100 Things I Will Do In 2010 – February Update
The month of February was really life-changing for me. It really helped me figure out what I want and what I don’t want out of life. Big changes are going to be coming for me and I am full of nothing but excitement for them. I knocked quite a few items off my list in February and by the end of March I should have another five or six done. I’ve decided that I’m also going to keep adding to this list through the year and keep track of other fun memories.
Finished in February:
- 7 – Go snowboarding at Whistler – went during the Olympics in Feb!
- 34 – Walk in the rain - a Squamish necessity!
- 63 – Start a conversation with 50 strangers - probably did close to double this # during Feb alone :D
- 78 – Ride through the glades – rode the glades at Blue Mountain and then at Whistler and loved it!
- 85 – Watch the clouds drift by - sat and watched the clouds drift through the mountains every chance I got out west
- 86 – Watch a sunrise - watched it come up behind the mountains in Squamish
- 88 – Watch a sunset - watched it on the bus ride back from Whistler
- 93 – Ride on a powder day - got to do this twice at Whistler… best 2 days of riding in my entire life
March – new mini goals
- Go the month without watching TV
- Finish my current major freelance project
- Go vegetarian for 21 days
- Do a FS 180 on a kicker
- Do a FS boardslide
- Get under 235
- Finish 3 books
- Go to at least 8 Muay Thai classes
- Finish my 1 and 5 year goals
2010 List – as of March 1st, 2010
- Create a new set of 1 year and 5 year goals – going to finish these in March
- Get a new tattoo - my planned reward for when I get down to 200 pounds
- Get my advanced-green ranking in Muay Thai – went back to class yesterday and plan on being back in advanced class by the end of March
- Go skydiving – going this summer
- Explore an abandoned building – making plans to do this in Detroit – thanks Myla!
- Climb the CN Tower in under 30 minutes – will do this at the WWF climb on April 17, 2010
- DONE – Snowboard at Whistler – went during the Olympics in Feb!
- Stomp a FS 180 off a kicker – gonna nail this in March!
- Do a proper FS/BS boardslide – can do BS boardslides now and will get a FS in March
- Spend a weekend camping with my dog - going in May
- Beat last years record of 30 snow days – at 24 days now
- Get down under 200 pounds – aiming for a 5 pounds a month pace which is somewhat conservative
- Take my Mom to the Art Gallery
- Get rid of clutter from my room – in process
- Ride 50 km on my bike in one go - June 6, 2010 – signed up for the 2010 Ride for Heart 50km ride
- Build 5 Halloween props – got all my materials gathered
- Build a fake disemboweled torso out of latex/foam
- Take my Dad to a football game
- Learn to rollerblade
- Make 95% of the food I eat from scratch – good so far
- Get 5 new freelance clients - 1 down
- Do a 48 hour weekend fast
- Learn 5 magic tricks - got a wicked teacher for this! Thanks Anastasia!
- Go to the Science Centre
- Go to the ROM
- Deadlift 315 pounds - back to lifting this month
- Squat 225 pounds - back to lifting this month
- Read 25 books – 2 down
- DONE – Spend a weekend snowboarding with my little brothers – went a couple of times
- Grow a herb garden
- Climb a tree
- Ride the entire single-track trail at Albion Hills – back to biking this month
- Ride the entire single-track trail at Glen Eden – back to biking this month
- DONE – Walk in the rain – a Squamish necessity!
- Become proficient at AJAX
- Do a 22 km run – Sunday October 17, 2010 – Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon
- Launch the zombiepedia website
- Go to the carnival
- Bake a cake
- Volunteer my time for a good cause
- Try being vegetarian again for 21 days – doing this for the whole month of March
- Try being vegan for 21 days – going to do a raw diet with Carolina for the month of April
- DONE – Get a raise
- Revise and stick to a new budget – budget done, now to stick to it
- Have a 100% TV-free month – doing this in March – I have a lot I want to get done this month
- Build a Facebook application
- Take a night class
- Paint a giant painting
- Go to the shooting range – making plans to do this in Detroit – thanks Myla!
