A guided journal by Michael Trainer

Most bucket lists are about places. This one is about people.

For the experiences you want to share, the conversations you keep meaning to have, and the people you don't want to run out of time with.

Be first when the campaign opens Write your first line

Coming to Indiegogo. Join the list for early-backer pricing.

People I don't want to run out of time with

Example page

Teach Maya Grandma's dumplingsbefore summer

Ask Dad what he was like at 20Sunday call, March 2

First-Friday dinner, phones in the basketstarts April 4

Write to Ms. Alvarez, who saw methis week

The practice

One name. One move. One date.

Most of us don't lose the people we love in a crisis. We lose them to "let's get together soon." A move, a demanding job, a busy season, and a year goes by.

The Relational Bucket List turns good intentions into small, dated acts. You choose a person, a move toward them, and the day you'll make it. Then you keep a trace of what you lived together.

One name

The person you're thinking of right now.

One move

Something small and true: a call, a question, an invitation.

One date

The day you'll do it. Not "someday."

Try it now

Write your first line.

It takes thirty seconds. Then copy it into your notes, or send it to the person.

Inside the journal

Prompts that get you from "someday" to a date.

Who came to mind

Start with the names that surface when you stop and listen.

Who would I call with good news?

Ask the stories

Questions you've never asked the people you think you know.

What were you like before I knew you?

Let someone help

The forgotten half of generosity: a clear, kind request.

What do I actually need?

What keeps getting postponed

The visit, the trip, the dinner that's been "soon" for two years.

Why not this month?

The honest move

The thing worth saying while there's still time to say it.

What have I never told them?

Repair or a boundary

For the relationships that need care, or need a gentle line.

What would be right here?

Your go-to invitation

One gathering you love, offered again and again.

Where can people find me?

Return and continue

A 90-day look back, so the year doesn't slip away.

What do I want more of?

The People Passport

A place to keep a trace of what you lived together: a date, a line someone said, a recipe, a ticket stub.

Conversation cards

Questions for the dinner table, the long drive, the walk that runs late.

Postcards

For the appreciation you mean to send, written by hand.

The journal is in development. Contents and formats may change as early readers test the pages.

Four moves

Everything on the list is one of these.

Say

Something worth saying, while there's time.

Ask

A real question, or for help.

Repair

With care, where it's right to.

Share

Time, or an experience.

The campaign

Built with the people who'll use it.

Now
Early access list
Join to get sample pages and early-backer pricing.
Winter 2026
Tested by real people
The first RESONANCE course cohort tries the pages and tells us what works.
2027
Indiegogo launch
Back the first printing. Early backers get the best price and first copies.
After the campaign
Journals ship
Then the community opens, for people practicing together.

Dates are targets and will be confirmed on the campaign page.

From the author of RESONANCE

Michael Trainer

Michael co-created Global Citizen, which mobilized more than $40 billion in commitments to end extreme poverty. He hosts The Resonance Podcast and wrote RESONANCE: The Art and Science of Human Connection (BenBella).

The Relational Bucket List began as a chapter in RESONANCE. This journal turns it into a practice you can hold in your hands.

Explore RESONANCE, the book and the course

What experiences do you want to create, deepen, or heal with the people you love, while there's still time?

Early access

Be first when the campaign opens.

Get free sample pages now, and early-backer pricing when the Indiegogo campaign launches.