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It is time to return to a challenge that always seems to fill me with the energy and motivation to stay active. It is an epic one, but it is less about completing all of the things and more about staying present with the essence of each challenge goal. Basic Challenge: Connect With Environment: The Na'vi are deeply connected to the natural world around them and they take care of it. When completing each of these challenges, engage all of your senses and stay mindful of the impact nature has on your body and your spirit. At least 30 total minutes outdoors/day in a natural setting Go barefoot as often as possible and be mindful of how my body reacts; wear minimalist shoes when necessary. Explore an unfamiliar outdoor area, or explore a familiar one as if seeing it for the first time. Swim in wild waters (creeks and rivers) and climb trees Give at least 5 total minutes/day of mindful attention to a life form other than human (pets, wildlife, plants, etc.). Download Joulebug and complete at least one challenge/day. Do a litter cleanup in a natural area at least once/week. Avoid using plastics of any kind (unless impossible). 1 hike or trail run/week Connect With Food: The Na'vi are omnivorous hunter-gatherers with a deep connection to the available provisions that surrounded them, both meat and plant. When completing these challenges, savor each bite, eat mindfully and pay close attention to how this affects your body and spirit. Eat full vegetarian at least one day/week Eat at least 1 vegetable/day Eat fresh meat whenever possible instead of processed/boxed/canned meat at least 3 days/week; this includes fish (BONUS: game meat when possible). Forage at least once/week (dandelion, plantains, wild onion, etc.) Fast intermittently; be mindful of when it is acceptable to not eat and when it is necessary Eat locally at least once/week if possible (Farmer's market?) Connect With Body: The Na'vi need their body to be in top shape in order to survive such a harsh environment. When completing this challenge, use a variety of "wild fitness"/primal/paleo natural movements and be mindful of how this impacts your body and spirit. Deep squat more Drink at least 1/2 gallon of water/day. Practice balancing on a narrow surface 3 days/week Dead hang for at least 30 seconds 3 days/week. "Natural movement" HIIT workout at least 3 days/week; continue to incorporate resistance bands and other home workout equipment (cinderblocks, log, stones, etc.) Barefoot sprint in the field more often Daily breathwork Connect With Tribe: The Na'vi have a deep connection with members of their tribe, especially family but also tribal elders and leaders. For this challenge, be mindful of your relationships and how you strengthen them. Spend time in the afternoon with your daughters ('ite); at least one technology-free playtime/week. Use intimate physical touch with tribal members (for family: hugs, kisses, holding hands, snuggling; handshakes/hugs for friends). At least one uninterrupted/technology free evening with wife (muntxate) Call your mother (sa'nok). Connect With Self: In spite of living in a savage environment, the Na'vi are very self-aware and practice a disciplined self-control and humble appreciation of all life, including their own. Become toruk makto: tame the beast and take control of your temper by pausing and being mindful of your emotions. Seek wisdom: read works written by great tribal leaders and elders who have come before you. Choose your words: be mindful of when to speak and when to be silent; don't waste words, but choose them wisely. Be grateful: keep a log each day of things for which you are grateful. Connect With Eywa (God): The Na'vi believe in and commune with a being greater than themselves. This is the essence of their culture and it drives their actions and lifestyle. While completing these challenges, be mindful of where your heart and spirit rest on these issues. Greet each morning with a grateful smile and a spoken "Thank you." Pray/meditate in silence at least 10 minutes/day. Integrate prayer throughout the day. Treat each person you meet as spiritually connected and as image-bearers of God; treat all lifeforms as God's creation. Practice agape love (unconditional love). Bonus Challenges: Learn Na'vi language. Spend at least one night outside (in a hammock, if possible). Take a long hike deep into the woods (off trail, if possible). Ride a horse. Harvest spring water. Go rock climbing (freestyle).

