101 Things in 1001 Days

Those of you who know me well know that I love to make lists. That’s why my new husband laughed when I told him about the Day Zero Project. “You just want an excuse to make a list!” he said to me. Well, yes. I always want to make lists. My brain operates on lists. But I also really enjoy focusing on goals. I have a huge Someday/Maybe list ala Getting Things Done in my planner, but I doubt I’d ever tackle all or any of those things without some structure. Enter the Day Zero Project.

Here’s how it works: You pick a start date, write down 101 defined and measurable goals, and complete them all in 1001 days—about 2.75 years. That’s all, really. It’s that simple (and difficult).

Shawna’s 101 Things:

Items in bold are in progress or planned. Crossed out items have been completed.

Adventures

1.    Take a weekend trip
2.    Go on a dinner cruise
3.    Go camping
4.    Go for a drive with no destination in mind
5.    Go to Greek Festival
6.    Go to Garlic Festival
7.    Ride on a train
8.    See the sun rise and set on the west coast
9.    See the sun rise and set on the east coast
10.    Get a passport
11.    Visit another country
12.    See the Aurora Borealis
13.    Move to Seattle

Food

14.    Host 10 dinner parties (0/10)
15.    Host Christmas
16.    Make Sushi
17.    Make Filet Mignon
18.    Make Baked Alaska
19.    Make Ratatouille
20.    Make ice cream from scratch
21.    Make a custom recipe book
22.    Take a cake decorating class
23.    Bake something cute and fabulous from Bakerella 5 times (1/5)

Fun

24.    See 5 plays (0/5)
25.    Have a bonfire for no reason
26.    Play Mafia
27.    Send a secret to PostSecret
28.    Take a picture of something every day for 365 consecutive days (56/365)
29.    Make a snowman
30.    Go hot tubbing 5 times (0/5)
31.    Watch the extended editions of all three Lord of the Rings movies in one day
32.    Make a new list

Health

33.    Get to goal weight (5/100%)
34.    Run a 5k
35.    Go on 15 hikes (0/15)
36.    Weigh in on the Wii Fit for 30 consecutive days (0/30)
37.    Track food eaten for 30 consecutive days (0/30)
38.    Pack lunch every day for 30 consecutive days (0/30)
39.    Avoid soda for 30 consecutive days (0/30)
40.    Floss every day for 30 consecutive days (0/30)
41.    Get Health Insurance
42.    Wear a bikini proudly

Holidays

43.    Have a New Year’s Party
44.    Deliver homemade brownies to people on Valentine’s Day
45.    Do our own fireworks at the beach for the 4th of July
46.    Write a Christmas letter
47.    Leave a $50 tip at Christmas
48.    Go caroling

Matthew

49.    Surprise Matthew 5 times (5/5)
50.    Have 100 date nights with Matthew (10/100)
51.    Write love letters and box them up with some wine to be aged and opened on our 20th
52.    Read Love and Respect with Matthew
53.    See Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soliel, or Medieval Times together

Mind Stretching

54.    Take a first aid course
55.    Take a piano or violin class
56.    Learn ASL
57.    Take an art class
58.    Read 100 books (15/100)

Money

59.    Cut up credit cards
60.    Save $5000
61.    Pay for something for someone anonymously 5 times (0/5)
62.    Buy a camera
63.    Buy a car
64.    Buy a terabyte backup drive
65.    Buy a safe
66.    Complete Wedding Registry

Personal

67.    Get Driver’s License
68.    Chop off hair
69.    Buy a fabulous jacket
70.   Get a pedicure
71.    Get a facial
72.    Learn to dance
73.    Sing in a choir again
74.    Start using reusable grocery bags
75.    Get wedding photos developed
76.    Write wedding thank you cards
77.   Declutter the bedroom
78.    Finish Family website
79.    Learn how to shoot a gun
80.    Get stationary and custom address labels

School

81.    Pass remaining 3 math classes (2/3)
82.    Bring GPA up to 3.5
83.    Join Honor Society
84.    Win a scholarship
85.    Earn my Associate’s Degree
86.    Get accepted to Seattle Pacific University

Spiritual & Giving

87.    Read every book of the Bible (0/66)
88.    Participate in National Day of Prayer
89.    Pray in the shower for thirty consecutive days (0/30)
90.    Start tithing
91.    Sponsor a child
92.    Participate in Operation Christmas Child
93.    Volunteer
94.    Babysit for free 5 times (0/5)
95.    Send a care package to a soldier

Writing

96.    Win NaNoWriMo 3 times (1/3)
97.    Write 30 poems (4/30)
98.    Write 10 short stories (0/10)
99.    Write 5 children’s books (0/5)
100.    Write 50 blog posts (33/50)
101.    Submit a piece of writing for publication

For every item I finish, I will save $1 to spend on something frivolous and $1 to donate to charity. Anything I don’t accomplish will automatically be placed on the next list!

Start Date: June 30th, 2009
End Date: March 27, 2012
Completed so far: 19/101