Hello citizens!

The other day I received this email from my mom and I read this link to the Steve Hardison video and the Deuce Lutui story.  She told me to watch it and think long and hard about it.

If you aren’t familiar with these people, I highly recommend you watch the video on the website TBOLITNFL.com titled The Deuce Lutui Story.  The entire video clocks in at a little over 30 min.  It’s a little slow to start but it’s time well spent.  When you’re done, you may want to take some time to reflect on it.  Once you have, I encourage you to post your PIC.

By the way, I’d love to hear comments or discussions about this. So feel free to contact me here or email me nakedtoes@flexiss.net.  If you’re interested, you can read my PIC story as well.

Cheers,

Ian

A few weeks ago I wrote about starting this 30 Days of Discipline challenge.  Fast forward a few weeks past graduations and illnesses and to make a long story short, it never got off the ground.  So today I am starting anew, go hear if you want to read my initial post on the 30 Days challenge.

Hi, My name is Ian Barefoot. I ‘m a christian and an artist . I’m currently attending Full Sail University Online for Game Art.

I’ll taking this defunct space and use it to document my journey for the following month, chronicling my progress as I embark on 30 Days of Discipline.  For those not familiar with it (most I would imagine),  it’s an ebook created by a professional blogger who goes by the name of Victor Pride.  A quintessential “man’s man”, go-getter, extremely non-PC and according to some, chauvinistic and over-the-top. But whether you believe that or not, I believe he gets a lot of things right .  His program is what really caught my eye and is just what I need to get my life back on track.

I think it’s important at this point to give a bit of background about myself.  I will try to be brief, as I have the tendency to be long-winded, but I’m up to the challenge! I’m living in an apartment that my mom owns and I’m at a point it my life where I’m a bit stuck in life.  I just turned 30, and I’m getting ready to move to Florida and I have been unable to find a job so far.  At this point I seriously begin doubting that I want a “job”.  I’ve been making a lot of changes lately, as a matter of fact I’m not even totally sold on higher education as it were.  I have my reasons for doing it though. As another option,  I could try harder to get a job but I feel like it’s time for me to try and build something for myself and make my own schedule that fits with my school schedule.  One of my fears is that a 9-5 grind will hurt my academic performance which has thus far been uncharacteristically good for me. To do so will take discipline, and lots of it.

As I was growing up, self-discipline I felt, was always my achilles heel.  It’s very likely that the majority of men and perhaps human beings in general share my plight.  I always wanted to go to bootcamp or boarding school (crazy as it sounds) just for the discipline I knew I so desperately needed. But I have no desire to join the army.  What’s more, some soldiers will even learn discipline in the army but it fails to translate to civilian life once their time is up.  In that controlled environment they know how to operate, but they don’t know how to create their own rules necessarily, just follow others.

But I want self-discipline where ever I go.  Discipline that I have created through powerful habits. In steps 30 days of discipline to the rescue.

And here we go:
30 Days of Discipline is essentially 30 days of maintaining a list of 12 habits that are supposed to transform me into a more disciplined, confident and productive male member of society. I will outline each of these habits as I will be tracking them each day. I will be making slight changes to the program and customize it in a way that makes sense to me while maintaining its effectiveness. I feel that accountability is always helpful in these situations which is why I’ve decided to blog about my journey. The habits I will be tracking are as follows:

Habit #1: Eat 3 meals a day maximum.
Previously I have been eating about 5 meals a day.  I’m pretty good about not snacking however.  The author believes this to the optimum amount of meals and after reading up on the health benefits to IF (Intermittent Fasting) I’m willing to give it a try.  I’m going to eat after working out which is deemed to be effective but closely monitor how I feel.  Because I am doing INSANITY I will be working out 6 days a week which is not recommended for IF so I will take my recovery formula during the workout to offset this.  If I feel bad, I will go ahead and eat before training.

