continuing the wave

I love seeing people get excited about things or inspired by what they see or who they know. When I heard about 101 in 1001, I was excited to write down all of the little things I've always wanted to do -- and I was excited to be able to consider them goals. A lot of people don't think like this.

When I told my staff of fellow resident advisers in October that I was starting my list, they cheered me on. I've even gotten a few of them to make lists, too!


The highlight of starting this project is sharing it with people. I had a great opportunity to do so -- in front of a packed room of my peers -- during our housing department's midyear training in a presentation my group enthusiastically entitled, 101 Ways in 1001 Days.

Here's something interesting my friend Vanessa shared during our presentation:

A Harvard study showed that the top 3% of MBAs make 10 times more money than the other 97%. When they broke that down and asked why, they followed MBAs and their goal-setting habits.
In 1979:

• 84% had no goals
• 13% had unwritten goals
• 3% had written goals

10 years later in 1989, they found that the 13% of research participants who had unwritten goals were earning twice as much as the 84% without goals.

The real kicker, however, is that the 3% of participants with written goals were the ones earning 10 times as much as their peers.



Ever since our presentation, I've seen the wave of inspiration spreading. I've had friends and co-workers tell me they're starting lists, too. Many of them aren't 101 lists, but the number doesn't matter. Writing down your goals and sharing them is admirable and I'm so excited to see my friends accomplish them and cross a goal off their list.