Jaex's Quest

[jaex]

About me:

 

I am a 27 year old male living in the South.  Roughly 20 days ago things were great.  At that point I had been employed at a small law firm for several months.  While it wasn't my ideal position (too much desk-duty), it was in my chosen field, I was learning lots, and finally collecting a paycheck.  With some cash now in the piggy-bank, my girlfriend and I went ring shopping.  We didn't purchase anything but I got a feel for her likes and her finger-size.  I was also several months into taking Kung Fu classes (Northern Shaolin style) which I thoroughly enjoying.

 

Then I was fired.  

 

Partly I was to blame.  There were things I could have done differently.  I need to work on my communication skills and keeping my boss appraised to what I am doing.  Partly is was circumstances beyond my control.  Boss and I were not as good of a personality fit as we initially thought.  I also knew going into it that my boss had alternated between working alone and with others, and was quickish to let someone go. 

 

Regardless of the reasons, I was blindsided.  It was a blow to my ego.  It pained me.  I had just spent almost a year being a volunteer attorney collecting a small stipend while looking full-time employment and I had no desire to go through the stress of a job hunt.  Early on any attempt to do a job hunt ended with me watching youtube videos or playing a video-game.  I became less healthy, more sedentary, and packed on a few pounds in the past two weeks.

 

Most of the bad days are behind me now.  I have been searching for and applying for jobs.  I have continued going to Kung Fu.  I'll debate if the ring-buying should be delayed until gainful employment.    

 

Main quest: Lose the beer belly, and drop to 160 pounds.  

I weigh 172 pounds right now.  Not sure I'll drop all 12 pounds in 6 weeks, but I'll take good progress. 

 

Quest 1: Work-out 4 times a week (+2 STR, +1 DEX, +2 STA)

This I hope isn't going to be too tough.  I go to Kung Fu class twice a week.  I have a gym membership.  I have a nice pair of VFFs currently collecting dust in the closet.

A: 4+ workouts/week on average

B: 3-4 workouts/week on average

C: 2-3 workouts/week on average

F: 2 or fewer workouts/week on average 

 

Quest 2: 4 "bad-snacks" a week (+2 CON, +1 WIS)

What has been killing my size is the amount of bad-snacking I do.  It is so easy when lounging about to grab a bag of Doritos or a bowl of ice-cream.  I should instead replace them with healthy foods or just not eat when I'm not hungry.

A: 4 or less bad-snacks/week on average

B: 4-5 bad-snacks/week on average

C: 5-6 bad-snacks/week on average

F: 6 or more bad-snacks/week on average

 

Quest 3: pass my sash test in Kung Fu (+1 STA, +1 WIS)

Apparently I have all the material now to test out of the beginner level and into the white sash level in my Kung Fu class.  I don't have a definitive date for that, but it is upcoming (our class is less structured than many classes).  I need to review the literature I have for the written portion of the test and continue working on the physical aspects I've learned in class.  I also have no idea how to measure progress here, so either I pass or fail.

Pass the test:

 

Life Quest: Find employment (+2 WIS, +3 CHA)

Truly a shocking life quest after my story up top, eh?  I really hope I don't stay unemployed for the duration of the 6 weeks; that would be really sad.  Complicating my job search is the fact that in approximately one year's time I will be moving to another state.  I am certain that makes me less attractive to many employers, but this is not up for debate.  Girlfriend find a great position for herself in another state and I'm not one for long-distance.  Also, as a lawyer, I'm going to be needing to take another bar exam, so I'm going to need to find study material.

A: Find employment AND get Bar exam prep materials

B: Only find employment

C: Only get Bar exam prep materials

[GingaNinja]

Hey Jaex, great goals, I'm KingLeeroy an Adventurer Ambassador!

Hey sorry to hear about the jobsearch, I am unemployed at the moment and it is tough, but don't threat if you don't get something in the next 6 week as long as you keep working on it something will turn up! Your fitness goals look great, going to follow you, look forward to seeing your progress!
 

If you’re interested in finding more tips, stories, and motivation from Adventurers that have similar goals to yours head on over to the Adventurer’s Tavern where you’ll find people always willing to chat. If you’d like to talk to me you can either check out my current challenge or pm me on the board.  If you have any questions on how to use the forums, check out this tutorial. I’ll be following your topic here as well so you’ll probably see me again anyway.

 

See you around and good luck with your challenge!

I am running a Level 1 Accountability group and wondered if you'd be interested in joining! It would be great to have you abroad! It's all about supporting one another:

Here is the link: Potential

[jaex]

Hey Jaex, great goals, I'm KingLeeroy an Adventurer Ambassador!

Hey sorry to hear about the jobsearch, I am unemployed at the moment and it is tough, but don't threat if you don't get something in the next 6 week as long as you keep working on it something will turn up! Your fitness goals look great, going to follow you, look forward to seeing your progress!

 

If you’re interested in finding more tips, stories, and motivation from Adventurers that have similar goals to yours head on over to the Adventurer’s Tavern where you’ll find people always willing to chat. If you’d like to talk to me you can either check out my current challenge or pm me on the board.  If you have any questions on how to use the forums, check out this tutorial. I’ll be following your topic here as well so you’ll probably see me again anyway.

