Month completed: June 2009

To achieve this goal, I decided to bring in an expert. Shaun Church approached me after I put the call out on Twitter for someone with the skills to build what I was looking for.

This was back in December, and after six months of blood, sweat and tears, we have created what people may well call…THE GREATEST WEBSITE EVER MADE

Then again, they may not.

But why don’t you head there now, and make up your own mind.

p.s. there is a puzzle hidden within the pages of the website. See if you can solve it!

Came across an interesting post today that puts into question the merit of publicising my list of goals onto a public forum.

The post was about how announcing your plans to other people,  before actually achieving them, can actually hinder the chances of achieving the objective of the plan. Or ‘keep quiet til the job is done’.

Here is a small excerpt:

”

Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.

Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed.

In 1933, W. Mahler found that if a person announced the solution to a problem, and was acknowledged by others, it was now in the brain as a “social reality”, even if the solution hadn’t actually been achieved.

“

You can read the full post here.

So, according to this theory, creating Project 183 is a good idea, but creating a website dedicated to the listing, and ongoing accomplishment of the goals in Project 183 is a bad idea…

…not in my opinion!

From my experience, putting my goals into a website has had the opposite effect.

As well as the feeling of pride when I write a ‘completed goal’ post, it has given me a feeling of accountability, because I know that there are readers who have followed the project for a while, and the occasional reader who has been inspired as a result. To not do everything possible to complete the project would not just disappoint me, but potentially it could be a bit disheartening for other people too.

Of course, every case is different, and it is up to the individual to decide for themselves whether to talk plans before or after they are achieved. But for me, telling people early is great motivation to get things done.

For a few days last week, the London Underground train network went on strike.

Mass chaos and confusion among Londoners followed. People couldn’t get in to London and had to work from home, and the roads were jampacked with cars. A long walk was the only option for a lot of people.

That was until Paul Clarke came along.

On the night before the strike, he declared his motorbike available as a mode of transport for anyone willing to jump on the back with him. Calling it the Tweetbike, he publicised his service on his website and Twitter account.

And I am proud to say that I took him up on the offer, and got a free lift into work last week. Was officially the first person to ride the tweetbike too!

The concept ended up proving so popular, the BBC even wrote about it.

When I arrived into work, most people raised their eyebrows that I had jumped on the back of a motorbike, let alone with someone I had never met or spoken to before.

But I survived, and had a great time, from start to end. And thank you Paul, for the great, and at times exhilarating start to my day.

Often it is when you go into the unknown or risky that you end up with the most memorable experiences. Never let uncertainty get in the way of a great opportunity.

You can read all about Paul’s tweetbike here, and the BBC article here.

Sean has written a post about ten tips for creating a useful bucket list.

Great reading for anyone about to start.

If this is you, check out the post here.

Month completed: May 2009

A trip this month to Japan to visit great mate Andy allowed me to complete this goal.

While there, we took a trip to Koyasan, a mountain region a few hours from Osaka, and the birthplace and spirital home of Shingon Buddhism, a Japanese form of buddhism formed by Kobo Daishi in the 9th century.

In Koyasan there are lots of different Buddhist temples to stay in, giving visitors the full experience of what Buddhist life is like.

Andy and I spent a night in a temple called Sekishouin, and had a great time.

We wore the Buddhist robes, ate Shojin (an array of different vegetarian food, including seaweed, tofu and bean curd), slept on the floor, drank Japanese tea, and got up at 6.30am for morning prayers. One interesting thing was that the temple had a 9pm curfew, which we only just got back in time for (we went for a quick wander to an ancient graveyard next door).

One thing I didn’t get a chance to do there (but did a few days later) was to wash in an onsen. There were no showers or baths at the temple, so the onsen was the only way to keep clean, and involved washing naked in the presence of other men, in a big communal bath. Andy did it though, and said it wasn’t too pleasant*.

The monks seemed very content with their lives, but for me, one night was enough, and I appreciated the meat dish I had for dinner the following night!

*My experience of an onsen later in the trip was pleasant though, after the initial bizarreness of sharing a bath with naked Japanese men. If you ever go to Japan, I would recommend doing one, because it is a very popular Japanese pastime.

I am off this week for a great two week vacation, which includes a week in Bali to catch up with the family. While here, I plan to knock off goal 81, which is to go scuba diving.

In the meantime, I will decide if I have already knocked off goal 172, which is to form and play in a basketball team.