- Learn 5 new effects in After Effects
- Teach the dog to not be scared of the nail clipper – making progress
- Make a new snowboarding video - have been taking a lot of footage lately
- Create 10 website layouts - 1 down, working on 2
- Build my portfolio website
- Try indoor rock-climbing
- Learn to Salsa
- Donate blood
- Make a gift for someone by hand
- Visit a Renaissance fair
- Snowboard in the summer - http://www.snowparkniagara.com/ – aww yeah!
- Be part of a zombie movie - shooting in the spring!
- Start a new business venture
- DONE – Start a conversation with 50 strangers – probably did close to double this # during Feb alone :D
- Learn to make a Paella
- Decorate a Munny!
- Go on a random and pointless roadtrip
- Write a children’s book
- Become a triathlete – changed to June 19, 2010 – Guelph Lake Try-a-tri Triathlon – 375m swim / 10km bike / 2.5km run – started swim training
- Try wakeboarding
- Train with a champion
- Zombie around with my ghouly friends!
- Sculpt something out of clay
- Give a speech
- DONE – Re-pierce my labret – it didn’t close up as much as I thought
- Eat chicken wings in Buffalo
- Spend an entire day at the beach
- Go on a brewery tour
- DONE – Ride through the glades - rode the glades at Blue Mountain and then at Whistler and loved it!
- Surprise someone
- Work at a haunt – making plans! :D
- Do 10 pull ups - currently training
- Do 100 push ups - currently training
- Go to a big music festival
- Learn Yoga
- DONE – Watch the clouds drift by – sat and watched the clouds drift through the mountains every chance I got out west
- DONE – Watch a sunrise - watched it come up behind the mountains in Squamish
- Go kayaking
- DONE – Watch a sunset – watched it on the bus ride back from Whistler
- Hike part of the Bruce trail
- Do a handstand pushup
- Eat a tasting menu
- Eat 5 things I’ve never tried before
- DONE – Ride on a powder day - got to do this twice at Whistler… best 2 days of riding in my entire life
- Build a haunted gingerbread house – found a sweet blueprint
- Explore a cave
- Make a Turducken!
- Finish 3 major projects at work
- Reformat my laptop - in process
- Backup all my important files - in process
- Eat at a White Castle – making plans to do this in Detroit – thanks Myla!
Other memorable fun stuff from 2010 not on the list:
- Went to the Olympics!
- Started a chant at a Hockey game in a bar
- Officially shelved my shy side
- Did a 600m vertical hike up the Stawamus Chief
- Learned to love side hits
- Discovered my Canadian pride
- Did a wicked overnight road trip to Mont Tremblant
- Had a zombie board game night
- Made lobsters for the first time ever
- Learned to slow things down a bit
100 Things I Will Do in 2010
I like to do stuff. I dislike not doing stuff. So to keep me doing stuff, I came up with a list of things I will do before the end of 2010. Why make a list of things you aren’t going to do when you could do the opposite?
I did something similar a couple of years ago and it worked out really well and I ended up finishing most of the list. This time I made a list of 100 things. Some of them are pretty mundane and simple and some are a little more involved. Some of the things can be done in a moment or a day and some will take the entire year. Nothing really major – these are all things that I believe I will accomplish before the end of this year.
I’ll keep this updated at the end of each month! Time to get cracking!
