The List

Jan 01, 2014 - Sep 28, 2016

1. Completely fill a blank sketchbook
2. Keep a watercolor book
3. Try oil painting
4. Do a splatter paint project
5. Learn how to make paper
6. Learn how to bind books
7. Learn calligraphy
8. Take a photo of the same place every month for year
9. Take a self portrait every week for one year
10. Get my camera repaired, or get a new camera
11. Make soap
12. Grow something from a seed
13. Learn to identify ten new plants
14. Learn to identify five new constellations
15. Go to the planetarium
16. Learn to locate the north star
17. Go whale watching
18. Learn to identify three different bird calls
19. Learn about the endangered wildlife of NH
20. Visit the Audubon Center in Concord
21. Build a snow fort
22. Start a fire without matches or a lighter
23. Cook a meal over a fire
24. Go geocaching at least ten times
25. Watch the sun rise on both the summer and winter solstice
26. Learn archery
27. Learn hand spinning
28. Make a fire kit
29. Make a set of detailed ogham staves
30. Meditate three times a week for a month
31. Do yoga twice weekly for two months
32. Update my pagan blog at least five times a month for one year
33. Participate in the Pagan Blog Project
34. Complete the base herbal for my blog
35. Attend services at the UU church
36. Read the New Testament
37. Read the Quran
38. Take a class
39. Study a different country every month for one year
40. Learn the basics of another language
41. Get a passport
42. Visit America's Stonehenge
43. Visit the desert of Maine (Maine)
44. Take a weekend trip to Vermont
45. Take a geocaching trip
46. Learn how to drive
47. Bake a Neapolitan cake
48. Bake butter mochi
49. Learn to make good macarons
50. Learn to make good pancakes
51. Try five new foods
52. Try 10 new recipes
53. Try 5 new cocktails
54. Do some volunteer work
55. Donate to charity
56. Learn first aid
57. Update the first aid kits
58. Research my family tree
59. Make a family photo album
60. Track my spending for six months
61. Go a month without buying anything that isn't a necessity
62. Double my savings
63. Declutter my house
64. Organize my wardrobe
65. Give away all my unwanted books
66. Go through everything stored at Mama's
67. Sell or give away all unused perfume oils
68. Organize my jewelry
69. Replace my cheap stud earrings with titanium
70. Organize my nail polish and nail art supplies
71. Dye my hair a bright color again
72. Talk to the doctor about my acne
73. Lose 20 pounds
74. Lose 40 pounds
75. Maintain any weight loss within ten pounds
76. Be able to do 20 consecutive push ups
77. Be able to do 60 consecutive sit ups
78. Try running
79. Spend one weekend with only my music, art and books. "Unplug"
80. Read 15 books
81. Read all of the Sherlock Holmes books
82. Watch 25 movies
83. Learn to play the guitar
84. Learn to play the violin
85. Listen to every David Bowie album
86. Listen to a new artist every month
87. Organize iTunes
88. Organize and backup my computers
89. Organize my bookmarks
90. Send a dog update
91. Buy a slim wallet
92. Learn how to tie a tie
93. Learn to play poker
94. Buy a lottery ticket
95. Open an Etsy shop
96. Keep a paper journal
97. Transcribe my old high school notebooks into a nice journal
98. Back up my Livejournal
99. Fill a jar with good memories, read them all at the end of one year
100. Write a letter to myself to be opened when the 1001 days is over
101. Keep a 101 in 1001 blog

About the 101 Things in 1001 Days Challenge

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple challenges such as New Year's resolutions or a 'Bucket List'. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

Day Zero Project has more information on this particular challenge, as well as tons of 101 in 1001 lists, and other kinds of challenges, as well. 

Why am I personally doing this?
This challenge allows me to clearly define my goals, and provides me with the focus and motivation I need to actually accomplish them. It allows me to keep my goals clearly in sight, so that nothing gets pushed aside and forgotten over time.

This is my second time doing the 101 in 1001 challenge. My first round started back on January 1st, 2009. I completed that list on September 29th, 2011 - day 1001. Some goals completed include visiting Disney, riding a roller coaster that goes upside down for the first time, visiting many new restaurants, learning to makes lots of new foods, and making an ancient Egyptian incense called kapet.

I consider my first list a success because, hey, I did 101 pretty awesome things! On the other hand, many goals weren't very challenging, and I ended up changing the list several times through the challenge. My first project was actually one of my first times setting any real long term goals, and I learned a lot from the experience.

For example, the very first thing I learned was not to make a 101 list in a rush, because that leads to including a lot of goals which may not actually hold your interest through the project... I ended up having to rework my list several times through the project to keep it meaningful. I also learned what type of goal was personally challenging to me, but still something I could accomplish, and what goals held little to no challenge for me. All things which I considered quite a bit while forming my second list. For this round, I tried to make the list more challenging overall than my previous list - while still being something I could complete in the time frame. 

During my first project I thought I'd jump right into another after my original 1001 was up, but by the end of it I was just too worn out on the idea to really consider that. However, by mid-2013 I realized I was once again creating a growing list of goals. It started out as just a small list of things to do that summer, but as time went on more goals were added, and over several months of planning the list grew into what it is today - a new list of 101 things to be done in 1001 days.

As a personal rule to this round of the challenge, I will only allow myself five changes to goals on the list, which can only be done during days 500 to 600. This gives me time to really get to know my list before making any changes, but does not allow for the temptation of making quick and easy changes near the end. Additionally, any changes made must be of similar challenge - in other words, no swapping difficult goals with easy ones. Why allow for any changes? Over the course of 1001 days, interests and needs can of course shift a bit, so this lets in a little wiggle room for that, without letting things change too much.