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 #2

THE PAST:

The person in this photograph (it's the least intrusive photo I own of said person) is one of my closest friends, who for the sake of this blog, is called Jeff Nerval (That is a fake name... I know you know, but I was just checking... all right, calm down I'll carry on!).

I've known Jeff for a large number of years, since my last year in Highschool if I remember correct (which I often can't thanks to the whole memory issue thing discussed before)

Anyway I digress, when I met Jeff he was just another guy in a bunch of guys who all spent our weekends causing trouble, going on adventures and drinking heavily.

Fun Jeff Fact# 1: 
I accidently made Jeff quit drinking alcohol when I jokingly told him to "down it" when he was sipping from a 70cl of Vodka... He then, to everyone's surprise, downed it, fell off a cemetery wall onto a tombstone, ran off into the night and eventually "instant-translocated" (Don't ask) before having to go to hospital and have his stomach pumped. He didn't drink for around 10 years.

Throught the years Jeff has been a constant, he has obviously grown up a lot as have we all but the adventures mostly came to an end once he became addicted to online gaming.

The reason this is put into the past section (even if we are still currently very close friends) is because he is the one friend I've never had a major issue with. Sure I have my minor niggling things, but that's part of who he is and I'm not deluded in thinking I'm perfect, far from it.

Jeff Grievances:
1. Smokes heavily... what makes it worse is that he wants to quit. Now I'm no fool, I know it's not something that's easily quit (Having done so myself, 5 years ago), but every time he lights one up I envision that his life span slowly decreases, and as one of my closest friends that's painful to think about possibly having to attend his funeral. Now I'm also aware that it's a silly viewpoint, anyone can die at any point for any number of reasons. But I think about a lot of things often.

 2. Is highly addicted to gaming, to the point where reality has little meaning.
Now it sounds excessive, but I'm 90% sure that if his PC / gaming devices died, and there was no way to get a new one he would actually be struck with the reality of life. Now the longer this happens, the harder reality is to accept. He says he'd be bored, which is probably now true. But he wasn't born on a PC, and used to spend a lot of time outside just messing about. Now as Jeff is in his mid 20's it's not as if I'd expect him to hang out at the arcades, but I think the problem is that he hasn't found a real passion. Gaming isn't even a passion of his, just a way to kill time otherwise he'd look into screen play, level design, sound design, storytelling, user experiences or even make youtube / blogs about games he reviews.
I might be wrong, but to me, gaming is to him what watching the TV is to others, a past time, a window of enjoyment that can never last, but more importantly, detracts you from what is real.
Basically I think the guy still needs to find his passion / hobby / interest.

3. Has low self worth.
For many reasons which are not for me to discuss, life has told this guy you're not good enough. Reality is that this guy is great! He has solid opinions that even if he's talking to someone with the opposite viewpoint he'd eventually say "fair enough" and not hold it against someone.
Respecting peoples opinions, more so when they differ to your own shows a high level of maturity and advancement in compassion.

4. There is no 4. See, what a great friend this guy makes!

Fun Jeff Fact# 2: For someone who has a fairly unhealthy diet and lifestyle, Jeff can backflip, front flip and pretty much any other crazy thing on a trampoline.


All I really want to talk about, past wise, is that no matter what I've been like (and I've been many things) he has been a constant. I really think highly of the guy and just want him to realise that he's 25. He's seen little of the world and has nothing tying him down, whenever he finds the whale (Read last post for reference) no matter where I am, I'll help him track it down.



PRESENT:

(This photo is old, but it's purpose is still used today)
Oddly, this is one of my most sensitive photos, it has huge significance to me.

I took this photo 4 months deep in depression (around 5 years ago), on a cocktail of meds and I took this photo.

What is important is that when I took this photo, I thought I was smiling and taking a flattering selfie in good light and looking happy.

The reality is that the drugs made me a zombie, I had grown what can only be described as a homeless beard, I was overweight and sleeping constantly. When I saw the image (some time later) it made me realise what the drugs and depression had turned me into, I didn't like it and made some big changes.

I show myself this image very often, to remind me when I've fallen that I've not even fallen as close to the bottom of the pit as I had before, and if I had the power to crawl back up that jaggard cliff, I can do so again.

Never give up.


THE FUTURE:

The future is looking interesting, with these large projects in the works I plan for the future to buy a really high-end graphics tablet and a high profile laptop so I can do digital painting on the move.

After work, and Gym I'm beat, I'm calling this post for tonight.


FINAL WORDS: (Like Jerry Springer hahaha)

Hold onto good friends, good friends will be there for you no matter what or how long you've not spoken. Make sure to let them know that you appreciate them.

