I’m updating my list of Things to Do Before I’m 30. While looking for inspiration, I encountered this neat meme called 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days. Very fun! However, I still want to stick to my 30 goal plus I’m a bit of an overachieving GTD geek so… This is my list of 101 Things to Do Before I’m 30!

Crazy? You bet! I have 389 days to complete it. It starts with some items on my old list and continues with some gimmes and a couple of big ones (which will more than likely roll into the next iteration of the list but it’s good to start planning for them). Bold face indicates completion.

1. Live alone
2. Get happy-drunk
3. Get my webpage up and running (with a blog!)
4. Ski or snowboard
5. xxxx xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xx xxx xxx
6. Travel alone
7. xxxxxxx xxx xx xx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx
8. xxxxxxx x xxxxx xxxxx
9. Sing or dance on stage
10. Hanglide or skydive
11. Train in a martial art
12. Design my dream house
13. Go on an African safari
14. Cook a 5-course meal from scratch
15. Plant a tree
16. Spend the night in a woodsy cabin with a fireplace
17. Dive with the whales (or sharks)
18. Sleep nude on luxurious silk sheets
19. Go commando on a normal day
20. Perfect a Latin dance
21. Go on a cruise
22. Paint my house
23. Put away $5,000 in savings
24. Write a handwritten letter to 3 friends/family
25. Publish a book
26. Fly business class on an international flight
27. Visit the DIA
28. Talk to a National Guard recruiter
29. Read every book on my to-read shelf
30. Host a dinner at my place
31. Write a 55
32. Win NaNoWriMo
33. Visit Seattle
34. Meet 10 new people outside work
35. Promote my blog
36. Wear grown up jewelry
37. Get all dressed up for dinner
38. Create my own letterpress stationery
39. Roast beef
40. Volunteer at the rabbit sanctuary
41. Give someone flowers
42. Wear shorts in the summer
43. Send Zingerman’s food to someone
44. Sleep with the windows open
45. Throw a party
46. Join a book club discussion
47. Find my go-to red and white wines
48. Stay up for 24 hours outside the house
49. Attend a costume party
50. Meet my neighbors
51. Go running at sunrise
52. Detail my car
53. Watch a D&D game
54. Sell something on eBay
55. Go off the grid (sans-Internet and phone) for 48 hours
56. Blog everyday for 1 straight week
57. Have my portrait done
58. Get a bikini wax
59. Email 5 people I haven’t talked with in a long time
60. Evaluate my stock portfolio
61. Picnic in the park
62. See the Grand Canyon
63. Write 5 book reviews
64. Prepare a recipe from every cookbook I own
65. Wear a bikini
66. Drive through a car wash
67. Build a snowman
68. Borrow books from the library
69. Flirt with a stranger
70. Sled down a hill
71. Design a theme for my website
72. Wear a dress to work
73. Give a book as a gift for no occasion
74. Write a blog post with my MacSpeech Dictate
75. Learn to make puto
76. Hang art on my bedroom wall
77. Figure out what to do with the extra bookshelf in the garage
78. Get my new old camera fixed
79. Memorize a song on the Ocarina
80. Attend a Toastmasters session
81. Do a handstand against the wall
82. Train to do 3 half pull-ups
83. Do 30 push-ups non-stop
84. Have dinner with Bob
85. Find a shoe storage solution for the entryway
86. Wake up at 6 am
87. Eat out in a restaurant I haven’t tried before
88. Watch a musical/ballet
89. Deliver a presentation
90. Write a fan letter
91. Donate money to a charity
92. Get Moo cards
93. Bake mochi cake
94. Go hiking
95. Make fresh pasta
96. Watch season 1 of Lost
97. Finish season 3 of Deadwood
98. Tell my parents I love them
99. Attend a BAKE or cooking class
100. Get the rugs professionally cleaned
101. Start an online community

Feel free to place bets on my final completion rate.

Update (March 5, 2010): The GTD101 deadline has past. I’d call it a success!

At a dinner party I attended, I found myself grilled by another guest, an older Filipino-American woman, about the work I do. I told her about my (then) plans to spin-off the gelato business of the company. “Good for you,” she exclaimed. “It must be tough to prove yourself since you’re a woman and a minority.”

The statement stunned me for a moment. I honestly had never thought of myself in those terms. At least, not in the sense that these facets were barriers to success that I had to overcome. This is why I don’t attend parties.

I spent thirteen formative years at a private all-girls Chinese school in the Philippines. It is only now that I realize the tremendous impact on my outlook and my life the experience had given me.

The Immaculate Conception Academy was one of the top schools in the country. The education I received there was, truth be told, nothing special, indeed subpar to what my American counterpart received in the US public school system. What made ICA schooling valuable was the promise that its girls would grow up with others who shared similar values and turn into the leaders of tomorrow’s business world.

