• I will declutter the whole house – I had hoped to move onto the garage as my next assignment, however renovations to our house have meant that the garage has become more of a workshop and building materials storage area. This has lead to attacking other small areas of the house instead of my room by room approach. I will however get back into more of this structured approach as soon as the major renovations are completed on the inside of the house.

• I will write 100 quality posts for Live It With less – Only three posts last month. My average is decreasing and I need to step this up, however I am quite confident that my writing juices will flow in the next few months to make up for this lost time. I am really struggling in this department and to be honest, this last week I was starting to question what exactly am I writing about here? Minimalism? hmm I don’t think so anymore, to me that’s more of an artistic lifestyle, not the give up your day job, sell your car, travel the world, live with 10 things and make money from your blog. I think I got a bit side tracked by reading too much into these type ideas, but all they did was stop me from not being able to express my true self.  So bare with me, my post count will increase with time, as I try and grasp my search for “Less”

• I will weigh 72kgs (158lbs) – Again, another fail, no weight loss recorded at all for the month. I know why, no planning ! I am putting together a 14 day plan to get me back into the groove, it’s simple, no more than 1500 calories intake a day + 20 minutes on cross trainer every day for next fourteen days, no excuses!

• I will write an informative ebook - Decluttering is was I am good at. Sorting through the crap and working out what is good and what is useless. I am starting to chronicle all of the hints and tips that I discovering in the many mini projects that I am encountering in my endeavours to live a life less complicated.

To recap, “Big 4″ is all about setting your foundation by creating four distinct and realistic goals. I like to look at them as structural  pillars to help you  build and grow,  and allowing you to achieve this by the end of the year. This will not necessarily mean that it should take you all year to accomplish, however, it does provide the most realistic time frame to either accomplish one at a time or work in phases.

So, here’s how I am travelling so far

• I will declutter the whole house – With the study area finally complete, it was time to move on to the next room, the garage. I did make a start, however I was side tracked a little by joining the rcThink Minimalist Challenge, in which I got rid of one useless item each day for a month. I did really well, ( here is the full list) but now its back into declutter room by room and its back into the garage. Video to follow shortly

• I will write 100 quality posts for Live It With less – Not too good here, only four posts, one good thing about this was that I was too busy decluttering.  I will however try to post a bit more frequently in the next couple of weeks and also about a few other topics than simply what I got rid of this week.

• I will weigh 72kgs (158lbs) – For the month of February, I only made a small loss of 2 pounds, but I have made an effort to start exercising and getting my fitness back up to motivate me more. I am starting to realise  its just not about your diet, it’s the whole keeping the balance  in check to the art of living healthy

• I will write an informative ebook - There have been quite a lot of ebooks published lately in the blogosphere, however my idea is still yet to be pinched : ) I have settled on my theme and have begun my research which I am starting to get exited about.

That’s it for the month of February, a bit slow, but still productive! and that can’t be a bad thing.

Cheers

Greg

Wow, this first month of 2010 has really flown. I can’t believe I am already doing the first  monthly update of “Big 4” which is my simple goal setting technique for 2010.

To recap, “Big 4″ is all about setting your foundation by creating four distinct and realistic goals. I like to look at them as structural  pillars to help you  build and grow,  and allowing you to achieve this by the end of the year. This will not necessarily mean that it should take you all year to accomplish, however, it does provide the most realistic time frame to either accomplish one at a time or work in phases. ( I choose the latter by breaking each of the four down to smaller respectable chunks)

So, here’s how I am travelling so far

1. I will declutter the whole house – I can now say I have finally got the study area into shape and  will continue to stay like this as I move on to the next room in the house ( which I am still yet to decide on ). This was a real tricky sort of room, as it was quite  deceiving in the way that many items  could have been easily be stuffed back into the drawers or filing cabinets. As I explained in my video, clutter is not always visible, you really have to get in there and sort through all the drawers and filing and really cull it down to useful levels. I will be posting another video shortly to talk about in more detail how I transformed the study.




2. I will write 100 quality posts for Live It With less – For the month of January I published six posts on the site, just a bit under my expected average to reach one hundred by end of the year, but I can honestly say that I am starting to feel like I am getting in the zone for some good stuff ahead of me. I would also like to say thank you to  Charley from You Simplified, and Caitlin from ClutterCubed who were kind enough to include me in their “bloggers to watch in 2010″ lists that were re published on Problogger.net As a result of this, it provided a huge increase in readership for my blog and most importantly has given me a  feeling that I must be doing some good. Cheers guys.




3. I will weigh 72kgs (158lbs) – For the month of January, I lost 2kgs (4.4lbs). It wasn’t easy I must admit, and did find it hard to adhere each day to my 1500 calorie limit, especially as I am currently at home on leave from work due to the birth of our third child (Jesse). However, this is all about learning, and I am not going to whine about it anymore. By the way, do you like the picture of the butter representation? I was hoping for more than a 4 pound loss, however, when you look at in this perspective you do feel satisfied that this pile of lard is no longer attached to your gut or butt.




4. I will write an informative ebook - Not much here to report on except that I do have a great idea for ebook. Of course, the focus will be on living with less, but will have my special twist to it. I am looking forward to finding some time over the next couple of months to begin some solid writing.

There you have it, I do recommend that if you already haven’t done so, start thinking about what really would make you happy  and how you would get to that point? Start now!

Remember make it realistic, keep it simple, and give yourself a deadline.

Good luck

Greg