Do the 101 things in 1001 days challenge to push yourself to accomplish more, do more, see more, and experience more. Find out what the challenge entails here!

With the New Years right ahead of us, I, along with the rest of the world, am starting to think about my new goals. So today I thought I’d share with you some goals I made two and a half years ago and why I love it!!

About six years ago, I came across the 101 things in 1001 days challenge and loved the idea of motivating myself to do more. See more. Experience life more. So I set on this journey and just finished my second set of goals. Here’s how it works.

Instructions

Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part but doable).

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 organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities. It definitely paid off for me. One year I was able

I started April 1, 2012 and my 1001 days was up on December 28, 2014.

And now for my goals. You can see I didn’t accomplish many of them but I’d say I had a pretty successful 2.75 years. Many of these goals have been documented with the help of Instagram so I’ve linked to those when possible.

Food & Cooking

✓ 1. Eat at the Melting Pot (went to Urban Fondue…but I’d say it counts as the same thing)
2. Make homemade pasta
3. Complete a recipe binder
✓ 4. Bake cupcakes from scratch
✓ 5. Bake bread from scratch
✓ 6. Go blueberry picking (went to Blueberry Hill in July 2012)
7. Eat only fruits and vegetables for a week
✓ 8. Don’t eat out for one month
✓ 9. Eat real food for two weeks
10. Eat no sugar for two weeks
11. Make a themed cake with fondant
✓ 12. Make full course Thanksgiving dinner
✓ 13. Drink a coffee that has a design in it
✓ 14. Complete the Great Balls of Fire Challenge (this one was for my husband…no way I would ever do this challenge!)

Crafts & Projects

✓ 15. Finish baby puff quilt for future baby hope chest (finished the puff baby quilt except for the edging the day before baby came)
16. Finish two cross-stitches
✓ 17. Make a homemade wedding/baby shower gift (completed here)
18. Make a world map on canvas using paper or fabric
19. Blow glass (got a Groupon for this for Christmas, now we just need to do it.)
✓ 20. Make a piece of furniture (side table for the nursery)
✓ 21. Plant a garden (built raised garden beds last spring)
✓ 22. Sell something on Etsy (sold giant utensils through Burlap and Babies…my goal here was to sell something crafty)
✓ 23. Make 1001 day calendar with all events
24. Create our family birthday calendar (like this)
✓ 25. Post one craft per month for one year

Health & Fitness 

✓ 26. Run 5 miles without stopping
✓ 27. Complete a half-marathon (completed a half with some girls I walked/ran with that are going through a recovery shelter and also completed a half marathon at 26 weeks pregnant)
28. Complete p90x in <4 months
✓ 29. Find out my blood type
✓ 30. Walk 10,000+ steps a day for two weeks
✓ 31. Ride my bike to work for one week

Financial

✓ 32. Start a retirement fund and deposit into it every month
✓ 33. Save $20,000
✓ 34. Put money in a risky mutual fund
35. Get life insurance
✓ 36. Go one week with spending no money
✓ 37. Buy a house (July 2013)
✓ 38. Salaried graphic design position for Justin
✓ 39. Professional healthcare administration job for me
40. Sell all books that haven’t been read (I tried but the bookstores didn’t want all my books)
✓ 41. Sell all old textbooks or give them away
✓ 42. Get a credit line increase

Just Because

✓ 43. Buy something off Etsy (Most of our gender reveal party was done with things found off Etsy)
44. Shoot a gun
✓ 45. Do archery (This is my husband’s new hobby and he’s even killed a deer and butchered it in our backyard. I’m still disgusted by that thought.)
✓ 46. Teach puppy to play dead (he was clearly real hyper this day and didn’t feel like playing dead but I promise he can!)
47. Watch a sunrise and sunset in the same day
✓ 48. See a live birth (I would count Clara‘s as seeing a live birth)
49. Be a bridesmaid (my best friend eloped :( …..)
50. Unplug for a weekend – no cell, tv, or computer (this one is hard when you have a blog!!)
✓ 51. Buy boots
52. Build a blanket fort and sleep in it
53. Go to a drive-in movie
54. See a movie in 3D
✓ 55. Grow our movie collection by at least ten good movies (Father of the Bride Part 1 and Part 2, Elf, Anne of Green Gables, Dark Knight, Oceans Series, Sherlock Holmes, Red, Catch Me If You Can, Iron Man)

Adventure

56. Find a corvette for Justin to drive
57. Learn how to drive a stick shift
58. Go ziplining
✓ 59. Go roller skating
60. Take skiing lessons
61. Fly first-class (or something like this guy and be spontaneous)
62. Go on a 3+ hour hike
63. Go on a 3+ hour bike ride
✓ 64. Go snow shoeing
65. Go glamping
66. Go snowmobiling

Explore

✓ 67. Travel to Europe (After we graduated college we went on a two week Mediterranean cruise…it was amazing to say the least!)
68. Visit three new states
✓ 69. Go on a cruise
70. Visit the Grand Canyon
✓ 71. Ride on a train in another state
72. Write a wishlist of places I want to visit before I die
73. Go to Disney World
74. Visit Crater Lake
75. Horseback ride on the beach at sunset
✓ 76. Make a spontaneous trip to In-n-Out Burger

Connect

✓ 77. Host a game night with friends
✓ 78. Host a dinner party
79. Have a brunch party
80. Participate in a couples cooking class
81. Throw a themed dinner party just for fun
✓ 82. Have a designated date night once a month
✓ 83. Make date night jar

Do Good

✓ 84. Participate in a charity run (Run for Boston 5k)
85. Complete 10 random acts of kindness (like this mom did)
✓ 86. Buy the person’s food behind me in a drive-thru
✓ 87. Give ten parents a free night out coupon (ok I didn’t technically give out coupons but I did offer to watch friend kids many times to give them a night out)
88. Donate $1 for each failed task on this list
✓ 89. Tip 50% for exceptional service at a restaurant

Family

✓ 90. Have a baby (Clarabel born 12.02.14)
✓ 91. Buy a family car (Bought a Chevy Traverse in October)
92. Go carless for a week
✓ 93. Get a puppy (Charlie, our darling mini australian shepherd)
✓ 94. Visit siblings in their cities

GarvinDesigns

✓ 95. Design and build website from scratch (which we closed because we aren’t doing GarvinDesigns much anymore)
✓ 96. Print business cards and cut
97. Design workflow process
✓ 98. Set flat and hourly prices
99. Write new client survey and put on website
✓ 100. Make GD facebook page live
101. Make $15,000 freelance

I completed over half of the 101 tasks. I’d say that’s pretty great! Especially if you take into account how much our lives have changed over the last 2.75 years. I set ambitious goals that I didn’t think I would actually reach like buy a house or have a baby and here I am typing this sitting in our home that we’ve owned for over a year now with my sweet little 4 week old baby sleeping on my chest. My how things change!!

I am excited to start working on my next set of goals and dreaming about how different (and wonderful!) life will be in another 2.75 years.

In the meantime though, what ambitious goals and dreams do you have?

Have you ever made a list like this with big and little dreams on it? I’d love to hear about it if you want to share in the comments below. I love connecting with you all and have so missed it while I’ve taken my own little blogging maternity leave.

But just you wait friends…2015 is going to bigger and better than ever! Can’t wait to share with you all that I have planned.