Friday, November 30, 2012

Breaking It Down


You'll probably get sick of hearing me talk about this book, but seriously, if you haven't read The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau (and you're feeling in a rut), you really, really, really need to!  But reading it taught me a lot.  
My list is daunting.  I suppose it should be; it's meant to span a lifetime.  But even the most intimidating tasks can be accomplished by turning it into smaller tasks.  I have anecdotal evidence!
When I was in college, I studied piano performance.  Now, I love to play piano, but practice it?  Blegh!  Practicing was (and mostly still is) terrible.  I would play through a section over and over and it would never get any better.  But then my teacher gave me a great idea: break it into smaller chunks!  That's not much of a revelation now, but back then, it was an amazing concept!  For some reason, my brain (and I imagine lots of our brains) can only complete small tasks that lead to completion of a bigger one.  
And with that in mind, here's what I'll be completing by the end of December 2013:

5. Run a 5K
8. Eat 100 different culinary fruits (partial)
9. Write a Book (partial)
16. Learn French (partial)
20. Try 50 types of meat (fish not included)
24. Try 7 types of animal milk
36. Learn how to deal with anxieties better
39. Touch 50 alive exotic animals (partial)
71. Donate Blood
72. Eat Paleo for 3 months
73. Fast for 24 hours
74. Be able to do a somersault
79. Start a blog
80. Learn to play accordion
84. Eat 8 types of raw meat (partial)
87. Complete a Color Run
88. Participate in a Thriller Dance in Lexington
90. Get a deep tissue massage
99. Be able to Jump rope for 5 minutes straight
100. Go out for a walk every day for a year

And what do you know, I'm already 1/100 of the way to completing my bucket list!  As I learned from Futurama only moments ago: "You have to believe the impossible is merely preposterous."

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