I recently spent some time with an industry colleague, Melissa Jill who is an incredible photographer. She posted on her blog recently about being inspired to set 101 goals to accomplish in 1001 days. And now I am doing the same and am up to about 65.

I feel blessed because I have been able to do a lot in my life so far. Some big goals and others nonconsequential: preferring my coffee black, meeting a real princess while hiking (her entourage of bodyguards sporting m-16s was the first giveaway), and seeing blue starfish while snorkeling in Southeast Asia. There are many things I want to accomplish, and some, such as becoming fluent in the five major languages (two down, three to go) as well as performing on Broadway (even just as a background dancer), don't fit within the 1001 days timeframe. And if I'm being totally honest here then I will also share with you that I am not brave enough to post all my goals as they are a mix of personal and professional. Perhaps someday I will be. Until then, here are a select few:

1. Journal everyday for a month
2. Blog everyday for a month (completed April 5, 2007)
3. Tone muscle
4. drink more water
5. Sort through and pare down my shoe collection
6. learn French and be able to speak it fluently
7. live in Paris for an extended amount of time
8. renew my passport before it expires this year
9. get lasik eye surgery
10. implement a structured internship program
11. Tour all the wineries in Arizona (there are no less than 21 of them)
12. go skydiving
13. have a wedding featured in Grace Ormonde
14. win an ISES award
15. spend a week at the surf spa in Hawaii
16. visit friends in China
17. do a celebrity wedding
18. go snowboarding in the Alps and in Lebanon
19. hike the Grand Canyon
20. organize my books
21. learn how to work my bluetooth earpiece thingy that's been sitting in its packaging unopened for a year and use it while I'm driving
22. take flamenco lessons again
23. learn to like onions
24. outline a reading plan for business-related material
25. get my vintage bicycle fixed and use it
26. carry my camera in my purse and actually use it
27. learn how to take decent pictures
28. take pictures of my 101 goals as they are completed
29. Clean out my closet and give away clothes I don't wear or never will fit into again (no matter how cute they were!)
30. re-read The Fountainhead and see if I actually like it this time around
31. find a good messenger bag that will hold everything I need it to and still look cute (I've been looking for over a year so far)
32. send out holiday cards for my business and personally
33. renew my CPR certification
34. schedule annual mammograms
35. give away, toss or sell 101 items
36. find the person who is holding the domain blueorchiddesigns.com hostage for no good reason and figure out how to get it
37. create a will
38. make it a point to pick wild blackberries in Sedona every year
39. plant tomatoes
40. spend a weekend at the Hotel Valley Ho for no reason other than relaxation
41. get another tattoo
42. read others' blogs more frequently and comment on them (completed August 10, 2007 + ongoing)
43. take voice lessons
44. try Mystic Tan. I might look good orange (completed October 2007 - it turns out I do not look good orange)
45. in an effort to make good on goal #27, complete a 26 Things Project
46. have professional photos taken of myself (this is no easy feat)
47. ride in a hot air balloon
48. cook an entire meal, including all the courses, myself. from scratch.
49. make it edible, and hopefully, delicious
50. send a letter of appreciation for excellent customer service once a month (not including event industry vendors)
51. meet Gwyneth Paltrow
52. get over my fear of yarn and crochet a baby blanket in order to be the best aunt in the world
53. learn how to brew beer and then do it
54. visit friends in other states

So there you have it: a handful of my 101 goals to accomplish in the next 1001 days. I'm open to ideas and suggestions and I'm curious to hear your own goals as well. It really is fun writing them down . . . enjoy!

originally posted on February 9, 2007