Turning over a new leaf, and how best to do it.

PardonTheWait

PardonTheWait

PardonTheWait

Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2003
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This post may be a little disjointed and pretty long, it's a little bit of a brain dump, and I'm thinking about it all as I go along, as a lot of this has only just occured to me.

It may seem very self indulgent, but the reason I'm posting here is I know plenty of people on this board feel exactly the same as I do right now, it's that time of year where everyone steps back, takes a look at themselves, and doesn't like the view as much as they should! So I figured it's a good time to bring this up... we can help each other a little maybe.

I have no 'New Year's Resolution' as such this year, as I don't particularly believe in them - they tend to be a load of unreachable goals that only last a month or two, as you aim too high. So I'm not doing that.

But what I do intend to do is just as a whole improve myself, my life and my situation. I feel that writing these things down will help me not to sweep them under the carpet, not to think 'yeah, I've done a lot better' when deep down I know I haven't improved anything.

I intend to keep a private diary of sorts, where I actually write down what I've done to improve my situation, and what I've not done to improve my situation.

Essentially, these are my faults/problems/areas for improvement:

• I eat crap.
• I smoke.
• I spend ALL my money, every month, and if I'm honest, creep further into debt every month as well. This can't continue, or I'll end up in serious trouble. I'm not in trouble now, but unless I pull my finger out I will be. It's inevitable. I'm 23 years old, I live with my parents, and given my money situation, I'll be here for a while yet. I intend to make that 'while' as short as I can.
• I don't exercise very much.
• I drink too much.
• I intend to do well in my new job, as well as I can.
• I want to make progress with my photography - mostly just making the time to actually do it, which I don't do right now.

So in this little journal I intend to start, for each day and at the end of each week, I want to write down some things I've done. Good, bad, middling, all of it.

For example... if I ate well on a particular day, as in taking healthy options where really I want to go to BK at lunch, that can go in. If I made a notable improvement to an aspect of my work, I can write that down too. If I spent too much money, I'll write what I bought, and how and why I could/should have not bothered.

My hope for this is that it really allows me to see in black and white how I'm living my life, while not allowing myself to conveniently not think about certain things that I have, or haven't, done.

Along with this, I'm in the process of making my debt more manageable and getting a hold on my finances so I don't trip up so much.

Do any of you other miserable winter life-changers have any ideas? I figure if we all stop moaning about the winter blues and do something about it.

Either that or this post's too long and no **** will even read it
 
Put 10% of your monthly money away, give it to your parents or something so you cannot get it, then work out a budget and stick to it.

You need to sort yourself out, getting advice is good but its still you that has to follow it.
 
challengedavid said:
thought about a thread like this myself, fed up with smoking , drinking, feeling misrable with nothing to look forward too. want to change but find it really hard, so sink back to the old ways really quickly
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Exactly! That's what happens to me - or rather I just don't start in the first place.

That's why I'm going to make a scribble about - when I drink alcohol, when I have takeaway/crap food, when I spend money on crap I don't need, so I can really see how rubbish I am now regarding all those things, and with any luck, how I'm improving as I go, which will a) give me a kick up the arse when I'm misbehaving, and b) make me feel good when I do well.
 
Do it a day at a time, set realisticc goals for each day and that way it should be easier to follow and stick to.

Its about stopping bad habbits and forming new, good ones.

Only 1 way to do it :)
 
You know, what you have written is exactly what i've been thinking, unfortunately i'm so weak minded i can hardly start to change:(

I eat crap everyday(2 pizza hut pizza's yesterday and the leftovers today!)
Haven't excersied for years.
Got a gut on me but was the almost anorexic looking just 2 years ago!
I smoke and drink too much.
Want to do better at work.
Want to try to manage my cash better.
Would love a Mrs but not in my current condition!

Why i'm like this i don't know but also don't know how to get out of it by myself:confused:

I think changing one thing at a time is the best approach and i'm going to try but it's hard when i'm so used to being lazy.

Your idea sounds like it could work if you stick to it, Best of luck buddy:)
 
/subscribes, im in the same boat.

im overweight, approx 16 1/2 stone, but im 6 foot 8 so only need to loose a stone or two.
im lazy and dont exercise enough, hence the above.
i want to do better in my job, i find it hard to concentrate and loose interest a lot.
i still live with my parents and im 27, i do refuse to rent though as thats a waste of money.
i am newly single as i ended my relationship with my girlfriend on new years day, she was 9 years older, had 2 children and we were together on and off for 4 years but grew apart as i sought to improve myself and my career (neither children are mine).

objectives:
to loose weight.
to get fit/fitter.
to devolop my career further.
 
