My challenges

Well, so far I haven't had very many hurdles I couldn't leap.  But one of the biggest things that I have had problems with has been making sure I get my homework done, and study for tests and quizzes.
During high school I found little to no challenge in my class work, and easily achieved A's in every class.  But having so much time on my hands, and more challenging courses in subjects I have no experience in has really pushed me to my limits.  With the amount of time I have, I seem to be compounding my already horrific procrastination problem.

So far I have been able to get my work done, but at the cost of early morning work and study sessions, after long nights working.  It hasn't helped the fact that my body necessitates a minimum of 8 hours of sleep to function properly.
Therefore, I have established an effective system, and an equally effective determination, to improve my academic standing.  I have a small steno-pad I carry with me to every class, to keep assignments and due dates, and reminders of when quizzes and tests are.  I also have a dry-erase board above my desk that I keep a timeline and reminders of all assignments.  So far this system has helped me improve my memory, and my completion of assignments on time.

Goal Log

Well, it's been several days since I last posted here about my goals.  And well, thats quite similar to my progress.  I have been getting better with my eating, refraining from unhealthy foods, but I have found that the best way to rid myself of my frequent and constant headaches and migraines is to consume at least one glass of caffeinated beverage a day, so at lunch now I have been splurging and drinking soda, rather than water.  But otherwise I have been eating healthier, and as a matter of fact, I have been eating less and less, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But that has yet to show itself.
Sleeping has been on and off, depending on my classwork, and whether or not I am tired, or even feel like going to bed yet.  But I have been improving on the quantity of rest I get during the day and at night as well.

The workout part has not seen any activity, at least not in its previous capacity.  I have been having problems with my shoulders, which has also not been helping my sleep, causing me to wake up in the thralls of pain at any hour of the night.  But I did recently push my lower half to the limit with a 16 mile hike on Saturday.  I hiked over four High Peaks, Upper and Lower Wolfjaw, Armstrong, and Gothics, all while carrying a full pack, having intended on only hiking 10 miles Saturday, and finishing the rest Sunday after a night in the backcountry.  But that seemed lazy when I reached my shelter by 3pm, instead of my suspected 5 or 6.  It was a good hike, and quite taxing, but extremely enjoyable.

My song . . . . . . . . . . . .

Well over the past few classes we've been individually sharing a song that fits our mood, or is our favorite song.  After much deliberation, and a lot of thinking I finally settled on a song I heard back in 2009 when I was participating at Philmont Scout Ranch, in New Mexico.  This song is sung by one of the members of the Tobasco Donkeys, a band formed of staff working there.  Since then I have worked there, and it has added even more meaning to my life. Well here it is. . . . . . . .

My Resolutions. . . . . . . . . . . .

So, we've had a nice break over the Columbus day holiday. But that didn't prohibit my resolutions. Well, not entirely......

I have been keeping up with my eating healthy, trying to minimize the amount of cookies and cupcakes my mom gave me to one or two each a day.  But I really need to find a way to eat healthier on the schools food, which is quite hard when nearly everything is fried....... But I have gained weight, muscular, because I can tell I lost fat and my muscular endurance and strength has increased.

But on the that note, I will have to cut back for a week or two on my exercise.  I pulled a muscle in my left shoulder climbing and also tore a muscle in my hip area, which limits my movement and exercising.  I'll only be cutting back momentarily until they have recovered though. Then it's back at it full speed.

My sleeping has improved, but my not sleeping in class has not... which is somewhat depressing.  I hoped that by increasing the quality and quantity of sleep I would be able to stay awake in class more often, but it seems that that is not the case. Which is really going to hurt my grade.

The Happy Planet Index. . . . . . . .

As a requirement for my class we had to take the Happy Planet Index, a test that measures your overall happiness based on several different factors.  These included Life Expectancy, Ecological Footprint, and Well-Being.  I took the test relatively quickly and painlessly.
My results came out as above average, 66.9, the average being 46-53.7, but still well below the "target" of 83.  With that score you are living a good life without harming the world.  Fairly impossible nowadays anyway, if you ask me.
LIfe Expectancy:
My life expectancy score was 92.7, above the average for my gender of 85.9.  Showing that I am eating well, not smoking or drinking, and getting plenty of exercise. Plus having the right jeans on when I took the test couldn't of hurt anything either....... ;) They suggested that I improve my expectancy by giving up my car (kinda hard when you live 7 hrs away...), avoid living alone (I have two roommates?) and shrugging off stress.
Ecological Footprint:
This area for me is something that I hope to change in the future but currently there isn't much I can do to minimize my impact. But here's what they say;  My footprint is 3.98 global hectares, or 1.88 planets (how can I use more than one planet?).  I'm using between one and a half to two times my share of the planet's resources.  I travel a lot for work and vacation, and flying once adds .77 global hectares to your overall impact. Something thats hard going to be hard to stop when I go to school in New York, live in Pennsylvania, and work in New Mexico. They suggest that I take longer vacations (work is 10-12 weeks during the summer....) or travel by train(I'm a broke college student.......and that's expensive). But looking at the average of 4.06, I'd say I'm safe doing what I do now.
Well-Being:
The Well-Being category is separated into three categories; life satisfaction, feeling good?, and doing well?.      In the life satisfaction category I scored an 8, higher than the average of 7.11, but lower than Switzerland and Denmark, the highest scoring countries.
In feeling good? I scored a 22, much higher than the average 18.7, but i have hedonic well-being and my levels could change from week to week.
Doing well? has three categories that are necessary for a person to have psychological happiness: Connection to Others, Freedom to be Yourself, and Self-Esteem and making a Difference.
Connecting to others put me lower than average, only 5, not 5.56.
Freedom to be Yourself graded me as a 5.53, higher than the average of 5.03.
And Self-Esteem and making a Difference had me much higher than average with a score of 6.33, the average only being 4.78.
This last category they gave no advice for since it is very person to person dependent.

The entire final "grade" on this seemed very vague, so I'm not quite sure how to interpret this besides the fact that I am normally happier than you average person (my mommy always said I was different.....).  So overall this hasn't made me want to change anything in my life or how I do things, I am very satisfied with my life as it is........

The Resolutions, update 2.0. . . . . . . . . . .

Well, so far so good.  The weeks have been passing quickly and the days even more so.   I have been frequently sore from my workouts and have been keeping up with them very regularly.  I have noticed only a slight improvement in my overall condition and hope to see a large one by the end of the semester.

I have been getting excellent amounts of rest, and maybe on the weekends to much.... but  I haven't been falling asleep in class as regularly and hopefully my grades will show that.  In the near future I plan on sticking to my set sleeping time more strictly, but with hoppin' parties in my dorm, it can be quite difficult. But I have been thankfully able to get roughly eight hours of sleep a night recently.

My eating healthier has been the hardest resolution to keep, but I've been striving. The hardest part of this challenge is the decreasing quality of food in the schools dinning hall.  The food is either extremely greasy or just looks plain unedible and rather horrible in taste.  I have been purchasing healthier foods from the local Aldi's but, as a broke college student with an already existing food plan, it is rather pointless to purchase vast quantities of food when I have already paid for it..........