Samba's FML Challenge Diary

[Samba_SamPa]

Why wait til January to make resolutions! Welcome all to my Fix My Life quest. My name's Peter and I'm a lazy bastard (I've never been [nor needed to go] to an 'anonymous' meeting, be it Alcohol, Gambling or the like - but you see things purporting to be such on the TV and I always think how stupid it is that people get up and introduce themself... it's supposed to be Anonymous ffs) Anyway, now the introductions are out of the way (this doesn't have to be anonymous!), more about 'me' and what I am (PMA :ok) going to achieve over the course of my diary. I'm not, or at least I don't see myself as being, depressed. Though having just wiki'd it to see the definition it states 'being of low mood and averse to activity' which seems pretty, well half, accurate. I'm naturally laid back and easy going, and wouldn't ever say I felt 'low'. I can't decide if this laid-backed-ness is the cause of, or a result of, my perfunctory approach to life, which has definitely bred an 'aversion to activity'. What came first - the relaxedness or the laziness? A different slant on the chicken/egg poser anyway. Whichever did come first, I have suffered, if that's the right word, for way too long. Precociously talented (not my words) both educationally and sportingly, I have managed to maintain a lifetime of 'above-averageness' instead of striving to be the best I can. I strolled through education unchallenged, always in the top sets, never fulfilling my potential, and can boast 10 GCSEs (ABBBCCCCDD), 4 A-levels (BBCE) and a degree (2:1) - straight away you can see, I think, what I mean. Similarly, sportingly, I captained my Junior School football team, and then my Comprehensive School football team and my 6th Form football team. I attended Sunderland's Centre Of Excellence from the age of 9, which eventually led to me signing schoolboy forms for them when I was 14. Promised 2 years Schoolboy terms, 2 years YT terms, and a year Pro terms, I immediately done what I done best and engaged 'relaxed mode'. I've developed an intense will to win during my mid- to late-20s (perhaps as a consequence of knowing my football wouldn't last forever) - unfortunately however I wasn't in possession of such a will back then when I needed it. Sunderland replaced the Youth Development Officer who had been sufficiently impressed to offer me a guaranteed 5 years at the club in the summer after I had signed the Schoolboy Forms. Now faced with needing to impress the new guy (Sunderland 'legend' Jimmy Montgomery) I found myself to shake off the lackadaisical mindset I so loved, and, combined with never ever liking the man, left the club to, I would claim (lie) to everyone, 'concentrate on my GCSEs' just 15 months after putting pen to paper. Back to the present and whilst not (admitting to?) feeling "low", I do feel desperately in need of changing my ways. The lethargy I exhibited as a teenager is still obvious now as a 31-yr old, and it needs to, and I am going to, stop! Family. Fitness. Health. Work. Poker. Football. My participation in all of those is going to improve, and I am going to strive to be the best I can at everything. I don't claim that I can be 'the best' at any, but I am definitely going to be 'the best I can!' ---------- Family Goals

• Spend less time on the internet and more time engaging in fun activities with them.
• Find more tolerance of Sam. For all I love him more than anything and wouldn't let anybody harm a hair on his head, he doesn't half annoy me when he is cheeky/rude/naughty etc etc. I spend half my day telling him off when, if I (as mentioned above) engaged him in more fun things instead of fecking about on the internet, he likely wouldn't be as cheeky/rude/naughty - or, as it will definitely be, seeking my attention.
• Go to bed at the same time as Toni more often.... more than never then.

Fitness Goals I really did used to be one of the fittest people I knew, and now?! Well :$ ...

• To be able to jog for more than the length of my street before feeling like I am dying.
• In the mid-term, to be at a level of fitness where I can comfortably do the NECCR Childrens Cancer Run (5 miles) in May 2010.
• In the longer-term, to be at a level of fitness where I can do the Great North Run (13 miles) in Sept 2011.
• Ultimately, to run a marathon before I am 35 (Sept 2013)

Health Goals Despite looking more 'podgy' than 'fat' (in my opinion :unsure) the fact of the matter is I am over 2 stones heavier than the upper limit of the ideal weight for my height. I am 5ft 9, and weigh 14st 12lbs.

• To be 13st 7lbs or under by Christmas 2009
• To be 12st 7lbs (the upper limit of my ideal weight) by my 32nd birthday (26/09/2010)
• To be 12st by Christmas 2010

Work Goals My job, as it were, is a full time Daddy to the kiddytwinks. Whilst it is lovely to spend more time with them, I do miss working and would also like them to have the structured educational development that nursery would provide them. Nursery in itself is the main root of the problem really, as we would need to have a month's fees (£1180) in advance for them to start full-time, which unless I had a job we can't afford. Vicious. Circle.

• To have started (at least) a part-time job by January 1st 2010, enabling them each to at least spend half a day at nursery (Sam already does).

Poker Goals I've made huge strides since joining the forum, but consistently handicap myself by withdrawing winnings for us to spend on luxuries, when I should be building my bankroll. For the next few weeks I will only play those tourneys I have been staked for (Deadly Staking, and Stake Me For... staking) and magazine freerolls for big packages. From 2010 I have goals...

• To accumulate the bankroll to play in all of the APAT tournaments, online and live.
• To build the bankroll to be 'able' to play larger buy-in added value tourneys - eg. Betfair $18k.
• To play more live tourneys in Newcastle.
• To satellite into a GUKPT by end of 2010.
• To satellite into a WSOP/WSOPE by end of 2011.

Football Goals I played every Sunday until I got injured in Jan 2008, put weight on, and have never got back playing. :spank

• Linked to my fitness goals I guess, but to be back playing every week in January 2010.

---------- So why am I spilling my guts on here? I am happy to be a part of the PL Community, and I know that messages of support, advice, tips etc, will help me in my quest for fulfilling this potential I've neglected so far :ok If you've made it this, thanks for reading :)

[stewartd14]

Re: Samba's FML Challenge Diary Best of luck Samba !