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My oh my. Feels like a whirlwind this time. Like, we just finished the last one and the next one is already here. Weird. I know we usually can't wait for them to come, so I'm glad, but at the same time, just, wow. Oh well. Let's get it on. Goal 1: Mobility Work on Off Days Pretty much what it sounds like. I've found all of the things that I need to do for my body so far. I've found yoga for my shoulders and knees, and the HFS for my hips and lower back, and SMR for the other pains in my body that I have to deal with. It's all good. But it's not enough to know that these things work. They also have to be applied. The general rule I've heard before goes that you need to spend at least as much time on your mobility work as you do on your strength work. So, if I'm doing strength/power stuff three days per week, then I need to be doing mobility stuff three days per week as well. Graded out of 18. +2 STA, +2 CON. Goal 2: Integrated Martial Arts Training Just like before. This started strong and finished weak, but I really think that I was onto something there, given myself. Unfortunately, there's no hack to get around getting things done. I can't make the training happen if I don't show up to do it. So. Here we go again. Combination work, uchikomi work, and newaza work at the end of the training session. No matter what. Graded out of 42. +2 DEX, +2 STA, +1 STR And now to be a loose cannon... Life Goal 1: Walker University What? Have I somehow tricked a university into giving me more moniez so that I can earn more useless papers? Pshaw. Naw, y'all. One of the ways that personal trainers are encouraged to get ahead is to go for a walk and plug in an audio book of some kind. I spend so much time reading fiction on my own as it is that I don't need to plug in fiction books. So, it's time to start listening more to podcasts and the like relating to fitness business and writing stuff. Any time it's nice enough near me to go for a walk, I'mma do it. Graded out of a possible 30, with adjustments as needed depending on the weather. +3 WIS Life Goal 2: Write Our Story Well. Y'all asked for it. My mom's asking for it. My friends are asking for it. So, now I've got no choice. I have to buckle down and get to work. Every day, I need to be either writing some on the story, or working on characters, or plotting scenes, or something. Each day has to have a concrete step taken toward the completion of this bloody novel. RisenPhoenix already has an expy in it, though it's not really him so much as a character who shares a couple traits with him. I feel like I'mma have to make this disclaimer repeatedly: these characters are not y'all. So please, please, no freaking out if you end up reading this and you spot someone whom you can clearly tell was based on you and they do some decidedly not-you things. Graded out of 42. +3 CHA Also, unofficial savings goal: gotta start working on saving up for the Spartan. First step: registration fees.

It's time for me to get focused on not being focused. Mushin or no mind is something that I have been searching for but has eluded me for many years. I finally had a taste of mushin last year when I competed in kata at the Karate nationals and I have only been able to have that same experience, a few times, just recently. It is the feeling of doing something that you are so focused on, you do not see of hear anything around else around you. It is as if you are all alone, almost outside of your body but performing at your peak. If the building you are in was to all down around you, you would not notice until you are finished with what you are doing. 1 - Focus all my training efforts on making my katas better! When life starts to go down the toilet, I have always turned to my Martial Arts training to bring me back from the dark side. It has kept me sane in the past and I know that it will help me get through the issues I am dealing with now. With that said, all the training that I do needs to make my Karate and Iaido better. I will come up with a workout plan and do those workouts at least twice a week. I am going to focus those strength workouts on my hips, glutes, upper back and forearms. I will include my other bodyparts too I need to focus on the former. I will also continue to work on my katas every day like I have for the last two years but I want to add two additional "hard" kata training days along with the training that I get in my Karate class. 2 - Flexibility! It seems that I have been working on improving my flexibility since the first challenge and even though it has improved a great deal, I need to be more consistent. The HFS routine has really taken me to the next level but there are days when I just don't feel like doing it. For this challenge I plan on using the HFS as much as possible, at least two to three days a week but I also want to work on yoga for full body flexibility and some more focused hip work. I always do at least one stretch each day but I need to get serious if I want my Karate and Iaido to improve. 3 - Find a job! Being out of work for two months now has given me a lot of time to reflect on what I want to do going forward. If it's a job in IT again, freelance writing, building blogs and websites, consulting or a combination of all of those, I need to get more traction on getting some income. Even though I have many years experience, maybe too many, the job search hasn't gone the way I thought it would and I need to think outside the box to get some money coming in. 4 - Meditate.... This is one area that I really need to get into. I used simple meditation in the past and it really helped but I keep coming up with excuses not to do it. The goal here is to mediate for at least five minutes a day. These four goals are a bit open ended but that is normally how I do it. I will increase the focus as the days go on but I know that this challenge will be one of my greatest challenges. I am ready to do battle and these goals better be ready for a serious butt kickin!