Parlez-vous Anglais?

Have you ever felt out of your depth? Overwhelmed? Afraid of the unknown?

Well any one of these could be how I could describe the week that has just past.

For if you read last week's post you will know I was on course to spend 6 days this week with work setting up, attending and closing down at a trade show near Lyon, France.

Leading up to the trip, 3 things stuck in my mind:

1) I don't speak French!

2) How would I make my "free-from" diet work being away from home for the longest time in another country and not being able to speak the language?

3) And I can't stress this enough... I don't speak French!

Don't get me wrong, I know enough to be polite, "Bonjour", "Comment allez-vous?, "Merci Beaucoup" etc. However, I learnt quickly, there is a long way between my view of words needed to "get by" in French and actually getting by in French!

Arriving at the hotel with 3 other English people (one of whom does more than "get by" in French) and the hotel staff speaking pigeon English, I was able to fumble my way through day one in no time and even day two, featuring a host of English stand builders and multi-lingual French colleagues went by with relative success.

But the unknown of any trade show, is just who will walk through those doors once they open each day!

And with around 500 visitors to the stand over the 3 days, I had my fair share of opportunities to find out just who did walk through!

This was where the sense of feeling "out of my depth" really did start to build...as 90% of people that I approached on stand spoke as little or less English than I do French...and who could blame them...we were in France after all!

Not only was "Parlez-vous Anglais?" my most used French sentence by a long way this past week...but by using it so much I have never felt more...well..."Anglais"!

So if all else failed (and it did) then there's always the tried and tested use of a 'French' accent whilst speaking English...usually favoured by footballers during press conferences...a trait that once started, is hard to take away, even when surrounded by fellow English people!

And as for my worries of what I would eat whilst away from home, well the picture to the right shows the measures I went to to ensure that I could keep my end of the bargain at least 50% of the time...

As for France's part of the bargain, let's just say that if I never see another piece of ham, salami, steak, plain chicken or green beans for the remainder of February then my body might just even itself out!

Sometimes, it's hard to see the positives first and it's far easier to be scared of what lies ahead, presuming you'll be out of your depth and overwhelmed in no time at all.

Realising that it is often the thought of the unknown that paints a picture of unease inside of us, building up until we've filled the unknown void with all sorts of horrible outcomes is the hardest part.

But with the help of those around me, each day I made it through I gained more confidence that I could make it through anything that the trip threw at me.

The sense of doom that engulfed me when I first learned of my requirement to attend this work trip was being chipped away even before I set off thanks to approaching each day from a more logical frame of mind, taking each day's requirements and working out what I would need for each one to reach my goal of making it through the week in the same shape or better than when I left, and as such each day I was there was a day closer to home, smoothing out any remaining doubt that may have existed.

So despite all of my initial feelings, I made it through the other side and homeward bound, simply by changing my mindset to one of a positive outcome. One where I had more control of my surroundings, starting with stacking my suitcase full of "free-from" goodness!

And, let's face it, if I didn't speak French before I got there, there's no better place to try to learn it!

Therefore, I guess the moral of this weeks tale is that whatever you are worried about, whatever you may have coming up, whether you speak the language or not, whether it is out of your depth or a whole new challenge, take a step back from it and try to picture the goal that you are aiming for at the end of it, treating it as an important step along the way and one that you can manage even by making it 50% easier!

After all, what is it they say? "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"?! Try it, see if it works!

Also as promised, the other benefit of travelling away from home for the week, is the time to potentially catch up on reading...meaning that numerous pages of Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" were also consumed! So we're back on track now folks...onwards and upwards we go!

And with only 5 days left until my promised launch date of Friday 13th February, the positivity of the onwards and upwards approach is definitely a great theme to have...watch this space!

A tale of guilt, patience and positivity...or something profound like that!

Looking out of my taxi window, en route to Birmingham Airport, I'm distracted.

