Quest 9

Holy shite what a wild ride it's been...

2010-03-30T22:19:00.002+01:00

This last year has been an absolute game changer. On many levels.

Without going into details, everything is different.

New goals need to be defined, and new parameters.
You will see some trending, though you'll see some new stuff too. Oh, and you'll see something that you wont see. Don't hurt yourself thinking about that one son.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Tradition (aka Goal 10 of 10)

2009-01-09T23:57:00.003Z

Goal #10, background and reasoning:
A few years ago, I had the silly idea to practice one piece of music. It was a decision I made off hand, and just kind of kept going with it. This one Guitar piece became a bit of tradition. I've fallen off with that a bit in the last two years, but it's time to put that back in the Traditions bucket.

Goal #10 is to play Jimi Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner on the 4th of July for an audience.

Knowing full well that my skills with my axe are limited, the audience too will be limited. For my purposes, an audience consists of three or more. (Humans)
Heck, might even tape it and YTube it. Nah.. maybe not.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Just for fun! (aka Goal 9 of 10)

2009-01-09T17:04:00.003Z

Goal #9, background and reasoning:

Cyclists are open-minded. Cyclists are egalitarian. Cyclists share a fellowship of the wheel that can overcome all political, social, racial and economic barriers. Except for recumbents. -Ted Costantino, cycling journalist
Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym. -Bill Nye, the Science Guy
Bicycling is human scale- a living, breathing alternative to the city's domination by motor vehicles. There is magic in blending with traffic, feeling the wind in one's face, the sheer fact of traversing the city under one's own power. -Charles Komanoff, cycling advocate
Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. The airplane simply carries a man on its back like an obedient Pegasus; it gives him no wings of his own. Louis J. Helle Jr
Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. John F. Kennedy

I've had a long term relationship with bicycles, though there have been some breaks in the time line. In 2003, I stumbled across a site that was still in it's infancy, and has boomtowned since. I credit myself with the site's unprecedented success. Wink.
In the years following, I managed to meet some very unique people, and two of them have turned out to be monumentally important to me, and many are people that inspire me and challenge me.

Bicycles are social catalysts that attract a superior category of people. -Chip Brown, A Bike and a Prayer

In the past, I've done some very epic rides with people from the site, yet the one big event associated with BikeJournal is the informal ReUnion.

Goal #9 is to attend ReUnion 2009 in May.

No real riding specific goals, other than to go and have a good time with a great group of people.
I will need to get back into the habit of riding more though. Good think I have a place to track my miles.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Connected (aka Goal 8 of 10)

2009-01-09T03:25:00.000Z

Goal #8, background and reasoning:
In reading the book Best Year Yet, I identified the roles I play. This brought into the light my, lackadaisical attitude in keeping in contact with people that mean very much to me.

A friend is one with whom you are comfortable, to whom you are loyal, through whom you are blessed, and for whom you are grateful. - William Arthur Ward

Goal #8 is to be involved and connected to those important to me.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Create! (aka Goal 7 of 10)

2009-01-08T01:13:00.001Z

Goal #7, background and reasoning:

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896

In libris libertas

A great story is pure magic. A great book expands how you think, how you relate to yourself and others. It changes you. I would love to be an author of such a book, yet that might be too lofty a goal for this year. That was humor; see, a good author would not feel the need to explain. (or would have been genuinely funny) Without knowing whether I have any talent at this or not, I'm simply going to have a go at it. I like to write, and at least a few people find my mental drooling entertaining, so it's high time to get organized and become committed. Or is that become organized and get committed?

Goal #7 is to Publish a Novella
Fortunately, I have two ideas that are grand enough. Code names are Forgotten and Isolation. After hammering out the plot a bit, I will choose one of them, and shelve the other for the time being. And by 'publish', I'm really more concerned about the work being finished, and ready for printing. I've no real intention to go through the BS of an agent or finding a publisher at this point. Bridges I can burn much later down the road.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Do Good Work (aka Goal 6 of 10)

2009-01-07T12:00:00.000Z

Goal #6, background and reasoning:
I work for a fantastic company, with a great group of people. I like what I do, and who I work with, and the financial rewards work for me. There are some sensitive components to this goal, so this will be the least updated and talked about, yet I do have very specific and measurable goals.

Goal #6 is to "be good at my job".

Sorry for the lack of detail. Deal.
This will be the invisible goal on the list, until the end of the year.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Sirens Call (aka Goal 5 of 10)

2009-01-07T04:20:00.001Z

Goal #5, background and reasoning:
Last year I went sailing for the first time. My wife thought it would be fun to get Keel Boat Certified and set up the whole adventure.
Little did she know that I would be completely enthralled with sailing, so much so that I'm all for selling the house and buying a live aboard. I've had dreams of sailing, and the entire concept of cruising up and down the coast of the US and South America is enthralling. Owning a boat and cruising, is no longer an "if", but a "when". Dare to dream, and I'm dreaming of sailing in warm tropical waters. I hear the sirens call, loud and clear. I'm simply going to heed the call.

