2021 - Make a house a home

[Jarric]

 

Hi, I'm Jarric. Welcome to my 2021 road map. This is where I organise my goals for 2021, to give myself a bit of direction, and a guide for the year ahead. These aren't necessarily SMART goals, but they're something to think about and measure myself against each month. Ideally I'll look at this list each time I start a new 5 week challenge to guide my challenge goals, and reflect on my progress against these goals at the end of each challenge.

 

 

Part 1 - make a house a home
With a bit of luck and a not insignificant amount of paperwork, WW and I should be buying our first house in the next month or so. The place needs some work doing to it, which means I need money to do stuff, and that I have a great opportunity to become a bit more handy with things around the house. My Dad was a carpenter and is generally good at all things construction, so I'm hoping to learn some skills from him while he's still able to help me with things. The goals are:

• Step 1: buy a house. There's not a huge amount I can do to influence this, other than stay on top of the process, but if it doesn't happen none of the following will apply!
• Step 2: put money into the house. Some of that will be into things like repairing the walls, replacing doors, putting in fire alarms, and some of that will be overpaying the mortgage when I can. Ideally if I'm reviewing how I'm spending and budgeting money every challenge cycle I should stay on top of this.
• Step 3: learn how to do stuff. There will be things I can't/won't do (plumbing, gas, major electrical works, replacing the porch). But I want to do the stuff I can, up to and hopefully including fitting carpets, replacing doors and windows, painting, putting up shelves etc.
• Step 4: record things. I want to write out a history of the house with the things I know from legal documents, and with all the work I do, so that I can give the next owner substantially more information that I had going in. I also want to document the work I do so I can remember how to do it in the future.

 

 

Part 2 - bragging rights and party tricks

Last year my big fitness goals revolved around races. I actually managed some of them, but with races being cancelled left, right, and centre, I thought it would be better to focus on goals that I can achieve alone. With that in mind, I've come up with a list of things I want to have done by the end of the year, because they're things I think are cool and I want to do cool things like cool people do

• Run 1,202 miles in 2021 (because that's 2021 backwards). That's 100 miles per month, which is very doable as long as I prioritise running. I fell in love with running properly this year as a way to get out more, so that helps.
• Bar muscle ups for reps. I've had a couple of very ugly reps of kipping bar muscle ups, but I want to be able to do them properly without breaking my ribs!
• Handwalk 4ft. It's an arbitrary distance, but I can only manage a couple of 'paces' at the moment so it's something to aim for.
• 30 second handstand hold. Another arbitrary target. I can manage about 6 seconds at the moment, up to 10 on a really good day, so this will be a good stretch.
• Pistol and shrimp squats for reps. I can almost get a pistol squat, and can't get a shrimp squat at all, but they seem like really cool things to be able to do.
• Add one thing to this list and cross it off. I'm hoping as I get through this list I'll discover new things I want to try, so I want at least one thing I haven't thought of already.

 

 

Part 3 - create stuff

I like being creative - it's fun. And it's something I want to stick with, because I think it's good for me too. This includes:

• Improve my drawing. A bit of an amorphous goal, but looking at pictures from this year in a year's time I hope to see some good improvement.
• Keep my D&D campaign going, and keep it interesting for everyone. Even playing a published adventure path it's amazing how much latitude you have as a DM to add some creativity.
• Publish something on DMs Guild/Drive Thru RPG. I'm not talking like a full blown adventure path/campaign setting here, but I'd like to get a little one-shot or some homebrew stuff up. It's fun, and it gives me something to aim for.

 

 

I might come back and edit this between now and Monday, when I'll start my first challenge of 2021.

[deftona]

I love all of this! 

 

On 12/31/2020 at 3:33 PM, Jarric said:

Step 4: record things. I want to write out a history of the house with the things I know from legal documents, and with all the work I do, so that I can give the next owner substantially more information that I had going in. I also want to document the work I do so I can remember how to do it in the future.