Never let your past dictate your future, but importantly learn from it.

And lastly, keep trying new things and upping your game at what you think you know. You'd be surprised what more can be discovered!

Peace.

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!

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?

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!

So you wan't to be a resolution master?

So you're thinking of, or setting a new years resolution. Since this is a (majority) a health blog, I'm going to go over a few things health related resolutions and how to approach them.

DON'T MAKE THESE RESOLUTIONS:

I want to give up bad foods.

I want to exercise more.

I would like to be X weight.

I'll try to give up smoking.

I want to be more successful.

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DO MAKE THESE RESOLUTIONS:

I will be more healthy by next new years.

I will fit in X item of clothing again.

I will quit smoking.

I will quit alcohol.

I will build the body I want.

I will achieve X goal.

*Notice the will , thisis because the words "Want" "Try" and "going to" are all approaching words not doing words. Telling yourself you WILL do something is more likley to result in positive subconscious approval over I'LL TRY, or I WANT.

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I want to be X weight by X date.

So you have an idea what weight you want to be, and while in most cases weighing less would indicate a healthy person this is not entirely true.

The real question isn't being X weight, it's rather "I want to be a lot more healthy by X date".
WARNING:
When setting any variables (dates, weight, size, anything that is reliant on a time frame) you HAVE to be realistic, most people fail this aspect I'll give an example:

"I want to lose 2 stones (28 lbs) in 2 months"

This is very unachievable without putting your health at serious risk, and since your health should come first. You will fail this goal, get disheartened and likely quit. However:

"I want to fit into X item of clothing again before summer."

This kind of goal is a lot better, even if to fit in said clothing you'd need to lose 2 stone (28 lbs), its not a giant number any more  its an item of clothing, something tangible. And also losing 2 stone within 6 months is doable at a healthy rate.

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SUMMERY:

Make resolutions:

• Precise and not vague.
• Achievable.
• Beneficial.
• Tangible (something real to you, something you can image how you'd feel if you achieved it)
• You would break your back (metaphorically speaking) to maintain, DO NOT even a little bit go back on what you set out to do.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, because YOU want to do it, DO NOT do resolutions with friends under the illusion of support, the foundation has to be because you actually want to do this regardless of friends doing the same thing.

So you want to be healthy / lose weight / build muscle / tone / become fitter / become more attractive (yes).

Well the bad news is, no matter what you're goal is you can only BENEFIT a great deal by changing your diet.

Good news is that this is no where near as bad as people and the media make out, take it from me, I'm a hugely fussy eater.

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Little side note: while studies show the body only absorbs so much vitamin content from foods, you do still absorb an amount. I highly recommend taking Vitamin B12. It's a vitamin that increases serotonin output which is responsible for making us feel happy. Feeling happy is always a bonus when you do anything. 

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Do you suffer from heartburn or indigestion?

Well I used to, it's actually really easy to fix, eat less red meat (nobody is banning you, just limit your intake) and avoid meats that have been processed too much, more processing = more heartburn from the fatty stabilisers they add to processed foods (helps increase its shelf life).

My personal tip, always buy raw ingredients and cook from scratch, its not hard to learn a few recipes, if you buy batches of food and make large amounts to freeze and eat later or things that you can store in your fridge and eat over the space of a few days, you'll find yourself rapidly saving money.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE:

Processed ready meals.
Why:
They have high saturated fats and salt contents, the meat is heavily processed and the vegetables lacking in nutrition.

Low % pork sausages (I always aim for over 70% pork, you can look on the pack to see).
Why:
The rest of that % is the bad stuff, cartilage, tendons, guts, connective tissue, bits from the head and other parts of the pig. This stuff is lacking in nutrition and not great for you.

Non free range / organic chicken or eggs. (I know that it costs more for them)
Why:
Caged chickens have a terrible life, you must not ever forget to be thankful for the life you consume, and I just think if a chicken has to die for me it should at least have a life with dignity, not injected and modified and not feed altered food to make it grow abnormally fast. Chicken might be a great food source but it is also a living creature. Plus remember all the growth hormones and modifiers get absorbed by the animal and passed into the meat in one form or another.

Fast food:
Why:
Fast food has little nutritional value and is generally bad for you, sometimes its a nice treat but that is how it should be viewed, and if I'm honest, after having a prolonged period of not eating fast food or heavily carbonated drinks I actually realised just how disgusting and how unnatural they tasted.

Cheese:
Why:
This is a hard one for me, I love cheese and do have it now and then as treat. The problem is that it is mostly fat and a high percentage of it saturates, only one cheese is really good for you and that's cottage cheese, it has a high protein content and is great for people working out.