Habit #2: Wake up between 5:30-6 AM daily for 30 days
Actually the habit was wake up at 5 AM every day. 5 AM seemed a bit extreme for me.  Call me a wuss, but I also feel getting adequate sleep is important and I didn’t want to be going to bed SUPER early either.  Upon further clarification the author states that it doesn’t need to be 5 but should be no later than 7 AM.  I felt my time was a compromise.

Habit #3: Only take cold showers for 30 days
Yikes! This doesn’t sound pleasant at all, does it?  But the idea is to stretch yourself and I suppose that’ll do the trick.  I actually always end my showers cold but have never taken a straight cold shower, that is, apart from my brief stay in the Philippines where taking a shower consisted of lathering oneself up and then dipping a bucket into a big basin of cold and dumping it over your head.  cold? extremely! shocking? absolutely! unpleasant? somewhat. did it wake me up? you better believe it. And yet it was very brief and as my dad put it “with as hot as it gets here, it’s the best you’ll feel all day”.  I always knew that cold showers were good for circulation but apparently their are other benefits as well among which, according to the author, are increase in testosterone and mental clarity.  I can use all the focus and energy I get, so I’m down with this.

Habit #4: No porn or masturbation
For men this is a big thing.  Most men have either fallen prey to or been tempted to porn in some form or another. I have struggled with porn off and on for a long time.  The author compares it to a drug and I’d have to agree.  Aside from the negative moral and psychological aspect of viewing porn, it’s also a huge time waster.  I’ll be happy to make this challenge.

Habit #5: Exercise every day
The author has outlined a regiment of push-ups sit up and squats to do daily.  Instead, I have substituted that with Insanity.  For those not familiar with it, it is a max-interval workout from Beachbody that combines cardio, plyometrics, balance, and power and resistance exercise. This will be my second time going through this workout which spans 60 days. I will be exercising 6 days a week just like the exercise plan he outlines.

Habit #6: To-do list
This is to make a habit of getting things done.  A list of 5-10 items is to be made at night and worked on in the morning.

Habit #7: Dress to the nines every day for 30 days
I think this goes back to the old adage “dress for success”  The recommendation is to dress your absolute best every day for 30 days except for (obviously) when it is not appropriate. This means complete suit and tie.  I tend to be a traditionalist but this seems a bit overkill for me.  Especially when I don’t currently own a suit, and in this day and age of CEOs that wear sneakers, I think this can be safely modified. Maybe this will help me improve upon my “broke” situation.

Habit #8: Stand tall, upright posture, look everyone in the eye.
This to me is all about confidence and a habit I could certainly use.  I do not do this enough and find social interactions slightly intimidating.

Habit #9: Answer “yes” or “no” to yes or no questions
While this is something I could certainly use, it’s a little tougher because I don’t always realize when I am or not doing it so as I reflect back on the day I think I’ll get better at keeping it in mind. This goes for the previous habit as well.

Habit #10: Keep notebook and pen at all times

For tracking my todos and writing down any ideas that come to me.  I’ve always wanted to do this in a more disciplined fashion.

Habit #11: Work towards my definite goal every day

This will vary by individual but for me, my goal is to make my income by creating value.  To do that I will focus on my art and my two related projects which are doing designs for projects and creating graphics for the game I am working on.  1 hour of drawing is necessary to really hone my skills at art.  In addition to that I want to leave some time for doing paid work that is guaranteed.  My intention is to set aside 4 hours for school daily and at least another 4  for work to support me.  I would further divide that time to where I do paid work for half and then work on the business the other half. This will be my recipe for long-term success.  Incidentally this blog is part of that because I’ll be using it to post artwork and design ideas.

