Week 5

Dear, Friends:

It has now been one month since I started working towards these six goals.  I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far, and I will do a recap in the next post.

Week 4 was highly productive.  I overcame some of the distractions from week 3 that slowed my progress by keeping my head down and powering through.  

1. Change 30 lives

What have you done for me lately? a.k.a. my progress from the week before (Last week's action plan was to... donate an important possession to a charity or person in need)

-I thought about this one a lot last week and found a low-income tutoring program in need of a new computer monitor.  As a former tutor, I was compelled to give away my 24-inch LED monitor for a good cause . 

Weekly Action Plan (WAP)! a.k.a. what I will do this week for each goal.  Make sandwiches for homeless.

 

2. Gain 10 lbs muscle 

What have you done for me lately? (Last week was to...eat 3000 calories everyday/Lift 4 days this week)

-Ate every meal on schedule and lifted 4 times this past week on schedule.  Week 5 will have the same action plan.
WAP! Eat 3000 calories everyday/Lift 4 days this week.

3. Save an extra $2,000

What have you done for me lately? -I didn't finished the audiobook in week 4 to help quit cigarettes.

WAP! Finish audiobook - Easyway to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr.

 

4. Develop and present business plan to five investors

What have you done for me lately? -Still need to do market research. 
WAP! Do market research. 

5. Spend 200 hours learning Spanish

What have you done for me lately? -Finished all the Spanish homework from my tutor and did all 5 articles on Nulu. ¡Era una semana fantástica!
WAP! Schedule tutor lesson.  Minimum 10 articles read on Nulu.

6. Read 12 books

What have you done for me lately? -100 pages read last week.

WAP! Read at least 100 pages.

Words to ponder 
“You have unlimited potential and when you tune to this state of mind all your inner-abilities will be effortless and forever yours; a modern runway for higher accomplishment." -James Tarantin

Next post: Month 1 Highlights 

                 

                     -MLove 


 

Week 4

Dear, Friends:

Getting after your goals is HARD WORK.  Of course if it weren't, then we would all have what we want and life would be nothing but sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows.
 

But it's not -- every year month week day second we are faced with people, thoughts, and distractions that tell us we can't or won't.  This last week was full of disruptions and progress-killers for me friends -- I will never lie in this blog to you.  I was so lost in the present conditions of my work and relationships that I didn't stop to find the future conditions.  These goals are the future and I won't find the future that I want if I don't make the proper changes and preparations in the NOW.  I NOW have 5 months.

Some Snapchat examples of how easy it is for me to waste time (especially doodling):
 

But, we're back in it this week with a vengeance...

1. Change 30 lives

What have you done for me lately? 
(Create profession resume for someone I just met.)

-Luckily I was able to craft one of the best resumes I've ever made for this person.  She was grateful and I'll post updates on her job search when I hear anything about it.

Weekly Action Plan (WAP)!

Donate an important possession to a charity or person in need.

 

2. Gain 10 lbs muscle 

What have you done for me lately? 

(Eat breakfast everyday. Lift 4 days this week)
-Ate breakfast everyday.  Worked out 3/4 times. 
WAP!

Eat 3000 calories everyday.

Lift 4 days this week.

3. Save an extra $2,000

What have you done for me lately?

(Listen to the entire audiobook, The Easyway to Stop Smoking by

Allen Carr.) 
OK-so, I listened through six chapters.  I was a lot more thoughtful about my cig-smoking this past week and I didn't smoke any cigarettes yesterday.  In this book, the author asks you to continue to smoke until you finish listening.  The last time I read this book, I quit for eight months.  The WAP this week will be important.

WAP!

Finish audiobook, The Easyway to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr.
 

4. Develop and present business plan to five investors

What have you done for me lately?

-I did nothing last week to work towards this goal.  This week, instead of making myself spend a certain amount of time on the business everyday, I will simply set a goal to do a certain section of my business plan.

WAP!

Do market research. 

5. Spend 200 hours learning Spanish

What have you done for me lately?

-I did nothing last week to work towards this goal :( and I'll keep the WAP the same.  I'm going to go above and beyond these next seven days because the progress I've made so far has me so excited to hear any Spanish conversations that wander into my ears.

WAP!

Complete Spanish homework from tutor & schedule this month's lessons.  Minimum 5 articles read on Nulu.com.  

6. Read 12 books

What have you done for me lately?

(Finish "Connected" this week.)
I only read 50 pages this past week.  I plan to read double that for the next.  Lego.

