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Halfway Through
Jan. 23rd, 2011 08:55 pmWay back at the beginning of the year, I thought of a new way to handle New Year’s Resolutions that I thought was pretty clever, at the risk of tooting my own horn. I would create smaller, concrete resolutions that would be doable for/in six weeks. That way, I could cultivate behavior just long enough that it would become habit, and I could keep my eye on manageable goals as opposed to grandiose plans I had no idea how to begin. For my first six weeks, I decided that I would: write 3500 words a week, limit my caloric intake to 1750 Calories a day, and make an effort to look my best every day.
Now, I’m at the halfway point of my first resolution ‘pod,’ so it’s time to sit back and take a look at my progress. How am I doing? Well, the short answer is not very well, but not as bad as I thought I was. There’s a lot of room for improvement, sure, but I’m creeping ever closer towards being consistent.
First, let’s take a look at the writing resolution. Am I managing 3500 words a week? After that first week, not even close. In fact, today is the first time in a week and a half I’ve sat down to write with the intent of showing the results to anyone. I’d like to say that Further Confusion 2011 was the culprit, but that was only part of the reason. To be honest, if I really wanted to make writing a priority, I could have found a quiet place to bang out a few hundred words. There were certainly dead spots.
The caloric intake I’m doing better on, but consistency is a problem. The convention was a spike spot, and again I could have done better if I really committed to it. I’m pretty sensitive to making my dietary restriction someone else’s inconvenience, so I didn’t want to pull something like “We can’t eat here, I’m dieting.” I have awesome friends and they would have worked with me, but why put them through something like that if I don’t have to? Besides, the restaurants around the convention hotel are pretty awesome about healthy choice; you kind of have to go out of your way to eat poorly.
As far as looking my best, that’s a bit dodgier to pin down. I think I’ve been doing a fairly decent job of it, but given my failures on the other two points I might be going easy on myself so I can have one victory. :) I have been putting more thought into how I look before I leave the house, and I made a huge change with my hair because I felt upkeeping my braids would be too costly and time-intensive to keep looking spiffy. I liked them, definitely, but with moving expenses and (hopefully) travel expenses coming up soon I just couldn’t justify it any more. I’ve also been reading a bunch of neo-gentleman style blogs and taking tips from those; I’m not in a position to start building my wardrobe yet, but when I get the scratch I think I have a few ideas on how to get started.
All in all, there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m most disappointed with my lack of writing; I was hoping to use the momentum coming out of FC to really get on the horse and that hasn’t happened. So instead I’ve taken a look at projects that I’d like to get done and set up deadlines for them. I’m planning to submit short stories and at least one poem to New Fables, Heat and Fang by June, and there’s also my submission to Megamorphics by the end of February. In order to hit my target dates, I’m going to need to be disciplined and organized -- two traits that have escaped me so far. I’m thinking that a little fire under my tail will get me motivated.
With the caloric intake, I’m thinking that lack of exercise is nailing me on that one. I haven’t been keeping up with my Bay to Breakers training plan, which is doing me no favors. It’s time to stop being lazy and get on that, too. Thankfully, being poor for the next little while will make it a lot easier for me to stick to my plan for eating in. If the money’s just not there to splurge on food, I’ll have to find some way to deal with the temptation.
Looking good, well, that’s just natural baby. :) I’ve been consistent with grooming, and I’ll have to make sure I don’t let my hair and beard get too long between shaving. Twice a week should do it. As far as wardrobe goes, I’m thinking about mixing in some slacks and dress shoes with the usual ensemble of jeans, t-shirts and button downs. This is another good baby step towards the effort of looking good -- matching my belt with my shoes, making sure the pants don’t clash too much with the shirt, and all that. To be honest, I’ve been a little worried about doing too much, too soon. At this point, consistency isn’t my strong suit, and I’d hate to come in with business dress on Monday only to degrade back to blue jeans and pithy-saying t-shirts by Friday.