Carbonated (Fizzy) Drinks:
Why:
Carbonated drinks have a huge sugar content, this can help cause diabetes and will aid to terrible dental health. They offer very little actual hydration, and as for diet drinks, they have sweeteners in which are actually carcinogenic (indirect cancer causing chemicals).

HIGH SATURATED FAT FOODS:
Why:
High sat fat foods are very hard to digest, in my experiences you should't really eat anything that contains over 5grams of sat fat. Some foods will surprise you very much! I once bought a kids lunch box kit (came with cheese and ham slices and crackers) and it was over 10 grams of sat fat!! ALWAYS CHECK THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF FOODS YOU EAT!

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Next update I'm going to show you cost effective ways to buy raw ingredients and make healthy, good food that will help boost you in what you do.

I'm basically going to formulate recipes and foods that match the common goals people have!

On the next exciting episode of KIKOJUI EVOLUTION SAGA!!

"P o w e r  U p  M e a l s"
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Peace you beautiful, beautiful readers.

NEXT YEAR RUMBLE!!

So we rapidly approach new years, and I've not had a lot to say, however I have learned a LOT and since new years day is heading towards as at a fast pace, now more than ever people consider their health.
I'm going to push the blog into 5.0 and if you know ANYTHING about this blog then you'll realise that will bring a new feature or two, a new logo and a new feel. The reason this blogs face changes so often is to reflect the changes we make in ourselves. 5.0 is going to be awesome!!

Before I continue I feel I might refresh and go over a few VERY important things.

I'd like to go over something I find amusing, NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS.

While I personally approve of people wanting to make changes in their lives very few indeed ever make them (Myself included). This is down to many reasons but most importantly is the approach.

For example when I eventually quit smoking it wasn't the time I told myself "Today I'll quit" it was the day I thought to myself, I don't want to die before my time and at that moment threw a almost full pack of 20 into the bin. It sounds simple but you have to really want the changes if you expect them to last.

In the Gym, well in any Gym, just after Christmas the place gets packed with people unhappy with Christmas weight or just because it is their new years resolution. But this isn't your choice, not in the abstract.

You only thought about losing weight because on a specific day you're expected to make a resolution. This isn't your own thought, and since it's imposed onto you it feels more like a challenge than a option.

For you to make ANY changes in your life, be them giving up alcohol or losing weight, they all require some basic principals:

• You must WANT the change and not feel forced.
• You must ACCEPT that the changes will not happen quickly.
• You must DEVOTE yourself to the new cause, making sure to give it the attention it deserves.  
• You must LOVE the idea of actually accomplishing the goal.
• You must ENJOY doing the activity, I enjoyed every month I was smoke free, and I enjoy everytime I look in the mirror and see my changes.
• You must ACHIEVE a positive state of mind, don't look at a gym session as a hour and a half of pain, look at it as a hour and a half closer to being the person you wish to be.

Simple to remember really, WANT, ACCEPT, DEVOTE, LOVE, ENJOY, ACHIEVE.

AVOID THE PITFALLS OF FITNESS RIGHT HERE!!!

The single most important thing is that you DO NOT NEED A GYM.
Gym prices and deals are very attractive during the new year and there is a very good reason for it. The Gyms do NOT want guys like me that use the gym 3-5 times a week. They want the person who has made a new years resolution, go's for a week or two before quitting. Why? Well almost all Gyms require at least a 3 month contract, you'll be paying them for 3 months and only using the equipment for a week or so, the winners are the gym. Gyms will always have regulars like myself who sustain the buisness.

So let me weight up the advantages and disadvantages to a gym, and then I'll provide you with a very cost effective solution.

PROS:

1. A range of quality equipment and facilities.
2. A good atmosphere for exercising.

3. No space in your house required for the same equipment.

4. Expensive cardio machines like a treadmill.

5. On site professionals for advice.

CONS:

1. Costs an enormous amount of money in comparison to alternatives.

2. Queuing for equipment.

3. Witnessing bad form, and maybe thinking it's the right way to do an exercise.

4. Working out in front of other people is not easy for people who are unhappy with their body or shy.

5. Travel to the gym costs money unless you live close to one.

6. Meat heads who aren't always great to be around and the attitudes some people have to fitness.

SOLUTION:

If you have a lot of disposable income, do not care to waste your money and live close to a gym, then by all means use one. If not, do the following.

HOME SET UP!

