So this is a huge first step for me. One of the hardest goals I have ever made that can never be fully achieved is my own personal betterment. My inspiration for this step is from my son B. He recently asked for a ringed binder to make a journal. Reading it and seeing what has had the most impact on his life is the experiences with family or even one on one with one of his parents. I feel if I can do a simple Journal as he has began doing I can keep track of my goals and have a bit of personal accountability in my personal betterment.
First goal of the new year as always is to lose weight and be healthier. This is always the hardest one for me. I love to snack and salty foods are my Achille's heel. I recently opened a climbing gym membership for my son Z and I, but even so far I have not been the most dedicated to going for myself. Z has become such a strong climber and is such a good example of dedication. I am always making sure he has time to go but I fail to make the time for myself for many reasons/excuses. I prefer to workout in the morning so I do not feel guilt taking time away from the family and more often than not I do not go because the night before I stay up late for any reason at all. There is one day a week where I have to go into the office in the early morning and if the days before that day are good and I have worked out it is harder to get back to the gym after that day.
Second part of the first goal is to eat healthier. This one gets out of hand fast. I have always been a conscientious eater and try to eat healthy but as I said earlier I am a Salt lover. Chips, crackers and peanut butter filled pretzels are a sin and if they are around I am a sinner. For the most part the food purchased and made by my spouse is very healthy we just have kids that need snack items and I fail a lot in my self control when I am either hungry or bored. When the boredom hits I can easily eat several processed snacks from the pantry. I have also fallen prey more to the soda monster. Drinking of unwanted calories is a hard challenge. I can easily quit for several months and go strictly h2o but lately it has been harder, quite possibly to the age I and the tiredness that comes with it.
Second goal for the new year was to be a better person, father and husband. This comes from the failures in the past that have occurred. As we all know we are not perfect and have failed what we were taught at least once in our lives. 2020 and 2021 took their tolls on many people in the world. There were losses and struggles within my family and friends circles. With each misstep we learn and I intend to make the most corrections I can as I see myself stepping in a wrong direction.
Third goal is to become more financially aware. 2021 was the year when we finally did well for the year. However even with making more than usual we learned that the need to budget is a big issue. I make a living as an Account Executive for a construction company and as such am paid on a commission, some checks are large but many are tinier than previous years. Many times throughout the year we got ourselves wondering if we were going to be able to pay our bills. So I am planning to work on a full budget so we do not come across this issue again, as well as try a few things out to make some additional passive income.
My hope is that through this blog I am able to see some of the issues as they begin to arise and to correct them more easily. I named the blog from V0 to a better me for the simple fact that I am beginning anew in rock climbing and am also watching my oldest son start in a path that as a child brought me so much joy. Climbing is so pure. You set a goal with each level and need to learn from your falls and faults to achieve these goals or send the routes. I plan to use this mentality to claw and climb my way to my personal goals and a few climbing goals along the way.
