Today marks 100 days before the end of 2019. @haideralmosawi wrote about it a few days ago, and I was sufficiently enamoured by the nifty marketing tagline of #100daychallenge to want to try.

The thing is, I already have annual goals set out in January, which will also coincide with the end of the 100-day challenge at the end of the year. I’m also already doing monthly goals/experiments pretty much like the 100-day challenge, only three times shorter but more frequently. It’s not like I need more goals right now. What value-add would the 100-day challenge have for me? I fear this might lead to over-tracking/planning, knowing myself. I’m also keen to do more, show results, instead of (having too much fun) planning goals in isolation.  

So whatever it is, it has to be something that’s new yet I’m curious and delighted about, mostly stand-alone from my other micro-habits or goals, and would benefit from a longer stretch of iterations and practice over 100 days. And it has to end with a bang so that it’s fun to celebrate it on New Year’s Day!

Another promise to myself on how I will approach this: if I can’t do this without creating chronic stress on myself, then I shouldn’t do it at all. If I can’t do it without joy and play, then I shouldn’t even try. Yes, the endgame matters, but how I get there matters even more. Yes, work hard and struggle to achieve my 100-day goal - that’s part of the journey, but only up to a certain limit. My core priorities are my own health, well-being and happiness. These must never be compromised (too much). Simple heuristic: if I don’t feel energized after doing it, then it’s wrong.  

For simplicity, I’m limiting it to just ONE goal. 1 goal, in 100 days. And it is:

Restore one piece of pottery using traditional Japanese kintsugi techniques by the end of 2019.

Since returning from Japan in April, I’d kind of let kintsugi slide. I learned so much from my short apprenticeship there, have all the equipment prepared now, but Life kind of took over. My $1mil goal, my SaaS products, my micro-habits system. It was all-consuming. I neglected kintsugi, and forgot about this always-lingering desire to work with my hands on crafting something physical. Artisanal craftsmanship. Tradition. Physical. Visceral. Intuitive. All in stark contrast (and yet balancing) to my world of work around indie making, coding, tech and entrepreneurship, where it’s more about the abstract, intangible, intellectual, ultra-modern. 

This goal is also making me daydream about how this act of repairing something broken with gold by the end of the year, is a uncannily apt metaphor for the healing and evolving that emerging as a core theme for my 2019. 100 days feel right too, for kintsugi. Not too short or rushed, with time for deliberate practice (and yes, you do need practice). 

Perfect.