Checking In After Week 1

Completed: 3 (strike through)
On Track: 25 (Italics)
See the updated list here.


Daily Tasks:
Considering the whole idea behind keeping up with daily tasks is that I'm trying to get into the habit, I'm trying to leave myself some room for error.  I would consider completing a daily task 75% of the time would be sufficient.  Therefore, I cannot miss the task more than 250 times.  That is where I will draw the line at the end of the 1001 days.  By those standards, I would consider all of my daily tasks on track (as noted by the italics) with the exceptions of the tasks that I haven't even started yet. 

Weekly Tasks:
Weekly tasks are a lot easier to stick to as they only need to be done once a week.  I would consider completing my weekly tasks 90% of the time to be successful.  This means that I can miss 14 weeks and still be okay at the end of my 1001 days.

Overview as of January 9, 2011:

101 things in 1001 days

Start Date: January 1st, 2011

End Date:  September 28, 2013
Last Update: January 10, 2011

Introduction

1.   Post this list somewhere I see it everyday 

2.   Update the list once a week to see where I’m at (1/1)

Love

3.   Say I love you while angry

4.   Have a weekly date night with SO (0/1)

5.   Eat dinner at kitchen table with SO once a week (0/1)

Career

6.   Get promoted to GS-12

7.   Complete all of the BOMI classes for an FMA

8.   Wake up on time everyday for a month 

9.  Use a planner to be more organized at work

10.  Earn regional recognition through work

Household

11. Set one goal and complete it weekly (1/1)
12.  Buy a house

13.  Scoop the litter box instead of SO at least once a week (0/1)

14.  Spend 15 minutes each weekday cleaning (7/8)

15.  Spend an hour each weekend cleaning (1/1)

16.  Cook at least once a week (1/1)

17.  Try a new recipe once a month

18.  Finish laundry every weekend (1/1)

19.  Buy new living room set and bedroom set for new house

20.  Make bed every morning (1/1)

21.  Start Composting

22.  Get a dog

23.  Sort through my paper pile and file weekly (1/1)

Finance

24.  Obtain $10000 in savings (not including down payment for house)

25.  Invest anything above $10000

26.  Save 10% of each paycheck

27.  Only eat out for lunch once a week at work (1/1)

28.  Clip coupons weekly and actually use them (1/1)

29.  Empty my wallet of change each week and stash it in the change jar (0/1)

30.  Be contributing 15% to my TSP by the end of 1001 days

31.  Complete my taxes within two weeks of getting the W-2

Health (Mind, Body, and Spirit)

32. Start a dream journal

33.  Exercise at least three times a week (1/3)

34.  Watch what I eat, and don’t go over recommended calorie inake for the week (0/1)

35.  Attend church weekly (1/1)

36.  Read the Bible

37.  Subscribe to dictionary.com’s word of the day, and use each word (1/8)

38.  Give at least 1% of salary to CFC each year

39.  Give up something negative or do something beneficial for Lent each year

40.  Keep a journal and write in it at least once a week (0/1)

41.  Keep up with daily beauty routine morning and night (7/8)

42.  Watch the news or read the news paper daily (5/8)

43.  Start a swear jar.  25¢ per offense.

44.  Visit dentist every six months

45.  Visit doctor once a year

46.  Complete a half marathon

47.  Complete a marathon

48.  Take a multi-vitamin daily (0/8)

49.  Take fish oil daily (0/8)

50.  Eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal (liquid form counts)(6/8)

51.  Take a relaxing bath once a week (0/1)

52.  By organic produce

53.  Pay for the person behind me at a drive-thru

54.  Drink 8 glasses of water per day (4/8)

55.  Complete P90X Lean

56.  Complete P90X Standard

57.  Eat Breakfast Everyday (7/8)

58.  Have my cholesterol tested

59.  Find my blood type

Friends and Family

60.  Keep track of birthdays and send birthday cards

61.  Call home at least once a week to catch up (1/1)

62.  Send Christmas Cards every year

63.  Find a pen pal

64.  Bake Christmas cookies for everybody

65.  Bring a homemade dish to pass to family functions

Appearance and Self Esteem

66.  Purchase a new fashionable item once a pay period (purse, clothing, etc.) (1/1)

67.  Find a beauty routine that works and stick to it

68.  Go through my closet each season and donate old clothes

69.  Find a hair salon and visit regularly.

70.  Wear jewelry

71.  Purchase armoire to keep jewelry in

Hobbies/Travel

72.    Write for the NaNoWriMo each year

73.    Take falconry classes

74.    Publish a book online

75.    Learn a foreign language

76.    Watch IMDB’s top 250 movies (86/250)

77.    Play my violin again

78.    Go to a Red Wings game

79.    Post in my blog at least three times a week (1/3)

80.    Take a trip out of the country

81.    See the ball drop at Times Square on NYE

82.    Create a scrapbook

83.    Play a board game once a month.

84.    Check out a show on Broadway Chicago at least every season

85.    Attend some sort of show a month (music, comedy, play etc.)

86.    See a movie in the theater once a month

87.    Read 101 books (0/101)

88.    Go skiing

89.    Go to Lollapalooza 

90.    Go white water rafting

91.    Attend an Autographing Signing at local theater

92.    Purchase each Classic Disney movie that is realeased from the Vault before it goes back in

93.    Participate in project 365

94.    Learn to Belly Dance

95.    Eat at a 5-star restaurant

96.    Go to Vegas

97.    See all Oscar Best Picture Winners (16/85)

98.    Only be playing one long term video game (party games are the exception) at a time on each system

Conclusion

99.          Donate $10 to charity for each task not completed

100.      Save $10 for each task completed

101.      Start a new list upon completion of this list

Since I epically failed last year...

