When setting goals, one of the most highly recommended things to do is to write your goals down. For someone like me, there are many, many ideas running around inside my mind, but not enough time to do them all.

In January, I posted an article, What Do I Want, where I answered this question in terms of goals and a vision that I had written in 2008. In the comments, one my readers, Kim of (Anti) Social Development gave me a link to 101 Strategy, which ultimately led me to the Day Zero Project, home of the 101 Things in 1001 Days.

The project is pretty straightforward. Create a list of 101 things that you want to do in 1001 days, or about 2.75 years. This seems like a reasonable length of time to turn ideas into goals, and to accomplish them.

Screenshot of Kikolani’s 101 Things

Since January, I have been on and off working on a sub-domain of this site, at Kikolani’s 101 Things. I have started my list of 101 things that I want to do, which is a little over 50% complete, and will continue to add to this list as time goes by. So far, the list covers goals in the following areas: personal, health, learning, home, financial, writing, creativity, blogging (of course), and travel. Then there is the #57 – 101 to be determined goals to follow.

The start date is April 25th of this year. I chose this date because this is the day I’ll be getting married. It is a start of a new life, and a perfect time to get things in order and start moving forward with the always loving support of my wonderful husband.

I believe that creating a blog with my goals will help me achieve them. As I have learned since creating this site, blogging can be a great tool for self-discovery. I will have a written list and a reasonable deadline to complete them, and will (hopefully) build a community that will keep me on track with the things I want to accomplish. I hope to network with others that are working on this project as well, or people who do some of the things in my list that could offer ideas or advice. I will update Kikolani’s 101 Things with any planning, mind maps, accomplishments, setbacks, etc. as they come along in relation to the goals on the list.

At Day Zero, there is a getting started guide, and at 101 Strategy, there is an article about how to start your own 101 project. The fifth step in the latter article is to be brave and tell someone, so I am telling all of you, my readers. I hope that, if any of you are working on this project, that you will let me know and join me on my mission to complete 101 things in 1001 days.

Do you use blogging for self-discovery, motivation, or goal setting? Feel free to share your experience in the comments. I am always open to new ideas, and inspiring success stories!

Related Posts

1. Prolonging a Productivity Drought
2. Using Demotivators Posters to Find Motivation
3. What Do I Want
4. Challenges

There are times when, no matter how many goals we have setup for ourselves, and no matter how much we have achieved so far, we lose some steam and become demotivated. We lose the urge to finish set goals, or to create new goals once the prior ones are finished. And along with the lack of motivation comes the lack of productivity.

During these productivity droughts, we find ourselves bored, and sometimes we fill in the void that was originally blocked out to work on our projects with time wasting activities. It starts out as just a way to let the mind take a little breather, hoping that after a break, the brain will be productive again. But if we are not careful, we may find ourselves inadvertently prolonging our period of productivity for hours, for days, and even longer.

So how do we unintentionally delay our return to our productive selves? It can happen in a number of ways, such as…

Social networking distractions – while social networking can be very productive and worthwhile, it can become just the opposite when you find yourself browsing 70 pages of bumper stickers, playing endless rounds of blackjack or poker with your online friends, and hitting the random Stumble button a few too many time.

Watching tv – what starts out as a short break with a half hour sitcom could turn into several hours of mindless channel surfing, which could lead to the discovery of new shows that “must” be watched every time they are on, whether daily or weekly.

Online videos and tv – while you may be able to resist being a couch potato, you could still find yourself watching one Youtube video after the next, or Late Night anytime, right at your desk. Keep in mind what Hulu says about watching online tv. Granted, it is supposed to be a joke, but the mushy brain theory does seem a bit probable.

So what are some of the ways we can prevent ourselves from extending a non-productive streak? If you are absolutely set on playing online games or watching online videos, be sure to set a time limit with some type of alarm, so the time doesn’t pass without your knowledge. But instead of engaging in activities that consume our mental energy, we should do things that give the mind time to relax, and also keep it open. Open to signal us when it is ready to be productive again. Things such as…

Taking a quiet walk in the park – nature and fresh air typically helps the mind relax and rejuvenate.

