101 Things in 1001 Days in Diary

I found it! I searched the notepad version of my Open Diary that I took and found my massively out of date list in there. The deadline is actually TODAY so I'll have to tidy it up and start again but I'm glad I have the basis. The list as it stands is below; incomplete at only 95 challenges and some of them haven't been updated in ages (see 75 films at the cinema, read 50 books plus others; the number is much higher now; I'll have to start these again)

If anyone wants to have a look at my list and see what sort of things I have on there, any suggestions for things you think I might enjoy are most welcome :o)

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 organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips: 1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it. 2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress. 3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy. 4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment. 5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.</center>

So I epically failed on my first attempt at this, having only completing 42 challenges, but I did actually enjoy it and ended up doing a lot of stuff I enjoyed and felt was worthwhile, things which I probably would have put off doing if I didn’t my 101 thing challenge to work towards. So I’m doing another list! I’ve learnt a couple of things from my first attempt.

Firstly, I was putting too much pressure on myself; either financially, timewise or otherwise. For example, there were too many travelling items in there. Visit a new country, visit a new US state and visit South Africa again. There’s no way I could do all that in the space of 1001 days. One of them maybe, but definitely not all of them. So, although I will still be challenging myself, I won’t be putting quite so much pressure on myself this time around.

Secondly, I’ve learnt that I can’t have challenges that rely on other people. For example, quite a few of my original challenges involved Pete, and we all know how that turned out. So I had to cut these out of the list and never got around to replacing them. Also, things that rely on other people’s decisions such as getting a new job, having a letter published in a magazine, appear on TV etc. I can try as hard as I like, but I still need other people to decide to let these things happen, and with all the will in the world I can’t influence other people’s decisions! So I need challenges that rely on me and me alone.

Some challenges I failed at last time, and I’m going to put some of them in here again and have another bash at them.

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Completed 28/95</center>

The biggest challenge I’m giving myself I’m going to put right up there at the top.

1) Complete more challenges than I did last time!

2) Get singing lessons.

3) Pole dance at least once a week.

4) Visit a new country or US state.

5) Have £8,000 in a savings account / ISA

6) Don’t spend any money for 200 separate days. (200/200)

7) Donate 150,000 grains of rice on www.freerice.com. (61,140/150,000)

8) Try 10 muffin recipes (1/10) and 10 cookie recipes (1/10). I have recipe books for both of these things, which I bought ages ago with a mind to learn how to bake, but never got around to it.

9) Move in with Jay. 16/9/11

10) Volunteer with a charity. Applied to the Cinnamon Trust

11) Visit the cinema 75 times. I only managed 57 last time which is shocking, it should be easy enough to go 75 times; that’s once every 11 days, going once a week should be no problem. (31/75)

12) Make a scrap book for me and Jay; I’ve kept tickets, leaflets etc for places we’ve been, so I need to print photos to go with them and make a scrap book.

13) Make £50 a month for three separate months on 63336. (they don’t have to be consecutive). (0/3)

14) Learn to do the splits.

15) Eat the recommended 5-a-day fruit and veg for a week; I usually only manage 2 or 3. (days 2/7)

16) Cook a two course meal for my parents.

17) Host a cocktail party.

18) Sign up to PostCrossing and send 10 postcards. (4/10)Finland, Germany, USA, Russia.

19) Read the Bible (as an atheist).

20) Document as many as possible with photos and write-ups.

21) Donate £2 to charity for each incomplete task.

22) Write 52 thank you notes (inspired by 52 thank yous, which is one thank you a week for a year.) (5/52)

23) Discover five new bands to love. (0/5)

24) Keep my weight at or under 10 stone (140lb) for at least half the duration (32/500)

25) Learn to play a song on the guitar. I have a guitar, but I’ve never played it. I love listening to Jay playing the guitar and would love it even more if I could play it myself.

26) Kiss in the rain. Such a cliché I know!

27) Start to learn a foreign language. I keep meaning to do this, but I’m not very good with languages so I tend to give up quite quickly.

28) Make a proper go of mine and Jay’s acoustic duet.

29) Keep trying to learn how to crochet, and crochet something. crocheted a very wobbly baby blanket.

30) Complete the 5,000 question survey (900/5,000)

31) Wear my 6” heels on a night out. I bought these awesome shoes but haven’t been brave enough to wear them out yet! 24/08/2013

32) Send 5 random gifts for no reason. (0/5)

33) See at least one of the following live (if they play!): Blur, Muse, Offspring, Radiohead, Swell Season, Mark Lanegan (I know I’ve already seen Mark Lanegan but I didn’t know who he was so couldn’t enjoy it properly!)

