Thursday, November 06, 2008

Carpe 1001 Diem



I'm finally finished the list!
Start date: Saturday, November 1, 2008
End date: Saturday, July 30, 2011


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 organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.


1. Finish this frickin' list. In 1001 days, write a new one. (0/2)

Reading
2. Read 101 books. (0/101)
3. Read 50 children's books. (0/50)
4. Finish reading War and Peace.
5. Spend 30 days reading out of the house for at least one hour. (0/30)
6. Maintain the book ban (no books without trade-in credit) with 5 slips. (0/5)
7. Go to a book club meeting.
8. Read all the magazines in my place.
9. Read Man Booker Prize and Pulizter Prize winning book from the year of my birth. (0/2)

Writing
10. Write a haiku.
11. Finish up all draft blog posts.
12. Complete a month of posts each year (NaBloPoMo or other month.) (0/3)
13. Learn to write my name in 5 scripts. (0/5)
14. Send 60 handwritten letters or postcards. (0/60)
15. Complete Postcrossings.
16. Send Christmas cards. (0/2)
17. Send flowers at random.

Smarts
18. Do something to put knowledge in, rather than spouting it out.
19. Be able to label a map of Africa.
20. Be able to name 20 foreign leaders and their countries. (0/20)
21. Memorize a poem.
22. Stop saying THAT word (the one Martha doesn't like.)

It's All Fun and Games
23. Win at any of the quiz nights.
24. Participate in a scavenger hunt.
25. Play croquet or bocce.
26. Learn to play a new game (Backgammon, Bridge, etc.)
27. Play 5 board games. (0/5)
28. Learn how to do Suduku. And how to spell it.
29. Complete a jigsaw puzzle.
30. Watch Gone With the Wind.
31. Only use candlelight for one full evening.

Being Creative
32. Do something creative - paint a picture, throw a pot, etc.
33. Take pictures at one of those weird photo places in Hongdae.
34. Take a photo every day for a month. (0/31)
35. Take the good camera out once a month. (0/30)
36. Complete 26 Things.
37. Send a postcard to Postsecret.

Because You're Never Too Old
38. Color an entire coloring book.
39. Climb a tree.
40. Play with PlayDoh.
41. Rewatch the Princess Bride and reread A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. (0/2)
42. Do a cartwheel in the sun.
43. Make a snowman.

Yum!
44. Go on a picnic.
45. Try making lasagne in a toaster oven.
46. Try 10 new foods. (0/10)
47. Make pancakes with my nieces twice. (0/2)
48. Bake a cake from scratch.
49. Make a curry dish from scratch.
50. Learn to make good cream sauce.
51. Try a new kind of alcohol.
52. Aa new kind of tea.
53. Eat chicken wings in a bar for the first time.
54. Make and decorate cupcakes.
55. Make banana bread and once again make my poor mother mail me the recipe.
56. Have a banana split party.
57. Eat at 25 new restaurants. (0/25)
58. Make that chocolate/whip cream dessert from when I was a kid.
59. Make popcorn on the stove.

The World is an Interesting Place, So Get Out in It
60. Visit a new continent (South America, Australia, Antarctica, Africa.)
61. Visit 5 countries I've never been to. (0/5)
62. Dip my toes into two oceans. (0/2)
63. Visit 5 UNESCO Heritage Sites. (0/5)
64. Visit a country from the Axis of Evil.
65. Go canoeing or kayaking again.
66. Participate in a winter sport that is not sledding.
67. Go zorbing/hot air ballooning/skydive or something along those lines.
68. Go to a sporting event, a play/opera/ballet, a museum, and an art gallery. (0/4)
69. Take an odd form of trasportation (dog sledding, etc.)
70. Control one vehicle.
71. Encounter an interesting animal in its natural habitat.
72. Sleep in a tent.
73. Watch the sun set and rise. (0/2)

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
74. Take a series of pictures of the neighbourhood I live in.
75. Finally go to the National Museum, which I pass every day, and Seoul Tower, which I can see from my window. (0/2)
76. Take the subway to work once a week. (0/38)
77. Walk into Itaewon to get coffee at least 15 times. (0/15)
78. Buy a round for the bar.
79. Let Shawn talk me into Hashing once.
80. Explore 12 new places in Seoul - one for each month. (0/12)

Because My Body is My Temple
81. Get a tattoo or a piercing.
82. Go to the dentist.
83. Buy a frickin' toothbrush.
84. Finish all my multivitamins.
85. Be a vegetarian for a month.
86. Be a vegan for a week.
87. Buy new glasses.
88. And sunglasses.
89. Buy a bathing suit.
90. Go to bed by midnight thirty times. (0/30)
91. Start and stick to an exercise routine.
92. Buy purple underwear.

Because It Needs to Be Done
93. Pay off half my credit card.
94. Then pay off the rest.
95. Make one day a month internet and TV free. (0/30)
96. Clean up iTunes.
97. Buy a new iPod.
98. Buy another external harddrive and have old harddrive fixed.
99. Find a charity I believe in and donate/join a protest for a cause I believe in.
100. Get my damn hair straightened already.
101. Wash Martha's dishes.

Pics of completed items.

(This is incredibly hard to make up. They say to look at other lists for ideas. Half the examples are things I've done - fly a plane! ride a horse! see the Northern Lights! Other things seem a bit ambitious considering my plans for the coming 1001 days, like specifically stating that I must see the Pyramids or Macchu Picchu. Many of the people whose lists I trolled looking for ideas would have things along the lines of read a book or try interesting foreign food from Korea or pray every day. Ummm, yeah. Or there were things I'm not sure I ever want to do, like scuba dive.)

3 comments:

Nikki Jeske said...

This is inspirational and I wish you the best of luck in finishing this list. It seems like a great idea, though I'm sure if I attempted it, I would lose interest in a matter of months. Unfortunate, but true. Have fun getting through it all!

J.G. said...

First I've heard of this! I carry this list in my head, sort of (warning: list probably contains more than 101 items). But writing it down takes it to the next level. Perhaps everyone already knows this but me . . . I will be inspired by some of your items, for sure. Thanks and enjoy!

Anonymous said...

heaps of awesome goals ! GL with them !