.jpg)
There’s no doubt about it, I’m goal oriented, but like many people I’m always my worst enemy. I had a conversation with a coworker a week or two ago about how if we had a friend as brutal, as negative, as cutthroat as our inner voice, we’d never once consider their friendship. But this inner voice can have two very distinct effects. For some, the inner voice seems to push them harder and further into areas of their life they couldn’t make it without that extra thrust. People like me, however, fit into the second group who seem to feel battered by the inner voice and it does anything but drive us toward our better selves.
I, like many others I know, love to write lists and we might even be known to put a few things on it we accomplished 5 minutes earlier, just to be able to cross them off and feel good. I’ve done this project before and I love it so I decided to start a new list of goals. After sitting and staring at my previous list, of which I’d already completed more than 40% of, I began to feel the weightiness of the goals that weren’t attainable. Sure I’d crossed off some big items like moving overseas, saving a 6 month emergency fund, quitting my day job and frivolous goodies like dancing without shame or kissing someone in the rain without an umbrella but other items started to make me feel disappointed that I’d never even get close to completion before time was up, which isn’t the point of this exercise at all!
What I want from all this is to stop being the kind of person who simply talks about what they want to do, where they want to go and what they want to learn to being the kind of person who is making the effort to walk at a steady pace, toward a life worth living every single day. I want to set achievable goals (and some that require a little more time, planning or effort) and see a little progress. Think of it like the daily to-do list, only without packing it full of things you’ve already completed. I’m convinced that keeping it within reason for right now is helpful to gain confidence, happiness and move me toward the bigger life goals because what is a big goal if not for the steady building blocks of smaller goals all coming together.
So I give you my new 101 things for 1001 days list (please note they are in no particular order)
1-Go a month without buying anything that isn’t a necessity
2-Learn a basic cake recipe by heart
3-Learn a basic cookie recipe by heart
4-Learn a third language
5-Do some form of exercise every day for a month
6-Reduce my hair and makeup products by half
7-Add another $2000 to savings
8-Jump in a pile of leaves like I did when I was little
9-Make a photo book
10-Take a cooking class – bonus if you do a whole program
11-Do a 100 days project
12-Make proper Aioli
13-Make a good puff pastry
14-Complete paperwork
15-Go to Iceland (or some other country I’ve never been)
16-Make Pita
17-Get a subscription to Marmiton
18-Eat homemade food only for 1 month
19-Map someplace
20-Make a Year in Pictures album
21-Walk to the grocery store for a month
22-Photograph and write up one recipe for each month to make a calendar
23-Taste G’Vin grape gin
24-Drop a dress size
25-Remove the word “like” as a verbal filler
26-Attend a wine crush festival
27-Learn a fourth language
28-Build a piece of furniture
29-Learn about and experiment with a new ingredient
30-Take a dance class
31-Try to make a months worth of food with $100 while still eating well
32-Host an event
33-Make an artful journal on paper
34-Memorize a short crust pastry recipe
35-Speak something positive about myself before I start each day for a month
36-Learn to play a song on a new instrument
37-Develop a new soap
38-Go a month without shampoo
39-Find 5 new ingredients I can forage for
40-Create 3 DIY tutorials
41-Skate on the Rideau Canal CANADA
42-Plan something exciting for my 30th birthday
43-Retrain yourself to be more positive and joyful
44-Go camping on the Olympic Peninsula
45-Take one day a week for a month to do something good for the soul
46-Take a wine tasting class
47-Help out at a vineyard
48-Learn enough on a subject to teach or tour it
49-Develop list of recipes for “in-flight” meals
50-Make a piece of art
51-Attend a food, wine or scotch festival
52-Dance in the rain
53-Make a cookbook
54-See the Northern Lights
55-Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
56-Go see something at the Paris Opera house
57-Design a set of 12 postcards
58-Take myself on a picnic with a book
59-Take an online course
60-Develop and document 5 new recipes
61-Buy a sparkly piece of clothing and wear it without feeling silly
62-Wear heels for a week
63-Stay up all night (on purpose) and watch the sun rise
64-Read, “No man is an island” by Thomas Merton
65-Take a roll of film
66-Do a 365 photo challenge
67-Build a fort and sleep in it
68-Jump into another body of water fully clothed
69-Study a place and then go visit it
70-Go to a European football match
71-Go to a cultural event like the tomatina
72-Put an entire paycheque into savings
73-Learn 3 new constallations
74-Go to the Guggenheim in NYC
75-Reinterpret a famous piece of art
76-Help someone overcome a challenge
77-Clear out my purse every night for a month
78-Save $10 for every task I complete
79-Develop a portfolio
80-Develop a portfolio of only pro-bono work
81-Start a wine journal
82-Vacation somewhere international with a close friend
83-Make a day zero book of accomplishments
84-Take a tour of the airport
85-Make Cheese
86-Spend a weekend in a cabin
87-Document an aspect of a friends life that they are passionate about
88-Go on a road trip without a pre-set destination
89-Go back to school
90-Be a tourist in my own city
91-Go WWOOFing
92-Sleep under the stars
93-Take photobooth photo in every country I visit
94-Become comfortable having my photo taken
95-Take 12 self portraits
96-Make a piece of art once a week for a month
97-Make a photo book for each country I visit from now on
98-Go outside in the rain one day, just because it’s raining
99-Go to fête de la musique and enjoy an evening of fun
100-Go on a kayaking trip
101-Climb the Eiffel Tower PARIS
