In the past month, I’ve read two books centered around one-year projects: The Happiness Project and Julie and Julia. In each, the writer picks something to tackle with a 365-day deadline.
It’s pretty ingenious, actually. One year is an easy chunk of time in which to try things out.
A year is:
- Long enough to be challenging
- Short enough that it’s still pretty temporary
- Long enough to see results
- Short enough that the finish line is always in sight
- Long enough to form a new habit
- Short enough that you can revert to your old habits later on
I’m currently testing the freelance waters for year (results TBD), but that’s more of a minimum than an end-all. For all I know, this could just be life as I know it from here on out. But these books did get me thinking about some other one-year projects that might be fun to try.
- Cutting out certain food items (processed foods, refined sugar, etc.). Or, more realistically, cutting out something different each month for a year.
- Exercising regularly. A lot of people already do this (and last more than one year…gasp), but this would be a real challenge for me.
- Reading the entire Bible or other tome. Shakespeare’s entire library would also be a fun project.
- Making your own clothes or thrift shopping.
- Cutting out reality TV.
- Growing out your hair (laziest one-year challenge ever)
- Reading one book a week.
- Doing a photo-a-day challenge.
- Writing and sending birthday cards to friends and family (on time…ahem).
Come to think of it, I’ve already done a one-year challenge—in March 2010, I joined The Great American Apparel Diet and swore off buying new clothes for a year. And I blogged about it. I wonder whether that would make a good book…any takers?
Last year I resolved to read one book a week (or the average of one book a week), and it was great! I’m doing it again this year. I tried the “exercise regularly for a year” thing, and I failed after 2 weeks.
But they are really interesting.
I’ll mention that I disliked the Happiness Project book – I didn’t enjoy the way the book was written. But I agree that the idea behind it was interesting!
That’s awesome! I’m definitely reading more this year than before (thanks to library ebooks and my iPad), and I agree…it is so worth it! I’m not sure if I want to set any goals for my reading this year or not, though.
I could see how you might not like The Happiness Project…the writing wasn’t impressive and I think it’s really hard to write a memoir-type book without coming across at least a little smug. I usually judge books by how I feel at the end emotionally (for nonfiction anyway) and how sympathetic I find the protagonist. I have mixed feelings toward Gretchen Rubin, but I am glad I read it and it did give me a few ideas.
Julie and Julia wasn’t a good read either. Come to think of it, maybe it’s better if people don’t write books based on their projects.
Have you read “The Know-It-All” by AJ Jacobs? It’s about his challenge to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. It was funny, but I liked his next book even better: “A Year of Living Biblically” where he lived his life according to the Bible as literally as possible for a year. Very silly, but it made me think about how we’re all connected as people regardless of our religions.
I like the 1-year memoirs that are so popular nowadays. They inspire me, probably because I have trouble sticking to things (like an exercise routine…).
Not yet! I have his book “My Life As An Experiment” but haven’t read it yet, and “A Year of Living Biblically ” is pretty high on my to-read list once I can get my hands on it. I think it’s a fine line between a really cool experiment and a gimmicky one. These so far have been pretty interesting (as well as the Jacobs ones) but I think I’m getting tired of one-year projects fast.
“Julie and Julia” is on my stack of books to read, along with several others about food right now. You were the tipping point for me joining goodreads, and I thank you for it. I also have “A Year of Living Biblically” in my to-read queue.
A one-year decision for me would be about how many books I could read in a year, but I have no idea where I would set my goal.
Oo I like that! That would be hard to quantify, since you wouldn’t want to make it completely out of reach or too easy. I like seeing your reads, too!
hated “julie and julia”. it was sometimes funny, but i just hated her personality and writing style. as for jacobs, i would rate “know-it-all” highest (but then, i love trivia!), then “living bibilically”, and “experiment” way lower. but then, that’s why i gave the book to you.
btw, as you pointed out, growing out your hair for one year isn’t really a challenge. but worse yet, it doesn’t actually do anything, you know? what would be better is growing out your hair to the point that you can donate it. there isn’t a definite project end date, but there is a goal to strive for. (and if you donate to locks of love, you’ll get a really creepy postcard a few months later. ha!!)
That’s how I started out feeling about the book, too! I’m still not sold on her personality, but I did like the cooking bits. I still haven’t had a chance to read any Jacobs, but his latest book looks interesting, too! (healthy living…I wonder how that went).
That is so true. I agree that the goal thing (length/donation) is a better marker than a time marker for hair, since it might take some people longer or shorter time (and also depends on how much hair you want to have left after donation). Good to know about the creepy postcard. Have you looked at Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program? It is similar to Locks of Love (donating hair for cancer wigs), but I was just curious if you knew if one program was “better” than the other for any reason. All I know is that it has a shorter minimum length (8″ instead of 10″).