2012 Goals

So I've been thinking about goals the last few weeks. I had intended on posting this two weeks ago but jeez I've been busy. It's time I laid out what I want to accomplish in 2012 and I wanted to make it public so I could share with everyone.


Before we talk about 2012 I wanted to say that I had one heck of a year in 2011. There were lots of things I wanted to accomplish but when you look at what I did it was still a pretty amazing year. I wrote my first song, performed in public for the first time, had my first gig, had my first canceled gig, moved up the corporate ladder to a new job with a great company and some awesome people, got a "new to me" car, blew up the transmission in my old car, I didn't get mad and kill anyone(this is always a concern te he) lost some weight then gained it all back, went on some dates and the list can just go on and on. It was truly amazing and I feel thankful and blessed for all that I received and for all the wonderful friends and family who shared it all with me along the way.

In 2012 there are a few things I want to do but I don't want to go goal crazy. I don't want to sand bag myself though either so let's see what shakes out.

1. Save and maintain $1000.00 in my paypal money market account

2. Lose 50 and maintain that weight loss through January 1st 2013

3. Record a 10 song studio "album" collaborating with other local musicians

4. Book at least one paying music gig this year

That's it really. I'm damn happy with everything else right now and those are really the only things I want to set as goals this year.

Excuse me sir. Where can I purchase a twelve pack of motivation?

Seems like at least 3 months since I've really had any motivation to do anything besides go to work, play my guitar a little and watch television. 6 months ago I was in a great mood 6 days out of 7. Ready to go and do things on a moments notice and now I can't seem to get my ass in gear and do anything. The intention is there but the desire and execution are severely lacking. Which, for me, is really frustrating. I mean it's me and I'm doing it to myself but it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything to myself. I thought about it most days during the entire month of September. I posted my last blog about goals that I never really even lifted a finger to reach. I feel like a sail boat stuck in the calm of the open ocean. I feel like things are happening to me and I'm not at all in control of what direction I'm going or where I will end up. Worst of all? I know I'm doing this to me. I'm the root cause of all of it. I'm simultaneasly the cause and the effect.

I made the decision almost three months ago to change jobs and I don't feel comfortable in that transition yet. The job is great, the people are great, most of my customer's are very easy to deal with, I am closer to home AND I get paid way more to do essentially the same job. But I still feel a little uneasy and unsettled with the transition and when I try and communicate that feeling to someone they look at me like I'm crazy. Like I should be greatful to have what I have and shouldn't spend a moment futzing over it. Am I happier here than I was at my last job? Hell yes. Am I less stressed at the end of the day? Most certainly yes. The problem is I still feel out of place and that makes everything else in my life seem out of focus. 

I'm frustrated with myself right now. I know I have the ability to meet and exceed any goals that I set. I know I do and yet last month I set goals and didn't even try to reach them and that feels like failure. But damnit I got up every morning and went to work, I paid all my bills on time, I didn't crash my car, I didn't forget to tip any waiters and I didn't kill anyone when I got angry. Damnit that's not failure that's freakin' success.

Right now though, right now, I think I should focus on the basics for a while. So with that in mind here are my goals for October.

Goal One - Write one new song

Goal Two - Pay all of my bills on time

Goal Three - Post a weekly update to the Clydesdale blog about goals for October

Goal Four - Clean my bathroom every Sunday morning this month starting 10/9/11

Goal Five - Start dusting my bedroom and bathroom

Goal Six - Do my laundry once a week and put it away

Goal Seven - Get to work on time everyday for the rest of October

Goal Eight - master the minor pentatonic box 1 and major box 1

Goal Nine - Start up the tbens music blog with a monthly "Top 25" list of my favorite songs right off of my iPod

Frankly I think that's a damn good set of goals right there. But there aren't any weight loss or fitness goals?!? Meh get over it. I'm looking for victories on my goal setting not losses. I need some freakin' wins cause right now it doesn't feel like winning. It feels like losing and I don't like to lose.

Other things I might work on... I might be working on a basic home recording studio and I might record my own "album". I might also start walking pretty regularly again sometime this month. I miss walking in the mornings but it was so much easier to do that when I don't have to be at work til 9. I can totally get up at 7 and be at work right at 8 which is a huge improvement from 5 years ago. Go ask Ed Hacker, owner at First Stop Auto on Clays Mill, how many times I showed up on time in the 2 years I worked for him.

Anyway... This is my blog. These are my goals and that's my update. 

A little late... September Lifestyle Challenge and July/August update

Back in July... That seems so long ago now... I set a few goals as part of the Skinny Devil Music's July lifestyle challenge. You can read David's update at the above link and you can read my update and new goals for September/October below.

July/August Update:
First the goals..

Excercise - My goal is to walk a minimum of 15 minutes every morning and to excercise an addtional 45 minutes three times a week - I was pretty good on this the first couple weeks of the month. Then things got wonky work wise and I lost my exercise mojo. We'll call this one a miss. 