2010 List
- Create a new set of 1 year and 5 year goals
- Get a new tattoo – my planned reward for when I get down to 200 pounds
- Get my advanced-green ranking in Muay Thai
- Go skydiving
- Explore an abandoned building
- Climb the CN Tower in under 30 minutes
- Snowboard at Whistler
- Stomp a FS 180 off a kicker
- Do a proper FS/BS boardslide
- Spend a weekend camping with my dog
- Beat last years record of 30 snow days
- Get down under 200 pounds
- Take my Mom to the Art Gallery
- Get rid of clutter from my room
- Ride 50 km on my bike in one go
- Build 5 Halloween props
- Build a fake disemboweled torso out of latex/foam
- Take my Dad to a football game
- Learn to rollerblade
- Make 95% of the food I eat from scratch
- Get 5 new freelance clients
- Do a 48 hour weekend fast
- Learn 5 magic tricks
- Go to the Science Centre
- Go to the ROM
- Deadlift 315 pounds
- Squat 225 pounds
- Read 25 books
- Spend a weekend snowboarding with my little brothers
- Grow a herb garden
- Climb a tree
- Ride the entire single-track trail at Albion Hills
- Ride the entire single-track trail at Glen Eden
- Walk in the rain
- Become proficient at AJAX
- Do a 22 km run
- Launch the zombiepedia website
- Go to the carnival
- Bake a cake
- Volunteer my time for a good cause
- Try being vegetarian again for 21 days
- Try being vegan for 21 days
- Get a raise
- Revise and stick to a new budget
- Have a 100% TV-free month
- Build a Facebook application
- Take a night class
- Paint a giant painting
- Go to the shooting range
- Learn 5 new effects in After Effects
- Teach the dog to not be scared of the nail clipper
- Make a new snowboarding video
- Create 10 website layouts
- Build my portfolio website
- Try indoor rock-climbing
- Learn to Salsa
- Donate blood
- Make a gift for someone by hand
- Visit a Renaissance fair
- Snowboard in the summer
- Be part of a zombie movie
- Start a new business venture
- Talk to 50 strangers… stranger danger!
- Learn to make a Paella
- Decorate a Munny!
- Go on a random and pointless roadtrip
- Write a children’s book
- Become a triathlete
- Try wakeboarding
- Train with a champion
- Zombie around with my ghouly friends!
- Sculpt something out of clay
- Give a speech
- Re-pierce my labret
- Eat chicken wings in Buffalo
- Spend an entire day at the beach
- Go on a brewery tour
- Ride through the glades
- Surprise someone
- Work at a haunt
- Do 10 pull ups
- Do 100 push ups
- Go to a big music festival
- Learn Yoga
- Watch the clouds drift by
- Watch a sunrise
- Go kayaking
- Watch a sunset
- Hike part of the Bruce trail
- Do a handstand pushup
- Eat a tasting menu
- Eat 5 things I’ve never tried before
- Ride on a powder day
- Build a haunted gingerbread house
- Explore a cave
- Make a Turducken!
- Finish 3 major projects at work
- Reformat my laptop
- Backup all my important files
- Eat at a White Castle
It’s a lot easier to do something you already know you can do
I’ve been re-reading all my old posts on amanreborn.com in search of some motivation. I started at the beginning and I’m up to about January 2008 now. Ironically as far as the numbers go, I’m pretty much right at the same spot now that I was 2 years ago. From January 08 to August 08 I went from around 245 to 210 and from around September 08 to November 09 I crept back up to around 255. I’m now at 245 and knowing that I had made to 210 by the end of summer before is a massive motivation for me now to keep on track and to just get it done because I already know how my body will react and that it is possible.
I’ve really enjoyed reading through the old posts and it’s made me realize that progress and growth is not something that can just be tracked through numbers alone. Everything has changed so much over the last 2 years. I just read the entries from my first 3 times snowboarding in December of 2007 and I can remember each of those days vividly. I fell so many times I was bruised and I was sore and in pain for days each time. I remember sitting at the bunny hill at Glen Eden and looking fearfully across at the main hill and thinking how massive it was. Snowboarding was something so new to me and progress came very slow but I had fallen in love with it and it’s now one of my biggest passions in life.
Now it’s 2 years later – I’ve been out snowboarding 50+ times since those first days and I’ve made a lot of progress. I still fall a lot because I’m still pushing myself to learn new things and every time I fall I get up with a giant smile on my face because I know my limits a little better and I pushed them a little further. I am fortunate enough to have the means and opportunity to make a trip out to Whistler this winter and I’m looking forward to looking up at it from the bottom and having that same feeling I got when I looked across at the hill at Glen Eden. Except this time, I’ll be looking at a 5000 foot vertical drop and not just a 250 foot drop, ha!