My thought process should be simple... sit back, relax and enjoy being driven to my destination.

Maybe it's the addition of snow this morning, fluttering in extra caution over my trip ahead?!

Maybe it's that I only managed about 4-5 hours sleep last night before my 5am alarm call (which I didn't need as I was awake from 4:20!)...which is standard practice for some reason before any trip away or requirement to be up early...Murphy's Law hard at work!

Now I'm sure most of you are thinking "lucky you jetting off somewhere nice at the start of Feb...wish I could do the same and be getting away from this cold weather!"

But unfortunately this is not a personal trip...nor is it an exotic destination for this time of year.

I am travelling with work to Lyon, France...a place close enough to home that they are also expecting snow and cold temperatures throughout my visit, for 6 days filled with all the joys that only trade shows can bring!

As you can tell by my tone... I am très excited by the days that lie ahead!

Oh and "très" is about as much French as you can expect to get out of me...unless you want me to ask where the bank or swimming pool are?!...No?! Ok, I'll save those little nuggets for later!

Now I am also sure that by saying I'm "travelling with work" at least half of you will be thinking "lucky you, how glamorous!"

However, anyone who ever has to travel for work, seeing the world from a taxi, then the delights of the airport, another taxi to the destination (usually industrial) before yet another taxi ride to the hotel before waking up and doing it all again in reverse, will attest to it being far from glamorous...at least anyone of my lowly level anyway!

But none of that is the reason for my distraction.

Truth is I'm distracted by guilt!

For you see, in my last couple of blog posts I have been eluding to something very exciting coming the way of JustDrewOnIt and promised all would be revealed very soon.

I also promised that I wouldn't use work getting in the way as an excuse for not completing the things in life that I want to!

Add to that my commitment to you that I would read 2 chapters of Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street"... And maybe this last one gives you a clue as the outcome of my previous 2 statements as well!

As unfortunately, in preparation for being away with work this week...I have had to work even harder last week to get a head start and feel on top of things...somewhat!

Therefore, work was the reason behind me having less time to complete and share with you the finished article I have been working on.

But it is still coming! I just want to be in the country when I announce it!

So I am making a promise to you that intend to keep...

On Friday 13th February I shall announce the launch of my exciting JustDrewOnIt project with you all!

There it is...an actual date to commit to! Quite a memorable date I think you'll agree and an announcement filled with so much positivity that hopefully the usual "Friday the 13th" stigma becomes but a mere after thought!

The countdown is on!

And back to all things excuses...work was the reason I had less time to read anything at all this week... Although I have added 2 more e-books to my "to-read" pile...oops!

But fear not...as the beauty of travelling means I may get some time to read...and with that in mind, safely tucked in my hand luggage is my ever patient copy of Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street", just waiting for me to read 3 chapters!

To that end, within the space of a taxi journey, the snow has cleared and my guilt edged distraction has wained knowing that I have a positive set of goals ahead of me!

Whatever you're doing this Sunday, don't let distractions get in your way!

The beauty of having positive goals and things to look forward to is that even if they get delayed along the way, it just gives you longer to...well, to look forward to them!

So wish me luck for my week ahead and until next time my friends...

Où est la banque?

A positive cycle of unfamiliar territory

For those of you avid weekly readers amongst you, you'll know that with the publishing of this blog post I have achieved my first #RandomTask of 2015!

#2015-1 Between now and 31st January 2015 I am going to publish a minimum of one new blog post per week (Monday to Sunday).

With this firmly in the bag it's safe to say, it is a very elated time here at JustDrewOnIt HQ!

It's a very strange feeling for me going from semi-irregular blogger, who could go months without posting just to hang on to any semblance of being allowed to call myself a blogger, to being a semi-productive weekly blogger who feels a pang of guilt building as the hours tick down to midnight each Sunday.
But when I press 'publish' each week, the sense of achievement felt appears to grow knowing that I haven't failed. The possibilities appear endless. My place in the world feels that little bit more cemented and who everything just seems right with the world.

