Last updated on April 30th, 2021 at 04:42 pm
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Dear fellow ’83 babies—this is it. The last gasp of your 20s. The last year where you can fool yourself into thinking that you’re not really an adult—that you’re a youth just playing the part.
You’ll start to get labelled. Expectations will increase. Parents will want you to reproduce, peers will ask how well you’re achieving your career goals—the pressure’s gonna be on to prove your worth in this world!
But it’s not all so bleak and dreary—2013 can be happy and prosperous if we’re willing to put the work in!
The 2013 100
For me, after wrapping up a 2012 that was all sorts of insanity, I found myself wondering: “What do I want to get out of 2013?” More money? A better lifestyle?
But then I realized that I’d never be able to choose, so I decided on another route.
Inspired by my longtime friend The Green Girl‘s list of 100 things she’d like to do in 2013, I decided to make one of my own! Unlike earlier years, I’m not about to beat myself up if I don’t get all 100 done—The 2013 100 is more like a compass to keep me pointed toward things I can do to make my life better 😊 If you have any ideas for any of them or just want to tell me that I’m utterly insane, feel free to tell me in the comments below! And here we go!
- Negotiate a way better phone contract
- Give Sarah the present I always alluded to but never got around to giving her
- Start a business or two
Learn to drive, learn to drive, for the love of God learn how to drive!- Sell all the stuff I’ve meant to sell
- Start drawing comics on some sort of regular schedule
- Get my clothes tailored
- Get up-to-date on my emails
Cook at least one meal- Make an app
- Spruce up my about.me page
- Send personal emails to everyone who I came into contact with in 2012 about future potential opportunities to collaborate
- Launch the Mansformation website
Update my résumé- Create my creative résumé and portfolio
Attend Bloggers in Sin CityDo something awesome for my 30th birthday- Create a collective of creatives with similar goals in mind
- Get new glasses
- Transform all the blog drafts I have lying around into real posts
- Merge my past 10 years of blogging into one site
- Start a tweetchat
- Start a podcast
- Dabble in video
Get a local doctorGet a local dentist- Make some money in the stock market
- Get ahead of schedule with the Man Lessons
- Create a schedule for regular website maintenance
- Start the SHEvolution
Go up the CN Tower, one way or another, and go the CN Tower Edgewalk- Visit Casa Loma
- Create a list of cool things to do in Toronto
- Run a cool 5K race, like Run for Your Lives or Tough Mudder
Clean my music collection up, once and for allEstablish a far better filing system for my documents- Use all the different themes, templates, tutorials and eBooks I amassed in 2012
- Try to sleep like normal people do
- Get all of the outstanding work off of my plate at the 9-to-5
- Write my first eBook
- Start blogging internally at work again
- Call my grandparents more often
Turn my negatives and slides into digital imagesSort through the magazines and clippings I have strewn about the house- Get at least one design submitted to Threadless
Upgrade the lenses on my camera- Have my family over more often
- Play the Wii and PS3 games I haven’t touched
- Attend a TED/TEDx Talk
- Read all my old yearbook signings and candygrams to get a better understanding of the journey I’ve travelled
- Plant a proper garden
- Clean up my digital files
- Eat breakfast more often
- Understand politics
- Stop buying unnecessary things
Stop biting my nails when I’m stressed- Write a novel for NaNoWriMo
- Come up with a better campaign for Movember
- Get a sewing machine and learn how to alter my clothes
- Start writing Christmas cards for friends, family and neighbours yearly
- Look into grants and funding for the projects I want to do
- Learn how to better use Wolfram|Alpha’s Mathematica
- Eat healthier
- Lose the tummy
- Increase stamina
- Create more infographics
- Join more social clubs that’re in line with my interests
Get a stylish yet functional 3/4-length winter coatHelp my Mom get tickets to CityLine and/or the Marilyn Denis show- Buy a bike
- Go tobogganing
Try some new restaurants on the Danforth- Go to Pacific Mall
- Go to #LoserKaraoke
Watch a Raptors Game- Visit more of Canada—somewhere west of Windsor or east of Montreal
- Finish the thank you cards from our wedding
Clear out my Google ReaderCreate a personal budget- Learn how to develop a site using a UI kit
- Become a true WordPress expert
Don’t succumb to lazinessGet new casual shoes to replace the ones that were stolen from my porch 😕- Come up with an awesome costume for Halloween 2013
Use up the gift cards, coupons, etc. I have lying around to do something usefulRevitalize my wardrobe- Devise a way to work from home
- Get my French bilingual certification
- Make social media a real part of how I earn an income
- Transfer Sarah’s old IDE hard drive onto one of my SATA hard drives
- Transfer all my external storage to an SSD Drobo system
Get some cool-ass sunglasses- Rock a new chapeau style
- Find a signature drink to mix
- Survive an entire Nuit Blanche
- Take photos at Caribana
Spend more time outside of TorontoCarry less paperWean off of the need for a backpackHave caseypalmer.com show up on the first page of Google search results for “Casey”
We can all make this as awesome a year as we want — but that wonderful cliché “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is always applicable. You’re not getting anything from your year if you don’t put in the work. Start making those goals happen!