The other big push I got out of re-reading my old entries was reading about Muay Thai. I haven’t been to class for months now. To be honest, I’ve been ashamed of myself for that and embarrassed to show up so out of shape. But I read my old entries where I first decided to sign up and it got me thinking about how I’m in the exact same predicament. Back then I was scared of joining up because I didn’t think I could physically do it and wanted to wait until I was in better shape. But then something changed and I just said fuck it and dove right in and I never regretted it. So once again, it’s time to just dive back in. I’m going to start going back next week. I won’t be going very often because of snowboarding, but it’s a hell of a workout and I’ve missed that good-pain feeling.
I’m glad I decided to go through these posts again. Of everything I’ve done over the last couple of years I’d say that making the decision to start keeping this journal was the best choice I made. It forces me to be honest with myself and I’ve found that the times I’m not writing here are the times I’m not focused, so it’s an excellent barometer for tracking my consistency.
I’m headed up north for the weekend with no internet. Going to relax and do plenty of snowboarding. Once I get back I’ll start going through the rest of my posts from January 2008 until now.
Over the past year I’ve really struggled with keeping myself consistent in my diet and exercise routines. It’s lead to me losing almost half of my progress and thinking about that has really made me feel terrible and even less motivated.
I’ve spent the last few days going over all the contributing factors and possible reasons as to why I had let myself do this. I thought about where I could be physically and mentally now had I not let up. In the end, I came to the conclusion that everything I thought up of was just a bunch of bullshit excuses. There’s no point in dwelling on all of that negativity. The fact is that it all boils down to me making the choice to be lazy. I have nothing to gain by focusing on all those negative thoughts and they will serve only to keep me demotivated.
Instead, I am going to focus on the positives. I have a lot of positivity in my life right now and a lot of things to look forward to. I already know what I need to do to get me towards my goals because I’ve done it before and I recorded each step of it here. So I’m going to take a few days to re-read my old journal entries and re-live those accomplishments. I’ll take that energy and focus it on getting back to what I had previously achieved and then even more. I already know it can be done and I have decided to do it again.
Overall Fitness Goal Ideas
Did some thinking about what I want the fitness goals I want to reach. These are just some overall goals. They aren’t yet measurable because I need to spend a bit more time making them so. I’d rather write them down and get something started then to wait until they’re perfect – something I do too often.
- Increase flexibility and balance – through Yoga / balance board work
- Full side / front splits
- Increase endurance – through long, low intensity cardio
- Run 20 km
- Bike 100 km
- Board all day
- Increase explosive strength – through plyometrics / HIIT
- Improve high jump / broad jump
- Sport-specific – through practice
- Improve ollie / 180 / presses
Next step is to come up with a rough exercise routine – probably split by day to focus on each of these. I’m not going to get down into super-specific routines. Instead I’ll come up with a list of things I can do for each goal and make sure I do some of them, then do more the next time.
Today’s workout will be cardio – time to setup the recumbent bike. I got space cleared out in my workout room.
In other news… I’ve decided to stop buying pop. I’ll still have it every now and then when I’m out, but as I am cutting back on that as well, it should be down close to nil.
Goal Statement
Below is my new goal statement. This has been written on cards and left in various places I will see it. The basic idea is that I am advertising the idea to myself to force my mind to accept it on a subconscious level. Much in the way that advertising causes us to subconsciously recognize brands, my goals will be imprinted on my mind to promote success.
The goal itself has these qualities:
- Dated – there is a firm deadline that will give me a sense of urgency to accomplish this goal.
- Personal Tense – my goal starts with “I” – this is my goal – when I read it I will identify with it personally
- Present Tense – written as though I have already achieved it “I AM”- this promotes the feeling of accomplishment in my mind when I read it
- Positive Emotion – written with the emotion that I will feel when I accomplish my goal
- Emphasis – added emphasis to the personal and present tense
- Positive and Specific Goal – my goal is very specific and positive
I am writing my goals this way because the human mind is wired to take everything it reads literally and this format is the most acceptable to it in terms of imprinting a suggestion. I need to do this to keep my mind focused on what I want. I know that if I don’t, I’ll get distracted again.
