Day 1

And here we are.  Day 1, Mar 28, 2010.

I’ve started reading the book “Rules of the Game” by Neil Strauss and have decided to do these excercises to help me break out of my introverted shell and regain my confidence.  Each chapter may have questions, or challanges which I will respond to here and let you know the results of the excercises.  I know that I’m not alone in how I feel but hopefully this will help others to take some control and be the catalyst of change in their own lives.

Question 1:  ”Describe how you believe others currently percieve you”

- I think others see me as shy and a bit socially awkward at times.  However the people that know me know that i’m the dependable one.

Question 2: “Describe how you would like others to percieve you”

- I like being the dependable one, but I would like to be seen as confident and a natural leader.

Question 3: “List 3 behaviors that you would like to change”

- Shyness, lack of confidence, and self doubt

Question 4: “List 3 behaviors that you would like to adopt”

- Being the initiator of events/conversations, self confidence, to not second guess myself.

Challenge

“Make small talk with five strangers today”

We’ll see how it goes!

Some Background

Here’s some background on me.  I’m 28, Male, single, independent, educated, and stable.  I run my own business and am in the top 20% of people in industry.  I grew up being very sport, but different then everyone else.  I was a competitor.  Grades, gold medals, GPA, and fighting to be one of the best at anything I did was always part of what defined me.  Now after university in the real world there is no competitions and no validation to fight for and strive to be one of the best at everything you do.  After graduating myself and some friends sat down to have a beer and we talked about this aimless feeling in our lives and the fact that growing up, getting married and such meant one thing….. settling.

As much as I’m on the flip side of things now I was once the poster child for settling down.  I was once engaged, owned a family home, and spent my weekends watching life pass me by.  In 2007 a blessing in disguise happened when that relationship ended.  I was left on my own to redefine who I was.  I looked in the mirror and saw that I had gained a massive amount of weight, lost my ambition and drive and my group of friends had shrunk.  The last three years I’ve spent figuring out who I am, and what I want to get out of my life.  These internal reflections have put me on a path to change some things about my life.  I’m have and am currently working on getting back into shape, I’ve decided to sell that large home and move into something smaller, and have taken control and responsibility of my actions.   Weekends are no longer spent on the couch watching TV but out living life and meeting new people.  While I haven’t dated much in the last 3 years, or 7 if you count since the start of the previous relationship, I’ve decided that getting back on my game is a priority and that I will not settle for anything.

Also if some of you are wondering what “Redpoint” means, it is a climbing term that is used when you have finally succeeded at a climb where you have previously fallen or failed.  To me it is the definition of perseverance, except when I use the word Redpoint I can remember those falls and what I went through to get where I am.  It’s been a motto for me for nearly 12 years and will be one that I keep for the rest of my life.