I am taking some inspiration from Wil Wheaton who for the past 7 months has been pressing the reset button and trying to be more motivated. I have been following Wil’s blog for a while now, well ever since I found out he had one. Anyway I thought it would be interesting to do a Reboot myself and see if I could go the distance. I suppose I have been looking for something to regularly blog about and this seems like a good experiment. So from the 1st August I will be starting the experiment, this also coincides with me and the family being at New-Wine, so will be a great time to not only do a life reboot but a spiritual one also. So why wait, well 1st August is a Monday and the start of a month. So it pleases the part of me that has OCD.
So what are my life Goals:
- Eat and Drink Better
- Read More
- Blog More
- Code More
- Get Better Sleep
- Exercise More
- Get into a better routine
- Be better with Money
And my spiritual Goals
- Pray More
- Read my Bible More
Life Goals
Eat and Drink Better
This is the start of it, I need to be better not just on the outside but on the inside. At the moment I drink large amounts of Coke and the occasional Monster Energy drink. This is way too much sugar and caffeine, the caffeine highs are good but the crashes suck big time and probably are not helping my sleep. If I could get the fizzy drinks down to three a day and the rest of the time drink water or fruit juice. Obviously I will be allowing myself the occasional Cider.
Read More
When I was first diagnosed with depression, I started reading more, At one point I got through 31 books in one year, this year however I have only read 5 to date. I hope to get back up to at least 20 for 2017.
Write More
Well this one is not new, in every new year post I have ever written, I have always put blog more, so this one should be no surprise.
Code More
Again I have always put finish website on my list for a new year, well this one also includes getting back into C+ and Java, plus finally learn how to write Apps for iOS.
Get Better Sleep
Recently I have taken to watching a movie on my iPad before going to bed, this is a big problem because the iPad screen emits blue light and that makes your brain think the sun is out. Using devices before you go to bed is the most common reason for SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), good sleep is good for fighting depression.
Exercise More
Another good way of fighting depression is to be more active, I have been saying for weeks now that I should get out for a walk at least once a week. Before I got my driving license I walked everywhere and it’s something I used to enjoy sometime going for long walks along the cycle path, this is definitely something which needs to re-enter my life. Also my wife got me an Apple Watch for our 10th anniversary and I really have no excuse not to.
Get into a better routine
When I was first diagnosed with depression, I opted for CBT(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), this helped me try and combat my depression by getting motivated, a bit like what this experiment is hopefully going to do. Did the CBT work? Not in the long term, I quickly realised I need counselling which I would suggest to anyone with depression over CBT any day. CBT is good for a lot of things but not my depression.
Be better with Money
Okay, I will admit it, I’m terrible when it comes to money. It is something which has been bothering me for a while so getting it off my chest. I hope that I will be able to pay off the credit cards and boost up the savings account a little. I keep hearing about the 70, 10, 10 ,10 rule for finances. This means that:
- 10% goes to the church
- 10% goes into short term savings
- 10% goes into long term savings
- 70% is left to live on.
I hop to be able to do this but at the moment the credit cards get in the way. I hope to be able to adopt this method in the near future.
Spiritual Goals
Read my Bible More
I am going to admit that for the past few months, I have been terrible at picking up my bible. Going to church doesn’t count as you only really get a few verses thrown at you when it’s always best to read the bible in large chunks.
Pray More
I will admit, I don’t set a specific time to pray, I seem to pray when I am in the car and I feel compelled to pray. I know this isn’t a bad thing, Christians should only pray when they feel the need to pray, I have always found praying as part of worship kind of empty, as if ticking a box. I hope to get into a routine, which allows me to set time apart for reading my bible and praying.
Well there you have it, the great experiment. Can I become more motivated, I’m sure I will find more areas to improve, but for know I hope to conquer these. I will be posting regularly on my progress. Watch this space.