 

Just after we completed on our house, we wrote to the solicitor requesting all the documents from the house sale, and we were just expecting the contract, declarations of what was included etc etc but actually we got sent a huge envelope containing the whole history of the house including deeds from when the land was bequeathed to the son of the man who owned the big house that is still standing next door 120 years ago, along with the deed documenting every single transfer of the house and birth and death certificates of many of the owners as the house stayed in the same family for almost a century. It let us look up the family who owned it and we found the grave of the dude who originally bequeathed the land in the local cemetery. So I recommend asking your solicitor for all the bits, I don't know if it's usual to have all this stuff come with the sale of the house but you might as well check! 

[Jarric]

11 hours ago, deftona said:

I love all of this! 

 

 

Just after we completed on our house, we wrote to the solicitor requesting all the documents from the house sale, and we were just expecting the contract, declarations of what was included etc etc but actually we got sent a huge envelope containing the whole history of the house including deeds from when the land was bequeathed to the son of the man who owned the big house that is still standing next door 120 years ago, along with the deed documenting every single transfer of the house and birth and death certificates of many of the owners as the house stayed in the same family for almost a century. It let us look up the family who owned it and we found the grave of the dude who originally bequeathed the land in the local cemetery. So I recommend asking your solicitor for all the bits, I don't know if it's usual to have all this stuff come with the sale of the house but you might as well check! 

 

Wow, that's amazing, I'll definitely ask for what I can get. Having worked in conveyancing I think you were lucky to get that much, but still that's a really cool collection of things.

 

The documents we've had so far include reference to the original sale of the land in 1873, which declared that each house should be sold for no less than £100, and a hugely complicated conveyance in the 1950s which spends more time referencing the marital history of the executor of the estate selling the house than the house itself. It's interesting stuff.

[Mr_Willes]

Curious person is gonna be curious to see how you are going on with this!

 

You got this, let's see some smashed goals!

[Jarric]

On 1/7/2021 at 11:58 AM, Mr_Willes said:

Curious person is gonna be curious to see how you are going on with this!

 

You got this, let's see some smashed goals!

 

Thanks man! Now I'll just have to remember to keep it updated

[Jarric]

January Challenge Wrap Up

 

Run 116 miles - 10XP

Goal: "Simple one, run 116 miles this challenge. My goal for the year is 1,202 miles (2021 backwards), so 116 miles in this 5 week challenge is on track for that. Will be simple if I don't miss any runs."

 

Result: 116.94/116 - 10XP earned

 

Well I did miss a long run, but thankfully I had just enough mileage on the rest of my runs to make it work.

 

Foam rolling - 10XP

Goal: Do some foam rolling at least 3 times per week. I am in considerably less pain when I do this regularly, and I like not being in pain, so I need to knuckle down and do it.

 

Result: 10/15 sessions - 6XP earned

 

I need to stick with this one and do better. Between a couple of sessions at the start of week 4 and one session on Sunday of week 5 I was really feeling what happens after a week and a half of not doing this - my legs really hurt! So I know I need to do it, just still trying to work on that routine.

 

Protein - 10XP

Goal: Drink my protein shakes every day. I've yet to find a way to get sufficient protein without them (and without eating a million calories), so these need to be had.

 

Result: 34/35 days - 9XP earned

 

Had one day where I left this too late and then didn't feel like it, but only one mark off a perfect score isn't bad at all! The habit is very much in place, just need to stick with it now.

 

Teeth - 5XP

Goal: Brush my teeth twice daily, and clean in between them in the evenings. Because apparently I'm a trash person and can't get to grips with this. Because I have a real mental block about this. I don't know where it comes from, or why, but when I get stressed or depressed I fall out of the habit very quickly.

 

Result: 26.5/35 days - 3XP earned

 

This is still a bit of a mental battle. Interestingly this was a perfect score Monday-Wednesday every week, and other than week 4 I was on perfect scores Monday-Friday. Which certainly means I'm having more of a problem at the weekend, but I'm not sure why. I have a couple of theories, but definitely something to examine when this goal comes back for next challenge.

 

Create - 5XP

Goal: Draw something, or do something else creative, at least 3 times each week. I think this is good for me mentally, and I enjoy it, and I want to get better at drawing because I enjoy it more when I'm improving.

