thoughts on “do 100 thing”

1. Visa “invented” / coined the phrase “do 100 thing.” if there’s something U are interested in doing, if there’s a new skill or area U want to explore, try doing it 100x!
2. here’s a bunch of running thoughts on the “do 100 thing” challenge idea, on what I’ve learned so far, what works for me & might for U as well!!!
3. it can literally be any damn thing! do 100 pushups! cook 100 omelettes! draw 100 owls!

“100 €” by driver Photographer, CC BY-SA 2.0

4. it can be a small thing, like 100 deep breaths, or a big thing, like 100 feature films! U get to decide the scope of the “thing” U will do 100x
5. U can pick something just because, because U damn well feel like it, or it can be in connection to a larger goal U have, a vision U are trying to bring about for ur life
6. here are some “do 100 things” challenges i’ve completed: 100 blog posts, 100 podcasts, 100 drawings, 100 vlogs
7. here are some “do 100 things” challenges i’m still doing: 100 email newsletters, 100 vibe word games, 100 flash fictions
8. U decide what counts as 1/100. U know when U are done with doing the thing once, when U have completed the challenge, when U’ve done it 100x. it can be illegible or implicit or hard-to-explain
9. this isn’t school. it’s not a test. there’s no teacher or authority U have to please, other than urself. do it once, a hundred times for ur own joy and benefit, in service of living ur highest life
10. it doesn’t have to be something other people understand. it doesn’t have to be legible to them. U don’t have to be able to explain or articulate it to someone else. just do the thing 100x!
11. the whole point of doing something 100 times is to explore it, and to have fun doing so. if it stops being fun, U can make a change! U can quit! U can do something else instead!
12. it’s ok to stop doing something partway through! U don’t have to do it 100x just because U started it
13. U also don’t have to do it the same way every time! feel free to do it differently, to try new things, to experiment, to make adjustments!
14. try to learn something new every time U do it! little iterations of learning and growth compound over time, result in excellence
15. have a bias towards action! it says DO 100 things on the tin! maybe consider reading things that aren’t doing the thing (which is also not doing the thing!)
16. it’s also ok to not do the thing! do things other than the thing! do what U really want to!
17. follow what’s genuinely alive for U, in a felt embodied way, rather than ur cached concept of what U are supposed to do
18. if it feels comfortable, safe, ok—ship the thing publicly! share it with others! let others see what U make, revel in ur progress, participate in what U are making, cheer U on, get inspired!
19. share imperfect things sooner, rather than perfect things later—or worse, perfect things never! it’s better to share imperfect things sooner, so that they can benefit others and U can get feedback on what people resonate with, what they like and don’t like, what comes up for them as an idea or a possibility when they see what U’ve been cooking—than it is to share a perfect thing later
20. it’s helpful to take notes as U go about what U are learning, how U are growing. make it private or public, a thread or a piece of paper or a doc or a blog post or a vlog. whatever it is, take notes as U go
21. if U are on Twitter, consider creating a thread to document ur 100 things, or a meta-thread to document ur progress and growth and insights along the way
22. documenting and sharing on Twitter helps U mark ur progress across time, so that U can learn as U go
23. but it also helps U receive social accountability, feedback from others, encouragement along the way, questions and curiosities! all of those are fuel for the journey!
24. Visa says that after having done something 10-20x, it’s a useful checkpoint to review what U’ve done so far, see if there are any shifts or changes that U want to make in any way
25. consider information architecture as a gift to ur future self. help ur future self to find ur current work. make it easy on them. don’t give them a headache. send them love through acts of present kindness and consideration
26. index ur shit! if U are doing it 100x, make an index for it!
27. if U are keeping a thread on Twitter, number ur tweets and threads. prefix the tweet with numbers, the index
28. if U have a notebook, are writing something on paper, make sure number ur pages
29. circle / highlight / star important pages in the notebook! “identify all the pages that you find interesting enough to want to revisit in the future”
30. make a paper index of those important physical pages
31. Visa has a whole work-in-progress book on indexing, INDEX!
32. here’s my thread of excerpts from the WIP book
33. depending on the thing, it could be useful to keep a spreadsheet to track the thing, and ur progress along the way
34. a little bit of spreadsheet-fu goes a long way. it’s one thing to enter a number or a simple formula—much more is possible for using spreadsheets!
35. here’s a lovely thread from Rich Bartlett with useful, inspiring spreadsheet knowledge, tips and tricks
36. personally, i also this $100 course from Ben Collins on Google Sheets Essentials very helpful for mastering intermediate stages of spreadsheet use, getting comfortable with using them at a higher level
37. U want to make it as simple and easy as possible to track ur progress, to know how many out of 100 U’ve done so far
38. U want to make it as simple and easy as possible to find individual instances of the thing, to revisit ur work
39. having a hyperlink for any specific instance of the thing where possible (Painting #3, Stand-Up Comedy Video #47) is extremely useful for making it easier to reference
40. learn to stoke ur motivation, to inspire urself, to stay close to that inspiration, to rekindle it when needed.
41. learn ur own rhythms, of how fast U can do something, of the rate or pace at which U can successively do 100 things, of when and why U need a break or respite from a particular challenge
42. when U do something 100x, U are also learning about urself. U are gaining meta-awareness of how U like to learn how U grow, how U like to play
43. a learner who knows how they like to learn, how they need to learn, who is familiar and well-practiced in learning new things and developing excellence, is dangerous, is not to be trifled with, will transform in themselves again and again and one day shake the world
44. doing something 100x is an investment in urself, knowing it’s possible to learn and grow and get better at the thing.
45. doing something 100x is opening a door to eventual mastery. U may not master the thing, but it is possible, it becomes possible when U embark on doing 100 thing
46. “learn one, do one, teach one!” as U learn and grow in something U care about, U are well-positioned to help others along the way. “leave the breadcrumbs U wish U’d found”
47. when U see the value of doing something 100x, U will naturally want to do multiple things 100x. U will start seeing “do 100 thing” as a hammer swing, a lever to pull in many contexts
48. it’s also possible to “do 100 thing”…100x! Visa, myself, and some others are embarking on that long-term goal.
49. doing 100 things 100x—100×100—done thoughtfully, carefully, skillfully, iteratively is a recipe for eventual genius
50. i made big progress recently with do 100 thing 100 times by updating my meta tracker spreadsheet to automatically update when the individual challege spreadsheets change. manually updating them was making it a drag to do
51. here’s what it looks like:

