6th time's a charm

I didn't even realize my time had come to an end for my last attempt at completing101 goals in 1001 days. Here is my next attempt's list. I honestly am not sure I would even have enough money to complete all these goals, but it's nice to aspirational sometimes! And so it goes.....

Start Date 4/5/2025

End Date 1/1/2028

Travel (10 things) (10/101)
1 renew my passport
2 spring training all years (0/3)
3 travel to europe
4 visit montreal
5 visit buzz
6 visit nyc
7 visit new orleans
8 visit martha's vineyard or nantucket
9 visit 3 new mlb parks (0/3)
10 visit ben & jerry's flavor graveyard

Self-Care (10 things) (20/101)
11 monthly facials (0/33)
12 monthly massages (0/33)
13 monthly pedicures (0/33)
14 monthly acupuncture (0/33)
15 biannual dental cleaning (0/6)

16 yearly physical (0/3)
17 yearly mammogram (0/3)
18 yearly vision exam (0/3)
19 yearly vet for cats (0/3)
20 yearly file taxes (0/3)

Culture and Entertainment Repeating (12 things) (32/101)
21 yearly bruins game (0/3)
22 yearly celtics game (0/3)

23 yearly red sox game (0/3)

24 yearly porchfest (may) (0/3)

25 yearly revere beach sand sculpting fest (jun) (0/3)

26 yearly shakespeare on the common (aug) (0/3)

27 yearly fluff festival (sep) (0/3)

28 yearly honk festival (oct) (0/3)

29 yearly rock concert (0/3)
30 yearly MFA visit (0/3)
31 yearly attend the symphony (0/3)
32 yearly visit ICA (0/3)

Cultural and Entertainment Discrete Events (10 things)(42/101)
33 see a show on broadway
34 firewalk providence
35 vermont maple festival
36 bourbon trail in KY
37 kentucky derby
38 go on a whale watch
39 visit brimfield/go antiquing
40 have afternoon tea in boston
41 sit in a boat on walden pond reading thoreau
42 attend every season at ART (0/3)

Yearly NE Things (4 things)(46/101)
43 yearly flower picking (0/3)
44 yearly beach visit (0/3)
45 yearly fruit picking (0/3)
46 yearly ski trip or outdoor ice skating (0/3)

Social Monthly Activities (5 things)(51/101)
47 avg one new restaurant/bar a month (0/33)
48 wine night monthly/new fancy wine (0/33)
49 beer night monthly (0/33)
50 karaoke monthly (0/33)
51 friend date monthly (0/33)

Social One-Off Activities (6 things)(57/101)
52 have a picnic on boston harbor islands
53 host a tea party
54 host new years eve
55 host a derby party
56 host porchfest
57 host a backyard cook-out

Self-improvement (10 things)(67/101)
58 PMP or project management certificate
59 max out contributions to 401k + IRA (0/3)
60 start non-retirement fund investing ($500/month) ($0/$16500)
61 read 33 books (0/33)
62 journal weekly (0/143)
63 start yoga/meditation practice
64 take an adult education class yearly (0/3)
65 complete one monthly challenge yearly (0/3)
66 complete EMDR
67 feel strong and confident in my body

Adulting Goals (10 things)(77/101)
68 get/maintain renters insurance
69 have $100,000 (non retirement) ($0/$100,000)
70 start + maintain garden
71 have 20 well taken care of plants (0/20)
72 complete happiness workbook
73 get a cleaning person
74 find 12 new go-to recipes (0/12)
75 buy a scooter or car
76 receive a promotion
77 buy an apartment

Develop Better Habits (15 things)(92/101)
78 weekly changing sheets (0/143)    
79 weekly changing towels (0/143)
80 weekly laundry (0/143)
81 monthly crossword puzzles (0/33)
82 flossing 25 day/month (0/33)
83 avg 5,000 steps a day/one day 10,000 weekly (0/143 avg)(0/143 10k steps)
84 making dinner avg 4 nights/week
85 bed by midnight sun-thurs
86 awake by 730 am
87 weekly masks at home (0/143)
88 showering every other day
89 gym avg 2x/week (0/33)
90 working on site avg 3x/week (0/33)
91 weekly meal planning/grocery store trips (0/143)
92 biannual haircuts (0/6)

