I learned about this from Jason Toney on his blog, Negro Please, who learned about it from triplux. Thanks to triplux for the information and widgets that will aid in this project.
Here’s the important stuff:
The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (i.e., no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e., represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple goals such as new year’s resolutions. 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 or outdoor activities.
- Start Date: Saturday, April 1, 2006
- End Date: Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wish me luck. Cheers.
- Go to a drive in movie theater
- See a baseball game at Wrigley Field
- See LeBron James play in a regular season game in Cleveland at the Q.
- Lose 30 lbs from my weight as of April 1 and keep it off for at least six months.
- Run the New York City Marathon
- Drive the entire West Coast of the United States in a convertible
- Set up a wireless network in my house that lets me watch TV feeds from the computer on the TV and listen to music from my online account on the stereo system
- Write at least five (5) friends once a week
- Learn to swim
- Go to a University of Notre Dame home football game
- Take a trip to Trinidad for Carnival
- Take a trip to Ireland, Scotland and Italy
- Attend an NHL regular season game
- Get an alumni square at the Sidewalk Arts Festival at SCAD
- Create a playlist of my top 100 songs
- Visit the following U.S. cities: Nashville, TN; Memphis, TN; Chattanooga, TN (4/8/06); New Orleans, LA (6/9/06); Denver, CO; San Diego, CA
- Clear all of my non-student loan debt
- Get the rear door of my car repaired
- Write a novel and get it published
- See Joshua Redman in concert
- Catch one more game in Yankee Stadium before they open the new ballpark across the street
- Apply for graduate school
- See a baseball game at Fenway Park
- Create a photoblog – 5.20.2006
- Practice on my guitar daily instead of sporadically
- Practice on my harmonica daily for 3 months straight
- See Diana Krall in concert
- Lower my cholesterol
- Get a professional massage
- Learn to play golf
- Bring a pile of quarters to a batting cage and spend the afternoon swinging at balls.
- Send 12 people I’ve always wanted to talk to 5 questions and see what their answers are. And post them on the blog
- Save two (2) month’s salary and keep it saved for more than 6 months
- See the leaves changing color at Biltmore Estate
- Complete 100 push ups in a row
- Create a wall of pictures of family and friends at home
- Get a current professional photograph taken of myself and send a copy to my mother
- Clean my home office and purge my files of pages I don’t need, or ones I have digital access to
- Take a trip on a national train line – anywhere
- Go on a day-long hike
- Bake an apple pie
- Learn to make roti from scratch
- Pay off my library debt and borrow (and watch) one movie I have never seen before from their collection every week for a year
- Keep an online record of the movies on the blog
- Create a will
- Doing sitting meditation for 30 minutes daily for 1 month
- Go horseback riding
- Do 75 sit-ups a day for 6 months straight
- Run 30 minutes a day for a 3 months
- Drink 10 glasses of water a day for 2 months
- Learn CPR
- Buy a home
- Go back to the top of the Empire State Building
- Do pilates 3 times a week for 6 months
- Learn enough to finally fix (and actually fix) the Schwinn frame I got from Bob
- Get all of my old SCAD shirts made into a quilt
- Visit Vulcan Park once a week
- Renew my passport
- Ice skate the Rideau Canal in Ottawa
- Create a household inventory
- Keep my home completely clean for 2 months straight so that we can accept surprise guests
- Bowl a 200 game
- Complete a century (100-mile) bike ride
- Learn sign language
- Get a full medical check-up
- Create a list of 101 things that make me happy
- Keep my work bag organized for 3 months
- Pay for the person behind me’s food at a fast food restaurant
- Go see Rent on Broadway (stopped running before I had a chance)
- Run the Mercedes Marathon
- Be able to say I’ve watched all 100 of AFI’s 100 Greatest American Movies of all Time
- Go rock climbing
- Run in the Tour de Pain in Jacksonville
- Read every book I have in my home before purchasing a new one (unless it is for a class)
- Read the Bible from cover to cover
- Read the Koran from cover to cover
- Go hiking in three national parks
- Sleep outdoors on a hammock
- Get all of my watches fixed (got really close)
- Watch a sunset from a West Coast beach
- Read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- Purchase a domain name for my blog -7.27.2006
- Meet 5 people that I first spoke to online/through my blog –
- Purchase a laptop computer
- Complete one triathalon
- Donate 10% of my savings at the end of this exercise to a charitable organization
- Write 12 new pieces of poetry in a 12 month period
- Post these pieces on this blog (recent post 6.10.2006)
- Go to the Georgia Aquarium
- Become a frequent contributor to an urban issues based magazine
- Take a day off and do nothing – 7.6.2006
- Play Scrabble once a week for 12 months – began 5.20.2006
- Do the New York Times Magazine crossword puzzle for 6 months straight
- Do New York City’s Bike New York Five Boro Bike Ride event
- Finally visit the Hamptons for a weekend
- Ride in a hot-air balloon
- Take a ride on a classic New York City subway train from the NYC Transit Museum
- Frame the map of Savannah that Marc got for me for my birthday
- Visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY
- Visit the Birmingham Zoo – visited 7.15.2006
- Draw every day for a month in my journal
