TMK's Jungle Journal

[TheMonkeyKing]

To be updated weekly for the next 12 months

Aims

Financial
Objectives for the next month
-Live on residual balance
-Do not borrow cash from my mate to subsidise social life; go without social life if needs be
-Do not gamble a single penny
-Become financially independent in October 2014

Next 6months / 12 months
-Save 500/1200
-Do not gamble a single penny


Physical
Objectives for the next month
-Full stretching routine every day
-3K 50% run, twice weekly
-1.5K interval running, once weekly
-3x10 push-ups daily, adding 10 reps per set over the next 3/7
-1-2 hours basketball drills Saturday and Sunday

Next 6months / 12months
-Join gym in October 2014, and devise regimen
-Gradually increase interval running (2-3x weekly) and reduce to one easy run per week
-Maintain weekend drill regimen
-Full stretching every other day
/-Play National League Basketball for 2015-16 season, at least at Division 3 level.


Mental
Next three months
-Read at least one book chapter every day

Next 6months-12months
-Build up to one fiction and one non-fiction chapter every day
-Join book club


Social
Next 3months
-Go out one week night and one weekend night per week ONLY
-Limit social spending to <300 per month
-At least one social per month that does not involve consuming alcohol

Next 6-12months
-Catch up with at least one old friend and/or family member every 2-3months
-Maintain and improve communication with current contacts
-Make one new female and one new male contact per month and maintain the contact
-Two-week holiday abroad before March 2015
-One week in Ibiza, summer 2015
-At least one music festival, summer 2015
-Edinburgh Fringe, 2015


Career
Within the next week
-Apply for 6month secondment opportunity (+700 net per month)

Next 6-12months
-Get new job (+ at least 1000 net per month)
-Plan post-grad education for next 5-10 years


Personal
Next 3months
-Maintain an attractive standard of grooming
-Treat smelly feet
-Replace all shoes, crusty t-shirts and three new pairs of jeans
-Create three smart outfits and acquire least one new fitted suit
-Two new jackets by Reiss

Next 6-12months
-Move in to new, more accessible and spacious flat where I can host (by June 2015)
-Create two paintings
-Learn to play three songs on guitar, front to back
-Write one song
-Maintain Jungle Journal weekly, at least until w/b 31/08/2015

 

[mangotot]

Good luck. These types of journals usually get updated for a number of weeks then get ditched.

 

[TheMonkeyKing]

07/09/2014

Financial
-Not borrowed any cash
-Gambled 40 this week
-Drew up a comprehensive budget for the coming year which will amount to at least 3K savings.

Physical
-No exercise nor stretching at all this week
-Today: 1 hours of drills, half hour pick games and 300 interval run.
-NoFap day 1. Feeling driven this time

Mental
-Read a chapter every evening except Friday. Will catch up with that this evening.
-Lovely hard back, 10th Anniversary Ed. of The I Ching was delivered yesterday. Seems pretty complex so will be a mental as well as philosophical challenge.

Social
-Went out Wednesday and Friday. Limited to three beers on both evenings which is the level to maintain over the coming year.
-Passed up an invite to go out Saturday, for which I would have had to borrow cash.
-Got chatting to one decent broad on OKC, finally. Very easy conversation, many common interests. Will become a fully fledged architect in the imminent future. A bit chunky in the photos, but probably a 7-8 in the face, a 7 overall. Lives 3-4 miles away. A decent prospect.
-Otherwise, had no less than five invitations from different chicks over the last week, two or three of which I will probably follow up on in future; for this month though, TMK is laying low re-learning good habits, for himself, with no distractions.

Career
-Started application for 6month secondment worth 2,500/month. An opportunity to consolidate current experience, very much reach the pinnacle of my own profession and potentially triple forecast savings over the coming 12months.
Finish tomorrow.

Personal
-Making an effort to clean shave once weekly.
-Applying scrub and anti-bac soap to feet daily and seems to be making a noticeable difference to odour already. Look in to athlete's foot treatment.

Summary
-Generally not very pleased with the first week's progress, particularly around finance mgt and physical training, especially as so many of the other objectives rely heavily upon both. Good to have a budget in the back of one's mind though.
-Not getting disheartened. These standards are to be reached over the coming months rather than over night; it is useful and highly motivating to reflect upon things that one has achieved over the course of the last few days. Once a few good habits are in place, it seems the general behaviour will cascade down.

 

[TheMonkeyKing]

15/09/2014


Financial
-Gambled 10, won 40.

Physical
-No exercise again last week
-Went out drinking three nights with my mates and one with a chick.
-Stomach bug Thursday and Friday

Mental
-Also let the reading slide this week; probably only read three chapters all week.
-Going to make a concerted effort not to watch TV all week.

Social
-Probably the better aspect of the week.
-Went out a few times with mates.
-Met with the Swedish actress in the early hours of Sunday. She stayed until Monday morning. Best sex I've had in a long while. She starts talking along the lines of exclusivity. TMK says we'll make the effort to see each other more often. Will see if she becomes less flaky to start with.

Career
-Didn't apply for the secondment in the end; timing with current job is not ideal. But am going to find something within the next year still as per the original plan.

Personal
-Feet (and shoes) starting to smell OK (or at least better) now.
-I have a massive love bite on my neck, which my boss just noticed!