Habit #12: Sunday is FREE day
Not so much a habit as day OFF from ALL habits.  The evening will however be used to prepare for the coming week. Ah, the day of rest

I’ve recently become aware of the importance of goal setting.  Goals are important.  They move us ahead in life.  However, setting goals can be nearly as important as the goals we set.  Why you ask?  Let me explain…  Goal setting is not just about the goal itself,  you pick something you want to have in your life or some accomplishment you want to make.  What do you get by achieving it?  It may be recognition or material wealth.  But isn’t it also confidence?  I would put forth that you molding yourself into an achiever.  Every time you succeed you build evidence toward the case that you make things happen in your life and your life begins to align in that manner.  It’s not necessarily mystical but confidence – isn’t this sometimes another way of saying faith.  Confidence ALWAYS originates from a faith in something.  Whether or not that faith is in your good looks, or a higher power.

Having made this discovery,  I would advise people….don’t worry too much about the goal you set.  And for the same reason, start with just one goal.  Make it something attainable.  Some will tell you a goal needs to be risky but possible.  If you’re just starting out however, I would say that a goal needs to move you ahead.  If you want to achieve a goal it may be wise to leverage it with a consequence, but often – if you are anything like me, you may feel so beaten down by past failures that one more punishment isn’t all that much of a deterrent.  Perhaps, you didn’t pick the right consequence then.  For example if you have a fear of heights and you don’t meet your goal, the consequence could be spend a night on a mountain ledge.  Just  be sure you take the normal safety precautions.

Instead of this, I’d like to suggest a third way.  Pick that large goal, a risky one even.  Create a consequence and a reward to harness your motivation and leverage it against your fears.  Then,  create a series of smaller goals;  stepping stones if you will.  Make the first one easily attainable.  So if your goal was to write a book, the first goal could be one page.  Or even, write a simple outline or summary.  Then make each goal progressively more difficult.  This also leverages you with the feeling of accomplishment which can help with the overwhelming feeling of tackling something truly monumental.

More on this in posts to come, as well as some excellent resources I have found for goal setting.  Equally important to goals but not exactly the same, is the cousin – the habit.  More later on how habits relate to achieving goals and going about balancing a habit and a goal so that they complement each other.  Also, planning for successful habit forming.

Here is a great online resource for simple habit and goal tracking I found:

http://www.joesgoals.com/

From the meta description: Joe’s Goals is a simple yet powerful tool to make tracking your goals the easiest part of accomplishing them.

Have you ever had a dream when you actually realized you where dreaming?  It’s not all that common but most of us have experienced this a time or two.  This is what Lucid dreaming refers to.   You may have run across it once or twice on the internet.  Some places make it sound like some kind of voodoo.  I’m not exactly sure why it is?  There must be something inherently spiritual about dreams, perhaps because they come from our own minds and they are virtually unexplainable.  Ancient cultures have long been fascinated with dreaming and visions so I’m sure that has a role to play in it as well.

However, there is nothing mysterious about lucid dreaming anymore than regular dreaming.  In fact, the word “lucid” simply means clear or bright.  I’ve been studying Lucid dreaming as of late and I find it rather fascinating.  The idea is to learn to have these dreams regularly rather than just by chance.  Aside from the more obvious application of living out fantasies in your dreams,  lucid dreaming enthusiasts advocate using your dreams to practice a skill or gain insight.  The latter may give some pause, but really,   aren’t you just asking yourself.

I don’t believe that spirits wander in and out of my dreams…shouldn’t they be just as safe as anywhere else.  Rather I would liken it to your left brain asking your right a question.  When the right brain responds it’s not encumbered by any perception of reality but rather has a more free-flowing creative sense.  It shouldn’t be any surprise that we might be intrigued or taken aback by what our sub-conscious has to say.

Here is my reaction to being tasked to come up with my very own PIC.  This is in response to the The Deuce Lutui Story found on the website TBOLITNFL.com. If you don’t  know it, I suggest reading my post on PIC first.

The other day I received this email from my mom and I read this link to the Steve Hardison video and the Deuce Lutui story.  She told me to watch it and think long and hard about it.
I finished it yesterday and I’ve been thinking about it…a lot.  My first thought upon finishing the video was…who am I?…why am I here?  How can I use my gifts to best glorify my God?

