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16:365 And a new year, and some small daily things to make my life better. The big stuff I am leaving for the challenges. It worked well last year, and this year it should be better. The idea is not to crush everything every day, but just to do something every day that will make my life a little better. Tiny little habits. 1. Rise and Shine Get up every morning before 5. Something I've been doing for the past few months, it really helps to exercise in the morning. 2. 750 words Write 750 words every day. This could be anything, journal, stream of consciousness stuff or whatever. It takes around 15 minutes, I've been slacking on this during the holiday but will get back to it. It is also a good way to practice my touch-typing skills. 3. Cleaning. Do a little bit of cleaning every day. I've been working on minimalism for a few years now, and it is easy to just keep up. 4. Make my bed. This is easy. The difficult part is getting the dogs to stay of the bed in the morning so that I can make it. 5. Gardening. A little bit in the garden every day. 6. Meditation. This is very much a habit at present, so I am going on with this 7. Movement. This is in addition to exercise. While walking the dogs I've got a little arm swinging, leg swinging routine that helps a lot with stress. Rating Gold star for all, silver star for most, red star for some. It is very much a subjective rating system, but I like it. And this year I am giving myself permission to skip any of it on Sundays and Social days.

Introduction: Day 0 There's nothing out here but a wasteland of misery and destruction- and a shit-tonne of dust. I am weak, and ill-prepared. If I am to survive, I will need to find shelter- recover my health, and build my strength. I shield my bleary eyes and look up to where the sun lays, giant and aggressive at the crest of a cliff, it's unending shower of painful rays strangling out the last shreds of moisture from the choking landscape. I gaze so long I begin to see dots- dark smudges against the backdrop of fierce, fiery orange. Strangely still for a trick of the eyes. that is when I notice it is not a trick of my vision at all, but an actual, physical object. A shack, standing strong in the nothingness that surrounds it. It is ramshackle, it will surely need a great many repairs to fortify it, but it is there, and it is real. Shelter at last. Ashtree's 6 Week Challenge! My name is Tree, and this is my first 6 Week Challenge, and my theme is Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Repair! i.e- I'm gonna clean my garage and turn it into a dance studio/gym! My long-term goals are fitness and recreation based- in my youth I was a member of a scout-like club called "Pathfinders" and I did so much outdoorsy-fitnessy-healthy stuff, but I have since gone way off the rail. The past 10 years have been a struggle of fighting mental illness and fixing myself emotionally- now that I have it under control (not cured, but controlled) I want to rebuild myself into a greater version of who I was before. Nerd Fitness is how I hope to attain that! So, without further adieu, my 6 Week Challenge Goals: Main Goal 1: Clean the garage, turn it into a great studio for fitness. A good survivalist has priorities: Shelter is one of the highest. This is something I HAD to do anyway (the cleaning part) so why not make it a goal, amirite? To achieve this, I need to do the following things: Sort and organise camping equipment.Find containers or storage for gardening stuff- especially the fuel.Sweep the entire garage.Debug. Despider (move them outside nicely)Purchase and lay-down foam flooring.Purchase and set up new "studio mirror" (it's an old dresser with a giant mirror...)Set up curtain dividing storage space from studio space.Attach power source (no power at the moment)Purchase and set up punching bag and frame.Set up lighting. This goal will be graded based on how many of the items I complete- 10% per item. Main Goal 2: Swimming, at least Once a Week! A good survivalist makes use of accessible resources! Both of my housemates go to aqua-aerobics, and also just plain old swimming, twice a week. I'm not in the financial-space to pay for sessions, but there's no reason I can't go to the pool with them and just swim. I also live near beautiful beaches, with ocean baths- that are free. It's hitting summer here, so I should really make use of those. Grading wise, I'll assign 10% to each session, which means I *won't* be able to make 100% just by attending. The extra points can only be made by swimming laps while there (I tend to just...float and splash). 5% per lap. Main Goal 3: See Doctor, Create Weightloss Plan: A good survivalist takes care of their health: I am a fats. I have always been a fats. What I have not always been is unfit. As a child, I was involved in everything- camping, hiking, sports, orienteering, canoeing, band camp- if it was an optional activity on a sign-up sheet, I was there. Since mental illness took over in my late teens, I have neglected myself in a big way. I am no longer able to hike 25km in 2 days with a 15kg pack like I could when I was a teenager. That was something I loved doing and something I miss greatly- as you can see in my "goal bars" below, I want to- however long it takes- get back into the rough scrambler mode I once was, and hike a cumulative 100km with a pack. To get there, I need to get myself in shape- my pack belt doesn't even clip around my waist anymore. I don't know how much I weigh but it's more than conventional scales can display, so my only step for this goal so far is to see a doctor about my weight, make some plans, find out what I actually weigh and go from there. 100% just for seeing the doc on this one, because I have been putting it off a long long time. And now- just for fun- Side-goal: Just be a little bit tidier in general, geez Tree... A good survivalist is neat, tidy- with a solid working knowledge of their inventory. This one is easy- over the next few weeks of this challenge, I just need to progressively tidy up, get rid of stuff I don't need and organise what I do need. I'm about to start a course online, so I need to make sure my work-space is workable. I have to share that room with my housemates, and it's also where I feed my cat- so it *really* needs to be organised. As well as my room. And the bathroom- the sinks have standing water in them that need to be fixed too- I basically need to make this a livable environment. Grading? 50% for initial clean of whole house next week, 5% per "upkeep" job thereafter. I think that's everything covered now- WOO! LET THE APOCALYPSE BEGIN! -Tree

Fitness 1. Walk during my lunch break (42 days) Fitness 2. Do PT for my Post-Tib Tendinitis (42 days) Diet 3. 1450 calories a day (42 days) Life 4. Clean out the "bonus room" - a continuation of minimalist challenge Criteria: Floor cleared of clutter Craft Projects not being worked on trashed or stored away. Kids toys removed. Clean out attic storage of unused/unnecessary stuff Passion 5. Art Journal or sketch minimum of 10 min each day. (42 days) Rules: 1. Post every day - even if I don't meet my goals 2. Don't stress. This is all designed to help me stress LESS!

Darkfoxx 21: Darkfoxx Goes To School This challenge is going to throw me some curveballs. I’m going back to school 2 nights a week for front-end web development: the first schooling I’ve attended since getting my undergrad in 2002. So … I need to re-learn how to be a student, and need to get re-acquainted with fitting homework into my schedule. This is throwing major elbows into my RUCK ALL THE THINGS and DO ALL THE OTHER THINGS plan. Plus, I’m starting this zero week off sick - the first time I’ve had to deal with an actual sickness in over 5 years. My body is unhappy about this development. Overarching Goal For This Cycle Do the things, but keep schoolwork in the forefront of my mind and time commitments. I have no idea how this is going to play out - my undergrad degree was in Communication, so I could basically BS my way through it. Coding: not so much with the latitude for BS. I also need to keep some sort of physical training goals on deck, lest I get completely sidetracked. To that end, I have at least 1 5k to do in short order (Patronus 5k) I’m supposed to be doing Tough Mudder on the 7th, but if it’s too cold I’m not making myself go through it. 50 or over is my threshold. I have the Turkey Trot 4 miler on Thanksgiving And some more rucking to throw in before it gets too cold out. and rucking. RUCKING. I have distance in the can; now I just need to work on speed (and more mileage totals per week). Plus, RuckFit looks amazeballs. And Beer Yoga! And the RP dealie! So .. looks like I’ll be busy, no? Goal 1: Work It Out Sill aiming for 4 - 5 days during the week + 1 good activity weekend day here. I’m also throwing in an archery date night. I don’t know how this is going to happen with class, but I aim to regulate my schedule by Official Week 1, so more coming here. If nothing else, I can poke around some RuckFit workouts, work on a couple Beer Yoga poses (sans beer), and work on pull-ups. *cough* Wolf *cough* And the role play game … I’ll have to think of something there. Not sure of the deets yet, but I have a feeling I won’t have to sit this one out. Goal 2: Macros SSDD. For those of you that are new to me, here’s a recap: I haven’t really deviated from this metric plan in over a year, and don’t see any reason to start. For those of you that are new to me, my metrics are based on those outlined in the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. My metrics are as follows: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, 100 grams or under of fat and around 1,500 calories. This plan seems to work for me, and if I stick to it, my weight stays where I want it and my body stays fueled without being sluggish. That said, I have recently begun carb loading for races and eat whatever my body is screaming at me it wants post races (generally a bigass steak and/or a face full of carbs). This seems to be working well, and I’ll be sticking with it. I also shoot for 64 ounces or so of water (2 refills of my water bottle + a coffee), and track my general activity and sleep with a Misfit Flash. I’m on My Fitness Pal and Fitbit. Goal 3: Minimalism I did so well here last challenge, I want to keep the ball rolling. I have 1 book shelf left to purge during Phase 1 and I FINALLY got my last batch of crap back from the digitization place. I need to label those pics/files (plus the last batch of pics) and get them squared away + deal with the physical copies. I also aim to pile all my sentimental crap into 1 place - probably my bed - and massively purge until I have 1 bin left. This may need to be done in 2 stages: 1 bin for photos; 1 bin for crap. I also need to see to it that my donation pile actually leaves the door, and the boxes I’m building of kid stuff actually make it to my sister (for her upcoming baby girl) & brother (who isn’t yet spawning). Goal 4: Craftsy I have a bunch of crafts I need to do: My sister’s baby blanket Tank’s cross-stitch Wolf’s cross-stitch Monthly Triceratops cross-stitches Holiday cards + more holiday cards Ranger Card/Gift Exchange Holiday cookies Process the pictures of munchkins I just took Goal 5: School Aim to be valedictorian of school, dammit. Goal 6: Badges This went over so well last challenge, I need to keep these going. And I want to re-vamp the styles so they’re more tiny friendly. Goal 7: Mini Challenges & PvPs Do them. If nothing else, this will force me to get my workouts in - I may disappoint myself, but I try damn hard to make sure not to let my guild mates down. Goal 8: BIOHACKING You thought I forgot about this one, didn’t you? I’m twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my data to get back from 23andMe and have been taking the 999999989 quizzes on the site to maximize my contribution to the greater good. TWIDDLING MY THUMBS.

