Five days into the second month and I don’t appear to have successfully sat down to write a blog post - I must be slacking. This post is more of a self-check-in, to make sure that I’m trying to stick to the goals that I set for myself in the new year. It probably is not going to be as thought-provoking as other posts given that context.

Goal 1) Im going to write more

This goal is one of those which I want to say was a resounding success - Not only did I write the number of posts I needed to write for that month, I enjoyed it. I have always enjoyed writing, and I have always intended to kick off with blogging - however intending is akin to “would of, should of, could of”. I somewhat think the “100daysofoffload” challenge was the kick up the backside I needed to start writing regularly.

I also discovered something else - It is okay for me to have a wrong opinion. I hold somewhat controversial opinions about some subjects, and I intend to keep the opinions and subjects as vague as I just did. I have always had the rule with my opinions that they could be potentially wrong, and if they are proven wrong I need to adapt them to account for the oversight. This has been a good way for me to actively learn and adapt my worldview, but it has meant that I don’t often share an opinion unless I’m very certain of it. What I have discovered from this blogging experience so far is that it’s okay for me to share my opinions, and it’s okay for them to be wrong. A good example of this is the ChatGPGT post, in the past, I would have been very unwilling to write that let alone share it. However given the post details my thoughts and experiences with ChatGPT, it s all opinion based.

I have come to understand this month from my job that I am quite good at thinking outside the box. I think I draw connections between things most others don’t, and I think an example of this is the link between Jack Parsons and the ethos behind ChatGPT a force for good or bad. Even if what I write in my blog ends up being pseudo-intellectual babble at best, it may at the very least offer a spin on a subject someone else might not have seen prior. Given this, I look forward to the next 8 posts.

Goal 2) I am going to healthier

This is one of those goals where when you look at the way I live my life, you wouldn’t think that I have made any progress. However, with the three-month specific goal I set for myself, I think I have done myself proud. I deleted my Uber account, and haven’t ordered a takeaway for solo consumption in over a month. This has been so successful that I have decided to start focusing on something else

I wan’t to stop drinking non-calorie-free drinks at home and work

I think this aspect of my diet relates to my upbringing. In my house, there was always an abundance of diet coke. When I would go out shopping with mum (often weekly) she would buy eight bottles of the 18p 2l diet cokes. The reality is this coke was disgusting, and thinking about it I can’t help but taste the aspartame in my mouth. However, to a child, the choice between this coke and water was plain and simple. This instilled into me a healthy relationship with flavoured drinks, that they are not one-off treats, but a given part of daily life. The ultimate goal is for me to move toward drinking predominately water when I’m at home or work, but I want to ween myself off before I try that.

The main thing that I am quitting here is energy drinks - a crutch I have been abusing to keep up with my chronically unbalanced work/life balance. Ironically now I have about 5 days clean of them I have come to understand that they make me hyperactive. At first, I thought that I was acting lethargic because of the lack of caffeine, but I now understand that this is just my baseline. Again, this comes from long-term abuse of caffeine to make up for a s***y diet and sleep schedule.

Goal 3) I am going to have no account overdrawn

This is something which I haven’t touched. I think the way I can change this is by taking on some advice from ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ which is to “Pay yourself first”. The idea behind this is that rather than saving whatever you have left over at the end of your paycheck, instead, you dedicate a certain amount of your paycheck to save. Then you allocate your budget for bills and weekly spending from the remaining pool. Assuming that my emergency fund with be zero by payday this month, I will have to put 500 into it. This means at the end of march I will add in another 500. These two figures combined mean I will have 300 left after my weekly allowance and bills. I will allocate this three hundred to the things I usually have to pull out of my emergency fund for. I will find that out by looking at the notes I’ve left on all of the withdrawals - Ive made sure to set a reminder in my todo list app for this on payday,

Goal 4) I want to read more

I am embarrassed to say that I have done nothing with this. I think the main problem was that I was trying to read books which I just do not find interesting, i.e. the CompTIA A+ exam guide. I think my best bet is to switch to a book I find interesting, that way I do not feel like I’m forcing myself to do it. When I eventually have built up the habit of reading I can try and add in some more challenging books. I’ll find a book on my good reads reading list and crack on when I get home today