Mixed results last month.

• diet/exercise/posture/stretching: never really took off
• support/client work: I've mostly been on top of this, though I've been fluctuating between "caught up" and "a few days behind".
• self-automation: it's been about 2 weeks since I made any changes to the software, but I did make some improvements in the earlier part of the month.

Completed projects:

• Restore versionhost to pre-explosion status.
• Clear out support backlog (though of course more keeps coming in)
• Clear out client work backlog (done with the BHV client, mostly caught up with the APB client)
• eliminate forwarding catchall rules (other than to run the last query to shut down remaining rules this month on the 7th)
• Handle all paper/junk on my desk - mostly done at one point, but this too is starting to pile up again
• automate mail queue management - turns out there wasn't that much to do here. This is now a semi-manual / semi-automated ongoing thign
• control panel bugs - still have a lot of improvements to make though

Incomplete projects:

• file my taxes
• update php5 again
• mod security update

The main thing that went right was that I was able to pick one well-defined goal at a time and focus on it until it was finished.

The main thing that went wrong was that I neglected to balance the rest of my life along the way (especially health).

I did go through and work out my most important areas to focus on. It's a long list - about 21 items, though some are small habits and there's some overlap among the others. I'm not going to be able to take it all on at once, so I need to break each area down and focus on small pieces. I'm working on that right now so I can post some better goals for July.

Things are going very well here. I'm still way behind, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here are my goals for this month:

Ongoing Improvements/Maintenance:

• stick to a smart diet 6 days a week
  • fruit/vegetable with every meal
  • no sugar
  • no fast food or frozen meals
• Work out 6 days a week (HIIT or weight training)
• Stretch every day and monitor my posture.
• continuously improve my self-automation efforts
• keep up with new support requests / client work

Projects (to be tackled in order):

• Restore versionhost to pre-explosion status.
• Clear out support backlog
• Clear out client work backlog (BHV)
• Handle all paper/junk on my desk
• Finish my top 5 cornerhost goals
• file my taxes
• poker!

I had a late start today from catching up on sleep but I'm off to a good start with a written plan for the day.

Fitness: I lost a workout day to staying up too long, so today is lower body day. I've been doing a very light weight workout while I get back in the habit, but it's been long enough that I get sore even from squats with 20lb weights. Workout is first on my list today.

Not much else to report, really. I'm going to type out my poker rules sheet today, and I've set aside 90 minutes for each major goal area today. Off to work.

Here are my goals for May 1. I've added in my business goals:

1. Get my checklist passing every day. Here is the list:
   • Wake up by 8am.
   • Exercise at least 30mins/day.
   • Keep my desk clean and organized.
   • Keep my apartment clean.
   • Stay current on email
   • Stay current on client work
   • Practice Spanish 20 minutes/day
   • Practice Piano 20 minutes/day
   • Follow my bankroll rules for poker when/if I play.
2. File my taxes.
3. Cornerhost: Automate Mail Queue Management
4. Cornerhost: Upgrade mod_security.
5. Cornerhost: Implement Catchall Rule Changes
6. Cornerhost: Fix all Known Control Panel Bugs
7. Cornerhost: Update PHP5
8. Prototype the flash game.
9. Decide If/How to Market the Hand Replayer

That's already a lot to take on, so that's it for now.

My goals were due today. Let's see how I did:

1. Weight under 290: No. I'm around 295. I've been working out fairly consistently, but my diet needs work. Will address.
2. Habit of visiting new groups/places: failure to launch.
3. Balance/Daily checklist: No. I need to work on this.
4. Unitarian Church: decided not to do this.
5. Taxes: No. I just filed the extension. I made progress but am still way behind.
6. Flash Game: No. I spent more time on the hand replayer.
7. Budget: Yes. But I keep finding things I failed to consider. This needs review.
8. Marketing Plan for 1000 customers: No.

So basically, 1 out of 8, and even that needs redoing. One thing that did change for me is that I started taking Vyvanse, and that really changed a lot of my attitudes and priorities. I've also become more and more interested in becoming a great poker player.

Not good. New goals in next post.

