My Live Like A Champion Goals

In 2010, I will be participating in BJ Penn's Live Like A Champion project, along with a large number of students, teachers, and parents from the LPS community. For me, this is also my Ultimate Black Belt Test (UBBT): a major component of my 6th degree black belt test.

People don't earn 6th Dans every day. Truth be told, I'm probably too young to be taking the test, and I'm realistic about the possibility that I may be asked to wait until I'm more experienced before I earn the rank; however, that's not going to stop me from setting my sights high and working relentlessly to achieve them. I chose the UBBT as my vehicle for testing because it is HARD.

As a Live project member, my teammates and I must achieve 10 personal victories during the course of the next year, in addition to completing all of the curriculum elements of the program. As a UBBT tester, I also need to complete additional requirements beyond those of my team. All of these have become a part of my goals for the coming year.

My goals for both projects have shifted since I first began the project. In fact, I think that it's important for me to do so! Knowing where you are and where you're headed is an important part of the goal-setting process: you MUST review your actions, assess your progress (or lack of), and then renew your goals.

If you're doing this with me, know that your goals may also shift over time as well, but don't quit, EVER. When I say that my goals have shifted, it's because I've accomplished them already and it's not even January yet, so I obviously haven't really challenged myself enough. I didn't change my mind. I'm setting better goals. I'm listing mine here not to freak anyone out: these are the things that I expect of myself for my test, but feel free to adapt any of my goals if you want to make some of them yours!

10 Personal Goals for the Live Project

1. I will drop my weight below 200 pounds and keep it that way.
I haven't been there since high school, and I want it back. I was up to 249 when I began the program, and now it's dropping. When I hit the magic 199, I will revise this goal and continue pushing. If I'm going to stand for health and fitness, I'd better look the part.

2. I will abandon the sleep-deprived lifestyle which has dominated much of my life.
If I'm going to train like I've never trained before, I am going to need to rest my body and learn all about better sleeping habits. Right now a full night's sleep is a treat for me. I'm going to change that and get at least 7 hours of sleep per night, on average.

3. I will outperform the pushups and crunches requirement of the UBBT (52,000 of each in 1 year) and complete 109,500 of each, plus 109,500 kicks to get my leg work in.
This is triple the amount that I am expecting from my student team members (36,500). I already have a significant headstart on these (as of today, I have completed 51,200 of each), so I anticipate the need to revise this goal during the coming year.

4. I will personally outperform the individual Acts of Kindness requirement of the Live program by a factor of 25 or more.
I will personally perform at least 25,000 acts of kindness before December 31, 2010. This is a big leap forward in my ongoing progress towards a commitment that I made to myself on my 21st birthday - to personally perform 1 million AOKs in my lifetime, big or small, as part of the way that I wanted to impact the world before I leave it. That's 10k per year for 100 years, or roughly 30 per day.

5. I will pay off 2 out of my 3 credit cards in full.
The real objective is to set aside my cards for various purposes: one card to handle day-to-day mundane expenses (groceries, gas, etc), one for gifts & major expenses, and one for emergencies. The cards that I want to pay off completely are my 'emergencies' card and my 'day-to-day' card. In fact, the 'day-to-day' card is going to be paid in full every month.

6. I will live in a clean home.
I'm pretty good about my public living & work space, but my private living space is cluttered beyond belief. Some spots are no longer actually living spaces, they're just piles of stuff. This goal involves more than just a housecleaning; it also means that I need to treat my home with the same kind of care that I give to my classroom. It also extends to the point of me needing to organize and sort all of the files in the hard drives of my computers.

7. I will learn how to cook.
Part of my problem with my weight stems from the fact that I am capable of ruining cereal in the kitchen and choose to eat out instead. By the end of the program, I will be able to prepare a variety of meals using mostly fruits, veggies, nuts, chicken, and/or fish (I'm lightening up on the grains and sugars) to support my dietary needs and UBBT goals.

8. I will develop a series of at least 10 leadership project planning guides and donate them to teachers.
I want to help transform LPS into the kind of school where leadership is taught, expected, and performed. This can only happen if positive work spreads and inspires others to do similar things, so I will offer my materials to other teachers. In addition to LPS faculty, I will gladly coach teachers outside of the LPS umbrella, especially charter school educators and other martial arts instructors.

9. I will learn the fundamentals of film & music editing, and then produce a series of at least 10 short videos for my martial arts program and my English classes.
Although I have my brother's help for my video editing needs, there are many simpler videos that I can (and should) be constructing myself. I will learn how to do this and delegate the larger projects to him.

10. I will assemble the largest UBBT/Live student team in the history of the program, with a student program completion rate that places us in the top 10% of Live project teams, and an unprecedented level of interaction with other UBBT teams.
Attracting, inspiring, and coaching a successful student team is a demonstration of leadership ability, and in my opinion, a high-level master teacher should be able to do this.