*does the secret knock* Hello, everyone! It's me, Jenn. I'm back in the Assassins this time to shift my focus back toward bodyweight training, which I have been neglecting for a few months. I wanna get lean and buff! Can't really do that without some exercise. I've been unemployed for two weeks now, and I have one week to go before my new job starts. My sleep schedule's gone all to hell in the mean time, so I need to get that back under control before my job starts on the 21st. Controlling my schedule will be the goal of Week 1, and Week 2 will be fairly easygoing because of the stress of adjusting to a new social situation. There are two big creativity-based events that happen for me in November: NaNoWriMo and the local gaming con, MACE. I'm planning to GM for the second year in a row, so I need to spend the latter half of the challenge prepping for those. I feel like I've been working up to this challenge for the 7 or so months that I've been on NF. I've known from the beginning what parts of life I wanted to be in control of, and more or less what I wanted that to look like. However, every time I've tried to get all of the balls into the air at once, I ended up dropping something - usually exercise. This time around, I'm going for at least a token element of every part that I want to balance. I feel that I need to keep my qualifications for "success" as low as possible, and strive for consistency. I also experimented with "progressive" goals last challenge - things I could work toward completing during the course of the challenge. I liked making the time to get things done, and it felt good to check things off as I went, rather than just doing an endless cycle of repetitive daily tasks. So I have 4 progressive-style goals, but they are of secondary importance to consistently doing my daily activities. Main Goal: Maintain a predictable schedule that helps me to fulfill my responsibilities and physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. This breaks down into smaller parts: A. Morning Ritual -Wake Up w/o Snoozing (at 7:30 am) -Exercise (headstand practice, 1-min plank, 50 pushups AND/OR go for a walk) -Pray -Eat breakfast -Go to work! (leave by 8:30 am if commuting; start by 9 if working from home) B. Evening Ritual -No screens for at least an hour before bedtime (bedtime is 10:30; stop screens and get ready for bed at 9:30) -Get outfit and lunch ready for tomorrow -Take a shower & brush teeth -Meditate (20 mins?) and/or quiet activity in dim light (plus sleepytime tea) -Sleep! (hopefully by 10:45) C. Count Calories (trying not to eat more than 1500 per day) D. Weekly Requirements (must be done at minimum once per week. More is good): -Clean Litter Box -Run and Empty the Dishwasher -Do Something Special for Spouse Bonus Goals: 1) The Minimalism Game - This PVP challenge runs for 30 days from Sept 14 to Oct 13. On day 1, you get rid of 1 object. Day 2, two objects. And so on, until getting rid of 30 objects on day 30! I have felt smothered in clutter for quite some time, so I am really looking forward to this. 2) NaNoWriMo prep - The last two years, I have worked on writing up background world information for a fantasy setting in which to play tabletop RPG games. Every year, I end up retreading some ground, because in the 11 months in between, I come up with new ideas or refinements for the previous ideas. That means that I essentially have two versions of the world stored in badly-organized text documents. I would like to bring those two documents together into a well-organized whole, which will remind me of what I have already written, and help me figure out which areas I want to change. (I already know there are some things that I want to update!) I also hope that I can give myself a better jumping-off point to devise some more historical parts of the world, rather than working with the purely cosmic creation-level stuff. I need to have a couple centuries, at least, of world history in order to create the specific settings that are needed to actually start using the world for gaming. (For those who are confused, think of this as a project on the level of Tolkien's Middle Earth. It's a life-long work that will always be evolving, and I'm a very top-down type of storyteller. My hope is to create a very lived-in feeling world for others to tell stories inside of.) 3) GM prep - CANCELLED 4) My Portfolio - CANCELLED NEW #3) Draw Every Day - Because I love it. Because it's fun. Because it relieves stress. Because I want to start doing commissions and comics. Not going to grade myself on whether I miss a day. Just going to try to find a little time in my schedule eat day for doodling. Who is Jym? Like some other rebels, I take the "roleplaying game" aspect of NF to additional heights by writing a story about my NF character. The things that happen to Jym are a dim, fuzzy reflection of things that happen in my own life during the challenge. Some of the metaphors are more obvious than others. Magic, for example, represents self-control for me. I visualize magic as being a mental discipline, which requires focus and also the ability to stop thinking about something and actually DO it. Self-control is the same. I thought about staying with the Druids for this challenge, since it really deals more with mental discipline and inner balance, but the assassins are known for being doers who jump in with both feet. I need that momentum to carry me along until the internal stuff has become a habit. Quick recap of Jym's story, for those who haven't read the old posts:

There is neither darkness, nor light; There is only the Force. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the shadow cast by the sun, I am the candle burning in the night, And the Force alone shall guide me. I began the journey this year as someone who wanted to understand himself better. I wanted to know why I was the way I was, and I wanted to iron out what I considered to be some inconsistencies in who I was. I can't say that I finished it... because it's not the kind of work that is ever finished. It's an endless act of refinement, a constant struggle that can't be entered into with the idea of ever really being finished. I will say, however, that it's been a worthwhile struggle. I'm more peaceful than I was, and even when I get angry or sad, I usually can tell why now and I have an easier time returning to baseline. This has been tested hard this year. Between a busted computer, my father's heart attack, and the realization that my prospects are not what I thought they were, it's been a rough ride. But at the same time it feels like waking up from a nightmare - where I would have before hung my head and accepted it as my fate, I'm instead... quiet. Angry, in a cold way that makes me want to act and fix things rather than rail against the heavens. I want to say that it's time to finish this quest and become a whole and integrated person, but sadly I've found it doesn't work that way. Nevertheless. It is time to embrace the shadows, the slip and slide of darkness and light. What were the marks of a Master of the Gray Order? Feats Impossible to the Light or the Dark Sides of the Force Gray Masters were known for their ability to mix and match their feats from either side of the Force. Gray Masters could turn Force Lightning into a force for healing (though not sure how that would work... whoever came up with that bit of fanon should have thought that one out a bit more). What does this mean? Mixing and matching - strength and conditioning and yoga with the idea of getting to Boston in one piece, stronger and faster and ready for anything. However, instead of worrying about hitting specific numbers, my goal here is just to log on and track what I've done. My training habit is strong enough that I know I won't break anything if I miss a day here or there. And plus, it's an excuse for me to be here with you. The Combination of Forms to Create Unwinnable Situations There is no form of the Lightsaber that is perfect. All have their gaps, flaws in their concepts that can be exploited. So, naturally, you find the hole, and then you work to fill it with another form. What does this mean? I have Karate, and I have Judo to fill the gaps therein. I must train them both. And when I get my sticks back, I will have to begin to work what little Kali I've seen into the training again. Again, a thing to be logged daily. Cleansing Excessive Light and Dark Side Contamination from Worlds through Meditation I have a new thing to study in my meditations - relaxation. So the first practice was mindfulness, and the second was to concentrate through mental noise. The third is to learn the difference between tension and looseness - to induce both in a state of mindfulness and to become aware of the difference in a controlled setting. Once per day. Life Goal: Material Balance So, my landlord is working with me to get me out of the lease. He's asked that I clean out my room at the old apartment. This is more than fair. Which means I need to kick my efforts there up into high gear. I've been given a list of things I need to do. The goal is to have them done before the Challenge is over; ideally, I'll have them done before the end of the month. And with that, we wait...