I got a whole lot done on taxes today (thanks for the prompting). Wrote a little script to help me reconcile my ledger with my bank statements and generate any missing transactions from the downloaded bank statement. I should be done reconciling tomorrow so I can start my profit/loss and other statements.

I got some basic exercise in again (just went for a walk. did upper body yesterday and will do lower body tomorrow).

The spending plan is finished and posted on the wall.

I also got a little bit of work in for my client, answered most of my email, and wrote a script to determine the value (tens full of threes / eight-high straight, etc) of a 5 card poker hand (usable for both the flash game and my poker site).

Now it's 11:30 and I'm going to bed.

Man. We need to get better at keeping this thing going!

Looking back at my goals from the last post:

1. 290 lbs - doing well here. I'm around 295. That's 5 down, 5 to go. Just did a weight workout for the first time in weeks. Feeling pretty good.
2. unfamilliar groups - haven't really gone anywhere. I need to really work on building my social life, but I'm okay with putting this off while I get my projects in order. I've been a hermit for years. A few more weeks won't hurt. :)
3. balance / daily checklist. I've been doing this off and on. I need to make it a priority and stick to the schedule (which means getting up on time every day). I'm actually on track today and should have most of my tests passing tomorrow.
4. unitarian church. Eh. Might go by there someday just for curiosity, but I'm pretty much over this. Dropped.
5. taxes - in bad shape. I've got all my papers in a pile but I don't even know how much work I'll need to do to make this happen. I set aside some time later today to go through this stuff and make a plan.
6. flash game - this is my poker game. It's been badly neglected. I haven't even talked to my artist in a couple weeks, and I'm feeling guilty about it. I guess I feel this is low priority but I really do want to do it and I still think it could make me a little extra money from ads and shareware. And it would be a good first step to launching the poker blog. I'm going to take my laptop with me to do laundry today, and I'll spend the time organizing my ideas on all this poker related stuff. And I will email the artist today, send him his money, and make sure he's back in the loop.
7. spending plan - haven't done a dang thing. I do have an old budget lying around somewhere, and not much has changed, other than me finally buying health insurance and wanting to set aside some money for poker. I'll see if I can dig that up as soon as I'm done typing this.
8. marketing plan - haven't done anything here either. I guess I'm ambivalent about growing the company. I don't want more work, but I have to grow and take on more if I ever want to have the resources to delegate. Certainly hitting the 1000 customer mark should be managable. This is another thing that needs to be a priority soon but can wait while I get organized.

Getting on Vyvanse has helped me dramatically. I still have a lot of unproductive habits that I need to work on, but at least I can focus and concentrate. I think between the meds, my outliner/planner software, my checklist habit, and these accountability sessions, I've got everything I could possibly want to finally blast off. Time to get to it.

Been listening to Tony Robbins again lately. I've been adding one of his routines to my walk: first focusing on gratitude for what's already working in my life, and then shifting gears to visualizing my goals in detail as if they were already accomplished, and really trying to zero in on how those accomplishments would feel. I've never really spent that much time on visualization. It really does make a difference.

Anyway, here are my goals...

Michal's Goals for April 15

1. My weight is under 290 pounds.
2. I have cultivated a habit of exploring, and feel secure visiting unfamiliar groups.
3. I feel balanced and am keeping my daily checklist consistently.
4. I have joined a unitarian church and feel like I am becoming part of the community.
5. I have filed my corporate and personal taxes and am looking forward to my refund.
6. I have a working prototype of my new flash game.
7. I have a clear, concise spending plan for managing my money.
8. I have a clear plan for growing my company to 1,000 paying customers

Seems like every time I start working out, I have like 2-3 weeks where all I do is sleep. I was feeling great this morning, but about an hour after my last post I was back in bed, sound asleep. I slept for like 5 hours. Part of it was just that I missed out on sleep the past two nights: I know that's why I was so off yesterday. Anyway, I got up and was still just exhausted. I didn't think I could do a bike ride. It took another half hour just to decide to go for a walk.

Yesterday was pretty unproductive for me. I didn't get much sleep the night before, never got around to working out, didn't stick to my diet. Didn't even have a plan really. But I pulled things together late last night, and today am ready to hit the ground running.

Today's plan (highlights):

• bike ride
• pay bills
• clear out support backlog
• finish planning my 3 month goals