Soulcon Warrior Elite started January 29th, right at the tail end of the last challenge. So this challenge will continue with that. Warrior Elite Objectives: Weekly Objectives: Share the gospel with at least 5 people/week. Eat healthy six days/week with no carbs after 1pm except from berries and vegetables; feast day on Sundays. Run at least two 5ks/week (although some weeks the challenge may require the runs to be longer). Exercise a total of 30 minutes 5 days/week. Daily Objectives: Start every day on your knees, praying the Lord's Prayer aloud for your family and your Soulcon brothers. Knock out 40 push-ups right after prayer. Push-ups are a great reminder that falling down is common, but getting back up is what takes the strength. They are also a great reminder for your body that it will obey the goals you have and you will not obey the lust it has. Read the daily devotionals. Drink one gallon of water every day. No carbohydrates after 1pm other than from berries, vegetables, and sweet potatoes (except on feast day). Finishing Objectives: Memorize Ephesians 5:1-21 Ice bath/cold shower challenge: 4 minutes. Breath hold: 90 seconds. Share your testimony on social media. Personal Objectives: Walk at least 10,000 steps/day. Cold shower daily. Daily breathing exercises to prepare for 90 second breath hold (Wim Hof Method?) Go to the gym at least 3 days/week. Daily scripture study before bed; this is non-negotiable. Use Scripture-Typer daily to memorize scripture. Complete all graduate school assignments before due date; this is also non-negotiable. Work on Duolingo daily. In bed by 10:30pm at the latest Sunday-Thursday (Fri. and Sat. a struggle because daughter works until 2am). Meditate daily for at least 10 minutes; this should be silent and not guided--the aim is quiet time with God. Continue outside morning routine (take dogs out, work through stretches/movements). Daily bodyweight movements (especially push-ups, pull-ups, and burpees). Read quietly for at least 20 minutes/day. Listen to at least one informative or motivational podcast/week.

I believe in focusing on only one major improvement at a time and minimizing the effort required to achieve it. My major focus is to develop Keystone Habits using Duhiggs method (From "The Power of Habit"). Keystone Habits are lifestyle changes which when implemented cause secondary improvements. If you are interested in Habit Development, I post quite a bit about this subject in my battle log (link in my signature). Previous KH’s: KH1: Exercise 7 days/wk. Kept every day since 11/17/16 KH2: No M. (Something private) Kept every day since 12/28/16 KH2 was something I had to give up prior to quitting smoking as one feeds upon the other. Although I have been successful in giving up M for well over 30days, it has a high cessation propensity (ease of regression) and I want another month before I create a no smoking KH. However, I am confident enough in quitting M to start another KH which is something else I need to work on. I also included some low effort secondary goals. These are intentionally created to be very easy to keep as my main focus is succeeding at my new Keystone Habit. In addition, I've created a list of some to do items which I will continue to update. Success for the challenge is not based on keeping these, I just wanted a place to remind me of some things I need to do sometime. Keystone Habit Development KH3 - No RR: RR stands for road rage. There are a number of things other drivers do that set me off and I want to control this as it is both dangerous and non-productive. The cue is obviously discourteous driving. The routine reminder will be a powerpoint on my passenger seat reminding me to engage the new routine. The routine will be a deep breathing exercise I utilized many years ago (10 deep breaths while repeating let it go) which I will implement whenever another driver annoys me. The reward will be safer driving on my part plus not getting into negative thought loops. Secondary Goals While I focus on only one large effort change at a time, I do have some very low effort goals as well for this challenge: KH1 - Daily Exercise: Continue to document daily exercise (low effort goal since I have been achieving this since Nov 17, 2016) KH2 – Continue concentration on No M (low effort since I’ve been doing this for one month) Diet - My current wt is 171-172 (it has fluctuated due to my recent cold) but my ideal wt is 165. No nighttime crap at least 2 times/wk. (low effort as I only have to succeed 2days/wk) Salads: In an effort to lose wt, consume 5 salads/wk. (low effort goal as I am already doing this) Inspiration: Read and post something inspiring 1 time/wk (low effort since I recently came across a lot of great articles by James Clear and post a fair amount of this anyway) Budget: Spend 1 min at least 5 days/wk updating my budget which documents expenses (low effort since I only have to spend 1min on it to succeed) VBA: Spend at least 5min 5days/wk learning Visual Basic with Applications (low effort since I only have to spend 5min on it each time and I have been doing this since start of Jan) Things To Do Work on career Update LinkedIn photo Get interview outfit picked out Write answers for targeted interview questions I know will be asked Get new picture taken for progress Start a credit card list - I've been signing up for a lot more credit cards lately just to take the introductory free money offers and I need to start tracking what cards I've taken, what I got, and when to cancel. Back up computer Make a system backup More later

Well, I'm up to 177lbs and the new year is closing in. I lost my job due to restructuring a couple months ago so I cancelled my gym membership. Now I've got to get a home workout up and running. I installed a pullup bar, bought a mat and some dumbells, and now need to get an indoor routine put together. Usually takes me about a month to get in the groove so this challenge will be about getting my routine put together. For those familiar w/ my battle log, I'm a big believer in using Duhiggs method of habit formation. My first KH is to exercise 7 days/wk. My workouts will consist of 4 routines choosing whichever one I feel like: 1) Indoor freebody and dumbell training. 2) Walking or "old man parkour" (basically fast walking on a trail with a few very short jobs and some crazy stuff like walking on logs, swinging around trees, etc thrown in) 3) Any sports 4) Placeholder (10 freebody squats. Only purpose is to keep my mind programmed to accept exercise as a daily part of life). Success will be judged on the following: 1) Work out every day using the above (no letter grades, failure means less than every day) 2) Have a basic routine developed. I will be logging my diet, but I'm not making it part of my challenge.

