The Absence Of Light, Isn't Always Just Darkness.

A little Light music for you while you read, if you want.

Recently I'd been through the long process of turning one of my projects into a reality, a lengthy project at that. I had spent the last few years on and off working on a card game, it has two versions, "SPIRIT® Origin" and "SPIRIT® Stealth"

KICKSTARTER IS HERE:

It was a huge process.
- Designing and refining the game mechanics (probably the hardest bit).
- Making all the Art.
- Designing the cards user interface so that they are intuitive and work.
- Making the cards in the right format for print, learning trim, bleed and cuts.
- Designing the Branding.
- Designing Rule book, learning about game wording and consistency.
- Designing the box, product design is it's own theory and learning what is required.
- Making rough box and card prototypes.
- Buying barcodes.
- Buying Web domain.
- Buying hosting.
- Web design (still not finished the website, it's a lot of work)
- Shooting promo videos.
- Learning Video Editing.
- Economics, you need to understand all the costs.
- Alpha testing, Beta testing.
- Registering  a Buisness
- Registering a TM and applying for (and achieved) a ® (Can be an expensive process)
- Social Media Marketing.
- Publishing promotional materials.
- Commission for custom stand for photos.
- Product shoots, and Editing said shoots.
- Custom goodies for testers.
- Thousands of hours work.
- Paying for Press Release (expensive minefield in itself)
- Sending hundreds of messages, Emails and calls to try and secure online exposure.
* I KNOW I missed a lot more out...*

Sometimes in life you can do everything that you think is right, and fail.

However, failure is determined by your own actions after, not during. If you do not understand why your attempt to succeed failed, and make no attempt to understand why then you have most certainly failed.

If you manage  take a step back, look at the rubble and piece together what happened, and learn from it, then it is no longer failure... just merely a lesson(albeit a painful one sometimes).

"Don't cry to quit! You already in pain, you already hurt! Get a reward from it! "

 - Eric Thomas

I learnt the reasons why my project fell just short of being backed, it was a few things but mostly, and importantly it falls to two things.

1. A poor video.
2. Poor Press-Release decisions.

I needed two videos, the title video which should have been a short, snappy video on WHAT the game is, and eject energy. The second video needed to be an extensive, organic play of the game where people are filmed playing and enjoying it so that the investor can understand what they are buying. I feel most of my non-friend investors took a punt on the idea that it might be good. I needed to show that it is good.

A blessing in disguise is that the product isn't bad. As a matter of fact I logically stand by it being a great game, not just because I made it, but looking ta it objectively (which you should always do, to avoid pride blindness) I feel it's strong.

So, you can have a great product, but still fail if your presentation isn't thought through enough.

I learnt a hell of a lot about the process and the struggles.

I wasn't always enjoying the ride, I spent a few days mostly in a bath in the dark feeling sorry for myself as the projections (which turned out to be very close to correct) suggested the project would fall short of the backing. I even had a few darker days, but if I didn't care so much about this project then I should have questioned why bother doing it at all.

We are all dealt different hands, some of us are born into a better life than others. 

What is important is to realise that while you might not be able to (right now) do your dream job, or live your dream life, that it is far better to make steps forward towards your goals than it is to avoid them or disregard them.

If you want to be a writer, then write. You won't become a writer by just thinking about being a writer.
If you want your ideal body (whatever that is) then strive to work on doing it, learn from others that have achieved what you want.
Surround yourself with information that is relevant, if you work in a factory and want to be an entrepreneur and find yourself at lunchtime participating in gossip or idle chit-chat then break from it.

Listen to podcasts in your headphones at lunch or during the commute, constantly immerse yourself in the type of content that is relevant to you.

Remember, just because you can't currently achieve a main goal, doesn't mean you shouldn't have another. I grew up wanting to be a video game designer... now I just want to travel the world and learn about cultures. Boardgames are a passion (not a dream) and if I can use a passion to make the money to live the life I want then I'm doing ok. It hasn't happened yet, and of course might never happen... but unless I try, unless I make the jumps, take the falls what is the point. 

Read articles, analyse them, learn what is useful information and what is garbage or just an advertisement.

You certainly have a much higher chance reaching your dreams if you actually try.

Of course, you have to be able to accept defeats, get up, dust off and keep climbing.

Nobody said breaking out of old habits is easy, but if it was, everybody would be where they want to be.

Remember...
Dreams are worth fighting for. Always.

  

Remember THIS post?
It's one where I set out goals attached to Pokemon Badges so that I could earn them.

Well, let's review them.

I managed 3 Badges from this rather depressing list.

CAREER BADGE, TRAVEL BADGE, CAREER BADGE 2All three of these were obtained in 2016, 2015 wasn't a great year it would appear... but I'll work on that later.