It was interesting that you couldn’t divide the class in any stereotypical manner — we were all the same, Chinese girls. In the classroom there was none of the sexual discrimination that pervaded the rest of society and our cultural heritage. The biases that existed outside were tempered by the fact that at school, we retained a single identifier — students. As we developed our minds, we had the unique opportunity to build our own identities, unhindered by insecurities of gender and race.

Of course, I do not advocate homogeneous classrooms for they are less able to teach tolerance, social skills and out of the box thinking, among other things. I am merely pointing out the benefits that did arise from the mold that my contemporaries and I were formed in.

My classmates and I had parents who shared the same stories. They started from nothing, immigrants in a country that did not speak their language, slowly building tiny corner shops into large successful companies over decades of hard work, determination and single-minded focus to provide a better life for their families. And so forth. There was the expectation to honor then surpass their achievements.

It never occurs to the ICA graduate that her opinion could be discounted by others because she is a woman. She may have heard of this dreaded “glass ceiling” but has never seen it. She has no doubt that if she goes for what she wants in life, she will achieve her dreams.

This is what I value most of our upbringing: it effectively instilled a sense of entitlement. I mean this in the old meaning of the word, before it was used to describe the current generation of narcissistic trophy children. We were entitled to great things not simply because we said we wanted them, but because we knew we could get them through our own abilities. This was a group of achievers who demanded the best of themselves and not only for themselves.

There is something to be said about the prevailing culture that rewards mediocrity. Children are trained to expect immediate gratification for work. Motivation is found outside the self, measured in gifts, celebrations and recognition. When every small gesture earns lavish praise, the incentive to perform needs rise in proportion to the amount of effort required.

True self esteem comes from within, from the satisfaction of knowing one’s abilities and potential to achieve unimaginable things. It enables the person to go forth where no one else has gone before, to aim higher, past the point that external rewards can promise.

I wonder if the ICAns graduating this year are getting the same education I did. No longer the children of builders but the offspring of the born wealthy, are they still being taught that hard work and ambition trump pedigree? Or do they get thanked just for handing homework in on time?

I sincerely hope it is the former, though I doubt it is so. It is thus imperative that parents take an active role instilling in their young girls, not only the chutzpah to ignore the gender and racial biases of their culture, but also the self-worth and internal drive to aim for the best because they can.

Family
Last Christmas was the most untraditional yet enjoyable holiday with family I’ve had in a while. Perhaps part of it is due to my own personal growth as an adult that I feel comfortable in my own skin and am no longer as vulnerable as I was in the past. I finally have a good relationship with my brothers and feel I can trust them with anything. We still have our weird ways of communicating with each other (acerbic teasing and candid criticism), but the tone has become significantly more affectionate than harsh. My dad and I get along very well. He respects my opinions while I admire his brilliance and passion for his work. I can tell that he loves me very much since he has after all let me go my own way. Mom and I have grown into two very different people, but we’ve agreed to disagree on things.

Love
K and I have been together for a year and a half now. We have lots of fun together doing new things and starting our own traditions. He is the most generous, caring, understanding, supportive, loving man I’ve been with. I, on the other hand, admittedly, have been selfish at times and less than willing to compromise my own personal goals for the sake of our relationship. Is it really worth it to be this ambitious?

Friends
I’ve come to terms with the fact that I am not an outgoing, uber-friendly people person. I have only a handful of people whom I respect, trust and feel close with. There’s ZingIT – I love the guys! We do fun stuff together like have regular home-cooked dinners, camping and trips to New York. There’s Jason, ex-boyfriend, current mutually platonic dinner pal, who is a good person to bounce ideas off of and enjoy everything from very fine to hole-in-the-wall cuisine. Then there are my HEY / ICA friends. Though we don’t see each other except for Christmas, these are the friends who truly get me and whom
I enjoy talking to because we have so much in common.

Money
Finances were tight last year! And they continue to be so. Owning a house brought some additional unexpected monthly expenses (Taxes! Association dues!) that cut severely into my savings plan. Sadly, there were months where I’ve lived scarily above my means. On the bright side, I’ve taken on a ton of freelance web work. The supplementary income is good, but the work is terribly tough on my wrists and my free time. I’ve also become a domain and web hosting reseller which has two benefits: 1) I get to keep all my personal web accounts under one plan for free while I pay a monthly reseller fee, and 2) I can sell hosting packages as another source of income.

Career
I know for certain that I don’t want to be doing web development and IT for the rest of my life. But what will I do next? Earlier last year I put my name out there as a  potential partner to spin off the gelato business. Though I lack experience in food service, I do have other qualifications and the support of some managers and partners. But is this really what I want to do? Ought I instead start a business on my own? I also considered growing in the consulting and training arm of the business. The same questions come up: though I can co-own a business, will I be willing to be accountable to a greater group apart from myself?