Ok. So after my few challenge break i'm ready to start hitting it again. My three goals are as follows: Drink More Water - i need to start drinking more and tracking my water consumption. I'd like to get back to 64oz per day avg. Primal Movement - I want to practive more of the primal movements www.uncagedman.com This i will do in two parts. Part 1 will be at least 5 minutes average(to be upped if 5 is to easy) of squat per day. Part 2 will be doing the primal movements at least 1 time per week. Move more - For this part of my challenge i will be working out in some fashion at least 2x per week. Biking to work ect will count for this. I've set up a spreadsheet to track everything. The spreadsheet can be found <HERE>.

The Intro Spiel It’s taken a lot of hard lessons to get to this point, and here I am, finally playing the long game. This is Phase One, the first of a three part plan to knuckle down and live as cheaply as possible in order to begin to build some savings back up. Phase One focuses primarily on adjusting to the harsh reality that is limited food, carefully rationed heat, and no spending beyond that which is strictly needed while at the same time keeping myself physically and mentally healthy. It is a tough trial built on a resounding success, the moment I left behind my former job, a low-paying affair with a toxic environment, and attained a new job, one with better pay, hours, and a far better environment. Though it’s difficult to let go of the numbers game I’ve been playing with lifting, it has to be done. Realistically, my diet cannot keep up with multiple lifting sessions per week alongside my more physically intensive work. But that’s ok, I’m not abandoning it entirely, and there are plenty of other things out there to keep me active and build strength. I’ll just have dig deep into my past to unearth the bodyweight skills I began learning when I identified as an Assassin and then run with them as a Ranger. The System I’ve jumped on the gamification bandwagon (and have been inspired by a few challenges I’ve seen recently) and as a result I’m trying a slightly different format that I’m hoping will be a little easier for me to adhere to. Instead of set goals, I have lists (I like lists). One list has items that are worth +1 Health, one list has items worth +2 Energy, and so on. My aim is to accumulate health and energy at least equal to that of the final boss. More is a bonus as it will carry over to my next challenge, and I can lose health and energy for any bad days I have. Plus, the more health I have, the higher chance I have of surviving the battle, and the more energy I have, the harder I can hit and wear down my opponent's health. There will also be handy little skill based health and energy bonuses (like special attacks) I can unlock if I meet the right criteria. Any co-op challenge tasks, PVPs, or other extras will all be given a health/energy value according to what the task in question is. It would seem like I’m suffering from rangerbrain this challenge... The Boss (Disclaimer: I am taking massive liberties with many things in order to fit my purposes for this fairly loose theme) (Yes, that is a picture of Hades from the God of War games, but there are no images of a bad-ass version of Plutus, so I'm making do!) Plutus, known to some as the Ancient Greek god of wealth and others as the demon guardian of the fourth circle in Dante’s The Inferno, is the first boss. Not much is known about him, some myths depict him as an old, lame man, and others as an innocent baby bearing the cornucopia. What is certain is that he guards his wealth with lethal cunning and distributes it only where he sees it will cause havoc and cause him personal gain. He is often confused with Pluto, known as Hades, ruler of the Underworld, and nurtures this in order to further his sinister reputation. Whether it is true or entirely fabricated, we shall see... The Game Plan How exactly does one fight a god? By being both smart and careful. Plutus has thousands of years of experience under his belt, so I have to vary my training in an effort to be any match for what he may throw my way. +1 Energy Primal movement session 5 mins accumulated deadhang Any distance walked 10 accumulated minutes of deep squatting Additional foam rolling Skill work: pull/chin-up, pistol squat, push-up, handstand/wall plank +2 Energy Full length yoga session Mobility session Skill work: Floor touch, pendant pose, downward dog, toe touches (various), bridge +5 Energy NFA Workout Anything that uses energy will add those ever so critical points to the energy bar, ensuring I have plenty of power to kick Plutus in the teeth when the times comes. Anything worth one energy should ideally be done daily, and my unofficial aim is to create a proper morning routine using some of the movement skills I’ve got included there. Anything work two energy should, again, ideally, be done every second day, and the