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.