I’ve decided to participate in Day Zero’s 101 Day 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 1001 days.  I’m starting September 12, 2010 and ending on June 9, 2013 (date calculator).

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 1001 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.

The Key:

Italicized items are goals currently in progress, while bolded items are those that have been completed.

The List:

Charity (3/7)
1. Volunteer at a soup kitchen
2. Raise $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (09/14/10)
I raised over $7,000!
3. Participate in a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training Event
4. Participate in a Habitat for Humanity project (05/05/12)
5. Donate to a different charity each month
So far: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (09/10); Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (10/10); St. Mary’s/Island Harvest (11/10); Women In Need (12/10); Good Shepherd Hospice/AIDS Walk New York (01/11); I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation (02/11);  American Foundation for Suicide Prevention/St. Baldrick’s Foundation (03/11), American Red Cross (04/11), Con-way Truckload Employee Tornado Relief Fund (05/11), Sunrise Day Camp (06/11), Heifer International (07/11), Lupus Alliance of America (08/11), JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes (09/11),  Natasha’s Justice Project (10/11), Movember (11/11), PaperBackSwap School Donation Program / Catholic Alumni Partnership (12/11); American Heart Association (01/12); Five Fabulous Boys (02/12); NAMI Walks/National Multiple Sclerosis Society (03/12), Carey Scovel Memorial Fund (04/12); Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk (05/12)
6. Buy a homeless person a meal (04/08/11)
7. Participate in 10 charitable events
So far: Light the Night Walk, OMG Cancer Summit for Young Adults 2012, Habitat for Humanity Women Build Week

Creative (6/15)
8. Get CheaperNYC.com up and running
9. Put together a collage of my Journey memorabilia
10. Bake five different cookies and give them away as gifts (12/18/11)
11. Create an LLC
12. Create an Etsy account to sell jewelry (12/01/10)
13. Buy five things from Etsy that others have created (01/23/10)
Purchased: Victorian Pink Blush Starlet Antique Gold Ring,  Web of Deceit Blood Red Ring, Garnets In Paradise Earrings, Rat Print, NYC Subway Train Magnets
14. Create 10 new items for my Zazzle store
15. Crochet a blanket (01/13/11)
16. Paint a large acrylic painting
17. Buy a new lens for my Nikon D40 (11/12/10)
Well, it didn’t go exactly as planned, but I did buy a new lens! I accidentally dropped my camera and broke the AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm lens that came with the camera, and wound up buying a new, albeit more expensive, replacement. Same model, except with a vibration resistance feature that will  help when taking photos for work and of transit. I wanted to buy a macro lens, but it was slightly out of budget, so I purchased $30 magnifying filters instead.
18. Organize my books by subject
19. Buy five people The Book of Awesome
20. Make my own list of 100 things that are awesome
21. Build a display case for my R40 roll sign
22. Build a snowman (12/27/10)
http://twitpic.com/3kbc0a

Education (1/12)
23. Buy Rosetta Stone software
24. Learn how to speak Mandarin
25. Learn how to navigate the stock market
26. Learn how to count to 10 and say I love you, hello, goodbye, please, and thank you in 10 different languages besides English
So far: Spanish
27. Learn Flash animation
28. Learn how to draw vector art
29. Learn how to properly knot a man’s tie
30. Teach a class or seminar
31. Learn 10 new recipes (12/18/11)
Beef Pot Roast; Pumpkin Bread Pudding; Turkey Meatloaf (modified to this); Basic Crepes; Oatmeal Banana Nut Bread; Soft Ginger Cookies (Real Simple, December 2011); Pecan Balls (Real Simple, December 2011); Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (Real Simple, December 2011); my grandmother’s Christmas butter cookies; Coconut Macaroons.
32. Learn how to play a new card game
33. Take three classes
34. Learn and become certified in CPR

Entertainment (3/8)
35. Go to three concerts of bands I’ve never seen before
So far: Gregg Rolie Band, Steve Augeri Band
36. Watch 10 movies I’ve never seen before (09/17/10)
Watched: Shrek Forever After; When Friendship Kills; Easy A; The Time Traveler’s Wife; You Again; Valley of the Dolls; Mean Girls; Beastly; The Help; $5 A Day
37. Watch three independent or foreign films (02/04/11)
Watched: Babies; Formosa Betrayed; The Kids Are All Right
38. Attend three local perfomances
39. Read at least 20 books that I haven’t read yet from Newsweek’s “Top 100 Books”
So far: Elie Wiesel’s Night, Toni Morrison’s Son of Solomon, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five
40. Read 10 new books not on the list above (10/08/11)
So far: Jennifer Weiner’s Best Friends Forever; Barbara Delinsky’s Not My Daughter; James Patterson’s Sundays At Tiffany’s; Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls; Sophia Kinsella’s Mini Shopoholic; Lauren Weisberger’s Everyone Worth Knowing, Sapphire’s Push; Chris Cleave’s Little Bee; Kathryn Stockett’s The Help
41. Read five books suggested to me by others
So far: Douglas Coupland’s All Families are Psychotic
42. Host a dinner-and-a-movie party

