Instructions from Phil

I understand. Given your mixed feelings, I want to give you a special assignment to begin right away, even before I have the program fully set up.

The first thing I want you to do is to make a list of what you want out of this program. *NOT* what you want to learn from me or what skills you want to have, but what you want to *get by using* the skills. Do you want a better job? To lose weight?

So first, put down everything that you want to accomplish. Then, put down how you will *feel* if you accomplish each one.

You don't need to polish this list, because you're going to send it to me and then I'm going to help you refine it, prioritize it, and define time frames. (We would ordinarily do this via the Pathfinders' Forum, but I'm still having some technical difficulties getting it fully set up.)

Remember how I said that your goals would help you find your blocks? This is how it's going to play out. You'll establish goals for what you want to accomplish from one workshop to the next, knowing that I'm going to be asking for progress reports.

And in the process, you're going to run into whatever emotional or belief-based blocks you might have. And you'll start applying the tools that I'm giving you in the workshops, which are arranged roughly in the order that I believe you'll need them, based on my own experiences working through those issues as I went after my own goals.

What do I want to get by using the skills this program will teach me?

• I want to get to about 205 lbs and stay there for 6 months (as measured by the Hacker's Diet spreadsheet), and stick to an exercise program, 3-4x/week. I want to feel lighter on my feet as I walk down the hall. I do not want to feel fat jiggling on me as I walk. When i look at myself in the mirror, I want to feel good that I look good.
• I want to get up at 6 am every morning feeling rested and refreshed. I know that getting an early start on the day is beneficial to me in many ways, and I feel like I'm on top of things when I don't have to rush to get to work.
• I'm currently taking an online course at UNC, so I want to do very well in the course, and get good grades on my homework assignments and tests. This will make me feel capable and confident that I'm on the right track with my studies.
• I want to take tap dancing in the winter. I want to stick to a practice schedule. I ultimately want to be able to hear the big band music I like and tap my feet to it. This will make me feel happy.
• I want to take banjo lessons in the summer of '07. I want to be good enough so that I can plunk out a tune at a decent rate of speed. I would love to be able to pick up the instrument and know that I can play it.
• I'd like to make more money; at least $10K more immediately, and eventually $20K or $60K, more. Why not? IN the short run, a bump of $10K will help me feel that I can meet my retirement contributions, current financial obligations (my wife isn't working full-time at the moment), and have money to play with.