“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
― Walden
I hadn’t done an update in far too long but my most recent 101/1001 goal list recently came to a close. My official reckoning ended at the end May and while I nearly had my list ready to go, I had a few more goals to add that I hadn’t quite decided on. The full list is now live and I’m excited about it–I’ve already put a couple of ticks against some of them to get me started!
Comparing my successes and failures of the last list (47 goal items achieved) I realized that many of them were probably always unachievable. There is no way, for instance, that I’m ever going to go skydiving. I have examined the innermost workings of my soul, and NOPE. It’s never going to happen. Meanwhile a lot of the challenge based goals really helped me jumpstart new habits or undertake long projects that had a measurable improvement on my life (my Year of Health included).
So this time, in considering what I wanted to achieve in 1001 days, I leaned hard into smaller, trackable goals and experiences. Travel features heavily, as there are still so many places I want to see. Learning also ended up taking quite a few slots, whether this means trying new classes, foods, or skills. And clearly I’m in the mood to prioritize experiences like concerts and comedy shows, things that I’ve not always carved out time for in the past.
In some ways this list is a bit less grandly ambitious than my last one, but reading through it, I think a lot of items on it are likely to help make me feel happier and more evenly spread as a person. As I’ve written before, work has really consumed a lot of both Jeff’s and my identities and time over the last six years and while I have no intention of scaling back on career goals, I recognize a need to “divide [my] energies,” as my brilliant friend Hannah once put it. I want to make time and space for creativity and pleasure much more than I have done.
Check it out and let me know your thoughts! And as always, tell me what your Big Ideas and Goals are. I love it when we cheer one another on!
Small Dog Syndrome 
Great list! Regarding goal 100- my boyfriend and I took a knife skills class. It was so much fun to learn how to slice and dice like a legit chef.
I love that, what a cool class that must have been!
Love this list…Not sure I could come up with 101 but maybe worth a try,
I’m about to do number two — this week — seeing a rodeo (!) in Santa Fe. No. 5, invest!!! YES, do it. Happy to offer any advice; I handle all my own investments and they keep rising. 10. Go to Africa and it is life-changing. 21. also on my list, 28. Try for 2-3 x week. 51. Huge YES to having a beautiful bed; we’ve invested in pretty linens and love them; Zara Home has very good quality and pretty things. 58. Go to Croatia but go to Istria (and Rovinj.) Gorgeous. 69. The S, of France is to die for — have been many times. 72. A garden on your terrace would be dead easy and so pretty. We have one, in pots and Jose-made wooden boxes. 74. Yes to new platforms — in the past month (whew) I’ve pitched about a dozen new-to-me places with success (so far) at two of them. 79. Definitely take a swing at golf…I did and enjoy it. 79. We are trying hard to never use plastic bags, so you just have to have a good collection of very sturdy cloth carry bags or (?) one of those tall wheelie grocery carts I see everywhere in Paris.
Good luck with these! I love the mix…
Thank you for the comments and feedback. I’ve reworked my approach to focus more on goals and experiences and I think it’s going to pay off!
It’s a great list….now, can I come up with so many?????