Day Zero Project

One of the really great things about the Day Zero community is that there are so many inventive and creative people contributing ideas for weird, wonderful and inspirational things to do. This is the first in a regular series of posts that will pick out and highlight a few submissions that you might enjoy - some simple, and others more outrageous.

• Have a Lady Gaga themed party
• Make a Year in Pictures album
• Make 10 shots in a row in basketball
• Organize a hide and seek with at least 20 friends in the Ikea
• Learn how to play a Beatles song on the guitar
• Ride a gondola in Venice
• Start a fire with a magnifying glass
• Attend a music festival in another country
• Visit a Panda breeding facilty in China
• Make the Super Epic Rainbow Cake
• Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11, 2011
• Make a video about a typical day of my life
• Design and name a cocktail
• Make an iTunes playlist of 101 of my favorite songs
• Ask 20 friends to suggest one book, and read them all

This list can also be found on the Day Zero website in the Features section - and you can easily add items you like to any of your lists.

Two updates to the Day Zero website this week. As promised there is a new page showing the most popular tasks that participants of Day Zero have added to their lists. Head over to the Top 101 list where you can also see a top 20 list showing some of the more ambitious goals people have added to their ‘Someday’ lists, and also the top 20 most completed tasks.

There are now also individual pages for each task. These pages will give you quick links to add the task to your own list, and you can also see which other participants have this task on their lists. Check out Sleep under the stars for an example of this.

The great Bobulate (my favourite daily blog) pointed out an article by Dan Pink on the ‘third drive’ of humans. There are some really nice observations on how people are motivated to seek out challenges and I think this goes a long way to explaining why the Day Zero Project has resonated with so many people. 

We do things even when they don’t satisfy our biological urges, win us a reward or help us avoid a punishment. We play musical instruments during the weekend simply to master something challenging. We quit high-paying jobs to take new jobs that are less lucrative but more meaningful. Human beings, says University of Rochester psychologist Edward Deci, have an “inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capacities, to explore and to learn”. Few would deny that this third drive is also part of what it is to be human.

This week has seen the release of two new features. As well as your Things To Do list, there are now two new lists that you can add goals to - these are ‘Someday’ and ‘Done!’. You can see them in the top section of your list page.

The Someday list is a great place to put tasks you might want to do someday, but not on your main Things To Do list. The Done! list is a way of marking off things you see on other people’s lists that you have already done yourself. It’s a nice reminder of what you have already achieved.

The second new feature makes it even easier to add goals to your list. Now you can click items you see on other participants lists and a new section will expand out that lets you add that task to any of your lists with one click!

So why not take a look through the directory of thousands of other participants and get some inspiration for what you want to achieve in the next 1001 days and beyond.

There’s still a lot more coming soon including improved editing, sorting, all new directory, a list of the most popular tasks, and much more.

Thanks for helping make Day Zero Project such a useful resource for inspirational goal setting!

Are you looking to learn a new skill or hobby? Here is a list of the top 20 things that Day Zero Project members have added to their lists that start with the word ‘Learn’.

Learn…

…to knit
…a poem by heart
…Spanish
…how to drive
…French
…how to write with my left hand
…to sew
…to crochet
…how to salsa
…to play the guitar
…how to change my own oil
…sign language
…to pole dance
…how to play poker
…to juggle
…to snowboard
…to surf
…a new language
…German
…how to change a tire

Here is a list-of-lists from the Day Zero Project site featuring 10 lists people would like to write that encourage personal development and better relationships.

Make a list of..

…the 100 best experiences of my life (via: kdelvaux)

…my fears and what I can do to face and defeat them (via: Hasina)

…what I’m looking for/ what is important to me in a relationship (via: ashleyp55)

…everything bad in my life then burn the list (via: Aepyx)

…100 things that make me happy (via: Splendidmemory)

…everything I want to change about myself (via: docfouspa)

…things that I like about myself (via: pixmie)

…the simple things that make me happy (via: jilinrika)

…the important people in my life and make sure i don’t don’t lose touch with them (via: g15gmd)

…things that each person in my life has taught me (via: Aiira)

David Allen’s Productive Living newsletter has some great questions to consider when thinking about what you want to achieve this year:

• What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?
• What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?
• What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?
• What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?
• What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?
• What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?
• What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?
• What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?
• What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?
• What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?
• What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?
• Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?
• What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?