workouts between one and three times weekly. Health is a state of both mind and body, therefore I will have to strive to keep both in shape in order to stand any chance of surviving. +1 Health New recipe tried/created 30 minutes spent clearing/cleaning 10xp earned on Duolingo Blanket square knitted Carb substitution (eg eat sweet potato instead of rice or pasta) Unnecessary spending avoided (I will pick up a cheap food item that I don’t really need, then proceed to do laps around the shop while I figure out the best bargains for the things I do need. I only get the +1 Health if I have the willpower to put that extra stuff back where I found it) Per 1L of water (can be lightly diluted for juice) consumed +2 Health New herb/vegetable planted Wild food foraged Junk food substitution (eg fruit instead of chocolate) +5 Health Exceptional day (criteria to be specified incident to incident) Blanket complete (and if it stays so bitterly cold, I’ll add another health bonus. Blankets mean the heating gets turned on less!) Slightly different to energy, anything worth one health is likely to be a more frequent occurrence than anything worth two or five health. That doesn’t mean, however, I shouldn’t strive for an exceptional day every day. A full month of those would have me nicely set up to take on Plutus, not to mention it would make my bank account sigh in relief… The Closing Speech So there we have it, Phase One laid out and ready to go. Cost free exercise, cost effective living, and a slightly-less-costly plan for food. Payday happens on the 13th of the month, so I’ll be able to see if I’ve been going about things the right way or if I need to up my game and really scrap my nose against that grindstone. As far as passing or failing this challenge goes, well, that will all be decided during the boss fight. For now, all I can do is try.

"In an area this size....this many bad guys. I just don't like the idea of throwing you to the wolves." "Captain...we are the wolves." I bought The Division when it came out March 8th and have been hooked since day one! It's a really fun game despite some repetitiveness and I enjoy the challenge of the upper levels. I still daydream about playing it and getting some legendary SOCOM M1A marksman rifle one day... And, if you've been following me a while, you know this is my second run at a Division themed challenge. This time is going to be better because I'm involving YOU guys! On my last challenge thread, I asked everyone to "sign up" to participate in my challenge and here's how things are going to work: RULES OF THE CHALLENGE: Each day, I will be tasked to gain points throughout the day by performing my usual daily activities, but now, I’m keeping myself accountable for them all. Each activity or task will be worth 5 points with a potential of 75 points each day. The challenge will take place M-F where I have to accumulate at least 300 points by Friday evening. If I do not have a total of 300 total points then the fireteam for that week will help decide how I make up those missed points. This can basically be a little mini-challenge within the challenge. Or a PvP or something that can get me and my team the necessary points to take on that week's’ Boss/Rogue Agent. An example of this would be going for a 2 mile hike/walk/ruck in order to make up the lost points. Once 300 points is achieved, then I can write up the boss battle- I’m looking to have it posted by Sunday evening. Watch out though, throughout the week I may ask the team to participate with me on my own personal “team building” exercises. I will challenge my team to get in 5 total minutes spent in the squat or try hanging from a pull-up bar for more than :15 seconds. Little stuff like that to add towards points. Think bonus stuff but I need the fireteam in order to get those points. I know I said that you guys didn’t have to participate except create an Agent….yeah, well I lied. So, sue me ;). This is not mandatory, of course, but I’m going to encourage the team for that week to get involved and have some fun! THE PERFECT AGENT: Here is the cumulative list of “skills and abilities” My goal is to complete each of these daily. These will count towards my weekly point total and each goal is worth FIVE points. Clean eating-not paleo, but clean. Lots of veggies. Limit sweets to 2x a week. 100+ oz of water daily. No Soda’s Shoulder PT Conditioning-Gaelic practice, jump rope, sprints, speed drills, taking the stairs instead of elevator Cold showers-start with every other day-work up to daily. Rucking/Walking-shoot for 1 hour a day Squatting-aim for 30 min of accumulative squatting/ Move around and be active in my squat Urban Survival/Foraging study/mini-adventures Nail biting (you get 2 fuck ups a day-after that, third time's a charm and you get ZERO points) Reading/Listening/Writing Sleeping- minimum of 7 hours Hanging-aim for 5 min a day (accumulative) Crawling Meal Prep/bring