101 Things in 1001 Days

While surfing the internet late this night, in between watching The Others and WALL-E with my sister, I managed to stumble across a webpage that advertised what was called the "1001 Day Project." How nice - another unnecessarily over-thought guide to saving the planet. "Take shorter showers and in 1001 days, you will have saved $300 dollars on energy bills," I figured it preached. "Use recycled toilet paper!" I'd read lists like this before on WebEcoist and other self-proclaimed "green" blogs, and there were rarely any truly mind-blowing ideas to boost my existence's worth on this dying world. Truth is, though, I love lists - they promote thinking and brain-storming, and are easily published to present to the world. I make lists incessantly, and sometimes substitute well thought out written work with cursory lists, because of my chronic need for procrastination. In the end, it was an itch I needed to scratch, and I clicked through to the page.
It turns out that I may need to turn my skepticism level down a tick-mark or two. The project, inspired by Michael Green of Day Zero, had nothing to do with the state of the environment or how to green-ify one's life. In fact, the 1001 Day Project is a challenge aimed at goal-setters:


The Mission: Complete 101 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).

There's a whole list of criteria and helpful hints on the Getting Started section of the website. Other peoples' lists are linked on the website (over 1700!), and some of them are downright inspiring. So far, some of these have inspired me to add participating in Postcrossing, identify 100 things that make me happy, and keep a dream journal (something that I desperately need - my wacky dreams shouldn't be lost when they could be published!) to my personal, unfinished list.

I haven't got a complete list yet, but I have one in the works and a possible start and end date. I aim to start my project on January 5, 2008, which means it ends on October 3, 2011. We'll see what happens - if I can't finish everything, let's see what I can.