matters:

• Our time here is short and shouldn’t be spent in constant pursuit of the next shinier object.

• There’s nothing wrong with ambition, but don’t get addicted to the grind and lose focus on the bigger picture.

• To find lasting happiness, we must learn to keep our acquisitiveness in check.

• A Reverse Bucket List can help us create a better balance.

🤔 Prompts for Reflection

• What does your happiest self look like five years from now? What are the key elements of that vision?

• What do you need to let go of in order to achieve this vision?

• How is your desire for more keeping you stuck?

• How might shrinking your list of wants free you up to focus on the things that matter most?

Make today impactful,
~Jason