Current Goal Statement:
My Goal – by February 13th, 2010
I am so happy and energized now that I weigh 230 pounds. My size 36 jeans and large shirts fit perfectly and it feels great to look good in my clothes.
Refocused and writing again.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted again. Whenever I stop posting usually coincides with a downward slide in my habits. Without sugar coating it or making excuses, I’ve been lazy over the last year. My weight has gone all the way up to 260 pounds. I’m still down 30 from my highest but I’m also up 50 from my lowest – and that sucks. I still feel very strong and I still look a lot better at 260 this time than when I was originally 260 due to increased muscle mass. But it’s time to get back at this.
I created a new set of goals – something that I had been neglecting. This is the main issue I had with getting put off track. If I don’t have a proper set of goals I’m just floating around with no direction. Hard to keep focused when you don’t know what you’re focusing on.
I’m going to focus on two main things:
- Setting and re-evaluating goals – long-term, mid-term and short-term
- Writing here – every day – even just random thoughts
If I keep focused on my goals everything else will come naturally from that alone. If I keep writing here it will force me to stay on track.
I changed the layout of my blog. I got side-tracked into trying to make it into something more than what I should have. This blog will go back to what I originally intended – my personal journal and information I find interesting / helpful. I will be completely honest and blunt in my writings here and keep it focused on what I am going to achieve.
Even as I finish this entry, I feel myself with more energy and motivation already. Time to get at it!
Getting out of your comfort zone is the key to growth
I just read a really great interview done with Tom Venuto about the old saying “No Pain, No Gain” and the idea of needing to get out of the comfort zone. I fully agreed with everything I read and I know personally that progress comes from stepping into the unknown.
One example in my own life is learning to snowboard. I always believed I had terrible balance and that kept me from even trying a sport like snow boarding. Finally I gave it a shot and tried something that was new to me and outside of my comfort zone. My balance was terrible. I fell so many times it was hard to count and it hurt. The next time I fell a little less. Then I barely fell at all. Each time I got to this point I’d pick a new aspect of boarding to try and the falling would start all over again. So I’ll never stop falling but I’ll never stop growing and expanding my skills either.
Here’s a few excerpts from the interview I liked:
“You step out of what you’ve already done and into new territory because that’s where growth takes place. I think it’s one of the single most important secrets of personal growth and change: You don’t change by doing what you’ve already done.”
“The change is uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s physically painful, but always mentally and emotionally, in the form of discipline, uncertainty and fear. I don’t care what anybody says about “no pain, no gain.” That phrase gets knocked all the time as if it were wrong. Well, I’m going to tell you, the fact of life is that you don’t grow unless you step outside the comfort zone, and outside the comfort zone is discomfort.”
One of my new favourite quotes:
“Do what you always did, get what you always got.”
Go read the full article here.
Weight Loss Plateaus and Taking Responsibility
In my readings about weight loss, exercise and nutrition, I’ve seen the concept of weight-loss plateaus come up again and again. The idea is that a person will be doing everything “right”, but their weight stays at the same level. I’ve read cases where this is attributed to gaining muscle at the same rate as losing fat, or the body adjusting to protect itself. My opinion is that both of these are entirely possible, but are more extreme cases and not the norm that they are perceived to be. I think that most plateaus come from deluding oneself and refusing to take responsibility.
I’ve been at a plateau for the past 6 weeks – hovering back and forth between 210 and 220 – up and down, up and down. This morning I finally broke through the 210 mark and weighed in at 209.6. My plateau did not happen because of muscle gain or my body being in starvation mode. It happened because I wasn’t active enough and was not consistent enough with my nutrition.
This is the 4th weight loss plateau I’ve been through since last June. Each time I’d start off thinking “oh, that’s just my body adjusting and holding me back” – but after reviewing what I’d written down each time I found that I was completely responsible for each plateau. Each time I plateaued, it was my own fault. I was being inconsistent with either my nutrition or my activity. Each time I realized that and acted in a more consistent manner, I broke through my perceived plateau. When I took complete responsibility for my actions, I got the result I wanted.
Inconsistent action gave me inconsistent results. Consistent action gave me consistent results. So simple, but so hard to really accept.