I thought of several things that I wanted to do and wanted out of life, and then it came – the doubt.  This can’t be right?  I’ve always wanted these things, even when I seemed to have completely forgotten them, these were my deepest buried desires.  Where was the Silver Bullet I was looking for? You know, the AHA! moment where you say, I’ve been denying my talents and running in the wrong direction, THIS is where I need to be going.  But that didn’t happen.  I thought about it for a moment and then I resolved to search for it.  I scanned the PIC comments and thought “surely others will help inspire me…”.  Many of the comments were good, some were great, many were sentiments I also shared, statements I could heartily Amen.  But still, I didn’t want to just rip off another’s commitment.  Something like this is PERSONAL, it has to be special.  On top of matters a lot of the people posting seemed to have a personal relationship with Steve so that furthered my discouragement.  So then, I went back and I began reading the letter correspondence between Steve Hardison and Deuce and I saw the link in Steve’s signature to his website.  I thought to myself “Hey, isn’t this the website that Deuce was instructed to ‘sautee’ in right before his life-changing moment? Surely this will have the answers I seek”.  Still nothing.

So in spite of that I decided to write out what I wanted for my life and the kind of person I wanted to be.  I could hear my mind’s chatter in the back.  “What will make this time different?  This isn’t anything you don’t already know?  Why don’t you have this if you want it so much?  Do you really want this? Maybe you still don’t know what you want, maybe you’ll never know.  If these are the things you are most passionate about,  why don’t you pursue them with the passion of other people around you?  Maybe you want to many things, you’re diluting your passion? Why won’t you just do SOMETHING?  Make up your mind, you can’t have all this….”and on on the thoughts assaulted me to the typical rhythym of about 2,000 every hour.  Reading my commitments back to myself I thought,  Yes, this seems to be what I want for my life today.  Something is still missing though…I wish I could make this list a little smaller though,  maybe I need to whittle it down, make it more managable.  Maybe I should just keep like 3 of these, make it catchy, make it punch. Make an Acronym at least.  Make it more like Deuce’s.

Now it is the next day and I spend part of my afternoon scouring the boards again, looking for that final ingredient to give it a kick.  As I’m reading the different PICs posted by users I become aware of my internal dialogue.  “That’s not a PIC,  that statement is too vague,  well that would be nice to be the best XYZ in Az but someone else might have the exact same goal, only one of them is going to get there.”  And then it hit me.
The only thing all these PICs have in common is that they are all different.  Some are short, some are long, some include the personal and some don’t but they were all JUST RIGHT for the person who wrote them in that moment.  Which made me realize,  I’m  putting this off.  I’m finding any reason to avoid going all the way.  Resistance they call it.  I’m always searching for PERFECTION, things have to be just so…but why?  And why is it the answer always has to come from someone else?  Then it REALLY hit me.  I’M NOT ENOUGH…that’s the thought I’ve been struggling with for years, the saboteur of all my past efforts.  And now I recall that motif had been present in many of the pics I had already read but it didn’t sink in until now.  I’M NOT ALONE, others feel this way too.  Part of the belief that we are not enough is the complementary belief that others are,  that wholeness can be found in them.  But this too is a LIE.  Why?  because we all think it.  We all think that somehow the other one is more complete, more capable than we are.  I believed it,  I don’t want to speak for others entirely but I know I am not alone in saying that others share this belief.  It’s a fundamental flaw of the human condition.  And in part I think it’s true.  But it’s not the end of the story.  Our Creator promises us new life in him.  God says in Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

