Post: #1

The past 4-5 months has been a roller coaster ride, both emotionally and physically. It all started with finding out my wife had cheated on me and masterfully kept it under wraps for more than a year, and I had hit rock bottom emotionally. Let's just say it was serious enough that I had to seek professional counseling. I worked up the courage to divorce her and move to my own place, and I kept myself busy enough so that I wouldn't hit the bottle like a lot of people would in my situation.

Now that I've settled into a routine, I am at this "now what? what's next?" stage in my life. First, I decided to fuck it and take a trip to the other side of the world... away from here. That's the short term.

For the long term, I've set my lifestyle goals for the rest of 2015:

- Lose an additional 10 pounds (by biking, lifting, eating 3 servings of fruit/veggies a day, limiting alcohol, etc)

- Immerse myself in Spanish to become fluent by the end of the year

- Schedule a block of at least 2-3 hours a week solely for day gaming

- Save at least $1000 a month, or more, towards future travels and/or investments

- Start at least one new income stream other than my job, aim to make the first $1000 by the end of the year

I'll update this thread periodically to keep myself accountable.

Post: #2

Fisto started a post about 2015 goals at the beginning of the year.

/thread-44009....2015+goals

Post: #3

Thanks Biz, I didn't know there was already a thread on this... had I known, I wouldn't have started a new one.

But anyway, I've been drowning myself in Spanish. Duolingo, reading articles online in Spanish, watching Spanish TV with captions. My reading comprehension has probably tripled in the past few days, and even when I don't know what the individual words mean, I can get the gist of it.

I'm excited for what this will bring me... knowing Spanish will open up an ENTIRE continent that is literally my next door neighbor (I'm in Houston). I cannot wait, and I'm definitely motivated.

Post: #4

Whenever I try to hit a lifestyle change I like to go out.
MY advice would be to cut out alcohol completely for 3 months and hit the gym/exercise 6x a week for a 3 month period. This will really make both things a habit (in my case at least) and after this time you can allow your self to a take a few rest days or get hammered every once in a while, but automatically your system will be used to not drinking and exercising after this sort of "mini boot camp".

PS. I also did this in regards to tracking calories (MY Plate app) and spending (spend tracker).

The results are unREAL!.

All the best bro

(03-17-2015 02:01 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Thanks Biz, I didn't know there was already a thread on this... had I known, I wouldn't have started a new one.

But anyway, I've been drowning myself in Spanish. Duolingo, reading articles online in Spanish, watching Spanish TV with captions. My reading comprehension has probably tripled in the past few days, and even when I don't know what the individual words mean, I can get the gist of it.

I'm excited for what this will bring me... knowing Spanish will open up an ENTIRE continent that is literally my next door neighbor (I'm in Houston). I cannot wait, and I'm definitely motivated.

Post: #5

(03-18-2015 12:32 AM)djjunior Wrote:  Whenever I try to hit a lifestyle change I like to go all out.
MY advice would be to cut out alcohol completely for 3 months and hit the gym/exercise 6x a week for a 3 month period. This will really make both things a habit (in my case at least) and after this time you can allow your self to a take a few rest days or get hammered every once in a while, but automatically your system will be used to not drinking and exercising after this sort of "mini boot camp".

PS. I also did this in regards to tracking calories (MY Plate app) and spending (spend tracker).

The results are unREAL!.

All the best bro

(03-17-2015 02:01 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Thanks Biz, I didn't know there was already a thread on this... had I known, I wouldn't have started a new one.

But anyway, I've been drowning myself in Spanish. Duolingo, reading articles online in Spanish, watching Spanish TV with captions. My reading comprehension has probably tripled in the past few days, and even when I don't know what the individual words mean, I can get the gist of it.

I'm excited for what this will bring me... knowing Spanish will open up an ENTIRE continent that is literally my next door neighbor (I'm in Houston). I cannot wait, and I'm definitely motivated.

