My List of 100 Dreams

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I recently shared the experience of conducting a time study on myself, and how it shaped the way I plan my days and weeks. This self-reflective project was inspired by reading Laura Vanderkam’s 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. In the book, Vanderkam shares how she was encouraged to come up with a list of 100 dreams by a career coach. The idea behind the exercise is that you can’t plan for and accomplish the things you want to do in life if you don’t know what they are.

The list of 100 dreams is supposed to be a list of unedited list of things you want to accomplish or want more of in your life. It’s similar to a bucket list or a 40×40 list, but in longer form. It doesn’t have to be big, sweeping accomplishments (although most of us probably have a few of those things we’d want to put on there). Small and simple belong there as well, because even the smallest of dreams have a way of being pushed aside because we believe there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

A few thoughts after I did this exercise myself:

• It’s harder than I thought. I steamrolled through the first 25 or so, and then got stuck. Getting to 100 seemed impossible. So I put it away and would return to it whenever another idea popped into my head or I felt inspired to sit down and write for a few minutes.
• That being said, I ended up with more than 100, as I’ve continued to jot more down as I think of them.
• You can organize your list by category if you like. I did this after I made the complete list. I didn’t do it initially because I didn’t want to be bogged down in details. I also didn’t want to censor myself if I felt like one category seemed too robust, or inauthentically add things because another category looked lonely.
• Nothing is too big or too silly. After all, these are your dreams we’re talking about.

Now that I have my list, I refer to it often. I used it in setting some goals for the year and in planning a Happiness Project for myself this year. I also use it when planning my weeks and filling in my block schedule. For example, I’m on a quest to see all the movies nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category. (See? I told you nothing is too silly!) I’ve had this desire for the last few years, as I love the Oscars but found that I rarely had seen more than a movie or two that had been nominated. I wrote it down, and once the nominations were announced I wrote them all down on a sticky note. In order to see them all (there are 8) before the Oscars on February 26th, I would’ve needed to see 2 movies a week. That’s a stretch, and I knew I probably wouldn’t see them all before then. BUT … I penciled in times to see a movie each week. Thanks to being intentional about scheduling time to see a movie, I was able to see 5 of the nominated films. I’m confident I’ll watch all of them by the end of April. It’s an example of dreaming, planning and executing, and it makes me very happy.

So just for fun (and so you can see I have some loftier dreams and goals beyond watching movies), here’s my list of 100 dreams. I highly encourage you to make one as well. It’s really fun and eye-opening, and a great way to learn more about yourself.

CAREER

• Start my own freelance writing and social media management business (In process!)
• Get a new headshot
• Write every day for a month
• Implement block scheduling (Done – and it’s working SO well for me)

HOME

• Get photos from our trip to Spain and London in an album.
• Get photos from our trip to Disney in an album. (Only took 4 years!)
• Make yearly photo books of our random photos and my Instagram photos. (2016 done; need one for IG photos)
• Do a Project Life photo book.
• Turn backyard into a peaceful oasis with good landscaping and a variety of bird feeders. (Paid a local nursery for a one-on-one consult and walked out with a detailed plan of how it should look and what we should plant. Worth every penny for those that suffer decision paralysis like me.)
• Decorate our home to make it ours (In process. Made a list for each room and trying to tackle a bit at a time.)
• Be prepared for life without Mike (and vice versa)
• Play every game we own once, decide what to keep and what to donate (In process. Keeping a notebook to remember what we’ve played so far.)
• Make the recipes I pin on Pinterest (A never ending task, I assume.)
• Fill up my Indiana beer cap map
• Get a kitchen table and chairs I love
• Sell and purge stuff we don’t use
• Own a hammock. And use it.
• Incorporate a power hour into my week (Getting so many random things done this way *cough* Disney photos *cough*)
• Invest in good gardening tools
• Fill the freezer with beef again (This time we split a half a cow with our neighbors to save some money.)
• Fully fund emergency fund again

