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Balsquith: Out in the wilderness I am in the wilderness at the moment, not literally, but in a state of discontent where I don’t really know where I am at the moment or where I am going – a.k.a. the wilderness. Clearly I got into this wilderness somehow and I can find my way through it somehow too. Whilst the way out isn’t clear to me at the moment, it is clear to me that I am not going to find my way out by stopping moving and wallowing in my discontent – I need to keep myself moving forward Goal 1: Limit sugar There is no sugar in the wilderness (except for maybe some fruit and honey if you are lucky). My main vices in this department are: Biscuits and sweets when there are some of them in the department (this happens almost every evening) Occasional burst of hunger at work (and no suitable healthier snack to hand) leading to a trip to the bakery (this happens 1-2 times a week) I will aim for 5 days out of 7 where I stay away from sugar. Goal 2: Everyday fitness Out in the wilderness you can’t afford to make excuses about not being able to exercise; you need to be fit enough to tackle whatever comes at you. In the past I have been full of excuses about why I can’t exercise: I can’t exercise in the evening as my girlfriend is watching tv and it is strange and demotivating to be working out in the area next to the couch at the same time. I can’t exercise in the kitchen in the morning before my girlfriend gets up as there is not enough space and the floor is slippery.There is some truth in both of these statements, but neither of them is really a reason why I shouldn’t do any exercise at all. I will aim to exercise daily in the morning in the kitchen, this will be either: · 7 minute burpee test (I managed 52 last Saturday as a challenge baseline) · Plank workout. Goal 3: Meeting new people / improving relationships The wilderness is a lonely place; strength in numbers and companionship are the best ways to survive. I am quite bad a keeping in touch with friends and family. I am also quite bad at getting myself out in the world and meeting new people. I don't mind being on my own, but I also greatly enjoy being around my friends. Unfortunately most of my friends seem to have left so I am a little bit back to square one. This goal is about keeping in touch better with friends and family and possibly cultivating some new friendships. I have 4 main tasks I want to put into action: 1. Make/send a birthday card to my Dad 2. Send a get well soon card to my friend who had a skiing accident 3. Send 'Happy Easter' cards to those friends (who I haven't contacted for a while) who find the day significant 4. Join/attend a drawing class Goal 4: Learn the language of the wilderness. Lots of people in the wilderness speak my language - but it isn't their language. Maybe learning this language will help me to feel more that I belong and can do simple things - it might even open up routes which I haven't seen before that lead me out of the wilderness. I live in Austria but I speak English all day. I am not a very confident person when it comes to languages so when my broken German comes out it is usually answered by English. In principle there is nothing wrong here, communication was accomplished, but it doesn't feel right to me. I live here and I should speak the language, I am not a tourist so it leaves me feeling like I don't really belong here. I want to use this goal to push my German study forward but also to challenge myself to show so courage and actually get out there and try to use the language even if it is met by an answer in English. 30 minutes focused study = 1 point Using German (courage) = 3 points Pass mark for the week = 10 points

That is a fantastic title, I'm fairly proud of myself for that! Anyway, I feel that missing more than 2 weeks of the current challenge is enough to want to wait until the next one starts to officially log there. That is to say, I will still sort out and start on my goals RIGHT NOW, but I won't join a 6-week challenge until the next one starts (Feb 23 - April 5 I believe is the next one) So a preview and toe-dipping-to-check-the-temperature is what this is, I suppose. There's always room for tweaks and scootching to adjust for the busying of schedules or for more leisure time as it comes along. MAIN QUEST: It resides in my signature~ inspired by Daft Punk's song "Harder Better Faster Stronger" and Might Guy from Naruto, I never want to actually be able to finish this goal. So, my goal is to be better than my past self. YEAH FOREVER-GOALS! My current goals to achieve the fundamentals of my main quest are as follows: EDITS IN BOLD Goal #1: Mostly Vegetarian, Mostly Paleo Inspired by: Everyone who's ever picked on me for eating a vegetarian meal. Please note: I am not a vegetarian. I just don't eat a whole lot of meat products, they tend to be a smaller part of my diet because I prefer vegetables. Someone once told me this meant I was "Mostly Vegetarian", and I laughed pretty hard not gonna lie. I told one of my vegetarian friends about it and they got upset to the point of being offended, which I thought was strange but hey- to each their own.Plot Point: Reduce grain intake and replace with more proteins and healthy fats. I mean I love veggies, but they're not gonna keep the engine running all by their lonesome. Veg intake is already optimal.How-to: Replace at least 1 grain product per day with a protein/fat combo (ei: replace veggie burrito with lettuce wrap + meat/nuts, replace sandwich with raw almonds, ect) watch portions - make sure to have ≥ of veg instead of going nuts later and filling up on potatoes/breadGoal #2: Walk to Mordor Inspired by: The Lord of the Rings & Nerd Fitness! Great movie/article. I have a good activity level, but it's kind of sporadic and dependent on other peoples presence (my mother at the gym, my co-worker for bouldering, my sister for Just Dance Wii, ect)Plot Point: Walk places, or around. Don't have to go anywhere necessarily, but motivation always helps! Instead of paying an extra $3 to go 5 km from work to the next bus stop, walk. 0.75 km from the grocery store on the way home to buy those raw almonds instead of asking someone to pick it up. It's a beautiful, fresh-aired day, walk the 11 km to the local nature park and back, plus whatever wandering happens at the park! Anything counts.How-to: Walk a total of 25 km (15 miles) per week walk 5 minutes/day minimum - first thing after breakfastGoal #3: BAT-CAVE!!! Inspired by: Batman & Nerd Fitness (I spy a theme here)Plot Point: My living areas are pretty chaotic, it's not good. Definitely need more order and organization in that department.How-to: Do one thing, every day, to improve the overall functionality of my batcave living spaces. Can be cleaning, dusting, re-organizing all of my mothers DRAGONLANCE books (that last one takes hours though, maybe for an especially enthusiastic day) order of importance/rooms to focus on first: Computer room, kitchen, bedroom, living room.Goal #4: Finish This Challenge Inspired by: Every other challenge/goal that I have not finishedPlot Point: I habitually quit after a week or two for most things. No longer. I am now someone who finishes what I start or has the sense of mind to not start that thing.How-to: Keep a day-to-day journal. Post a cumulitive report online once a week (Friday) I opted to replace one of my diet/fitness goals with another life goal because that last one is fairly important. It's not looking at my failures in life and trying to be motivated by regret. I've accomplished a lot since I decided I wanted to be healthy: Lost 45 lbs Started exercising again Made new friends Go out of my way to socialize instead of complaining about being lonelyand then some more, so it's more looking at my failures and seeing how I can better myself from them (see: main goal). And this all starts today, right now. After I post this, I'm going to go wash todays dishes (goal #3) and then I'm going to check out what food-stuff we have so I can plan tomorrow's breakfast (goal #1). I'm not going to put too much pressure or planning behind this, because I know it doesn't work and I'm only moderately insane. So tomorrow's goal achieving plans will be made tomorrow, likely right before I do them. It's 11:01PM here in Canada, I wish you all a good night! Happy Tuesday~ -Rebecca