Feel Good Things (5 things)(97/101)
93 pay for someone's coffee/tab
94 free a book with bookcrossing.com 
95 serve on a board or commission
96 contribute quarterly to community fridges
97 complete 100 days of tracking gratitude

Badass Things (4 things)(101/101)
98 have a job i am truly satisfied working
99 get the arm tattoos i want
100 build a home that makes me happy
101 shave the sides of my head/get an undercut

5th Try Recap and Look Forward

Travel 1/6 accomplished – Travel was not a focus for me over the last few years. It’s been difficult to travel having two kitties who don’t really get along. We can’t leave them alone together, so it’s difficult to travel with them, and it’s also hard to have someone take care of them at home. I did at least get to see Jess’s wedding and spend some time with her, so that was really nice. I am keeping the 5 goals I didn’t accomplish on the next goal list.

Local travel 0/6 accomplished, 1 partial – This definitely was a failure on my part. I had potentially envisioned these as just day trips, but I find myself overwhelmed on the weekends and finding it tough to get out of the house for any real big things. I am hopeful things can change in the coming years. I did at least make it to the beach once and have become a Trustee member, so I’m hoping that will make me more inspired to do beach days, as the goal of going once a year remains. I am keeping the gist of these on my next list, but splitting between actual travel locations and traveling for specific events.

Health 5/12 accomplished, 4 partial – This definitely was a success for me. I suffer from medical anxiety, so getting all these really big things done was a huge accomplishment. I am regularly going to the dentist, got glasses, and have been going to both therapy and EMDR. EMDR is going to be a long process, but I am committed to continue working on it, along with regular therapy. I also replaced my IUD and finally got a mammogram (and ultrasound). Those were both really fucking horrible experiences that I hated. I feel like medical care for women is so horrible, and we have to unnecessarily go through very painful experiences just because no one has cared to make things less horrible. Due to the state of medical care for women, I have been hesitant to commit to my yearly physicals and mammos, but they will be on my list for next time, and I am hoping I have the courage to complete them. Same with vision exams, I really hate them, but I hope to keep up with them. I am sort of abandoning the idea of getting to a specific size or weight, instead with the goal of feeling strong and confident in my body. Keeping 7 of the goals for next attempt, but have changed categories I’m tracking them in.

Physical Activity 1/9 accomplished, 1 partial – I did get a bike, but I think I have ridden it less than a handful of times. My walking has been minimal; I don’t think I ever walked to work, even if I was only working in the square. I am relying too much on driving places. I purchased a gym membership each year but have yet to go! Womp. I am keeping a few of goals in certain ways. I am trying to commit to going to the gym weekly, and upping my average daily steps to 5k, hitting 10k once a week. We shall see how it goes!   

Beauty/Fashion 3/11 accomplished, 2 partial – I over accomplished some of the goals. I ended up splurging for both monthly massage and facial memberships. I know it’s a lot of money, but I do think it’s helping me feel better and providing relaxation and things for me to look forward to. I am planning on keeping them up monthly for the foreseeable future and goals list. Using and fixing up my beauty products was a mixed bag. I need to organize them better and focus on using what I have, but I have not included those things on my next iteration of goals. Instead, I am adding getting a pedicure monthly, but focusing more on activities with friends.

Social 0/9 accomplished, 4 partial – I did not make it to a single Celtics or Bruins game, but they’ll stay on the list for next time. I also didn’t go fruit picking or host a derby party, but those will remain in some fashion for next time as well. I did make it to the Sox 2/3 years, and that will remain as well. I didn’t make it to a new restaurant each month, but if I include traveling, I did try 33 new restaurants. I’m going to shoot for a total of 33 new restaurants for the next version. I also didn’t try a new fancy wine each month, but I think I did try over 33 new ones, especially champagnes. Wine club has not been consistently happening since there is no one to regularly take on hosting, so I’m going to combine trying new wines with attending whenever wine nights happen, in the hopes that I can try one new one each month. Hopefully, I can track things better!! I’m keeping versions of 7 of the 9 goals.

