RocketbikeNinja Challenge 1

[RocketbikeNinja]

I need to get back into those great habits I used to have, and sharpen up a few that I'm getting rusty with.

 

Physical:

1.  25 pushups 50 sit ups 10 pull ups per day.    7/7, 7/7, 7/7, 7/7 out of 28

2.  3 karate classes per week. 3/3, 2/3, 3/3, 3/3

3.  1 7K run per week, with one stretch goal of 1 10K during thus challenge. 1/1, 1/1, 1/1, 1/1 out of 4 + Stretch Goal Achieved!

 

Mental:

1.  5 minutes per day of meditation. 5/7, 5/7, 4/7, 4/7 out of 28

2.  Don't let my kids push my buttons more than once per week. Number of times I've lost my cool:  1/1, 0/1, 0/1, 0/1 out of 4

 

Professional:

1.  3 networking activities per week. 3/3, 3/3, 3/3, 1/3

2.  get that software upgrade (that I've promised my boss for months) done. 0/1 out of 1

 

Social:

1.  Test out 7th sea 1st edition as a potential system for my next game 1/1 out of 1 (decided!)

2.  One games night with friends. 1/1 out of 1 (booked!)

3.  Support and cheer one friend who is joining this site with me. 1/1 out of 1 

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Hi

[RocketbikeNinja]

Hello!

[topherdrew]

On 4/4/2016 at 11:33 AM, RocketbikeNinja said:

 

Social:

3.  Support and cheer one friend who is joining this site with me. 0/1 out of 1

 

I think you can officially cross this one off your list now... can't you?

[RocketbikeNinja]

1 minute ago, topherdrew said:

 

I think you can officially cross this one off your list now... can't you?

 

3 weeks 6 days to go.  After that I can stop supporting and cheering.

[topherdrew]

1 minute ago, RocketbikeNinja said:

 

3 weeks 6 days to go.  After that I can stop supporting and cheering.

 

No.... after that you can cross it off the list.  Please keep supporting and cheering as often as you like! 

[SevenFootGeek]

Ah.  I found you..  Hope to see you in the Monastery soon, my friend.

[RocketbikeNinja]

Wait - where's that?  Have I already posted there?

[SevenFootGeek]

The Monastery is how we Monks refer to our forum.  So, next challenge when you've learned the ropes, you can join us there.

[RocketbikeNinja]

Week 1 update!

 

Well, I should probably be honest with myself:  I sandbagged a bit.  Yes, it's a challenge, but I'm already thinking that some of this stuff will go into my battle log, and I'll save the 4 week challenges for Capital C Challenges.

 

That said... some successes and some things to work on:

 

1.  Physical.  Hit everything 100%.  I'm not too surprised, but I'm also pleased with myself.  Before this challenge, I wasn't keeping up with any of those things regularly.  They're all going into my battle log as an expected baseline of activity for the foreseeable future, and I plan on slowly ramping up the daily requirements until I can hit that Big Fat Hairy Goal (BFHG) or the Superset.

 

2.  Mental.  5/7 on meditation, which confuses me.  I thought "5 minutes a day?  No problem."  But it was a problem.  Why can I drop and do pushups, sit-ups and pull ups for 5 minutes, but I can't sit quietly with my thoughts for 5 minutes?  I'm going to try to find a consistent time of day to do this next week, probably first thing in the morning before everyone gets up.  That said, I totally lost it on the girls on day 2, and then the extra motivation to stay calm in the face of small children really helped me stay within target on that one.  So yay for not screaming at children!

 

3.  Professional.  Hit weekly target 100%.  I was actually getting worried about this one.  It's one of my tougher challenges.  When I'm a consultant, I try to do 3 things daily (phone calls, linkedin connections, applying for jobs, etc.)  Now that I'm full time, I don't want to lose those skills, but the motivation is lower, and the available time is lower too.  Fortunately, I made it out for a lunch with former colleagues, and then discovered the ability to ask for commendations on LinkedIn.  That saved me this week, but next week will be tougher...

 

4.  Social.  So, I have the complete rule set for 7th Sea 1st Edition (and I backed the Kickstarter for 2nd ed. rules, but they don't come out until October.)  I'm waiting on a new iPad for easier reading, and I have a partner in crime who has agreed to a Saturday test run one of these Saturdays... hopefully before I'm out of time.

 

Otherwise, the games night is booked for the 29th of the month (just under the wire), and my friend and I have both joined the Academy (Level 7 as of today for me!)

 

Bonus goals I didn't know about when I started this challenge:

 

1.  THE PVP FORUM!  I'm loving doing the Daily Dare over at Darebee, and I've hit every day with extra credit since I started.  

2.  Nutrition Quests in the Academy!  I've simplified the ones I'm working on in my Battle Log.

3.  My Battle Log!  Seems like the better place for daily updates than here, especially when my physical challenges from this particular 4 week section move over there (which they already have... kinda.  I'm restarting the counter for reasons that I've explained briefly over there.)

