It’s been nine months since I last updated you all on the progress of my Day Zero List. If you don’t know what that is, or you haven’t been reading this page for long, allow me to inform you. Day Zero is a project that is aimed at helping people achieve 101 personal goals in the span of 1,001 days. The website dictates that once your preset tasks have been ordered into a list, your “project” begins. After that moment you have roughly 2 and 3/4 years to complete everything you want to do. In my opinion, it’s way better and more realistic than a simple New Year’s resolution, because you have several seasons to complete your goals and you can tackle things at your own pace. Keeping such a list also forces you to stay focused and consistently check to see if you’re doing everything you’re supposed to be doing with your life (ie. applying for better jobs, saving up for desired material possessions, getting out of the house to explore the country/world). I’ve set some pretty lofty goals for myself, but I think I’m doing pretty well so far.
The last time I updated my list (October 2008), I had completed 18 goals. In the last nine months, this has increased to 31 completed goals, plus a few “in progress” achivements. I’m keeping up really well with the 100 new foods and 5 new beers per month, and I’ll probably complete at least five or maybe even ten more goals this summer. A lot of the partially completed goals can be completed with a few days off from work here and there, or some initiative on my part. I haven’t gotten up the guts to ask a beggar for money yet. There are still at least two museums in Los Angeles that I want to visit. It’s all about scheduling and getting the most out of my time away from work, really. The next time I update, I hope to have 50 completed goals (because I should be half done by now). When that day arrives, I’ll give in depth descriptions of how I achieved each goal, and on what date it was completed.
What I’m having trouble figuring out is, I’m bound to complete the equivalent of 5 new beers each month long before I’ve reached October 2010, so…do I stop then, or do I have to keep going, even though I’ve done well above five per month to this point? Hmm…
After 557 days — over halfway to my 1,001 day finish line — here’s my updated list after. As always, I highly recommend the Day Zero project to anyone who has trouble getting themselves started with projects, or has trouble setting goals for the future. It doesn’t have to be New Year’s Day for you to start, you can start tomorrow and finish 1,001 days later. If you do decide to start your own list, let me know. I know Swan Fungus user Lope started his own list, and I hope he’s doing as well as I am so far.
101 THINGS TO DO IN 1001 DAYS PROJECT (01-01-08 to 10-28-10)
Family / Friends
001. Return to New Jersey and visit with family at least once a year. [2/2]
002. Treat my father, mother and sister each to a nice meal. [1/3]
003. Visit the graves of my grandparents. [1/2]
004. Send one handwritten letter a month for 6 months. [6/6]
005. Send a gift to someone for no particular reason.
006. Say something positive/uplifting to a friend each day. [557/1001]
007. Host a party.
008. Purchase card and gift for each immediate family member’s birthday for one year. [3/3]
Health / Food
009. Find a doctor and schedule healthy check-ups.
010. Find a dentist and schedule regular visits.
011. Find a good multi-vitamin, take one each day from that moment on.
012. Try 100 new foods. [74/100]
013. Go to Venice Beach. Start walking north. See how far I get.
014. No soda pop for one week.
015. Drink the recommended daily allowance of water (50 fl oz) for a month.
016. Subtract “fast food” from my diet for one year.
017. Bake My Own Bread.
018. Learn how to make Fawn’s vegan sushi. Make it for friends.
019. Eat a piece of fruit every day for a month.
020. Buy a fixed-gear bike to ride instead of driving locally.
021. Do 100 sit-ups every night before bed for one month.
022. Do a system cleanse.
023. Eat vegan for one week.
024. Make my own tortilla chips in the deep fryer, make salsa to go with it.
025. Try ten new styles of cuisine. [4/10]
026. Eat the fried egg / chili / bacon / cheeseburger at Fatburger.
027. Fast for 24, 48 and 72 hours.
Projects: Artistic / Creative
028. Get my book published.
029. Put together a band for live shows/recordings
030. Have 10 friends recommend a book, and read all ten. [1/10]
031. Read five books about L.A. [0/5]
032. Make a collection of favorite poetry.
033. Watch all unseen movies in AFI’s Top 100 List. [48 / 123]
034. Create stencils for homemade t-shirts.
035. Write a screenplay.
036. Write one song a day for one week.
037. Learn to read music.
038. Think of a unique, marketable idea and try to sell it.
039. Put out an album for an artist/band you enjoy.
040. Have an article published in a newspaper/magazine.
041. Wear a suit one day for absolutely no reason.
042. Call into a radio show.
Home
043. Rescue a dog from a local shelter. Keep it alive!
044. Find a residence and sign a long-term (or open-ended) lease.
045. Make your bed every morning for one month.
046. Clean, then maintain a spotless bedroom floor.
047. Vacuum whenever you think “this room needs to be vacuumed”.
048. Paint something and hang it on a wall.
Financial
049. Find advertisers for my website, make some money.
050. Get a job that pays better than the record store.
051. Pay one month’s rent entirely from blog income.
052. Sell at least twenty items on eBay / Craigslist / Amazon [20/20]
053. Give money to a beggar. Get money from a beggar.
054. Spend $0 For One Week.
055. Donate $2 to charity for each task on this list not completed.
Travel / Leisure
056. Visit remaining 13 states I have not visited. [0/13]
057. Attend a Lakers game and a Clippers game. [0/2]
058. Drive cross-country again.
059. Go on one multi-night camping trip.
060. Go on a real picnic.
061. Go SCUBA diving.
062. Take one of the long hikes in Joshua Tree.
063. Drive to Mexico
064. Ride a roller coaster.
065. Attend a rally or protest.
066. Drive the PCH up to San Francisco.
067. Drive to Vancouver.
068. Spend a summer day in Death Valley.
069. Sleep on a beach one night.
070. Fly somewhere first-class.
071. Make a list of local weird sites, visit twelve. [7/12]
072. Visit the remaining two Pizza Port Breweries.
073. Tour 5 breweries.
074. Visit 5 museums.
075. Memorize the Alpha Bravo Charlies.
076. See a theatrical production.
077. Take The Scientology “Free Stress Test” with a friend.
078. Attend Dia de los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Personal / Capitalist Urges
079. Have name printed in newspaper, in a positive article.
080. Buy a nice pair of sunglasses.
081. Do not use a computer for one week.
082. Do not say anything sarcastic for one week.
083. [PRIVATE]
084. [PRIVATE]
085. [PRIVATE]
086. Try five new beers each month. [123 /190]
087. Buy something from the Rose Bowl flea market.
088. Don’t speak for an entire day.
089. Play poker at a casino in Vegas.
090. Pay for the car behind me at a fast food drive-thru.
091. Learn and identify 10 constellations.
092. Buy a Jerry Jones baritone guitar.
093. Buy either a Hiwatt, Orange, or Sovtek guitar amplifier.
094. Buy a nicer camera than the one I have.
095. Make a new 101 in 1001 list.
096. Write three letters of complaint for a bad product/customer service. [3/3]
097. Convince somebody else to create a 101/1001 list.
098. Win something. Anything.
099. Visit a psychic.
100. Buy An Extraordinarily Expensive Bottle of Bourbon.
101. Subject myself to hypnosis. Why? I don’t know, just because.
