The Project

I was staring at my list of New Year's resolutions from last year, and instead of making another one and forgetting about it for the rest of 2010, I thought, "Hey, maybe I'll do something different this time..."

Yup, I've jumped on the 1001 Day Project bandwagon. I'm sure a lot of you have already seen it all over the place, but for those who haven't, the project is pretty simple to describe: set 101 tasks for yourself and complete them in 1001 days. (Head over to the Day Zero website for more info.)

I don't know if I'll be able to finish this or not. I'm about to start my last semester of grad school and I don't know for sure what the future holds. I'm a chronic procrastinator and also usually end up giving up on things like this. I guess what I'm saying is that the likelihood of me finishing this is slim, but I'd like to give it a try regardless. It can't hurt to at least set out some goals, right? I'm hoping this will be an opportunity for some growth (as cliche as that sounds...), as well as an opportunity to break some of my old bad habits and learn some new things.

I've made up most of a list already, with a couple of blank spaces (93-101) for things that may come up later, and of course the goals will have to be flexible, as I'm pretty sure things will change or seem different once I get to work. I've sorted the list into categories, and, if I have the time and patience to do so, I'll cover each of the categories in separate posts and talk about why I've put certain items on my list.

I decided to start it yesterday (Jan 1st, 2010) because it's an easy date to remember and because this list is replacing my usual list of resolutions. Since I'm sort of jumping into this without much planning, I'm not sure if I'll be able to start the "once a month" things this month, or if I'll have to kick those off in February. At any rate, that start date means that I should be finished on Friday, September 28, 2012.

So, without further ado, the list (hopefully I didn't miss anything while I was reorganizing the list):

School/Professional/Finances

1. Write thesis

2. Finish MA

5. Get a job

21. Start saving for retirement

22. Take a stock market course or read a book about it and get more involved in your stocks

43. Keep track of finances better- make a detailed list of spending once a month

52. Pass Level 1 of the JLPT

63. Pay off as much of my student loan debt as possible (depending on job situation)

89. Go to a career counseling session

Social

8. Write a letter to someone at least once a month

36. Call my brothers at least once a month

15. Update lj/blog/whatever at least once a month (eng & jap)

16. Keep a separate journal about this project and update at least once a month

44. Write to host family 5 times

66. Send a "just because" card to someone once a month

70. [Private]

Creativity and Crafting

9. Finish writing Jacques' story

12. Learn 5 new pieces of music

17. Project 365 (photograph a day for a year)

18. Draw or paint a self-portrait

23. Make a scrapbook or finish the picture book from Aunt Lisa

28. Read entire manual for camera and use all of its functions at least once

30. Finish all the cross stitch kits you have

31. Finish the latchhook you started like 10 years ago

32. Make a quilt

42. Learn how to develop film

58. Learn to make your own soap

91. Finish at least 10 paintings or drawings

90. Learn to make candles

Reading, Movies, and Games, oh my!

13. Read 200 books not related to thesis

14. Read 10 books in Japanese

20. Play all of your un-played video games

59. See a new movie once a month

90. Watch all of the movies I own that I haven't seen yet

91. Actually read the self-help/personal development books that have been recommended to you over the years

Getting Out and About

7. A-Z Travel List

25. See all of the major museums you haven't seen in SF

40. Go to the ballet or opera once a year

45. Visit Monterrey Bay Aquarium

46. Ride a segway

47. Ride the zipcars with Laura

55. Go somewhere new in Asia

56. Go horseback riding

57. Go swimming in the ocean

60. Go somewhere new once a month

67. Go to a wine/beer tasting

73. Eat at 30 new restaurants

74. Go out stargazing or moon viewing

80. Go do something by myself 10 times

83. Go camping at least twice

92. Visit 3 countries I've never been to before

Giving

3. Volunteer once a month

26. Go through clothes and donate the ones you don't wear anymore

62. Donate blood at least once

82. Donate 100,000 grains of rice at freerice.com

Health

4. Do 100 sit-ups a day for a month

11. Run a 5K without stopping or run a 10K

34. Take a yoga class

35. Finish the Couch to 5K program

48. Get back to 125 lbs

64. Take a dance class of some sort

Personal

10. [Private]

19. Get palm read

38. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy

49. Start (and keep up with) the picture of yourself per day account for at least a month (flickaday.com, I think)

72. Write a letter to myself to open when this is finished.

75. Write a list of things I need to improve about myself

84. Retake the personality test

88. [Private]

Cleaning/Organization :(

27. Clean out inbox in all email accounts

29. Backup both computers once a month

54. Organize all of the music on my computer

61. Keep room/desk clean for two weeks straight

77. Sell the old textbooks I don't need

78. Get rid of the ridiculous reams of old notes that I'm not going to read again

87. Clean the house once a month

Miscellaneous

6. Cook something new once a month

24. Learn to ski/snowboard

33. Write a will? / consolidate lists of passwords and give to someone

37. Spend 10 minutes a day reading the news

39. Watch a sunrise and sunset

41. Go to an archery range again

50. Learn how to do a French braid

51. Learn how to do a new style of eye makeup

53. Do a crossword or Sudoku once a week

65. Upgrade my desktop

68. Learn how to make 10 drinks

69. Use all of the kitchen gadgets you have at least once

71. Have another professional portrait of me and Mom done

76. Learn how to make a damn good omelette

79. Wake up before 8am everyday for two weeks

81. Paint nails once a month

85. Get rid of Bertie's fleas

86. Trim Bertie's nails once a month

So, wish me luck. This will have to get updated at least once a month, but will hopefully get done more often. We'll see how it goes....