 

Result: 8/15 - 2XP earned

 

Not good to be honest, but this just didn't feel that important when I was dealing with house purchase stuff. I'll probably let this go for next challenge and make it a priority again at a later date. I was only saved on this because I've agreed to record some music for someone and I need to learn it, and I counted that bass practice for this goal. 

 

 

2021 Goal Update

 

Part 1 - Make a House a Home

Well, right at the end of this challenge I managed to buy a house! This will be a big focus of next challenge as I organise, paint, decorate, and start saving money.

 

Part 2 - bragging rights and party tricks

I hit 109.39/100 miles in January, and 116.94/116 for this 5 week challenge, so I'm bang on track for my mileage goal. No specific progress with the other things I want to do, primarily because I jumped into a Darebee programme halfway through this challenge. With that said, I've been really consistent with workouts, so that should help.

 

Part 3 - create stuff

This fell by the wayside this challenge, and honestly I'm not going to put too much focus into it until I've fully moved house. So next challenge don't expect much change, and then I'll get on this in earnest afterwards.

[Jarric]

Massive post, because I didn't post my March challenge wrap-up until after the April challenge...

 

Challenge Wrap-Up

 

Lets start with the goals, and then I'll talk about what actually happened at the end.

 

Run 116 miles - 10XP

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I hit 61.07/116 miles, so 52.6% of my mileage. That 5XP earned, £26.32 into my new computer fund, and £23.68 into overpaying my mortgage.

 

I didn't really factor in here that I would spend my weekends working on my new house rather than running. I don't regret that choice, the house needs doing, but I wonder if I could have planned around it better. Then again I also got ill (more on that to follow), which is responsible for some of the missed miles.

 

Foam rolling - 10XP (+5XP bonus)

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Lol no. 3/15 sessions done for the challenge, so 2XP earned, £10 to my new computer fund, and £40 overpayment on my mortgage. More on this to follow.

 

Teeth - 10XP

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Another lol no. 5/35 days fully done, so only 1XP earned, £7.14 to my new computer fund, and £42.86 overpayment on my mortgage. More on this to follow too.

 

Protein - 5XP

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Hey, this one went ok! 31/35 days completed, with only a couple where I forgot. That nets me 4XP and £44.29 into my new computer fund, with £5.71 going into mortgage overpayment.

 

Todo List - 10XP

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• Replace locks front and back
• Fit cat flap
• Get wall ties checked - agreed quote, booked for June
• Get roof leak fixed - got a price, booking in for when the weather gets warmer
• Contact damp proofing people the see if any guarantees in place - e-mailed, apparently they didn't do the work?
• Contact structural engineer to see if structural works were done - e-mailed, got what little information they had
• Paint living room - walls done, woodwork in progress
• Paint bedroom - walls done, woodwork in progress
• Paint hall and stairs - pushing back until after we move in
• Paint kitchen - pushing back until after we move in
• Carpet bedroom - all booked in for 31st March
• Clean remaining carpets
• Sort wardrobes (doors and floor storage)
• Deep clean kitchen - made a start
• Get gas safety checked
• Get electrics safety checked - Remedial work also done
• Fit new lights in living room
• Replace lightbulbs throughout - bulbs done, want to replace fittings in top room
• Get internet installed - Booked, happens when we move in
• Run ethernet cable to top room - parts ordered, doing at the weekend
• Fit shelves in living room - done, just need to put them back up when painted
• Sort workout gear storage
• Buy downstairs sofa
• Buy upstairs sofa bed - bought it, just got to work out how to get the damn thing up the stairs!
• Put balustrade in top room
• Gut outhouse and decide on re-fit plan - some bits ripped out; this will take a while!
• Fit fire alarms - alarms in house, will fit as ceilings are painted (living room and both bedrooms done)
• Get woodworm looked at
• Fix bathroom window - replaced hinges, but they don't fit well; trying to work out solution
• Install new pullup bar
• Install curtain rails
• Install blind in top room

So I started with 25 things on this list, and ended up with 32! I have at least done 11.5 of them, so progress is being made. This was a bit less of a SMART goal, but I'll give myself 5XP here.