52. that worked with two different Google Sheets functions:
53. COUNTA(): lets U count the number of non-empty cells in a range. this is useful for tracking progress—like how many times U’ve done a particular thing out of 100
54. IMPORTRANGE(): lets U pull data from another spreadsheet—which is helpful for tracking progress on multiple “do 100 thing” challenges, across multiple docs.
55. i also use checkboxes to mark projects that are completed.
56. i also use color coding to visually track my progress in these do 100 thing challenges. i use conditional formatting to show completed projects as a full green, whereas new projects are red—with lighter or darker shades of those colors for partially cmopleted projects.
57. the color scale makes it easy to see at a glance which projects are just beginning, which are halfway there, and which are nearly or fully complete.
58. if U actually want to get good, simple practice isn’t enough. U also need theory, feedback, to correct errors. see this incredible and inspiring thread from Lulie for a complimentary perspective, that says mere repetition is not sufficient
59. do 100 thing is a nice blend of means/ends, conditions/consequences, intent and non-coercion. U are setting up the conditions for good consequences, in a procedural sorta means/ends way (just do it 100x), with a specific intent, but in a lightly-held, non-coercive way
60. U develop ur meta-skills at learning, creating, etc.
61. consider “talk to leads of people” / “talk to 100 people” as a possible do 100 thing challenge!
62. consider “do 100 small collaborations” as a possible do 100 thing challenge!
63. if having conversations is part of ur challenge, consider recording and potentially sharing ur conversations so others can listen in, for maximum deep benefit!
64. do 100 things is just the start, for dipping ur feet in.
65. do things once, do it twice, do it 100x! and if U do it 100x, and it’s still fun—maybe go for 200x! that’s 2 do 100 thing challenges! or, why not do it 550 times! 1,000 times? 10,000 times?
66. something happens when U cross different thresholds!
67. something changes when U’ve done it once, when U go from Zero to One, from never having done it to having done it once
68. something changes when U’ve done it a few times, not just a one-off fluke but a recurring instance, multiple notches under ur belt
69. something changes when U’ve done it ten or twenty times, when U have a number of instances that U’ve done it and have a burdgenoing portfolio of experiences or artifacts to look back on
70. something changes when U’ve done it one hundred times, when U are no longer a total beginner but are newly familiar with the territory, when U’ve put a meaningful first twenty hours into developing competence and expertise
71. something changes when U’ve published a million words. watch ur writing speed accelerate dramatically, for example—U can now draft a nearly-perfect draft on the first go, in half an hour, an hour or two
72. U can do 100 thing collectively! if U are in a group, crew, company U can embark on a collective “do 100 thing” challenge. write 100 blog posts together! host 100 Zoom calls! host 100 parties! whatever ur thing is, consider doing it 100x, together!
73. enjoy the journey! the point isn’t to do 100 things, or to get to the moment in time where U’ve done it 100x, 100x. the point is to have fun along the way, learn and grow, celebrate the wins!
74. 100 is an arbitrary number! it can be a useful and inspiring number but it’s not about metrics
75. the point is to DO stuff and to LIVE UR BEST LIFE, not to check a checkbox for the sake of checking a checkbox,
76. the point is to genuinely LIVE ur best and highest life, not to live the appearance of it, not the semblance of an excellent life according to some concept of it but instead the actual genuine instance of it
77. no i haven’t quite made it to 100 thoughts here yet! this is a work in progress! i’m sharing this before it’s done so it will benefit U sooner!
78. i bet U anything by the time I’ve done 100 things 100x i’ll have ~20 more thoughts than I did today in late July of 2025!
79. may i live to do 100 things, 100 times! may i live a long and healthy life, with abundant joy for me and tremendous benefit for the world! may we live our highest, fullest lives, for our own fulfillment and in service to all living beings!