The State of My Life

The State of My Life - September 2010 Results by Vincent Cooper

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My schedule has become a little confused. My intention was to take a rest week starting tomorrow and record these results while spending the week formulating a new set of goals for the next two months. A couple of things have come up though on Sunday and Monday which basically mean that although I can stop training easily enough I won't really have a chance to completely break with my schedule and do other things. During a rest week I like to do the things that I normally wouldn't do and give myself a rest from my routine as much as a rest from training. Therefore I have delayed my rest week until the following week (will start next Friday). However, as this weekend was originally scheduled to be my deadline for completing my goals I have decided to honor that agreement that I made with myself and record my results here. I was originally keeping track of these goals and my progress on a forum but have transferred the details to this site, which means that for almost everyone reading this, it will be the first time you will have seen my goals. I pursue goals in stretches of two months, breaking up each period with a rest week. The goals listed below then were determined by me during my last rest week ending in the first week of July.

My Previous Goals and Results

The Goal section details what I originally wrote during the first week of July 2010 when I was recording my goals.

GOAL: FANTASY WRITING

This takes precedence over everything for the next few weeks. There is a window of opportunity that closes on July 31st, so I want to make sure my submission is prepared and polished by then. I have made good progress so far without being fully immersed and have the broad story outlined and all chapters in detail. I have done some writing (2000+ words) and everything is set to be finished. As I won't be training full out this week I would like to reach 10,000 words / the first three chapters as a rough draft by this time next week.

This goal is a little strange as it doesn't cover the next full two months but that's just the way it has worked out.

RESULT: This was completed and submitted. Final submission was 16,500 words long along with a 1,000 word summary and about 5 pages of chapter by chapter breakdown.

GOAL: WEIGHT LOSS

I want to get my weight down to 68kg over the next couple of months. This is another step in getting me to my fighting weight. However, this is not a priority and I would be happy to maintain my current weight (low 70s) for the next couple of months. I want to enjoy summer and the BBQs and beers that go with it.

RESULT: Weight as of the last couple of days has been 67.5kg.

GOAL: WEB SITES

Will have to take a back seat to the fantasy writing for the next month.

I have made some significant changes to the Forex site and this has grown from being a very niche site concerned with trading the Yen to be far more comprehensive. I want to build this and monitor for the next month and see how traffic goes as I messed up with the search engines for the last couple of months by trying something different that didn't work. I want to reset and monitor. Martial arts site is going well but again will have to wait most likely. I do however want all of the pages submitted through the social media sources that I have added. I was doing well with this but then the world cup came along and took my attention away...

RESULT: This site suffered during July due to my writing. My Forex site has failed to draw my interest during August and I have been increasingly spending more and more time on this site. I am happy with this though I failed to submit all pages through various social media sites. No problem here really as I can do at a later date.

GOAL: EBOOK

I have an idea now for my first product, which will be an ebook outlining my coaching ideas on personal development as a way of life. This isn't mainstream PD and I doubt it will be popular with mainstream PD fans, but it will perhaps make more sense to people in martial arts. Some of these ideas I have outlined already here and I will be adding more information as I go along. My primary reason for choosing this is that I don't need any photographs to be done (as I would require with a martial arts instructional ebook...which will come later, just not yet...).

RESULT: Slight change of plan here. I have outlined an ebook on personal development but it is more of a general introduction to the field rather than a detailed explanation of what I tend to go through with clients. I did spend some time reflecting on this and considering what I really wanted to do but given that this is more of a martial arts site (and that most of the readers are therefore here for martial arts) I figure that formal personal development may be somewhat unfamiliar and therefore want to start with something more basic. I therefore have an ebook planned out and competing this will no doubt be one of my goals over the next couple of months.

GOAL: TRAINING

Will get back into 4 hours / day by next week. Will be doing more walking than running / cycling late at night, partly to rest my body and also cos walking is more refreshing for my mind and I want to use the time to think about my writing.

RESULT: I have made very significant progress here. During July and much of August my training was split into 3-4 daily workouts. In just the last few days I have begun to rearrange my schedule and am now completing 3 1/2 hours through the night (00:30 - 4am) and a heavy bag workout in the morning for about 30 minutes. Ideally I would like to do my bagwork at the same time but I don't think my neighbors will be very happy about me smacking around the bag after midnight.

My intention here is to free up time during the day and evening so I can find a new gym and study something new. I have a few places to look at and will do so in the next couple of months. I enjoy my solo training (and training with clients) and want to continue to pursue it, but also want to get back to a gym. I'm looking at Shooto (Shoot fighting - a type of MMA), Brazilian Jiu-Jutsu, Jeet Kune Do and Kyokushinkai Karate.

GOAL: AMINO DRINKS

I started taking amino drinks a couple of days ago and so far would say I am impressed. They are very refreshing, as I discovered today in particular. The quantity isn't that great and they are more expensive than regular sports drinks, but they pack in everything your body loses by training or, as in today, by being outside in very hot/humid weather, through a mix of liquid and jelly that allows everything to be quickly and easily absorbed. Thumbs up here so far.

RESULT: This was an interesting experiment but one that I discontinued. The amino drinks were very nice and I still take them when I feel like it but they are not a major part of my diet. What I discovered is far more important: I need sports drinks with a high glucose content. This keeps my brain functioning and allows me to read a couple of books a week without falling asleep.

GOAL: KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

This is a fairly easy one to complete but at the same time extremely important. There is a document written by Pope Clement relating to the charges of heresy against the Templars. I have read this is another source and it points (perhaps) directly to what lies behind the heresy. I need to read the original book in which the translation appears to make sure nothing has been changed or taken out of context. If everything is okay then that will set me up to trace what appears to me to be the true origins of the heresy.

RESULT: I did examine the original document (or, rather, a translation of it) and found that the author that I originally read did misrepresent what Pope Clement had written. I have continued to do my research in this area but one of my goals over the next two months will be to clear a back log of books that I have accrued. One of these is about the Templars (The Monks of War) but this is not a priority for me right now.

GOAL: WATER INTAKE

My aim is to drink 6 liters of water a day in addition to the water used for protein shakes. I am sometimes using amino acid powder to make a very strong sports drink and will use the amount required from the 6 liter daily total but otherwise 6 liters a day.

As an aside for anyone interested I slept for about 90 minutes last night. It is now 8:15 here and I have drunk over 1 liter in about 75 minutes since waking up and feel great. It is remarkable the effect it has.

RESULT: This changed to about 4 liters of pure water a day and 2 liters of sports drink. In fact, it is more than that because I usually prepare protein shakes with water. I should say that for the last six weeks I have been taking my daughter to and from her English summer school which has meant I have been walking around in direct sunlight with a temperature in the mid-thirties and a minimum of 70% humidity (and most often over 80%)...this is in addition to the 4 hours of formal training I have been doing. Naomi goes back to her regular elementary school next week which will free up a considerable amount of time on my schedule as well as giving me a chance to re-evaluate how much water I need and want.

So that's that. A very productive couple of months. I will continue with things the way they are for the next week, take a week off and spend my time re-assessing what I want to do then record my new goals here.

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