At any rate, I think I have a handle on why I’ve failed thus far, and I’m taking steps to correct that. What really needs to be done is the steady work of daily decisions. Every moment is a choice that you must make to do the right thing. While I’m making better choices more of the time, too often I just do what’s easiest.
Now, I’m at the halfway point of my first resolution ‘pod,’ so it’s time to sit back and take a look at my progress. How am I doing? Well, the short answer is not very well, but not as bad as I thought I was. There’s a lot of room for improvement, sure, but I’m creeping ever closer towards being consistent.
First, let’s take a look at the writing resolution. Am I managing 3500 words a week? After that first week, not even close. In fact, today is the first time in a week and a half I’ve sat down to write with the intent of showing the results to anyone. I’d like to say that Further Confusion 2011 was the culprit, but that was only part of the reason. To be honest, if I really wanted to make writing a priority, I could have found a quiet place to bang out a few hundred words. There were certainly dead spots.
The caloric intake I’m doing better on, but consistency is a problem. The convention was a spike spot, and again I could have done better if I really committed to it. I’m pretty sensitive to making my dietary restriction someone else’s inconvenience, so I didn’t want to pull something like “We can’t eat here, I’m dieting.” I have awesome friends and they would have worked with me, but why put them through something like that if I don’t have to? Besides, the restaurants around the convention hotel are pretty awesome about healthy choice; you kind of have to go out of your way to eat poorly.
As far as looking my best, that’s a bit dodgier to pin down. I think I’ve been doing a fairly decent job of it, but given my failures on the other two points I might be going easy on myself so I can have one victory. :) I have been putting more thought into how I look before I leave the house, and I made a huge change with my hair because I felt upkeeping my braids would be too costly and time-intensive to keep looking spiffy. I liked them, definitely, but with moving expenses and (hopefully) travel expenses coming up soon I just couldn’t justify it any more. I’ve also been reading a bunch of neo-gentleman style blogs and taking tips from those; I’m not in a position to start building my wardrobe yet, but when I get the scratch I think I have a few ideas on how to get started.
All in all, there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m most disappointed with my lack of writing; I was hoping to use the momentum coming out of FC to really get on the horse and that hasn’t happened. So instead I’ve taken a look at projects that I’d like to get done and set up deadlines for them. I’m planning to submit short stories and at least one poem to New Fables, Heat and Fang by June, and there’s also my submission to Megamorphics by the end of February. In order to hit my target dates, I’m going to need to be disciplined and organized -- two traits that have escaped me so far. I’m thinking that a little fire under my tail will get me motivated.
With the caloric intake, I’m thinking that lack of exercise is nailing me on that one. I haven’t been keeping up with my Bay to Breakers training plan, which is doing me no favors. It’s time to stop being lazy and get on that, too. Thankfully, being poor for the next little while will make it a lot easier for me to stick to my plan for eating in. If the money’s just not there to splurge on food, I’ll have to find some way to deal with the temptation.
Looking good, well, that’s just natural baby. :) I’ve been consistent with grooming, and I’ll have to make sure I don’t let my hair and beard get too long between shaving. Twice a week should do it. As far as wardrobe goes, I’m thinking about mixing in some slacks and dress shoes with the usual ensemble of jeans, t-shirts and button downs. This is another good baby step towards the effort of looking good -- matching my belt with my shoes, making sure the pants don’t clash too much with the shirt, and all that. To be honest, I’ve been a little worried about doing too much, too soon. At this point, consistency isn’t my strong suit, and I’d hate to come in with business dress on Monday only to degrade back to blue jeans and pithy-saying t-shirts by Friday.
At any rate, I think I have a handle on why I’ve failed thus far, and I’m taking steps to correct that. What really needs to be done is the steady work of daily decisions. Every moment is a choice that you must make to do the right thing. While I’m making better choices more of the time, too often I just do what’s easiest.
