On Saturday 10th April 2010 I started the 101 things in 1001 days challenge.

Why that date? Because it means that I will complete the challenge on January 5th 2013 – my 42nd birthday. And given that 42 is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, that seems quite fitting.

The List

Click the (more info) link after each task to find out why it is on the list, how I will judge that I’ve completed it and to read about my progress.

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Completed 😀 51/101

In Progress 🙂 0/101

Failed 🙁 50/101

The List

1 See the Northern Lights FAILED (more info)

2 Win NaNoWriMo (more info) FAILED

3 Visit a Mosque (more info) FAILED

4 Read 5 business self-help type books (5/5) (more info) COMPLETED

5 Send something to Postsecret (more info) COMPLETED

6 Join a book club (more info) FAILED

7 Relearn how to knit and make a scarf (more info) FAILED

8 Read 26 books by authors new to me, one for each letter of the alphabet (though X may require some cheating!) (26/26) COMPLETED (more info)

9 Join the 365 project and take a photo a day for a year (more info) FAILED

10 Go for a month without alcohol COMPLETED (more info)

11 Learn some tapdancing (more info) FAILED

12 Visit 5 new (to me) networking groups (including 4N) (5/5) COMPLETED (more info)

13 Grow 5 types of fruit or vegetable and eat them (5/5) COMPLETED (more info)

14 Write at least one entry in my blog every day for a month (more info) COMPLETED

15 Go for a 5 mile cycle (more info) FAILED

16 Send a letter or card to one of the PostPals every month throughout the 1001 days FAILED(1/33) (more info)

17 Listen to 26 new bands/singers, one for each letter of the alphabet (26/26) (more info) COMPLETED

18 Try food from 3 different countries/cultures that I’ve not tried before COMPLETED (more info)

19 Sort out my paperwork and file away bills COMPLETED (more info)

20 Visit a food festival (more info) FAILED

21 Host a dinner party for at least 4 people (more info) FAILED

22 Be in the audience for a radio show (more info) FAILED

23 Eat an oyster COMPLETED (more info)

24 Lose at least 4 stone (IN PROGRESS) (more info) FAILED

25 Throw a message in a bottle into the sea COMPLETED (more info)

26 Visit three (new to me) football grounds COMPLETED (more info)

27 Take my children to an event in the 2012 Olympics COMPLETED (more info)

28 Go to three more places from the Bollocks to Alton Towers/Far From the Sodding Crowd books (1/3) (more info) FAILED

29 Visit and photograph the Ships’ Graveyard at Purton COMPLETED (more info)

30 Take part in the Race for Life (more info) FAILED

31 Put aside £5 for every task completed and treat myself when the 1001 days are over (more info) FAILED

32 Donate £5 to charity for every unfinished item on the list (more info) FAILED

33 Have a letter published in a national newspaper FAILED (more info)

34 Take a photo and either sell it or have it displayed in an exhibition COMPLETED (more info)

35 Write a haiku poem COMPLETED (more info)

36 Go to an international football match (more info) FAILED

37 Drive a car round a motor racing circuit COMPLETED (more info)

38 Paint a picture COMPLETED (more info)

39 Make my own pasta (more info) COMPLETED

40 Take a birds’ eye view of the world (but not from a commercial airliner) COMPLETED (more info)

41 Brew my own alcohol (more info) FAILED

42 Send someone a surprise parcel COMPLETED(more info)

43 Photograph a derelict or abandoned building (more info) FAILED

44 Visit a new country COMPLETED (more info)

45 Get a favourite photo printed on canvas COMPLETED (more info)

46 Go to a singalonga film (more info) FAILED

47 Write three letters of thanks/praise about a good product/service (3/3) COMPLETED (more info)

48 Visit an ice bar (more info) FAILED

49 Write letters to my kids of what I wish for them – put them away for their 21st birthdays (more info) COMPLETED

50 Sort out my debts, one way or the other COMPLETED (more info)

51 Invent a cocktail COMPLETED (more info)

52 Hide a geocache (more info) FAILED

53 Perform 10 random acts of kindness (2/10) (more info) FAILED

54 Give 5 “I saw this and thought of you” gifts (1/5) (more info) FAILED

55 Experience a flotation chamber (more info) FAILED

56 Learn a foreign language up to conversational level (more info) FAILED

57 Do the 31 days to build a better blog course (more info) FAILED

58 Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings films in one day (more info) FAILED

59 Watch all 5 series of Six Feet Under (more info) FAILED

60 Climb Faringdon Folly COMPLETED (more info)

61 Go to a banger racing event (more info) FAILED

62 Get new glasses COMPLETED (more info)

63 Write a new 101 in 1001 to start when this one finishes (more info) COMPLETED

64 Start swimming again and swim 50 lengths (IN PROGRESS) (more info) FAILED

65 Watch the sun set and rise (or rise and set) in the same 24 hours COMPLETED (more info)

66 Visit a museum I haven’t been to before COMPLETED (more info)

67 Send a shoebox to Romania (more info) FAILED

68 Go to a comedy club (more info) FAILED

69 Watch a film from the year I was born COMPLETED (more info)

70 Go on a brewery or distillery tour (more info) FAILED

71 Listen to ten different radio stations for at least 1 hour each (10/10) (more info) COMPLETED

72 Visit three UK cities I’ve never been to before COMPLETED (more info)

73 Drink 50 different beers (50/50) COMPLETED (more info)

74 Spend a whole day in bed (more info) FAILED

75 Learn a new craft and make something with it COMPLETED (more info)

76 Make my own chutney (more info) FAILED

77 Donate 1,000,000 grains of rice (12,100/1,000,000) (more info) FAILED

78 Get a penpal (more info) COMPLETED

79 Keep a fantasy football team going for a whole season COMPLETED (more info)

80 Apply to join Mensa (more info) FAILED

81 Sleep in an unusual place (more info) FAILED

82 Drink Absinthe COMPLETED (more info)

83 Do a Xmas Day/Boxing Day/New Year’s Day swim (more info) FAILED

84 Buy something at an offline auction COMPLETED (more info)

85 Punt along the Thames (more info) FAILED

86 Ride in a convertible (more info) FAILED

87. Put my books in alphabetical (author) order (more info) FAILED

88. Read five classic novels (5/5) (more info) COMPLETED

89. Drink champagne from a pint glass COMPLETED (more info)

90. Do a firewalk COMPLETED(more info)

91. Meet someone famous (more info) FAILED

92. Discover my spiritual self (more info) FAILED

93. Do a 4sight at a 4Networking meeting >COMPLETED (more info)

94. Spring clean and keep the house tidy for a month COMPLETED (more info)

95. Dye my hair a mad colour Get a tattoo COMPLETED (more info)

96. Read the His Dark Materials trilogy (more info) FAILED

97. Make three new friends (1/3) (more info) FAILED

98. Write my family tree (more info) FAILED

99. Have a hot stone massage COMPLETED (more info)

100. Learn how to meditate IN PROGRESS (more info) COMPLETED

101. Make a film and put it on You Tube COMPLETED (more info)

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More about the 101 things in 1001 days Challenge:

The Mission

Complete 101 preset 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).

Why 1001 Days?

Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple goals such as New Year’s resolutions. 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 organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.