Any other interesting resolutions out there? Let me know if we can help each other out! It’s always better to use the power of numbers and not stubbornly try to do things on our own!
Happy New Year to one and all 😁
40 replies on “2013 ‘Til Infinity: The 2013 100”
Hey Casey! I can help with a few!
72. Try some new restaurants on the Danforth
– Try Mezes or Pantheon – they’re both great. For drinks afterwards, Ouzeri, and for coffee and a more relaxed experience (even during the day) try out Cafe Frappe.
84. Come up with an awesome costume for Halloween 2013
– Make your own Halo or Darth Vader costume: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-make-halo-armor
92. Get some cool-ass sunglasses
– I love my Oakley Holbrooks, and they’re relatively inexpensive: http://ca.oakley.com/products/6497/26807
Good luck! I had a lot of fun reading this list!
Thanks for checking it out, @eggplante:disqus 🙂 It took a bit to really get it together, but I’m happy where it is! The input’s also much appreciated — I think I’ve been to Mezes before, but have yet to try out everything else there. I wonder how much is on the Danforth that isn’t Greek food, though?
I did the Vader thing once — I’d been toying in my mind with the idea of doing Link from The Legend of Zelda or some other iconic outfit. We’ll see! I think it’s something that I’d pair up with the goal of getting a sewing machine and applying some of the lessons that I took not too long ago.
The sunglasses look pretty cool, but I don’t think that they’re my style 🙂
I hope you come back to check out the progress as the year goes on!
When I first read “’83 babies” I thought “class of ’83.” Then I realized you were BORN IN ’83. I will be spending the rest of the evening eating pie.
Despite this, I really like your list.
One would say that age is little more than a number that denotes how many times we’ve seen the Earth go around the Sun — but who am I to speak on this 🙂 ?
Thanks — I’m really happy with how the list turned out, and hope to do many more in future years if it turns out well 😀
Interestingly enough, I also need a stylish, yet functional, 3/4 length winter coat.
Hard to find, right??? Up here, I know that a lot of women look to Canada Goose for these kinds of coats, but I haven’t been a huge fan of their men’s selection. I’ll keep my eye out for it over the year and hopefully not wind up paying through the nose to get one!
I’d do Edgewalk with you! Also, I need to go to PAC Mall!
Let’s totally look into it 🙂
Pacific Mall seems to be getting more interest than I originally anticipated. I hope it doesn’t turn into an inadvertent tweetup. I was really just wanting to go to see what the prices of Magic Mics were like. LOL.
Let us note in a recent development that Lily went to Pac Mall without me 🙁
Great list man. I probably would steal 25 of these for a similar list for my year. Best of luck getting all of them complete though and making 2013 the best year!
Feel free, buddy! We all tend to have some similar goals, so if you want to make use of some, have at them and let me know what your progress is like!
Deal!
Hey Pavel, did you ever get a list put together for yourself 🙂 ?
No I have not 🙁
I am behind so many things that it’s unbelievable. I’m slowly getting myself refocused though and working through priorities. So hopefully by next year I’ll have that list lol.
I did check out the scintilla project you keep writing about. Looks very interesting.
What happened to disqus?
I’ve been working with a lot of peer bloggers in the last while, and it seemed that something like CommentLuv had more benefits, with included backlinks and less barriers to entry for the casual blog end-user. It’s been an experiment, and so far I’ve been happy with the results 🙂
I’m sorry to hear life’s gotten so crazy — I’m in much the same situation, but working hard with friends to knock things off of my list so I can move forward and stop being dragged down by everything on my list.
The Scinitilla Project has been a very interesting experiment — definitely takes a lot out of me to write stories at a consistent quality level, though! I WILL eventually finish!
I love the idea of making a list of things you want to do! A lot of these are on my list as well.
I’m so looking forward to seeing you kick some serious ass this year 🙂
COMMENT WAR!!! Thanks for stopping by, Jamie 😀
I just feel it, you know? That this year will be one for a lot of positive change — they always tend to start up slowly as people recuperate both health- and money-wise, but after May 2-4 weekend, we’ll see who’s prepared what and what madness will be afoot 🙂
Great post (and great choice of tune!) my friend. As a fellow ’83 baby I too find myself pondering life approaching 30.
