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, August
September 2021
Again, a hard month. I don’t know why I struggled so much this month. I’ll let the results speak for themselves. Hell, this month was so bad I’m even late getting this report out.
Week 1: August 29 – September 04
On Saturday the 4th weekend I had my swiftwater rescue “river days.” Each day was probably worth several workouts as we were swimming Class III rapids, doing rescue swims, pushing hard to cross strong currents and punch eddies. Aside from that there was a lot of moving heavy stuff around, paddling, towing people in on ropes, hand-pumping rafts, being in cold water, and other strenuous activity. After Saturday’s activities I was dreading going back on Sunday. I missed two days of Spanish this week. It sucks…but it is what it is.
- Spanish: 71.4% (missed two days)
- Workouts: 2/3 – Workout B on the 31st, Swiftwater Rescue class on the 4th
- Bow: 2/3 – 36 arrows on the 30th, 48 arrows on the 3rd
- Books: 4 – This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan (Highly Recommended), Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion by George J. Thompson and Jerry B. Jenkins (Highly Recommended), Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Perfect Kill: 21 Laws for Assassins by Robert Baer
- Tobacco Free: YES
Week 2: September 05 – September 11
This week I did my second “river day” in my swiftwater rescue class class. It was an intense day of swimming, doing boat work, towing swimmers, etc. Unfortunately…I got sick right after the class. I didn’t get COVID, but I did get a decent cold.
- Spanish: 85.7% (missed one day)
- Workouts: 1/3: Swiftwater river day
- Bow: 3/3:
- Books: The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
- Tobacco Free: YES
- Bonus: I’m now a Swiftwater Rescue Technician
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
~Robert Collier
Week 3: September 12 – 18
Maybe I did something this week…to be honest I even slacked on keeping track.
- Spanish: 85.7% (missed one day)
- Workouts: 0/3
- Bow: 0/3
- Books: 0
- Tobacco Free: YES
Week 4: September 19 – 25
This week I was on vacation. I gave myself a guilt-free break. The books we finished were about serial killers (Israel Keyes and Mike Debardeleben, respectively) that we listened to on a road trip. Listening to serial killer books is sort of our thing on road trips. It also inspired us to come home and make some minor, but meaningful security upgrades.
- Spanish: 100%
- Workouts: 0/3
- Bow: 0/3
- Books: 1 – American Predator by Maureen Callahan, Beyond Cruel by Stephen G. Michaud
- Tobacco Free: YES
- Bonus: Took a road trip to visit my dear friend Rich Brown. Rich co-hosts the American Warrior Show, and he and I once owned and operated a business together.
- Bonus: Road-tripped to Kinston, NC to stay in the Mother Earth Motor Lodge, a dilapidated hotel that was purchased and entirely refurbished to “1970s Miami”-esque glory by Mother Earth Brewing. And of course we spent some time at the brewery.
- Bonus: Threw a murder-mystery dinner party with a mixed group of friends (some from work, some from family, some we know randomly). It was successful beyond my wildest dreams.
Week 4: September 26 – October 02
Text
- Spanish: 85.7% (missed one day)
- Workouts: 1/3 – Workout A on the 28th
- Bow: 1/3 – 24 arrows on the 28th
- Books: 0
- Tobacco Free: YES
Wrap Up
I WILL do better next month.