O.K., so the last challenge may not be my most excellent of accomplishments. Crashed and burned, and the flames were spectacular . Lessons learned: I bit off way more than I could chew. As a result, I've stepped back to see what when wrong and where, and decided I need to fix a few foundational issues in order to reach my bigger goals. First off, I need to remember my bigger goals: 1: Strong Arms: I want those Deltoids to be showing all the time. I'm getting there... 2. 20% body fat. I'm not currently overweight, but I've got the typical mom sqiggliness (and yes that is a technical term). I want lean and hard. 3. To feel good about myself. This one is a bit more ephemeral, but it would be damn nice to wake up in the morning and like who I am, and feel proud of what I choose to do with my life. I don't exactly know the benchmark for this one, but I'll know it when I get there. . So on to this challenge's goals: In order to get to that magic number of 20% body fat, I've got to eat right. The last challenge, I didn't count my calories, and tried to schedule making recipes when in fact I just didn't have the time. I ended up stress eating, and deviating from my gluten free - vegan regimen. I've paid dearly as a consequence. So I'm eating some humble pie, and going back to the basics: Goal 1: 1410 calories per day. (Vegan and gluten free) and only ONE new recipe per week (probably during the weekend). Moving on... Last challenge, I tried to schedule using the gym. My mistake was to focus on the where rather than the what. The point is that the location doesn't matter, I just need to get the cardio in. Guess what, my gym was too far away to be useful. And it turns out, I don't particularly enjoy going to the gym to exercise like a hamster in a wheel all the time. My workout routines have a pretty set schedule, but I only have a few precious windows of opportunity to get my cardio in. I'm still struggling with this pesky tendinitis issue, so the cardio is going to have to remain light on my feet. Goal 2: 20 minutes of cardio 6 days a week (from past challenges I've learned that I need at least one day off). My time is extremely limited because of my work schedule, classes I'm taking, soccer schedules for my son..... My wish is that using my lunch break to get my cardio in will be a good habit, both for my physical strength, and as a good method for dealing with stress caused by work. So, I've joined a gym that is closer to my work BUT I also want to be able to spend some time outside. The town I live in just recently finished a walking trail close to work. The plan is to spend my lunch break either going for a walk, or going to the gym. If all else fails, I can use my treadmill at night before going to bed. Ultimately it's about the what I do, and not about where I do it, that is important. And just because I would feel totally bad ass if I could do it: Goal 3: I want to be able to do 20 push-ups (knee) for each of my 3 sets during my workouts. This is just a nice and simple physical goal that is easy to work on (since my workouts are already scheduled anyway), and it will get me closer to having those deltoids I so covet. Currently my "A day" I do 16 push-ups per set, and my "B day" is 12 reps of triceps push-ups per set. And last but not least, my life quest goal... I think the biggest lesson learned during my last challenge is that my life is a mess. A great big physical obstruction to my goals. Last challenge I was supposed to vacuum every day, but I've got so much crap in my way that I couldn't get anything done! As I said above, my time is extremely limited right now, and I don't have the hours it takes to clean my house as it stands in my current state. So this challenge I'm getting rid of a whole bunch of crap I don't need! Goal 4: I'll be participating in the PVP minimalist game. It's only is supposed to last for 30 days, but when it's done I still want to get rid of something every day. I don't think my home will be minimalist in a true sense, but it should be a lot less cluttered when this challenge is all said and done. and THEN I can start thinking about keeping my house clean and vacuumed . So that me, miss eager beaver, ready to start this challenge, like NOW , I'll be using this "off week"as a test run for my schedule to see if I'm being realistic with my goals... Good luck everyone! Happy challenging!

An Upside-Down, Inside-Out, Backwards, Paradoxical, Crazy Like a ShadowLion Challenge In Which She Plans Her Escape From the Sprawling Megalopolis And Gets Back to Her Ranger Roots As a Techno-Ranger Sorceress "The Game of All Games is Life." ~ Ariel ha' Chakam, the First Malakh Reality Hacker A Reality Hacker plays The Game in physical reality, all the while knowing that The Game is Won or Lost Within the Mind. The Reality Hacker's choice of role or character determines her skills and method of playing The Game. This Reality Hacker Chooses to Play as a Techno-Ranger Sorceress. Character Name: ShadowLion Alignment: Chaotic Good Race: Malakh-Human Hybrid Class: Ranger Occupation: Scrappy Itinerant Technologist Skills: Stealth, concealment, techno-sorcery Knowledge: Route finding and desert survival, first aid Favored Weapons: Espada y daga (sword and dagger); open-hand; the occasional fireball Separated from her magical order, ShadowLion has spent the last eight years living in a sprawling desert Megalopolis. This challenge, she will plan and prepare herself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to escape the city and return to her ancestral home high on the remote, northern plateau. Though she does not know when her departure will be, she is determined to live once again in the shadow of the Sacred Mountains. She has resolved to start her Journey as soon as she can reliably provide for those who depend on her. In the meantime, she continues to search for any remaining members of her order. A Reality Hacker's Creative Medium is Time and Space Thus, a Reality Hacker Must Be Prepared to Deal With Paradox. A sorceress must fully accept the who, what, where and why of her situation before she can hope to see how to change it. Once she has truly seen through the distorted lens, she realizes she has already changed it, She was merely waiting for time to catch up to her. The how was there all along, contained within the when. ShadowLion Vows to Pursue The Goals Contained in Her Epic Quest Using the Abstraction Layer Favored by Her Order. The Sisterhood of the Dragon utilizes a combination of "Paths" and associated elements to organize their mystical workings. Elements of ShadowLion's Ongoing Epic Quest The following four goals are the major components of my Epic Quest. The Challenge Missions are meant to move me a measurable distance further towards completing my goals. SCHOLAR/AIR Bring to life the fantasy fiction series that I've been writing for lo, these many years. An intellectual challenge, a skill that needs further development, and a message that needs to be heard. Challenge Mission: Write. Minimum 45 minutes per day, at least 5 days per week, BEFORE work. The Writer's Guild Accountability Group (__/30) HEALER/WATER Return to my beloved northern AZ mountains to build my little bit of heaven in the pines. Rest for the body, peace for the mind, food for my soul. Challenge Mission: At least one hour per week researching building codes and other information I need to decide on a course of action and start planning; financial assessment. (__/7) MAGICIAN/FIRE Develop awesome apps that help people achieve their dreams. Learning, Technology, and Service, all in one small package. Where I must take care is to not flame out from too much work and stress and not enough rest and balance. Challenge Mission: Work no more than 50 hours per week (__/6). Of those 50 hours, 10 hours per week dedicated to study and skill advancement. (__/6), and 10 hours per week on paperwork and promotions. (__/6) WARRIOR/EARTH Get back into fire-fighting shape, so that I can work on a wildland engine again. Challenge Mission: Walk at least 31 miles total distance over the course of the challenge (These boots were made for walking - PVP). (__/31) Eat 1.5-2 cups of fruit and 2-3 cups of vegetables daily. (__/30) PRIESTESS/AETHER (The Center) Unify the Elements above into a healthy, happy life. Develop as a leader and a teacher. Pass on what I have learned in 57 years on this planet. Challenge Mission: Meditate daily for at least 10 minutes. (__/30) Meditate daily for at least 10 minutes. (__/30) Actions That Support ShadowLion's Four Main Missions A Sorceress understands that success proceeds from the inside out, that things are not always what they seem, and that sometimes to stay motivated, one must consume dessert first. The magical life is filled with paradox and there are many challenges along the way. A sorceress must be prepared to utilize everything in her environment to further her goals. The rest of my challenge supports the four Challenge Missions, shores up weaknesses, or works areas that are just for fun or simply don't fit anywhere else. The challenge to the sorceress - Find the pattern hidden within the seeming chaos. This is an ongoing list that will roll over from challenge to challenge until complete. Starred items are those things I plan to work on this challenge in addition to my stated challenge missions outlined above. Projects - These extend beyond this challenge period and are medium to large subsets of the 4 goals identified above. There is some overlap between them. Therefore, I have chosen a number of animal totems to use as organizing principles for my various projects. Tasks - These are short term actions, which are either one-off actions or repeated actions meant to build longer term habits and/or complete projects Toads - These are obstacles that I need to overcome, actions I need to take or things that otherwise stand in the way of my tasks, projects, or missions. Rewards - Treats for hitting milestones and/or successful completion of various of my tasks, projects, or missions.