CONTINUING EDUCATION

• Become fluent in Spanish
• Read all the Harry Potter books (In process, on Book 5)
• Read a variety of books from my TBR list each month (Forever in process, but trying to be more intentional about reading a diverse selection instead of just working my way through the list from oldest to newest.)
• Take a macaron class

SELF

• Finish painting bird picture
• Choose books and puzzles (crosswords, Ken Ken, etc.) over mindless phone scrolling
• Set intentional goals for enjoying each season: a food + a craft/project + a trip/outing (In process. Made a list for spring.)
• Take a break to read mid-day (Kind of in process. Scheduling it daily, but it often gets pushed aside to finish other tasks.)
• Take a should-less day each quarter
• Get a massage once a quarter (Had one in January)
• Create a seasonal uniform
• Sleep in nice pajamas
• Try meditation
• Go bird watching and take photos at Rookery Preserve

TRAVEL

• Spain (2014. I’m totally counting a previous trip of this magnitude!)
• Canada
• Grand Canyon with kids
• New York City with Elena
• Washington, DC with kids/see the cherry blossoms
• Italy
• Greece
• Ireland
• Go back to 30A beaches with Mike
• Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• See a football game in Green Bay
• Baseball Hall of Fame
• Tube down a river or creek
• Hike in Turkey Run
• Try cross-country skiing
• Go to an all-inclusive resort with kids
• Acadia National Park
• See the northern lights
• Take a cruise with kids
• Mackinac Island
• Pacific Northwest
• Music festival with Mike
• Book retreat
• Rent a beach house for more than a week
• Rent a cabin in Hocking Hills, Ohio
• Take kids to Great Wolf Lodge

HEALTH/FITNESS

• Run a 5k with Eli
• Ride my bike to places instead of driving when I can
• Get down to the 140s in my 40s
• Try yoga with Elena

RELATIONSHIPS

• Have a monthly date with Mike (Haven’t missed a month yet this year!)
• Make once-a-month Sunday dinner with my parents and sister a routine (Got everyone to agree on last Sunday of the month.)
• Organize an 80th birthday party for my parents
• Eat at Bluebeard with friends when we can sit outside
• Watch a Colts game with my sister
• Go through the 36 Questions with Mike
• Host a Christmas book exchange with my book club (We did a Blind Date with a Book gift exchange and it went over very well. Hopefully a new tradition!)
• Take more photos at family gatherings
• Take a day off during the week with Mike
• Meet Mike for lunch once a month (Haven’t missed a month yet this year!)
• Host a progressive dinner (Helped organize and hosted in my neighborhood. A little too stressful for my taste, but I’m glad I did it.)
• Perfect a meal to take to friends in need
• Get better at gift-giving and surprising with small treats
• Spend weekend with my niece and her family
• Have friends over to watch a football game

PARENTING

• Be consistent with screen rules
• Take more candid photos of the kids
• Spend one-on-one time with each kid at least once per month (Haven’t missed a month yet!)
• Try fondue as a family
• Explore new cuisines with the kids (In process. Took Elena to Chinese restaurant this month.)
• Take the kids on the canal paddle boats
• Movie night once a month, rotating who picks (Haven’t missed a month yet!)
• Make an apple slab pie with Elena
• Work through the “Do You Know?” questions at dinner
• Have “the talk” with Eli and revisit with Elena

MISCELLANEOUS

• See “Hamilton” (Saw it in January 2017 in Chicago. Worth every single penny.)
• Be a guest on the What Should I Read Next podcast
• Volunteer with ARPO
• Volunteer with Second Helpings
• Be a regular at Sun King and try more new beers
• Foster a dog
• See all the movies nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture in 2017 (Saw 5 of 8 before Oscars, working on other 3.)
• Participate in Indy Food Swap
• Eat fried chicken at Mississippi Belle
• Eat at Milktooth
• Take Gus to Marott Park
• Meet Peyton Manning
• Build a gingerbread house from scratch

Have you ever made a list like this? If not, I strongly encourage you to  start one! It really makes you think about what’s interesting and important to you. What are a few things that would be on your list of 100 dreams?