Last summer, right around sarah kate style’s first birthday, I toyed around with the idea of doing a 101 things in 1001 days list (á la Mackenzie Horan) and publishing it on the blog. Clearly that didn’t work out – and for a few reasons. I couldn’t come up with 101 goals or things to do, crazy as that sounds. I have a few big goals, like moving to New York and traveling to Europe, and a few smaller ones, like buying nice shoes and more purses, reading more, and going vintage shopping with my best friend more often. But in the end, I felt like putting little things on the list (learn to French braid, find a new perfume…) right next to the big ones and the long-term ones felt weird, kind of like bucket-list-meets-to-do-list-meets-shopping-list. At a certain point the things got too general, or I came up with things I didn’t really care about doing just to fill space. Plus, the idea of 1001 days terrified me. I’d be two years older, and the thought of all the things that could happen in that time was overwhelming. I felt like I’d forget the list, or lose interest in it.
But the idea came back into my head this week after feeling pretty down and hopeless about life in general – maybe I do need something to keep me motivated, to keep me occupied. I decided on the first day of January that this is my year of taking chances (and it’s been going really well so far). I’m taking control of my life this year, going after what I want, rolling the dice if you will – and pushing myself into this commitment felt like a good chance to take.
So I pulled up my old list and found I’d already accomplished some of the things, or didn’t want to do some of them anymore, and then I looked up when 1001 days from now is. Now, I know that a lot can happen in that time, but I also know for a fact that things will be very different then (mid-November 2016) from how they are now – I’ll be living somewhere else, with a new job, new friends, almost a whole new life. I’m not as scared of that idea as I used to be, but I came to the conclusion that that time frame isn’t the best fit for me. I like nice, easy, definite deadlines (and 1001 is definitely not divisible by 365) – so I settled on finishing my new, revised list by the end of this year. I came up with 14 (hopefully) attainable goals, which is a convenient and memorable number – 14 goals for 2014. It’s more than one a month (plus I’ve already lost January and most of this month), which feels like a challenge, but it’s not so many that I feel like I can’t get it done. Maybe this will evolve into a 101 in 1001 list, maybe I’ll do that next year, maybe I’ll never do it – we’ll see.
I’ll post my list here (it’ll be accessible through the menu bar, too) so as to hold myself accountable for getting things done. What do you think about setting goals and taking chances? Wish me luck!
14 Goals for 2014
1. Finish Matchbook’s novel (5/50 – my three favorite books show up on the list!) and movie lists (18/50)
2. Post on the blog at least 15 times a month
3. See Stonehenge and Big Ben when I go to England this summer
4. Go to New York at least twice
5. Get into a better daily routine (try to get more sleep!)
6. Finish putting together and hanging up my gallery wall (here’s the wall now)
7. Go vintage shopping with my best friend at least three times
8. Buy three new fashion/design books
9. Paint gold chevron on one of my bedroom walls
10. Take up yoga
11. Buy a classic pair of black heels
12. Go to the BMA re-opening gala this fall
13. Bake perfect macarons
14. Completely organize my office
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