January Goal Recap

A brief recap of the month:

Weight: Yesterday’s weigh in marked the finish of January.  My original goal was to lose 10 lbs every month as I work towards 50 by June.  How’d I do?  Well, in January I lost 9.6 lbs!  Pretty exciting.  Not quite my goals, but something to celebrate nonetheless.  I’m thrilled with this because it means I’m on track to becoming a healthier me!

Exercise: I’m still working towards my 5k which happens in two weeks (scary!). I know that I can at least finish the race since I did a 5k last week on the treadmill.  Now that the air has cleared up outside I think I’ll take to the road a bit. I’m thrilled with my progress so far, because I no longer despise running!

Finances: I tracked my entire cash flow last month.  For the majority I stuck with my budget and was able to handle the $500 brake repair and a couple other bills that magically appeared.  I’m current with all my creditors and thanks to my wonderful family (who let’s me sleep in their house) I was able to pay off a significant amount of debt last month. I’m thrilled with my progress because I now feel I have control over MY money!

Graduation: In January I finished my Old Testament course!  Now I’m working on the Book of Mormon and I have a goal date of Feb. 15th to have all the assignments done.  Yes, one year after I walked in the convocation ceremonies I will officially graduate.  I just consider that pomp and circumstance from last year as a farewell to Provo.  I’m thrilled because soon, I’ll be able to put my undergraduate degree behind me and move to the next step!

Being a Friend: I’ve been doing a lot of stuff this month like calling/emailing/doing stuff with old friends.  It’s been so nice!  I love knowing I’m not alone and helping others to feel the same way.  I think about you all a lot and appreciate your support this month.  I’m thrilled with my progress this month because I know people like me and I know they know I like them (tough sentence).

Surprise: So this past week I organized the Utah Theater Bloggers Association.  We’re a group of theater patrons and professionals dedicated to the creation and support of theater in Utah.  I’ve been contacting productions across Utah and am sending reviewers to each of the shows.  I formed this group with a couple of reasons in mind: (1) Small shows often can’t get the attention of the newspapers in order to get a review done, and (2) Big shows often only have “publicity” type reviews.  So, our new organization will review any show in Utah and provide, hopefully, both a common man perspective and a professional response.  We’re working on growing our contributor base so if you’re interested email membership@utahtheaterbloggers.com. I’m thrilled with this because it is a new surprise that is bringing a little fun and joy to my life (wow, some people have kids to be able to say that statement).

There are a few of my goals!  Here’s to February!

step forward! (excitement, not a command)

I am officially finished with my Old Testament class.  One step closer to being done with this degree.  Time to work towards a Book of Mormon finish date of Feb 15th.  Woohoo!

(hey, has anyone heard anything about The Glass Menagerie in March?)

Educational TV

Today! (in which I accomplish something BIG — for me)

Tonight I ran a 5k on the treadmill.  Okay, okay, I speedwalked and ran the distance.  It was hard but I never went below 4mph.  That put my 5k at 43 minutes.  Sad I know.  But hey, I finished the distance and pushed myself.  So right now, my goal for this week is to get under 40 minutes by the end of the week.  I think I can do that.  Of course, I don’t really know what I should expect to be able to do, but it seems like a reasonable goal.

Also, as I look at this past month, I paid off a LOT of debt.  By being able to live at home with my family I’ve really been able to limit my spending and put the majority of my checks to debt.  I am on a good path and gaining great momentum.

Another thing, I realized that it’s really important to me to surround myself with people that have goals.  If I take a look at the girls I’ve dated seriously, they’re all so different but they are all very ambitious and goal-oriented.  I’m not saying everyone has to be shooting for a PhD or anything, but there ought to be something you’re working towards, no matter how small.  At least, that’s what I look for.

Day 12 – there’s a link to a video in this post. just sayin’.

I’ll be honest.  I’ve let my daily acknowledgement of accomplishments lax in the past couple days.  I rationalized that I was still accomplishing my goal by keeping certain things on my mind, but it’s 2 AM and I realize that I’m starting to spend energy thinking of what my life could have been instead of what I’m making it.

Bad thoughts.

I’m going to prematurely cast the blame of this momentary pity party at my halted habit of daily celebrating my accomplishments.  Time to begin anew–or rather, to refocus my efforts.

Accomplishment #1 – I did laundry today.  Sometimes you have to celebrate these small accomplishments and I’m happy I did this.  Nothing gives me more confidence to go to church than to be sporting a nice clean, pressed, white shirt.  If I had the money to buy nice suits I’m certain that is all I would wear.  Please take the time to watch this short musical number from How I Met Your Mother.  Don’t take it too seriously. 