 

It's been a weird few weeks. Week 3 I was off work to sort the house out, and we spent a solid few days really getting stuff done, which was good. With the sheer amount of work and just general tiredness I didn't really stick with my goals that I had time for, and I really didn't have a great deal of time for my running goal.

 

At the end of week 3/beginning of week 4 I got ill, both physically and mentally. I can't fully define how much of this was me feeling really anxious and awful because I was ill, and how much was me being so anxious that I was making myself physically sick. I do know that after a week of feeling truly awful I realised that the tightness in my chest felt a bit like an allergic reaction, and that it seems to have got a lot better since I started taking hayfever medication. I also know that I'm under a lot of pressure at work as we near the end of the financial year, and I'm really stressed about moving house, and so I feel like stress is a pretty natural reaction to that. I ended up feeling much worse than any natural reaction though, it was cripplingly bad and it's taken me a couple of weeks to feel like I'm coming out the other side.

 

Overall then, this has been a tough challenge, but I'm very happy to say it's one I've got through. I've spent a lot of time in my own head, but I feel like I've grown a little from that, and despite the massive todo list I have achieved quite a lot with the new house.

 

Next challenge I'll be doing only the most basic goals (probably protein and teeth brushing), focussing very much on my house move, and accepting that some parts of my life need to be on hold for just a couple more weeks.

 

Total score:

Success - money into computer fund: £87.75

Failures - money into mortgage overpayment: £112.25

 

As luck would have it I'm getting a £450 bonus from work, so my new computer fund will actually sit at £537.75 despite this not being the best challenge. I'll deal with buying some new stuff when I've got over moving house!

 

The XP from this challenge is also enough for me to level up. I'm not sure if that feels very fitting or very ironic - lets say fitting.

 

 

 

 

 

April challenge wrap up

 

Well this one was a difficult one, but that's no surprise with the house move, the end of the financial year, and just the general stress of current life. Let's start with goals

 

1 - Move daily - 15XP

This could be a workout, it could be packing and moving boxes of stuff, it could be hanging curtain rails or painting ceilings. Everything counts, but this is important because if I move more I feel better. I'd like as to run as much as possible as part of this, as I'm low on mileage for the year so far.

 

I feel like this went pretty well overall. I lost a couple of days around moving house, a couple of days when I went on a one night holiday with some mates, and the last couple of days of the challenge focusing on upgrading/fixing my computer. Otherwise a pretty good run. I've also signed up for some events now, so next challenge will be more intense on the fitness and focussed on getting match fit for those.

 

Score: 29/35 days, 12XP earned, £41.43 to my treats fund and £8.57 to my mortgage account.

 

2 - Protein shake daily - 10XP

This is just one of these easy habits which lead to me largely taking care of my nutrition.

 

Another goal that went pretty well. The days I missed were weekend days in weeks 4 and 5, and that really goes to show that my interest in the challenge was waning a bit. I'm in a routine where it's hard to miss weekdays, but it takes a little conscious thought to remember this on weekends. Next challenge I'll be dialling in my nutrition more, and looking to lose a bit of weight so I have less to carry round on course.

 

Score: 30/35 days, 8XP earned, £42.86 to my treats fund and £7.14 to my mortgage account.

 

3 - Brush teeth daily - 10XP

This is something I'm bad at, and much worse when I'm tired or stressed. Having it as a goal and keeping myself accountable may help.

 

SO this worked until it didn't. Weeks 1 and 2 were great and then I just dropped off with it, through lack of enthusiasm and no small amount of stress. This goal stays until I can consistently get it right. I also need to book a dentist appointment; that should spur me on a bit!

 

Score: 13.5/35, 3XP earned, £19.29 to my treats fund and £30.71 to my mortgage account.

 

4 - One word daily - 10XP

This place is good for me, so I intend to post here every day. I acknowledge that I'll have very little time or energy to do so, so all I need to hit this goal is to post one word on this thread.