Day 61/63 – End of the 9 Week Challenge
In an hour I’m going to go weigh in and test for the end of the Kombat Arts 9 week challenge. Today I went through all my journal entries over the last 9 weeks to review what worked for me and what didn’t. I can say without a doubt that the last 9 weeks has been the most productive, educational and motivating period for me over the entire last year. I am focused on what I want to achieve and I know what I have to do to get there. At the same time I see that I need to stay open-minded and never be set in my ways.
Here’s some rambling points that stuck out for me:
- independence/others – while ultimately it comes down to what I do individually, having many other people in my life to learn from, support me and motivate me is what allows me to push forward – I wouldn’t still be going on my own without all the help I’ve received from everyone in my life… family, friends, teachers
- rest – my best workouts and progress came when I was getting full night’s sleep
- nutrition – I believe that nutrition is more important than exercise as it ultimately controls the energy we can put into activities and the result we get out of them
- motivation – having clear goals and checking in with those goals over and over kept me on track
- patience – long lasting results take time and there is no shortcut
- progress – the only way to get stronger and faster is to push ourselves that little bit past where we went during the last workout
- time – is valuable and shouldn’t be wasted – every second, minute and hour should have a purpose – there’s a difference between saying you’re going to relax for an hour and just wasting an hour of time doing nothing
- tracking/logging – tracking my diet and workouts has really helped me a lot – it keeps me on track and lets me adjust my approach in a much shorter time frame than I would be able to without it
- work – there is no substitute for just plain putting in the time and energy
I think that’s enough rambling for now. It’s been a great 9 weeks and it’s just the start of so much more. For the first time in my life I actually feel athletic and in decent shape. I saw some friends I hadn’t seen in a little while last night and they complimented me and said I looked ‘buff’, which was really weird for me as I’ve been a fat-kid for 29 years.
So what’s next… I’m going to continue training even harder. From the beginning of my training I always had competition in the back of my mind and the more I came to class, the more I fell in love with the art. I’ve really developed a strong passion for Muay Thai and I am going to push myself to improve my skill. I talked to my Kru the other day about competing and he was happy that I had that ambition and is going to put me in fighter’s class to train for a fight in the future. I know the road to that goal is very long and will be hard, but it’s something I want and something I am going to do.
I finally decided on my reward for hitting my yearly goal – going next Saturday to get more work done on my black-work sleeve. So I’ll be taking a semi-break for 2 weeks after that to let it heal. I’m going to take that time to do a lot of reading and prepare myself mentally for the challenges ahead. Then once that’s done I’m going to train hard. My endurance and conditioning really need a lot of work so I’m going to focus on that a lot.
As for now, I’m going to go relax a bit and then drive over for the weigh in and testing. Tonight I’m going to see a band play who’s music and lyrics have inspired me to not only start this whole thing a year ago but have also pushed me through every day. If I believed in fate, I’d think there was some significance to them playing on the last day of the challenge, but I don’t, so instead it’s a nice reward.
I’ve posted this before – but I still listen to this song every morning as part of my morning ritual and it still gives me an adrenaline rush when the drums kick in. The lyrics are very special to me and always make me want to push myself harder.
Another memory and I’m asking myself
why cant I let the past be the past.
Once and for all take a hold of the future
And not let it control what I aspire to have.
I see where my decisions have brought me
Whats done is done and its time to start again
Can’t let it tear me in two or waste me away
I gotta believe
Cause this is now
How can I change tomorrow if I can’t change today.
This is now
If I control myself I control my destiny.
What I’ve seen and what I’ve been through has made me who I am
There was a time in my life where I had no desire to carry on
I couldn’t see a place for me or a will to survive
I never thought to rely on myself or the beliefs that I have denied
But this is now
How can I can change tomorrow if I can’t change today
This is now
If I control myself I control my destiny
If I control myself I control my tomorrow
I got to change today
Cause this is now
How can I change tomorrow if I can’t change today.
I must control myself if I’m to control my destiny.
Cause this is now.
Cause this is now
How can I change tomorrow if I can’t change today.
This is now
If I control myself I control my destiny