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.

THAILAND ADVENTURE SPECIAL: PART 1 CHIANG MAI

This is going to be a big post, so I'll do my best to keep if from being boring, but this isn't so much a post of "I did this, and this and this" etc.
This post is designed to explain what I've learned and taken away from a spectacular adventure!

The Adventure spans from North to South, hitting 5 locations!

The mountainous Chiang Mai, the spanning metropolis and urban slums of Bangkok, the beaches of Phuket and Krabi finally ending the mammoth 3 week excursion on the island of Koi Samoi.

Beginning in London, England I board a flight on the colossal A380-800 double decker Airbus.

This was the first time I had ever been on a long haul flight (and this one is a 12 hour long flight) and also the first time I'd been a big plane, previously I'm used to the 3 seats, a walkway and 3 seats set-up.
This plan is insane! Fitted with the latest mod-cons and the size of a large ship getting aboard it I had to remind myself the laws of physics to understand how something so huge could ever take flight.

The view was spectacular and I'm that guy that loves to sit at the window browsing the heavens.

12 hours is a long time, and even with the ample leg-room, headpillows, supplied blanket and ear buds I struggled to sleep on route. I did however watch the latest starwars film and "the heart of the sea" which I thoroughly enjoyed... anyway I digress, the food was good! The sleep not so.

Eggs Benidict, fresh fruit, orange juice and yoghurt, this was what I awoke to on the plane as it neared the destination. 

As soon as we arrived in Bankok we got our transfer flight to Chiang Mai and since I had got off a plane straight into the airport and then onto another plane I had yet to experience any climate.

Upon arrival in Chiang Mai, I was greeted by my partners family whom were very welcoming, I had my first taste of heat, that day it was around 33 degrees C. We immediately went to a local food place and ate a huge amount of dimsum. All of which totalled to around £6 (in London this amount would have easily cost £50).

Other than the heat my first culture shock was the conditions in which food places existed, they looked unclean (in comparison to the UK of course) and even if the nurse back in the UK who gave me my inoculations would have protested heavily in eating in such places, I came here for an adventure and if I got sick, then so be it.

The food was incredible, I was not sick. Flies were always buzzing around and while I was mildly uncomfortable I knew that I would accept any opportunity that came my way (unless immediately life threatening) and fully experience the trip.
After all, what's a life if you cannot live it.

Next we was whisked up into the beautiful mountains (while fully jet-lagged and non rested) to a Elephant sanctuary (The word in Thai for Elephant is "Chang" as in the exported beer which you might have heard off) all through Thai history and mythology the elephant has played a huge role in the social development. Elephants, to most are viewed as scared and wise. 

Personally I try to avoid places that make money from enslaved animals, it's not something I fully condone but as previously said, this trip is to challenge my beliefs and try new things.

I have no footage of me riding the elephant but rest assured I did, i got my partner (who can speak fluent Thai) to converse with the elephant driver / trainer. They have a deep connection with the animals and these parks are the only way to ensure their safety from poachers. It's all a bit sad really but the ride was interesting, the elephant easily carried us around and enjoyed the snacks we bought it from a stall. The money the park makes from rides and gap year courses (looking after elephants) helps maintain the park and care for the animals. 

There was a moment were the elephant got spooked by a moped driving recklessly fast and close and the driver had to hit the elephant (with a stick) across the head.

Now while this didn't wash well with me, after conversing with him I do realise that while the hit did next to no damage to the elephant (they are VERY durable) it did break it out of a potential stampede and ensure our safety. 

A petrol station in the rural mountains, they sell petrol in glass bottles and in barrels like this, it's all very... safe...

This was at another location were we ate (seems that it's not uncommon for Thai people to eat every few hours, I've no idea how they do it).
In almost all restaurants / eating houses etc you'll have bottles of water on the table, if you take one and drink it it's added to your bill, but since it's such a hot country water is always available.

Worth noting that drinking water isn't something you'll really ever find from taps, drinking water is a huge commodity, and this year I happen to arrive in the midst of the country's hottest year in 60 years. 

I drank a VERY expensive coffee made from poo (can't remember the animal). Why? Because I had the opportunity... it wasn't that great (mostly because I like my coffee ruined with milk and a dash of sugar). It had a bitter deep taste of dark berries and earthy after tones.

The mountains of the North of Thailand brought cool winds that kept the humidity low.

What did I take from Chiang Mai:
The prices of eating are cheap, every 20 second walk provided you with multiple options for food, and all of which are amazing!

The climate is very tolerable.

The people are all very friendly and accommodating, from the Monks I met in the sky temple (I got a Buddha necklace and even got it blessed, I'm not a Buddhist, I am however accepting of others right to believe even if I am myself an atheist) to the shop keepers of the 7/11 stores. Everyone is incredibly hospitable.