I'm restarting the 101 things list.  I've added some new items, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm going to be blogging more often this year, so stay tuned for more posts and reviews of everything and anything.

101 Things Update

Quiet a few of my goals are on-going things that need to be done regularly.  Because of this, I will allow myself to count them as complete as long as I do something 90% of the time.  The whole point of those items is to do something beneficial, so I have to allow room for improvement.  If failing to do something once knocked it off my list right off the bat, then there is no point in trying to improve.  I will touch on the goals that I've completed as a whole, and the goals that need improvement.  The day to day goals on my main list will reflect a score for how many times they were missed.  For a complete look at where I'm at, please see the original list, which I've edited to portray my success.

Completed (Key: Bolded on list)
Buy a designer purse
I received a Vera Bradley purse from my grandma as a gift.  I decided that gifts should count, as why would I want to purchase a new purse when I have a perfectly good one that was free to me.

Buy a video camcorder

This was another freebie we received.  My fiance's work gives away various items at their Christmas party, and we walked away with a Flip camcorder.  I am actually very pleased with this item, and this was the exact camcorder I was considering buying for myself anyway.  It is very simple to use, and creates a high quality video.


Remarks:
This week was rather tough, as I worked a lot of overtime, and was not home for other than sleep the entire week.  I missed out on a lot of house work and quality time with my fiance, so there are a lot of daily and weekly tasks that I missed.  I also failed miserably at keeping up with the blog last week.
         

 





 

First Attempt at Freeing My Mind

As part of my 101 things, I chose to attempt to answer the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind.  Today, I attempted to answer the ones that came to me right away as I was reading them.  I will take a stab at the harder ones in the future.


2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?  

•  Failing for sure.  I am not one to jump into tasks that are a huge gamble.  If the cost is minimal I am willing to take a chance, but I am not one to take unnecessary risk.

6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

• Honestly, the career path I chose is one that makes me truly happy.  I enjoy the work I do and feel accomplished at the end of the day.  That said, the reason I didn't choose the career path that would make me happiest is because the availability of these types of jobs are very small.  I used to dream of training killer whales and Sea World.  If it weren't all but impossible to have a job doing so, then that would be the kind of work that would make me rich.

8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

• I would have gotten married and had children rather than focusing on developing a career right away.

9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

• I am very much in control of the course my life has taken.  The decisions I have made are 100% my own.

 10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

• Doing the right thing is the most important.  I could not do something that would cause for me to go against my morals.

11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire.  They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend.  The criticism is distasteful and unjustified.  What do you do?

• I would like to say that I would stand up for this friend.  I am pretty sure I would, especially if the criticism is unjustified.  I have little difficulty in standing up for someone, and I doubt the fact that I respect and admire the individuals that need to be stood up to will change my mind.

13. Would you break the law to save a loved one?

• Without hesitation.

19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?

• Michigan in a heart beat.  It would be wonderful for my fiance and I to be close to our families.

20. Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

• No, because I know it doesn't make the elevator move faster.
  

21. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

• Joyful simpleton.  I take great pride in my intelligence, but if I was simpleminded and happy, I would not know what I was missing.
  

24. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?

• The good friend moving away.  It is always possible to see the ones that live far away, but losing touch is far worse.
  

26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

• I would rather lose all of my old memories.  I am still young, and have years to make new, wonderful memories.  I am sure as I age, my feelings on this will change.
  

28. Has your greatest fear ever come true?

• No, it hasn't.
  

37. If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?

• No.  Regardless of however many millions of dollars, I would not quit my job at the point in time.
  

38. Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?

• More work I enjoy doing.  When I have more assignments at work, the day goes quickly and I enjoy myself.
  

39. Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?

• Not at all.  I think I am capable of finding enjoyment in many things.  I have a wide variety of tasks to keep me busy, so my life never feels repetitive.
  

42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?

• No.  Plain and simply, no.
  

50. Decisions are being made right now.  The question is:  Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

• I feel as though I already answered this one.  I make my own decisions.
  

Post Chrismas Thoughts

Christmas has passed again this year. It always seems to go by so fast. At this time of the year, I try to reflect on the past year and think about ways I can improve over the next year. I also take advantage of this time to enjoy quality time with my fiancé and the post- holiday bliss.

We had a good Christmas this year, and received a multitude of gifts that will greatly improve our home. We have artwork to decorate our walls, utensils for our kitchen, and the newest edition of Wii Fit to help with our New Years Resolutions. It is sad to return home, and get back into the daily grind, but at the same time I am glad to be back home after the long weekend.

On to New Years... I hope to put this blog to good use in keeping up with the resolutions I make. I plan on posting a list of 101 things I plan to accomplish in 1001 days. I have attempted this in the past and failed miserably. This year (and then some) I will have my readers to hold me accountable, imagined or not. So, expect to see a list being published first thing New Years Day, if all goes according to plan. I will post follow up posts periodically that link back to the original and explain my progress. I am currently unsure of how I will go about doing so, but more on that when the time comes. This will by no means be the meat and potatoes of this blog, but will provide regular content in addition to my periodic reviews and meetings with my book club.

Readers: Do you have any resolutions for the new year? If so, by all means, share. I may need some inspiration in coming up with 101 items by the end of the week.