randallCbennett[dot]com

Becoming my best me

I’m about to enter a three month stress stasis.

Most of my life I’ve felt a conscious need to keep trying to hit a goal. Typically, with that goal-oriented nature, I’ve also placed a copious amount of stress on my plate.

My goals weren’t simple “get an A in school” or “make the basketball team,” instead they were “get an associates degree before graduating from high school,” and “be the star of the basketball team.” Some I succeeded in (associates degree) some I failed in (basketball star) but regardless of where I landed, the journey helped me grow.

Now as I land in North Carolina, my goal oriented nature hasn’t changed but my goals have. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I’ve got three full months where I don’t have a professional goal to achieve. That doesn’t mean I’m taking a three month vacation, that’s what the last three months have largely been, but instead it means that my goals are going to be a bit different.

Now, my biggest goals are to be my best self, and set myself up for future goals. What does that bit of polyanna sounding mumbo jumbo actually mean? Well, without looming professional or personal goals, I’m going to set up my own goals.

Best self #1: Physical fitness.

I, like most new year’s resolution setting Americans, set my goal to lose weight. So far, so good. I’ve knocked off about 15 pounds since January, most of it coming in January. The good? I hit a minor goal. The bad? I’m still really fat, at least in my eyes anyway. Right this second I weigh around 264 lbs, depending on day/time it can range from 260-268 or so. That puts my BMI at around 33 (I’m 6′3″) which is in the category of “obsese.” To get down to “overweight,” I’d have to hit 240 lbs, which is definitely doable. Normal weight for a 6′3″ guy is right around 200 lbs or less. I haven’t weighed 200 pounds or less since I can remember, at least since I was 16, so I’m going to go for somewhere in between 200 and 240. 220 sounds pretty good.

To get there, I’m lucky enough to live in an apartment complex that has a pretty complete gym. No free weights, but to be honest I wouldn’t know how to use them even if they were around. There’s some treadmills and some machines, so I’m going to try to do a full body circuit two times a week, alternating days between core / upper body and lower body. On top of that, the place has a basketball court, which I love to do, and a running trail. I’m going to try to give my full effort in cardio for as long as possible before I start doing machine workouts. Right now, I’d estimate that means running for no longer than three minutes, but I’ll start there and work up. I figure I’ll full out run for 5 minutes, do a machine routine for about 20-30, and then finish up with as much basketball as I want. I’m going to try to do this all before 8 AM, which seems pretty realistic, especially considering my freelance obligations are mostly based on the west coast, giving me a few hours ahead of them.

I’ll also be keeping a log in a google document and on a tumblr, to track my progress. I’ll write up things here occasionally when I feel the need, but the tumblr will be the weigh-in place. Oh yeah, I’ll be auto posting a daily picture of me (face / workout clothes, most likely) to my tumblr every day as part of the experiment to see how I change.

Any significant musings that are more than one liners will show up here, on the main blog. That should segment the three main audiences (friends, family and listeners/readers of my work) and people can pick which part of me they like best, or all of it.

Best self #2: Personal life

I’m striving to actually balance my life, whereas in the past it’s segmented periods of extreme excess in one of the areas of my life. To that end, being the best me in my personal life means putting family first, ahead of other goals even if it means they’re not as strong as they could be. Sad? A bit, but I think getting in the habit will be something everyone else can appreciate as much as me.

Best self #3: Professional life

Right now I’m freelancing, which means I’m basically working part time for anyone who will pay me. I’ve got goals of where I’d like to end up, and since I’m not putting 40 hours in at any one location, I’m going to work on some new ideas that I’ve been kicking around. I’m going to be starting a new show that’s sort of like an Around The Horn meets Tech style, but it’s not quite ready to launch yet. I’ll be working on that site as much as possible, and trying to get some content on there. I’ll be striving for one show a day on the site, and one written piece per day as well. Right now I don’t have the means to do it (left my mics in California), but when I do I’ll be trying to do one video story per week.