Maybe it’s time to admit since graduating college I’ve been a little to complacent with going to work, getting my paycheck, and coming home and playing video games all while eating massive amounts of take out food and soda drinking.  There is a deeper story behind all that but long story short is for four years I was basically being cat fished and was probably depressed but that is in the past.

I’ve since met a beautiful, smart, hard working girl that is helping to bring back the motivation that drove me to get my engineering degree in the first place. It was her idea that for Labor Day weekend we should go on an awesome fun trip to all the Universal parks down there including the new Volcano Bay which looks AMAZING.  Sadly I’m not in the same shape I used to be freshman year of college at 24 and scheduling this trip has really reminded me of that.  The more comfortable you are the quicker the pounds seem to add up, especially when all of high school you could never gain weight and you think you are immune to calories.  Secret for any young kids that may read this, you’re not and it only seems to get worse as your metabolism slows if you let it.

With this realization I’ve decided to start taking the things I’ve read in several books I’ve read and start taking action by setting achievable goals, documenting my journey along the way, and hoping to focus this energy in a way that is not only beneficial to me but can be applied to anyone.

We will start by identify my end goals in three months:

• Eat better and exercise to feel more energetic and move unhealthy fat in bad areas and maybe replace it with a little muscle in good areas in hopes to look as cute as my girlfriend at Volcano Bay
• Find ways to be more focused at work to deliver better results for my team and add more value that may be recognized come review time and maybe even during promotion cycles
• Learn to better manage finances in a way to save for a down payment on another investment property and reduce the burden of my student loans.

This may be a lot for a three month deadline but with daily efforts toward the goals it should help create momentum and drive a fly wheel to lead to a new me.  To better accomplish the goals it helps to break them down into smaller measurable goals to stay on track.

Week 1:

• Identify weekly milestones
• Research ways to eat healthier and incorporate these in my diet
• Get back into a fitness routine
• Cut back on sugar and carbs
• Figure out things that make me less productive and come up with an elimination plan
• Find ways to cut back on expenses
• Remember to enjoy the process

It’s important to call out the last goal because as hard as it is to build positive momentum; it’s just as easy to create negative momentum that leads to a point where in the future you ask yourself “Where did it all go wrong?”  The answer to that is probably a series of small self-destructive choices that you didn’t even realize, such as one more bowl of ice cream is ok, I’ll spend just 5 minutes looking at Facebook at work before I get to these TPS reports, or I’ll watch just one more episode of [Insert addictive TV Show title here] on Netflix when the “Are you still watching?” question pops up.

I say all this from personal experience and that is why I want to spend the next three months correcting my heading so 20 years from now I don’t look back and ask “Where did it all go wrong”, instead I want to be energetic with a happy family and a team of happy employees working with me and I want start that now and share my steps with anyone that might also wanna work with me now and follow along.