• Buy two adjustable dumbbells (ones in which you can put different weights onto) and buy a good range of weights so that you can get around at max 40KG on a single dumbbell (should be the max amount you want to life on a dumbbell eventually, not what you can lift now)
• Buy a yoga mat, this will make a lot of exercises more comfortable and also yoga is fantastic for you anyway.
• Buy a Bar to do pull ups and dips on, you can get ones that fold and rest onto your door frame.
• Either buy a bench or just get a strong piece of wood to rest between two chairs as a bench, remove a chair for an incline bench, this will be used in a lot of exercises.
• For cardio, either use a bike or just run outside, no matter where you are this is always the best option for cardio unless you're prone to knee injury's, in which case I'd suggest buying a elliptical Cross trainer, low impact high cardiovascular, the cost of one would be about the same or less than a year at the gym anyway.
• If you have the space and a strong floor you could also get an olympic barbell, but this is optional.

Once you have these items you will be able to do everything most gyms can offer, free weights ALWAYS beat machines. Why? Because machines take out the balancing some of the smaller muscle groups provide when handling free weights.

Ok I've run out of time, I'm going to expand on this a lot more over the next few weeks, and go over how just how easily you can make those lasting changes and not just phase out after a week or so.

Best of luck readers, I've missed you!!

The clouds call me to me.

This weekend was the unleashing of a months work, I had spent the last month planning and arranging a surprise birthday for my lovely girlfriend, I had invited her friends and picked the venue etc.
She had a lobster with candles in for her cake (She loves sea food) and we all had an amazing time, even if I was stressed and over heated (was a VERY hot weekend in London, more so in a suit)  I still enjoyed and even relished in the challenge of making it all work.

It also reminded me just how much I like having adventures, more tales to tell my kids, so now I'm trying more than ever to start crafting the money I'll require to fund such a lifestyle!

I've got as much ready myself and even paierd with other artist's to create a more dynamic online store, I'm just waiting for the website, seems even if I've shaken the bad flea from the last attempt something is preventing me from getting this moving, and the amount I am trying to get in contact with the new coder it might seem almost like I'm very demanding, but I'm not, I just want to get everything finally launched and the products available online where they belong.

This week I'm going to Try my hardest to get SOME progress with the online store, I refuse to give up and I refuse to let up until I get some progress, this my dear readers may come across strong but believe me, in business you can only rely on other parties for so long, sometimes you got to grab the bull by the horns, snap them off and shove them deeply into the bulls ass.

Some point this week, as a treat IF I can achieve the Website progress, I will be having a camping adventure, maybe even by myself, so I can get some time to myself and evaluate some of life's aspects.

I'm hoping the weather remains as it is, if so I'm sure it will be a great and welcome break.

As I mentioned Earlier, I've been promoting products and collaborating with other artists, the Offical Rocket punch blog can be found > HERE <

The biggest problem was when I headed to the London MCM Expo, it seems people just do not care about copyright rights for the products they sell, so many people selling other companies logo's and designs without prior permission.

I was half contemplating on doing the same, I would make a lot of money, but after a lot of thought, I'm going to stick with my morals and company integrity. I may want to make profit, thats the main goal of most buisness's but I want to preserve my morals, I want to provide a quality product without stepping on those games and Tv shows that actually provide the initial interest and clientèle.

My products are more of a silent nod towards them, not a copy.
I felt I needed to air this, as some people might wonder why, with a market saturated by people ripping each other off why I'm not following suit.

You might agree with me, or think it's foolish to sacrifice income for base morals, but that is just how it is.

It all started with my first ever print, I wanted to test the quality of the heat press and the quality and finish of the industrial heat transfer paper, the finish was amazing, and thus was my first T-shirt ever printed.

You might remember seeing this a long time ago on the blog, I was just thinking about how far I've come, I could be very established by now if not for the whole website fiasco, but I learned an important lesson, leave  professional jobs to a professional.

I'm thinking of Framing this T-Shirt, it was the first in line, and lead the way in the direction I'm still following today even with all the issues and hurdles I've had to jump.

Recently I've started learning Traditional Mahjong, and I'm not going to lie to you, I'm still not 100% with all the scoring patterns as it is quite complex where scores can even go into the millions if you have not set a score limit.

What I will say is that it is VERY addictive.

Now I don't mean Mahjong solitaire, that is the most common mistake, that is a 1 player game, nothing like mahjong and calling it is the same as calling snap poker because it uses cards.

Anyway I won't rabble on too much about it as I'm certain its not everyone's idea of a fun game.
Where am I going with this?

Not sure... I'll move on!

That feeling of vastness, the open road and the uncertainty. All these things are for me the signs of a great adventure.

If I had to say what one thing makes me feel adventurous it would be the big billowing clouds on a hot and sunny day, where the clouds themselves look like snow topped peaks on the horizon, for me that is the loudest call to the adventure for me.

Have a great day readers!!