Monthly Archives: February 2018

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Almost a week has passed and for a few days I was doing well with my goals for the year. Then, the weekend came. In my defense the weekend is the time that i get to spend quality time with my lady and our daughter. So when we went out to breakfast this morning I didn’t feel bad paying for it. Most of the things i bought this weekend, or at least paid for, were necessities of one sort or another. Did i need the leather work shoes that were $15 at Goodwill? No, But at that price my personal shoes will last longer and in the end save me more money. Should i feel bad for spending daddy daughter time at the local burger joint Nonla Burger when a double burger is $3? No probably not.

The other dilemma i came across is a business that I have been running for almost a year now. It’s a small antique booth in a mall where people have come to depend on typewriter ribbon and other related products. I had several typewriters when sarah and i started this adventure. now neither of us have the time or the money to invest in keeping it going. yesterday on a trip to see how low our supplies in the booth are running i learned that people have been asking if i also repair typewriters. i was interested in this as a side job a year ago but didn’t know how to get the word out. now i find myself with a possible answer to my antique booth issue and yet my time is limited these days.

As for my other goals, i did Kayak the new lake that has formed down town from the flooding this year. I went not once but twice this weekend and dodged a sherrif deputy who was standing on the shore watching me. How many times in my life will one be able to kayak through a large portion of downtown? News 13 was filming me paddling across the water and somebody with a drone flew it overhead as i was about to land on the shore. In my opinion the hiking goal was met. plus i carried the kayak the two blocks to the former pond.

So maybe I didn’t meet my savings goal this week. new opprotunities have arisen and I have been debating taking advantage of that. After i finish this blog I am off to finish the Self authoring Program. There isn’t much left. My only fear is that I still don’t know what i want out of life. Well i guess some things need to change.

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Uncategorized

Clean your room

To those of you that have been following the adventures of Jordan Peterson this phrase will sound familiar. For a man pushing forty, this was something i needed to hear. I originally started this blog a few years ago with the intent of learning and sharing various skills in the event of a world ending disaster. At some point before now it should have occurred to me that maybe the disaster is my life.
In May of last year I became a father. It happened later in life and circumstances lined up so that things would work out the best they could under the circumstances. My daughter was born premature and spent all summer in the NICU. For more on that story check out my other blog on The Good Men Project website under The Proud Preemie Poppa or buy the collected Ebook version (Hobbit Baby) for .99 cents on Amazon. Once you become a father and are responsible for someone other than yourself you realize how careless and irresponsible you can be. Granted I’m doing better than most but i still have my issues. My savings are almost non-existent, I can’t remember the last time i exercised, my writing career is a sad image of its former self, and I can’t remember the last time i sat down and read a book. It maybe a little late for a new year’s resolution but a change needs to happen.
A few weeks ago i purchased Peterson’s Self Authoring program, a three step guide to learning about oneself and planning a better future. two weekends in a row i worked on it and found myself half way through it and stuck. I completed the Present course then went onto the Past course. this was where i found myself in trouble. I had gone to a counselor for over a year and thought i had faced my demons, instead i found myself not wanting to write about the same things i had always dealt with since i was a teenager. Memories flooded back and i found myself saying “fuck it” just to get away from the computer. The last time i logged into the self authoring site was two weeks ago and i haven’t made plans to return to it. the last portion of the site is the future course, where you sit down and figure out the future you want and how to get there. This was the selling point for me, where am I going? How do I get there? what are my goals for myself? I have no answers for these questions and that was what had been bugging me for so long.
So why am I writing on this blog instead of finishing the damn program? While i was at work tonight i had a vision of what i wanted my future to be, at least for the next year. I need to save money, a nest egg in case something happens in the future. i need to get into shape so that i can enjoy watching my daughter grow up. I need to pay off my house and figure out what my goals in life are. there is a balance missing from my life and i need to find it. So Jordan Peterson says to start by cleaning your room. That is what this blog is going to be about. My efforts in cleaning up myself and my life to live the way i want to live. first lets set some goals.
1. Save $5000 in the bank for emergencies
2. Go hiking at least once a week with Zoey
3. Do not buy any big ticket items unless it is necessary.
4. do not eat out
5. cook at home as much as possible.
6. try to obtain as much food from gardening, hunting, and fishing as possible.
7. always pay over on the house payment.
8. white this blog once a week
9. work in the garden every weekend while in season
10. go camping at least once this year.

So those are my 10 goals for the year. i will have other things during the year to keep me occupied but this is a start. as for the self authoring program i am giving myself two weeks to finish it. other small goals will be added throughout the year when needed. this is the new collapse experiment, getting myself in order just in case the end of the world happens.

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