I'm going to re-make these, and assign them better, less vague requirements, here we go!!
(I'll assign them in the correct order this time)

NEW GOALS:
Boulder badge: 
TASK:
Exercise (In some form, no matter how much or little) either cardio, body weight, weights Every day. As of Today. Badge is achieved if this is unbroken by December 25th.
WHY:
Mostly to create and cement a exercise routine, consistency is the most important factor to exercise, this will build a strong routine.

Cascade Badge:
TASK:
Until December 25th, I may only drink the following: (excluding external situations)
Water
Tea / coffee of any sort.
WHY:
I've had a month of drinking poorly, lots of energy drinks and sugary drinks that are bad for the body, and it would help aid the exercise if I consumed more water.

Thunder Badge:
TASK:
Get SPIRIT® Backed /and or/ in stores.
WHY:
Thousands of hours work, I'm not letting one little defeat stop me.

Rainbow Badge:
TASK:
Help my Girlfriend achieve her goals, offer assistance as often as possible, guide her and generally do all I can to help ensure her life goals happen.
WHY:
She's done the same for me, and I want her to be happy.

Soul Badge:
TASK:
Learn to, and practice meditation and yoga.

WHY:
A strong mind is needed to accompany a strong body.
Marsh Badge:
TASK:Finish writing book 1 of my novel. (Pre Edit)
WHY:
Give a shot at being an author, no need to think small when it comes to careers.

Volcano Badge:
TASK:
Partake in a fitness event (tough mudder / spartan etc) 

WHY:
It will require motivation and training.

Earth Badge:
TASK:
Go Camping at the (Location midden)
OR
Take a Holiday (I know I've had 2 this year, but I think it's so good for me to get away).
WHY:

It's nice to get away.

These seem a lot more manageable and less specific, if I can stick to most of these my life will only be more enriched.

This will wrap up this blog post, it's 2:28am and I should really sleep, or at least attempt it!

Thanks for reading, you beautiful readers.

"Asphalt Wave Saga" CHAPTER 1: The longest jump, the furthest fall.

Good evening / afternoon / morning depending on when you're reading this.

As you will know, I've a few projects going on in the background, including a novel that I'm twenty two chapters deep.
One of these projects is a product and while I still plan to be vauge about it on this blog, close friends are aware and have been aware of it's conception for over two years.  

I guess where I'm going with this post is simple.






I am going to release this project.

And it will be a success.






However...

My other half, who works in large corporations managing even larger projects was drafted in for her expertise, something I'm normally adverse towards (mixing business with relationships).
She spent a hour pawing at a keyboard before giving me an Excel file and explaining how it worked.

After our conversation it became apparent that my self-doubt and fears of failure stemmed from a large mass of data that's sat inside my skull, this data that flew about causing chaos desperately needed to be tamed.

This Excel spreadsheet worked out the steps needed to get the product ready to launch set into daily tasks with plenty of fat (fat means excess time to complete a goal to compensate for unseen complications).
Once I saw the timeline stretch out (until nearly may) it did dawn on me that this was a tremendous amount of work but after a moment of that, I felt calm, focused and precise.

I now KNOW what to do each day and this was the key aspect holding me back. Previously I had all these other stresses and thoughts racing around my head as I bumbled through the work but now i had clarity.

Lot's of clarity.

I've decided (since my job is fairly quiet until february) that I'd make the right decision. To be focused, tuned in and precise I needed to remove negative influences from my life, make time and knuckle down for one hell of a ride.
After a long discussion with my other half, who is very logical based, we came to the conclusion that the only real way I could give this a shot at 100% of my ability is to give 100% of my time.

And that means leaving my job.

"you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette"

Now before people think this is a good path, I'd like to stress I have saved up a good buffer of money to last me through and I'd never suggest anyone just leave their work and follow their dreams if they couldn't commit 100% to it.

This is the longest jump.
 Leaving the safety of work and grinding each day in my bedroom / office / design studio isn't going to be easy, but it is however necessary if I want to make this product a reality and begin the birth of my own business.

The longest fall is if I don't give this my all or the project is a flop, on the one hand my position in life will be worsened but I will be able to say I gave it my best shot before looking at other ventures.

It's only failure if you take nothing from it.

.

Recently I've been reading this, it's a GREAT book on understanding the psychology of habits and how we both form and CAN change them, I will be utilizing some of the techniques in my marketing campaign as well as my health and fitness.

I've never had a problem exercising, I have the right cues, habits and rewards systems in place that keep me encouraged and active.
When it comes to eating however, more so this time of the year, I let myself go a bit. I did this originally to give me a break from strict food and exercise routines but now it's become a habit, and one I plan to end. As of today I'm going to slowly try and reprogram my brain into better food habits, avoiding boredom eating etc.

I can highly recommend the book, it's a decent read and not too big.

Now to end this post, I WILL BE (to the best of my ability) blogging each day starting Sunday, throughout the experience. These will not be long posts, but just summaries of the experience so that it's fairly well documented.


Thanks for Reading viewers, I love you all.

