Pencil Resting on a Notebook

101 in 1,001 Project

I’ve decided to participate in Day Zero’s 101 in 1,001 Days Project, a unique challenge that inspires you to set and achieve your personal goals in life.

The Challenge

Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1,001 days. I’m starting July 20, 2020 and ending on April 17, 2023.

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 your part).

Why 1,001 Days?

Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List.’ 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, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

Items in italic are in progress; items in bold have been completed.

Charity (0/5)

  1. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry
  2. Donate to a different charity each month
  3. Participate in a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training event
  4. Donate money towards a child’s tuition at St. Mary School
  5. Participate in 10 different charitable events

Creative (0/15)

  1. Take a stained glass class
  2. Create an Etsy store
  3. Make and sell 10 things on Etsy
  4. Participate in a cookie exchange
  5. Learn how to play the kalimba
  6. Buy 10 things made by my friends
  7. Make 10 new recipes from my cookbook collection
  8. Make 10 new recipes found online
  9. Make 5 Taiwanese dishes
  10. Paint a large acrylic painting
  11. Learn how to properly do eye makeup
  12. Get a crossword puzzle published in The New York Times
  13. Revamp an ugly dress found secondhand
  14. Make 10 random things I find on Pinterest
  15. Learn how to make resin jewelry

Education (0/5)

  1. Take a class in beginner Mandarin
  2. Teach three classes or seminars
  3. Participate in a panel discussion
  4. Take a digital photography class
  5. Take five online classes

Entertainment (0/9)

  1. Go to shows of three musicians I’ve never seen in concert before
  2. Watch 20 movies I’ve never seen from the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Movies of all time
  3. Attend three local performances
  4. Read 10 books I haven’t read from Time’s 100 All-Time Best Books
  5. Read 10 other books I haven’t read before
  6. Read 10 books suggested to me by others
  7. Re-read 10 young adult novels I loved when I was younger
  8. Finish the New York Times crossword puzzle for an entire month
  9. Host a dinner party

Fun (0/8)

  1. Go camping
  2. Walk the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail from Ossining to Croton
  3. Try 10 new restaurants in Westchester
  4. Try 10 new restaurants in New York City
  5. Try 10 new restaurant on Long Island
  6. Visit 20 different museums
  7. Visit a Smithsonian institution
  8. Get a makeover

Health (0/14)

  1. Start and successfully complete the Couch to 5K program
  2. Participate in a 5K
  3. Participate in a 10K
  4. Walk a mile a day for a month
  5. Get myself back down to the same weight I was in high school
  6. Learn how to properly swim freestyle
  7. Learn how to properly dive
  8. Take a yoga class
  9. Don’t drink any soda for six months
  10. Don’t eat any fast food for one month
  11. Go vegetarian for two weeks
  12. Learn how to Rollerblade
  13. Complete 20 push-ups in a row
  14. Complete five pull-ups in a row

House (0/10)

  1. Design an extension for the house
  2. Build fenced-in wooden planters for a vegetable garden
  3. Plant a square-foot vegetable garden
  4. Plant a wildflower garden
  5. Get all my special photos into frames and hang them
  6. Organize all the kids’ clothes and give away what they don’t need
  7. Organize my bedroom
  8. Organize the craft room
  9. Build a Free Little Library
  10. Create a chalkboard and organizational wall in my office

New York City (0/9)

  1. Visit the Cloisters
  2. Visit the 9/11 Museum
  3. Visit The Paley Center for Media
  4. Go ice skating at Rockefeller Center, Wollman Rink, or Bryant Park
  5. See a Broadway show
  6. See an off-Broadway show
  7. Be in the audience of Saturday Night Live
  8. Take the Roosevelt Island Tram
  9. Take an AIA boat tour around Manhattan

Personal (0/6)

  1. Max out my IRA each year
  2. Organize my computer
  3. Organize my library
  4. Donate or discard 50 bags of items I no longer need
  5. Scan all my photos to my computer
  6. Reconnect with a friend or family member I haven’t spoken with in 10 years or more

Travel (0/10)

  1. Visit three new states
  2. Visit two new countries
  3. Visit Toronto
  4. Visit Montreal
  5. Visit Colonial Williamsburg
  6. Go on a cruise
  7. Visit somewhere tropical
  8. Take a road trip that hits at least five states
  9. Take a long-distance Amtrak trip
  10. Go on 15 field trips to places I’ve never been before

Writing (0/10)

  1. Take a creative writing class
  2. Finish my book
  3. Get my book published
  4. Get an article published in a famous magazine
  5. Successfully complete NaNoWriMo
  6. Write 10 letters of praise for a good product or good service
  7. Blog at least once a day for 60 days
  8. Complete my Wreck this Journal book
  9. Complete my All About Me book
  10. Make another 101 in 1,001 List