The only thing I can liken it to is the rush of endorphins felt after exercise...leading you towards a positive cycle of wanting more exercise and thus getting fitter, healthier and ultimately happier!

Add to that, the exciting JustDrewOnIt related activities I eluded to in my blog post last week, a recovery from the drain felt after my first workout in months and a step about to be taken in getting answers to all matters health related and I find myself in a positive cycle of unfamiliar territory.

And long may this productive elation continue! So with this in mind, my next and very unimaginative #RandomTask is:

#2015-3 Between now and 28th February 2015 I am going to publish a minimum of one new blog post per week (Monday to Sunday).

Simple, you might think?! Well being in the weekly swing of things I would agree...but with a 6 day work trip to Lyon on the horizon from next Sunday and a lot of prep work to do before I can even think about getting on that plane...who knows whether that first hurdle will prove too great an obstacle...or whether I can use this momentum to power through this supposed obstacle and achieve my second #RandomTask in no time!

Who knows...you might even get more than a simple blog post next weekend?! Ooops, did I say too much?!

Unfortunately, not everything in the world of #RandomTasks has been quite so rosey this week...as my ongoing battle with all things "Charlotte Street" will attest to...and for that matter did Gone Girl and the every increasing "to-read" pile!

For anyone knew to this blog, here's a reminder of my updated #RandomTask:

#7.5 Read one chapter of Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" each week until the book is completed.

With the usual excuses of working too much, life getting in the way and not enough hours in the day all lined up ready as to why I didn't get time to read one chapter of one book, classing this as a failed attempt but truth is I can't feel negative about this.

For rather than dwelling I am taking this as a bump in the road...one that can be easily fixed...

How?! By reading 2 chapters this week obviously! Even with the impending work trip on the horizon!

If I fail to do that then maybe I will mark this down as a failed #RandomTask but with all the excitement of things I have achieved this week in preparation for the next step in the story of "JustDrewOnIt", well you could say being negative is something I don't have time for!

And worst comes to worst, I'll take it with me to Lyon and read 3 chapters!

So just the short post this week...Until next time, watch this space for a very exciting announcement!


Current #RandomTask count for 2015 stands at:

#RandomTasks Set = 4 Completed = 1 Pending = 3 Failed = 0

A taste of things to come...

As the weeks of January tick by, it's easy to lost sight of all the goals you may have set for yourself this year.

We're all firmly back in the swing of working life and the Christmas break is firmly a distant (but very enjoyable) memory.

The working week can easily bring us crashing back down to Earth and straight back in to the same old routines, with a sense of impending doom for all the big plans you promised yourself you would stick to this year.

As regular readers will know, the ups and downs of my health were remarkably helped by having an extended break from work over the Christmas period.
This led to me feeling like I could get back on the exercise bandwagon and slowly but surely I found myself making time to complete small workouts despite the best attempts from work to get straight back in the way!

I was on the up! Surely (as Yazz once said) the only way is up! Or so I thought...
Which is why I decided last weekend to get a good friend of mine in to help me out.
Now any of you that have been with me since at least the start of 2014 will be familiar with this friend...for he has not only been mentioned on here but back in February 2014 he joined me for an interview (which you can still read here).

Anyway, as he's a qualified Personal Trainer and Fireman, I thought 'Who better to help me out?!'...
And so, like the great friend he is, he happily obliged!

So last Saturday I found myself partaking in what I can only describe as an "attempt".
An attempt at light circuit training...trying my best to keep up with every command made of me by my gracious host!
20 minutes in and I was a wreck! A shadow of my former self... an unfit mess with his head between his legs trying to catch his breathe.

But in between lost breaths I powered on and after 45 minutes or so we finally called it time.
And for the rest of the day I continued to do all that was asked of me...
I took in natural sugars. I consumed the required amounts of protein and greens. I remained as active as my legs would allow and I got a decent amount of sleep.