Accomplishment #2 – I went to church and paid attention to the teachers/speakers.  A lot of the time I get bored during lessons or talks so I start writing down my own train of thoughts and look up my own scriptures, but today I actually tried to pay attention.  Lessons were fine.  Nothing amazing, but that will come I’m sure.

Accomplishment #3 – I took time to consider my bishop’s latest suggestion on who I should pay attention to in the ward.  I think it’s hilarious how most of my bishops will drop names or suggestions of who they think/feel that I should marry.  I generally laugh it off, but today I paid attention.  My thoughts?  Maybe.  Still getting some ducks in order right now.

Accomplishment #4 – I didn’t critique dinner.  I love Gordon Ramsey’s show called Kitchen Nightmares.  He goes into a restaurant and very simply tells everyone what’s wrong with it and how to fix it.  I don’t necessarily do that with meals that are prepared, but when I go out to eat, I have no qualms about pointing out if my order is incorrect or if the steak has no flavor whatsoever.  Tonight at dinner we had some of my favorite food: sukiyaki.  And it was great.  I took no time in my head to find room for improvement because I was grateful for the meal.  Good work, Dad!

Accomplishment #5 – I was honest with myself about what I needed to do to improve my attitude.  Granted, it took me till 2:30 in the morning to do so, but I’m doing it.  Tomorrow I need to really make the most of my day and continue to move forward.  I’m only 26.  There’s a whole lot of my life yet and I can still accomplish those things I dream of doing.  Just gonna take some work and some patience.

Saturday Night

Goals have continued.  Just been a tad under the weather and very busy.  My goal for tomorrow is to blog.

Day 8

Over the weekend I got a small cold, but things are still happening.  Here’s the run down from yesterday:

Accomplishment #1 – I received a calling on Sunday.  It’s a calling I’ve never done before.  Kind of thrilling being thrown into a situation where I have no preconceived idea of how I ought to do this calling.  So, yesterday I spent some time researching my calling on the church website and trying to figure out what steps I needed to take to get moving forward.  I also got an email from the stake representative and am set to attend a training this week.  I won’t be set apart till next Sunday, but I’m glad I’m moving forward on this new adventure.  So, I took some initiative with my church calling.  Good accomplishment.  Tonight I’ll do a little more reading and prep for the training tomorrow.

Accomplishment #2 – When I feel a little sick I just want to go to bed.  Forget about medicine, I just want to let my body do the healing and I figure the best way to do that is to do nothing.  Well, no time to do nothing right now.  So, last night I was watching Biggest Loser and I decided five minutes into it that I was going to exercise during the last hour of the show.  Sure enough, at 8 PM I hopped on the elliptical and exercised on till the end of the hour.  Only 3.5 miles on there but at level 10 it said I burned ~750 calories.  My mom says her heart monitor says she actually burns more than the machine tells her so maybe I did too.  We’ll see.  I’m just glad that this exercise thing hasn’t stopped yet.  Gotta keep pushing.  I reached that 5 lb mark on Monday and I want to keep moving forward for next Monday.  Tonight I’m set to run another 1.25 miles.

Accomplishment #3 – Last night I registered for the 5k.  It’s official.  I’m proud to hear that my old job, Namifiers, will be supplying the tech shirts again.  So come February 13th I will be completing that course, hopefully running.  I also sent out a Facebook message out to my extended family inviting them to join me in the race.  I also posted my weight loss accomplishment on Facebook.  I’m trying to be unashamed of these accomplishments, because I need to celebrate in them.  Hopefully I can help someone else in my situation take a step forward.  I’m excited.  Today I’m going help celebrate someone else’s accomplishment.

Accomplishment #4 – I took some time last night to work on my essays for the OT final.  I haven’t been called yet, so I don’t know when I’ll be taking my test.  But I’m making sure I’m prepared.  Tonight I’m going to spend a solid 90 minutes working on these essays.

Accomplishment #5 – Last night I took some time to put together a preliminary budget and press release for The Glass Menagerie, which I’m helping to produce down in Provo this March.  It’s being done by our company, the Mortal Fools Theatre Project.  I’m proud that I got this done and still accomplished everything else.  I’ve got to maintain balance in my life and I’m glad that doesn’t mean giving up the things I love for the things I ought to do.  I can do everything if I budget my time right.  Tonight I’m going to finish up the drafts and send them on to Provo for tomorrow’s production meeting.

