Visiting Taj Mahal, meeting Queen in wishlist of average adult

Sadly researchers have also found that most adults will only ever fulfil five of their lifelong ambitions.

Many feel they do not have enough time to tick off the experiences, while others admit to not being fit or adventurous enough or being too afraid of getting hurt.

Becoming a millionaire, travelling the world, seeing the Northern Lights, trekking the Great Wall of China and being mortgage free are the top five respectively on the checklist of dreams, the Daily Mail reported.

Visiting the Taj Mahal is also on the wishlist compiled by the researchers.

Among the other less surprising entries are writing a novel, learning to speak another language, visiting the Egyptian pyramids and running a marathon.

But ambitions that might fairly be considered less universal also feature travelling around New Zealand in a Winnebago motor home, inventing something that changes people's lives, riding a Segway scooter and going to Harry Potter World in Florida.

Other boxes to tick, range from gambling in Las Vegas, driving down Route 66 in the United States and visiting Disneyland to meeting the Queen, learning to fly a helicopter and emigrating.

The list was complied following a study commissioned by outdoor clothing company Helly Hansen of 2,000 adults.

More than one third of people surveyed complained that they did not have enough time to achieve their ambition, while 20 per cent were worried about injuries.

More than a quarter also did not believe they were fit enough to attempt their ultimate goal and 12 per cent confessed that they had no ambitions at all.

Nearly half also realised that they have to be more adventurous to achieve their ambitions.