Fun (5/11)
43. Go camping
44. Go on a picnic (07/05/11)
45. Go hiking
46. Try 10 new restaurants on Long Island (03/24/11)
What I tried: Five Guys; Lawan Thai; Truffles Bistro; The Cup Coffeehouse; Blue Gator Bar & Grill; Tomo Sushi; Port Royal Grille; Aji 53; Skippers Restaurant; Cheeburger Cheeburger
47. Try 10 new restaurants in New York City (04/10/11)
What I tried:  Oriental Noodle Shop; Baohaus; Aki Sushi West; Shake Shack; Sushi Hana; Bobby Van’s; Food Gallery 32; The Parlour; Brooklyn Diner; Skylight Diner
48. Try White Castle (07/03/11)
49. Send a message in a bottle
50. Participate in a parade
51. Go apple picking
52. Get photos taken in a photo booth
53. Try karaoke (03/29/12)
Sang Starship’s “Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now” and stunk. But I did it! 

Health (4/11)
54. Start and successfully complete the Couch to 5k program
55. Participate in a 5k
56. Complete 30 push-ups
57. Buy Rollerblades (07/17/11)
I didn’t have to buy them – found a brand new pair in my size, with all safety pads included, in a free-for-the-taking pile in front of someone’s Connecticut house!
58. Learn to Rollerblade
59. Don’t drink any soda for a month (01/31/11)
60. Don’t eat any fast food for a month
61. Go vegetarian for two weeks
62. Take a Zumba class (06/20)11)
63. Bring myself back down to the weight I was when I graduated high school
64. Get at least eight hours of sleep every day for a week (01/09/11)

New York City (1/8)
65. Visit the Statue of Liberty
66. Visit Ellis Island
67. Visit Hayden Planetarium (10/30/11)
68. Visit the Cloisters
69. Go ice skating at Rockefeller Center, Wollman Rink, or Bryant Park
70. Attend three Broadway or off-Broadway shows
So far: Leap of Faith
71. Spend a day in the city doing nothing but taking photos
72. Spend a day in NYC for less than $20, minus LIRR and subway/bus fare.

Personal (3/12)
73. Buy a car (10/10/10)
’09 Toyota Corolla
74. Get married
75. Get my bedroom organized
76. Pay off my student loan debt
77. Save three months’ salary for a cushion fund
78. Reconnect with a friend I haven’t spoken to in years
79. Teach Obi a new trick (11/06/10)
Taught her “Three Cup Monte” by hiding a treat underneath one of the cups and switching them around. She flips the one with the treat hidden.
80. Walk Obi once a day for a month on good weather days
81. Organize my  photo collection
82. Get a full-body massage (06/04/11)
83. Get my copies of Commercial Property News bound into hard copies
84. PDF every one of my Bisnow issues

Travel (5/7)
85. Visit three new states
So far: West Virginia
86. Visit a new country (10/08/11)
England, Scotland, and Wales
87. Go on a cruise
88. Ride a sleeper train (09/27/11)
Caledonian Sleeper from Edinburgh to London
89. Take a mini-road trip that hits at least five states (09/26/10)
I hit New York,  New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts on a road trip to my friend Allicia’s wedding.
90. Visit Washington, DC during cherry blossom season (03/27/11)
91. Go on 10 field trips with Lexcie to places I’ve never explored before (05/13/11)
We hit Milford, PA; Willimantic, CT; Atkinson/Salem, NH; Montauk line east of Sayville; North Fork of Long Island; Orient Point/Montauk Point/Shelter Island, Acadia National Park/Ellsworth, ME; Cape Ann, MA; White Mountains, NH; and Allston, MA

Writing (3/10)
92. Finish my book
93. Get my book published
94. Get paid for a published article or story (10/20/10)
95. Get an article or story published somewhere besides Bisnow (10/20/10)
I wrote a 1,500-word advertorial on women in commercial real estate, which appeared in the New York Times, pages B12/B14
96. Participate in NaNoWriMo (11/30/10)
Participated, but didn’t make it to the 50,000-word mark. It was too difficult for me to write all day for work, then come home and write some more. Perhaps I’ll try again next year and be successful. But I do have a bunch of story ideas in my head now.
97. Blog at least once a day for 30 days
98. Complete my Wreck This Journal
99. Complete my All About Me
100. Write five letters of praise about a good service or product
101. Write a new 1001 in 101 List