lunch leftovers to save money Domestic Rangering CHALLENGE GOALS: Become the Perfect Agent- follow my daily routine as RX'd as possible. +3 WIS Start 21-day Cold Shower Routine-5 min cold shower each morning. +3 CON Continue aggressive shoulder rehab and strengthening-mobilze daily. +3 STR Learn to live Uncaged-find my wild-become primal in your daily movements and philosophies. +3 DEX Gather from the Land- learn the basics of foraging and find some stuff to eat (if possible). +3 CHA The story so far… Back when the First Wave of Division Agents and law enforcement were tasked in saving a pandemic ridden New York, the riots had just begun and the terror was spreading like wildfire. Agent Wild Wolf, an ex-Military marksman turned teacher and his task force of specialized agents were sent in with the rest of the First Wave to stop the outbreak and maintain government order. On a routine clean-up mission, Wild Wolf and his team were sent into the underbelly of New York, into the Subway stations to search for a man named Charles Bliss. Charles was responsible for the creation of the Last Man Battalion or LMB, a group of fascists elites bent on taking New York for themselves and establishing a new world order. It was up to Wild Wolf and his team of elite Division Agents to stop him… ...However, Wild Wolf was betrayed by his team. All four agents turned on their fireteam leader and friend and shot him in the back, leaving him to die down there. But, Agent Wild Wolf didn’t die. His strength and determination to live allowed him to hang on for almost a day before he was rescued. Now, as the Second Wave was preparing to be deployed, he was back to full health and sporting a new scar near his spine that had it been a fraction of a centimeter to the left..he would never be able to walk again. It now serves as a reminder of why he is still fighting. Wild Wolf was then tasked with his first assignment since the betrayal. He was to hunt down each one of his old teammates and stop them by any means necessary. They had not only betrayed Wild Wolf, but the Division itself, taking intel and knowledge that could be powerful in the wrong hands. They joined up with Charles Bliss and The Last Man Battalion. This is the story of Wild Wolf’s bloody revenge and how he achieved it. Along the way, his trust will be tested as he would lead 4 separate group of Second Wave Agents to battle his former squad of elites. Each group has their own unique strengths and Wild Wolf planned to exploit every ounce of it. Welcome to the fireteam, soldier… Wolf

Main Goals: Weight Loss, Increased Flexibility, Best. Ass. Ever. Challenge One (continued from previous) - Food Prep: I will make 3 Crock Pot meals and freeze into lunch portions at the beginning of the Month. I will prep fruit/veggies ahead of time to make packing a healthy lunch easier. Last Challenge I actually pre-prepped TOO MUCH food, and it was a scramble to eat things before they went bad. On the other hand, there was a lack of easy breakfast food. Breakfast options to be determined and prepped. Challenge Two - Muscle Building: Glutes and Pecs! Pecs, you say? Why does a busty gal like me need pecs? Well because they hold up boobs, duh! I will kick gravity's ass...Also, I'd like a nice round booty, so lots of squats in my future. Need to research more exercises that work pecs, and increase my push-ups. I used to be able to do 3 sets of 10 regular push-ups, now it's more like 1 set of 10 knee push-ups! Ugh. Hate lost progress! My Tues/Thurs workouts at the office gym will focus on these areas, plus my other usual stuff, plus I will do at least 10 squats and 5 push-ups per day at home on my non-gym days. So, good ol' T&A for this Challenge Challenge Three - Flexibility: Yoga! Swimming! Primal Movement! Been spending too much time in the gym and on the couch, and not enough time doing REAL things. I've built some muscle (I can feel it under the squish), but now I have decreased movement! Ooops! So more stretching, more twisty pretzel yoga poses, more hiking/climbing/crawling/walking, and more swimming. I went swimming yesterday and I've got nicely sore muscles all over. I love how you find muscles you forgot you had when you go swimming I will go hiking and/or swimming at least once a week. Personal Challenge: Get move involved in the NF Community by reciprocating all the support I've been getting. I'm going to try to follow the challenges of my regular followers more. I won't be able to jump right in and read EVERYTHING, because some people already have 3-4 pages!!!! (omg! TL;DR!!!), but I will keep up with the updates, if not the replies. Now that I'm done the super exciting can't-put-this-book-down series I've been reading for the last two months, I can return to the real world a bit more and actually interact with human beings again. I might even try to get a Vancouver Meetup going, though there's only been one successful one that I know of.