Goals & Requirements for my Ultimate Black Belt Test
(plus updates on my progress)
Note: Some goals overlap with the my Live Project Goals because it's all the same for me.

1. Weekly Journaling: This week will mark the 100th post that I've made on my UBBT blog since April of this year. That's far more than once per week because there was a point when I had made a commitment to my honors English class to write one essay per day. I'm still at it, and that's just my blog.

2. Become a certified Anger Management Educator: I will be taking a course through Dr. Tony Fiore, one of the foremost experts in the world on anger management.

3. Host three Community Action Projects: 2 down, one to go. I still have more in the works, and I'm working on inspiring others to take charge and lead some of their own! I'd like to make a significant contribution to the UBBT's overall team goal of 1000 community action projects next year.

4. No Quitting: I'm not going anywhere except forwards, and neither are you.

5. 1000 repetitions of a single form: I have completed this requirement twice already with Chung-Mo 3 and Chung-Mo 4. I am continuing this into the coming year with the ITF black belt poomse, Gaebaek. Upon completion, I will have accomplished triple the required number.

6. 52,000 pushups and crunches: OWNED, as of tomorrow. I plan to continue onward, racking up a grand total of 109,500 (triple the 36,500 that I expect of my team) during the year, plus the same number in kicks.

7. 1000 rounds of sparring: I am halfway there at the moment, but plan to exceed this requirement in the coming year.

8. 1000 miles of walking, running, biking, hiking, and/or swimming: OWNED. I'm going to continue into the coming year with additional cycling and plan to hit at least the 2500-mile mark by December. Much of this will be accomplished by replacing most local commuting with bike work.

9. Take a Diabetes Education Course: I plan to complete this course in the coming year and share what I learn with my team.

10. Attend at least 3 UBBT events: I will be attending the UBBT 6 Graduation event, I will be in Alabama, and am planning a trip to Hawaii. If opportunity allows for additional events, I will adjust my plans as much as possible in order to attend.

11. 100 hours of groundwork: I'm at 40 hours currently and am hungry for more!

12. 20 hours of boxing/kickboxing coaching: OWNED. More coming!

13. 5 public performances: one down (winter showcase), four to go!

14. Complete the Body-for-Life program or an equivalent: This was completed during the summer; however, I will repeat the program and reinforce what I've discovered during my first time through.

15. Daily meditation: OWNED. I am a meditating BEAST, usually getting at least 30-45 minutes daily between 2 sessions. (dissonant metaphor intended)

16. Custom testing requirements: This objective is in the works. I want to construct a test that will highlight my skills while pushing myself to expand my knowledge.

17. Make and post a film: With my brother's help, we've constructed 5 (2 DVDs, 3 videos). I need to learn how to do this on my own. Once I do, I'll be a short film-making machine!

18. 10 personal victories: See Live Project goals above.

19. Contact teammates regularly to keep posted on progress/challenges: Will do!

20. Two anonymous acts of kindness to teammates: On hold until the official start date. I'd tell you all of the details, but then they wouldn't be anonymous anymore. This one's going to be between myself and Master Callos - I'll tell him what I did and when it occurred.

21. 1,000 acts of kindness: Through my work, I amass roughly 100+ AOKs per day. I plan to blow this goal out of the water in the coming year.

22. Inspire 50,000 acts of kindness through school & community: We're going to do this together!

23. Right 3 wrongs in my life: In progress.

24. Mend 3 relationships that have gone bad: I believe that I have accomplished 2 of them, or at least I've made significant progress! This means a lot to me because I felt that they would be the hardest 2.

25. Profile 10 living heroes: Will complete this during the 2010 year.

26. Host an environmental cleanup project: OWNED, with more in the works!

27. Memorize a lengthy quote of 100+ words: In progress. Lots of juicy ones to choose from!

28. Seek out a Master: In progress. I plan to interview and profile them.

29. Empathy Training (1 day blind, 1 day mute, 1 day in a wheelchair): Today, I spent the day at work mute. I will complete the other two during the coming year.

30. Read 12 books: OWNED. More coming!

31. Reduce use of plastics & consumables by 40-90%: I will purchase Brita water filtering pitchers and use them instead of bottled water at work and at home. Additionally, I will bring in any cups, plates, bowls, or utensils that I may need for munching at work. I also plan to brown bag my lunch more often instead of eating out.

32. Buy nothing new for a year: I live a life of abundance and I recognize this. Aside from food, cleaning supplies, and other needs/services which are means to meet my other goals, I will not purchase any new products during 2010. Those purchases, if necessary, will be made second-hand through garage sales, Craigslist, and other sources. (Thank you to Lisa Teichner, whose commitment to this goal inspired me to adopt it as well)