Listening to meditation music without words – my preference recently has been Chinese meditation music, which is light with the sounds of water rushing in the background.

Moving to a location with less distractions – especially if you work in an environment where there is a lot of chatter that takes your mind elsewhere. Taking your laptop or idea notebook into an empty office or outside could help you gain more focus.

Probably the most important thing to do in a severe productivity drought, the kind that has lasted for weeks, or even months, is to take another look at your goals. If you have never put your goals into writing, now would be the time to do so. If you have, take a look at your most recent or complete list, and figure out what is holding you back with each one. If you are past your due date, then create a new, reasonable one to work towards. Then write the rest of the obstacles down, and start working on a solution to getting past them.

So what about you? What are some of the things that you find yourself doing that prolong your productivity drought? In what ways do you limit those activities? What are some other motivation rejuvenating activities?

More on Motivation and Goals:
Ask yourself “What do I want?”
Using Demotivators posters to find motivation
Persevering through challenges

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1. Blogging, Goals, and 101 Things
2. Using Demotivators Posters to Find Motivation
3. Challenges
4. What Do I Want

Recently, I watched the movie The Women with Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, and a great cast ensemble. A question that Meg Ryan’s character faces when her marriage falls apart is… What Do I Want?

She then starts a vision board of the interests she had but never pursued, words of inspirations, and photos of the things most important to her, like a picture with her daughter and with her friends.

Mary’s (Meg Ryan) Vision Board from The Women (2008)

This in turn got me to thinking about the vision I created for my life during a class I took months ago. We were not to consider reality, but just picture our lives the way we wanted them to be five years from now. If we could do anything, what would we do? If we could be anywhere, where would we be? Then, with a set vision, those things should be attainable.

The most important parts of my vision are things I consider the foundation – family and health. Without family and love, I would not have the support and inspiration to follow my dreams, and without good health, I would not have the strength. These two parts are definitely heading in the right direction, especially in terms of family & love since I will be marrying my soulmate in just 95 days.

The following are the personal interests that I had written about, and how they are progressing.

I picture myself with a camera in hand everywhere I go, taking photos of things at random. I have been taking hoards of pictures, true to form, but I still find myself in situations where I want to photography something so much, but have no equipment on me. That is something easily fixed with a bigger purse.

I have a tremendous amount of ideas, and even plenty of supplies, for scrapbooks galore. I haven’t made one since making the ones for my grandmother, which weren’t anything fancy as she couldn’t hold the large sized or heavy books. Since making those, I have jotted down ideas for many more, including the most recent for my engagement photos, puppy photos, and more. All I need to do to get started is to get the office organized and in shape, and make the time.

My sketching skills are iffy, at best, except when it comes to cartoon characters. To solve that issue, I envisioned a ceiling mounted projector that I could project my photographs onto a canvas, and paint on top of the projected images. Now all I need is the projector.

I have a collection of writing from the last decade. Ultimately, I want to compile it all and start entering select poems or collections to various contests for publication. I have purchased the Poet’s Market for several years, and still have yet to enter anything. Also, as of late, I have had a creative writing block the size of the Hoover Dam.

This is probably one of the things I have made the most progress on, as I have started and maintained this blog since the end of May. I have come to realize that writing comes to a halt when other things are troubling me that I cannot write about, and that I am much happier when I devote time to things other than just sitting on the computer all day. But I still enjoy writing, and sharing my photography, which I will continue to do in this blog. I also have ideas for another more artistic/creative blog, and a blog on blogging tips, but those are on hold until more time is available.

Tennis was only mentioned once in my vision, in a list of things I would do to stay physically fit. I am much more involved in it now than, as I am a part of my first tennis league (NTRP 2.5), and I play probably 3 – 4 times a week. This is really the only sport I have ever played seriously in my life, and it is coming along quite well, considering I have only two lessons under my belt.

