So the year’s (past) halfway done. What do I have to show for it? How, you ruminate quietly to yourself, have I been progressing on my January commitments? Well, here’s my midterm report:
| Goal | Grade |
|---|---|
| Stick to the 30-day rule | B |
| Limit book purchases | F |
| Self-publish one ebook | C+ |
| Get up early or die trying | A |
| Give school its due attention | B- |
| Keep up with going to the gym | B |
| Read fewer depressing books | A |
| Mid-term GPA | 2.67 |
Ooof. My life is uncomfortably close to academic probation! I’ve never had a GPA remotely close to that, so it’s pretty humbling.
Wanna dive in?
Stick to the 30-day rule
Current Grade: B
I was doing pretty well here through the end of March. Impulse buys were limited, and a good $500 was saved by using my 30-day doc. However, in April, I just stopped using it. Combine that with a renewed vigor for Kickstarter, and my Q2 has been less than stellar.
Still, I have good feelings about being able to get to an A by the end of the year.
Limit book buying
Current Grade: F
This is a punt and a half. Between Audible subscriptions, StoryBundle.com, Brandon Sanderson and Pat Rothfuss, To be perfectly honest, I consciously abandoned it around March. Wanna know by how much?
| Money Spent | $300 |
| Audiobooks | 10 |
| eBooks | 29 |
| Physical books | 7 |
Yeah, that’s a full 40 books more than I’d limited myself to in January. And there are still 5 months left to go in 2014!
Some minor silver linings:
- I averaged under $7 per book. So I’ve got that going for me.
- I’ve stayed on top of the audiobook purchases, so my audio backlog hasn’t grown.
- I’ve read 40 books so far this year. So, at the very least, my overall backlog hasn’t grown. Rather, it’s exactly the same it was as at the end of January.
Self-publish one e-book
Current Grade: C+
I’ve actually made steps toward two different projects here. I have a reasonably fleshed-out outline for a fantasy novel (perfect for NaNoWriMo in November). And Sy – who catalyzed this challenge – and I have spoken about writing something together, which I think is definitely feasible. It’ll be a bit of a stretch to get either actually finalized this year, but it’s still within the realm of possibility.
Get up early or die trying
Current Grade: A
Well, for the first part of the year, I tried getting up incrementally earlier, but that only did so much. The results were very much as before. However, I now have a convenient easy win here, as my new job is in Boston, and I have to wake up at 6 every morning to make my train. Nothing motivates like necessity, eh?
Give school its due attention
Current Grade: B-
This has been hit or miss this year, but leaning toward “hit.” I’m averaging about 3 credits a month, which isn’t nearly what I was hoping for. Optimistically, I wanted 5-6. At least I’m keeping my previous pace.
Keep up with going to the gym
Current Grade: B
This has been getting steadily better over the year. In January through March, I was going once a week or so. In April and May, about twice a week. Then I signed up for a Tough Mudder in order to motivate myself, and ended up going about 5 times a week during the rest of the summer. Now let’s see how I do at the Tough Mudder!
Read fewer “depressing” books
Current Grade: A
I believe I’ve hit this one squarely on the head. Of the 40 books I’ve read so far this year, only one has been a non-fiction book regarding current social issues (which is, sad to say, what qualifies for “depressing”), and it was more academic than despondent.
What do you think? Can I bring up my GPA into the 3.0s?
