A starting point

Hi World.
Most of you don't know me and I don't know most of you (and never will).

People who do know me know that I am typically a fairly laid back person who tends to "go with the flow" most of the time. The last couple of years have involved quite a bit of "drifting" in my personal, home and professional life which has resulted in not a lot of progress on many fronts.

Following one definition of Insanity: Continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results. I have decided that this year I will make an effort to live Deliberately and thereby make decisions and gasp! set goals and work to achieve them.

Like a lot of people I am good at starting new things. I have enthusiasm and even some high expectations then after a while I get bored and let things slide. This year the aim is to finish things I have started and to start more things.

So why the blog?
Partly as a record for me to be able to look back on and partly as an aid to goal setting. You know the drill: Write it down or tell people about it and it becomes more real.

Some not so vital statistics:

• I'm 88kg and 188cm (194lbs and 6'2")
• 46 years old
• Married with two kids (14 and 12)
• Work from home as an IT consultant in software development
• I read a lot (mostly fanstasy)
• Have aspirations to be a writer
• Am a fairly dab hand at home renovation work (some of it even gets completely finished!)
• Can put away a 500g pack of Jersey Caramels in under two hours and still feel like eating more sweets
• I drink around 2 litres of Coke Zero every day
• Do no organised or coordinated exercise program
• I'm great at writing procedures for others to follow but lousy at following them myself
• I have an old achilles tendon injury on my left ankle that makes running and sometimes walking painful
• Two years ago I fell over while ice skating and damaged my right shoulder. After physio it is better but like many things I didn't follow through the physio completely so it isn't completely better.

Why did I tell you all that? Well, so you can see a little of the person I am now.

So what is going to be different this year?

• Let's start with this blog. The aim is to update it at least once a week and otherwise whenever something worth noting happens.
• I have just joined a local gym and will be starting Pilates on Feb 4 after getting a health assessment on Feb 2.
• We have 6 1.25litre bottles of Coke Zero in the house. These are the last bottles that will be bought for the year (yikes).
• Sweet and biscuit consumption will be cut back to sensible limits rather than one pack per day.
• I plan to write, creatively, for two hours a day five days a week aiming for 1,500 to 2,000 words per day starting on 1 Feb.
• I have a number of jobs around the house that REALLY need to be attended to this year and have been put off for a number of years. They will be scheduled and dealt with. They include re-building the pergola, replacing the driveway, replacing the kitchen and laying a new floor though 1/3 of the house.