Past, Present and Future #1

It's been a while readers, a good while all the same!
I've been working on a few fairly large scale projects and as exciting / terrifying as some of them appear to be this blog has fallen to the sidelines.

Between, fitness, work, projects, nutrition and planning I've simply not had the time to properly engage in this, which I'm not really sorry for. I mean after all being busy has been very beneficial to me and it's not as if I've had a great deal of engaging topics to discuss.

I've decided to start a little series of posts, I'm not sure for how long they will be but as the title suggests these will be about the past, present and future. Without further adieu, let us begin!


THE PAST:

This Photo was taken around 2009, so a good 6 years ago, I've changed so much physically speaking since this was taken and I suppose I've changed mentally even more so.

The story behind this photo is one that lends a hand to my heart; adventure.

My father called me that day to talk about something that I no longer remember and before he ended it he mentioned toward the conversations end that he had spotted a dead whale on the beach (miles and miles away from the road, across a channel of water, miles of marshland and nearly half a mile of sand in the distance).

Now dead whales on our beaches are not that uncommon, maybe one every 2-3 years. I've always wanted to be one of the people to take a few of the deceased animal's teeth to aid my habit of owning strange things but every time one washes up, you arrive to find that the tooth fairy had visited long before you.
I couldn't waste time, who knows how long it had been there today!
I rushed off, grabbed my flatmate who was off work and together me and her started the long adventure to find the fallen giant. Halfway across the murky and somewhat dangerous marsh we say a giant laying on the beach, too far away to tell a shape but definitely viewable, and definitely giant.

Now to cut a long adventure short, distance can alter perspective, what appears giant, small, what is small, giant.

And this photo is me, standing on the whale.

You might think this seemed like a fools errand, hours of walking through difficult terrain seeking a treasure that never existed, but for me this is a clear and distinct metaphor for life.

I was happy, not because I got to see and steal some whale teeth, but because I got to share an adventure with my flatmate / best friend. We got to find our treasure, it wasn't the whale or the log... it was the journey.

For me this instilled my love for travel and adventure, for me, journeys are the meaning of life and their outcomes almost abstract to the point of irrelevance.

THE PRESENT:

This Photo is only a handful of days old, I took it while sitting on an embankment overlooking the same marshland I trudged across in search of the fallen whale.

I decided that a lot of my own personal issues stemmed from a natural intolerance for thoughts when I'm alone. Honestly I'm thinking non-stop about many subjects and a lot like when you're at a party or sitting next to people constantly talking on the train, sometimes I want to climb into my skull, slap my consciousness and yell "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!". So I tend to spend a lot of time not alone.

Even when I am "alone" at home, working on the PC you'll find 90% of the time I'm talking to someone on Skype / Facebook / Social Networks. I'm naturally very social, I know that, but I also think I use people to quieten down the rabble echoing around my skull.

So recently I've decided to deal with myself, I now spend periods of the day alone, outside looking at the sky and nature, it calms the noise and lets me take real time to think. Not about anything in particular but I allow myself to breath, and instead of suppressing the noise, I now listen to it. And you know what? I'm learning more about myself, my shortcomings and my strengths daily. I've had ideas and concepts for projects flooding in, years of suppressed mental activity let out into the playground, and I regret nothing more than not doing this sooner.

Give yourself some time to be yourself.

THE FUTURE:

The future is something I'd often look toward, plan now so that things may fall into place later, but I suppose the future is a lot like looking for a dead whale washed up on a beach. While you're walking forwards heading in the direction of that solum silhouette take a moment. Take a moment for yourself to look around at the things you've passed, be careful on what you have to tread on to reach your goals and don't be too surprised if that whale you've spent so long looking for turns out to be a tree.

Just because you're not sure if that big thing in the distance is the whale you've been searching for, doesn't mean you shouldn't have a go looking for it, who knows, you might take away more than you bargained for.

Your future is countless threads branching off, which one you take is mostly up to you.

As for me, I'll strive to work hard everyday to find my whale (I'm starting to understand what it is now) and if you want anything worth having in life don't expect it to come easy. Work hard, grit your teeth with a smile of satisfaction and enjoy the ride.

No matter what, no marathon was run standing still, make sure that regardless of size, a step forward is a step closer.

Thanks for reading, fellow whale hunters.

Spiraling out of control.

MOTIVATION, AND HOW IT CAN SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL:
Today I've witnessed what happens to all of us eventually, the spiral out of control that breaks us from dedication, consistency and determination.

Since December I've not been to the gym, now this might seem a little odd for someone that visits on an almost daily basis but this was the construct of a set of actions which have led me to today.
Today I weighed myself and I've gained the better half of a stone (8lbs). I've consciously eaten really well over December but critically, and more importantly, been eating the calorie amounts that I would consume if I was still hitting the gym hard and forgetting about my deficit. A small yet critical error.

