101 Goals in 1001 Days (or, the Blog Where Jess Manages to Squeeze Four Lists into One Post)

Hi peeps!

I have discovered an amazing list website recently. Anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with lists. I love them and can’t write enough lists! Shopping lists, to-do lists, weekend lists, skills I want to be good at lists, music to buy lists, things to do on my lunch break lists, bucket lists – the list goes on. I actually write the same list, particularly ‘skills I want to be good at’ lists and ‘bucket lists’ over and over sometimes, and I probably should just get on and do the things on the list, rather than just dreaming about those things! But it is hard to step away from all my grand ideas and make them happen.

Then there’s the new year’s resolutions. I gave up on those a few years ago, probably for two reasons (this blog post is full of lists, just warning you), reasons which also probably contributes to why I rewrite the aforementioned lists over and over:

1. They are ambiguous goals, meaning they aren’t particularly achievable or measurable, but rather quite vague. For example, a classic item on such a type of list would be, ‘I want to be good at cooking’, or ‘get fit’. The problem is, what constitutes as ‘good’ and who judges when I am fit enough?
2. New year’s resolutions give a lot of pressure, maybe without me realising it. I resolve to ‘eat healthier’, but what I am really saying is, ‘no more chocolate chip cookies EVER again!!!’, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to make that kind of commitment!

I also struggle a bit with the whole ‘bucket list’ idea. I mean, what if they never happen? Will I be okay with that? Can I justify putting something on my bucket list when there are people starving in Africa? Is it okay to have those sorts of desires and ambitions?

I’m still working this one out, but I realised a couple of things:

1. I realised that I totally think it’s okay for other people to go hang gliding or travel the world, but it’s wrong for me to do it. Inconsistent much!
2. Knowing there are people who need our help in the world or who can’t afford to do something, and therefore not doing that something myself, but also not doing anything to actively help those people is again, inconsistent logic.
3. God made this whole world. He made me me, with talents, desires, passions, quirks, and a certain outlook on life. He has blessed me with resources, people, abilities, and a country where I can do things, but not doing those things out of fear that those blessings may disappear, or that I’ll fail, or that ‘others can’t do it so therefore, I shouldn’t do it’, isn’t really accepting those gifts or enjoying what he has given me. I’m learning that this world is so amazing, but so short, all we can do is live life to the max, enjoying what God has given us and putting him first.

So with that in mind, I started to think, to dream, to dare to think I could accomplish those challenges, and to acknowledge the little things I just want to do ‘because’.

As I was thinking through this, I found a list from my friend Alannah, called 101 Goals in 1001 Days. It’s essentially that: you pick 101 goals, and give yourself 1001 days ( 2.75 years) to complete these goals. The only conditions are to pick goals that you can actually tick off, and that challenge you, or require some sort of effort on your behalf.

Here’s some of mine.

1. Go social media free for five weekends (started!)
2. Learn to waterski (and stay up!)
3. Read one Jane Austen book
4. Read 50 books (started!)
5. Write a will
6. Go to the rodeo (done!)
7. Blog weekly for a month
8. Drink two litres of water daily for a month
9. Learn to ride a horse
10. Try ultimate Frisbee
11. Learn to play tennis
12. Play the piano in Church five times
13. Buy a giraffe onesie (the big, baggy, fluffy kind)
14. Write five letters to five people who have impacted my life
15. Have 20 main course meals that I can cook easily and comfortably
16. Win a game at Mario Carts 😀
17. Buy a leather handbag
18. Take a first aid course
19. Take an Auslan (Australian sign language) course
20. Finish my Certificate IV in Business
21. Try wasabi again
22. Take each of my siblings on a date
23. Overcome one fear
24. Buy a goldfish
25. Housesit for somebody
26. Make sushi
27. Learn to reverse a trailer
28. Finish my two quilts
29. Finish my 2012 overseas album/s
30. Write a poem
31. Write a song
32. Write a 2,000 word essay
33. Learn (or make sure that I already know how because I think I know how because Mr C showed me but I don’t know if I will remember how to do it when I try again which is why it’s on this list) to use chopsticks
34. Take my grade three music theory test
35. Learn the guitar
36. Relearn to dive
37. Go bowling again
38. Make a new friend
39. Swim two kilometres
40. Learn to use the camp oven
41. Learn to use the BBQ
42. Streak my hair
43. Use coloured pens in my Bible
44. Train Bandit (our dog)
45. Get a French manicure
46. Throw a Back to the Future party
47. Paint my bedroom
48. Take a photo of myself every day for the rest of the year 2015
49. Learn to play squash
50. Learn to whistle

That’s fifty of them. Officially, the idea is to create 101, but my list has expanded to 132 as of this moment. 😉 I am so loving ‘my list’, as I call it, because:

1. It’s put into words just random, quirky things I want to do.
2. 101 goals in 1001 days is very specific and doable.
3. It’s inspiring. When I was a kid, Mum and I created a ‘Jessica’s I’m not bored list’ and it helped inspire me to do something when I was bored. Nowadays I rarely get bored, but it has inspired me to get on and do the things I want to do.
4. The time limit is longer than one year, but not endless. This means that if I don’t get to learn to water ski one summer for whatever reason, that’s okay, because I will go through more than one summer in these 1001 days and can attempt it next year. I really like that I do have a time limit, but that the time frame isn’t forever, or every day for a whole year which can be uninspiring, vague, and pressuring.

So there you have it! If you want to join in in making your goals happen, make sure to follow me on Day Zero Project, and I would love to follow you back!