 

This was a good idea for a goal. Some days I hit it and some days I didn't, but in general it kept me accountable, and on the days I did come here I thought about my other goals more. The only trouble was that without interacting with others' threads as much as I liked, there wasn't a lot of activity on my own thread, and as a result I was less mindful of engaging with it. I think that's a symptom of the new forum layout too, as it's much easier for a thread to get lost in amongst all of the others.

 

Score: 21/35, 6XP earned, £30 to my treats fund and £20 to my mortgage account.

 

Final thoughts

Overall I think I did pretty well this month, given a lot of stressful things going on. Now that I've got a race booked in I'm hoping it will light a fire under my arse for the next challenge, and I can focus on gaining again instead of maintaining.

 

I wagered £200 on my goals this challenge, and I walk away with £133.58. The remaining £66.42 will be paid as an overpayment on my mortgage.

 

I'll also be awarding myself 100XP for fully moving in to my new house, because buying my first place fully deserves a level up. That puts me up to level 15 at the end of this challenge.

 

 

 

2021 Goal Update

 

Part 1 - Make a House a Home

Well I own a house now, and it's half decorated and half unboxed. I need to keep this a focus as now I've done the emergency stuff it'll become easier to let everything else slip, so I need to be mindful of planning my goals around home improvement.

 

Part 2 - bragging rights and party tricks

My mileage for the year so far:

January: 109.39

February: 83.37

March: 42.46

April: 57.56

 

I need to be averaging 100 miles per month, so you can see I'm way behind here. I didn't account for the impact moving house would have on my weekends, which is when a lot of my mileage happens. I'm less than a quarter of a way to my goal of 1,202 miles after a third of the year. Or, to put it another way, I now need to average 114 miles per month to get there. So much more consistency needed, and I probably need to think about increasing my mileage a little too.

 

On my other goals, I'm back at Crossfit which should help my muscle ups and handwalking. I'm going to keep practising handstand holds at home. Not sure what the plan should be for single leg squats right now, or what I want to add to the list.

 

Part 3 - create stuff

I've not been doing any of this thanks to the move and being really busy. Now is the time to get back on it I think, so I need an appropriate goal next challenge.

[Jarric]

August challenge wrap-up, such as it is!

 

It's actually been a good couple of weeks, so here's some stuff that happened (which I may or may not have mentioned already):

• New Deadlift 5RM at 140kg (308#) - which pleasingly is 3 big plates on each side
• New Squat 3RM at 107.5kg (237#), and 5RM at 97.5kg (215#) (and probably a new 7RM at 87.5kg (193#))
• Yesterday I ran Nuts Challenge! We took it pretty slow, as I was running with a work colleague and he wasn't quite as quick as me over the distance. Still, I had fun for 14km (8.7 miles) and for 3 hours and 25 minutes. I may do a fuller report in my next challenge.
• I had a week off work, and used it to paint the bathroom, do a bit of DIY, and spend quite a lot of time relaxing.
• I finished the D&D mini-campaign I've been running online today, and had a lot of fun with that
• We have some new people who've started at work, and though it's going to take me a lot of time to train up the guy I'm mentoring, I'm optimistic that there's light at the end of the tunnel from a workload point of view

Goals-wise I haven't been doing great, other than exercise which is always a pretty easy win. Still, whilst I haven't been hitting my goals, I don't feel like food and drink have been too disastrous. Overall, I'm ready to move on to the next challenge, which I'm going to really strip back and just make about being present here.

[Mr_Willes]

Dude 5x 140 KG that's quite the increase over last time! (which was 3x120 or something...)

 

Nice going. I've got a challenge going where i feel very invested in, so let's join up and let us kick some ass!

[Jarric]

22 hours ago, Mr_Willes said:

Dude 5x 140 KG that's quite the increase over last time! (which was 3x120 or something...)

 

Nice going. I've got a challenge going where i feel very invested in, so let's join up and let us kick some ass!

 

Thanks man! I made it 142.5kg yesterday as well. I'll be looking up your new challenge now.