I was brought back to my thought process that led me here, the me now and the differences between today's me versus the me of late September.

Late September's me:
"I'm going to drop the gym for a month, give my body a long rest and focus on other things and come back strong in January"

This was great in practice, I had a good December (minus a miserable Christmas) and I think my body got the rest it needed. However I've unconsciously partaken in a clean bulking phase as a result of not managing my nutrition and calorific intake.

A series of events have rolled out and caused today's me.
Today's me is half a stone heavier, a little lethargic and sitting on the second of February without still having gone to the gym. Today's me looks out of the window, thinking "I should go for a run" and then looking at the rain, finding an excuse not to.

Now that you have a perspective on today's me I'm going to go over the point's that put me here where I am. Identifying a problem and it's causes will help aid in a solution!

DECEMBER:
I decided to focus my time onto some of my big projects that I hope to generate income from, one of these is a novel I'm currently 20 chapters through writing.
This takes up all my free time in the days, writing, reading and editing.
Before I' aware, Christmas and the perpetration for it take place.

A few days later, New years eve happens and me and my partner travel to Paris to see in the new year, one of my goals from last year that I was soo happy to write off!!
During the trip to Paris I had an epiphany about my life. It was ok, but not the life I grew up wanting, I realized that with a lot of work, I could live the life I wanted. I have to buckle down, work hard and get my two big projects off the floor.

Upon returning to the UK, my time, efforts and perspective changed direction towards creating a life for myself that I want, there really are less limits when you take off the ones you place on yourself!

JANUARY:
I worked hard making more content for the book and started seriously developing another big project that aims to deliver a card game. I drink a lot of coffee and spend long stints indoors designing, writing and editing.

The payoff? My fitness goals fell to the side, life brushed them aside and I've become very aware that I now have the painful re-introduction to daily exercise, the kind that anyone wanting to change their life has to endure.

THE WORST PART of exercising is the breaking in, forming a routine and sticking to it for a few weeks to turn that effort into instinct.
Septembers me of yesterday had good intentions, but it started a chain of events off that caused me to neglect my efforts. Today's me is apprehensive and looking onto the re-starting with a grimace.

However... I need to tell you something.

Yesterdays me was foolish, today's me is lazy but we haven't covered tomorrow's me.
Tomorrow's me is going to look for a way to integrate both, work hard and work out harder, nail the nutrition and get back on track. Because success and exercise are tied in as one, they synergize and help the other.


Daily Exercise Grants Me:

• General Health Improvement.
• Serotonin to make you feel happier.
• The Ability to wake up fresh.
• Focus and clarity.
• Something other than my work to focus on.
• Lets me make meeting my health and fitness goals easier.
• Self confidence.

All these aspects will aid me in my work, I won't be sat in the rain clutching a coffee cup to keep awake because my sleep has been bad. I won't need that same coffee to kickstart me into work in the mornings. I won't be miserable and laying in bed thinking of nothing more than the projects, rolling around my head.

So here is an idea.

Why do people as a whole, those that do not actively exercise, look upon it with distress?

It's because the hardest part of changing your nutrition, attending classes or just finding the motivation to exercise is the first few weeks.
That's the time you have to make the effort with no rewards and all the punishment.

You drag yourself off your sofa, go to the gym, have a workout that may or may not have had all your effort in and then return home, tired and maybe even a little sore, to top it off a new found post gym hunger is sabotaged because you've decided to (un-wisely) follow some fad diet.

It's the people that push on, keep up consistency and keep going that start to notice something change, the feeling of exercise becomes enjoyable (Trust me on that one), you'll notice that you feel lighter, clearer and in-tune.

The problem is when you break that consistency and revert back to low levels of activity, you get comfortable, less active and lazy.

The trick is to...

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Not at the weekend, not tomorrow... right now. Do something, and keep doing it for a few weeks and you'll kickstart yourself back in!

"Oh Kiko I'm afraid I've not exercised in a while / ever, there is no hope for me"

Wrong. If my own mother in her 60's can just start going for walks and look at her diet, so can you.

It's only too late when you're dead, make the changes. Make an effort and do it now!
(Just keep it simple to start with)

With that, I'm off for a run, time to get myself back together.

Thanks for reading!!

Real Changes and how to make them last.

Welcome back, I've missed you. I know it's been quite around here and that is because for the most part I had run out of things to say.

Originally I used to post to this blog almost daily, and while that was an amazing time I realise eventually I was struggling to have anything of value to say. Well now I have things to say, so as a result...

I'M BACK BABY! 

Too much? Naa never too much. 

So what have I been up to?

Well I set myself a goal last year:

"I refuse to spend another new years celebration in the UK"

And this year I spent it in Paris! It was the first time I'd ever been to France and I'd recommend it to anyone. Friendly people, tolerant (to my poor french) shop owners and a very simple to use metro system made for a pleasant stay indeed.