Cultural 1/8 accomplished, 2 partial – I’m counting going to every ART offering as I made it to everything I could before my time expired, and will keep that on my list. But otherwise, I didn’t do very well taking advantage of all the cultural experiences I have at my fingertips. I did take advantage of more comp offers with friends, so I’m hoping to do that at least once a year again. I have shifted my culture and entertainment goals to essentially do one thing a month for the duration of my 1001 days. I’m hoping I can make it more of a habit.            

Educational 1/6 accomplished, 1 partial – Man alive, this was not a great attempt as keeping my brain active. I do think getting a new job/switching careers again sort of made it difficult to focus on any of these things. So aside from getting my physical library cards, the effort was just not there. I need to remember that I do really enjoy reading books, and it’s so much more fulfilling than scrolling on my phone at night. I will try to make a list of what I really want to read to be a little more focused on that goal. Reading 33 books, taking some sort of continuing education class each year, and getting a PMP/PM certificate will stay on the list.

Spiritual/Self-care 0/12, 2 or 3 partial – Haha this was another one I didn’t do very well at accomplishing. A lot of them were long term developing daily, weekly or monthly goals which I guess I don’t have focus on doing. However, I do think they are important for my long-term health and wellbeing, so I’m keeping some version of 5 of them, plus adding some additional habit goals.

Financial/Organization 5/14 accomplished – Ok, maybe not as many goals accomplished as I would have hoped, but I think the ones I did complete were a pretty freaking big deal! Most notably, I paid off my school loans (woot, woot!), saved $10k, and was able to bump my 401k savings to the max and also started a Roth IRA. I still have a long way to go on being more financially stable, but I am making progress and that feels good. I am keeping many of the financial goals on the list but leaving off the individual organizational goals focus. I am probably overextending myself on what is even feasible to accomplish in terms of money (like I physically am not making enough money to accomplish it all), but that leaves me flexibility in which goal(s) I really want to accomplish. Or who knows, maybe I will get a crazy promotion in the next couple years that will really help me achieve these things…..

Hobby/Fun Shit 1/6 accomplished, 3 partial – Not accomplishing some of these goals was not necessarily a bad thing. I stopped tracking finishing liquor bottles, but I think that’s because I have been drinking less. Same with collecting all Four Roses blends. I did get some cool art pieces from local artist (downstairs neighbor included!) but only found one unique piece of jewelry. I failed at gardening, doing puzzles, volunteering, coloring and dessert making. I’m going to keep the gardening but I guess I’m switching my focus of fun stuff to hanging out with people and doing out of the house activities.

Total Accomplished: 18/101 with partial progress on 21 others

So I didn’t even attempt to achieve about half of the goals. I don’t think that’s because I don’t actually want to do them, I think it’s just because I am overwhelmed by regular life. But also looking back at prior attempts, I think I top out around the 20 goal mark, so I guess at least I'm consistent!

 For my next iteration, it would probably be helpful to try to map out how to achieve these goals more fully and actually assign targets or dates to them.

Taking this reflection into consideration for my 6^th attempt, of the 101 goals, I think about 70 of them are “easy” enough to achieve if I am just dedicated to doing things. I have 54 “low” effort goals that are achievable from the house or staying local in the city; 10 one-off things, 22 things to do annually, 12 things to do once a month, and 5 once a week. I just need to be dedicated about making the effort to do them. There are an additional 14 one-off goals that include domestic travel or doing things in the city that just take a little more effort to accomplish, but nothing that is outrageous to think I could do it. I also have 2 low effort goals that I just need to commit to doing daily.

2025 Resolutions and Goals

 -read one book a month

-check into Finch app daily for January✅

-get my arm tattoo

-go to high tea

- get cash savings to $50k

-max Roth IRA out

-two new bkr purchases, trade/sell ones I don't need or like

-no large PLG purchases

-don't waste time or effort on people who don't care about you

-donate something monthly (weekly if possible?)

-keep up with EMDR

-tackle yard and garden

Tik-tok time is passing: 200 days left!

I don't think I realized how much time has passed since I started. Definitely not as far along as I had hoped, but that is life.

I don't think I'm going to tick off more of my travel goals. I might make it to NYC, but I haven't been itching to be traveling. A little too overwhelmed by life.