Post: #6

start sending messages to girls in LA from tinder, badoo, etc and speak Spanish with them. you'll be amazed at how much you begin to pick up. you'll start using the translator less and less. best of luck with the Spanish and everything else on your list

Post: #7

(03-16-2015 08:16 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  For the long term, I've set my lifestyle goals for the rest of 2015:

- Lose an additional 10 pounds (by biking, lifting, eating 3 servings of fruit/veggies a day, limiting alcohol, etc)

Personally, I do NOT believe that framing a goal as "losing an additional 10 pounds" is a great way to frame a goal. I do like goals to increase endurance and energy and to eat better and maybe to limit activities that are draining too much energy from you (such as drinking too much). Personally, I believe that you could still believe that losing 10 pounds would be a good thing, but I would think of it in other terms. 1) diet, 2) rest and 3) exercise. It is probably likely that if you feel that you are 10 lbs too heavy, then you could probably make adjustments to diet, rest and exercise that would indirectly cause much if not all of the weight loss (without the weight loss being a direct goal). For example:

1) diet - remove a large number of process foods, sugars carbs (such as fewer carbs), eat more naturally etc etc (describing some of the specifics that you believe would be helpful)

2) rest - sleep at least 6 hours per night (and if you do sleep less than 6 hours in a night to immediately make up for those hours the next night or the following night and then maybe describe some improvements to your current sleeping system)

3) exercise - describe a routine that is doable and an improvement over your current exercise whether it be 3 days per week and 30 minutes per session or some other way of considering the matter with some specifics regarding what you are going to improve within those doable goals... allowing for other things that may come up that could divert you were it NOT for your level of focus and serious regarding the matter.

Post: #8

I've signed up to be a tutor so I can offer tutoring services for American Sign Language to make a little extra money. Girls LOVE to learn sign language IME, and I'm targeting university-age chicks as there is a sign language program at a nearby university... we shall see how that pans out

Post: #9

As I promised to keep myself accountable, here's an update.

How have I been doing?

(03-16-2015 08:16 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  [b]- Lose an additional 10 pounds (by biking, lifting, eating 3 servings of fruit/veggies a day, limiting alcohol, etc)

Weight is the same. Up until my Philippines trip, I had been lifting 2-3 days a week but no biking, just a few runs here and there. Diet is the same, but I did cut back on my drinking. Need to step it up a bit more.

Quote:- Immerse myself in Spanish to become fluent by the end of the year

No progress.

Quote:- Schedule a block of at least 2-3 hours a week solely for day gaming

No progress, nor any motivation to game Western chicks after banging 11 filipinas in a little over two weeks. Best to not force it until I get the urge back. Until then, there is better use of my time...

Quote:- Save at least $1000 a month, or more, towards future travels and/or investments

Bump this up to $1500, even after maxing my 401k and Roth.

Quote:- Start at least one new income stream other than my job, aim to make the first $1000 by the end of the year

Only $1000? Fuck that. Go BIG! Getting myself a nice coding rig built to last for years, and start freelancing and parlay that into something that will earn me big bucks.

And I'm going to add a new one:

Quote:- Become Location Independent within 12 months from today

Now it begins...

Post: #10

June Update

I've gotten a lot done over the past month:

- Wrote a book and published it (should be out soon)
- Read three books about copywriting
- Started a new website for my copywriting business
- Started a new blog about TRT
- Picked up a few tutorials to learn new coding languages for iphone apps (Objective C and Swift)

What I need to do:

- Practice more coding
- Put finishing touches on my new copywriting business website
- Come up with a list of 500 companies in my area and promote my new copywriting business
- EXERCISE! I've put on 5-10 lbs from all that sitting while coding/writing for a month... I need to get off my ass and run, ride, walk, and lift!

Post: #11

Good stuff. Make sure to get that exercise in though! It only helps with everything else.

Post: #12

(06-17-2015 03:18 PM)jbkunt2 Wrote:  Good stuff. Make sure to get that exercise in though! It only helps with everything else.

This deserves emphasis. I got a lot less lazy once I stopped saying I didn't have time to exercise because the productive time I lose to exercise is much less than the productive time I gain from increased energy level throughout the day.