WAP!

Read double what I did last week (100 pages).

I challenge you Pikachu! 
I learned an important principle early on in my sales career from my boss/mentor at the time:  80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.  However,  the "Pareto principle" or "80-20 Rule," can apply to many other situations where you get 80% of the benefits from 20% of the efforts.  You can apply it to the people around you or your daily activities as Tim Ferriss does in the "Elimination" section of his book, The Four Hour Workweek.  I just want you to think about it: What 20% of your daily activities give you 80% of your productivity and how can you get rid of that other 80% of activities?

Words to ponder 
“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks." - Winston Churchill

Next post: Week 5

                 

-MLove 

Week 3

Dear, Friends:

Welcome to another week with me!  I want to talk about the imagination for a moment.  How is it that we can literally think anything into being?

Let's try something simple.

I want you to close your eyes for 10 seconds and imagine a pig flying.  Okay, go!

Could you do it?  Maybe you imagined a pig with wings above its shoulders or a pig with a cape, flying like Superman.  Maybe you heard oinking in the wind or saw the flash of pink as it flew by.  

Our minds are powerful beyond belief.  If you can create the impossible in your mind then what's stopping you from getting what you want?  I had to ask myself this recently.  Everything is created twice: once in your mind and once in reality and actively imagining reaching these things that I want keeps them in the realm of POSSIBLE.  This video says it all:


1. Change 30 lives

What have you done for me lately? 
(Send 4 encouraging letters to strangers)

-It felt good to do this, check out one of the letters that I wrote:

Weekly Action Plan (WAP)!

Create profession resume for someone I just met.

-One of my great talents is resume crafting and I really understand how the system works.  I spoke with a woman from New Jersey this past week that lost her job.  She's a single mom with a young child and her house was recently robbed.  I told her I'd like to help her however possible so I agreed to craft a new professional resume for her. 

 

2. Gain 10 lbs muscle 

What have you done for me lately?

-Ate breakfast 3/5 times and worked out 5/7 times. 
WAP!

Eat breakfast everyday this week.

Lift 4 days this week.

3. Save an extra $2,000

What have you done for me lately?

-I started using mint.com.  It's an awesome app that integrates with your bank accounts and credit cards to analyze your financial health for you.  The app helped me to discover something I already knew; I'm paying through the nose as a smoker.  I've been a smoker for three years. 
The average 20-a-day smoker spends $100,000 or more in his or her lifetime on cigarettes.  What do we do with that money?  We use it systematically to congest our lungs with cancerous tars, progressively to clutter up and poison our blood vessels.  Each day we are increasingly starving every muscle and organ of our bodies of oxygen, so that each day we become more lethargic.  We sentence ourselves to a lifetime of filth, bad breath, stained teeth, burnt clothes, filthy ashtrays, and the foul smell of stale tobacco.  It is a lifetime of slavery. 

This just will not do.  

WAP!

Listen to the entire ebook, The Easyway to Stop Smoking by
Allen Carr.

4. Develop and present business plan to five investors

What have you done for me lately?

-Only worked on this for 30 minutes total, however I have made some good progress thus far.  I'm about five pages into my business plan and will start more extensive market research this week.

WAP!

Spend 20 minutes everyday this week dedicated to market research.

5. Spend 200 hours learning Spanish

What have you done for me lately?

-I met accomplish what I wanted to this past week; I had my first 1-hour Spanish hour lesson with my Nulengua.com tutor in Guatemala.  To admit, it was a bit awkward at first, but she was awesome and I remembered a lot more than I thought I would from prior learning.  Excited for the next lesson!  I was also able to get down on three Nulu.com articles which really help with reading and comprehension.  Here's a screen shot from my lesson:

WAP!

Complete Spanish homework from tutor & schedule this month's lessons.  Minimum 5 articles read on Nulu.com.  

6. Read 12 books

What have you done for me lately?

I read 83 pages this past week which was only three nights before bed.  In order to stay on track I'll need to step my words up.

WAP!

Finish "Connected" this week.

I challenge you Pikachu! 
Set aside a whopping 5 minutes everyday this week and imagine what it would feel like to do something you've always wanted to do or finished something you've always wanted to finish, or say something to someone you never said or something.  Paint a picture of what it would look like,  what it would sound like, and how it might feel.  You'll be better for it.  I promise.

Words to ponder 
"--Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

-Through the Looking Glass (chapter 5).

Next post: Week 4

                 

-MLove