The rules are simple. As detailed on "The Minimalists" blog, http://www.theminimalists.com/game/: Find a friend or family member: someone who’s willing to get rid of their excess stuff. This month, each of you must get rid of one thing on the first day. On the second, two things. Three items on the third. So forth, and so on. Anything can go! Clothes, furniture, electronics, tools, decorations, etc. Donate, sell, or trash. Whatever you do, each material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day. It’s an easy game at first. However, it starts getting challenging by week two when you’re both jettisoning more than a dozen items each day. Whoever can keep it going the longest wins; you both win if you can make it all month. Bonus points if you play with more than two people. This PVP will start on Sept. 14, 2015 and run for thirty days. Are you in? * Thanks to Rowan the Ranger for instigating this PVP via her post on Rurik the Ranger's challenge thread. Participants acfourni BlackTezca darkfoxx everanything Jakkals JMitch jmk Kilo Raven Firestorm rowan Rurik the Ranger ShadowLion Shadri SheHulk skinNbones Wolfenstein Yraen of the Engwar

This cycle's challenges are based off of the feats from the mini challenge exercise for this cycle. More info here. Feats Endurance: Complete: Spartan Sprint + Oakley 10k + Savage Race + Rugged Maniac - DONE WEEK 1 Strength: Improve throughout this season's OCRs + Perform A Single Damn Pull Up Speed: Work on furthering my yoga pose skill set (I'm starting with holding crow for longer + headstands) Combat: Complete the Spartan bodyweight program + continue to work yoga in where I can - Edited to include working with the pull-up bar every week day this week on top of my yoga workouts Healing: Foam rolling + Duo Lingo to learn more French + Metrics + knitting/creative pursuits

Eat, Sleep & Be Merry Completely Reworked Goals on 2/24/2015 Wow. For the last year, I have been really pushing hard. It’s time to stop, regroup, and restore. I’m a hardcore minimalist, and this challenge I’m keeping my goals lean and trim: Eat. Eat well. Last challenge I noticed that I wasn’t eating, not because I was full or because I was mindfully fasting but because I couldn’t be bothered. Wait. What? I love food. But I left it until late in the day, and we all know that 50-75% of our calories should come before dinner. And I know that carbs, especially in the evening, are a real drain on my energy and my health. Sleep. Lights out at 11 p.m. Yes, really. If I’m not rested then there is no way that I can perform, and it’s beyond stupid to expect anything different. The Joy of Quiet time. Every day. Be joyful, and be still. They aren’t as mutually exclusive as we tend to assume.

I've noticed a couple of people scattered throughout this forum mention minimalism and the minimalist lifestyle in passing, for various reasons. Sometimes because of an upcoming move, or sometimes from a desire to slim down the amount of chaos material stuff tends to bring into their lives. I've flirted with the idea quite often - often from necessity, and most recently from an expected move. It took the looming threat of a move to realize that, push come to shove, I could load a backpack and be gone, but holy carp - where did all this stuff come from? To that end, I wanted to start a thread and share some references for others who want to do some reading, do some research, or just stick a toe into the philosophical waters and see how it feels. There is a fair amount of similarity to Buddhism in regard to viewing how possessions influence our lives and our happiness. I mention that out of a sense of full disclosure, but one need not adopt Buddhism or Zen philosophy to appreciate the tenets presented in the minimalist lifestyle. Certain principles like: if you haven't worn it in a year, why is it in your closet? That's a tough one to answer objectively. Emotionally, there are a variety of answers to be had - some good, some not so much. The flip side of minimalism, which is one possible goal - is understanding how and why we got here. That is an entirely separate post, but speaking for myself, I find impulse shopping as a means of staying entertained at work to be a major contributor, followed closely by "wow, that's a really good deal!" syndrome, and "huh, I bet that would be really useful and it's on sale!" disorder. I mention this only because while minimalism may be the answer to some problems in your life (most notably, too much stuff), it is exceedingly helpful to understand how and why we ended up where we are now. All that said: of this list - there are many books, but I'm only listing the two I have read, or am reading, and recommend them: Books: Websites, blogs, oh my: These are websites I've found from idle Googling (wow, it's a verb), as well as referrals from other sites, authors, links, and so on. I haven't vetted them and as such, some may be more helpful than others - although what may be helpful for me, may not be so for you. And vice versa. Articles of Interest Minimalist, "one bag" traveling Forums: Reddit: Minimalism Cleaning, Organizing, and other costs of stuff: Unfreak your Habitat -some cussing involved, you have been warned. EtA: True to form, I had an idea and I scrambled to get it out there without taking time to revise it, or critique it for improvement. As time passes and more ideas occur to me, I will be changing the first post to reflect a better presentation and delivery format, rather than just throwing out an entire mass of information from a fire hose. Hence, the addition of spoiler tags to help pare down (in the minimalism thread, natch) the amount of material you're being doused with. EtA: And I may be abusing the hell out of spoiler tags. Sorry.

I did a huge amount of work last year, and just as we left the short, dark days behind us, I felt as though I had truly turned a major corner in my life, heading toward the light personally as well as with the seasons. The accomplishments and insights have been a game-changer personally, and I am ready to begin a new chapter in my life story, and I’m interested to see what this path brings. However much work was already done, work isn’t over and done with; far from it in fact. Instead of doing the same things I had been focused on all last year, and improving with, I will be taking on a new set of tasks and challenges and obstacles this year. While I’m excited, I’m also a little intimidated, since new tasks are easy to fail because of the lack of familiarity and fluency. So, like any good adventuring druid, I’m going to need to check in with the basics as I start out. Mind This challenge will see the last six weeks of my paralegal studies. I have a lot of work in these classes yet to do, and I need to wind it up so I can start something else. Classes every week, with homework and tests and projects and exams along the way. Graduate. WIS +2 I have a new job! This means I will be learning a whole bunch of new stuff on a daily basis. Heaven help me. I’m going to have to focus. I’ll probably end up taking notes. Job 5x/weekWIS +2 Therapy: the family will continue to be in therapy for this challenge (and through to summer). We are getting our legs under us and doing well, but it’s still work and we seem to learn stuff every week, which is good, but takes a lot of reflection and attention. Therapy 4x/week WIS +1 Body: Be good to your Sim every day! Rest: Get to bed on time. Every Day. CON +1 Food: Eat often. I almost always eat well, but the job and routine change will create havoc with my system, so I will need to remember to pack snacks and eat them. Every Day CON +1 Water: The stuff of life. Make sure you get at least 2L since there will be more coffee than ever with the workplace. Every Day CON +1 I like to move it move it! Specifically, I will need to be mindful of walking, since having an office job will definitely put a crimp on my freedom to go hit the greenway. Goal: No less than 6250 steps a day. 7500 would be better. Every Day STA +1 Strive: It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t add in something new. I have contacted some former colleagues to arrange a carpool for going to kung fu three times a week. 3x/week STR +1 Soul Clean up the clutter Every day. STA +2 Find Quiet Time Every day. STA +3 BONUS: Life is expensive, and it has lots of paperworkSet up auto savings Set up direct deposit Make a budget for 2015 File taxes for 2014

Welcome to 2015! After two years with the Rebellion, I find it tedious to go back through my threads, so this is a place to keep it all together (and we could all use a little less line noise in our lives!)