So when I woke up Sunday and felt fine I thought this was the start of something beautiful!
A new me. A healthy me. A happy me!

Even waking up on Monday and hardly being able to put one foot in front of the other for all the aches and pains I was feeling, I still told myself this was normal...but still feeling abnormally drained by Wednesday and then Thursday I realised I wasn't quite on the upward trajectory that I thought!

But surrounding yourself with positivity can have a...well a positive effect on how quickly you turn your thoughts around.
As it might be easy to lose sight of goals and everything you've achieved so far...but that doesn't mean that you have to!

And despite this week of feeling physically drained and mentally deflated, I have decided to rise out from it like a phoenix from the flames and latch on to a very exciting challenge...

A challenge to make me leap out of my comfort zone.
A leap that I have wanted to take for some time but have always been too scared to take that step.

An exciting leap of a challenge that I can't wait to share with you all...

But I have to...for now!

I will however give you loyal readers a sneak peek and see if it triggers your imagination for what could possibly lay ahead in our future...

(Sneaky peek)

Can you tell what it is yet?!

For anyone that can, please feel free to comment below and I'll let you know whether you can give yourself a pat on the back.

Therefore, I'm afraid it's a short(ish) post from me this week...but only so I can crack on with all things "exciting" and "leapy" and "challengey" and then I'll be able to share the outcome with you very shortly...and trust me, it'll be worth the wait!

So stay focussed guys. The world can slow down the progress you make but never forget how far you've come, because it will always help you get where you want to be!

p.s. I have also managed to continue on my quest to finish reading Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" and read another chapter this week alongside my reading of "Gone Girl"...slowly but surely but still one page at a time!

The new adventures of the same old problem

There is one scene from the "classic" 90's television show "The New Adventures of Superman" starring the incredible acting talent of Dean Cain in the lead role, in which Superman can be seen levitating in mid-air and blistering through the pages of a book faster than...well faster than a speeding bullet!

Now I can safely bet that you didn't enter this blog post expecting to be reminded of mid-nineties popular culture that you had hoped had been well and truly buried in that decade... Alas we can't change the past so not only can we not stop Dean Cain from donning the red cape, neither can we go back and unread the words in the first paragraph above...although I could have been kind and not written then in the first place!

This is probably the point where I should explain such a random beginning to this post...

Unfortunately first I must admit that these type of thoughts aren't uncommon in my head on a daily basis, neither can I go go any further without revealing that I was actually a big fan of 90's TV Show "The New Adventures of Superman" as well as wanting to be Dean Cain and finding that his Lois Lane (a late twenty something Teri Hatcher) became one of my first boyhood crushes!

Whilst I'm travelling down nostalgia lane, another mid 90's TV favourite of mine that you might not remember was "Due South", a show about the adventures of a Canadian Mountie transferred to work in a far more westernised Chicago police environment...and to this day I can picture his huskie "Snow" stealing the show and I can still sing the theme tune...although neither the Mountie nor his huskie joined Miss Hatcher on my list of early teen crushes you'll be pleased to here!

So where was I? Oh yes, the reason behind this rambling...
Well as many of you know, my desire to read more is severely affected by the ongoing battle between my ever increasing pile of books to read and my ever decreasing free time.
These days the pile doesn't even have to be physical as the large number of e-books in my Kindle app library will attest to!

So as I continue to thumb my way through the brilliant "Gone Girl" (a physical book so thumbs are definitely needed for this one) and attempt to finish Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" one chapter at a time (which I am happy to report I have read another chapter this week to keep on track to achieve one of my first 3 #RandomTasks of 2015), I also find that I am unable to read at the same speed with which I used to possess!
So many of my friends seem to be able to pick up a book and read it within a few days, whilst also holding down jobs (like I do) and packing in all of their other interests (like I tend to prioritise) and somehow finding time to eat and bathe (not that I don't do these things when I find time to read, just in case you were thinking less of me)!