Post: #13

A little bit of a rant:

I planned to tackle 3 to-do items today, but I've only completed one and am halfway through the 2nd item.

This is because I spent almost five hours playing with Wordpress, installing plugins, trying to customize things to my satisfaction, and reading wordpress support forums.

Frankly, sometimes Wordpress makes me want to shoot myself.

If I were making a nice stream of income right now, I would hire a wordpress expert and outsource all that work to him.

/rant. Now I'm gonna go home and have a beer and watch a movie. Tomorrow is a new day, and I have plenty of time to do the stuff I want to do.

Post: #14

Just went out this morning for a road bike ride with some friends.

It was so humid that, after only one mile in, everyone was dripping and wetting the pavement with their own sweat. I'm talking wet-dog-breath humid! We did 40 miles, and it the longest ride I've done in almost a year.

I wasn't as fast as I was in top racing form a couple years ago, but it felt GREAT. I've almost forgotten how much I love cycling. My ex wife didn't like it when I went out for bike rides and I always felt a little guilty for doing long weekend rides. But this time, NO GUILT and I am doing whatever the fuck I want to do! It felt fan-fucking-tastic.

Post: #15

(06-21-2015 11:53 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Just went out this morning for a road bike ride with some friends.

It was so humid that, after only one mile in, everyone was dripping and wetting the pavement with their own sweat. I'm talking wet-dog-breath humid! We did 40 miles, and it the longest ride I've done in almost a year.

I wasn't as fast as I was in top racing form a couple years ago, but it felt GREAT. I've almost forgotten how much I love cycling. My ex wife didn't like it when I went out for bike rides and I always felt a little guilty for doing long weekend rides. But this time, NO GUILT and I am doing whatever the fuck I want to do! It felt fan-fucking-tastic.

How is the weather affecting the trials/roads over there? Down here most of them are closed as they're wet or creeks are overflowing.


Ironically I'm in the same position, my last bitch discouraged me from riding. At first I agreed because it was winter. But then I wanted to ride and she complained about not giving her time. So I dumped her and now do whatever the fuck I want.

We should go for a ride, drink some beer/cider at the end, and game some biking bitches.

Question, what does biking do to your stamina? When I used to do 30+ miles, shit was like the energizer bunny.

Post: #16

(06-21-2015 07:17 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  How is the weather affecting the trials/roads over there? Down here most of them are closed as they're wet or creeks are overflowing.


Ironically I'm in the same position, my last bitch discouraged me from riding. At first I agreed because it was winter. But then I wanted to ride and she complained about not giving her time. So I dumped her and now do whatever the fuck I want.

We should go for a ride, drink some beer/cider at the end, and game some biking bitches.

Question, what does biking do to your stamina? When I used to do 30+ miles, shit was like the energizer bunny.

Roads seemed fine, the creeks have been receding the past few days.

As far as stamina goes, I'm more energetic if I do less than 30 miles, or up to 50 miles at a slower pace. Any more distance or intensity than that, I'm pretty beat up afterwards. A lot depends on the conditions, hydration, and what I eat, too.

For sure, we should definitely go for a ride! PM me.

Post: #17

(06-21-2015 07:37 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

(06-21-2015 07:17 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  How is the weather affecting the trials/roads over there? Down here most of them are closed as they're wet or creeks are overflowing.


Ironically I'm in the same position, my last bitch discouraged me from riding. At first I agreed because it was winter. But then I wanted to ride and she complained about not giving her time. So I dumped her and now do whatever the fuck I want.

We should go for a ride, drink some beer/cider at the end, and game some biking bitches.

Question, what does biking do to your stamina? When I used to do 30+ miles, shit was like the energizer bunny.

Roads seemed fine, the creeks have been receding the past few days.

As far as stamina goes, I'm more energetic if I do less than 30 miles, or up to 50 miles at a slower pace. Any more distance or intensity than that, I'm pretty beat up afterwards. A lot depends on the conditions, hydration, and what I eat, too.

For sure, we should definitely go for a ride! PM me.