My main quest is to lose weight (fat, mainly) and fit into size 6 uniform pant (Waist: 28"; Hips: 37.5"). Something had been keeping me from posting my new challenge early. I’d been working on it in a Word document for about a week, and even though I felt it was ready to go by middle of last week, I refrained. Now, I know why. And reason meant my overarching, multi-challenge main quest needed to change. I’d gone back to school (full time) this semester to pursue a new, different career. One that would require me to work at least twice as hard (20 hours per week → 40+ hours per week, including weekends and holidays) and make probably ¼ of my current hourly rate (and I should get a nice year end bonus in December and a fairly nice raise in July.) On Saturday night, my husband finally asked the question he should have asked in August before we made this decision. “What’s really wrong with your current situation?†And, instead of giving my standard off-the-cuff answer, I really gave it a hard, hard thought. I mean, I work 20 hours per week, doing a job that I’m actually really good at when I apply myself, and make more per hour than a lot of people make in a day. So, why would I want to make such a drastic change? The answer: Self-Confidence. When it comes down to it, I’m uncomfortable in my own body right now. I’m carrying a significant amount of extra fat. My clothes don’t fit (and clothes shopping spirals me into a very, very unhappy place.) The extra weight, as is the norm with me, screws with my hormones and keeps my face broken out. So, I walk around in ill-fitting, starting to look 'worn' clothes with a broke out face, minimal and cheap makeup (because I hate going to buy 'good' stuff when my face is a mess.) I feel bad about how I look, so my posture sucks, making me look worse. I walk into a room and instead of owning the room – I stare at the floor. I work in a male dominated field, where meek women (and men, I assume) are likely to fail – spectacularly. I'm a meek mouse in bad clothes. So, I’m not continuing in my current program of study after this semester. My pursuance of this endeavor was (likely) done out of a feeling of desperation. My lack of self-confidence (in a male dominated field) has crippled my ability to be a productive team member and left me feeling hopeless. In many ways, this career change was going to be a Band-Aid on a problem instead of a solution to the problem. My husband offered that I should make “ME†my full-time job for the next 10 months (and longer, if necessary.) So, I’m dropping a full time school workload to pursue a full time ME workload. (My husband is seriously the best!) My Main Quest: APLOMB The idea here is to do a series of smaller sub-quests that will have me walking into a room and owning it. Here are some of the things that I need to happen to rebuild self-confidence: body redesign, (re)learn how to be a little more girly-girl, improve athletic performance, intelligence boost, streamline life, regain my strong work ethic… 1. Run, Girl, Run I quit running a few years ago – between all the naysayers that were touting the evils of ‘cardio’ and the fact that I ran two distance races either untrained or sorely under-trained in 6 months – I just quit. I've started back and am wrapping up Zombies 5K training now. Next, I’m moving on to Season 1. Zombies has helped me regain my love of running. I’m hoping to continue to rebuild my capacity and maybe pick a race in 2015. Maybe. The goal for this challenge is to complete Season 1 of Zombie, Run! App. That’s 23 missions, or an average of 4 runs a week. I will be completing 3 as 30-minute runs and 1 as a 60-minute run. [+3 STA, +2 DEX] A 20+ Runs Complete (100% award) B 18+ Runs Complete (75% award) C 16+ Runs Complete (50% award) D 13+ Runs Complete (25% award) F <13 Runs Complete (0% award) 2. Finding Inner Strength Over the last two years, I’ve run the spectrum of Wendler to CrossFit to two coaches. I have strength. With proper training and consistency, I can move a big amount of weight. However, I do tend to broaden out when I’m lifting heavy. Right now, that’s not what I’m looking for in an exercise program. A few weeks back I heard a quote that basically said, if you can’t control your own body weight, you shouldn’t even be touching a barbell." I’ve always kind of bypassed the body weight exercises, other than the ones thrown into a WOD at CrossFit. The goal for this challenge is to follow a body weight strength training program. I plan to follow the YAYOG app for an average of 3 days per week. For scheduling, these will be done on the same days as my 30-minute runs. [+3 STR, +1 CON] A 20+ Workouts Complete (100% award) B 18+ Workouts Complete (75% award) C 16+ Workouts Complete (50% award) D 13+ Workouts Complete (25% award) F <13 Workouts Complete (0% award) *In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm still doing CrossFit 2x/week. I will continue that, which will end up being 5 days of some sort of weight training. 3. Rock-a-bye, Lull-a-bye Sometimes, I think I have (self-diagnosed) Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. I have a hard time staying focused on the task at hand. I can be incredibly scatterbrained and very disorganized. This problem is compounded when I’m getting inadequate sleep. Lack of sleep also slows recovery and tends to leave me in feeling drained. With the husband living in another city, I’m finding it challenging to wind down and go to bed for an adequate amount of time. This is likely affecting my recovery, my health, and my ability to get stuff done at work. Whereas I used to get 7-8 hours a night, I’m down to 5-6.5. The goal for this challenge is to average 7.25 hours per night for the duration of the challenge. [+3 CON, +1 WIS] A 7.25+ Hours / Night Average (100% award) B 7.0+ Hours / Night Average (75% award) C 6.75+ Hours / Night Average (50% award) D 6.5+ Hours / Night Average (25% award) F <6.5 Hours / Night Average (0% award) 4. Minimalist Move With the pending move to the new city in ten months, I’m realizing I don’t want to move all the stuff we’ve accumulated in the twelve years we’ve lived in this house. My goal for the next ten months is to really start selling/cleaning out/throwing away the stuff that we don’t need. Plus, if I’m going to revamp my wardrobe, I need to make room for new stuff. I cannot squeeze another item on my TWO closet racks, my shelving system is crammed full, I have FOUR large storage containers in my closet FULL of clothes that don’t fit or don’t fit comfortably. (Size 0 to size 10). I have a six drawer chest packed so tight I can barely open the drawers. The goal for this challenge is to eliminate $2,000 of stuff. (Calculation: If the item is sold, the sale price goes to the goal amount. If the item is donated, the lowest fair market value, according to Goodwill Valuation Guide, will be used. If the item is trashed, the item will be valued at $1. So, if we sell our old sofa, which is sitting in the garage, for $50 - $50 counts. If we donate the sofa, Goodwill gives a value of $30-150 for sofas, so I get to take $30 from the goal amount. If we had to throw the sofa away (not likely), I’d only get $1. Note: If the item would generally be deemed worthless (i.e., papers that need to be shredded and trashed) then no value should count to the goal amount.) [+1 CON, +1 WIS +1 CHA] A $1750+ eliminated (100% award) B $1250+ eliminated (75% award) C $750+ eliminated (50% award) F <$750 eliminated (0% award) During this challenge, I'm going to do a few 'mini' quests that don't award attribute points, but award other goodies. I'm also over in the PVP No Soda Challenge. Hi!!!

I've got a workout program pretty well set in stone right now: gymnastics 2-3x per week and my 5/3/1 lifting program 3x per week. I'm comfortable with this workout schedule and it will only become more important to stick with it over the coming months as gymnastics competition season starts to amp up in the beginning of next year. Last challenge, I dedicated myself to working on known weak spots for me: my lazy hips, my hatred of the C2 rower, my nasty eating habits, and my bad attitude. This format worked really well for me and I saw a lot of progress over the course of six weeks without stressing myself about incorporating these additional goals into my already busy schedule. I am going to stick with what works, but take a new approach on dealing with my weaknesses: Target #1: Lungs High intensity interval training 3x per week Low intensity cardio has never really been my thing. Trying to get myself to jog last challenge was a huge chore and instead of addressing that head on, I am going to force myself to take the even suckier route -- intervals. My interval training can take the form of plyometrics, jump rope, sprints, hill sprints, NP stadium stairs, burpees, etc. HIIT has been linked with pretty significant improvements in V02 max and endurance, so if I stick it out for at least the next 6 weeks, I should see some rewards when I start working on floor routine run-throughs. A floor routine is only 90 seconds long, but they are punishing and exhausting -- much like sprints. These HIIT sessions will be post lifting workouts (or Wednesday morning, as needed). Target #2: Mobility and Maintenance Foam roll and lax ball 3x per week -- MUST foam roll IT band, quads, and adductors before AND after squatting on SundaysYoga 1x per weekSome creaky spots have crept up on me over the past few weeks. While I preach the gospel of mobility work and foam rolling constantly, I have not been taking care of my own body. I stretch, yes, but I have not been foam rolling or doing nearly as much aggressive pre-treatment for tight areas -- which unsurprisingly includes my hips. Target #3: Fuel Gradually increase calories toward maintenance + hit within ~200 calories of goal each day per weekStay within 500 calories of target cals every weekNot a deviation from last challenge, but reporting back every day and every week really helped keep me honest here. While I'm not aiming to cut weight this challenge, honesty is still good and I do want to taper up gradually rather than just hurling myself up at what I think should be maintenance and hoping it turns out okay. Target #4: Style Begin the 10 Step Wardrobe Revamp:Be done with my wardrobe detox by Week 2Finish creating my list for my capsule wardrobe by the end of Week 6I cannot for the life of me remember whose challenge I saw this on originally, but I've had it bookmarked for months and months, waiting for a change of season. I am going to focus mostly on my fall - winter wardrobe and leave my spring - summer wardrobe to be dealt with when it is seasonally appropriate. Let's gooooo~