I'm not one for resolutions, I've always been a firm believer that the best approach is to make life changes, you know, permanent changes to the ways in which we live and learn and this year is no different.

I do however, believe in goal setting, and this year I've got a lot going on!

This Christmas was one of the worst I've had. period. But instead of letting that get me down I've decided to use that as fuel for my fire to get me through the early parts of this year. In martial arts like Judo and Wing Chun you use the overwhelming force and weight of an opponent as a weapon against them. I'm basically doing that with life, if I go through a bad spell I don't let those knocks take me down, instead I use them to temper my blade... ok too many metaphors but the jist of it is simple:

> Have a bad Christmas.

> Use that pain to work hard to make the next better.

This was predominantly a fitness and health blog, well now it will become a LIFE blog. One good thing to come from Christmas was a small but cherished gift from a close friend. I was lucky to receive a set of metal Kanto badges (these are the badges you get awarded in the video game Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue for essentially beating bosses).

Now my problem was, where to put these badges? While very awesome I do not have many places for them. I sat and had a long think, and even wore one (the boulder badge, my favorite) on my suit I wore to the London Boat Show, it looked good.

Anyway, I had a thought about those badges. Half the pride in the games was that you earn them, and they feel important because of the hardships you had to go through to obtain them.

What a lovely concept, earning them.
So I decided to earn mine too, give them an important merit for each one.

My MAIN 2015 goals, all set out. Once I achieve one I get to wear the badge, otherwise they stay in my safe. This will give each badge weight and actively represent goals and hardships I've undertaken.

As you can see in the goals, Tough Mudder (or similar events) have been on my to-do list for too long, the main issue I have with this is as a weight lifter I do lack in long range cardio endurance. I run more than average lifters but not enough. Now luckily tough mudder is only 12km, and also luckily my father used to run marathons yearly, he's old school but I have a pool of knowledge to pull from, now 60 years old he still runs now and then and is built muscular much like myself so if anyone is good to seek advice from it is him. I will book the tough mudder soon, forcing myself to train for it, if I can get to 10km comfortably then thanks to my other training I should be ok with the obstacles the events throw at you, and of course I'll document it all on here.

I've cut down on my meat consumption, not because I've become vegaterian or even want to, but more because I believe that here in the west that we just eat too much and that it does have some negative impact on the body.

Nutrition: 

- More water

- No carbonated drinks except sparkling water

- 50% veg plates for main

- Full fat milk (arguably the best for you when coupled with a healthy lifestyle) and proper unsalted butter, margarine is poison there is a reason even insects won't eat it.

- No fast food until my birthday (April)

- Wholegrain wheat flour, brown bread (as good as it gets)

- Avoid sugary substances except fruit

- No late night snacking. (caught myself doing it the other night)

- On non-training days, must not eat as if I was (been making that mistake)

Last thoughts, if you want to make changes do not feel you need to wait for new years to make them. You're capable of setting any date as a date to turn your life around.

The time I quit smoking, I had just bought a pack of 20, I opened it took one out, and then just thought. No. I'm not a slave to you. And crunched up the pack and threw it away.

It was hard, yes, but I did it. I do not smoke and it's been 4 years, I don't even like the smell anymore.

Only 2 things need to be done if you want to make lasting life changes:

1) Do it now, right now, no "I just need to X" or "Let me have one last Y" Just. Do. It.

2) Be consistent. If you falter, and we all do, just get up, start from then and carry on. The longer you're not doing that thing that makes you sad / unhappy / unhealthy the longer you're not sad / unhappy / unhealthy, get it?

Anyway, thanks for reading and PEACE!

Stage 5.0

Welcome to stage 5.0!!

As you can see, in-keeping with the motto of the blog, as the person progresses so will the visual aspects of the blog and we have progressed.
This blog started as a Lifestyle blog, showing people how to get the most out of their lives, be productive and achieve goals. As my own goals progressed so did the blogs topics and we ended up on health and fitness, which dominated a good few stages. 

I've gone over all I learned about fitness and nutrition I'm going to have to surpass the heavens and shed the shackles of the physical for a bit and talk and discuss things like philosophy and my take of it, this is of course subjective unlike the fitness aspect which is mostly science.

This section will still be about my personal training, be it the body-building or my new return to something else...

Dance games.

I've been playing dance arcade machines since 2000, and had slowly stopped playing by 2010. The last time I in fact had what I'd call a session was summer last year. During my birthday, which was a few days back. I started playing ITG (In The Groove) again and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Since it had been a long time, I was nowhere near as good as I used to be but thanks to the extensive training in the gym everyday I was decent for a comeback!

All I need now is to find someone willing to train me, teach me and help me take myself further than I was, ideally I'd like to comfortably pass 14's (it's a difficulty number).

I'll keep the blog up to date with any training and progress as it's all part of who I am trying to become, a better version of the person yesterday.


A short one for today, I'll post soon you beautiful, beautiful readers! 

