Twilson's New Year's Resolutions

[twilson.spqr]

Happy New Year everyone!

 

I’m pretty sure there are a ton of other posts like this either coming or already occupying the forums.  Here’s mine.

 

I’m making a six-fold resolution.  A resolution sextet if you would.  Keeping with the Geeky Caveman theme of my life, I’m making one resolution for each of the core stats in D&D.  Everyone is more than welcome to comment or critique.  That is the reason we post things in a forum instead of just an email to ourselves, neh?

 

Strength:  I will complete a set of 10 One-Armed pushups by the end of the year.  In the mean time, I will continue my circuits and progress towards finishing that goal.  This includes planks to improve my core strength and pushups, pull-ups and chin-ups for upper body strength.

 

Dexterity: I will complete a 60 second handstand by the end of the year.  I will follow instruction from various guides on the internet and advice found here on Nerd Fitness to complete this goal.

 

Constitution: I will backpack no less than 36 miles in the last year.  Over the years the amount of backpacking I’ve done has dwindled to just a few miles.  I really want to solve that.  Several long excursions will be planned through the course of the year and I may wind up backpacking in Valley Forge park a few times this year, just to get some more exercise in.

 

Intelligence: I will complete no less than 36 sizable books this year.  I will not fluff these numbers with children’s books, though I won’t mind reading those.  These will be books of substance in both length and depth.

 

Wisdom: I will take steps to begin getting back in school.  I have trouble quantifying this as I have with my other goals. I will take steps towards applying to schools in the area and researching how each school might impact my life.  I will consider the pros and cons of quitting my job and taking up a security job with a local college in order to attend at a lower or non-existent cost.

 

Charisma: I will write one letter a week.  For as long as I am dating the current apple of my eye, they will be love letters telling her how much she means to me.  Should one of us decide to end the relationship, I will continue writing letters, but I will address them to friends and family, thanking them for being in my life and explaining just how much they mean to me.  52 letters in 52 weeks.

 

I will update this thread at least once a month, letting you all know how I’m doing in this endeavour and keeping myself honest.

 

I wish everyone out there the best of luck in all of their goals, be they yearly or the next challenge.

 

Thanks for reading,

twilson

[Thilde]

TWILSON'S BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!    My New Year has been made already.

 

Your 2013 goals are epic....I have been compiling a similar list (Word doc, ftw!) and I will post it up with my next 6wk challenge goals tonight.  My Accountabilibuddies group (led by our beloved WesB) is still going to be happening this challenge, and we want you among us!  

 

Looking forward to an epic 2013.  Good luck on your endeavors!  Can't wait to see you rock them all.  

[twilson.spqr]

It's good to be back, Sambie.  And this time it really feels like I'm back.

 

How's the world treating you, the hubby, and the pup these days?

[Kangai]

This is inspirational Twilson!

 

Bring it on!

[twilson.spqr]

You've got it.  Consider it broughtenated.

 

Strength: I'm doing circuits every other night.  Included with everything else is 60 uneven pushups.

Constitution: I've got nothing yet, other than people that want to hike with me.  This is probably going to be boring until it's warm enough to go outside.  I'll likely start walking on off-circuit days again in the late winter.

Dexterity: I'm doing Frog Stands, or at least trying to, and exercising my wrists in a bucket of rice.

Intelligence (1/36): I just finished Old Man's War Last night.  I bought a half dozen other books immediately afterwards.

Wisdom: I'm looking, at the moment, at schools in the area that have halfway decent History or Secondary Ed. degrees.

Charisma (1/52): the first letter was delivered on New Years day, just after midnight. It was well received.

 

Kangai, your goals for the year (or at least, the first half of it) look amazing.  Best of luck with them.  I'm going to pop over to your challenge thread and say Hi there too.

[twilson.spqr]

I feel the need to respond to Steve's article on resolutions to the New Year.  In the very least, it came out just after I took on my biggest load in a long while. 

 

Generally, I make a resolution and stick by it.  I've been good at resolutions for as long as I can remember.  When I was 12 I drank way too much soda.  If I didn't swim every day I probably would have had a belt longer than I was tall.  I drank upwards of 10 Pepsis a day.  After hearing about diabetes (which runs in both sides of my family) I resolved to cut back on soda.  About a week later, when the New Year actually hit, I dropped soda like the bad habit it was.  There were still a couple of cubes of Pepsi sitting in the basement that Mom handed out to visitors for the next few months.  I didn’t have another soda for about 8 years.

 

That’s the most extreme example I can think of, but I’ve never not stuck to my resolutions.

 

Steve tells us, in the most recent article, “don’t do it, be it.† Here’s my response, “I am a man whose resolve is envious when it comes to the changing of the calendar.† I will accomplish my resolutions this year and I’ll comment on that article in 2014 about my pushups and handstands.

 

That said, I do feel I need a more measurable goal for my Wisdom resolution.  The idea of the goal will remain the same, but I think I’ll take a more financial angle on it.  I’ll certainly still work on school stuff, but with something as undefined as “take steps to begin getting back in schoolâ€â€¦ well, I’ve done that already just by emailing schools.  I think I’ll aim for a certain amount in my savings and a detailed budget.

 

My resolution last year (the all too often heard “get in better shapeâ€) is what got me here in the first place.  It’s how I found Sambie and Wes and Nuala and EmCee and Kibcy and CD (miss you buddy) and all the others on here that lend me support.  Were it not for that resolution, I wouldn’t be here.  The point is that, regardless of what spurs you to do it, when you resolve to do a thing, stick by it. 

 

Edited to add: In pursuing my resolution last year I lost almost 40 lbs.  I've lost 6" off my waistline.  I've gone from struggling through 10 pushups to doing hundreds of decline pushups in a day or 60 unevens as part of my circuits.  I went from being unable to do a pullup to doing sets of 12 regularly.