 

See you around and good luck with your challenge!

I am running a Level 1 Accountability group and wondered if you'd be interested in joining! It would be great to have you abroad! It's all about supporting one another:

Here is the link: Potential

 

Thanks for the tips and the invite.  I think I'll join in with your group.

[Bandcamp]

Jaex, on the ring topic, I'd like to give you my story. Who knows if it'll be useful to you or not?

 

I proposed to my wife freshman year of college. I didn't have a job and we were living together in a crappy little apartment. She was working but I was still looking for a way to contribute.

 

I snuck out during the day, immediately after she left, and took the two longest buses to go to the mall and find a ring that she would like. I "lied" to the jewelers and told them I was looking for promise rings. I found a small, but very bright, ring going for a huge discount and bought it immediately, noting that I hoped she said yes. (The jewelers nearly had a heart attack)

 

I had to sneak back again a week later after they had gotten it resized.

 

I hid the ring for a month before asking (she also found it first... because she's sneaky like that).

 

I guess the morale of the story is this: the cost of the ring is immaterial to the meaning behind it. If she really knows what she's getting into and is ready for taking you on in better and worse, then the size of the ring doesn't matter. Besides, if she's patient, you can always upgrade her later to something more ostentatious, but I figure that she'll always treasure her first ring the most :-)

[jaex]

Awww I like your story. For us, it is less the cost/size of the ring and more wanting to be financially stable. My girlfriend is actually tiny and wants a tiny ring. The concern is the wedding and our so-called plan; the idea would be once I had permament employment I would propose. Still the proposal is coming, but there might be a slight delay.

[Bandcamp]

You can always have a long engagement, as well ;-)

 

Also, the average couple is spending 20k on weddings, which is stupid expensive. We did it for ~3k

[NicTheRugger]

Hey, there! Best of luck with the job hunt and the proposal! I'll be peeking in on you to cheer you on as an accountabilibuddy!

[blkhole24601]

Sorry to hear about your job, and all the best luck to you for finding a new one and on the bar exam! 

 

Great goals!

[jaex]

Just finished an intense Kung Fu class and boy am I beat. Sifu also let me know that I'm now in review stage and once I feel I'm ready then tell him and I can get to my sash test.

[lizzig]

Great goals, sorry to hear about the tough times you are going through. I know job searching can be rough, and can really bring you down emotionally. Just don't let it deter your health and fitness goals. I've been in a situation where I let a negative situation sidetrack my goals, it was a downward spiral. Once I got back into it my mood and determination to continue instantly lifted. Good luck to you!!!

[jaex]

7/28/2014

 

Second day in a row with a workout in above 90 degree weather.  Today's workout though was in lower humidity and for much a shorter time.  I went running for the first time in what seems forever.  Felt good to take the old VFFs out for a run, though I can tell there a few muscles that I will have to rebuild to get back to where I once was.  Overall it was a short run, but I wasn't looking to exert myself too hard on my first day back into VFFs.  

 

And thanks everyone for the words of support.  They make me smile  

[Ryoko]

Hi, I wanted to stop in and say hello - I'm a fellow Level 1 Rebel Potential.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the hard times with your job. Do you have a LinkedIn profile? That's helped me when I needed to network for new jobs myself.

 

I look forward to seeing your progress!  

[jaex]

WEEK 1:

Exercises (2/4): Kung-Fu, Running

                     Bad-Snacks (1/4): Cupcake                     

 

Thought I'd create something to keep progress of my weeks (see above).   And now for the mini quest on being SMART

 

1. Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)?  Is it reasonable? Yes. I was once 160 pounds.  I can be that again

2. Do your 3 quests all build towards your main quest in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Do your quests have sub-quests or is it just one thing to focus on? I would say so.  Exercising more and eating better should help.  Passing my sash-test is just a step towards even more work-outs and Kung-Fu skills.

3. Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them? Again I believe so.  Only 4 bad-snacks a week will be tough as I'm home a lot now that I'm unemployed, but I need to do something to stop growing.  I also hope finding a job is realistic, otherwise I be sad.

4. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked?  What will you use to track them? All my goals are trackable.  The only goal that is not "trackable" is getting employed.  But I've done the job-search before and recently so I know what I need to do, and job-searching to me is fairly fluid.  I guess I could say "spend X amount of time a day searching for a job" but I don't know.  That seems arbitrary to what can be a fluid process.  Thoughts?

5. How are you grading your goals?  Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six weeksâ€)?  Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you “lose the weight†or “run the distanceâ€?  I'm a tad confused; are pass/fail goals bad?  Technically two of my goals (passing my sash test and getting employed) are both pass/fail.  I'm not sure how else I would go about them.  The sash test is probably going to happen in two weeks or so and not sure how I would quantify job-hunting.  Thoughts?

6. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Not become injured?  I guess if I get injured/ill I would have to alter the quests/goals to fit.  If that happens I'll talk it over with my doctor and make reasonable goals then.

7. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge?  What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I don't think any events will be affecting the goals I've set.

8. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? Nope

9. Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set?  If not, what are you planning to do to make time for them? I have all the time in the world. I just need to cut down on movie watching and playing The Witcher 2.

10. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? Yes and yes? Eating smarter and working out were old habits now lost that I hope to regain.  Same with employment.  The sash test isn't a new habit per se, but more of a side-quest.

So guys, have any thoughts on whether I need to make my "pass my sash test" and "Find employment" more quantifiable or are they good as is?  

[lazergician]

Hey, I'm another level 1 Rebel Potential. Thought I'd stop by and say hi

 

I'd say they could be a bit more measureable, if you feel like they need to be for you. For instance - to pass your sash test, what do you need to do to make that happen? Practice forms? Do some reading? Any of those factors could be more easily measured, IE "do it X times per week" or something to that effect.

 

Finding employment is similar: what steps are you going to take to do that? I'm sure you're already going through the steps already, such as sprucing up a resume (if relevant), combing listings, etc, but writing them down and making them concrete would probably be more easy to track.

 

Can't wait to see how this goes for you. Good luck.

[Rosiesan]

Good luck with the job search!

 

I hope that eating better and being more active will help keep your motivation to find a new job!

 

Good luck with the belt! I have friends in Kung Fu and they love it!

[jaex]

WEEK 1:

Exercises (2/4): Kung-Fu, Running

                     Bad-Snacks (1/4): Cupcake                     

 

Today was a day of rest.  As I said, it had been a while since I last ran in my VFFs.  The last time I went had a jog after a long hiatus, I overdid and could barely walk the next few days.  Which was bad since I was on vacation.  Today I'm doing alright though, some soreness but the good kind.

 

I've found it pretty easy so far to stay away from unhealthy snacks.  Last night I made ice cream out of a frozen banana and that satisfied my sweet craving.  Today I also limited my munching by chewing some gum.  

 

Sent out more job applications.  Weeeeeeeeeee.  As always I try to particularize the resume and cover letter to the job.  

 

In unrelated news, I finished reading another free Kindle book.  Anyone read free Kindle or eBooks and found a diamond in the rough they want to share?  My personal favorite free Kindle book was the first I read: The Sable City.  After getting through a slow first chapter, I really ended up enjoying that read and it has been one of my favorite fiction books I have read as of late.  Good epic fantasy with lots of interesting characters and politics, though the descriptions of places and things can get a tad wordy at times.  Anyways I would love to hear any of your suggestions for a free Kindle or eBook.  

[GingaNinja]

Hey good week so far, glad you are getting into the swing of things, hope you are well recovered after your rest day!

[jaex]

WEEK 1:

Exercises (2/4): Kung-Fu, Running

                     Bad-Snacks (1/4): Cupcake                     

 

I have Kung Fu class tonight and luckily it won't be 90+ outside this time (classes are outdoors).  But in more exciting news I have a job intereview tomorrow!  To be honest, and channeling my inner Commissioner Gordon, "It might not be the job I deserve, but it might be the one I need right now."  It is a temp legal job, not really in my chosen field, but can pay the bills till my move in a year. 

[TaloraDion]

I have Kung Fu class tonight and luckily it won't be 90+ outside this time (classes are outdoors).  But in more exciting news I have a job intereview tomorrow!  To be honest, and channeling my inner Commissioner Gordon, "It might not be the job I deserve, but it might be the one I need right now."  It is a temp legal job, not really in my chosen field, but can pay the bills till my move in a year. 

 

Sweet! Nice work getting an interview so quickly. Go in and knock 'em dead

[Ryoko]

Good Luck on your interview! I'm rooting for you! 

 

And everywhere I go now I see banana ice cream posts...must be a thing right now. ^.^

[jaex]

Sweet! Nice work getting an interview so quickly. Go in and knock 'em dead

 

 

Good Luck on your interview! I'm rooting for you! 

 

And everywhere I go now I see banana ice cream posts...must be a thing right now. ^.^

 

Thanks guys!  I actually just got a second interview for tomorrow!  Similar to one before - a short-term project attorney role.  But beats not being employed.

[Ryoko]

Thanks guys!  I actually just got a second interview for tomorrow!  Similar to one before - a short-term project attorney role.  But beats not being employed.

 

Oh congrats!!! That's awesome!! 

[jaex]

 

WEEK 1:

Exercises (2/4): Kung-Fu, Running, Kung-Fu

                     Bad-Snacks (2/4): cupcake, bar mix                     

 

Had two job interviews today.  Best I can tell they went well enough, but it is tough to say.  One job, which would only last a few weeks, would be a really crappy commute of easily 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes of stop-go traffic.  I abhor traffic and think that one might not be the one for me.  

[Ryoko]

Commute is an important factor. Would they let you telecommute a few days a week, or offer flex-time around rush hour traffic?

 

Good luck moving forward with your interviews. ^.^

[jaex]

Oh, and I forgot to mention in my update, I did work-out number 3 last night - Kung-Fu class. Twas a good class as I survived the tough ab-circuit drill (that has been an issue before) and continued reviewing and perfecting my form for my upcoming sash test.  And for the first time in years I am flexible enough to touch my toes without bending my knees.  I am quite excited by that fact.