Goal Status and Updates - 1Q2009

The first quarter was a bit of a mixed bag. On one goals, I exceeded anything I could have imagined possible. All of the others were failures, at varying levels. :( Anyway, now I have some things to refocus on for Q2.

Business: Finish writing e-book by 9 Jan 2009. Publish by 16 Jan 2009. FAIL.
Business: Make 3 contacts during Money:Tech 2009 (6 Feb 2009).
Personal: Ride a blue trail by 31 March 2009. FAIL.
Professional: Find and accept an offer for an awesome new career opportunity by 31 March 2009 (end of 1Q2009). FAIL.
Fitness: Achieve 10% body fat by 31 Mar 2009 (end of 1Q2009). SURPASSED.
Fitness: 25 dips, full extension, full body weight by 31 Mar 2009 (end of 1Q2009). FAIL.

So let's break these down quickly. Money:Tech 2009 was canceled, somewhat unceremoniously, by O'Reilly. So there was no way I was going to accomplish that goal, even though I had my registration in order and was seeking a place to stay for those days when I was informed of the cancellation.

I am moving my "ride a blue trail" goal to the end of the year. I thought I'd ridden a blue trail at Whitetail on my last trip there, but it turned out to be a green. So I decided to take a break to refresh before tackling a real blue. Well, like an idiot, I ended up riding another green 2 or 3 more times (because it was just so fun, and the conditions at season end were amazingly good). Those runs totally crushed my legs, though. I should have just ridden the blue first, but by riding the green, I totally subverted the achievement of my own goal. It just goes to show that most of the time, you just get in your own way in life. :\

I'm still not sure if I will finish the e-book. The economic/financial crisis has been dissected to death, and there will be tons more in the future. This crisis is on its way to be becoming a Harvard Business School case study! So, although my e-book sought to be comprehensive in explaining the crisis as well as delving into practical solutions for real people to survive, thrive and prosper through it's aftermath, I don't know if I can do better than what has already come out. (Or will come out in the future.) I may still do it, just for my own personal edification, but I'm unsure at this point.

With my goal of 25 dips, I came close but as my father is fond of saying, "close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes". During my workout, I normally do sets of 15 reps of dips, but I was (until recently) doing 6 sets. That works out to 90 dips over the course of a session. So I thought the 25 in a row would be easy to do. Man, was I ever wrong! I failed at rep 17, then again at rep 22. Since I did not make it straight through, I am calling this a FAIL even though the definition of success is my own. I could rightfully call it a pass, since I did get all 25 dips. I'll move this goal to later in the year as well, and spend more time preparing.

My 10% body fat goal was my only success, but given the rather aggressive fitness goals I set, it is amazing that I reached it when I did. Actually, I made it to 8.4% body fat before the end of January, IIRC. It definitely was measured before the end of February. If you look at my original 2009 goals list, the date by which to achieve 8% body fat was 31 December. So I basically crushed this goal, and almost achieved my annual goal before the end of the Q1. I can see my sixpack coming into focus, and I haven't even gotten serious about sculpting my body yet. Talk about inspiring!

Finally, I did not find a new career opportunity. Not even close. I dither on whether to continue pursuing this goal at this time. I have other projects I would like to spend more time on, and my job suits my lifestyle perfectly well. While it often annoys the hell out of me, it's an easy job, with a solid company, decent benefits, amazing hours, and I work with people I generally like doing something I generally like. The only real problems are that I think the organization is misguided and confused, and management above my direct manager is ineffective and highly politicized.

*sigh*

Time to get to work!

Here's my updated list of goals for the remainder of this year:

Personal: Cook 1 meal per week by 30 Jun 2009 (end of 2Q2009).
Business: Finish unwinding my real estate partnership by 30 Jun 2009 (end of 2Q2009).
Fitness: 1 hr of cardio on the Precor EFX 556 in interval mode by 30 Jun 2009 (end of 2Q2009).
Fitness: 10 wide grip pull ups, full body weight, by 30 Jun 2009 (end of 2Q2009).
Fitness: 25 dips, full extension, full body weight by 31 Mar 2009 (end of 2Q2009).
Personal: Save $15,000 for house down payment by 30 Sep 2009 (end of 3Q2009).
Personal: Read 1 book per month (12 total) by 31 Dec 2009.
Personal: Accumulate $30,000 in emergency funds by 31 Dec 2009.
Personal: Achieve $90,000 in net worth by 31 Dec 2009.
Personal: Pay AmEx down to $0.00 by 31 Dec 2009.
Personal: Ride a blue trail by 31 March 2009.

Stretch:

Fitness: Achieve a visible sixpack by 30 Sep 2009 (end of 3Q2009).
Personal: Achieve $150,000 in net worth by 31 Dec 2009.
Personal: Read 1 book per week (52 total) by 31 Dec 2009.
Fitness: Achieve 8% body fat by 31 Dec 2009.
Fitness: Chest press 200 lbs for 15 reps by 31 Dec 2009.
Fitness: 1 hr of cardio on Precor EFX 556 in hill climb mode by 31 Dec 2009.
Personal: Accumulate $50,000 in emergency funds by 31 Dec 2009.

Until next time...