I look forward to many of these items driving our conversations over the year, and maybe even helping you knock one or two of ’em off the list. (I’ve always meant to attend #Loserkaraoke!)
Thanks for checking the site out, man 🙂 It’s going to be an interesting year, for sure. If I make it to 2014 in one piece, I declare victory!!!
You’re always welcome on the adventure! Toronto and the surrounding area has a ton to offer, but I know I don’t have to tell YOU that!
LOL @ 99. Do you one-shoulder your backpack?
93. For the love of god, YES. Jete son chapeau dans la poubelle…POR FAVOR!!
73. You haven’t been to Pacific Mall? 70% of my movie library is from PacMall.
I want to reply to some more, but I feel overwhelmed! Kudos, son!
I haven’t been back to Pacific Mall in YEARS, but I’ve been before, several times 🙂 Like I was telling @twitter-42311373:disqus above, I wanted to see how much they charge for a Magic Mic (a karaoke mic that’s HUGE in the Philippines) and see about getting one for my household. Take on my singing friends and see who can score the highest 🙂
Thank you for your trilingual urging as per my hat =/ I gotta go out to some stores and see what looks the flyest!
I don’t one-shoulder the backpack, but I tend to just cram crap into it. All the notes I’m working on, my iPad, whatever I’m reading, some business cards, etc. I gotta transition to a lighter load just so it’s more professional AND convenient!
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy New Year! Love your list. This year will be great! You’ve inspired me to put a 2013 100 list together. You can always pick up new glasses at Pacific Mall….there’s literally a glasses store every other store. In between those stores are bubble tea shops LOL! Maybe we’ll be able to catch you and Christine for coffee soon?
So glad that you got back in touch 😀 I hope your list is an equal mix of fun and things that’re important to you — we can’t be working on “getting things done” ALL of the time — we’ll just burn out!
P Mall’s an option — perhaps I’ll kill two birds with one stone when I eventually visit 🙂
I’ll drop Christine a line and see when we can sort this out — I know we’re already looking at mid-late January!
Thanks for reaching out, and Happy New Year! 🙂
Love this list! Thanks for sharing it with me. I bet it took a lot of self reflection to get this list together! And it really isn’t about accomplishing everything, its about the journey and learning things throughout the way. I think you’ve got a great start, though! I see some things already crossed off. Just finished up my list as well and I think I might post it in a day or two. 🙂
Thanks for coming to check it out, Maria 🙂
It took a lot of time sitting down and being REALLY honest with myself. What promises I hadn’t yet fulfilled, what things would ACTUALLY improve my life even if I didn’t want to do them — I wanted to make sure that I could come out of this year with a feeling of accomplishment, and I think that this list is going to put me on the right path for that 🙂
I’ll check yours out for sure when you get it up!
All the best 🙂
I found this blog on accident and it think it is a great idea. I think if you stick with it you will feel great about yourself and you would have achieved alot by the end of 2013. There are few items on your list I wrote down to accomplish in the next few months. Good Luck!
Thanks for finding my blog — the more the merrier 🙂 I have quite a few updates to apply to this list, and hope to do so sooner than later!
I hope you come back to see even more of the progress!
Bet when you wrote this you would have laughed at “have a baby” 😉 Unless #2 refers to a baby!!!! It all makes sense now.
Steph, here’s the funny story — when I was writing this list, I knew that 2013 was the year that Sarah and I were going to start trying, but I left it off just in case there’d be complications or anything like that.
Now it’s damn near 9 months later and a lot has happened — and no one’s laughing now :O !!!
Like you, I have a lengthy list. It just keeps getting longer all the time! Now that I’ve read your list, my list has gained another 50 items! Thanks, pal!!! 😉
LOL. That’s what I’m good for — inspiring others to make more of their lives! Or… at least that’s what I tell myself 😛
I’d love to see your list sometime! This one definitely needs an update!
Great list, can’t wait to see what you have planned for 2014.
Thanks — you’re in luck; I’ve already been chipping away at my 2014 list, though I’ll admit that it’s been a challenge to try and complete it all!
Great list! I love making lists… it’s the only way I ever get anything accomplished 🙂
Cookies! All the cookies!
LOL. This isn’t the first time someone’s commented on this post with a comment that looks like it was meant for another post.
I’m now starting to wonder if my site is glitchy or something…?
I could use help cleaning my ceiling fans!!! Using a rag just spreads the dust and dirt everywhere!
WHAT THE?
Heh. Roseann, when someone comments on the blog for a first time, I think the site redirects them elsewhere so they can see more of my work 🙂 I hope it wasn’t too alarming!!!
I have dreamed of going to the mountains of Wyoming since I was a kid. I told myself I would make it there by the time I turned 50. Well, I’m 52 now and still dreaming.
With that said, I would take a trip to the Wyoming mountains.