This challenge coincides with the end of my second trimester. From what I've read, this is the last period of time I'll be feeling good and energetic in the next few months! 1. Make a beautiful home for snowdrop Continue with the purging & decluttering, selling & donating; including specifically: reduce CD/DVD collection to curated physical media; everything else to become digital (estimated time: 3 days) get father to help identify miscellaneous cables (estimated time: 1 hour) Make it a clean house, including specifically: remove all scum from the kitchen sink (estimated time: 3 days) clean the extractor fan exterior (estimated time: 1 hour) clean the wall beneath the bathroom sink (estimated time: 1/2 hour) dust every room (estimated time: 1/2 hour) Weekly purge of handbag/bag clutter 2. No news is good news For the pursuit of a clean & happy mind, get other peoples' thoughts and bad news out of my own! Cut out: BBC News talking points (the comments section always sets me off!) Daily Mail newspaper Facebook PF FI forum Stretch goals: BBC News website, Metro newspaper 3. Shift mind to positive Stop the rumination - notice I'm ruminating, document subject, examine why Stop being annoyed with people... e.g. ... who ignore the "no entry" sign, and the tide of people coming up the stairs ... who claim to have OCD when they don't ... who break the rules ... who moan about being a victim (when they seem to have a good life!) - everything is relative ... who are inconsiderate ... car drivers who temporarily park in the pedestrian crossing when you are trying to cross the road! Forget and forgive bitterness, reset mind to serene - list all people I am annoyed with - write a draft email to get it off my chest - don't send ;-) Meditate on why minimalism will bring me happiness & why I want less in my life Practice gratitude challenge - 10 grateful thoughts per week Deal with people not replying on facebook/forums 4. Get on top of it all Keep a to-do list Smash it (i.e. complete tasks vigorously) Track procrastinating thoughts & question them Electronic clutter: Get rid of all the draft emails in my main inbox (home) - estimated time: 5 hours Get all unread emails down to 0, and maintain this (home, secondary & work) - estimated time to 0: 4 hours Have an empty desktop (work & home) - estimated time: 2 hours Clear out the Downloads folder (home) - estimated time: 4 hours Re-organise money folders to High Elf's recommendations (home) - estimated time: 2 hours Transfer & delete unneeded photos on mobile phone - estimated time: 3 hours Back up important / meaningful files - estimated time: 4 hours (currently blocked on obtaining better back-up storage) 5. Live healthily Do basic stretches every night for 5 minutes Eat clean at work - no snacking during the working day Start pelvic floor exercises (eek)

I have been doing very well with my diet/exercise/fitness portion of leveling up my life, and have been struggling to conquer my CHAOS. The declutter queen FlyLady defines CHAOS as: Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, and I have it BAD. I have an 1100 square foot rancher-style house, a 3-year old, and too many hobbies. I ended up with a good amount of my childhood crap when my parents down-sized, and I'm tired of feeling like I'm drowning in my house. I have done very well getting rid of stuff every day (even if it's one thing), but I have to step it up, and now is the time to get things really moving. I'm going to flip-flop my priorities for these 6-weeks, and really work on a Life Quest, with my Diet and Fitness Quests being side quests. BECOMING MORE MINIMALIST Part of my Level 100 "what does Teddie's life look like" goals is to live a clutter free life.My friends are letting me sell stuff at their garage sale at the end of the month. Part 1 of this challenge will be spending the next 3 weeks getting everything I want to try to sell ready and over to their house. I must do something notable towards this goal every day for the next 3 weeks.Identify and list higher-priced items online for sale. One item a week, minimum. Bonus if I list more than 6-items over the challenge.Continue to focus on general decluttering, reorganization, and redecorating. One thing a day at least. Major strides can go towards both decluttering and the garage sale. SIDE QUESTSDiet Side Quest: Track food every day. Only exception will be any days without cell range when camping. Bonus for estimating ahead of time.Fitness Side Quest: Work on mini-hoops 3x a week. Goal is to see if I can pick it up with 2-beat and 3-beat weaves.MOTIVATION My home is not a container for my stuff, but rather a place for joy and connection.PROGRESS I'm not going to count specific points in my challenge this time around, I have a lot going on still and I don't give myself stat points anyhow. I am going to do a Pass or Fail on how the week went, and work on making significant progress on decluttering, and enjoying my hooping. Week 1: Pass Week 2: Pass Week 3: Pass

Challenge goals coming soon...

Nourishing Mind, Body and Soul Mind WIS +5 (1 each) Read or knit daily 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D; 0-24 F I signed up for 100 books to read for the Goodreads 2014 challenge. It was kind of on a whim, but it will push me. I am not really going to be hurt if I don’t make this, but I have noticed that when I make more time for reading or knitting that I am more calm and centered overall, so this is a good way to relax and reward my mind. Pay on one debt item a week 6-7 A; 5 B; 4 C; 3 D; 0-2 F Financial worry is soul-crushing. I recently read a report on the effects of poverty sapping nearly an entire standard deviation from a person’s intelligence, and I can completely believe that. While my children and I aren’t living in poverty as yet, I do worry, and I would like the mental peace that comes from knowing I am taking care of us. Two classes a week 12-14 A; 10 B; 8 C; 6 D; 0-5 F I’m enrolled in the paralegal program at a nearby university. Attending class is the single most important factor in ensuring my success and retention of the information. Homework weekly 12-14 A; 10 B; 8 C; 6 D; 0-5 F I have to make the time and priority to complete my homework for the classes. Currently I have a 4.0, and I would like to maintain it. Weekly (probably Monday) cleaning 6-7 A; 5 B; 4 C; 3 D; 0-2 F This might seem odd as a Mind piece, but keeping my home clean is more about remembering to do it than anything else, and thinking about how it can best be supported so that when I find the time to do the chores they are as simple as possible. Body DEX +5 Water 2L/day 2L A; 1.5-1.99L B; 1.0-1.49L C; .50-.99L D; 0-.49L F Walk 5000 steps daily 4500-5000 A; 4000-4499 B; 3500-3999 C; 3000-3499 D; 0-2999 F I was tempted to increase this, but then I looked back at the last six weeks and realized that I worked like a dog to get to this point, and it would be a real success if I were able to maintain it. So five thousand it is, and we’ll see where that gets me. Abs of Doom Daily (with a rest day every fourth day) 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D; 0-24 F Last challenge I was doing the 30 Day Abs Challenge and once I got about halfway through it I was completely wiped out, and had hit my limit. It’s ok to have limits. That doesn’t mean I should quit or give up, it means I should stay at the limit level and keep at it until it’s not the limit any more. So here’s to that. I’ll keep a track of what I do, but I’m allowed to repeat the number that I do each day. It doesn’t have to be more than yesterday all the time. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be as many as the day before. It simply has to be. Nightly sleep 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D I need to take care of myself by making certain I'm getting enough rest. If I'm worn out and exhausted, I can't be a good student / parent / friend. I need to be in bed no later than midnight, with 11 p.m. preferred. I am hoping the meditation routine will dovetail with this. Nightly Floss Routine 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D; 0-24 F Soul CHA +5 Daily mindfulness from Living Your Yoga 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D; 0-24 F Dishes Daily (usually at night before we go to bed) 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D; 0-24 F Daily quiet time (probably after yoga) 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D; 0-24 F Weekly cooking (probably Wednesday) 6-7 A; 5 B; 4 C; 3 D; 0-2 F Nightly Meditation 40-49 A; 35-39 B; 30-34 C; 25-29 D; 0-24 F Bonus: Mind, Body & Soul -- Spa Day & hot oil treatment for my hair: +1 to everything. Weekly article on food and home 6 A; 5 B; 4 C; 3 D; 0-2 F +2 WIS Private goal: + to everything 1008-1000 +5; 750-999 +4; 500-749 +3; 250-499 +2; 100 - 249 +1

