
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. (Visit DayZeroProject.com for more info!)
Official Start: October 15, 2009
Finish: July 12, 2012
Progressing Tally of Achievement: (11/1001)
Travel & Adventure
001. Skydive.
002. Visit Hawaii.
003. Zip-line in an exotic location.
004. Go paintballing.
005. Take an extensive road trip away from the East Coast.
006. Fly in a hot-air balloon over southern California.
007. Go camping – perhaps in a Southwestern dessert or the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
008. Venture to Tennessee and/or Colorado for a music festival (Bonnaroo or Mile High).
009. Swim with dolphins.
010. Go wine tasting in northern California.
011. Go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and then the old Motown studio in Detroit.
012. Get a passport.
013. Spend a fall weekend in Connecticut or Vermont – somewhere fall foliagey.
014. Run thru the Reflecting Pool in DC like Jen-nay did in Forest Gump (I think this one is actually illegal).
015. See Niagra Falls from the Canadian side.
For Me
016. Get the tattoo of my grandfather’s rose.
017. Buy a professional camera.
018. Buy the Beatles re-mastered box set.
019. Move into my own place.
020. Splurge on a professional hair cut and dye.
021. Find at least one personal moment of happiness every day for 1001 days (35/1001).
022. Get my own etsy store.
023. Ice skate in front of the tree at Rock Center, no matter how long the line is.
024. Go on a picnic.
025. Have a spa day.
026. Spend 2 entire (non-consecutive) rainy days in bed (0/2).
027. Spend 2 entire sunny days outside (0/2).
028. Buy an expensive (moderately) painting.
029. Create a starter menu/recipe book for my cookie & cupcake shop.
030. Organize and update my address book.
031. Pick flowers.
For the Better Good
032. Make sandwiches and hand them out to as many homeless people in NYC as I can (PROJECT Lunch Box).
033. Continue my AIDS Walk team from last year.
034. Buy a hybrid car (long shot).
035. Plant a garden.
036. Volunteer at an animal shelter.
037. Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity for real, this time.
038. Donate 250,000 grains of rice through freerice.com (17,000/250,000).
039. Help 10 strangers – excluding the fellow listed (0/10).
040. Adopt a solider with Soldiers’ Angels.
041. Tip 100% to an exceptional server.
042. Donate blood at least 4 times (0/4+)
043. Begin paperwork (including 2 year student loan deferments) for Peace Corps application.
044. Choose the bus over the car at least 3 times (0/3).
045. Attend a war protest or a peace rally.
046. Cater another mini pizza party for Grandma and her friends at the home.
047. Walk in a non-AIDS Walk related Walk.
Health & Fitness
048. Buy a bicycle.
049. Take a self-defense class.
050. Take a multi-vitamin every day for 30 days (0/30).
051. Be a vegetarian again for a week (0/7).
052. No fast food for a month (0/31).
053. Exercise 3 times a week for 8 weeks (0/24).
054. Stop eating past 8:30pm for 3 1/2 weeks (0/25).
055. Try yoga. Emphasis on try.
056. Go to the doctor and dentist.
Personal Growth
057. Organize my digital photo albums and back up my external hard drive.
058. Complete a 1,000 piece puzzle – and learn some patience doing so.
059. Start meditating again – twice a week for 4 weeks (0/8).
060. Say “yes” when I’d rather say “no” 10 times (2/10).
061. Say “no” when I want to say “no” but feel bad so inevitably say “yes” 5 times (0/5).
062. Teach myself 20 more words/phrases in sign language (0/20).
063. Read 30 books (1/30)
- 7 must be from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list (0/7)
- 6 must come from a current New York Times best sellers list (0/6)
- 6 must come from the Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century list (0/6)
– 1 will be my own (0/1)
064. Take a cooking & baking class.
065. Take guitar lessons.
066. Take an art class.
067. Smile at someone on the road I’d rather flip off.
068. Go to a religious ceremony for a religion other than the one I grew up in.
069. Learn how to say “thank you” in 10 different languages (10/10).
070. Go 2 consecutive days without technology on 3 separate occasions (0/2 : 0/2 : 0/2).
071. Attempt a National Novel Writing Month contest.
072. Wake up no later than 7am for one straight work week (0/5).
073. Go to bed no later than 10:30pm for one straight work week (0/5).
074. Learn basic car maintenance – under the hood.
075. Send 2 postcards a month through Postcrossing (4/64).
076. Karaoke.
077. Participate in a 26 Things Challenge
078. Write a letter to myself to be sealed until day 1001.
Cheesy Self-Help Stuff
079. Make a list of “50 Things I Like About Myself.”
080. Make a list of “95 Things that Make Me Happy” and scrapbook it.
Friends & Family
081. Spend at least one afternoon a year with my younger cousins and brother (generic family functions excluded) (0/2++).
082. Spend more time with my family in general (stress-free time, that is).
083. Take more family photos, and organize them all – new and old.
084. Book my mother a vacation.
085. Call an old friend, as much as I despise talking on the phone.
086. Write a letter to everyone important to me, expressing their importance (0/TBD).
087. Write letters to my pen-pal and 5th grade teacher whom I haven’t written to in a while (2/2).
Finances/Business
088. Pay off all of my credit card debt (70%/100%).
089. Get a “big girl job” (i.e. salary based, not minimum wage based).
090. Start an “under the mattress” savings account.
091. Get a “big girl job” that I love (if not already accomplished in #89).
092. Complete my novel and shop it to publishers.
093. Begin and complete a second novel.
Seasonal
094. Each fall go apple/pumpkin picking and/or visit a haunted house for Halloween (0/3).
095. Each winter I will play in the snow before I get mad at it (0/3).
096. Each spring spend an entire afternoon at the beach and plant flowers (not at the beach) (0/3).
097. Each summer go swimming at least twice (0/3).
For the List
098. Create a blog about list progress.
099. Inspire 5 other people to make a 101 in 1001 list (0/5).
100. Have a drink to celebrate day 1001!
101. Donate $10 to the Until There’s a Cure Foundation for every goal not met.