Wednesday, December 6, 2017

50 things in 500 days

So - as I have wasted the 501 days to make this "101 things in 1001 days", I'll do a semi-challenge. 50 things in 500 days. The timeline is still realistic and challenging, and if I just learn to do this, I will have learned a very good skill AND will be able to strike out a lot of things from my Bucket List.

101 things in 1001 days was a challenge created by some unknown person around 2000. From a mention on some blog somewhere it grew out to be a community of likeminded people, and now there's a site called Day Zero Project. (Now, if this blog post inspires you to go there, please tell me, so that I can add that goal ("inspire someone to take on 101 things in 1001 days") to my list... yeah... "got to collect them all", huh? Yes, I have a bit of an over-achiever in me. Hence this blog :-D)

The guidelines are:
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 organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Goal Setting Tips

1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.
2. Stay focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.
3. Welcome failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.
4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.
5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.
 Trent Hamm offers more advice on HOW to do this

* these are quite a big things, which cannot be done in a day or a week - which means that you need to plan; divide the goal into steps and then treat the steps as smaller goals. You can't learn this whole thing in one day, you can't finish this project in one day, but what can you do in one day?

It's like NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write 50.000 words. It's very hard to write 50.000 words in a day (possible, though. You just have to write 2350 words every hour for 21 hours. If you write as fast as I do, it takes you 50 minutes and you can use the 10 minutes to stretch and eat and go smoke a cigarette if you do things like that. Take a cup of coffee. I wouldn't recommend this, but it is possible.) but if you divide it into 1600 words a day bits, and then divide the 1600 words a day into 200 words in an hour, 8 hours, and suddenly you have a really easy goal in your hands. It's not even difficult to write 200 words, it takes five minutes! But if you do this 8 times a day, 30 days, you'll end up having a 50.000 words manuscript in your hands in a month! Wow! With not much work at all!

So - if the goal is to... grow your hair long... that's really easy, because you just have to do nothing. Don't cut your hair, and it will grow. :-D But also, you might need to take care of your hair while it grows, nourish your body to make your hair grow more, massage your scalp and oil your hair to keep it from splitting and so on and so forth. And this needs to become a daily routine. All in all it's a pretty simple thing to do, you just need to write in daily massage and weekly oiling in your calender, and then remember to do it.
If the goal is to learn a language, one way of doing it is to estimate the amount of words and phrases one needs to be able to use the language to the purpose why one wants to learn the language, and then divide that amount (let's say it's 20.000 words in 500 days - that's 40 words a day. That's not a problem. Now, if you put those words in sentences, and learn a block of text where 40 words are being used (you know, the first day it's "this is Jack and this is Jill, this is Ann and this is Bill" - quote from my first English lesson :-D Yeah, it was 41 years ago and I still remember it :-D The last day it might be "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even though the sound of it Is something quite atrocious If you say it loud enough You'll always sound precocious". I dare to say you know your language by then well enough to read books written in the language and that's all anyone needs to master the language. And that by learning only 40 words!
If the goal is to be able to do 20 pullups - the program is built on the same principle. You start with what you have, learn the right technique, and then just add pullups according to your ability until you manage 20 pullups. If the goal is to be able to run 5K, you start with one step. Then you take two steps, and three and do more and more and faster and faster until you run your 5000-6000 steps. You can take that one step right now.
If the goal is to lose weight, you do that the same way. One kilo at a time. Now, losing weight is easy, keeping it off is not. You have to change your lifestyle, eating habits and mindset, stop seeing yourself as a fat person and start living like a skinny person. Nevertheless, that too is "one step at a time, one tiny change, 100 grams less every day". In 500 days that will amount to 50 kilos. (Frankly, that's the way you got the extraweight, too. Just a little every day.)
If the goal is to learn a new skill, the same principle applies. Learn how to hold the guitar properly so that you reach the strings and manage to put the fingers in right places to apply necessary amount of pressure. Then you will learn a note at a time, an accord at a time, until you know them all, and reach the necessary speed to be able to play the guitar. After that it's just practice, practice, practice...

The secret to success is TO DO SOMETHING EVERY DAY. The first sign of that you have problems is "uh, I don't feel like writing my 200 words, I don't feel like learning my 40 words today". If you decide to put it till tomorrow, you are failing. Yes, it is easy, and that's the thing with it. Just put in the fifteen minutes and get it done, and then you can do what ever you want for the rest of the day.

This is why "pomodoro" technique works. Just give it 15 minutes, then you can stop, and don't need to think about it. If you can't write 200 words in 15 minutes, then you write what you can write. If you can't learn your 40 words, you learn what you can. One sentence is enough. If you don't feel like running today, go for a shorter walk. BUT DO NOT SKIP IT, DON'T PUSH IT FORWARD, DON'T "DO IT LATER". If you don't feel like doing it, do it and get it done so that you can forget it.