Main Quest: Let Go Or Be Dragged Current Mission: Choose Wisely But choose wisely, for while the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you. This challenge is all about spending my resources more wisely. Not just money, though that is certainly a piece of it. Time and space and energy as well. I have been spreading myself far too thin in recent years. After having devoted some serious work to thinking about how and where this has manifested in my life, I have the beginnings of An Attack Plan. This is a consciousness-centered goal, even though it will have tangible efforts and measurable results. Grading it overall will be extremely difficult, because even with concrete items, this is more about achieving a certain zone. I will definitely be keeping regular posts of what I do, and tracking my tasks and such, but the final analysis is going to be how closely I achieve the ideal space that I’m envisioning. Obvious increases are to CON and WIS and DEX. I think I’ll leave it at that and take five points each for an A, with percentages for lower grades taken across the board. Keeping track of all that there is to be done is going to be a challenge in its own right. I’m not certain how best to do this, short of printing the pages below out and taping them on a wall, making tick marks on the various items. [Wait. That idea has merit suddenly.] Alternately, I could group the items by date, since some of them are clearly Before the Move or After the Move. Heaven help me, but I don’t really want to get into spreadsheet land again. Also there are obvious groupings of one-offs versus weekly or monthly items. GAH. This will take a hard hat. Time: It’s about time that I let other folks do the heavy lifting with regard to regular task management. Subscriptions help in this immensely for me, since I don’t have to revisit a decision I already made (buy X every time_period). Also, it keeps me from doing the food security freak out that results in me buying caseloads (not hyperbole) of food. Tasks: 8/8 A+ Beef: Buy and process a steer. Store beef in weekly distribution amounts in a small chest freezer. Feb 18 - steer ordered and cut sheet delivered. Awaiting notification of pick up date. April 5 (N.B. Buy a small chest freezer if the upright one doesn’t fit in the apartment.) April 5. Local, seasonal fruits and vegetables: Set up a delivery subscription with a local provider for fresh, local, organic produce. Feb 18 Coffee: Set up a delivery schedule with a local roaster for organic, fair trade coffee delivery. Feb 17 Wine: Set up a monthly subscription for delivery of my favorite reds. Feb 17 Contact housekeeper to set up weekly services. Feb 18 Contact Peacock Salem for dry cleaning pickup and delivery account. Decided we are going to do our own laundry as part of weekly chores. Pay car insurance for the year. Feb 18: found out six months is as much as can be bought at once. Done. Routines to Establish: 3/3 A- for not actually writing them down, but we have been great about communicating and then following through, and that's really what this piece is about. We are still planning to write all this down in a checklist format for the week, and also to have a shopping list for the week posted on the board so that we can list our preferences (there are no guarantees, of course) taken into consideration when the shopping actually gets done. Weekly Food purchase - no more than is needed for the week, enforced by cash. This will be supported by a Menu Plan for the week, finalized on Monday nights (the night before the produce delivery) when we do the weekly refrigerator clean out. Chores - everyone’s chores explicitly stated, posted, and with a check-off sheet, updated daily and replaced each week. Daily routine - posted as part of the No Surprises plan, especially including kitchen closing time, quiet hours, and television and entertainment schedules Space & Stuff: I need to clear my space, literally as well as metaphorically. I have been weighing myself and my family down with stuff, and we haven’t really been as mindful about what we have. Clutter drives me crazy. Cray-ZEE. So we are getting rid of everything that doesn’t fit, that we don’t use regularly, and reducing the rest of it to Very Useful Items. To help make me do this, I’m moving into a very small, two-bedroom apartment from a medium sized four-bedroom house. I looked around a long time before choosing the place we are going, since the places we have been have been nice, but not well laid out, and inefficient in their construction (can you say utilities bills?) as well as use of space. The place we are going is modern, with a maintenance staff around the clock and high-efficiency everything. We are looking forward to it, all of us, even if it means that privacy is going to be hard to come by. Tasks: 14/14 : this list is complete. There is some unpacking and settling in that remains, but very little indeed. This is a major win. A+ Sort Clothes. Donate everything useful that we don’t want, don’t wear or doesn’t fit. Feb 19 - nearly done with mine. Began Vivian's as well. Have everything must go sale on craigslist once all other stuff is moved to new place. Donate anything that doesn’t get moved or sold. Sort bathroom items and pare down to essentials. Sell current queen beds and dressers Buy twin beds with built in storage Deal with the Basement Boxes: they all have to be dealt with no later than March 30, so start now. Feb 14 - One Box Deal with the Scary Closet. Feb 18 - First Round. Feb 19 - second round. Nearly done. Sell washer & dryer Sell lawn mower Donate the majority of the books. Sort toys and personal items in our bedrooms and closets. Pare down to one foot locker and a four-foot closet bar with shelf. Donate everything that doesn’t go. Money: I need to reduce my regular maintenance expenditures in general, and deeply rework where and how I’m spending my limited resources. I need anything that goes out to work actively toward the keeping of my sanity and health; everything else must go. Financial health is its own freedom. To that end I need to pay debts as quickly and as timely as possible; I need to decrease my weekly / monthly expenses; and I need to increase my weekly and monthly income. (Gosh, when it’s written down like that, it seems so simple, doesn’t it?) Tasks: 12/14 The things I haven't done are essential post settling in things that allow me to make some money. I have talked with my brother and he's going to start taping a weekly cooking show that I will post on you tube. (I can cook, but have no clue about videography and editing. Yet.) This might end up tying in with money or it might not, but I'm looking forward to it and in the meantime, I'm still financially sound. Still, this is a solid A. Submit two resumes a week to jobs that actually work for me. Being selective isn’t really a luxury most folks have in this economy, and I’m right there with them. But if I die of a heart attack from job stress (a real and pending concern), I won’t be able to provide. Feb 18: Pace, L&K, March 6, March 21, March 22, March 27, March 31 (Crowning Touch) April 3 (Finch), April 4 (leclair ryan & Bella) Keep credit cards at 25% or less. Period. If it has to go on a card, pay it off from the bank account. Chances are I can get by with what I already have. Cards go t hit hard when I needed to do the final moving push and found myself in a bind. I'm really glad I had the room on them to make the choices I did, and I have a plan to work them back down over the next challenge. Three of them are below 25%, and the fourth is at 57%. Establish automatic payment to credit cards. 2 of 4 as of March 1. Make a schedule for debt payments with amortization dates included. This schedule has been made and will be a backbone piece of next challenge. Make a note of my credit score every month. February: 518 (ok, that’s embarrassing) March 5: 525 (better but still red-faced about it) April 1: 559 (that's a nice step in the right direction) Establish automatic draft for electric, cell phone, rent and amenities payments. The finance company charges a pretty penny to process stuff automatically, so I'm setting up a routine for the electric, rent and amenities payments. Cell phone is established. Cancel gym membership February 18, Cancel water, internet, gas accounts after the move. Scheduled for Monday, April 7, but that's technically after the challenge ends. Downgrade the cell phone plan drastically. February 18 Verify automatic payments for student loans, medical debts, and credit cards. March 6 Investigate to make certain all medical bills from this summer have been found and collected into one account. Wow. This is like falling down a rabbit hole. But effort has been made, and that was the point of this item. Some bills have been found and payments established. Others have been relegated to the wait-and-see stack as we here in Virginia try to find out what the heck is going on with Medicaid and the ACA. Make automatic deduction to savings for emergency fund. Set this up as a task in my calendar, and will establish a routine amount now that I know what to expect from support. Let people have the opportunity to buy my food. Online subscription for the week. Clean apartments. Set up an appointment schedule for folks to hire me and a teenager to come in and do basic cleaning on their apartment for $50 a week. Energy: The whole reason for this mission is to acknowledge that how I spend my energy is deeply meaningful to my health in all its manifestations: emotional, physical, mental and spiritual. I deserve a life that is calm, predictable and lovely. I can’t be a good mother or provider or student or friend if I don’t make the effort to achieve and maintain a life that allows me to be my best. Tasks: 10/11 Regular acupuncture and medication for the heart (at least one per month). February. Regular hair cut (at least one per challenge). Feb 21 Daily quiet time. This has saved me. Study time to improve my chances of switching careers well. There are a million burger-flipping jobs out there, but no one really wants a 44 year old graduate degree holding technical guru for that. And since I’m done with the IT world, I need to beef up my credentials in the legal world in order to transition without destroying my family or myself. On track to have a 4.0 for this term, and have signed up for two classes for next term. Networking: Monthly meeting of the paralegal professional association or similar group Networking breakfast; Toastmasters Classes: Two paralegal classes a term until certification is complete Feb 17 - April 25 Professional Associations: Join the local chapter of the professional association. Cooking. This is my Happy Space, and I need the luxury and energy to revisit it in a loving, creative way at least once a week. Once I moved into the new place, I have done happy cooking nearly daily, and I am truly loving it. Yoga. Bend but do not break. Yoga helps my in so many ways. Find a weekly class that fits my schedule and my budget. The Sunday classes at the new place have been sporadic, but will hopefully become more regular. Water. Drinking water regularly helps flush toxins out of my system and keeps me grounded in a way I don’t really understand, but have truly come to love. So I need to keep doing that. Two litres or more a day. As of April 1, this has been a breeze. Thank goodness for having established this habit over the past several challenges. Walking. Keep track of my daily steps. Minimum of 5,000 a day for this challenge. This was a challenge indeed, but there has been meaningful progress over these many weeks. I nailed this in March, and am looking forward to keeping the momentum going. April has seen no day under 5,000 steps, and quite a few at 10,000 or more.

