Burton 5.0

A Journal of Personal Growth and Discovery

Burton 1.0 (0~25) "I started out as a child" Bill Cosby 
Burton 2.0 (25~28) Got a clue and went back to school to finish my college degree.
Burton 3.0 (28~50) Professional life in IT and IT Sales.
Burton 4.0 (50~61) Floundering. Near miss as a nurse, entrepreneur non-extraordinaire
Burton 5.0 (61 and beyond) Got a second clue and embraced the now.

Now: As of November 2012  I have started this blog/journal to help keep me focused on my goals.  Currently the two most important goals are physical and fiscal in nature.

Physical Goal: I need to get in shape and lose weight, i.e., live. 
Fiscal Goal: I need to quit pulling money out of savings and pay my own way as a step one.

I am going to post on each goal at least once a week. So here goes...

Physical Log: I have recently (4+ weeks) started a running (read slow jog) program. I am borderline morbidly obese (over 200lbs @ just over 5'6") and recovering from surgery on a torn ACL last February. I am following a program from LIVESTRONG to train for a 5K in six weeks, but I am giving myself a LOT of slack.  I follow the every-other-day workouts, but if I struggle with one, I just repeat it on the next workout day.  I just finished a 30 minute run (@ a 14 min/mile pace) this morning. I just finished week 3 of the plan, it took me about 4 weeks.


                       Running 101: A 5K Training Plan For Beginners

In addition to running, I have modified my diet by eliminating wheat (mostly) and focusing on meat, fruit and vegetables. I have lost ~5lbs over the past two weeks. My short term goal is to get under 200lbs. I have sleep apnea that has gone away in the past when I got in this weight range.

Fiscal Log: Not good. It has been over 10 years since I have had anything that resembles a career or long term identified source of personal income. I have tried to start a small business (healthy vending snacks; failed), went back to school (nursing school; got thrown out for a clinical mistake) and invested for cast returns (real estate; under performing currently but headed in the right direction). The bottom line is that I have been writing checks out of savings to "survive." As a result I have stressed myself emotionally to the point of panic as well as straining my marriage to the cusp of alienation and divorce. My current effort is to make good on a substantial investment in a water damage and reclamation business (will call it Rebound) by getting hands-on involved in the rebuilding in New Jersey and New York after "superstorm" Sandy. 

Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, as well as the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane in history, only surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Hurricane Sandy devastated portions of the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States in late October 2012. Sandy is estimated in early calculations to have caused damage of at least $20 billion. (From Wikipedia)

I plan on being in NJ this Sunday, I have started some of the planning documents in MS Excel.