IMMOVABLE WARRIOR

Hello Readers!
I hope you all had a great Christmas and new year!!

I'm working hard to a new Training program, it's been great, making amazing progress and getting stronger every single day. I showed the fitness plan to the level 3 instructor (Something I'm thinking of working for) at the gym to see what his opinions where.

He took the paper with a reserved look about him, he probably gets to see all, kinds of crap.
After looking it over, then re-looking it over he said the words "It's pretty good... Very good actually...A really good plan!"

This made me very happy, I'd targeted each day to a different muscle group, leg day on Thursday and Sunday is a much needed rest day. It hits you very hard on Wednesday and Saturday with a bit from all the muscle groups, I had declining reps, usually 10/10/8/5, using high weight. Each part of the training uses a complementing muscle so as to not burn you out after only a few different exercises. I even considered equipment rotation so that you don't end up walking all around the gym and then losing a piece of gear you needed to someone else.

FEELING NEXT-LEVEL PUMPED for today's session.



Taking something to retain focus, drive and clarity. Korean Ginseng. I know some people don't think Vitamins and herbal supplements can do much but I'm amazed at how combining it with Omega 3 1000mg really is for the brain! It's like that film limitless, minus the surge in intellect. I take these and 20 mins later I feel like my eyes are opened, everything becomes more clear.


Here is the plan, It's followed until April then gets a V.2.

So this is how my afternoons are spent, job searching in the morning until around 4pm then hitting it hard.

I'm not employed at the moment, I've got various little bits keeping me occupied but I'm doing all i can do to fix that problem, and as for the things I have direct influence over; my health, my diet, how I am to other people and my own motivation, I'm giving it more than my all and I'm succeeding.

I'm pushing forwards, and focusing on what needs to be done and I think that is a key mentality for success in any of life's aspects, focus on the main goal, give it all your attention, don't go to the gym and think about how shit your life is, or about the shopping, go and focus on getting your form perfect, focus on making weight increase deadlines, just keep your mind on the task.


We all have the ability to get most of what we want from this life, but it's not going to fall into your lap so go and tear it all apart, toss aside all the packaging and ignore the voices because this is YOUR life and YOUR story!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, you beautiful, beautiful people.

The Turning Point.

8    MONTHS    LATER   :

"The ocean is violent but a good sailor can weather the storm"

It's been a long haul away from this Blog, I needed to focus a bit more and now I come back to you a different person.

The last 8 months I stepped up my training, hitting the gym almost daily, cut down on high saturated fat foods, cut down on consuming carbonated drinks and tried to eat a bit cleaner, not clean, but cleaner.

I focused on improving myself and I can confidently say I've achieved that, I lift over double what I could, run longer and generally feel a lot better in myself. My goals in this department are far from over, I have other ambitious goals to meet and when spring appears I'll go into my first clean eating cut (which will be difficult).

Aside from my physical appearances what else has changed?

My attitude, I'm more willing to believe in myself, I did this health change all on my own off research I did about the various items I wanted change. Christmas approach's and I'm going to share my knowledge for all the people wanting to make lasting changes on their health and fitness, so expect me to be back to regular blogs again.

 

How about the rest?

I'm STILL trying to find work in London, and while this has been almost a laughable experience the country as a whole is beginning to recover from the economic depression and employment rates are slowly on the rise, so I'm quietly confident this marathon is reaching it's end. 

I'll be working hard to get job applications out and see where I can get, then finally move to London.

I've been visiting every month for a week or two and really feel integrated into a city environment, I still adore the countryside, the wilderness and the oceans call but I've got to make this move, and it's taken longer than it should. It has been a very long war, but one I will win.

So what's next?

• Step up the resistance training program.
• Build a stronger cardio base.
• Move to London
• New business ideas.
• Think about my long term plans, and start setting some in motion

When working on a few small business ideas or any ideas for that matter, some will fail others will work, the trick is not to give up, pick yourself up, ten, fifteen or even a thousand times and carve out the world YOU want.

So make big audacious plans, make goals that terrify you, push yourself to the edge and beyond of your comfort zone, think, fight and live.


"If you can't fight for the life you want then you don't deserve to have it any other way." - Kiko


I know I can do it. Can you?

The CHALLENGE!!

It's been too long... but onto that later!


THE CHALLENGE!!!

I'm still struggling to find work in London in the job field that I wanted (Digital Art / Graphic Design / Image re-touching) so I've got to make a decision.

The weather is starting to get good, and I'll have only a few months oppertunity to get the models on location for a shoot. This will also take massive planing, so I've got to stop and make a stand.

To get this all rolling, I'd need a minimum of £1,600 but to ensure everything is PERFECT which is what I always strive for, Ideally would like £3,000 - £3,500.

SO my challenge is to go, all or nothing!!

Doubt killed more ideas then failure ever could.

