30go30

This is an update to my 1-year long Year-42 Project, a set of long-term challenges culminating on my 42nd birthday (July 28, 2012).

It's been a crazy 2012, and I'm already 3/4 of the way done with the Year-42 Project. Here's the scoop on where I'm at...

Part 1 - Fitness goals

Although it's not technically a part of the Year-42 plan, my 50,000 push-up goal is coming along - I just topped 21K. Unfortunately, running has taken a back seat to some other things in life, so I'm not sure if I'm going to make the last 2 original goals.

• 5K - Beat 2007 race PR (27:47)
• 5K - Run the full distance
• Push-ups - Do 200 in 6:00
• Push-ups - Do 100 in 2:00 (1 set)
• 5K - Beat 2006 treadmill PR (26:55)
• Sit-ups - Do 50 in 2:00*

Part 2 - Diet goals

• Give up soda completely
• Go 30 days without dairy
• Eat 5+ veggies/fruits per day

Part 3 - Learn Chinese

• Finish Pimsleur CDs (7/16)
• 100 Intermediate lessons
• 50 Upper intermediate lessons
• 100 ChinesePod Newbie lessons
• 100 Elementary lessons

Part 4 - All the rest

• Finish off unread books (3 left)
• Juggle 3 bags 50X with no drops
• 4-hour workday (8 x 30:00)
• Floss daily for 30 days*

Only 3 months to go.

Other than putting the Chinese on hold, I'm feeling good about the project. A lot of positive habits have stuck through the 9 months, and I've been able to hang on to momentum even under a ton of stress.

This is an update to my 1-year long Year-42 Project, a set of long-term challenges culminating on my 42nd birthday (July 28, 2012).

Hard, to believe, but I'm halfway to 42 as of today. The last 6 months have flown by, but I'm feeling good about my progress and for sticking to the plan for this long.

Part 1 - Fitness goals

I've gotten a little exercise crazy this past few months, and recently launched into my 50,000 push-up goal for 2012. The running is still coming along - I've got a race at the end of February, so I'm pushing the training pretty hard again.

• 5K - Beat 2007 race PR (27:47)
• 5K - Run the full distance
• Push-ups - Do 200 in 6:00
• Push-ups - Do 100 in 2:00 (1 set)
• 5K - Beat 2006 treadmill PR (26:55)
• Sit-ups - Do 50 in 2:00*

Part 2 - Diet goals

• Give up soda completely (2/week)
• Go 30 days without dairy
• Eat 5+ veggies/fruits per day

Part 3 - Learn Chinese

• Finish Pimsleur CDs (7/16)
• 100 Intermediate lessons
• 50 Upper intermediate lessons
• 100 ChinesePod Newbie lessons
• 100 Elementary lessons

Part 4 - All the rest

• Finish off unread books (4 left)
• Juggle 3 bags 50X with no drops
• 4-hour workday (8 x 30:00)
• Floss daily for 30 days*

Just 6 months to go.

At this point, I'm feeling confident that I'll get 90%+ of the list done. I may have to revise a couple of goals, but I think any revisions will be for the right reasons at this point.

I have a confession to make – this blog has been both a huge success and a terrible disappointment. Let's start with the bad news. The disappointment is that I've never really built up much of a following here on 30GO30. Truthfully, I just haven't put in the time and energy it takes, and I've been blogging professionally more than long enough to know that.

On the flip-side, I started 30GO30 to kick myself in the butt and take accountability to the next level. When our daughter was born and (2 weeks later) I turned 40, I knew it was time to get serious. Most importantly, I felt like I had made and broken a lot of promises to myself, and I wanted to finally face up to those past failures. In a lot of ways, I've done that, and I feel like 2011 was a huge step forward.

The doing got in the way.

The irony is that I wanted to write about doing so that I'd hear my own message, but as soon as I made that decision, the doing started to happen. Just creating this blog was a commitment to myself, and in retrospect, it was both an act of faith and magic.

Once I was doing, I didn't care so much about writing about it. I just wanted to do more. Writing about what I've accomplished so far has, many times, felt more like narcissism than progress.

It wasn't supposed to be about me.

