Making a Plan

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So life is officially crazy!

In fact, life’s been crazy for so long, I’ve kind of forgotten what it was like when it was normal!

In any event, I realized this week that I've veered slightly off my ambitious path a little - and it’s time I got back on track!

One of the reasons I’m writing this blog post is because a course of action is much easier to begin (and finish) after you’ve set it down on paper (or a blog, whatever.)

So here’s what I need to do:

Get the Cadillac sorted: I’ve had my beautiful 1978 Cadillac sitting on the driveway since December, and am still waiting on the title. This has got to end. Therefore, I’m going a separate route and I need to get my finances and paperwork in order to pull the trigger. I aim to be driving this beautiful beast by June 1st.

Get back to the gym: A new job, a new schedule and my wife throwing a paddy with the old gym means I’ve dropped from pumping iron five days a week to less than once. This needs to end! By hook or by crook, I need to get exercise back in my schedule again. I want to lift weights five days a week and do some serious cardio no less often. I’m going to aim to start doing this from Saturday onwards.

Go Veggie again: In January, I dropped a cool 10 lbs by not eating meat – and felt amazing. Since I’m looking decidedly porky from my lack of gym visits (and my accelerated beer consumption) a month or two of a meat-free detox would do me good. I need to get my head in the game again and make this happen. It’s not that I have any moral issue with eating meat – I just felt GREAT not doing so. I need to check the fridge, work out how much meaty stuff is left and then when that’s gone, not buy any more!

Lose the weight: I’m in good shape – but I want to be in great shape. I want to shed my body fat percentage to around 10% and that’s going to take some dedication and focus (and some of the things I’ve mentioned above.) Since we will all be stripping off for the summer soon enough, I want to aim to have myself 10lbs lighter by July 1st.

Only drink on weekends: I LOVE my beer. And my wine. But it’s horrible for my weight. Did you know just a single drink can stop your body burning fat for up to the following 8 hours? Taking a leaf out of Daniel Craig’s training schedule (he’s the fella who plays James Bond, and got thoroughly shredded for the role) I aim to stop drinking entirely during the week and I’ll just enjoy myself at the weekends. After all, to quote Daniel Craig himself: “What’s the point of a body like this if you can’t abuse it?” Since my in-laws are up, I think I’ll start this campaign on Monday.

Earn Lots of Money: If last year’s freelancing taught me anything, it’s that there’s precisely as much money out there as you feel like earning. This year, I feel like earning a LOT. I am going to embrace every freelance opportunity, every gig, every sideline that I can – as long as it doesn’t interfere with earning more in my day job. In any event, I want to be a fountain of abundance; and I know that the only thing stopping me is remaining focused on the task at hand. I’ll start today – fulfilling all the opportunities at my disposal to start earning money.

Write a book: I spent the first half of my adult life desperate to write a book. Now I have the means, the opportunity and the experience to make that happen. So I need to get it done. I have a feeling my authorship is like a floodgate. Once I crack it open - and actually get a book finished and in print - the rest of my ideas and opportunities will come pouring out so fast and so hard I won't know what to do with them (except capitalize on them, one hopes.)

These are my aims – fulfilling them is another matter entirely.

Yet over the course of the last year I’ve learned so much about achieving ambitions that I’m fairly confident I can start on the right track; especially since I’ve put my goals down on paper.

The trick, it turns out, is to concentrate on the process, not the outcome. Or, to put it another way, work out which direction you have to travel towards your goal and then focus on nothing but putting one foot in front of the other until you get there.

I will let you know how it works out!