GOAL: 

- Gather £3,000 

Why?
To finally launch business at full speed, with a wide range of products, website, model shoot, promotional video.

TO BE ACHIEVED BY:

- July16th

Why?
So that there is still time and good weather to have the shoot and promo video on location.


HOW?:
- Phase 1 
Sell various personal affects that have either less use to me or just for the monetary gain. 

- Phase 2
Get some work, part time, full time not in the profession I wanted. Once the business is stable hopefully that can become my full time job.

- Phase 3
Freelance work, granted it will be in dribs and drabs but this will grant some finance.

-Phase 4
Any small scale business ideas that have a small capital start up cost that I might invent during this process.

I've had some great progress lately in my endeavor to get a better body and become more healthy.

I go to the gym five days a week, weekends are used to rest and sunday is the day that I'll eat a little worse than I should, mostly because I don't want to feel like I'm denying myself bad food as a punishment, its more of a case of clever moderation.

The biggest change is my massive reduction in bread, I now hardly eat it. Don't get me wrong, I love bread, LOVE IT. But it was just something I ate on a daily basis which I didn't need to.

I've found that its just being consistent and working hard (you know in yourself if you've not tried your hardest) sometimes you have to put in the miles to make it all worth it.

As I've become more healthy, and exercised regularly I'm starting to really enjoy my time at the gym, I'm getting more self confidence and can see from my documented progress that Ive improved in leaps and bounds. I will say this for definite; you really do need to put the work in to get the results you want, no point relying on supplements, drugs or surgery, if you've not made the mental changes in your approach you will never achieve what you want.

Eat well, exercise regularly and more importantly, make sure you learn a good variety of exercises, for each area of the body there are tons of exercises for each part and with the right ordering of the exercises you can spend a hour and a half on one body part without it becoming too tired after 2-3 exercises!!


I've got to go now, but I'm going to be updating more frequently now I have things to say, peace you beautiful, beautiful readers!

INFO BURST!!

I'm low on time but feel like sharing a ton of information with you readers, some food for thought if you will!
Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power!!

Things you might want to consider if you're getting more healthy:

www.fitocracy.com/
This site is great for motivation and for networking, as you log you're workouts you gain expirence points and even level up! It has a whole host of quests and achievements and is overall a great way to track your fitness adventure.

www.loseit.com/
As Fitocracy is for fitness, loseit is for diet and health. You set a goal, it tells you how many calories you need to take in daily and how long it will take to reach your target weight on the assumption you meet the requirements.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Everything you eat has a nutritional value, and there are a few great sites on finding out what in whatever you eat and more importantly how you cook the food effects its nutritional value. Counting calories? Counting Carbs? or Counting proteins this is the site for you.


Bodybuilding?
http://scoobysworkshop.com/bodybuilding-nutrition-made-simple/
Scoobys Workshop has a whole wealth of information, but the most important reason you should use this site is from the good, honest no plug approach to exercise. He will tell you not only what you should be doing, but also how to do it with minimal cost. Also his entire site, apps and knowledge is free.


It's a quick post I know but give these sites some consideration!

Also remember if there is something specific you'd liek to know about, leave a comment below and I'll do my best to cover it in the next post, peace!

My Goals for this year? My goals for this year.

If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know I'm not that interested in self indulging with my own life / opinions, I just like factual, to the point advice. So you might ask yourself why trust what I say?
The answer is simple, like all things in life its about extracting the useful information from what I write and incorporate it however you see fit.

I write about my journey, not just physically life changes but also ones regarding the mind. When I learn something I share it here, it's not just for the benefit of the readers but also a way of storing my own discoveries so I can reflect and perfect things learnt.

I'm working towards getting the body I want and working towards for-filling all the things I want to achieve, life is non-stop and time waits for no man (or woman).

It would seem that, only naturally, there has been a fresh influx of viewers to the blog I thought I'd share my ambitions for this year and my "New Years resolution"; I'll also explain why this is a new thing for me and more importantly why this is in the ADVENTURE section.

Why I disagree with New Years Resolutions:

Why is it only the start of the year people decide to make life changes? 

New year, new start, is what the majority of people will say. For me my perspective is more "seize the day" than maybe in January.

If you want to make life changes, do them as soon as possible!! Acting on a problem is like pushing a large rock down a hill, its a hard push getting that rock to move but once its set in action and starts rolling (Equivalent to making and keeping a routine).

So it's not that I'm ANTI resolution / change / thing's being given up, it's more the mentality that this can only occur in January 1st.

Why I am going to make a New Years Resolution... or not really:

I'm going to be making something similar to a NYR, except mines a little different to accommodate my views on only making changes once a year.

It shall be called: NEW YEARS MILESTONES, or NYM for an abbreviation.
Why?
Well It's not making resolutions and general life changes that is the problem, anyone can talk about what they want to do but as the saying go's "Actions Speak Louder Than Words".

So set milestones, things to have achieved by a certain time, make them manageable and not too difficult.