I think I have been pretty good on health stuff. I made a big push to get back to regular medical and dental care. It was tough and 100% overwhelming, but I made it through a slew of appointments to get a physical, mammogram, IUD replacement, skin check, vision exam, regular dental cleanings, been doing acupuncture at least monthly, therapy along with starting the EMDR process. Whew, it's a lot! I also signed up to do monthly facials and massages. I think it has been really nice to have some relaxing thing to look forward to every month. I've also been trying to get better about sleep and stuff. It's been difficult that I will just rebel and stay up till 4AM some days because I'm upset about having to conform to this day person life. I hate it.

In terms of getting active, I have not been very motivated. My depression has been looming large for the last year+. I know it would be helpful to eat better and at least be walking more, but I just can't find the motivation. The summer got unbearably hot for weeks on end in July and August, which is starting to affect me more as I get older, so that also hindered activity. I feel like social activity and going out to do stuff has also taken a hit due to sadness.

One thing that has definitely improved is finances. I've held steady to saving the max I can for my 401k, paid off my student loan(!!!) in July, and have a pretty good amount of savings. Plus I have sucked it up and done my taxes. So that's something to be proud of, for sure. I still need to get better about budgeting, and have been looking into different strategies, so hopefully I can find something that works for me to actually stick to.

So, as normal, maybe not the best progress, but honestly, I'm pretty excited to have 11 goals completed.

2024!

 Welp, I haven't been the best at keeping to my goals, but I did finally try acupuncture. I think it's helping a bit with my trouble sleeping. I did almost weekly for the last 4-5 months of 2023, and am trying to do at least monthly, to every 3 week visits for the year.

I've been pretty good about getting facials on a regular basis. I wish I could get them all the time because I do really like how my skin feels after getting one. I've been toying with doing a monthly facial subscription type place, but the vibe is definitely not as relaxing as I wish it was.

I had dinner at Season to Taste and it was really delicious. Obviously it was expensive, but everything tasted very yummy. I have missed going out to restaurants, so I want to try to make it a priority to go out at least monthly, if not twice a month. It's just tough because everything is so freaking expensive!!

I've probably picked up flowers once or twice more than I think I have, but I am hoping to make a concerted effort to pick them up monthly. They do bring happiness that I should make the effort for.

I still haven't taken my bike in to get put together but hopefully I get my butt in to do that soon!

Updated List of Restaurants to Try!

 I have copied over a few from the old list that are still around and that I haven't tried yet. I am woefully uninformed of what's cool and new, so this may be a short list for now:

-bar volpe

-batifol 9/23 yummy food, expensive, nice but new staff

-brassica

-celeste

-comfort kitchen 6/24 had a surprising number of options that weren't meat focused, fun cocktails

-dear annie

-deuxave

-field and vine

-hecate

-gufo

-gustazo 5/24 delicious, easy to over order, massive area indoors, need to try patio

-krasi

-la brasa

-loco taqueria and oyster bar

-marseille

-mei mei

-mooncusser

-myers and chang

-ostra

-o ya

-season to taste 2/24 delicious, small plates, some interesting cocktails

-saltie girl

-silver dove afternoon tea

-spoke wine bar

-social club

-sycamore

-tres gatos

-urban hearth 10/23 delicious food, sat outside, spent a lot

-the wig shop

September!

 Last month wasn't the greatest for getting things done, unfortunately. I still haven't purchased a bike or started on some of the monthly tasks that are supposed to be enjoyable like doing a puzzle and taking a bath. It's been hard to be motivated on anything.

However, I did make progress on empties including 2 FS products and11 DS/foils. I think September will have even more FS empties. We saw Twilight, which while it was very tough subject material, I am glad I saw it. I went to a couple new restaurants: Colette and Geppetto. 

I killed a bottle of Bombay, but still need to take inventory of the collection to keep better track. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with work, so I held off on registering for a PM class. I need to get a better rhythm and schedule to be productive.

Goals for September include: getting a facial, going to the dentist, going to Brimfield, hitting up a late season Sox game, schedule vet appts, schedule acupuncture intake, and spend some time reading/relaxing outside before it gets too cold.