JediNickD Level 15: "You can't win, Darth."

[JediNickD]

In A New Hope, Obi-wan Kenobi encounters and battles Darth Vader in lightsaber combat.  Amid the battle, they trade some banter, the most important being the line from Obi-wan:
 
"You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
 
Of course, if you have seen the movies you know what Obi-wan is refering to.  Obi-wan becomes a Force-ghost to help and train Luke Skywalker in ways he could not in his physical form.  Darth Vader has no idea how influential a dead Jedi Master could be, so he strikes Obi-wan down, which happens to be the begining of the end for Darth Vader and his master, the Emperor. 
 
Turning the focus away from the fictional world to see how this statement could apply to real life, I could think of one area in particular that it relates to: learning through failure and defeat.  In victory, you may feel successful and accomplish the extrordinary, but you will learn very little from success.  There is much to learn from defeat.  In failure, you must find the strength and courage to get back up and do it again. 

My main quest with attribute points is below:

• FITNESS: Build STA +2 and DEX +1 by Running, Hiking, Biking, Rowing, or Training (HIIT) for 20 minutes or more, three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).  For side quests, I increased my Running miles to 25 to train for a 5k on May 24th and increased my biking goal to 12 miles.
• FITNESS: Build STR +1 and DEX +1 by completing 400 minutes of Sports Training* in 10 sessions and meeting at least 90 % of my fitness side quest goals.  Fitness side quests are geared more towards body weight and cardio.
• DIET: Build CON +2 by eating "Healthy Meals"** 20 times or more, eating Snack Food 12 times or less, drinking 300 fl oz of Dr Pepper or less, taking care of my skin and lips by applying moisturizer 80 times or more (twice daily), brushing (twice daily) and flossing (once daily) 120 times or more.
• LIFE: Build WIS +4 and CHA +4 by completing six Toastmaster Speeches from the Competent Communicator manual (2nd run), participating in Table Topics twice and Meeting Roles twice, and completing six lessons from the IJRS Personal 101 and Spirituality 101 Manuals in Jedi Training.

* - Training or playing Basketball, Soccer, Rugby, Football, Hockey, Swimming, or Racquet Ball

** - "Healthy Meals" means no grease, minimal fat and calories, mostly veggies, meat, and fruit, while avoiding starches. Breakfast is not included in count.

 

 

SIDE QUEST CHALLENGE GOALS

• FITNESS
  • Barbells
    • Deadlift = 195 lbs, 60 reps
    • Back Squat = 215 lbs, 60 reps
    • Bench Press = 200 lbs, 60 reps
    • Standing Curl = 75 lbs, 60 reps
  • Dumbells
    • Goblet Squat = 90 lbs, 60 reps
  • Bodyweight Exercises
    • Leg Press = 1200 lbs, 60 reps
    • Burpee = lbs, 120 reps
    • Mount Climbers = lbs, 300 reps
    • Pull Up = lbs, 60 reps
    • Chin Up = lbs, 60 reps
    • Hammer Pull Up = lbs, 60 reps
    • Dip = lbs, 120 reps
    • Dive Bomber = 0 lbs, 100 reps
    • Push Up = 0 lbs, 400 reps
  • Abdominal Exercises
    • Crunch = 0 lbs, 800 reps
    • Bicycle Crunch = 0 lbs, 800 reps
    • Rollout Wheel = 0 lbs, 300 reps
  • Cardio
    • Sports Training = 400 min, 10
• DIET
  • Diet
    • Skin and Lip Care = 40 qty
    • Dr Pepper = 300 fl oz
    • Healthy Meals = 20 qty
    • Snack Food = 12 qty
    • Brush & Floss = 120 qty
• LIFE
  • Family
  • NF Community
    • Challenge Thread = 6 qty
    • Battle Log = 40 qty
    • Epic Quest = 6 qty
  • Toastmasters
    • Manual Lessons = 6 qty
    • Officer Duties = 600 min
    • Mentoring / Coach = 300 min
    • Meeting Roles = 2 qty
    • Table Topics = 2 qty
  • Jedi
    • IJRS Spirituality 101 = 6 qty
    • Jedi Reading = 500 min
  • Geocaching

[Mangostrike]

 

"You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

 

 

I just added this quote to my signature this morning. Something's in the air!

 

Good luck with this challenge.

[JediNickD]

Awesome!  I hope it was for the same reason, too! 

[JediNickD]

Friday was the Toastmasters Division contest.  I competed in the International Speech Contest with my "Do Stuff That Scares You" speech.  It generated the laughs I wanted and I only stumbled a couple times with the speech, but my body language was not polished enough.  It was my first time on an actual stage conducting a speech.  I had worked out my body movement in advance, but I wasn't sure if it was effective or distracting.  I needed to focus more on my facial expressions and gestures as I'm sure some were distracting or just out of sync with the speech. 

