Day IV

Today is day four of no coffee. I'm still in the recovery stage with the extreme tiredness and headaches in the morning. This is necessary to get to the natural energy stage, but I can't wait for Saturday or Sunday when I snap out of it.

Step 1: Stop Coffee

I've been a dedicated drinker of coffee for over ten years. I admit that I am addicted to it and it hurts when I don't have it in the morning. My day never really gets moving in the right direction without it. I drink coffee just to get to "normal". I don't call that an energy boost, it's a pointless behavior that may actually be doing more harm than good.
I have gone without coffee for long periods of time before. In fact, earlier this year I gave it up for over 30 days. Looking back on that experiment, I remember feeling much better in the morning. After the initial five days of headaches and the blahs, I would wake up each morning and already feel energized naturally. Of course, I reverted back eventually. Not this time.
I have every intention of kicking coffee for good this time around. I believe it is the right choice for me right now. Being able to wake up in the morning and not need anything to function will be a great asset, and will help set the stage for Step 2. More on that later.
For now, I'm focusing on not drinking coffee. Today was Day 3, and I must admit it has been difficult. I've had headaches and been very tired. The temptation to give in to the coffee is there, but I must not quit. Stay the course. It will only get better from here.

First things first...

For those who don't know me (or know me well), here is a brief list of information that will increase your enjoyment of this blog:

Name: Christopher Speer

Age: 32

Location: Pemberton, NJ

Occupation: Unemployed for 1.5 years

Marriage Status: Affirmative. Happily married to my lovely wife Adia for 8 years.

Offspring: Affirmative. Mayden (F) age 5, Cameron (M) age 3

Interests: Music, film, reading, writing, science, health, running, watching sports (NFL).

Short-term Goals (0-1 years): Find a job, save money, write a novel, lose 20 pounds, go back to school.

Medium-term Goals (1-2 years): Run a marathon, become a dedicated reader, graduate college, continue writing with the intention of getting published.

Long-term Goals (2-5 years): Begin a career in education, buy a house, continue pursuing goals related to writing and running.

For some reason, it has never been easy for me to follow through with my plans and goals. I am extremely talented at creating goals, tasks, and plans, but when it comes to the doing part, I fail miserably. After years of reading books, blogs, and stories about how people improved their lives, I am convinced my path to success starts with creating an environment of success in my daily life. I am going to make some minor and major changes to what I do, and the way I think. I will start small with some easily attainable tasks and challenges, then progress to more challenging stuff later. I know from experience that trying to take on too much too fast will ensure my failure. I have attempted some of these changes before, with varying success.

Hopefully, blogging every step of this journey will help make it all work this time around.

These are the voyages...

I am starting this blog to document the "next generation" of my life. The silly title may indicate that most of this will be light-hearted, but what I am planning I take very seriously. For the coming months and perhaps years, I will be purposefully and systematically upgrading some out-of-date components of my hardware and software. It's a self improvement project that will hopefully help me adopt many new habits, attain goals, and start living life to the fullest. Please join me in this journey, and feel free to comment and make fun of me when appropriate. I welcome any and all reader participation.
I will post very regularly, daily when possible. Put me in your blog reader of choice (like Google Reader), and you will have a constant update on the state of me. Trust me, you do not want to miss out on this opportunity.

Engage.