34) Get photo booth type photos with Jay (he hates having his picture taken, but I’ll make him!)

35) Take an evening class/ get a new qualification.

36) Do five more Apocalypse Girls shoots and get a Model Mayhem account. (1/5)

37) Learn a new way to style my hair and wear it out at least once. Victory rolls

38) Give five handmade items as gifts (knitted, baked etc) (2/5) (Knitted baby hat, home made soap)

39) Own some Coco Mademoiselle perfume. Complete 27/6/11, Jay bought me some for our 2nd anniversary.

40) Get rid of all my unwanted books. 16/9/11

41) Read 50 books (19/50)

42) Save all my £2 coins and spend them on Christmas presents

43) Don’t complain about anything for a week. (0/7)

44) Do a sponsored something for charity. Romania bear trip

45) Try five new foods. 1- Paella, 2- Samphire

46) Donate blood five more times (3/5)

47) Say “yes” to everything for a whole day.

48) Be able to do 50 press ups in one go. (currently 15)

49) Be able to do 100 sit ups in one go. (currently 30)

50) Go to a museum I have never visited before.

51) Say yes to something I would normally say no to.

52) Go to two theatre shows.

53) Identify 100 things that make me happy. Complete

54) Slowdance (I’ve never done this before!) Complete 27/5/11

55) Smile at everyone I meet for a day.

56) Write a will.

57) Get a spa treatment. August 2011

58) Read five biographies. (1/5)

59) Complete the Birmingham Monopoly Pub Crawl

60) Go to a Safari Park Complete 24/6/11

61) Knit a blanket

62) Pass it forward! Help someone who needs it, as people helped me when I needed it

63) Watch a sunrise/ sunset or sunset/sunrise in the same day/night Holiday in Florida

64) Adopt an animal in need of love Adopted two zebra finches

65) Grow something edible and eat it Tomatoes, September 2013

66) Learn (meaning memorise) 10 cocktails and make them

67) Compliment a stranger

68) Watch 5 Disney animated films as I've only seen a couple Complete 22/08/2012 (1- Bolt, 2- Dumbo, 3- Aristocats, 4- Lady and the Tramp, 5- The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

69) Buy someone flowers for no reason

70) Make playlists on iTunes for different moods

71) Throw a surprise party for someone 04/06/2012 (Mam and Dad wedding anniversary)

72) Buy a clarinet and start to learn to play- Bought

73) Photograph a landscape from the same location, capturing all four seasons

74) Get a first aid kit for the car 29/07/2012

75) Try five new restaurants (1- Mug House in Bewdley, 2- Purnell's in Birmingham, 3 - Mrs. Murphy's Kitchen in Santa Ponsa, 4 - Restaurante Xaloc in Santa Ponsa, 5- Annexe in Birmingham

76) Be brave enough to wear my bikini in public Complete 11/4/12

77) Go on a Photoshop course, possibly find a wedding photography course.

78) Learn all the UK counties and where they are.

79) Learn 100 new words. (6/100) 1. Hypnagogic - Sleep inducing. 2. Peripatetic - Travelling around for work 3. Poikilotherm - Cold-blooded 4. Neologism- Quite aptly means new word 5. Acerbic - Sharp and forthright, or sour/bitter 6. Portmanteau- A word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings, eg 'smog'

80) Take a self portrait every week for one year

81) Go snorkelling

82) Take a romantic walk on the beach,September 2011

83) Pursue the Rockabilly look; hair, make up, clothes

84) Have a photo wall in my house- Started with Romania photos

85) Bake a birthday cake for someone 04/06/2012 (Anniversary cake for mam and dad)

86) Get my photos stored electronically in at least two places and get rid of as many prints as possible. 1- External hard drive

87) Learn 50 new things by clicking on random articles on Wikipedia.

88) Make a proper go of my pet sitting business. Get my website sorted, get contacts, learn stuff, get registered as self employed, set up an office.

89) Complete C25K.- Day 5/24 done.

90) Watch every episode of Lost. 121/121

91) Shoot 100 gigs 55/100

92) Earn £600 worth of Amazon vouchers on Swagbucks. £380/£600

93) Get engaged.

94) Watch every episode of Dexter (84/96)

95) Submit images to Alamy. Hopefully pass their quality control and become a contributor.