Day 7

Days 5 & 6 went great!  I didn’t blog about them because my computer is being sent to HP for a minor repair.  Oh HP.  Don’t worry, nothing huge and it’s not going to cost me anything.

Accomplishment #1 - Today I weighed in a whole 5.2 lbs less than last week.  Yep!  My goal was to lose 2 lbs, but I lost 5.2.  Very exciting.  That means I’m 10% towards my goal of 50 lbs lost before my brother comes home from his mission.  My goal tomorrow is to focus on “filling” foods.  I’ll plan out 2 meals focusing on that.

Accomplishment #2 - I’m learning a new software!  Sure, it’s only Adobe Premiere.  Nothing huge when it comes to video editing.  But I always like learning new things and this is going to help me a lot at work.  Tomorrow I’m going to cross some more things off my checklist at work.  That’s kind of vague I know, but I don’t remember what’s on my checklist.  It’s at work.

Accomplishment #3 - I had a healthy lunch.  Instead of some footlong meatball sub, my parents and I went to get some frozen yogurt for a light lunch before weigh in later in the day.  Yep, Red Mango Mondays just might have replaced Gelato Tuesdays.  I’d like to set a different goal for tomorrow though.  I’d like to unpack one huge box from my move and set stuff aside for DI.

Accomplishment #4 – I’m going to run 1.25 miles on the treadmill tonight before going to bed.  I’ll count it as an accomplishment now so I don’t have to get back on the internet tonight.  I’d run outside but I got a little bit of a cold over the weekend.  Tomorrow is an hour on the elliptical.  Looking forward to it.

Accomplishment #5 - I sent a couple emails to friends and chatted with two friends that I haven’t talked to in a bit.  Success!  Time to keep being proactive on friendships.  Goal tomorrow is to plan something fun to do this next weekend.  Ideas?  Anyone?

Day 4

I’m late blogging today!  It’s just been such a busy morning, but I have to take time to do this positive focus thing:

Accomplishment #1 – K, last night I didn’t do P90X but I did do several free weight exercises based on those workouts.  I was just so tired and ended up going to bed about 9:30.  Crazy I know.  I almost went to bed without exercising at all, but I didn’t!  I made sure to spend at least 20 minutes exercising and I’m glad I did.  Tonight is my last mile run for the week.  We’ll see how I do.  I’m excited, and doing that mile is how I’m going to continue on my road to success in health and fitness.

Accomplishment #2 – I cooked dinner last night.  Turned out to be more of a Sunday dinner than a Thursday dinner.  Primarily because it took an hour longer than I expected.  I was browsing on Food Network for a simple recipe to try.  I knew that I wanted to cook a meat, a vegetable, and a starch.  So, I ended up cooking a very lean pork loin roast with zucchini and summer squash with potatoes.  Very filling, very low calorie meal.  Today’s goal is to explore more variety in what I eat while continuing to monitor my points.  That’s how I’ll build on yesterday’s success.

Accomplishment #3 – I’d like to shake things up a bit and acknowledge an accomplishment I had at work.  We’re doing some surveys with our existing clients to see what they think of us and the service we provide to their companies and we just collected a really great 5 minute interview that I think is really going to help some potential clients that are sitting on the fence.  The question came up then to how do we best take that interview (and others) and get it to potential clients.  Well, I spent a few hours yesterday taking the audio and editing a transcription to it in a video format and it’s close to becoming our first YouTube video that we can email to future clients, as well as embed on our website.  Who knows if this is the direction we’ll continue to go, but I’m proud that I took a question and was proactive towards a solution.  I thought it was a good day at work.  Now to just iron some kinks out of it.  To build on this accomplishment, today I’ve got a meeting with a sales rep to see his sales presentation and then provide feedback.  My goal is to provide good feedback without offending.  We Mortensens can be a little too frank sometimes and it comes off offensive.  So that is how I’m going to build on my success of developing better communication and relationships with those people in my life.

Accomplishment #4 – Yesterday I didn’t get angry.  At lunch I walked to Subway for another free sandwich (thanks to Santa) and there was a line out the door.  There was no way I was going to another fast food restaurant because it wouldn’t have been free and I wouldn’t have known the nutritional information for their food.  Lately, when something like that would happen I would get angry, tense up, and just be frustrated.  But I didn’t act like that.  I decided I’d walk to the bank and take care of some things and give Subway some time to take care of their high school crowd before I had lunch.  Everything worked out fine.  I know, this is certainly not the drama for a made-for-tv miniseries, but I was not upset once yesterday.  I felt good and happy.  That’s an accomplishment.  Frustrated feelings are a waste of time and I’m glad I was able to handle a menial situation without blowing it out of proportion.  So, I’ll consider this a success in my ability to react to life.  Just a baby step towards bigger situations I’ll have to react to.  Fun fun.  Today’s goal is to find a way to be more efficient with my time, like I was at lunch yesterday.

