By Kennedy Kierans “Everything but the kitchen sink.” That was a phrase we used when growing up to talk about something, like a new car, that had pretty much everything you could think of or want. Well, now there’s a new term in the vocabulary, but it’s about buckets, not sinks. . Bucket lists are lists of everything you want to do in your life. They are not resolutions, because they aren’t ; things you necessarily can or will : get done in the next year. They are just lists of things that you want to accomplish sometime in your life. And, most important, the things on your bucket list do not have to be big or major things, like get a PhD. They just have to be important or interesting to you. Bucket lists let you dream on a big scale, and they help you set goals, figure out what you really want, and bring more of that really-important- to-you stuff into your life. If you share lists with friends or family, it can also ; tell you about what is important to them, and they know you better too. | So, at the beginning of a new i ' year, why not start one? If you have one, why not pull it out and update it? Planning long term: bucket lists You will want to at least look it over, to make sure that it still reflects you and what you care about — you may have new interests or priorities, or you may be able to cross off some of the things on the old list, because you’ ve done them. Here are common things that people include on their bucket lists: Relationships — get married, have kids, reconnect with family you’ve lost touch with, work on the family tree “ Work / career — earn a degree, get a designation, get a promotion, work for a specific company, start a business Money — pay off the credit cards, pay off student loans, have money set aside for a vacation every year, buy a house or a condo Health — lose weight, participate in a sporting or athletic event, be active regularly, take up a sport (a new one or one you used to participate in) Creativity — try new interests, take courses, travel, explore unfamiliar areas in your hometown So start making that list, and who knows what exciting things could happen in your life! ae Planning short term: New Year’s resolutions By Karin Keefe re you planning to join a gym, lose weight or save money in 2011? If so, you won’t be alone. According to a poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in the US, 16% of people making resolutions said they wanted to lose weight, 13% wanted to spend less and save more, while 8% planned to exercise more. If you made a resolution last year and you actually managed to fulfill your goal, you were one of the very few. Last year, according to poll respondents, only 60% of the people who made a resolution stuck with it for any length of time, and many of them gave up after only a few months. This year, if all else fails, consider turning to science to trick your brain into not giving up. Research provides some insight into how the brain works and points to some surprising ways to succeed. Apparently, telling friends about goals is not a good thing, according to research described by Derek Sivers in a TEDTalk. Sivers explains that when we talk about what we plan on doing, “the mind mistakes the talking for the doing.” We feel so satisfied by our friends’ acknowledgement of our plans that we believe we are actually taking steps toward achieving our goals. In another study published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, University of Utah researchers Himansu Mishra and Arul Mishra showed that receiving exact feedback can kill our motivation in our pursuit of goals. It seems that we can trick our brains when feedback is vague. For example, if your goal is to reach a target weight of 130 pounds and you are told that you weigh 140 pounds, you are more likely to lose motivation than if you are told you weigh between 135 and 140 pounds. In the latter situation your brain will believe you are closer to 135 and closer to your target and, as a result, will remain motivated. So, it seems the best resolutions for 2011 might be to throw away the bathroom scale and keep your plans under your hat.