For the past few years, I have repeatedly turned down persistent offers to join my dad’s company. I’ve been subject to countless guilt trips from his staff. It never gets any easier to say no. Though the company is good and the work challenging, I know I will be unhappy living in the Philippines where everything is chaotic, there are very few people I can relate with and few activities I can engage in. Here I am not my father’s daughter. I can find my own place, make my own mark, be known for my own achievements. But constantly disappointing people back in the Philippines is the price I pay for my independence and happiness.

Passion
What I truly do enjoy, always have, still do and can confidently say I always will, are books. I’ve continued deeper into fiction, being more selective about which books I read — mostly classics and literature over the current bestsellers. I’ve also branched out to more non-fiction last year — reading business, finance and sociology titles.

I’ve been actively involved in teaching in my company. I teach two finance classes a month to employees. It’s been very rewarding. In the summer I will be delivering a talk on Open Book Finance at the Mensa Annual Gathering. I’m a bit nervous but I think it’s a great opportunity to establish my expertise.

I love building organizations. In the earlier half of the year I was somewhat active in Second Life, building an online community of people interested in historical frontier life in the late 1800′s. It was a very fun endeavor. I set up an administration with clear expectations and rules. I was firm about laying out responsibilities. They are now successful and self-sufficient with their own council as a ruling body. I hardly pop in anymore except to address the few issues that come up.

Health
My arms and wrists are shot. Carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, ulnar nerve — whatever the diagnosis is, it’s not good for a career in front of a computer. I hope to wean myself off an IT lifestyle in the next few years to salvage whatever is left of my hands.

I’ve decided to go part-time vegetarian frankly because I have enough of seeing dead animals on plates. I’ve been eating meat sparingly but have yet to incorporate more greens to my diet.

I joined a “gym” across the street from my work. They do boot camp style workouts. I’ve gone twice so far and it really kicks your butt. 100 jump-ropes, 25 squats, 25 push-ups… 3 times over. And that’s just the warm-up! I’m sure in a few months I’ll look back at this and think, aww geez I was such a wimp. But for now, I am sore everywhere.

Attitude
In general, I feel pretty good about myself. I’ve found my groove so to speak. I prefer to focus on the good things so that I never feel bad about who I am and the choices I’ve made. I’d like to keep living with positive energy throughout the next year (and all my life really) since it really works!

Definite Goals for the Next 6 Months
1. Stabilize a source of supplementary passive income
Domain and Hosting Reseller:
– redesign my reseller site so it’s more user-friendly and professional
– advertise in local publications
Manage my investments closely:
– Evaluate my 401k portfolio
– Evaluate the stocks in my primary investment account portfolio
– Research 10 more potential stocks

2. Develop an expertise and reputation for Open Book Finance
– attend the Great Games of Business in May
– build a website dedicated to OBF
– read more OBF books and post on above website

3. Go to the Philippines in the summer/fall to help my family move into a new house

4. Keep in touch regularly with friends who are far away
- Email ICA friends, grad school friends
- Message friends on Facebook?
- Look up friends in the area when I travel

5. Blog every other day (to remind myself how good life can be and to practice my writing skills)

6. Integrate K more into my life
– Invite him to Christmas with my family
– Take him to visit my extended family when he’s in Michigan

Give in to the dark side of cute!

I can’t eat food that resembles the animal it came from. I understand that all meat comes from a animal, but I’d rather not be reminded of it every time I eat. Steak, okay it looks nothing like a cow. Shrimp, only if it’s cleaned up. Mussels, I have to distract myself with other thoughts.

For the past two weeks I spent in Manila and Singapore, I was treated to a lot of good food, fresh and delicious. Unfortunately, Asian cuisine is also rife with whole animals. Hong Kong roast pigeon with the head still attached, lechon or suckling pig spit-roasted over a charcoal fire, lobster picked live from the tank and boiled in a pot, whole steamed fish (the head’s supposedly the best part), grilled freshly-caught prawns not peeled and not deveined – all these are typical dishes one finds in restaurants. At Jocelyn’s wedding, they even served jellyfish and sea cucumber. I see these creatures on dives. Even after I put these delicasies in my mouth, I couldn’t get their images out of my mind. I almost gagged right there at the table.

Well, I’ve had enough of dead animals on plates! I’m going part-time vegetarian. Recognizing that I can’t go cold turkey (pun intended) on no meat, I vow to incorporate more vegetables into my meals and order vegetarian when I eat out. It will not only make me feel better about my food, it’ll make my body healthier too.