change everything you are & everything you were your number has been called /me pins *guest* badge to her shirt as she steps into the Assassin’s Den. YES! Welcome to the first challenge of my brand new themeset! (In a brand new guild, even?! WHOA NELLIE) Hi, I'm Shaarawy, a barbell loving uber-nerd journeying over from the Rangers because my goals have become much more... Assassin-ly. If you’ve followed any of my previous ventures you’ll notice I’m moving away from having a specific “thing†for each of my challenge themes - instead, each 6 weeks I’ll choose a song that’s not only near to my heart, but lyrically works for the spot I’m at in my fitness journey. I love music and weird random stuff, so this should be fun. (And I’ll have more freedom to not stick with super-specific gifs and imagery throughout 6 weeks... oh haayyylll yes.) (I promise there won’t be a ton of K-Pop.) (Heheheh....) This first song by Muse I’m using is pretty much hella perfect for me right now. It’s strong and empowering and all about change. Interesting yet positive change is happening everywhere in my life and I’m excited to start making some changes here by going back to the basics and focusing on my new loves of primal movement and mobility. I LOVE PRIMAL MOVEMENT. Like holy moly, I do! It’s about getting back to basics, being prepared for unpredictability, gaining bodily awareness, and utilizing your entire body to make yourself much more antifragile. I’m deeply interested in re-training my body how to move properly. Humans weren’t meant to sit for 8 hours a day or become “domesticated†with silly things like chairs, shoes, sidewalks. I want to break free of the things that are holding me back, and are weakening and working against my muscles. I want to become an undomesticated human - to be able to move freely and comfortably, to re-train my body how to sit and squat and stretch the *right* way, and start setting a great foundation for my other fitness endeavors. I don’t want to play by the rules where adults have to sit still all day (or for hours a day) and lose their playful nature - that’s not me. I want to roll in grass and scramble up rock faces and climb trees, not only that, but be comfortable doing it, AND INJURY FREE. Yass. Injuries SUUUCK. Jonathan Mead’s blog Uncaged Human [http://jonathanmead.com/blog] is a HUGE source of inspiration for me, and if you’ve been reading all of this with an eyebrow quirked (shaarawy you’re a weird bird, you might be thinking) take a look at his stuff for a little more clarity or just to further an interest. It’s all super practical and genuine. His classes at Camp NerdFitness really hit me like a brick to the face and made me go, YES, I WANT THIS! I’m also pairing this with a lot of Kate Galliett’s teachings - she is a mobility fitness coach that really opened my eyes to how HELLA IMMOBILE I am, and I’m so ready to utilize her strengthening drills to not only make me a more mobile person overall, but to re-teach my muscles how to perform and do away with all of the little niggling aches and pains in my body, WHILE continuing to work hard and lift weights. (And lift weights BETTER, because I’ll be optimizing my body and muscles for strength and efficiency!!!! I AM REALLY SILLY KINDS OF EXCITED ABOUT THIS. YES, NERDS.) So I’m starting small, with the basics. One small building block at a time as I continue my regular fitness regime outside of this challenge. (I lift 2-3 days weekly.) I’m working from the outside in, starting with the feet, hands, extremities, letting them become foundations to support all of my goals. “Big things come from small beginnings.†i. best, you’ve got to be the best (STA+3 DEX+1) The number one thing on my list is to work on my resting squat. (Alternatively called a “caveman squat†or “third world squatâ€.) It’s a natural human resting position but it’s something we just don’t do anymore now that we have things like... chairs, couches? (Aside, I LOVE my couch. Just sayin’.) The squat is a great mobility tool for SO many areas - feet, ankles, hips, balance, just to name a few. So, strengthening, mobility, and it’ll help my barbell squats? Yes, ok, excellent. I addended resting squats to one of my challenges a while ago, but I REALLY want to focus on it. I want to squat 30 minutes for 5 out of 7 days. Not 30 minutes at a time, I can break it up - 5 minutes in the morning while I’m waiting for my coffee, 10 minutes patting a cat (yay), etc. Add it up over the day. Right now I can hold the pose okay, with some struggle, so I really want to see what 6 weeks of persistence will do!!! A - Squat 30 minutes