"Be diligent. One big advantage of breaking it down into short term goals is to make sure you’re making progress all the way along. Don’t fluff it off because it seems far away – do whatever you need to do to keep the goal immediate."

Another thing to do to help yourself to success is to make it as automatic as you can. Make it a routine. Make it a habit.

Learn to compress your time. In Barry Farber's "How To Learn Any Language", he tells you to write your words into flashcards and have a pile of these with you all the time, so that you can take advantace of the waiting time etc. When you are standing in a queue - study the flashcards. When you are waiting for the traffic lights to turn, study the cards. When ever you can, study the cards.
In a yoga book I read once, the writer told us to do small yoga things like this. There is a posture called "lion", where the person stucks out one's tongue as much out as one can, and she suggested you do this while you wait for the lights to turn... :-D
In another language learning source they were talking about this man who taped Chinese signs on his mirror to learn them while he was brushing his teeth and shaving in the morning. I used to do my barre exercises while I was brushing my teeth.
A lot of people read something while they do their #2. I have a chart on the wall in front of the toilet seat so that I can memorize things, like numbers in Russian or morse code. People use the toilet several times a day, and do nothing that requires much use of brains. :-D
I read once a tip to SAHMs - to take the kids' things from where they don't belong to where they belong while one moves from one room to another doing other things. That is, your child forgot his notebook in the kitchen. You take it with you when you go from kitchen to the toilet, and leave it on the hallway table. Then you took it with you when you take the laundry up to his room.
Also, if you add cleaning the toilet to your #2 routines, and cleaning the sink to your teethbrushing habit, you won't need to clean the toilet often to have it clean. Just like washing dishes after you have eaten, cleaning the stove after you cooked, I mean... we did this in school in home economics class. We cleaned the work area so that it was clean for the next one who used it. I used to clean up my desk every night after work so that it was clean and tidy and nice for the next day. When I was little, we were to wash the bathtub after bath so that it was clean for the next user. We were 8 in the family. The "dirt" was "fresh", so it didn't take much, but the tub was always clean. It really is five more minutes here and there, and the only "cleaning" one must do is to vacuum the home every now and then. And that's also a breeze when the home is tidy and clean.
In another book I read they suggested that one exercises while cleaning, or cleans while exercising. Washing the floors crawling on the floor is excellent exercise for stomach and back.
I read while I eat. I read while I cook something I know how to cook, but that involves some waiting. Like frying pancakes. Yes, the books get grubby, but I read paperbacks and other such things that I don't mind getting greasy and stained.
I listened to music while I was running. One could listen to audiobooks, lectures, podcasts, a lot of things while running.
There are things where mindfulness is a great thing, and then there are things where one can easily do several things at the same time.

Also, mark your progression. Have a countdown calendar, tick off "to do list", record your steps and review your path.



1. Do the splits - back, front, side
2. Do 100 pushup challenge
3. Do 20 pullups challenge
4. Do C25K challenge
5. Run 3K in 12 minutes
6. Do yoga every day for a month
7. Do taichi every day for a month
8. Start Parkour
9. Weigh less than 70 kg on my 50th birthday
10. Learn to throw ball
11. Learn to use my feet as well as my hands
12. learn to dance 10 different dances and make a video of myself dancing them
13. Learn to juggle
14. Learn hulahoop

15. Do a 365 self portrait challenge
16. Do a glamour photoshoot for my husband
17. Make a movie
18. Make a complete wardrobe (clothes, accessories from shoes to hats, underwear) for both me and my husband
19. Make 12 DIY tutorials on YouTube
20. Make 1000 dollars at Etsy
21. Learn to do make-up and wear different make-up (normal and FX kind) in your 365 self portrait challenge photos
22. Have an arts and crafts exhibition
23.Make a BJD

24. write an erotic novel
25. write and illustrate 8 holiday books - one for each Pagan Sabbath
26. write a spiritual guide
27. translate Il Fiddien and have it published
28. translate and illustrate the Blue Fairy Book in Finnish

29. Learn to play a song with guitar and post it on YouTube
30. Learn to play a song with violin and post it on YouTube
31. Learn to play a song with piano and post it on YouTube
32. Learn to play a song with recorder and post it on YouTube
33. write a song and sing it in public

34. Read a book in French
35. Read a book in German

36. Make sausage and serve on a dinner 
37. Bake through the Daring Bakers' list
38. Learn to brew cider
39. Make 10 different kinds of jams and jellies summer-autumn 2018
40. Make a once a month baking show on YouTube; Epic Baking à la boulangère nue, for a year :-D  
41. Make handpulled noodles for a dinner

42. replace all the houseplants I have killed in my life...
43. get debt free
44. Take Hanne and Emma for a roadtrip through Europe 
45. Live as fruitarian for a month
46. Learn to do 10 card tricks and 10 coin tricks
47. Learn CPR and first aid
48. Record all the books I have ever read in a reading journal
49. Become a mentalist
50. Celebrate your 50th birthday in a nice country place in style

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