This is the challenge that started it all for me - a huge, complex undertaking that has enormous returns. As best I can tell, the idea started here, at Day Zero. For all of the ins and outs, as well as some great inspiration, check there.

The condensed version is this: set 101 clear, definite goals for yourself, preferably ones that stretch you and make you a better person, and give yourself 1001 days to complete them. I've dabbled in this before, but it took me a while to define goals which I believe I'll want to stick with. My end date is December 13, 2011, and these are my goals:

Because People Matter, and so Does my Faith

1. Complete the “Captivating” journal
2. Tithe off of each of my paychecks, no matter the circumstances (1/1)
   
3. Take a puppetry course of some kind
4. Donate hair to Locks of Love (actually has to be mailed to count!)
5. Buy items for the angel tree at the mall every Christmas (0/2)
   
6. Send a box for “Operation Christmas Child” every year (0/3)
   
7. Raise money/collect shoes to equal 100 pairs for SOS (0/100)
   
8. Do “Hands on Fayetteville” mission every year (0/3)
   
9. Faithfully pray for my Sunday School Prayer Partner each Week (0/140)
10. Pay the tab of the person in line behind me at the drive-through
11. Establish a “fasting day” (like Mrs. D.) once a month for a whole year (0/12)
12. Go on one church mission trip
13. Lead a bible study

To See the World (or at least more of my own back yard)

14. Travel outside of the country
15. Go to Disneyworld
16. Find 5 fun things to do in TN that cost less than $100 (0/5)
17. Spend a night at Falcon’s Rest B&B

Of Food and Finances

18. Try one new recipe each week (1/140)
19. Complete the Month of Meals Challenge 12 times (0/12)
20. Get out of debt (a mortgage doesn’t count)
21. Buy a house
22. compile at least 101 recipes in my personal collection (19/101)
23. have a copy of my recipe collection professionally bound
24. put into savings out of each of my paychecks (0/1)
    
25. develop a taste for 6 new healthy foods (0/6)
26. make an apple pie entirely from scratch
27. automate all recurring bills
28. host a “gourmet” potluck
29. go one week without spending any money (not including actual bills) (0/7)
30. Earn $1001 dollars outside of my “day job” (0/1001)
31. stick to a budget for one full month (not a cent over!)
    

Because my Family Deserves the Best

32. FLY with Flylady more than half of the 101 days (12/501)
33. Finish painting the Kitchen
34. Paint the Study
35. Grow a square foot garden
36. Take a ballroom dancing class with DH
37. Email C at least once a week, every week (1/140)
38. Fill out a basic family tree
39. Start a journal written specifically to our future children
40. Go on a picnic by a waterfall with my husband
41. Send/Give a thank you note for every gift received
42. Go apple picking with DH
43. Go to a drive-in movie
44. Organize and copy our important documents
45. Get a bank box and store the originals
46. Open and clean all of the windows in the house (even the ones sealed shut) (0/11)
    
47. Learn to Can/Jelly my own produce
48. Make every single gift given for one Christmas
49. Brainstorm something really memorable for my little brothers
50. sponsor a child through a Christian organization (the more local, the better)

Because I’m Worth It

51. Get a Driver’s License
52. Get a scooter and learn to ride
53. Get a motorcycle license
54. Reach my healthy target weight
55. Exercise at least 3 days a week for 3 months (3/36)
56. Talk to/IM/email J at least once a week (1/140)
57. Visit the library at least once a month (0/32)
58. Return all library books by their due date
59. Move the piano into the house
60. Have it tuned
61. Learn to play Cannon in D
62. Deep clean my laptop and replace the missing keys
63. Purge my wardrobe of anything that is outdated, torn, or doesn’t fit me NOW
64. Drink nothing but water for two weeks (14/14) 03-28-09
65. Build up a “classic” wardrobe

For Entertainment’s Sake

66. See a Cirque de Soleil performance live
67. Watch AFI’s top ten movies of all time (from the original list) (2/10)
68. Read at least one book every week (1/140)
69. Read 5 “banned” books (0/5)
70. Read 5 fiction Pulitzer prize winners (0/5)
71. Read 5 YA books (0/5)
72. Subscribe to a literary magazine
73. See every local Theater League Broadway show in a given year (0/4)

To Satisfy the Crafter in Me

74. Make a quilt
75. Finish (including framing and matting) 3 big cross-stitch projects (0/3)
76. Learn how to crochet and read a pattern
77. Make an amigurumi
78. Learn to Knit and read a pattern
79. Make an article of knitted lingerie
80. Finish every piece of a “wardrobe” sewing pattern
81. Sell something on Etsy
82. Enter something in the women’s building at the fair
83. Complete project 365 (4/365)
84. Paint the hope chest
85. “Steampunk” my laptop

Because I WILL Pursue my Dream Career

86. Write every single day for a month (0/30)
87. Finish a complete manuscript
88. Query a literary agent
89. Reach 600 blog posts (12/600)
90. Finish “Thinking Sideways”
91. Have an article or short story published in print
92. Write a bible study
93. Finish NaNoWriMo
94. Obtain an external hard drive and back up all of my writing
95. Have a poem published in print
96. Get paid for a piece of my writing
97. Write and mail letters to the 5 living authors who have had the greatest impact on me (0/5)

And as for the project itself…

98. Create a new list, to begin one week after this one finishes
99. Put an extra dollar into savings for every item checked off
100. Donate $5 to charity for every item not completed
101. Celebrate the journey with a nice dinner out, no matter the final results