Why is this an adventure?

Whenever you undertake any life changes it's important to not only do it for a valid reason but also to enjoy the outcome of the change.

For example many people try to diet or lose weight through an eating habit change, but sadly, usually fall at one of the following hurdles:

• Drown in all the tides of information available on the subject, magazines contradicting each-other and all the fads and products they tell you to use or avoid.
  Solution:
  There is a lot of information, but the basics are simple, avoid high saturated foods, foods that have been processed a lot and don't eat more calories than you need to expend.
  
  
• Unable to keep up a healthy eating pattern, pushed for time you often find yourself making unhealthy compromises and thus slipping back to old habits.
  Solution:
  This is why you'll need structure, forward planning and backup solutions like a small healthy emergency food supply, make a chart for the week and buy everything you need in advance.
  
  
• The cost of "Health Foods" seems disproportionally high, and not a viable route for your own economic situation.
  Solution:
  While in the UK fresh fruit and vegetables are not cheap they are however easy to process into a more useful and economic source. For example making various big soup batches and freezing them and just heating as when needed. Try and use all parts of what you use and limit waste, things like herbs can be grown at home with ease.
  
  
• Some people take up a resolution with a friend or group of people for "support", but as soon as members succumb to some of the previous pitfalls.
  Solution:Always make a resolution for yourself, you should not really need support from other people if you have the drive and fire needed to make the change work, forget what people think or say, the changes YOU want are for YOU, not them. For motivation just think about the end goal and how you will feel having achieved it, and you will with that mentality.
  
• The most common of all, is to view only the negatives attached to the diet. "I can't eat this, or shouldn't eat that" but never focus on the positives like "I want to look like this, I want ot feel like that", this is something I call Short-term thinking, and is the main problem.

Solution:
While most changes require something to be given up or at least cut down it's worth looking at this in the abstract, yes you're giving up eating chocolate cake every week, but there is nothing stopping you once you've achieved some of your goals and feel comfortable in your control to treat yourself to a slice once in a while, its about moderation (not with smoking however). Just remember, the person you'll be after the goal, how that person feels, how much happier you are. After all this is the precise reason you want the change in the first place!



Ok so as promised I'd add my own personal goals, so you have a perspective as to what I'm trying to achieve, and while my list might look daunting I've been doing this for a while now and know what I can and cannot cope with, so this is by no means a guild line for other peoples list, you should have at least 3 items however spread across the year.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ~ January ~
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keep up with diet, maintaining good discipline with the odd treat to keep me from straying off the path.
Make sure to keep my workout days high protein.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]

Finally get some sort of consistent employment / keep up with freelance work.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ February ~

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to start running and cycling more seriously, Monday and Friday All being total Cardio days, either in the Gym or jogging / cycling outside.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]


Work on a few projects to try and earn a lot of money, as well as learning new ways to manage my finances.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ March ~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


To be able to comfortably:

1. Bench press 80kg on the smith machine
2. Squat 120kg on the smith machine
3. Single Dumbbell row 35KG
4. Dumbbell Press 30KG
5. Legpress (8 reps) 220 KG

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]


Buy some new clothing and feel good enough about my body to post a progress photo on a fitness related site.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ April ~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Get to my target weight of 11.5 stone.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]



Work on the Business and hope to have the finances to inject into making it completely viable.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]





-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ May ~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Start really concentrating on a month of Digital painting, not done it in a while and I need ot get back up to speed plus its therapeutic.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ June ~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Make sure to camp at a remote island I know for a day or 3.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]


Keep my diet on track, making sure I'm not making any mistakes and learn a few new recipes and tricks.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ July ~

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Start to learn a new martial art and finally finish reading Sun Tzu's "The Art Of War"

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]



Be comfortable topless in public, not to show off but more to just regain confidence in my appearance.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]





-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ August ~

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Go on an adventure.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]





-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ September ~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Check how my strength is coming along and document the readings, up weight and reps.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ October ~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLANK MONTH
Do things not accomplished in previous months.




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ November ~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLANK MONTH
Do things not accomplished in previous months.




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ~ December ~

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Make sure to have gone Abroad at LEAST once during the year.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]

See in the new year eve watching fireworks in a different country.

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]

So there you have it, it took much longer to write up than necessary but at least now you can see what my milestones are for this year, things might get moved about or changed but that is the basic principal, if I achieve all of these then I can be happy with my year!

I'll also (at the end of the month) Post if I was successful or not in my goals, if I'm not then the most important thing to do is work out why, and then learn from that failure as that is the only way we as people can improve!

I wish you all the best of luck in your resolutions or milestones, I'll post again soon back onto topic.
Remember if there is something specific you want me to cover then hit me a message and I'll do my best to meet your request.

Next post will be:  HOW TO REPLACE THE GYM!
(A post about how to do all you need at home for the price of a few months gym membership)

Peace!