 

That's it!  1 week down!  Feeling great!  WHOOP!

[RocketbikeNinja]

I just realized that life is going to get in the way of karate this week.  My usual times are Monday nights, Wednesday noon, Thursday night or Saturday afternoon.  I made it Monday, today I had meetings all day, Thursday we have a school event with the kids, and Saturday is a party with my wife's friends... that part of the challenge is not going to go well...

[RocketbikeNinja]

I'm laughing at myself.  I got angry at my boss today.

 

And then I hit my target for networking activities.

 

And then we made up.  But the gears are in motion... need to be careful, as I'm not quite ready to leave my job yet, even if something equivalent comes along.

[RocketbikeNinja]

Week 2 in review, 1 day late!

 

So this meditation thing.  I'm pretty impressed.  Just 5 minutes a day, and I went the whole week without the kids being able to get a rise out of me (all you parents know how big a thing that can be.)  I just feel myself that little bit more able to sit back mentally, realize that I'm getting angry, and defuse myself.  Very very cool stuff.

 

Otherwise, things are going well - too well, perhaps.  This is a great first challenge, to get a feel for what future ones could look like.  But I think something more difficult is in order for next time around.

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

 

Week 2 in review, 1 day late!

 

So this meditation thing.  I'm pretty impressed.  Just 5 minutes a day, and I went the whole week without the kids being able to get a rise out of me (all you parents know how big a thing that can be.)  I just feel myself that little bit more able to sit back mentally, realize that I'm getting angry, and defuse myself.  Very very cool stuff.

 

Otherwise, things are going well - too well, perhaps.  This is a great first challenge, to get a feel for what future ones could look like.  But I think something more difficult is in order for next time around.

Hey that's really cool. Meditation had the same effect on me, when I started. Cool you were able to ground yourself a little.

[NeverThatBored]

It's surprising how far a little meditation can go!

 

Also, hi.  

[RocketbikeNinja]

Week 3 in review:

 

1st:  I got my 10K run in!  That's a nice stretch goal.  And now that i've done one, I feel like I could do them more regularly (although if I do, I'd like to work in a small 4-5K run in the middle of the week as well.)

2nd:  Going strong on the physical goals!  

3rd:  On track to get a hat trick on the social goals!

 

Things to work on:

 

For something that helps so much, I'm still not sure why I can't find that 5 minutes a day for meditation.  I'm thinking of trying out headspace to see if it can't help me get better.  

 

Also:  that software upgrade?  Yeah, not happening.  I'm building a new data cube from scratch to solve some issues I inherited when I took this job.  So maybe next month.  Or the month after...

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Looks like a reaaly cool week 3. congraz on you 10k.

[NeverThatBored]

Headspace is really nice! Even if you don't actually need the guidance, it's really effective at getting you to meditate more often. 

[RocketbikeNinja]

Challenge 1 Review:

 

This month was all about establishing and re-establishing good habits.  It was also my first time testing this as a motivational tool for myself, and I've proven that the challenge does work for me, but so does the daily battle log.  First, some conclusions:

 

Physical:  A+

 

These were the main habits I wanted to establish, and they've all become standard parts of my battle log.  By half way through, I was increasing my pushup/situp/pullup combo, and I've hit new personal bests for pull ups a couple of times through the month.  Great job me!

 

Mental:  B

 

Yes, it's huge that I've been able to stay calm under pressure for 3 weeks in a row, but I'm not happy with my meditation scores.  I'm going to move meditation into my daily battle log, and i'm also going to sign up for headspace.  I've tried the first couple of days, and I'm really happy with it as a program to help coach me through more meditation.  As I've said before, I'm so happy with the results from meditating for even 5 minutes a day, which makes me a little more disappointed that I can't find the time every day to do it.  

 

Professional:  B

 

So Networking was great!  But setting targets to get work done for my boss less so.  That said, it also occurred to me that work targets probably don't have to appear here in the future.  I'm quite happy with my career, I find it challenging on its own, and I don't require additional motivation.

 

Social:  A+

 

Nailed all 3, and met new people here to boot.  

 

So I'm pretty happy with this challenge.  I don't think it was tough enough, and moving some of the more routine elements into my battle log will (I think) open up this space next month for more challenging adventures.  I've engaged my wife in discussions on what all to put here next month, and she's come up with some pretty good ideas.  Still throwing some things around, but I'm looking forward to this month!

[NeverThatBored]

Nice work! You did well in every category!

 

Be careful not to make your next challenge TOO tough. A lot of people get excited after their first challenge (or first few) and try to start doing too many things at once. I know I did. I'm sure you can handle whatever you decide to do, but that's just my two cents. 

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Sounds good. Only A and B. Nothing wrong with starting out with smaller goals and increasing them later on.