Every year I make the same three resolutions with an additional one thrown in occasionally for good measure. Without fail, and I apologise in advance for the serious lack of imagination, I plan to a) be better with my money b) get fitter and c) spend more quality time with the people I love. By and large I tend to do ok but I certainly lose focus. It seems I’m in pretty good company with 88% of those setting themselves resolutions failing to keep them.
Rather than stick with my usual three NY resolutions, I thought I’d try something a little different this year. Inspired by the day zero project, I want to complete ’101 things to do in 1001 days’. Rather than ambiguous goals, I want to set myself a list of measurable targets that will be of benefit to me, my family and friends and to my community. By sharing it here, I’m more likely to achieve my goals (10% more likely, in fact!).
So here goes:
- Cook a new recipe every week (0/143)
- Bake a Christmas cake
- Give up fast food for 6 months
- Sell, recycle or bin any of my clothes that I have not worn in over a year (excluding my wedding dress)
- Move to a new town or village
- Buy a new mattress
- Own a sewing machine
- Read a new book every fortnight (0/72)
- Learn to ski
- Swim a marathon (0/26miles)
- Finish writing my book
- Become a mother
- Stop swearing for a month
- Phone my parents and siblings each week (0/143)
- Host a Christmas
- Buy another house
- Build a shed
- Plant and grow a vegetable patch
- Make a quilt
- Build a snowman
- Tell my husband I love him every day (1/1001)
- Run a half marathon
- Do something nice for a stranger
- Watch a sunset
- Watch a sunrise
- Lean how to play poker
- Play a sport I’ve never played before
- Change the name on my passport
- Write a Will
- Send a handwritten letter or card every month (1/33)
- Dance on a table
- Have a dry month each year (0/3)
- Tidy my desk at the end of each working week
- Learn the alphabet in sign language
- Host a stall at a craft fair
- Go a month without buying anything for myself that’s not a necessity
- Have breakfast at least 3 times a week
- Have a 30th birthday party
- Sort out (and use) a recycling system
- Furnish a room entirely from second hand and handmade goods
- Learn to crochet
- Double Premium Bond savings
- Join a band/orchestra
- Get my bike serviced
- Spend a day a month without accessing iPhone/internet/television (0/33)
- Go to a festival
- Moisturise every day (1/1001)
- Frame and display some wedding photos
- Frame and display a photograph from the Olympics
- Re-read the Bible
- Grow a herb garden
- Replace broken camera
- Make a photo book from our Honeymoon photos
- Learn how to play chess
- Be able to do 50 proper push ups in one go
- Volunteer at a local organisation
- Save £5 for every task completed
- Get my eyes tested
- Refurbish a second hand piece of furniture
- Make my own cushions
- Go vegetarian for a month
- Complete the recipe book of family recipes given to me when I left home
- Run a 10k race with my husband
- Write a letter to myself to be opened on my 40th birthday
- Only drink water for one month
- Get a stamp in my new passport
- Change the name on my Driving Licence
- Inspire someone else to write a ’101 in 1001′ of their own
- Go clay pigeon shooting with my husband
- Explore London by boat
- Do a London walking tour
- Launch a new business and/or blog
- Go to a ballet performance
- Write 10 reviews on Trip Advisor (0/10)
- Do a Guest Blogger post for someone
- Go camping
- Win a competition
- Attend a local networking event
- Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
- Drink a G&T in an airport lounge at silly o’clock
- Stop picking my cuticles
- Give my mum flowers that I have grown in my own garden
- Add a case of wine to our cellar plan each wedding anniversary
- Be able to do 100 sit ups without a break
- Help a friend start up their own business
- Build something out of wood with my dad
- Only owe money to the mortgage company
- Learn how to do ‘flicks’ with eyeliner
- Make a wearable item of clothing
- Meet 5 new people that I know from the internet
- Batch cook at least once a month (0/33)
- Replace the windows in our rental property
- Carve our initials into a tree
- Go on holiday with my siblings
- Go to a Midnight Mass
- Continue to meal plan every week (1/143)
- Reattach the badge to my car
- Go horse riding
- Re-read 10 of my favourite books from my childhood (0/10)
- Swim in the sea (for someone who grew up by the sea it’s been a long time since I’ve done this!)
- Build a fort, with fairy lights
So there you have it. I found many of them very easy to list and some of them harder than others. I’m 30 this year so will be aiming to complete 30 of them before that – I don’t have long so wish me luck!
As for the list, I now have 1001 days (or 143 weeks, 33 months or 2.7 years…) to complete my goals. What plans do you have over the coming weeks, months or years? How do you choose your resolutions? Do you think it’s possible to stick to them? I’d love to hear from you.
A few years ago my New Year’s Resolution was to give up making New Year’s Resolutions. It has been the easiest one to stick to, ever.
I did #61 once (for a bet) and put on a huge amount of weight
Did you just eat cheese?! There’d be no danger of that at our house, oh no, none at all…
I’ve always blamed the salad dressings
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