I used to road race and did so for the entire length of my marriage and dating my ex. The 8+ hr Saturday and Sunday rides most likely prolonged my marriage. Had those weekends been trips to farmers markets, TJ Maxx and the Container Store, I most likely wouldn't have made it.

Post: #18

I just had a kick ass idea for my business endeavors!

The past few weeks, I've been struggling with partitioning my time to study and practice copywriting AND to study and practice coding. I became concerned that I'm juggling too many balls in the air and was contemplating dropping one of the two altogether, and focusing on just one.

But tonight, I had a light bulb go off in my head.

I code some apps using the programming languages I know, and THEN write sales copy to sell my own shit! Fuck yeah, that could work.

Post: #19

One small but potentially important detail in preparing for an expat lifestyle...

Going paperless.

Maybe I'm being Cap'n Obvious here. I just realized it wouldn't make sense to receive any paper mail anymore. I'm already paperless with each of my bills so I don't bother checking my mail more than once a week. I still get snail mail, a few bank statements here and there, so I'm going through everything that I can go paperless with now.

If someone wants to reach me anywhere, they can just email me.

Post: #20

Mini-update

Quote:What I need to do:

- Practice more coding
- Put finishing touches on my new copywriting business website
- Come up with a list of 500 companies in my area and promote my new copywriting business
- EXERCISE! I've put on 5-10 lbs from all that sitting while coding/writing for a month... I need to get off my ass and run, ride, walk, and lift!

Things have been crazy at work, which is kinda pissing me off because I was hoping to use some of the downtime during my work hours build my freelance ventures. But the past few weeks, there has hardly been ANY downtime! Hopefully things should slow down into late July and August when people take their vacations. I know it will get busier again in September until the holidays, though.

On top of my FT job, I've been working nights AND weekends to lay in the groundwork for my freelance ventures and that is going to continue for a while. Yes, it's tiring, but it teaches me to be more efficient with my time management.

As for the specifics...

Coding:

I've been coding 2 to 4 hours per day for practice, after work. I'm mainly focusing on C# for Windows, and the new Swift language for iOS. The more time I spend with Swift, the more I am impressed by it.

In fact, I'm cooking up a couple of ideas for iPhone apps and a large data analytics Windows program in between my ears... and getting the conceptual stuff on Google Drawings (love that tool!)

Writing:

I found my first client and offered to write a newsletter article for free. She said it was "beautifully written, I can feel it." Even though I did not get paid a dime for it, getting my first testimonial gives me a huge dose of encouragement that I'm on the right track.

From there, it's all about writing, getting more testimonials, building lists, and marketing. Think I'm going to hire a VA to gather contacts from the lists I build.

Exercise:

I stopped my weight gain, and maybe even lost a pound since my last post here. Been on my bike twice a week on social rides. Plus, whenever I wake up before my alarm goes off, I go for a short run and do some lifting so I don't have to do it after work.

Game:

Zero time spent on game since I quit tinder. I still talk to people wherever I go, in elevators, in the break room, etc. I just don't force anything. Until I get the itch again...

Post: #21

(07-02-2015 09:20 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  snip

Zero time spent on game since I quit tinder. I still talk to people wherever I go, in elevators, in the break room, etc. I just don't force anything. Until I get the itch again...

You are kicking ass and taking names. Very inspirational! Checking out your blog and revisiting my goals lists. +1 rep point.

Post: #22

I'm only getting started, but thank you

Post: #23

Best of luck to you CleanSlate. Read your story post-divorce was definitely inspiring. I've got a set of lifestyle goals to build myself whilst working on my business on the side.

Post: #24

(07-02-2015 04:18 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  I'm only getting started, but thank you

If you always feel like you're just getting started, then you always have something to accomplish.

Post: #25

Got my freelance site up and running.

Wow. It was an intense mental battle of wits between CleanSlate and WordPress!

Who won? Hmm... I'd say it was a tie. But perhaps I'm being a little optimistic. It's functional and has all the content I need to show, though.

So... I'm going to get a beer and take the rest of the night off. Next step: build lists, and get in front of potential clients.