This is a legacy article from 2012

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2012 Goals - Progress so far [FEB]

1stFebruary2012

I've not exactly made leaps and bounds with my 2012 goals but I have made some progress and they are coming along nicely. Here is what I have done so far:

Health

I am still going to my martial arts classes, I have now officially signed up after my trial ended and I'm looking forward to receiving my white belt next week, I also have a black belt but that came free with a pair of jeans so I doubt they will let me wear it. Even after only three weeks I can already feel a great deal of difference, if I ignore the fact that I am constantly aching, I feel much better than I did when I started, my fitness level has already noticeably increased, if my progress continues at this rate then I have do doubt that by the time this year ends I will have the body I  have wanted to have for most of my life.

I have also invested in a set of weights and a pull-up bar, I've noticed that outside of my classes I am only using the cross-trainer and - as my legs are generally aching like crazy from the kick boxing - I do not use that as much as I should, my arms and upper body generally feel OK after the work out though so I have decided to work on those as well.

Environment

I have assessed the space available to me in my apartment and drawn the conclusion that it's just not enough, as I love my apartment dearly and have no desire to move I have decided to rent some storage space instead. I managed to get a pretty good deal from safestore.co.uk who got me 16sq feet of storage for just under £30 a month so before this month is over I will have managed to get a fair bit of rarely used stuff out of my apartment.

I am also preparing some items I no longer need for sale on eBay, hopefully the extra money this will bag me will be enough to buy me my shelves with a bit left over to save up for a new desk.

Mind

Emily Bell is coming along nicely, I have just passed the 10k word threshold and I believe that if I persevere I can get the first draft finished within 5-6 weeks. I have also just started a group on facebook for like-minded locals who wish to read their work to a group and hear the work of others to meet up weekly. This is to fill the void that will be left behind once the writing course has finished but mainly to provide us with a bit of a 'deadline' feel to our writing so we are not tempted to slack off. Three members of my course (myself included) all have stories that I would very much like to see brought to conclusion and I believe this group will be a big help in achieving that.

In terms of attending another class after my creative writing one has finished, I will probably not do this for a while. The martial arts lessons are quite expensive and I'm not sure I can really afford another class on top of it, plus there is still the chance that the advanced creative writing course will go ahead and I'd like to keep myself free for that.

Actually now, I've written it down, I'm made quite good progress, I'm impressed with myself!

Article author: Alex Foxleigh