101 in 1001

So I started something this new years, the Day Zero Project and thought that my blog would be a good place to keep track of it all.

What is it? The challenge, straight from the geniuses at the Day Zero Project, is to “complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.” It’s that simple.

The rules? Each task must be specific, with clearly defined or measurable results. Tasks must also be realistic — something I believe I can accomplish within 1001 days — and stretching; I can’t add things I already do or which don’t require any effort.

Why 1001 days? Day Zero says, “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…because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks.”

Start Date: January 1, 2010

End Date: September 28, 2012

When an item is complete, I will bold the item and put the completion date. I’m charging myself $20 for each goal I don’t achieve by September 28, 2012 and donating it to a charity I’ll name at a later date.

Here is the entire list, and then if I am blog savvy enough, I am hoping to post it on the right side of my blog as well…

The List

Goals that I haven’t started/completed are like this
Goals in Progress are like this
Completed Goals are like this

Skill/Development Goals
1 Make a public blog
2 Update the blog at least once a week
3 Follow 5 other blogs and check in weekly (so far only 3)
4 Be a better cook (cook 4 new dishes a month for a year/document it)
5 Make a "30 Days of Recipes" book that consists of my husband and my 30 favorite recipes
6 Decorate a cake with fondant
7 Learn more about gardening
8 Plant herbs that I can use in cooking
9 Write a book
10 Paint something
11 Sew something
12 Take a dance lesson with my husband
13 Learn to tie a balloon
14 Be able to play a song on the piano
15 Write a poem
16 Make and complete my 101 things in 1,001 days list (and be open to changing no more than 10 of these goals if they lose meaning to me)

Health/Fitness Goals
17 Complete another half marathon
18 Complete the 30 day shred
19 Do at least a month of P90X
20 Use my last 6 training sessions
21 Drink at least 32 oz of water a day
22 Take multivitamin every day
23 Stop drinking caffeine at work
24 Find a dermatologist and have a base head-to-toe skin appraisal
25 Make sure my vaccinations are up to date (tetanus, etc.)
26 Go to an eye doctor to make sure my eyes are still great
27 Get a facial
28 Get a massage
29 Get pregnant
30 Have a baby

Lifestyle Goals
31 Buy a laptop for personal use
32 Volunteer 5 times
33 Take an extended period (more than a month) off work
34 Take a vacation day for no reason
35 Babysit for a friend
36 Find a way to work flex time/ from home
37 Find a more creative job
38 Visit Grandpa and Grandma Shumway’s graves once a year
39 Go to church with husband for Christmas, Easter and a few more times a year
40 Go to a drive-thru and pay for the meal of the person behind me

Learning Goals
41 Complete a photography course
42 Learn how to use the manual settings on my digital camera
43 Read a non-fiction book once a month
44 Join a Book Club
45 Practice my Spanish
46 Learn how to use an advanced photo editing program
47 Read 20 books from the personal MBA list
48 Sign up for Goodreads to track my books read
49 Visit the library 10 times a year
50 Take a cooking class

Fun
51 Have a Girls Day/Night twice a month
52 Go to a my first Bears game at Soldier Field
53 Go to a Packers game
54 Go to a Badger football game
55 Go to a Red Sox game
56 Attend a ball
57 Ride in a hot air balloon
58 Go ice skating
59 Build a snowman
60 Dance in the rain
61 Go on a picnic
62 Go to a wine tasting event
63 Watch a sunrise
64 Go to the Shedd Aquarium
65 Play with the Wii (get it out of the box!!!)
66 Go to a Comedy show
67 Go rockclimbing
68 Go to the Kentucky Derby/or celebrate it at the Arlington Racetrack
69 See a musical
70 Attend a concert
71 Take husband to Blue Man Group
72 Go to movies in the park

Travel
73 Update my passport
74 Go scuba diving
75 Go to Egypt
76 Go to Belize
77 Go to Grand Cayman
78 Go to the Greek Isles
79 Visit somewhere in South America
80 Take my mom on a trip somewhere
81 Spend a weekend at a spa
82 Go skiing
83 Visit relatives in Oregon
84 Visit a vineyard
85 Go on a cruise

Home
86 Have two date nights a month with my husband
87 Buy the traditional anniversary presents
88 Order our wedding album
89 Get my husband new golf clubs
90 Do something every day to let my husband know he is special/important to me
91 Pay off Husband’s car
92 Get a new car
93 Host a family holiday dinner
94 Host a dinner party
95 Paint some of the walls of the condo
96 Refinish a piece of furniture
97 Purchase a piece of art for our bedroom
98 Buy a wall hanging for the living room
99 Finish changing my name on all of my accounts
100 Organize all of our paperwork in one file
101 Create weekly meal plan every weekend for the following week this year