August 2017 — Reboot of My Life

Last month I decided to reboot my life as I realized how dissatisfied I am with my life. So I decided to reboot my life in the following ways.

• Read more.
• Be more creative (Writing/Drawing/Digital Coloring/Website Building)
• Play more video games
• Spend far less time idly browsing the internet (Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/TVTropes)
• Eat more healthily
• Exercise daily 30+ minutes
• Find a new job
• Sleep better
• Make my unit more like a home
• Be more open with my friends

So I decided to grade these on a scale of 1–10 for each one. Here we go.

• Read more.

I made a point to read alot more than I already was and I’m including listening to eBooks in this list, even if they were eBooks of books I’ve read.

In July I finished the Dark Tower Book 2 and almost finished Book 3, reread the Serpentwar Saga and Conclave of Shadows series of the Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E Feist and listened to the eBooks for White Night and Small Favor of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. James Marsters does a fantastic job of reading the eBooks.

For this month I intend to finish off Book 3 and 4 of the Dark Tower and start Bram Stoker’s Dracula. eBook wise I’m undecided. For this I give myself a 7/10, but I have plenty of room for improvement.

• Be more creative (Writing/Drawing/Digital Coloring/Website Building)

My goal was to have the first story arc of The Wayfarer Chronicles done by August, which I failed to meet and then some. My chapter outlines are five chapters ahead of the actual chapters which I call a win, but the actual chapters themselves need to be written not just have outlines. I’m currently only a third done with what I have planned for the first story arc. I’d like to say it’ll be done by September but I’m very skeptical.

My D&D campaign writing is going well and when I do sit down to do it it doesn’t take much of my time as long as I stay focused. Drawing wise I’ve done next to nothing and digital colouring and web design I’ve done absolutely nothing.

My goal for the rest of August is to be at least half done with the first arc of The Wayfarer Chronicles and to finish my chapter outlines. Also to get some more drawing done and make it a point to unlearn some bad habits I have when it comes to art. For this one I give myself a 5/10.

• Play more video games

This one I’ve done well at. I finished Mass Effect: Andromeda which is nowhere near as bad as it’s made out to be but it’s far from perfect. I started Persona 5, made some progress in Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations and plan to be finished with Fates by the end of September at the absolute latest. Persona 5 I have no idea on but it’s been an amazing experience so far.

My goals for this one is to continue enjoying Persona 5, finish Fates and to make my list of 3DS games to finish smaller bit by bit. But I can’t let this one eclipse everything else on my list. For this one I give myself a 8/10.

• Spend far less time idly browsing the internet (Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/TVTropes)

This one’s been a resounding success, I’ve spent so much less time on social media for no reason, I’m only on Facebook to message my Pathfinder group or some friends from work or my D&D game. I spend a bit more time than I’d like idling on Twitter but at the same time have little to say that’s interesting or worth reading. Maybe when I have more done in my personal projects? But for now the goal’s to keep on trucking with this one. For this one I give myself a 9/10.

• Eat more healthily

Hahahahahaha, this one’s been an interesting goal. I’ve made some small steps but ultimately with the sporadic hours I work I’ve yet to find the right rhythm.Plus with next to no time before I have to go to bed when I finish late, the last thing I want to do is cook and clean up so I usually just end up eating a sandwich or a bowl of cereal.

The goal for this month is to find the right rhythm and maybe even make time to cook all my meals in advance. For this one I give myself a 3/10.

• Exercise daily 30+ minutes

Small bits of exercise here and there, nowhere near enough that counts as weight loss. My main goal for this is to get back into the rhythm I had before I got sick in June and lose at least 10 kilos/22 pounds by October/November. For this I give myself a 2/10, mostly as the equivalent of a participation trophy.

• Find a new job

0/10. Try harder please.

• Sleep better

I’ve got a more consistent sleeping pattern now and make it a point to go to bed at a time that means I get at least 6.5–7 hours sleep which is really all I need and 6 every now and then won’t kill me. My goal’s basically to keep a consistent sleep schedule.

I’ll be generous and give myself a 5/10 for this one.

• Make my unit more like a home

10/10 hands down. I have more art hanging up in my unit, most of it Pokemon. I also rearranged my shelves to make them neater. For this one I give myself a 10/10 and will be retiring this one.

• Be more open with my friends

This one is still the hardest one, nothing is harder for me than opening myself up emotionally to anyone, be it friend, family or a hypothetical significant other.

But when it comes to being in a bad mood, needing to vent and get stuff off my chest, I’m making small steps in that one. My goal is to continue making small steps in the right direction. For this one I was willing to give myself a 5/10 but one of my friends said it should be a 6/10. I’ll concede to their judgement as I can’t see me from their perspective. A total of 6/10.

Overall: 49/100.

About average. Honestly it’s miles above where I thought it’d be but then again, I’m my harshest critic and hold myself to ridiculously high standards.

Making my unit like a home is going to be retired and in it’s place will be:

• Stop being so self-defeating

I’m very self-defeating. Total shocker I know. But my therapist told me that acknowledging it is the first step and I can overcome it. How I have no idea but this part of my month’s goals is to find out how and make the first steps to overcome it. This is the biggest interference in my life when it comes to everything I want to do that I can actually do something about. The others being needing to work and sleep.

Anyway, around this time in September we’ll see where I am and hope I’m somewhere better than I am now.