Ten Week Plan : Week 0

There are eleven weeks til the end of the year; December 31st is a Thursday, which will be eleven weeks and two days from now. I want to be snowboarding by then, so this is my plan to get there.

My goals are two-fold: to get into shape for intensive all-day physical activity, and to be in a steady financial position so that I can move out into the mountains and leave my day job behind. To be clear, my goal isn't just to take a weekend vacation and go snowboarding; it's to live in a mountain town and go snowboarding nearly every day for most of the season.

"Official" plan weeks run Sunday through Saturday, so the 10-week plan starts next Sunday. This week is preparation. Each week will have two goals: a fitness goal and a financial goal. Fitness includes diet, strength training, and cardio work. My financial goals are a combination of reduced spending, financial planning, and entrepreneurial activity.

My biggest problem, diet-wise, is cheating. I know what I should be eating and what I should be avoiding, but I find myself grabbing a coke now and then, or having a bite of the snacks that coworkers bring in to the office, or (horrors!) eating a sandwhich or enchilada! I expect this will be one of the major items in the ten-week plan: removing leaks.

My biggest problem, entrepreneurially, is not working hard enough. I've got plans, I've got projects that I've started, but I don't work on them as much as I wish I did. Each week, this plan will include specific milestones that I want to reach, some analysis of what I wanted to get done and whether I got there, and some planning on future work.

For this week (Week 0), I'll keep things simple. I'll continue to run/walk as I have been, about five times a day. I'll continue to do strength training twice a week. I'll try to eat paleo, but specifically I'll be avoiding tea after noon and cokes after breakfast. Still a leak, but I personally find it difficult to quit cold turkey. (If I drink tea late with dinner, it dehydrates me and makes a good night's sleep more difficult.)

For my financial goals, I'll be working four hours a night when I'm free, and eight hours on Saturday.

I'll keep y'all posted.