Reason for having to decide is that I have just formed and started playing in a football (soccer) team. The point of the goal was to form a sporting team, and basketball seemed as good a sport as any to nominate. But everyone over in the UK plays/is obsessed by football instead.

But should my forming of a football team count? Feel free to comment.

Looking for something to do this weekend? Wanting to avoid another weekend with nothing to do?

Then check this out.

From one of the blogs that I enjoy reading, Crack Unit, comes a great post about some things you can do THIS weekend, for little to no cost.

So if you are looking for something new to try, why not take on one of the suggestions mentioned in the post.

My favourite suggestion was to “buy an ingredient from a ’specialty supermarket’ and make something with it.”

See the post here.

Month completed: March 2009

I have always been interested in the fact that your level of ’smarts’ can be identified by just a single number.

That number being, of course, your IQ.

Whenever the national IQ tests come on TV, or there is someone with an off-the-charts IQ written about in the paper, I am therefore interested.

But whenever I heard someone say what their IQ was, I had nothing official of my own, to tell me what mine was, for comparison.

There are the tests you can do on the Internet or with Facebook, but they lacked that ‘official’-ness.

There really is only one place to go to get your official IQ score - Mensa.

Not heard of Mensa? This is a club with only one criterion to pass to be eligible for admission - an IQ in the top 2% of the population.

The British Mensa club run regularly testings for people who want to test themselves, find out their IQ, and perhaps get a good enough score to make it into the club.

A couple of weeks ago, I went for my test. And I can tell you now, it was one of the HARDEST tests I have ever done. Hard both as in the questions were difficult, but hard in the speed required to answer the questions (there were over 200 questions to answer, with an average of maybe 30-45 seconds a question).

Here is an example of a question. Let me know what you think the answer is (I still don’t know):

Which of the following words is the odd one out?

- CHAIR

- CAT

- SUN

- BRIGHT

- HOPE

That question was a middle of the road in difficulty one!

After the test, I felt like I did OK, and started the two week wait for my results to arrive in the mail. My brain was in overdrive after the test, and Nat said I spent the night sleeptalking about puzzles and numbers.

Earlier this week, my Mensa letter came.

The test is split into two groups. The first is Culture Fair, which is an intelligence test that aims to minimise cultural or educational biases (basically, your ability to recognise patterns in shapes). And the second test has questions ranging from knowledge of English language to logic puzzles.

In the Culture Fair test, I got 124. This put me in the top 7% of the population.

In the second test (I wish I could remember the name of it), I got 138. This put me in the top 5%.

You don’t get a combined score unfortunately.

To get into Mensa, I needed 132 in Culture Fair, and 148 in the second test. So, considering I was, in total, just 18 points of Mensa, and made the top 7% and top 5% respectively, I am quite chuffed.

If you want to really challenge yourself, book yourself in (UK office here, Australian office here) for a Mensa IQ test.

As for the EQ test part of this goal, there is no official tester of the EQ, so I did this one on-line. The EQ is the Emotional Quotient is described in Wikipedia as:

…a concept that involves the ability, capacity, skill or (in the case of the trait EI model) a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups

Being IQ smart does not mean that you will get the world served to you on a golden platter. If you don’t know how to interact with others, and be part of society, you won’t get far. So that is why it is important to have a good EQ, as well as IQ.

My EQ, from the test I did, was 112. The description that came along with is was:

Your Emotional IQ is in the average range. Essentially, you’re able to recognize and deal with your own emotions and those of others in a reasonably effective manner. This is likely evident in your ability to relate to others, express your needs, and maintain a satisfactory level of emotional health.

Not sure how much I will read into it, but there it is.

So, if you want to see how smart you are, or how in touch you are with your emotions, why not give an IQ or EQ test a try.

Very recently we had some sad news from Australia. Nat’s cat, Gemma, had passed away. 

Always a big fan of Project 183 (and a loving companion too), this post is a little tribute to Gemma.

R.I.P.

Yesterday I celebrated my 26th birthday with a dinner out followed by the theatre.

Turning 26 means that I now have only four years left to complete the remaining 135 goals on my list.

When I started Project 183 I needed to average a goal every 11.8 days. That is now down to 10.8 days per goal, so I am a little behind schedule, but am confident I will catch up again.

Here is me yesterday at dinner - as well as seeing how many goals I will get done in the next four years, I am also looking forward to seeing how different I look on March 10, 2013.