Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Week One

All right – here is my weekly blog entry update on my 101 list. From now on, expect one every Wednesday-ish. Let’s see here. This week I’ve already started tackling a few of my goals. I obliterated one the other day. I wrote a Wikipedia article (#50)! Now, I used to think there was nothing to it, but it actually takes a little bit of effort. You can read it here. It’s about a group I am involved with. I also wrote a short story – you can read it here. And I started on a couple of my goals. One I already failed at is the scriptures one (#67), dang it. I only got 3 days out of 7 this week, because I kept forgetting, but I’m going to do better this week. Other than the weekly / monthly goals, here are some others I’m currently working on: re-memorizing poems (#92 – I almost have down Sick), reading Les Misérables (#98 – I’ve read 3 chapters so far…out of 365).

Next week’s small goals to reach 101 goals: study for GMAT (#16), start reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader (#71 and #18), start my month-long no eating out goal on Aug. 1 (#27),and start using teeth whitening stuff I have (#8).

P.S. I promise next week's entry will be more interesting to read.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

My 101 Things

So a bunch of people at work were looking at this web site the other day, and I thought it was really cool, so I decided to do it too. The idea is goal setting. Most of us regularly set goals on Jan. 1 every year, and those goals fade away fairly quickly. But posting your goals online for others to see is a good way to make sure you actually do the things you set out to do. So hold me accountable for these things! Anyway, I don't know where this originated, but here are the basics:
The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part).
Check out the site for more information / why 1001 days (~2.75 years), etc.

Anyway, so I decided to write my very own list of 101 things to do in the next 1001 days, and as I complete each task, I'm going to blog about it. I'll probably blog once a week with an update. Oh yeah - and don't make fun of me or my goals. That wouldn't be cool. :)

1. Go to the Grand Canyon and watch the sunrise.
2. Finish writing my book, and get it published.
3. Lose about 4 inches from my waist, and add 1 inch to my arms.
4. Decorate my apartment.
5. Learn how to ride a motorcycle.
6. Eat lobster.
7. Kiss outside in a downpour.
8. Whiten my teeth.
9. Go horseback riding on a date.
10. Visit a state I've never been to before.
11. Sell something on eBay.
12. Organize and print off all my journals.
13. Get medical / dental insurance.
14. Write a short story.
15. Write a short play.
16. Take the GMAT / apply for business school.
17. Plant a small "garden" (at least with potted plants).
18. Read one book a month. [0/32]
19. Get a new driver's license (do I have to get it in Utah?).
20. Give blood every two months (I have O negative and CMV negative blood, which means I'm the universal donor, and that they can give my blood to babies). [0/16]
21. Pay off all debt...early.
22. Audition for and act in a film.
23. Write a will.
24. Buy a piano.
25. Be at home for my littlest brother's / dad's birthdays for the first time since the year 2000.
26. Highlight or dye my hair (for the first time) just for the heck of it.
27. Go one month without eating out (fast food or otherwise).
28. Visit Washington, D.C.
29. Hike Mt. Timanogos at night and watch the sunrise from the top.
30. Go to the beach (I miss it so much!).
31. Pay for a stranger's meal at a restaurant.
32. Play 18 holes of golf (at least so I can say I did it).
33. Travel to at least one LDS church history site.
34. Babysit a new baby.
35. Go skinnydipping. :)
36. Eat fondue, either at a restaurant, or (more ambitiously) learn how to do it myself at home.
37. Act in a play at the Hale and one at the Scera. [0/2]
38. Shave my head (not shiny, though).
39.
Get over her.
40. Give a ridiculously HUGE tip for good service at a restaurant.
41. Be able to immediately snap in and out of character when acting.
42. Be in a dinner group (start one if there are none to join).
43.
Go camping in Moab.
44.
Learn how to change my own oil.
45. Get a physical.
46. Play baseball / softball on a team.
47.
Fall in love again.
48. Get married.
49. Surprise my family with a random trip to see them.
50. Create a wikipedia article.
51. Go on a 45-minute (at least) bike ride once a week. [0/143]
52. Buy furniture for my new apartment.
53. Stop getting road rage.
54. Get a local library card.
55. Have a week-long (or even month-long) facebook fast.
56. Play outside in a thunderstorm, including - but not limited to - jumping in puddles.
57. Make scones from scratch.
58. Buy at least two power tools.
59. Save 35% of my take-home pay (put it in savings and don't touch it).
60. Make a shelf or display cabinet of some sort for my shot glass collection.
61. Play roller hockey.
62. Go to a concert.
63. Go to a drive-in theater.
64. Figure out how to get rid of arm bumpies...then get rid of them.
65. Pick up on a girl I don't know and get her phone number.
66. Bake a cheesecake.
67. Read at least five minutes from the scriptures every day. [0/1001]
68. Go for two weeks without any type of food made with refined sugar.
69. Buy a homeless person a meal (and eat with them).
70. Record songs in a real recording studio.
71. Finish re-reading the Narnia series.
71. Learn to snowboard.
72. Get a fish as a pet.
73. Register to vote and then vote in the November election.
74. Buy a BBQ and use it for a small party.
75. Stay at a bread and breakfast on the Oregon coast.
76. Dress up really cool for Halloween one year instead of blowing it off like usual.
77. Go to a tanning salon.
78. Get a massage (hey - it's not just for girls).
79. Get the trackpad on my computer fixed...finally.
80. Be at work early every day for a week.
81. Buy a kite. Fly it.
82. Be the lead in a play again.
83. Write one missionary a month. [0/32]
84. Go to Disneyland.
85. Write in my journal at least once a week for a year [0/52]
86. Don't refuse an invitation to do something just because I don't want to go / be social. Only refuse if I have a genuine conflict.
87. Kiss under the mistletoe, and at midnight on New Year's.
88. Replace my old wallet (even though I don't want to - I've had it for 8 years). :(
89. Write a freelance article and get it published somewhere.
90. Go to a water park.
91. Get at least one custom-made, French-cuff shirt.
92. Re-memorize some of the poems I learned in 5th grade (Casey at the Bat, Sick, The Little Blue Engine, The Gettysburg Address, first page of Paul Revere's Ride).
93. Write a song (this is getting pretty ambitious).
94. Take another tap dance class / get back into tap.
95. Read books to kids at the library.
96. Learn all the articles of and amendments to the Constitution (don't have to memorize word for word).
97. Make a brand new meal once a month. [0/32]
98. Read Les Miserables.
99. Visit my little brother's grave.
100. Go watch a professional theater production.
101. Adjust any of these goals if they
are no longer applicable, and reward myself with a treat for every one accomplished.


Frequent Tasks:
Every day:

67. Read at least five minutes from the scriptures every day. [0/1001]
Once a week:

51. Go on a 45-minute (at least) bike ride once a week. [0/143]
85. Write in my journal at least once a week for a year [0/52]
Once a month:
18. Read one book a month. [0/32]
83. Write one missionary a month. [0/32]
97. Make a brand new meal once a month. [0/32]
Once every two months:
20. Give blood every two months (I have O negative and CMV negative blood, which means I'm the universal donor, and that they can give my blood to babies). [0/16]