Consistency

I'm having a hard time determining if consistency is something that can be cultured and learned, or if it is the byproduct of simply creating habits, but one thing is for sure:


Being consistent produces results.


I'm attempting to be consistent in a lot of things.  Writing in my blog, expressing art in some form, training.  A lot of things I start and then drop.  It's unfortunate, because I have first hand experience on what doing something consistently will do for me. 


The main thing I've done consistently in the past few months is working out.  Not running (Stupid snow), but hitting the gym during the week.  Fortunately for me, I have a gym at my work.  On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I forego half my lunch in order to take another half an hour in the afternoon.  It's a great break from work, and I usually feel great after working out.  And the results have been showing.  While I didn't get results as quickly as I hoped (This is what would normally deter me), I'm seeing definitive progress. 


First, I've surpassed my previous all-time record for bench press.  Secondly, one day, I started feeling up my arms and I realized that there was a lot more bumps than had ever been there before.  Finally, I'm feeling like I've got more energy.  All great signs!


Now, I'll keep envisioning what I can do if I get all of these habits into place that I want.  Until then, I'm just going to keep making lifestyle changes.  It's no longer (entirely) about me losing weight.  It's about living a healthier lifestyle.  I don't remember where I heard this quote, but "I don't want to spend my life getting into shape, I want to be in shape to live my life"

More progression!

It's about time to step back and take a look at the improvements I've made in my life.  While I've gone back and forth on my goals to losing weight and to writing more, I've done quite a bit in terms of getting my life on track to actually complete those goals.  I'm measuring progression in my life, but not by the criteria I expected to a couple months ago.


The two biggest changes have to do with my eating habits and my exercising habits.  For my diet for most of my life, I avoided vegetables like the plague.  I'd even throw up if forced to eat them (Which happened a lot).  But slowly, I began eating them.  Where even a few months ago it was a drain on my willpower to eat a spinach salad, I've not been eating them for almost every lunch.  I don't even need to take the stem off anymore!  Slowly, I'm going to add in peppers, cucumbers, and whatever I find delicious in my salads.  Because, if I'm going to eat that salad, why shouldn't I make it something that tastes great to me!  (Not others).


Exercising is the other big change.  I've tried starting up an exercise routine quite a few times these past two years.  I'd last only about 2-3 weeks on running ones, and maybe 1-2 weeks with strength training.  Well, it's been almost 6 weeks that I've been strength training.  I'm not seeing large amounts of strength gain, but I am seeing more definition.  Also, yesterday I started running again with Kayla.  I really wanted to start sooner, but I prefer running outside, and up until now, it has been about a bijillion degrees below zero each morning. 


I hope to keep that up.  This summer, I want to join a small soccer league.  Something to get me out and allow me to be competitive.


I just want to give a shout out to Dark Souls, which I've been playing quite a lot recently.  It has the most subtle progression I've seen in a game, and I love it.  The biggest one I saw yesterday had to do with the skeletons in the graveyard.  I attempted to fight them early in the game, and got completely destroyed.  Couldn't even do damage.  Even after a couple of levels, I was still in the same boat. 


So I dropped it and completed the next area of the game.  Came back, and still got destroyed.  Completed a few more areas of the game, and was finally able to come back and beat them.  However, it took a few tries, and I took tons of damage.


Fast forward some more to where I am now.  I came back and these things that were bosses compared to me forever ago, now do about 4% of my life per hit, and I can kill them with one swing. 


In a lot of RPGs, if you are stuck on some sort of mob, you gain a few levels, and then now they are the easiest thing in the world.  In Dark Souls, you can gain a few levels, and still see no noticeable difference.  But if you keep at it, tackle what you can handle right now, and keep moving forward, you'll eventually find yourself doing things you found impossible before.


Keep up the good work.

I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want...

So, I've been thinking what I want to work on.  What really is my end goal.  I kept saying "To make (art) anything"... But if that's what I really wanted to do, I think I would have been more apt to find a way.  I'd get more excited about it than just for a couple days.  Well, here's a more defined direction.


I want to create stories.  I'm not saying write stories, because there's one element I want to add to the mix... I want my stories to be interactive.  I'll be setting up the stories, but I won't be the one dictating where they go.  It'll take a lot of work, and I'll be starting small this time, but this is the first direction that has stemmed from me thinking about it.  Who knows, it might not be for me.


But for now, I want to try.  I want to give it my all.  No expectations other than making sure I give it my best effort.

ToDo: Expectations

Note to self, expectations are a recurring theme recently.  It might be quite beneficial to think about this in depth.

Monday!

It's a Monday, but that's okay.  It's on track to be a good week!  I haven't prepared anything yet, and everything about my cruise that I wanted to write about is in my notebook at home.  So, I thought I'd just leave myself a couple notes.

1. Do it for yourself!
2. Time is valuable, but don't try to squeeze everything out of each minute.  That only tends to reduce the value (Slow down!)
3. While a mess is one huge blob, it's comprised of many individual things.  It takes cleaning up those things one at a time in order to clean the entire mess.
4. 3 rules to help live my life
1. Don't worry
2. Don't hurry
3. Enjoy yourself
5. Consistency is necessary in order to build habits.

Until next time.