Accomplishment #5 – My last accomplishment for the day is that I actively thought about my goals for the day and how to accomplish them throughout the day.  Generally I forget about my goals and am playing catch up by the day’s end.  But yesterday I actually caught myself pondering on them and what I ought to do to be better.  I like that.  It was a calm contemplation of how I can continue on my way to being better.  Today’s goal is to finish unpacking.  That has nothing really to do with this previous success, but I need to do it and I should be able to identify some more things to sell/donate.

Day 3

Morning, all!  It’s brisk in KTown and my windows were all iced over and under.  I add “and under” because yes, my windshield gets a nice layer of frost on the inside of the car as well.  Very exciting.  I can’t find my scraper thing so what have I been using all winter?  A frisbee.  Serious.  Just place the frisbee on the windshield, position your hand in the center of the frisbee and start moving your hand in a wax-on-wax-off circular motion.  With mild ice it works wonders.  And when I’m defrosting the inside of my car with it the ice shavings generally fall into the frisbee and I don’t have snow all over the front seats.

Okay, time to get on with my accomplishments from yesterday.  Let’s identify some successes and ways to build upon those.

Accomplishment #1 - Guess who shaved off a good 15 seconds off their mile last night…somebody else.  Because I trimmed mine by 30 seconds!  It’s not an amazing mile time (my brother could run 2 miles in my time) but I’m very proud that (1) I did it and (2) I improved.  Last night I did more of a run/walk combination (I’m still working on the breathing thing) so I was worried I was going to finish later than last time.  Every time I was walking I just pushed myself to start running sooner than I would normally.  Soon I’ll be able to run the entire time AND have a respectable time compared to other people.  I’m sleeping so much better now that I’m exercising.  Plus, my stress level continues to go down.  Good times.  Tonight is technically a rest day according to my training schedule that I pulled off of some random website that I can no longer find, but instead, to build on yesterday’s success, tonight I’m just going to consider it a rest from my running schedule and instead do some strength training.  Time to resurrect an old P90X dvd.  Looking forward to it.

Accomplishment #2 – Yesterday I tracked everything, made sure I had more variety from that food pyramid and kep my total points consumed under what I’m allowed.  Good accomplishment.  What’s more is that this morning, while wearing the clothes I generally wear for weigh in, the scale measured 2.2 lbs less than on Monday.  Very exciting though nothing’s official.  If I can keep at that number or continue on this path through the next weigh in on Monday than I’ll be convinced I really did lose weight.  Day to day weight can fluctuate and I don’t want to get my hopes to high up.  But!  I accomplished my goal of food tracking and stuff yesterday.  Tonight I’m cooking dinner for my family so I have a goal of preparing a healthy meal that is low in points but very satisfying.  Not too worried on accomplishing it today but I’m shooting for a multi-colored plate tonight.  That’s how I’m going to build on the success of yesterday. We’ll see how it goes.

Accomplishment #3 - Yesterday I took some time to email a couple of friends and I felt good about it.  I’m still waiting on a response from one friend I emailed earlier this week (ahem<–the noise, not the person).  I’d like to continue this practice in the hopes to start up some correspondence with people, maintain friendships, etc.  Now, to continue to build on this accomplishment I’d like to just repeat it.

Accomplishment #4 – K, I put together a basic outline last night for The Creation.  That’s okay for now and though it’s a small step towards my preparation, it’s a step.  Tonight I’ve got to prepare a second basic outline on The Abrahamic Covenant.  Once I’ve got all these basic outlines done, I’ll flesh them out.  So there we go.  To build on the accomplishment of yesterday I’ll do another outline tonight.

Accomplishment #5 - I posted my pull-up bar early this morning and within 30 minutes it sold.  That’s $40 in my pocket.  I am definitely going to post more things on there.  I’m glad about this for two reasons.  First, it’s always nice to get money.  Second, it’s a step towards my overall goal of de-cluttering my life.  I have collected A LOT of stuff the past 5 years and I am slowly going through my boxes to see what it is I really want to hold onto and what I can get rid of.  Tonight I’m going to identify something else to sell on KSL.  That will build upon yesterday/today’s accomplishment.