In January of 2021 I committed to some New Year’s resolutions: spend 15 minutes per day learning Spanish, workout 3 times per week, shoot my bow 3 times per week, read 73 books, and stay off tobacco. This is my progress so far in the year.
January, February, March, April, May, June
July, 2021
Week 1: July 4 – July 10
After my self-assessment last month I came into July determined to do better. And I did – 3/3 workouts and 4/3 bow (wanting to make up some of those missed sessions). So far, so good on those. I managed to read a bunch during this week but somehow didn’t finish a book. I normally have quite a bit of time to read at work but this week we were kept very busy. I’m counting on finishing several next week.
- Spanish: 100%
- Workouts: 3/3 – Workout A w/ 40# KB on the 5th, Workout B on the 7th, Workout C on the 9th
- Bow: 4/3 – 36 arrows on the 4th, 60 arrows on the 5th, 48 arrows on the 7th, 28 arrows on the 8th, 72 arrows on the 9th
- Books: 0
- Tobacco Free: YES
- Bonus: SAR team monthly meeting
Week 2: July 11 – July 17
This was a good week. Got in extra workouts, extra bow shooting, and finished a solid number of books. Workouts – I spent a couple days just doing 100 kettle bell swings. I got some tattoo work done on Monday afternoon and didn’t want weights scrubbing against my forearms, but I wanted to do something. That’s a quick workout that gets the blood pumping.
I had hoped to get one more workout in and finish one more book. Usually I have enough downtime on a shift to read a whole book at work. Not this week. My 24-hour shift on Friday 7AM to Saturday 7AM had us running pretty much non-stop for 24 hours. I didn’t get my workout in on Saturday, and I didn’t read any books at work.
- Spanish: 100%
- Workouts: 3/3: 7.0-mile/1,095 feet elevation hike on the 11th, Workout B on the 12th, 100 kettle bell swings (45#) on the 15th
- Bow: 3/3: 24 arrows on the 11th, 48 arrows on the 12th, 36 arrows on the 14th
- Books: 4 – The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard, On the Shortness of Life by Lucias Seneca, The Ethical Slut by Janet W. Hardy and Dossie Easton, World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Antony Bourdain
- Tobacco Free: YES
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
~Robert Collier
Week 3: July 18 – July 24
Text.
- Spanish: 100%
- Workouts: 5/3 – Workout A on the 19th, 100 kettlebell swings on the 20th, Workout B on the 21st, Workout C on the 23rd, 6.0-mile/337-feet elevation gain hike on the 24th
- Bow: 4/3 –36 arrows on the 18th, 36 arrows on the 19th, 24 arrows on the 20th, 66 arrows on the 22nd
- Books: Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World’s Spirit by Fred Minnick, Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop by Lee Drutman
- Tobacco Free: YES
- Bonus: Took/Passed National Registry of EMTs (NREMT) Cognitive exam
Week 4: July 25 – July 31
I was doing great this month until this week. I picked up a bunch of extra shifts at work and ended up working 72 hours this week. And they weren’t easy shifts. On two of three I slept no more than an hour per 24-hour shift. On the third I only slept two hours. I worked for my money on these shifts. That severely cut into the time I had to do other stuff. It also mean I had very little energy for workout out and bow-shooting. I did what I could but I let some stuff slide this week.
- Spanish: 100%
- Workouts: 1/3 – Workout A on the 26th
- Bow: 1/3 – 36 arrows on the 31st
- Books: 15 Fundamental Laws of De-Escalation by Brendan King
- Tobacco Free: YES
Wrap Up
Overall not a bad month! I started off really strong after my mid-year reckoning last month but need to keep at it.
