Zach's Pages

Thursday, January 8, 2015

2015 New Year's Resolutions

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Yep. It's that time! Unlike your friends, I am actually pretty good at setting resolutions and accomplishing them. Ok, so disclaimer....I didn't make any resolutions in 2014. It showed, I know. But, a ton of good things happened in 2014 for me, which I outlined in the 2014 Year in Review. I won't waste much of your time...or mine...and will make this short so that we can review it this time next year. Unlike everyone else's resolutions, I have no problem going back and pointing out where I failed. I won't pretend they didn't exist. 

Health
It's everyone else's number 1 goal. It might as well be mine, too. From 2013, I gained 30 pounds. I feel like poo. I am always tired. I am in pain from various sports injuries that go directly back to me not taking care of myself in 2014. So, on top of losing that 30 pounds, I want to gain much better habits on stretching. Stretching was often forgotten in the gym because of my limited time. Additionally,  I spent more times yacking to teammates before games than stretching. 

One weight lifting goal I do want to add is benching 3x5 at 225 pounds. That shouldn't be much of a stretch as I already was routinely working out with 185. Yes, I know it's 40 more pounds, but I never was able to get into a a good habit of going to the gym. With some persistence, that should be obtainable. 

I also want to strengthen my legs. Not only will this help my running and jumping, both of which were at all time lows in 2014, but it is the easiest place for me to lose weight. 

Big arms and chest aren't an issue with me. A big gut is. It's an area that I continue to carry weight. And, for good reason. I love to eat and crunches are my least favorite thing in the world. Let's get a semi-6 pack. 

I'd like to avoid a surgery this year. I will be due for my once-every-two-years this coming December. Let's not do that.

It's amazing to me just how much time I have to spend on my shoulder. Of my 1.5 hour workout, I spend at least 20 minutes JUST on shoulder strengthening. When I don't, it causes constant pain. 

How do I plan on making these goals? I am currently doing an Advocare  24-Day Challenge thanks to my wife, Alyse Taylor, Advocare Believer . She will be handling our nutrition which includes the Advocare stuff and the meal planm

Sports
In softball, I would like to get my on base percentage back to 80% BUT I also want to hit 5 homers this year. Additionally, my slugging percentage in previous years, namely 2013 when I was in the best shape, was probably around .500. I'd like to get back to being a threat to get multiple bases every time I get to the plate. This means being able to hit for power when I want, and when I do...make sure I hit it right. The slugging percentage ties into that and losing weight to get that speed back. 

I don't want to strike out ANY this year. I did a great job not watching any strikeouts in 2014, but that meant I swung at some bad pitches, too. I probably struck out 4 times this year. 

I want to learn to place hit, either by pulling or by switch hitting. Though my power improved drastically in 2014, I hit very consistently and the defense picked up on it. 

In the field, I would like to have zero out-fielding errors and limit myself to 1 or 2 infield errors. Last year, out-fielding errors hurt me (4 or 5) while  I was pretty lights-out in the infield. 

I don't want to get thrown out any. It stinks and is  embarrassing. 

In football, I'd like to have a .500 team that makes a playoff run. 

In soccer, I'd like to me more than a stop-gap defenseman. As I said in my Year End Review, I made some strides as a midfielder. 


Fishing
I want to get those 2014  numbers up. Way up. Part of that was that the fishing wasn't good. I didn't have a boat for a few months (now I don't have one at all). And, I simply didn't go fishing very much. 

I want to master two techniques this year: flipping and jigging. I caught under 10 fish with both of these techniques combined. Yes, I am aware of how sill that looks. How will I accomplish this? I plan on fishing with only THESE baits in the deck. 

I hope to fish in multiple clubs this year. I am signed up for two additional clubs, already. But, I am at the mercy of my boater and my schedule. And my wife....

I want to win at least 1 Ditto Wildcat tournament. This event is one of the toughest tournaments out there, I think. We started to learn some things last year, though we were stuffed in all but 1 tournament. 

I need/want to buy another boat. Sadly, buying a bigger house is my current priority. Once that is done, I plan on buying a new to me boat for around 20K.

Being without a boat is going to make it hard to fish with my wife, which she really got into in 2013 and 2014. I need to come up with a plan to find us some quiet fishing time. Really, the only REAL solution is to buy a boat. So, there is that. I would like her to catch a fish over 3 pounds this year.

Tournament fishing was tough. I did well in my little club tournaments and Josh and I had a few good moments in the Ditto Wildcats. Josh buoyed us to a 2nd place finish in the 2nd Annual PEO tournament. But, uncle Tony and I struggled in the Eagle's Wings tournament, which we had dominated in the past. We fished a couple of other larger tournaments and busted. This year, I would like to get in the Top 20% of the field in a big tournament, whether that is the Spro Frog, Spro Cranking, or some other larger derby. 

Hunting
I want to have another year hunting squirrels. Squirrel hunting is severely under-rated. It is an absolute blast.
And they taste real good. 

I want to kill my first gobbler. I have only killed jakes to this point. And, I would like to kill more than 1 bird a year.

I would LOVE to get a good dove hunt going. It's been YEARS since I was able to do this. 

I am pretty happy with deer hunting. I want to get my freezer full faster and concentrate on a BIG buck. 

Reading
Thanks to Amazon Prime, I don't go without books. I would like to read around 10 books this year. As much as it pains me, I NEED to step out of the Sc-Fi zone and read other things. What should I read? I don't know. Not much else interests me. I'd like to read around 10 books this year. That shouldn't be hard. I closed out 2014 on a tear, reading around 5 books in the last 2 months. Mostly because I had been reading 2...and sometimes 3...books at a time. 

Prepping
We *HOPE* to be in a new house in a few months, which is why I haven't done much around the house. I want to get a rain barrel system, for sure. I would like to build up my foodstuffs and water supply to exceed 3 months. It is currently less than 1 month. 

Blog
I am fairly happy with the hits the blog receives. I have made a fair amount of friends through the blog and I meet people in the craziest places who recognize me. That's pretty cool.  

Though I don't much care to make money of it, it is a bit disheartening that no one has expressed interest. Sure, plenty of people have TALKED about it, but at least 2 companies have simply exploited it and I have had to be "that guy." I find my writeups and videos being used without any links to the blog or credit to me. Or, they want an insane amount of work/credit for the writeup. 

It's crazy to think that I offer free product reviews and no one takes me up on it. That's the way it goes, I guess. After talking with some folks, it obvious that catering to my Auburn peeps is my best chance. 

I would like to do a major overhaul on the blog. I wonder sometimes if the amount of topic I write about is hurting me and that I should start 4 SEPARATE blogs.  But then again, I am getting a lot of cross-post traffic. 

But, I need to list something. I would like to get from 150 views per day to 250 per day. That means a lot more posting, as my blogs seem to be time-sensitive. 

I'd like to do more "prepping" stuff. 


Anyway, I might add more to this as time goes by. 

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