Mohinder said:
Indeed. My overall goal is to be generally awesome in all aspects of life
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You shouldn't judge yourself by my standards, you'll only make yourself feel bad :(

I signed up to a new gym today. Normal blood pressure, bang on body fat, good lean weight, I'm working an afternoon shift and didn't order out. Instead I've had pasta and will be back at the gym again tomorrow.

I've stopped smoking, have cut down on my drinking...

Just do it. Don't just talk about it :)
 
Go to a gym, 2 of those will be as a result of that and you will feel better in yourself and have more motivation to do other things.

Working out can do wonderful things for yourbody and mind.

and 16 1/2 atone at 6 foot 8... that sounds ok to me, I'm 6 foot and 15 1/2 stone, although I work out a lot.
 
Bet it ends by February to be honest.

Write down some goals and review them daily. You have the right idea but why post to the internet.

Goals could be:

Lose weight to xxst xxlb
Cut fags to x a day (record number for each day)
Get debt free (monitor spending and debt levels)
Get promoted within xx months
 
It's easy to say just stop being lazy but getting the mindset right to do things is quite hard for me and maybe the other people. The thing that scares me is the fact that the years have flown by and i'm in the same mindset as 5-6 years ago!

Really is time to make some changes before another 5-6 years pass...
 
for the smoking thing...

say you have 60 a week, for this week starting now try and have just 50

week after that 40 and so on

after work drive to local supermarket and buy some food in that you like, im the laziest guy on the planet... so here are the type of things i like to cook

sweet n sour chicken + rice

2min mircowave rice (always comes out perfect)
bottle of sweet n sour and a packet with 2 fillets of chicken :edit - i only have 1 with half a bottle of sauce... so you can have it the next day too :)

cook the chicken untill white and bang the sauce in... whala, tastes good too!

my main problem which distracts me is my computer, ill get home and go straight on it... try stopping yourself from going on your pc untill a certain time, say 830pm, that would give you time to do other things like cook, and maybe some gym?

i used to go the gym regulary, squash is awesome... take a mate or play by yourself, brilliant for getting fit

thats my advice... i wish i'd take it
 
I felt in a rut around Christmas, generally bloated all the time due to excessive eating and drinking.

Went up to 18 stone 12 lbs, the heaviest I've ever been :eek: Two weeks into the new year and I've lost 11 pounds and haven't touched a drop of alcohol.

I feel SO much better. In the unfortunate words of Nike, Just Do It.

the only thing I haven't found yet is a new and exciting hobby.
 
markyp23 said:
Bet it ends by February to be honest.

Write down some goals and review them daily. You have the right idea but why post to the internet.

Goals could be:

Lose weight to xxst xxlb
Cut fags to x a day (record number for each day)
Get debt free (monitor spending and debt levels)
Get promoted within xx months
Click to expand...

I posted it on here because I know at this time of year lots of people feel this way, so instead of whining about it, let's be positive. Plus I was bored.

I'm not cutting down my fags, I'm going to give up again. I can't do cutting down, it just doesn't happen, but I was doing well with not smoking at all until I got drunk and cocky and thought I could get away with smoking while out on the booze. Lesson learnt, I won't do that next time. The other three are three of my main goals really, and I intend to manage all of them over time.

I don't know how long I'll stick it for, but I hope I do, as I think it will do me good to have it there in writing to refer to.

I've made progress with some stuff so far this year - I haven't had a drink yet, and won't until Friday when it's my mate's birthday, I don't intend to drink for another couple of weeks after that again, and I've had less takeaways - on the other hand I now work at Lakeside and I've fallen into Burger King too many times since I started there :(

The book is a way of telling myself off each night and patting myself on the back when I do good stuff.
 
Mohinder said:
You've got no excuse not to take your bike test now dude, get it done! Before they make it more expensive, longer, and harder, and preferably in time for the three weeks of summer!
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Ah, but unfortunately I do :( The same thing that's stopped me doing it all last year too. I'll be doing what I can but there are reasons.
 
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