 

I didn't place, but I had a lot of fun.  All my friends thought it was my best performance or at least second to my performance at the Area contest.  Some even thought I did well enough for second place.  I thought at best I could do third. 

 

Anyway, I have two speeches tomorrow to prepare for.  I may make one my contest speech if I am not fully prepped for the second one. 

[JediNickD]

With 1 week to go, I've nailed most my goals.  I just have some running (5k on Sunday!) and body weight exercises.  I've kept my weight in check at 166 lbs for most the challenge too.  I would like to get back down to 155 before July.  Something for next challenge!

[JediNickD]

END OF CHALLENGE PROGRESS

• FITNESS (29 of 29 COMPLETE 100 %)
  • Barbells
    • Deadlift = 200 lbs, 60 reps
    • Back Squat = 220 lbs, 60 reps
    • Bench Press = 215 lbs, 96 reps
    • Standing Curl = 75 lbs, 75 reps
  • Dumbells
    • Goblet Squat = 90 lbs, 80 reps
    • Lateral Squat = 0 lbs, 120 reps
  • Bodyweight Exercises
    • Leg Press = 1200 lbs, 90 reps
    • Burpee = 0 lbs, 130 reps
    • Mount Climbers = 0 lbs, 300 reps
    • Pull Up = 0 lbs, 67 reps
    • Chin Up = 0 lbs, 65 reps
    • Hammer Pull Up = 0 lbs, 65 reps
    • Dip = 0 lbs, 130 reps
    • Dive Bomber = 0 lbs, 100 reps
    • Push Up = 0 lbs, 440 reps
  • Abdominal Exercises
    • Crunch = 0 lbs, 800 reps
    • Bicycle Crunch = 0 lbs, 800 reps
    • Rollout Wheel = 0 lbs, 310 reps
  • Cardio
    • Jogging Distance = 25.22 miles, 11 reps
    • 2 mile Jog = 33.46 min, 2 reps
    • Sports Training = 520 min, 22
    • Hike = 7.5 miles, 4 reps
    • Bike = 12.38 miles, 4 reps
    • Rowing = 10176 meters, 7 reps
• DIET (5 of 5 COMPLETE 100 %)
  • Diet
    • Skin and Lip Care = 43 qty
    • Dr Pepper = 296 fl oz
    • Healthy Meals = 22 qty
    • Snack Food = 12 qty
    • Brush & Floss = 123 qty
• LIFE (8 of 10 COMPLETE 80 %)
  • Family
  • NF Community
    • Challenge Thread = 4 qty
    • Battle Log = 43 qty
    • Epic Quest = 4 qty
  • Toastmasters
    • Manual Lessons = 6 qty
    • Officer Duties = 840 min
    • Mentoring / Coach = 555 min
    • Meeting Roles = 6 qty
    • Table Topics = 4 qty
  • Jedi
    • IJRS Spirituality 101 = 6 qty
    • Jedi Reading = 740 min
  • Geocaching
    • Caching = 1 qty

[JediNickD]

Time for some grades!  Not much failure here, unless you count my procrastinating on some of these tasks, then working really hard the last few weeks to catch up.

My main quest with attribute points and grades are below:

• FITNESS: Build STA +2 and DEX +1 by Running, Hiking, Biking, Rowing, or Training (HIIT) for 20 minutes or more, three times a week.  A

With most my concentration on running and rowing, I knocked this one out.  Next challenge, I'm increasing the quantities on the side quests while trading some running for sprinting.

• FITNESS: Build STR +1 and DEX +1 by completing 400 minutes of Sports Training* in 10 sessions and meeting at least 90 % of my fitness side quest goals.  Fitness side quests are geared more towards body weight and cardio.  A

I made 100 % on my fitness side quests hitting some new PRs!

• DIET: Build CON +2 by eating "Healthy Meals"** 20 times or more, eating Snack Food 12 times or less, drinking 300 fl oz of Dr Pepper or less, taking care of my skin and lips by applying moisturizer 80 times or more (twice daily), brushing (twice daily) and flossing (once daily) 120 times or more. A

I can do better with the Dr Pepper and Snacking, especially with my snacking quantity.  I need a better way to quantify it besides serving size.  Maybe calories.

• LIFE: Build WIS +4 and CHA +4 by completing six Toastmaster Speeches from the Competent Communicator manual (2nd run), participating in Table Topics twice and Meeting Roles twice, and completing six lessons from the IJRS Personal 101 and Spirituality 101 Manuals in Jedi Training.  A

I completed six speeches and six Jedi lessons in 5 weeks!  AND I ROCKED THEM ALL!  That was some awesome time management!

 

* - Training or playing Basketball, Soccer, Rugby, Football, Hockey, Swimming, or Racquet Ball
** - "Healthy Meals" means no grease, minimal fat and calories, mostly veggies, meat, and fruit, while avoiding starches. Breakfast is not included in count.
 

 

Next challenge can't come soon enough!