This is his promise to us.  As Christians I, we are a new creation in Christ.  This is the faith that tells us that we are not enough, but God will make it so.  This is how I believe we are to live and in so doing give a witness of spiritual transformation in our lives.  My mind makes the connection in my life,  if I’m not enough – how then will I avoid failing?  But the real question is, how is anything possible without it?  What is the worth of anything difficult to obtain – is it not tenfold to that which comes easily?  I think I’ve always been afraid to fail, maybe even to succeed but most importantly – I’ve been afraid to be found out.  If I share myself with the world, they will see I’m wanting, they will laugh at me, they will see my weakness, even…they might hurt me.  I have avoided being known ALL MY LIFE, with just a few exceptions.  Even when I disagree with someone I don’t want to express it because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to defend my position sufficiently; ie I will be found wanting inadequate.  As a child the parable that scared me the most was of the talents entrusted to the servants.  For those of you that don’t know it, it can be found here: http://bible.org/seriespage/parable-talents-matthew-2514-30-luke-1912-28

There is another saying in the Word,  “Luke 16:10 – He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much…”  This is similar to one of  Brian Klemmer’s sayings that kind of explains it further, “How you do anything is how you do everything”.  Boy is that the truth.  All my life I have played defensively, not giving away anymore than I have to, addressing challenges when they meet me, avoiding conflict whenever possible, rising to the occasion only when absolutely necessary or no one else will.  I want to be the person that stands up, that plans and takes massive action, that takes calculated risks, that runs headlong into adversity when it’s the wisest course.

Just last night, I was listening to a Cd on Time Management by Eric Lofholm and he said on it,  “completion is far more important than perfection”.  He went on to say that for perfectionists, this is the most important lesson in the series.  I believe that he is right, and also that statement came directly from God.  All these things created the Perfect Storm to showing me what it was that I was missing, I had to be shown over and over in various ways for this single thought to penetrate – I am Enough,  God makes me more than enough.  I can achieve anything I put my mind to and I am capable of putting plans into action to create my reality.  Trials will come, but I have the assurance of victory over them. I wasn’t able to finish this in one sitting so I went home and prayed about what exactly to put here last night,  and  I feel this sums it up best.

Armed with that statement I know that whatever it is I feel is my purpose is not wrong, it may change in the future, but that’s okay.  I’ll still plow ahead with what I feel is my direction for the moment.  And so that brings me back to the PIC.  The first two parts are somewhat easy Personal – It must be tailored to me.  Internal – It must come from deep within, a natural desire.  Commitment -  Laying it on the line, making a statement of this is who I am to the world, or even a part of it.  Historically, this has been the most difficult and I can tell you right now I even feel nauseous and I have a killer headache which means I am encountering incredible resistance from my mind and body right now. The reasons, once again as stated above – also tells me I’m going in the right direction.  .  I’m committing to something, not giving myself permission but fully devoting myself to the purpose of doing the greatest good I can, for others and for my God.  And also, because it exposes me, for all the world to see.  I’m not one to take that sort of thing likely.  Even now, I’m forcing out of my mind thoughts of what others might think, what they might say, how I will feel, on and on and on.

The alternative however is to squander my god-given gifts, hide who I am, retreat from the world, stay comfortable, make a minimum impact – never be remembered.  That’s not what I want for my life, and now, I believe I was called to be much more. Based on what I have learned previously elsewhere, I tried to make some of my commitments measurable. So, without further ado, here is my PIC and who I am from this day forward:

I AM Among the Top 10 Artists on DeviantArt.com.  I have over 100 million page views

(ATT10AODA)

I AM A Master at capturing my imagination & sharing it with the World

I OWN a successful Art, Game, and Design Studio.

I AM Driven, focused, and consumed by my passion and vision.

I AM 170lbs, attractive, fit and full of energy every day.

I AM BOLD, FEARLESS, BLESSED, ENERGETIC, DEDICATED, GENTLE

I AM A Servant leader, a great friend | A wonderful husband, a passionate lover

I AM A Best-Selling Writer & Illustrator

I AM A talented actor, musician, digital composer

I AM Pursuing Peace and Righteousness with all men.  Blameless before the LORD by his grace.

I AM Making a six figure income.

I AM Married to a beautiful, talented, God-fearing woman

Thanks to Deuce and Steve and thanks to all of you.

God Bless,

Ian Barefoot
Grand Junction, Colorado