Summary
-A good week and a bad week.
-Not a great week for pursuing this improvement plan. To have a plan in place is still motivating in itself, rather than living aimlessly - 'To have a goal without a plan in just a wish'. Really need to put this thing in to proper action, just taking a week at a time.
-A good week with respect to the actress. She seems to be growing up a bit and coming to the realisation that she has stop spreading herself so thinly if she is to be seen as more reliable. Also said that she has been scared, insecure and has little or no experience 'getting serious' with men. Also admitted that she used to work in a strip club
-I know she's probably been seeing others (but then so have I) and she freely admits that guys flirt with her all the time; though in the same breath, she says she isn't phased by them and really likes me. Told me that yesterday (spent with me) was the best day of her summer. But then she is an actress and can say these things to anyone.
-So in summary, she's a fairly typical woman, but is pretty easy to read, which seems to be her saving grace, so long as I stay in charge. I openly told her I am on Saturday night. I know that I am never going to control her, nor should I ever want to control anyone. I can only control myself and be the best I can be.

 

[TheMonkeyKing]

23/09/2014

Financial
-Had to borrow cash from my pal last week to get through the rest of he month; yeah I really am that bad with money! Though he does kind of persuade me to go out with him and is loaded to doesn't seem to care much.
-Am in a much better position for next month and the primary then will be to stick to my budget, which is totally realistic.
-One week until payday.

Physical
-Again, not much exercise as I would have liked. I really need to start doing the stretching and running.
-Much looking forward to next month because I will pay to join the gym. Strength conditioning will make the rest of the training much more bearable.
-Did have a lot of sex this week though - three days out of seven (including twice in a day) isn't too bad for me currently! Need aerobic some conditioning too, apparently.
-Moderate sinus infection this last week. Subsiding now.

Mental

-A lot going on at work which has driven me to go out drinking instead of go home to read. Having a quiet weekend coming up so going to finish the book I told myself I would by the end of the month.

Social
-A couple of night out last week, one birthday drinks and one in the pub. Getting a bit bored of the local scene which is handy, just in time for my new fitness regimen next month.
-Gotta find some new venues for the weekends, though should be fairly busy meeting mates in October anyway.
-Saw the Swedish actress twice more during last week. She seems to be getting very keen, as I started calling her out a bit on her flaky and BS behaviour. I know for a fact she's been flirting with other guys; I saw a message on her phone. So I called her out on it and she started making loads of effort.
Long story short, I told her to do what she wants and to be happy. She responded by saying she knows what she wants which is me; but as the old saying goes, trust their actions, not their words. We'll see. Not going to bang on too much about this one as only time will tell now. Need to regain the outcome independence that has seen me get so far with this one.
-Another really hot chick added me on OKC, so gonna message that later. Need to regain abundance also; have focussed too much on this Swede.

Career
-Work is going off and am not really enjoying it. Need to start looking for something else over the next month or two. Would like a much better salary for the new year.

Personal
-No change. Waiting for pay day as I still really need cash to be able to push this plan forward; gym, shoes, clothes etc.

Summary
-Regaining composure after being ill for a couple of weeks. Knocked me sideways a bit.
-Learning and re-learning to be a man in today's society is no small task. Compared to our ancestors, our challenges are largely mental and psychological, opposed to physical.
-Resolve and humour is low this week. Am going to lie low for a couple of weeks and engage with some exercise and try to stimulate some adrenaline.

 

[Rave18]

Just my two cents

Enjoy

You can also use the following format for long term goals. In how many years do I want to achieve my goal(s) ? and then break it down/work backwards.

X years > One Year > Monthly > Weekly > Daily > Plan your day accordingly and take it one day at a time.

Also read > http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/01/06/whats-your-20-mile-march/

All the best

 

[TheMonkeyKing]

You're right Rave,

Maybe I need to reduce it down to each day, rather than just weeks, at least to start with.
Also thanks for the link. I completely forgot about the Art of Manliness. There are some brilliant articles there.

Cheers geezer.

 

[TheMonkeyKing]

29/09/2014

Finance
-Gambled 0
-Borrowed 0
-Payday tomorrow; new budget regimen kicks in. Looking forward to being solvent and continuing through to the end of the month.

Physical
-Much better this week
-Drills x3
-Stretching x1
-Pick-up x3
-Intervals 0
-Illnesses subsiding
-Much clearer having not drunk alcohol for a week
-Joining the gym this week after payday; cannot wait to gain a bit of strength and size

Mental
-Let the reading slide again this week, but have not really been in the mood, owing to illness and heavy duty workload.
-Will pick up again this week.

Social
-A quiet week. Not been out and quite enjoying the quiet life. Gonna try to follow it through for a couple of months at least an get to the gym instead of the pub.
-Getting more indications of interest from the Swedish these days, she's been texting and emailing unprompted over the last week, asked me out on Saturday night (though I didn't reply or go). Emailed this morning saying nothing in particular. Seems keen, but still a way to go. Probably catch up with her over the week, and she has a birthday in a couple of weeks so will probably have to lay a bit of beta on for that.
-Another chick chasing a bit on OKC; the architect from a couple of weeks ago. Not that hot though so not keen really. Really over online dating as a method of meeting chicks; the rigmarole of emailing, then chatting to, identifying with then asking out (all without even laying eyes on a bird) is all so over the top compared to just approaching someone in a bar (who you know you like the look of already).
-Might go approaching on my own Saturday night for a while
-Also supposed to meet Spence and maybe Mr Wright this month. Hit me up boys!

Career
-Slow. No progress. Job is still interesting and steady. Opportunity knocks. Moving is not an option at least until the New Year as I have to train new starters to replace me.

Personal
-Feet now much better; noticeably just 'sweaty' now, opposed to out and out foul-smelling. I have my colleagues to thank for providing all the necessary products
-Much more upbeat than last week. Though just in a general middling mood; not particularly up nor downbeat. Starting to realise that life needs to be filled with activity in order to bee worthwhile. Down time is good, but getting out is better.

Summary
-Not much to report
-The first true step toward self improvement starts this week with payday and the options it affords. I will make the right decisions.