Ever since watching Dancing with the Stars, I had this fantasy of doing ballroom dancing, which seemed so athletic, coordinated, graceful, and other things that did not seem within my range of abilities. Then I met the love of my life, who also happens to be a ballroom dance teacher. It seemed like a sign that maybe I could do this after all.

Photo by Arrye, Ethan & John

But what happens when reality does come into play? When there are obstacles that seem impossible to overcome, no matter how much we dream or persevere? When adversaries that are not in our power to control, like a crumbling economy, step in the way? When parts of our vision involve those whose vision has changed? When the work needed for one aspect takes so much time that there is little left for the rest? These are some questions that have developed in the months since creating my vision. One of my resolutions for the year is to work on the solutions.

Related Posts

1. Blogging, Goals, and 101 Things
2. Prolonging a Productivity Drought
3. Challenges

For the most part, I am a very positive minded person. But I think everyone has days where things just seem demotivating. Instead of fighting it today, I am going to embrace it with somewhat humorous Demotivators posters from Despair.com.

There are so many things I want to achieve right now, including three more blogs, but I have no expendable labor. Just myself. And that resource is being fully consumed.



When you realize the time you have daily is less than the time you need to accomplish all of the things you want to get done.



Seriously, what happened to the little things working out? Like when I finally have the time to run up to the place to reserve the site for our wedding, and I get there to find out they are closed for the day.



I feel like I’m at a plateau. Things I want learn and be good at so badly do not seem to be going well. It leaves me feeling like I should re-evaluate my goals to see if they are more delusional (in terms of time I have to work on them) than realistic.



In an attempt to get some things under control, I put other things off. The early bird has seemingly gotten a lot of the worms I needed.



This is definitely something I need to do. Get to work on my outstanding projects, finish unpacking, start my yoga again, wedding planning and so forth.



I just threw this one on here because I love penguins.



That voice has been the never ending to do list. It feels like no matter where I am, what I am doing, I am always thinking of the next thing I need to do. It can be maddening.



A basket case – that is exactly what I have felt like on and off for the past few weeks. And I don’t particularly care for being that way!

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1. Prolonging a Productivity Drought
2. Blogging, Goals, and 101 Things
3. What Do I Want

The US Open 2008 has come to a close, and I am so excited to see Roger Federer come out on top. Not only is he a brilliant player with excellent footwork going into his shots, but he’s also a Goodwill Ambassador, involved in many charities, and quite entertaining as well. Federer have been ranked #1 going into the US Open if he had not battled a case of mononucleosis this year which affected his play. Despite that, he still went to many tournaments and the Olympics in Beijing and put forth his best effort, which paid off in the end with his 5th US Open Championship.

While watching the match last night, Jason made a great comment. In the second set, one of the line judges missed the fact that one of Federer’s shots had went out of bounds, and although Murray did not challenge, he was visibly frustrated about the call not being made, considering he would have won that game. One of the commentators then went on and on about how the challenge system was not working the way it should, when effectively, without the computer-generated review, no one would have known and the situation would have turned out the same. At this, Jason said that in baseball, there are times that balls should be strikes, or strikes should be balls. It is out of the player’s control when things like that happen. But what really counts is how they come out of it – how they shake it off and play after the fact.

That can be applied to all areas of life. Things are going to happen that do not fit according to plan, are not fair and are out of our control. We can come to a complete stop, sulk, get angry, whine and so on. It takes a lot of work to tell ourselves to shake those kinds of things off. But we can keep going, doing the best we can with the circumstances dealt to us. We can practice this in simple ways, such as saying we will have a good day regardless of the fact that we got up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. We can not let one thing going wrong overshadow the rest of things that have the greatest potential of going right.

Related Posts

1. Prolonging a Productivity Drought
2. Blogging, Goals, and 101 Things
3. What Do I Want