FOR THE FIRST TIME in over a year, I’m sick.
Battling a head cold. Really annoying. Since taking daily cold showers, I felt almost invincible.
I guess the Christmas indulgence of booze and my achilles heel – Ferrero Rocher’s – helped accelerate my downfall.
Just gonna have to take a little better care of myself from 2018. Things that I’m planning to focus on include:
- I’m moving back to Colombia next week! Cheaper, sunnier, and a chance to channel my energies on my writing over the coming months are exactly what I need.
- I’m giving up the booze. I’ve flirted with this in the past. In fact, I went a year in 2015 without it. It helped that I was in Colombia at the time, away from peer pressure and the constant bombardment of it in Dublin. This time, I’ve had enough. Hangovers are just too severe, taking days to clear. I drink rarely, but when I do, it’s until I blackout. Can’t be doing that shit at 35. Time to grow up.
- I’m going to work towards achieving the splits. For two decades it’s been a secret goal of mine. My lower body flexibility is bad and getting worse. I’m in generally good shape but tight hips and hamstrings have always hampered me. I bought a book recently which promises the reader splits in 4 weeks (!). Not sure about that, but I’m never one to resist trying something new.
- I’ll be releasing three new novels in 2018. The first, Raising Lazarus, will be in February. Then there will be a sequel to Sigil in the Summer and finally, ROT – the novel, will be released at year end.
- For the past few months my main exercise routine centred on calisthenics – bodyweight exercises. I’ve been doing pushups, pullups, situps, etc. That will continue in Colombia because they can be done anywhere and I don’t need a gym. Suits me.
- Improving my Spanish. I won’t have a better chance than now. I can speak it but I’m not fluent. I’ve got loads of resources and just need to get out there and get to it. It’s always helped when I’ve had a spanish speaking girlfriend in the past. You know what they say – the best way to learn a language is on the pillow…
If I manage to complete half of those goals, I’ll be a happy chappy.
What are your goals for 2018?
