Trying And Failing Really Sucks

I've always been the type of person who wants to learn everything. I have spent a good portion of my life trying to stay ahead of whatever curve was in front of me for fear that I would be left behind. So in a mad dash to make sure I'm immersed in whatever will help me stay ahead (programming, mobile, fitness), I take on about 100% more than I can actually do. I know from past experience I will fail at some things, find I don't have time for others, or decide to change course. But all of this mean many things fail, and that really sucks.

I know failing is the new word for try. As Yoda says "do or do not, there is no try." I don't know anyone who likes failing. A couple of days ago I was having a discussion with someone who was trying to decide what type of decision maker I was. Would I be someone who would try a hundred things until I found the right answer, or would I take my time, think through a problem, look at multiple options, then make a decision. I know in their mind they liked the try and fail a hundred times option because it "looked" like effort was being made. But I'm the later. I can make quick decisions if I'm given enough information. And for the times when I have very little information, I might take longer to make a decision. There are few cases in this world where choosing to fail a hundred times at something to come up with a solution trumps thinking through a decision, either in your head or with a team.

So why am I bringing this up? Well, all of this start, stop, fail, succeed, has given me an opportunity to think of what's next. Martin Sheen's character President Bartlet in the TV series The West Wing used the phrase "what's next?" when he got the point and wanted to move on. I love that phrase. I've done the same things  for over 30 years, now I want to move on... what's next?


Here are a few things on my What's Next list:

• I'm finally over managing web servers. I can't stand it any more, and I simply don't have the stomach to worry about all the possible issues that could go wrong. It's not part of my core focus. So I'll be transitioning all of my websites onto something that some company manages for me. I just want to write.


• Speaking of writing, that's the next big part of my next... writing more. Expanding and broadening my knowledge of some technologies, exploring their long term values, and of course finally putting pen to paper (so to speak) on Old Coder Comics. I've had this idea for a while, and I really want to put some effort into that. I also want to finally finish the ten sci-fi and thriller stories I've started and stopped.


• Fitness. It's never been part of my everyday fabric. But it needs to be.


• Photography. This is simply a pleasurable thing. But my problem has been putting in the time to really learn the craft. I don't want to be a pro. I don't want to call myself a photographer (so I don't incense my real photographer friends), but I do take pictures.

While I've spent a good majority of my life learning the intricacies of programming languages, staying up all night to write code, fix a broken site, and generally try to come up with ideas for the next big thing, it's simply not what I truly want to focus on. I'll try and fail for sure at some of this. Failing really sucks, but, it's also a great way to learn. I've sure typed a bunch of I's in this post. But that's what you get today.

Photo credit andrewhurley

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The Next 90 Days

I just finished a ninety day fitness challenge with some folks, including Alex Lawrence. We have been using a Facebook group and Twitter under the hash #tmfit, to track our progress and as a form of accountability. Most of us tracked our calories with MyFitnessPal. This tool also let's you track exercise, and you can share with your friends.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be as open about my weight loss as I would need to be. I have a considerable amount of weight to lose, and will take quite a while to reach my end goal.

Speaking of goals, in the past 90 days, I managed to work out at least 5 days a week, some weeks more. I reduced my calories to 2000a day or less before taking workouts into account. I managed to reach my original goal of losing 20 pounds between January and March. Mission accomplished. I lost a total of 33 pounds.

I'd love to connect on MyFitnessPal, its great for tracking and accountability.

The next 90 days are going to be interesting. As we move into spring and summer, I'm hoping to move my exercise out doors. For me that means billing, riding a bike, and camping. So here's are my goals for the next 90 days:

1. Workout at least 5 times a week, more if possible.
2. Add 2 days of weight training, and at least 4 days of cardio.
3. Continue to eat less than 2000 calories.
4. Reduce my sugar intake. This will be hard to measure but I'm mostly trying to build awareness.
5. Go hiking add many times as I can.
6. Get a road bike. I have a mountain bike but I really need a road bike.
7. Go camping at least once before the end of June.
8. And finally, drink more water, a lot more water.

That's it for now. I'm stepping up my public accountability her on the website. Also going to try and take more pictures of my progress. I'll also share my activity from MyFitnessPal.

Here is a pick from day 1 and about day 90.

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Chapter 2013

More:

C#
JavaScript
Comics
Photography
Books
Fitness

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