Creativity - Continue with lessons. Memorize an addtional 5 songs. Write two new songs. Go to the Common Grounds open mic night once and play three of my originals. Make at least one performance appearance at the Lexington Farmer's Market playing only memorized music (minimum ten songs). Make one appearance at the jam session after the Southland Jamboree. I hit on the memorized songs and I hit on the songwriting bit. I ended up writing 5 or 6 new songs in July and August. I attended all of my lessons and went to the entire 8 weeks session of guitar four. I did not make it to the Farmer's Market, the Southland Jamboree or the Common Grounds open mics. We'll call this one a partial hit. Glass half full and all that. 


Personal - Lose 10 pounds this month. Realign my diet with the "no sugar/mo starches" concept. Go on a date. Just like with the exercise I lost my mojo a little bit when got a bit wonky in mid July. I ran on a pretty long leash and got farther away from the whole no sugar/no starch thing instead of closer to it. I also gained weight instead of lost it. I also didn't go on a date. I guess I'm not asking right.  Big miss on this one. 


Professional - No missed punches on my time card for the whole month. Bring lunch to work everyday. No going out and no eating free food in the breakroom's. No vending machine visits. When I posted this I couldn't post what my real professional goal was and I didn't want to hint that I may have been leaving my old job. So although I did hit my goal of no missed punches at Tempur for the last couple weeks I was there, I'm totally calling that a hit, my real goal was to get the job I applied for at Florida Tile and to that end I had a huge HIT! The transition to the new job was tough and the work is more demanding but I'm enjoying the new challenges and I'm working with some amazing folks at an amazing company. HIT x 3 more money, better work environment and accountability for my work. 


So now we know how well I did in July and August... Let's look ahead to September/October

1. Excercise - My goal is to walk a minimum of 15 minutes everyday and to excercise an addtional 30 minutes three times a week.
2. Creativity - Continue with lessons. Get two good recordings of my songs. Hit two open mic/songwriter nights around town. 
3. Personal - Lose 10 pounds this by the end of October. Realign my diet with the "no sugar/mo starches" concept. Go on a date. 
4. Professional - Continue to kick ass and take names at my new job. Remember to add freight charges to my accounts when needed.  Bring lunch to work four times a week and only eat out once. 

Lifestyle Challenge Update

Update for week one of the Skinny Devil Music Labs July Lifestyle Challenge.

1. Excercise - Walked in the morning four days last week. Also walked an addtional 45 minutes on 2 days last week. 
2. Creativity - Wrote and performed one new song on Saturday. Had another song fall out of the sky on Saturday night and it should be complete this week. No performances to report other than Lexjam. 
3. Personal - Lost 1.6 pounds last week. Avoided sugar's and starches during 75% of meals. 
4. Professional - Did not miss any punches at work and only slipped on free food in the break room. 

Off to a good start so far. Creativity seems to be booming.

Long Overdue Update

For the record I had a blog long before I met either Paul Felice or David McClean I just haven't done anything with it recently. That being said let's fix that today...

My last update was 3/21/11 and it was just a photo of the scrambled eggs I had for breakfast that day. I made a deal with myself almost three years ago that I could start/stop any bad habit at anytime as long as I didn't start smoking cigarette's again and blogging was one of those habbits I decided to just stop one morning. It got to be a hasle at a time when I wasn't dealing with "hasle" very well.

Since my last update I have gained... wait for it... 0 pounds. I've managed to keep off the 20 pounds I lost in March and February and I'm pretty pumped about that. I did however lose 10 additional pounds and then gain that back. I'm ok with that. I had fun gaining that ten pounds back, damnit, the food was good.

So, why am I writing today of all days you ask? Well cause it's goal setting time... I'm stepping up to the Skinny Devil Universe monthly lifestyle challenge. So here are my "July Lifestyle Challenge" goals

1. Excercise - My goal is to walk a minimum of 15 minutes every morning and to excercise an addtional 45 minutes three times a week.
2. Creativity - Continue with lessons. Memorize an addtional 5 songs. Write two new songs. Go to the Common Grounds open mic night once and play three of my originals. Make at least one performance appearance at the Lexington Farmer's Market playing only memorized music (minimum ten songs). Make one appearance at the jam session after the Southland Jamboree.
3. Personal - Lose 10 pounds this month. Realign my diet with the "no sugar/mo starches" concept. Go on a date.
4. Professional - No missed punches on my time card for the whole month. Bring lunch to work everyday. No going out and no eating free food in the breakroom's. No vending machine visits.

So there ya go... This is where I'm headed. See ya in a month to compare my accomplishment's against my goals. In the meantime we'll just call a few lines from the below song my "mantra"... 

"There's nothin' in the world so sad as talking to a man who never knew his life was his for making. Ain't it about time you realize it's not worth keepin' score? You win some, you lose some and you let it go!" Ray Lamontagne

Breakfast 3/21

Two eggs scrambled.

Dinner 3/17

I pan seared this steak in the oven and man is it good. Those are green beans on the side.