by J.D. Roth
A couple of weeks ago at Get Rich Slowly, I wrote about the 101 things in 1001 days project (which I learned about from dienu.com).
The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. 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.
Basically, participants create a list of about 100 things they want to do do in roughly the next three years. I think this is an amazing idea, with lots of potential for self-fulfillment. I drafted my list on March 25th, my 38th birthday, but it’s taken me this long to convert it to HTML. Here are the things I aim to accomplish over the next 1001 days:
List updated 31 May 2007
Health and Fitness
14 goals
1. Give up sugar for a week in progress – 3/7 days
2. Eat only home-prepared food for one month
3. Eat vegetarian for one month
4. Get cholesterol to healthy levels
5. Have a colonoscopy
6. Complete a marathon
7. Complete a 100-mile bike ride
8. Play a team sport
9. Do 100 push-ups
10. Bench-press my body weight
11. Complete a one-mile swim
12. Maintain a weight of 170 or below for six months
13. Drink only water for one month 31 May 2007
14. Give up alcohol for three months in progress – 1/3 months
Financial
10 goals
1. Pay off all non-mortgage debt (and keep it off)
2. Fully fund Roth IRA (2006) 10 Apr 07
3. Fully fund Roth IRA (2007)
4. Fully fund Roth IRA (2008)
5. Fully fund Roth IRA (2009)
6. Establish a $5000 personal emergency fund
7. Open a high-yield online savings account
8. Automate bill payments insurance done
9. Automate IRA contributions
10. Get a safety deposit box
Home and Garden
19 goals
1. Get the birds out of the workshop ceiling
2. Repair ceiling upstairs in house
3. Clean all gutters and install gutter guards
4. Finish modernizing the electrical system
5. Build a patio
6. Prune the holly trees
7. Learn how to use the chainsaw properly
8. Finish building the horseshoe pit
9. Hire somebody to paint the house
10. Open all windows that are painted shut
11. Park my car in the garage (this entails a lot of sub-steps)
12. Remove debris file from beneath the cedar
13. Add new spigots outside
14. Get a rug or carpet for the library
15. Acquire some nice office furniture
16. Create home maintenance checklist (and follow it)
17. Erect a hammock
18. Aquire a chipper
19. Set up workshop for woodworking
Personal
11 goals
1. Purge wardrobe of anything I haven’t worn in the past two years in progress
2. Get a massage
3. Learn to shave with a safety razor 15 May 2007
4. Update my address book
5. Sell record collection
6. Get rid of computer books
7. Sell CDs, keeping only hard-to-find favorites
8. Sell comic books
9. Sell board games
10. Hold a gourmet potluck in progress – date scheduled
11. Create the Indispensable Comic Strip Reprint Library in progress
Self-Improvement
7 goals
1. Take a speech-com class (Dale Carnegie?)
2. Take a drawing class
3. Take a Spanish class
4. Take a yoga class
5. Take a cooking class
6. Give a good radio interview
7. Give a good television interview
Adventure
6 goals
1. Get tickets for World Cup South Africa
2. Skydive
3. Go on a trip by myself
4. Go white-water rafting
5. Ride in a hot-air balloon
6. Learn to shoot a gun Kris beat me to this and taunts me about it
Entertainment
3 goals
1. See all Oscar-winners for Best Picture 53/79, though I want to review some
2. See all Oscar-winners for Best Documentary 5/64
3. Bowl 300 on Wii Sports
Photography
3 goals
1. Sell/publish a second photo
2. Digitize all photos
3. Sell $100 of images at iStockPhoto
Reading
5 goals
1. Read all of Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past 1/7
2. Read all of Shakespeare’s plays (no matter what Kris says) 13/37
3. Read all of Dickens 5/17
4. Read all Hugo & Nebula winners in progress
5. Read all Pulitzer winners (for fiction) 7/54
Writing
8 goals
1. Compile and print a Friends Cookbook
2. Sell a short story
3. Sell a poem
4. Sell a magazine article
5. Write a book
6. Publish a book
7. Participate in National Novel Writing Month
8. Digitize all of my creative writing
Work
15 goals
1. Implement GRS forums 15 Apr 07
2. Implement GRS book section
3. Implement GRS tools and calculators section
4. Start a GRS podcast in progress
5. Complete GRS redesign
6. Complete Animal Intelligence redesign in negotiations
7. Move all old foldedspace entries to the new database in progress
8. Launch Success Daily site created — building content
9. Launch Vintage Pop
10. Launch Too Much Cat domains purchased
11. Interview Robert Kiyosaki (or host guest post)
12. Interview Dave Ramsey (or host guest post)
13. Achieve $10,000 web income in one month
14. 1,000,000 visitors in one month to GRS
15. 100,000 RSS subscribers at GRS
I’ll be the first to admit that this is an ambitious list, but I look forward to tackling each item on here. I’ve already finished a couple since I drafted this, and several more are in progress. (I should have the podcast up-and-running in the next month or so.) Some of these will take all 1001 days. Reading Proust? As much as I love him, this is a tall order!
Can you guess which goals I think are going to be most difficult to meet?
Updated: 18 April 2007