In my first post on 30GO30, I made it clear that I didn't want to be a guru. I didn't want to build a community revolving around the shining sun that is me in all my glory. Of course, like any personal blog, the story became about me. That's ok, in theory, but it's not what I was trying to create.

Meanwhile, I've found that I enjoy participating more in other communities, like SEOmoz (my half-day-job), The Impossible League and Fitocracy, than I do trying to build one from scratch here. I know that, as a marketer, I'm supposed to own my own content, but the reality is that I don't care. I enjoy meeting people and learning, and that was the point of 30GO30.

I love writers (don't get me wrong).

I'm not saying that you can't write about something and also do it well – I love blogging about marketing. I work hard every day to raise the bar on the content I create for that industry, and I learn a lot and (hopefully) I teach in the process. People can write about writing, motivation, fitness, and whatever else they're passionate about. That's important.

What I'm starting to wonder, though, is if writing about doing is right for me. The simple truth is that, when I sit down to write here, it feels like a chore. I want to get back to doing as soon as possible, which sometimes means writing for other sites. When you don't enjoy writing for a site you created, it's time to make a change.

I think there also comes a point where writing can be an excuse to avoid doing. It's a lot like announcing what you're going to do to the world before you actually do it. For some people, that strengthens their resolve and makes all the difference. For others, shouting their latest plans at the wind just makes the room a bit breezier. We all have to find that line for ourselves.

So, what comes next?

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure. I'm not abandoning 30GO30 – I'm just going to let it be what it is. For now, that's a personal blog, where I'll write when I want to write. I'll keep updating my progress on some big items, like the Year-42 Project and 50,000 Push-up Challenge (both are going well). After that, I'll let the doing be my guide. When I feel like I've done something worth writing about, you'll find me back here.

Call me a skeptic, but I somehow doubt that Dolly actually spends her days taking pouty bathroom-mirror snapshots while coaching people to work from home. Before I engaged my semi-automatic Block/Report finger, though, I noticed something...

My life > the dream.

The too-good-to-be-true promise of this tweet was to be my own boss and make 48K/year doing it. Not to sound self-important, but I suddenly realized that I work from home and make more than twice that. The "dream" was actually worse than my real life.

You can do better.

In a way, it's sad that the new American dream is apparently to not be bossed around while making slightly more than the median household income. Maybe it's a sign of the times, but I think you can do better than that. It's not about the money – it's about not letting your imagination be limited by people like "Dolly", who's probably stuck making $500/month posing for suggestive Facebook photos.

I have mixed feelings about resolutions. I wrote last year about resolutions vs. real resolve and my friend Dan wrote a great post this past week about the pitfalls of resolutions. As 2012 was approaching, I realized I was done talking about it for a while – I just wanted to do something.

Ever since I finished the 100 push-up challenge in October, I've been looking for a new challenge. So, when fellow inspired lunatic Brian Wu suggested a 100 push-up a day challenge for 2012 over at The Impossible League, I jumped on board. The challenge was simple – do 100 push-ups every day in 2012, for a total of 36,600 (it's a leap year).

36,600 didn't feel right.

I like round numbers, and 36,600 just sounded weird. So, in a holiday-inspired out-of-body episode, I apparently agreed to do 50,000 push-ups. I exercise 6 days/week, so it amounts to roughly 160 per workout day. Luckily, I didn't do that math before I said "yes". To be fair, Brian was pursuing multiple goals, so I wasn't really one-upping anyone. I just felt like pushing my own limits.

But why stop there?

I've been adding some good, old-fashioned sit-ups into my workout mix the past few months, so I figured I'd up the ante. Just before the new year, I settled on a final goal of 50,000 push-ups and 25,000 sit-ups. We've got a team Google doc to keep us honest, and I'm tracking my progress on Fitocracy.

Is this a Resolution?

I'm honestly not sure, and I don't think that one word stands between success and failure. My Year-42 Project has reinforced my belief that long-term goals matter. Some things, like exercise, aren't just short-term challenges – they're lifetime habits. When you can stick to something for a year, you've come a long way in building a real habit.

So, don't be shy. Tell me about your own big plans for 2012. You don't have to use the R-word.