Second Round.
A few weeks before January 1, 2008, I stumbled upon a very intriguing website. It was called Day Zero and it was the website that hosted the 101 Things in 1,001 Days Challenge. Now, I’m not sure how I found this website, but I remember reading through the various lists that were catalogued and being impressed with the diversity of goals. I was also impressed by the realistic timeline and the idea that the challenge was supposed to stretch you while also giving you the opportunity to succeed at your goals by giving you multiple seasons to get through things.
So I decided to come up with my own list, and for almost 3 years I worked through it slowly. Unfortunately, I only managed to make through about half of the list before I ran out of time. I learned a lot of lessons through it, and I started thinking about what I would want to do next. Last week, with the New Year around the corner, I started evaluating what I wanted to accomplish in the next 1,001 days.
Obviously, health and fitness has been on my mind for awhile, so I have a solid list of things to accomplish on that front. I also want to enjoy New York City as much as possible. Although photography is a passion of mine, it was difficult for me to think of many goals on that front aside from buying better equipment and taking a professional course. I have tried the “take so many pictures” challenge before, but it really didn’t jive with how I’m comfortable with my work. I don’t like to feel pressured. Instead, I’ve decided to focus more on my writing. Lastly, there were several odds and ends that I wanted to make sure I get done, some creative, some practical, some educational.
Overall, I think I have a pretty solid list of things that are both realistic but that at the end will make me a “better” person and help me get where I want to go in life. Of course, this isn’t an end-all be-all of things I’m going to accomplish, but it’s a good guide for where my priorities.
I also promise to blog my accomplishments on this list better this round. I kind of neglected to keep anyone updated on what I accomplished.
Take a look and let me know what you think!
Health & Fitness
Get down to my pre-moving weight
Take a yoga class
Take a pilates class
Take a Zumba class
Floss everyday for a month
Finish a bottle of multivitamins
Get on a DexCom CGM
Get my A1c under 7% at least once
Go to the dentist at least once a year (0/3)
Go to the gynecologist at least once a year (0/3)
Get my lab work down every year (0/3)
Run a 5K
Run a 10K
New York City
Visit the USS Intrepid
Go to the Top of the Rock
Attend a concert at Madison Square Garden
Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in person
Attend to a Yankees game
Visit the Whitney Museum
Boat on the lake in Central Park
Kayak on the Hudson River
Have dinner at Per Se
Go to the New York Botanical Garden in the spring/summer
Use up an entire deck of Diner’s Deck
Go the New York Philharmonic
Spirituality
Read the Bible
Go to church or listen to a church podcast every week (can miss up to 10 times)
Read 5 Christian living/Christian education books 0/5
Give up something for Lent
Volunteer at a church event
Education
Read 25 books from the Pulitzer prize winning Fiction books (0/25)
Read 25 non-fiction books (0/25)
Take a course in a language
Attend at least 2 lectures every year (0/6)
Take a photography class
Take a writing class with Gotham Writers
Complete a Sudoku book
Learn to code in CSS
Food
Host a dinner party
Eat at one new restaurant every month (0/32)
Go one week as a vegetarian
Cook Thanksgiving dinner
Learn about wine
Bake a pie
Make fudge
Have dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barn
Go a whole month without eating out
Entertainment
Attend opening night of the ballet or the opera
Attend a comedy show
Watch 101 movies (0/101)
Be a part of a live audience for a TV show
Go to a concert
Attend one Broadway play a year (0/3)
See Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Travel
Go camping
Go on my honeymoon to Europe
Visit one additional country
Attend South by Southwest
Celebrate our one year anniversary somewhere awesome
Visit Maine
Go to Winnipeg (hopefully to meet bloggers!)
Fly to visit my maternal grandmother
Fly to visit my paternal grandmother
Renew my passport when it expires
Finances
Save $5,000 in an emergency fund
Start a Roth IRA
Save $10,000 for a house down payment
Pay off my credit card debt
Giving Back
Volunteer at one non-diabetes related event
Volunteer at a diabetes event
Donate money to the National MS Society during National MS Week (0/3)
Join Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Join the Junior League
Send a sussy to a friend
Send a sussy to a family member
Mail 12 birthday cards to friends and/or family for a year
Raise at least $1,000 for the JDRF
Attend a Promise to Remember Me meeting with an elected official
Donate blood
Writing
Write an ebook
Handwrite a blog entry and scan it to the blog
Guest post on 5 non-diabetes blogs
Send thank you letters to everyone who attended the wedding or gave us a gift
Complete NaBloPoMo in 2011
Complete NaBloPoMo in 2012
Write a short story
Participate in 750words.com for one month
Blog about every accomplished goal (0/100)
Purchases
Buy eye glasses
Buy a handbag
Buy a point-and-shoot camera
Buy bookshelves
Buy artwork and redecorate the bedroom
Random
Get a New York State license (finally!)
Get my name officially changed
Get a tattoo
Get a cat
Send a secret to PostSecret.com
Vote in the 2012 election
Spend one weekend completely offline
Learn to crochet or knit
Burn all my CDs to iTunes
I think you must be the only person in the world that has a goal of “going to Winnipeg”, LOL but I started clapping when I read that!!
Dude, I follow no less than THREE people who live in Winnipeg. You, Kyla and Michelle (@accordingtomio). I’m taking it as a sign that I MUST go. Haha.
I just love these challenges. Reading other people’s lists always inspire me. I’m still working through my first one!
Wow! You are amazing! I am so excited to see you (well, read about you) accomplishing these things.
I wonder if I could make such a list? Hmmm….
Well one of them *is* to visit my maternal grandmother… who is also your grandmother… so maybe we can work something out.
That’s a great list!!! Can’t wait to hear about it all when you cross each item off your list!
When you say “Get my name officially changed”, I assume you mean after the wedding. Man, that is a task that goes on and on and on and on and… well, you get the picture. Seven months on and stuff is still cropping up where I haven’t done it yet! I’ll know I’m pretty much done when I no longer need my passport as photo proof for the changes, and so I can send that off to get renewed!
Thank you cards is another one that really goes on. On reflection, I started out too ambitious, writing nice long messages to everyone! So my advice is to be realistic and not write too much, otherwise you’ll wind up with aching wrists and a mountain still to write! We eventually got there after about 4 months I think.
Good luck with the list.
A way to make the thank you writing more fun is to open a few gifts each night and then write thank you notes for the gifts you opened that night. That way you still have the fun of opening gifts while slowly tackling the thank you note list. And have Eric help you write them. Doing it this way also helps you remember who sent you what.
This is a great list! I’m inspired. I’m excited to see what Christian books you read, because I always need recommendations for good ones.
I don’t read nearly enough but it’s been something I’ve been thinking about doing for awhile. If Donald Miller comes out with another book in the next 3 years though, you can guarantee it’ll be on this list!
Wow! Totally inspired by your goals!
I have yet to write about mine…let me rephrase that…I have yet to figure out what my goals are!!!! I just know that I need to make it to tomorrow.
Kudos for making the Bible a priority. I’ve started a reading program in an effort to read the Bible in one year. So far I’m failing. Sigh.
I would never dream of reading the Bible in a year. Personally I don’t think I could commit to reading every day (I can’t even read chick lit everyday!). This goal is over the next 2.75 years. Though I’m up for any reading guide recommendations!