The way of life is relaxed, slow and rural but there is a good amount of shops and malls to keep shopping needs in check. The night markets are bustling and stocked full of cheap goods that you can almost always haggle down even cheaper.

Days passed and after a lot of activities (this post isn't so much about those activities) we borded the night train to Bankok for 12 hours of travel.

The night train has bunk beds, air-conditioning (if you pay a tiny bit more) and food, you sleep as you travel hundreds of miles and save a lot of money on internal flights.

This night train came complete with cockroaches who scampered across the floor, they are harmless and since the beds are off the floor it's really not an issue.

I've got a headache so I'll wrap this up, basically, Chiang Mai should be visited by anyone, it has a relaxed vibe mixed with traditional life that's not been completely erased by technology.

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! 

The End of 4.5.

For a while now I've been opening up a new post, typing a title and sat staring at a blank page.

When I first started this blog in early 2011... wow... 3 years... *ahem* I had no problem writing articles because the information was fresh to me and as I learned various tips and fell into many pitfalls I was able to talk about it. The last year I've been looking into personal training and have stepped up the bodybuilding and healthy living aspect, I have nothing else on the basics to share with exception to some more advanced topics like training various muscle groups and detailed analysis of particular exercises.

There are, however, many other aspects to my life other than fitness and the business stuff.

For example, I'm a writer and currently nine chapters into my latest novel which I hope to get published. I build board-game mechanics and last but most importantly, I'm a philosopher.

I would like to discuss my theories on human behavior, on my stances on religion, politics and ethics.
I've always known this Blog wouldn't cover my personal life too much and would avoid ranting but I never even considered that I have much more to give than just fitness advice, so I'll give it a whirl in the new up-coming version, 5.0!!

We have come a long way since the start, so thought I'd share a timeline of the current headers for each version, for nostalgia purposes.
Each header had it's own theme and the colour scheme's and background all worked in harmony (I do not have a back collection of the backgrounds sadly.

 

Let's see what 5.0 offers.


See you Space Cowboy...

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!

SPRING IN MY STEP

Spring is here, the sun in out and the very gloomy and record breaking cold winter the UK has just had is but a mere frosty fog on the lens of our memories. I'm sure, like myself you've noticed a drop in posts and to make this up to you and myself I'm currently taking a train back from London to my home-town  It only just occurred to me that I could write my posts in advance to save me work in the evenings which is my normal posting time. The main issue is simple; I've gone from a slow pace of life to what is now a constant stream of things creating disturbance and distraction in my normal posts. I’ll talk about a few of the things I've been up to anyway.

Things I have to fit into a day on average:

• Eating well (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
• 1.5 Hours in the Gym.
• Work on my Business (Which includes):

- Finances

- Product Design

- Marketing

- Business Model and strategy

- Streamlining workflow

- Social media presence

- Designing new products

- Maintaining strong supplier relations

- Email Sifting

- Arrange photo shoots

- Work on Shoots

- Arrange, and edit images after finding right shots

- Branding and Company Identity

- Promotion

- Setting and meeting milestones

- Organising all documentation and filing

- Conceptualising new directions

• Work on various Freelance design work.
• Work a job (at the moment I've got some intern work).
• Host game nights (most nights).
• Attend a hobby club on Wednesdays.
• Work on miscellaneous personal projects.
• Visit parents once a week
• Skype my girlfriend in the night when not in London
• Skype friends and family when in London
• Update Blog
• Update Various Facebook pages and groups

Things I have coming up that I need to find space for:

• Birthday of a good friend
• My own birthday
• 2 weeks intern work
• 2 weeks in a clinical trail testing Flu vaccines (It’s really helpful for other people and I also get paid to do it)
• Dental Surgery
• A event at London I may be attending to set up a stall
• Freelance work creating designs, manufacturing and printing T-Shirts for another event
• Creating a cheap range designs and prints to sell off old out-dated stock

So as you can see, I'm pretty busy and updating the Blog isn't a speedy system, I normally write it up, and upload the various images you see on here like the headers etc, this all takes time! My average Blog post takes just under 2 hours, which in the grand scheme of things is a huge amount of time!

However, I do not view it as work or even a service. I view this blog as a way of relaxing and noting down things that (most of the time) will help other people save money and time or just provide what I consider invaluable information I've discovered or learnt the hard way.

Anyway as you can see I've got a pretty tight schedule, so from now on I'm going to have to put to good use any waste time(like the long train journey to London) to get things lower on my list completed.

I hope everyone is well, oh and on the fitness and health front, I'm doing ok!

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.

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 ~ January ~
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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 ~

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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 ~

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 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 ~

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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 ~

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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 ~

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

Tick box's: VICTORY [  ]   DEFEAT [ ]




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

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BLANK MONTH
Do things not accomplished in previous months.




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

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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!