34 Goals for My 34th Year
As a kid, I remember looking forward to my birthday for months in advance. Each year during the days leading up to June 26th, I remember bursting with excitement about turning one year older.
When you’re young, birthdays mean something. Among many other things, they signify independance, freedom, responsibility and permission. As we get older, however, birthdays take on completely different meanings. In recent years I’ve found they represent fleeting time and an annual reminder of mortality.
I turn 34 today and in an attempt to bring back some enthusiasm to my birthday, I’ve decided to publicly issue a year-long challenge to myself. Thirty-four goals for my thirty-fourth year, if you will.
During the next 365 days I will attempt to complete as many of these goals as I possibly can. They are a balanced cross-section of creative projects, physical challenges, mindfulness tests and cultural experiments. Some will remain unattained, but the majority will be completed. I will update this page upon achieving each goal and publish a goal-specific post about experience achieving the feat. Wish me luck.
34 Goals for my 34th Year
01) Run a half-marathon
02) Live 30 days without the internet
03) Self-publish a book
04) Spend at least one night sleeping under the stars
05) Build a guitar from scratch
06) Road-trip more than 100 miles to see a rock show
07) Skinnydip in the Gulf of Mexico
08) Accept no gifts for Xmas, but give without limits
09) Watch the sun rise over the Atlantic — 07/05/2012
10) Watch the sun set over the Pacific
11) Build a website for someone who needs it, free of charge
12) Travel with the entire family to a destination outside the U.S.
13) Join the Polar Bear Club
14) Do 20 pull-ups in less than a minute
15) Complete 100 pushups in less than 2 minutes
16) Reduce personal possessions to less than 50 items
17) Spend one week in complete silence
18) Write a new song and play it on stage. In front of people.
19) Stand atop the Empire State Building
20) Attend a Pittsburgh Steelers game at Heinz Field
21) Outrun zombies
22) Coach one of my son’s sports teams
23) Eat Octopus
24) Complete a Tough Mudder
25) Go a week without shoes — 06/30/2012 – 07/06/2012
26) Get to my natural weight of 150 lbs. And stay there.
27) Go bungee jumping
28) Go white water rafting
29) Drive a motorcycle
30) Post to StaticMade.com every day for a year (Monday – Friday)
31) Visit every museum in Pittsburgh (32 according to Wikipedia)
32) Go 30 days without using a car
33) Volunteer with a social service organization
34) Invite a stranger to Thanksgiving dinner
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