for 5 days. B - Squat 30 minutes for 4 days. C - Squat 30 minutes for <3 days. ii. you’ve got to change the world (STR+1 DEX+3) Ah, Ye Olde Extremities. I don’t think people think a lot about hand and foot strength much. I never really did. ESPECIALLY foot strength. Like, your feet are pretty important?? They only HOLD YOU UP and move you around, right? Why did you NEVER really think about foot strength and mobility before, Shaarawy?? I had a bit of a personal “a-ha†moment with this at Camp when I hiked to the waterfall alone one morning. I was gingerly navigating the stones in the pools, trying to get to a good location for photos, and was having a REALLY HARD TIME getting some stable footwork. So much of a hard time that I actually slipped and fell into the water up to my calf. Wow. I NEVER had trouble with this as a kid, navigating the forest and its intricacies. This was a big wake up call to me that I needed to work on my foot and ankle mobility. I’m pairing this one with grip strength Because Extremities, and as a lifter, I need to condition my hand muscles better so I’m not so weak with the grabbings. And, you know, holding things. (A big takeaway from one of Kate’s videos was that grip strength can affect everything all the way up to your shoulder mobility - WHOA - which you’ll see in juuuust a moment......) For foot exercises I will use the seven drills in the following video: http://fitforreallife.com/2015/09/how-to-take-care-of-foot-pain-and-improve-foot-function/ For grip exercises I’ll simply hang from my pull-up bar every time I walk under it. [insert starting time for how long i can hang here.] A - Hand and foot strengthening for 5 days. B - Hand and foot strengthening for 4 days. C - Hand and foot strengthening for <3 days. iii. and use this chance to be heard (DEX+3) Shoulder mobility. AUGH. My eyes really opened when I attended Kate’s shoulder mobility class at Camp and realized ... ... .......... WOW. Okay. I suck. I’m sorry, shoulders, I am a terrible human being who JUST DIDN’T KNOW ANY BETTER *sobs* I’m going to be utilizing the three mobility exercises from the following video: http://robbwolf.com/2015/10/12/three-solutions-to-aches-and-pains-that-you-might-not-have-tried-yet/ They are 1. the reverse shrug, 2. the row, and 3. shoulder rotation. I’ve got a pull up bar here at the house so NO EXCUSES THERE. Kate recommends 10 reps of each so my goal is to also do this 5 out of 7 days. A - Shoulder mobility drills for 5 days. B - Shoulder mobility drills for 4 days. C - Shoulder mobility drills for <3 days. iv. your time is now (WIS+2 CHA+2) Ooo, this is the big one. After a lot of soul-searching, I’ve decided to take the plunge into a career change that would give me remote flexibility. Sitting in an office all day is slowly killing me and I’m at the point where I’m ready to make a change for me, my future, and my happiness. Being able to work from anywhere would be the ultimate end-game for me, and allowing me flexibility with not only my location but my time? I need this, badly. I’m ready for more freedom and to break the chains of “9 to 5 lifeâ€. I want to do remote work as either a junior editor or a content creator. I love writing and I’ve contributed to multiple big sports blogs in the past with my content. People have told me multiple times they really like my work and that it’s unique and engaging, and that’s a big “!†for me right there. I have a great command of the English language. I have a 4 year Communications degree. I’m unique in that I can not only write, but I also own a DSLR and can photograph my own content. I have experience in digital design. Why am I not doing this?!... Oh, it’s scary. SIGH. Come on, kid. I’m in a lucky position right now in that I have a part-time job that seats me at a desk (and computer) 4 days out of the week. This is perfect for me because I can keep my current income while starting to build my self-portfolio on the side. There is legitimately ZERO RISK. None. Nada. Zilch. This quest is pass or fail ONLY - create a website that I can use as a portfolio of my writing skills for future employers, and post at least two articles to start. Photos optional but would be awesome depending on the content. I’m aiming to keep it “adventure travel†oriented - exploring local places and documenting my journeys. Let’s do this. A - Website created and designed, two articles posted. F - How badly do you want this?! Maaaaaan last challenge of this YEAR?!?!?!! HOLY CRAP. I AM READY, LET'S GOOOOO~!!!!! (also an accurate depiction of me in the paper plane flying competition at camp nerdfitness. <3)