Goal #5 is to take the next two ASA tests (ASA103 and ASA104)and become "Bare Boat Certified".
This will allow me to Charter a boat with out having to hire a captain. I imagine flying down to the Caribbean, and chartering a boat for two weeks, then just sailing around, stopping at deserted beaches one day (or three), then back into port for a nice dinner. Repeat.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Continue to Learn (aka Goal 4 of 10)

2009-01-06T16:20:00.000Z

Goal #4, background and reasoning:
I love a good challenge, especially if it scares me a little. The fear response is there to stop us from doing dangerous things. Unfortunately, that emotion is a bit overdeveloped in most people and we tend to turn away from things that are, at worst, only uncomfortable. With any good challenge, you need to evaluate what the worst possible outcome is, so that you know the full extent of what you are committing to. The trick is to evaluate that wost probable outcome with it's likely hood, to put it into perspective. If you fear something, and you're OK with the consequences, then you should do it.

Goal #4 is to hack life thee times (once per quarter for the first three), and learn something new. Thus this is a three part Goal. (bringing my total to 12! (I love the number 12))
Whether these things are useful or whimsical have yet to be determined, as I've only decided on the first of the three. This goal is about deconstructing, streamlining, and remapping a skill.
Recognizing that I may be using terms unfamiliar to some, I will try to explain:
Hack: Originally this meant a rough clumsy job done in haste, it now often means the opposite; an elegant solution to a complicated problem, usually done in an efficient manner. From that the term lifehack came to mean making changes, sometimes radical though always clean, to boost productivity.
Deconstruct: Analyze and evaluate all the parts of something to determine the necessary components. AKA, Learn the Rules.
Streamline: What is the quickest way to change my skill set to include the basics of how the skill is constructed.
Remap: Adapt my mental constructs or physical motor skills to match those that have this skill. Also known as modeling.

For the past two years, I've had a fascination with American Sign Language (ASL), though have not taken the time to set down learn it. If I continue to just dabble with this skill, I may never have more than a 1o word vocabulary.
Goal #4.1 is to be able to hold a basic conversation in ASL.
Goal #4.2 is (undecided)
Goal #4.3 is (undecided)

Post Script: Do you have suggestions of skills that you'd like me to hack? I'm open to suggestions.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

A Legacy (aka Goal 3 of 10)

2009-01-01T11:45:00.000Z

Goal #3, background and reasoning:
Recently, I've taken a bit of time to reflect on life, and thing things that I've done so far that have given it meaning. The list of those things was a bit shorter than I was happy with. When my life is almost over, I'd like to look back and revel in the wonderful things I've accomplished, the lives that I've enriched, the positive things that I've done that will live on after me. A legacy.

I don't have that part figured out, entirely, yet I think I'm getting close.

One of the most significant moments of my life was a simple gesture from a child. In my sophomore year in High School, I was a tutor at a local elementary school for learning disabled 1st graders. That class was one of the few that I looked forward to, as each day was a new challenge. I could talk about all the kids and their unique views and methods of learning; perhaps I might do that in a different post. On the last day of this class, one of the kids that I was tutoring in math came up to me with a wicked grin on his face.. behind his back he had a present for me. Too much paper and tape, and some clumsy folds made for a comical little package. Inside was a small globe/pencil sharpener.
I'd made an impact on this boys life, and in turn he on mine.
To quote Dewey Finn from 'School of Rock' :"Your children have touched me and I'm pretty sure I've touched them too."

The feeling I had from this simple gesture has always been a strong moment for me. It has been, and I'm sure it will be a very profound memory.

Looking back on that moment, the world seems to make a bit more sense. A balance between effort and reward, between gain and giving.
The combination of something very challenging, personally rewarding, and benefits others, is a 'win/win'.

2009 Goal #3 will be to Become a Mentor (probably through Big Brothers, Big Sisters)

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

And then there was... (aka Goal 2 of 10)

2008-12-23T19:53:00.004Z

Goal #1 was very much in the mental sphere, so Goal #2 is naturally going to fall to the Physical.

2009 Goal #2 will be to Achieve Fitness.
I'm defining this by having my BF% at 20, AND the ability to do 76 push-ups, AND run 5 miles in 43 minutes.
-- I have not 100% decided on the running portion of this Goal, and may substitute that with a cycling related goal, perhaps a sub 6 hour century ride. Stay tuned for updates. (If I swap the running for cycling, I will post the public link for my Bikejournal.com page here)

On the simple side, this is just nutrition and exercise. On the complex side, this represents a much more fundamental and powerful goal. Again, this is a goal that I've taken pot shots at, and seen some gains (er losses), yet not broken through to true success.