Introduction Hi, I've moved over from the Rangers as I found most of my challenges were around improving self which is a natural fit for the Druid guild. I'm 95% vegan (100% vegetarian) and of all the forms of exercise, I like running. My favourite hobby is LARPing, and I'm looking forward to an intensive 6-day LARP event at the end of October. I joined NF a year ago now. This is my eighth challenge, and I've just changed my profile name. Eirlys (pronounced 'ayr-lees') is Welsh for snowdrop. I'm interested in learning more about practising stoicism in daily life, but that will have to wait for another day, and another challenge! Goals My goals for this challenge are to: improve my confidencesharpen up body & mind My probationary review at work indicated confidence is an area I need to address urgently. I believe that I will feel more confident if I a. get on top of the subject matter required by my new jobb. 'act as if' - having a hunched posture doesn't make me feel confident!c. just get stuff done. 1. LearnRead book: Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS3Read book: Javascript & jQuery: The Missing ManualMemorise the article content on streamingmedia.comContinue watching videos for coursera.org: Think Again: How to Reason and Argue, for as long as I feel I'm deriving benefit from the courseRevise this list if I've finished both books before end of week 4 2. Stand Up Straight Check at least 10 times a day that my standing posture is correct, and that my head is up Success is graded by how many days I do this during the challenge. 3. Efficiency Now that I'm settling into my new job, I want to build up a sensible daily routine. At home:Continue to improve on routine: current improvement is to get ready for bed at 9-9.15pm, measurable by how many days I achieve this per week. Mitigating factors accepted, e.g. does not apply if I am out that evening.Review weekly whether I am ready to add another element to daily routine & start that if so. At work, continue to:wield the Sparkling Sword of Clarity to cut through the ambiguity and get answerswear the Helm of Action to plough through my work, especially getting through the daily fatigue around 5pm - measurable by whether I continue working at 5pm and leave the office around 6pm (or whether the end of my day slips by an hour)'touch it only once' - for items that take less than 5-10 minutes to do, don't write them down and come back to them, process them now 4. Life Quest - Purify I would love to feel in charge of my brain by the end of 2013. The outside - minimalism:Sell off selected books that have been removed from the shelvesCreate ebay listings for items to auction in advance of next free listingTake miscellaneous items to charity shopFind someone who wants to have my LARP-specific items The inside:Continue to monitor ruminating thoughts and follow this process:notice when I'm ruminating ask myself 'who' I'm ruminating to? (usually the sequence of thoughts is directed at someone/some group of people) ask myself what I'm seeking to achieve ask myself why I'm doing it think of other strategies/tactics for achieving my aimsWrite down any insights about my shadows ('mental scripts' that impair my life)Ponder and seek advice on how I can best deal with people who want to talk about a topic that causes me much anguishDo the exercise in the book 'The Worry Cure' for my biggest fear 5. Diet/Fitness Quest - Get Training & Get Healthy I have a LARP event I need to be super-fit for, just after this challenge finishes. Fitness:Try beating PB set for 1 mile run (7 min 43 s) - 'nice to have' - I've been out of action for 3 weeks following an operation, so I'm not sure how achieveable this is.HIIT at least once/weekExperiment with cardio that improves quick reactions, e.g. tabata - try something new at least onceDo floor exercises 3 times a week to get into shapeFood: Lose at least 1kgChallenge the 'excuse/temptation demon' that suggests I eat something unhealthy; I get 1 point for each time I manage this (over a period of 15 minutes)Weekly review & adjustment of strategies to stop snackingWeigh myself twice a day - I found this tactic very helpful when I lost 10kg last year.If I deem the number of 'challenge demon' points sufficient, I get to treat myself to something nice.If I lose 1kg, I also get a treat. Yes, bribery!! It's time to turn the tables on this particular challenge nemesis of mine!

Followers of Eilistraee express their worship through song and dance. Over the next few moons, my quest is to learn the bardic arts. Me singing Pippin's Song from LOTR - https://soundcloud.com/darkelfsong The Bardic Trail Charisma Ask people one thing about themselves in every non-work conversation, and also where possible/appropriate at workGive energetic positive response in reply to 'how are you?' - Practice this at home!Eliminate self-deprecating phrases from speech ("I don't know much about", "I'm not an expert on"...)Keep up work on eliminating vocal fillers (umm, err)Notice if I start sounding like a victim/whining when speaking Music Complete as much of Music Digital Production course as suits me (ideally all of it)Get piano tunedLearn music for LOTR tunes to recordGoal will be scored by: - completing upto and including week 3 of online course - having achieved piano tuning - having learned the songs for Twilight & Shadows and Evenstar Zing Walk with purpose & energyMaintain posture (straight back & head up) while walkingDo 'zing role-playing challenge' - for 2 weeks, aim to live zingily and document my findings regularly (aim: 1ce/day) Life Quest Evening Routine Put things away upon arrival & process any queued tasks (e.g. mail, washing)Attempt to get a net completion of 1 to-do task on the list per dayUndertake bedroom routine 9.15-9.30, assuming meal has been finished by 8.15, if later then undertake routine save for teeth cleaningWind-down routine from 9.30 onwards - includes floor exercises:- wall-sits - back stretches - planks etc Goal will be scored on: - # nights I do bathroom routine on time - # todo’s completed - 1 action on list per day (not net to-dos) - # nights I do floor exercises before bed Diet/Fitness Quest Nourishment Eliminate sugary snacks (dried fruit ok)Don't snack at home before dinnerEliminate the post-dinner snackGet weight back down below 57kg (scales currently hovering around 58.3 kg)

Hi everyone! I'm trying to declutter my wardrobe and I've found a huge trouble with the "fitness" module! I don't know how many shorts, T-shirts, shoes... are the "basics". So I've thought that maybe asking here I'd find some inspiration. How many clothes do you have in order to do exercise? Winter/Summer, it doesn't matter!

Halloo! I'm back! Took a challenge off to focus on my final projects (six teaching courses means a looooot of papers). I'm still working on the finals themselves but I'm here! I'm been working without the challenge anyway, and this challenge will be a continuation of those goals. UPDATE: For May, my husband has convinced me that if I just start SNAIL slow, I can run again. So, I'm swapping my push-up goal (that I've been doing poorly on anyway, cheap move Janna) to a running goal. Why do I find this acceptable? Because I really really miss running. I'm also cutting the yoga and minimalist goals out. My new life goal is to stop over-loading myself with goals! As of May 01: Physical: Run, 3x weekly, any distance, just RUN. Str-2 Sta-2 Health: 8x8 Water. Yep. Con-4 Phys1: Push Ups. 3x weekly. Current plans are 90 per week (3x10 3xweekly) starting with inclines and/or knees, then moving to military pushups by the end of of the month. Correct my math. 4 weeks + a Monday = 390 Pushups. Then April 31 I push to max and see my new record. Str-3 Sta-1 Phys2: Yin Yoga. 3x weekly. Added in to supplement my current physical therapy, because said pt is doing little to nothing. Flexibility, here I come. Str-1 Dex-3 Sta-1 Phys3: 8x8 Water. Yep. Always and forever dehydrated. Why? Con-4 Life: Minimize 7 items weekly! Spring cleaning? Well. Life cleaning. I know I can live with less and I almost never miss what I get rid of. Wis-2 Hmm. Do my goals seem rather unrangerly? Come over here and say that. EEK! No, no, stay over there, you're fine. Still working off that injury. The physical therapy I was assigned may have made a little dent, but I still cannot get over 2.5 running on the treadmill. Trying to do anymore puts me out of commission for days. Since starting the yoga over this missing challenge I was able to walk 4 miles on blacktop without the pang of pain. Still not pushing for the treadmill again yet, but I'll get there. Until then, I'm moonlighting as a druidly-ranger. Yea. I used to be a ranger like you. Then I took a SPARTAN to the knee. kek. Well. I was looking for a Ranger slash "arrow to the knee" picture, but got distracted and found this purple ranger pony instead.purple ranger pony instead. From http://www.equestriadaily.com/2013/02/simple-pmv-compilation-6.html Edit: Oops! Forgot to add stat rewards. Progress: Week01 (15-21): Water bad. Pushups good. Yoga great. Minimalist perfect. Week02 (22-28): Um, I literally logged nothing. I'm sure it's because I did nothing. I spent every waking moment on finals and final projects, drank and ate whatever sustained me. Sorry world, but in recompense, I give you 18 credit hours with five A's and a B+. Week03 (29-05): See new goals above. Failed water again, ran my first 0.5 on a real road, in a looong time. Very happy. I did do yoga twice. Week04 (06-13): Ran 3x, 0.5, 0.5, and 0.75 in a 5k! (walked the rest). Still failing water! Did the mini challenge: Try a new recipe. Week05 (14-20): Ran 3x, 0.5, 0.6, 0.6. Better on the water, but still only making about 16oz in a day. I'm not drinking soda, so what am I drinking? I must be getting my water from metabolic oxidation -.- Week06 (21-27): IP! Challenge Grade: D. Challenge failed. (See below)