My 99 in 999

The concept: You set 99 goals that you would like to accomplish in the next 999 days. Each time you accomplish a goal you set aside one dollar and at the end of the 999 days you give that money to a charity of your choice. 

The motivation: I've recently discovered that goal-setting is fun, fulfilling, and helps you achieve things you never would do naturally. I wish someone had told me about goals before I was 27!

The charity: I'll be donating my earnings to Clear Horizons Academy. CHA is a non-profit educational facility for children with autism. I just spent four years working there and I can't think of a better place to send a little extra cash. Learn more about CHA at their website: http://www.clearhorizonsacademy.org/

The plan: I had a fantastic time compiling my list (with the help of some dear friends) and I'm really looking forward to getting started! The goals in black are goals I have not yet started. Blue means I'm working on them, and italics are goals I have completed. I'll be writing updates on my blog for all completed goals and will label them "99 in 999 #1".

The vision: You should make your own 99 in 999! If you do, you have to send me your list because I love reading them. Also, you have to tell me how you've decided to articulate it when you explain it to people. I'm still really struggling with that. ("It's ninety-nine in nine hundred and ninety-nine" "It's nine-nine in nine-nine-nine" "It's ninety-nine in nine-nine-nine" "Its... just look at my blog...")

Accomplished
In Progress
Not yet begun  

MY 99 IN 999
May 1st, 2013-January 25th, 2016

LEARN/MEMORIZE
1. Learn basic first aid (CPR, etc…)
2. Learn to drive stick shift
3. Memorize list of the Countries of the World
4. Memorize The Family: A Proclamation to the World
5. Learn two new classical pieces on the piano (0/2)
6. Learn to confidently play and sing at least five songs on the guitar (0/5)
7. Memorize at least two poems (2/2) 2014
8. Learn to identify at least 10 forms of plant life (can include trees) (2/10)
9. Learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube
10. Rememorize the States and their Capitols 2014
11. Learn the primary songs for order of books in the scriptures 2014
12. Learn to tie a guy’s tie
13. Find three online news sources that I find trustworthy and accessible (3/3) 2014
14. Spend at least three hours in Story-Telling training
15. Learn basic communication skills in another language
16. Learn how to fold shirts like they do in the stores
17. Memorize five scriptures (0/5)
18. Learn to sneeze quietly. I firmly believe this is possible.
19. Play every hymn in the hymnal competently

PURCHASES
20. Purchase another pair of glasses
21. Purchase a pistol
22. Purchase the materials needed to independently go shooting
23. Purchase and memorize Queen’s Greatest Hits album
24. Purchase chacos
25. Purchase a quality zip-up jacket 2014
26. Purchase Snoopy Come Home on DVD
27. Purchase rain boots
28. Purchase 10 new undershirts and/or bottoms

FASTS
29. Don't watch TV for an entire week. This includes watching shows online! 2014
30. Spend six consecutive months free of one of the following: gluten, dairy, sugar, or meat 2014
31. Have at least five facebook fasts of one week each (2/5)
32. Stop bad habit of cracking knuckles
33. Do not swear for a month (3/22/2014)
34. No eating-out for one month 2015
35. Go sugar free for one week 2014

SHORT-TERM TASKS
36. Donate blood 2014
37. Write a letter to myself at age 40 2015
38. Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day 2014
39. Leave someone a 50% tip
40. Begin a tradition of watching Lincoln on Lincoln’s birthday (February 12th) (2/12/14)
41. Attend at least one caucus meeting
42. Send out Christmas cards 2014
43. Write a thank you letter to someone I do not know personally but admire 2015 To Dr. Oliver Sacks
44. Do something memorable on my 30th birthday 2015
45. Get a credit card 2014
46. Update Mormon.org profile
47. Send flowers to someone 2015

LONG-TERM TASKS
48. Earn my Master’s Degree 2015
49. Spend at least three weeks in another Country
50. Start and maintain a blog (post at least 1/month)
51. Run a 5k
52. Spend a day as a tourist in my own city at least twice (2/2) 2015
53. Spend at least two days at the beach
54. Go on at least 4 lunch dates with Mom (3/4)
55. Go camping
56. Interview 2 family members with 25 questions about our genealogy/their personal history (2/2) 2015
57. Exercise regularly (3-4 times a week) for 3 months. (3/3)
58. Use mouthwash every day for a month
59. Reconnect with an old friend at least twice each month
60. Pay off bank loan 2014
61. Achieve 60% accuracy with a pistol
62. Add money to my savings account each month
63. Index 1,000 names
64. Document my 99 in 999 goals as I work on them
65. Gather, Print off, and participate in temple work for at least five family names (0/5)
66. On two separate occasions/locations visit relatives who live at least 2 hours away (2/2) 2014
67. For four separate weeks spend two hours outside every day for one week (4/4) 2015
68. Go through my personal belongings and cut them down by at least 1/3
69. Face camel crickets without screaming
70. Write five letters to a missionary (2/5)

READING
71. Read three epic novels (Les Miserables, Atlas Shrugged, War and Peace, Paradise Lost, The Iliad and The Odyssey, etc...) (2/3)
72. Read all of the Standard Works (5/5) 2015
73. Read ten books that I own but have not yet read (10/10) 2015
74. Keep a running list of books I read and my opinion of them
75. Read the Quran
76. Read three Hugh Nibley books (0/3)
77. Spend fifteen minutes reading news articles every day for one month 2014

ENTERTAINMENT
78. See one of the following legends in concert: James Taylor, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan
79. See at least one of these “my-soul-music” artists in concert: Gillian Welch, Ray Lamontagne, The Civil Wars, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, The Weepies, The Head and the Heart, Ben Sollee, Daniel Martin Moore, The Avett Brothers
80. See a Broadway show
81. Watch 40 Oscar Best Picture Winners (40/40) 2014
82. Host at least two themed parties (2/2) 2014
83. Participate in a theater production
84. Watch twenty episodes of Star Trek: Ten Original and ten Next Generation (0/20)

PHYSICAL
85. Plant and enjoy the “fruits” of at least one vegetable plant
86. Whiten my teeth
87. Go to bed by 10:00 for two weeks
88. For the love of all that is good, participate in one really great kiss
89. Try something new with my hair, either through a cut or coloring
90. Try 5 new fruits and/or vegetables (5/5) 2014
91. Successfully keep a flowering plant alive

CREATE
92. Make/Wear a legitimate Halloween costume
93. Make a 72-hour kit 2014
94. Crochet something other than a plain scarf
95. Start a recipe book with at least 50 recipes 2014
96. Bring into reality at least 15 ideas from Pinterest (15/15) 2014
97. Complete my family tree on that website Sister Nelson told me about. (Also, figure out what the heck it was called.)
98. Create two holiday themed decorations to be kept and reused (2/2) 2014
99. Write a new list of 99 by the end of my 999 days