For tools, I will be using my TRX system, (see link to left), The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook and The Ketogenic Diet by Lyle McDonald, and a good pair of running shoes.
And many many, 'tricks' from goal one.

The outline of my methodology for achieving this goal is:
Nutrition:
Protein Sparing Modified Fast per Lyle's Rapid Fat Loss Handbook, then switching to a Cyclic Ketogenic Diet.
Strength Training:
Custom blend of body weight exercises combined with a TRX training program
Cardiovascular:
Simple running plan with a very gradual intensity and distance increase.

I will be using the following to track and report on my progress:
http://physicsdiet.com/Public.aspx?u=Maarburg
http://www.gyminee.com
http://www.livestrong.com/profile/maarburg
and, of course, I will be updating this site with my challenges and success.

#3 is coming soon.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

In the beginning... (aka Goal 1 of 10)

2008-12-20T01:31:00.009Z

I played with rolling out all of my 2009 goals in one shot, yet thought that would steal from the suspense and spectacle of this endeavor. Instead, I'm going to tease a bit and roll out my Quest one goal at a time. Despite my desire to roll this out Letterman style from 10-1, we are going to start with the big goal. The goal that I feel will have the largest impact on my life if all other goals go unfinished.

Goal #1, background and reasoning:
2009 Goal #1 goes back almost twenty years to when I had a fascination with psychology. The brain very much seemed like a total mystery. Fantastic theories on how bumps and depressions were thought map personality traits (Phrenology), or how the theory from one "great thinker" would so greatly contradict another "great thinker". Curious to learn more, asked my teachers questions that they had no way to answer, the science of how the brain worked, had not moved forward enough.At least how it was being taught. I wanted to know how my head worked, why I thought the way I did. What was possible? The theories we were taught, were abstract enough as to be impossible to argue, yet equally as impossible to demonstrate. The explanations and reasoning seemed to fall flat and empty the more I tried to test them. Entering college with Psych as my major, I came to the rather quick conclusion that most of the teachers, and certainly most of the students felt that they were broken, and simply wanted to find the cure. My experience was of broken teachers, teaching broken ideas, to students that thought they were broken. Meh. I only going to put up with 3 of 5 semesters of that. Disillusioned and frustrated, I gave up on psychology, and school in general.

Fast forward a few years and I would find a few interesting concepts congealing. My first true sales job required me to call people that had no interest in talking to me, trying to sell them something that 5 or 6 other people were also trying to sell them. This 'cold calling', can be brutal on your self-esteem, as you are presented with rejection after rejection. A week or two of calling 6 hours a day, and getting shot down every time can lead to the expectation that you will be shot down. Funny thing that. Customers hear that defeat in your voice; you're telling them you can't sell crack to crackheads, and they believe you. It starts in the mind. Simple things like if you are making sales calls, and you smile as you're talking, you will find the conversation will go much better. Or if you have a theme music that you play in your head when you look at phone. "Flight of the Bumblebee", is a personal favorite. These little 'tricks', because that's all I thought they were, kept adding up. Eventually, I had a hand full of tricks, and when I backed them up with some elbow grease, I ended up being Rookie of the Year. Good times. The mistake I made, was thinking that these tricks were strictly for sales calls. When I left that job two years later, I left those ideas and concepts behind.

That was too bad, because those 'tricks' were very much on target for why I was interested in psychology in the first place. Those examples show how we each have considerable control over our minds, and the state of our minds, was right there in my hands. I let it go. I had huge bags of gold in my hands, and didn't recognize it.

Call it fate, or blind dumb luck, but I was introduced to someone that had a depth of understanding of these tricks. This person, ZenLC, introduced me to Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). NLP, was what I was looking for. How does the brain work, and more so, how can I work my brain.

In the process of defining and deciding my goals, for 2009, NLP popped up again and again as a incredibly beneficial skill to have. In fact, is supports almost, if not every, goal on the list.

Goal #1 is to become NLP Practitioner Certified.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace

Preparations.

2008-12-18T02:56:00.003Z

Having done the reading, and analyzed the theories, to the point of analysis paralysis, it is almost time for the rubber to meet the road.

Having recently read Best Year Yet by Jinny Ditzler, and crafted my plan, I just starred at it. Eyes slightly glazed. I know that my plan is aggressive, yet I feel that it is well within my ability to accomplish, as long as I get off my ass and do something about it. Sometimes I look at the list and think "Holy shit, how am I going to get all this stuff done!?", and others, I look at the list and thin, "Maybe I should add one or two more..." Perhaps I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader. (Hopefully I'll have more than one).

I'm at the point where I'm working on the wording of the ten (10) goals for 2009; ensuring that they are positively stated, and doing a sanity check on them. After that, I will run them through the well formed outcome process, and then post them here.

Public accountability.

Succeed or fail, in the public eye.

The following posts will by an outline of my challenges and trials as I make 2009 my best year yet.

-Maarburg posting from just outside cyberspace