Saturday, August 25, 2012

RoW Update 8/26 - Loving Every Minute

I've now completed what was my first full week of RoW80, and I can say that my success was mixed, but overall, quite positive.

I started out setting goals that were ambitious, especially for my writing.  I asked myself to go from zero writing on my novel in 6 months to writing every day.  I asked myself to go from not having written any blog posts in 18 months, and only 2 posts ever, to writing at least 3 posts a week.  I asked myself to go from getting the occasional incidental exercise to getting deliberate exercise 3 times a week.  I asked myself to go from not really helping around the house to doing something to help every single day.

Have I made all of these goals this week?  Absolutely not!  Have I done more than I would have prior to RoW80?  You're darn right I have!

I just love the ability to say that I've written over 3000 words on my novel this week.  I can say I've been reading a philosophical book that I wouldn't normally force myself to pick up.  I've been trying to make my wife's life just a little bit easier by doing small things around the house.  I feel as good about myself as I have in a long time.

I just want to say thank you to Kait who has put together this challenge for all of us.  You've done me a great service by putting this idea forward of working toward continual achievement of goals in writing, and of life in general.

I don't know what the new week will hold, but I'm certainly excited to get into it, and find out!  Good luck to all of my fellow RoW80 participants this week!

RoW80 Detailed Goal Progress


Writing - I will write something toward finishing my as yet untitled book from NaNo last year, even if only 50 words, every day.
8/19/12 - None.
8/20/12 - While I did not get any actual words written in my novel, I was able to create a detailed outline of an additional 5 scenes, enough to keep me writing for a couple weeks, I think.
8/21/12 - None.
8/22/12 - None.
8/23/12 - Wrote 1893 words.
8/24/12 - None.
8/25/12 - Wrote 1255 words.

Reading - I will read at least 10 pages of a book each day.
8/19/12 - No books read, but I spent much time reading blog posts... that counts for something, right? :)
8/20/12 - I read 10 pages of "The Power of Paradox".
8/21/12 - I read 12 pages of "The Power of Paradox".
8/22/12 - I read 15 pages of "The Power of Paradox".
8/23/12 - I read 10 pages of "The Power of Paradox".
8/24/12 - None.
8/25/12 - None.

Blogging - I will write at least three blog posts each week, one of which must not be ROW80-related.
8/19/12 - Wrote Weekly Check-In for RoW80
8/20/12 - None.
8/21/12 - None.
8/22/12 - Wrote Mid-Week Check-In for RoW80
8/23/12 - Wrote Post on Learning about Creating and Improving a Blog
8/24/12 - None.
8/25/12 - Wrote Brief Post on NaNoWriMo looking for beta testers for 2012 website.

Exercise - I will get "real" exercise for at least 30 minutes, three times a week.
8/19/12 - My older daughter got to try riding her bike without training wheels for the first time, so I spent quite a bit of energy running alongside her. Not 30 minutes in total, but some aerobic exercise nonetheless.
8/20/12 - No exercise.
8/21/12 - I spent two hours of the afternoon playing laser tag with our high school youth group. If that doesn't count as exercise, I don't know what does!
8/22/12 - Between walking the mall for over half an hour, and carrying all our attic storage down to our basement over about 20 minutes, I definitely got my exercise today.
8/23/12 - No exercise.
8/24/12 - No exercise.
8/25/12 - No exercise.

Housework - I will, in some small way, make my house look better each night than it did the previous night.
8/19/12 - Picked up most of the disaster in our living room from the kids' playtime. They are like a tornado! Cleaned up some "debris" in our basement's finished area, and helped move some furniture for my wife.
8/20/12 - Cleaned up a little bit in the basement.
8/21/12 - Put some dirty clothes in the laundry room.
8/22/12 - Finished picking up all items in our upstairs bedroom and moving our bins in our attic to the basement to facilitate some construction/repair.
8/23/12 - None.
8/24/12 - None.
8/25/12 - None.

14 comments:

  1. Welcome to ROW80, Mike! I love this group, and I can definitely relate to what you say in this post. No, I have not met all my goals, but oh yes, I am so much farther along than if I had not joined.

    It looks like you've made some good progress; here's to the rest of the week going just as well!

    Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

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  2. Thanks Elizabeth! I hope things go well for you as well. I'm not going to fret over my shortcomings right now, as I'm still getting into the swing of RoW80.

    Next round though, we'll see...

    Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  3. Progress is progress. Congrats on the 3K added to your WIP. Keep the momentum rolling this week!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the encouragement. I wish you the same on your goals this week!

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  4. It's a great group and certainly helped me to achieve my goals - everyone is so encouraging and generous, Kait deserves a medal for the idea and for keeping it rolling along - youv'e started well and welcome - all the best for this week

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    Replies
    1. I'm with you that Kait needs a medal. Maybe we should have a write-a-thon and raise some cash to buy her something nice!

      Thanks for the encouragement, and welcome to my blog!

      Delete
  5. It is great to create ambitious goals and even better to be pleased even if you haven't quite met them all! Sounds like you have been very productive and I am glad you have found ROW80 works for you! Have a great week!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I've fallen short too many times to be discouraged by every less-than-ideal result. It's the process that matters. I've been more productive than I have been in a long time, and I'm pumped!

      You have a great week too.

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  6. Fantastic start, Mike. Keep that ball a rolling. Concentrate of the positives and you have so much of it this week. I'm excited for you. Power to the ROW80, it works.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm going to be pushing hard all week to at least equal, if not outperform, last week. Thanks for your excitement... I can feel it too.

      Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Sounds like you've made a great start! I bet your wife's happy too - any little bit of help is good. :) Keep up the great work, and don't be afraid to decrease or increase your goals as your needs change - that's what's great about ROW80!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I have made a good start, and this week is off to an even better start. I'm not going to change my goals at this point, as Round 3 was my test phase. When Round 4 starts, all bets are off!

      Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

      Delete
  8. You're doing so well, it's great! Congrats on adding 3K to your WIP. Keep up the good work this week! And thanks for stopping by my blog :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks to you too for stopping by! Have a great week!

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