A good while ago I found an article that contained a potentially life-changing idea. Then I forgot about it. I guess potential and life-changing need separating out a little. Despite this, the idea was kicking around in the depths of my mind for a while and this week I set out to give it a try,

Spurred on by the success of my Seven Minutes Exercise experiment, I finally sat down with real motivation to follow Laura Vanderkam’s advice of listing 100 things I want to do. Vanderkam discovered the practice while working on her book 168 Hours and has revisited her list several times.

Here’s her rationale:

“Start writing down a list of all the things you’d like to do during your lifetime. This could include 10 restaurants you’d like to try, 10 financial goals, places you want to visit, etc. Go ahead and include a few you’ve already accomplished, like graduating from college, or having kids. You’ll probably be stumped by the time you get to 100, but if you find brainstorming easy, call it the List of 1000 Dreams and keep going. The point is to shoot for such a big number that you’re not editing yourself. Winning a Nobel Prize in chemistry and maintaining a nice stash of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered caramels can all go on there.”

The point, as I see it, is that we can all list a few crazy dreams but writing down 100 means we also have to think about things we want to do and really could if we just got up. It also helps you find your passion as you edit the list over time to remove those you really don’t want enough.

For my part, I’m in no rush to complete these, just like my Library project I’m happy for this to take the rest of my life (in fact one of them has to!). My goal is to achieve at least one dream every six months, so the majority may take 50 to finish.

Here’s the full list, I’ll be keeping it updated at lukemcgrath.co.uk/100 and will blog each time I complete an item and add a link.

1. Visit New York
2. Visit Antarctica
3. Travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway
4. Visit Japan
5. Visit San Francisco
6. Visit Stonehenge
7. Go to the Northern-most point in the UK
8. Drive an Aston Martin DB5
9. Run a marathon
10. Run an ultra-marathon
11. Start a Literary Journal
12. Run a bookshop
13. Learn a martial art
14. Learn Italian (again)
15. Paint a landscape
16. Finish a Telegraph crossword without help
17. Get another A at A-Level
18. Build an app
19. Find 1,000 true fans
20. See a show in London
21. Visit Rome
22. Visit Athens
23. Train across Canada
24. Visit Iceland
25. Raise money for a cause
26. Climb Kilimanjaro
27. Publish a novel
28. Get a story in The New Yorker
29. Write a radio play
30. Write a screenplay
31. Visit the pyramids
32. Go to the natural spa in Bath
33. Try Transcendental Meditation
34. Drive across America
35. Visit Easter Island
36. Tour the Pacific Islands
37. Visit North Korea
38. Learn to surf
39. Learn to scuba dive
40. Go to space
41. Buy Notts County FC
42. Visit the Reform Club
43. Drive a steam train
44. Finish Rupert annuals collection
45. Visit Loch Ness
46. Visit Cuba
47. Visit the Grand Canyon
48. Do a volunteering project
49. Explore Jesmond Dene
50. Walk Northumberland
51. Have Dinner at the Baltic
52. Visit the Louvre
53. Get a PhD
54. See sunrise on seven continents
55. Experience life without a five-day work week
56. Build muscle
57. Finish my Library project
58. Watch all the essential old films
59. Direct a short film
60. Help people through blogging
61. Give 10% of my earnings to charity
62. Mentor a writer
63. See the Northern Lights
64. Visit Scandinavia
65. Visit every country on Earth
66. Write a book about my philosophy
67. Do a triathlon
68. Learn to ski
69. Learn to snowboard
70. Walk the Inca Trail
71. Perform random acts of kindness
72. Visit Kielder Water and see the stars
73. Lecture an audience
74. Get a degree in Philosophy
75. Learn to play piano
76. Act on stage
77. Get on tv
78. Touch a snake
79. Find a cause
80. Meet Ruth Lorenzo
81. Learn photography
82. Publish a book of poems
83. Meditate daily
84. Do a parachute jump
85. Choose love not fear
86. Make a YouTube video series
87. Publish a short story collection
88. Read all of Haruki Murakami’s books
89. Read all of Stephen King’s books
90. Get a morning routine
91. Go biking
92. Keep a journal
93. Learn more about Buddhism
94. Practice Yoga
95. Camp out around a fire
96. Tour Newark castle
97. Go to the top of Newark parish church
98. Climb Ben Nevis
99. Write an epic (long) book
100. Live in three centuries