So why does it take me so long to get through the same books?
In time off gone by I used to be able to read a book in a few days and be on to the next one to try to finish before I returned to work.
But now, well let's just say that if I get through a chapter each day I feel productive!

Anyway, all of this reading comes at a time when I seem inundated with new books on all manner of subjects as well, all waiting to be consumed and yet more likely to consume dust rather than my time!
Anything from thrillers to classics I've always wanted to read through to my growing amount of "free from" cooking books and lifestyle related books I have been told "will change my life for the better"!

Which is where the speed reading ability and knowledge retention of Superman would come in rather handy!

And suddenly my opening reference to that one specific scene from "New Adventures of Superman" all those years ago becomes slightly less random...don't you agree?!

There is a flaw to this plan however...

It is quite a big flaw actually and I guess kind of obvious... I am not Superman! (I know you're in shock and you're entire belief system is now shaken but we have to face facts and hopefully you were sitting down when you were reading this!), therefore I will never possess a single super power let alone be able to choose that specific one.

And if I ever could possess a super power, would I really choose speed reading over flight, super strength or speed in general?

Right now... maybe so! But that would simply solve one specific issue but would be very short sighted of me (which is where Clark Kent's glasses would have come in handy maybe?!...no?!...too geeky?!...bad pun?!...ok then!).

What I'm trying to say is that it's so easy to let the world pile up around you and feel swamped or like you're fighting an uphill battle or swimming against the tide.
This can all lead to a sense of helplessness and a loss of focus on what's right in front of you!

Simply put, a book can only be read one page at a time!

As long as the desire to complete your goals is there then that is half the battle won!
If you can retain your positivity and prioritise one thing at a time then the world around you will soon appear less daunting and the tasks will soon get ticked off, even if you are adding more to your list!

So don't lose sight of the goals you've set yourself for the year ahead. Keep taking chunks out of them slowly but surely and every time you find yourself ticking off another goal you can use that sense of accomplishment to spur you on to the next one!

Keep going folks!


Disclaimer: No Dean Cain's were harmed in the writing of this blog post.
For those of you concerned that you haven't seen anything of Dean Cain in the past 10-15 years, a quick IMDB search reveals that he is very much still "acting" and can be found in a number of 2014 Made-for-TV classics such as "Holiday Miracle", "The 3 Dogateers" and not forgetting "Airplane vs Volcano"! I know, big names right?! It seems being Superman really is the best it can ever get!

Because I'm Happy?

Well first off... Happy New Year to you all!

A very appropriate greeting at this time of year I think you'll all agree... yes?

Or is it? As quite often the moment that the Christmas festivities are over and the New Years Eve celebrations have been tidied away, everyones attention quickly turns to negative thoughts:

"I can't believe I have to go back to work on Monday", "It is ages until I next have time off", "It is so long until Christmas comes round again" and most importantly "It is ages until pay day"!

All of the phrases above have been uttered or paraphrased in one way or another by me over the years and continue to be uttered by numerous people up and down the country and all of which firmly fall under the heading "January Blues"!

So normally, the greeting "Happy New Year" could be something of an oxymoron, simply used by well meant folk as a colloquial sentence at this time of year but often with the meaning being lost somewhere in amongst the true feelings of January Blues.

However, 2015 appears to have not started the same way!

Now don't get me wrong, this post may appear instantly negative, but the words above are written simply to compare my usual feelings with those that I am currently experiencing.

For as I type this I am filled with a new found sense of hope for the year ahead.
Don't get me wrong, in response to the usual sentences uttered above:

1) After 18 whole days off work for the first time since I was unemployed I truly can't believe that I have to go back to work tomorrow.

2) It is ages until I next have time off. In fact it may even be April...a whole 3 months away!

3) It is soooo long until Christmas comes around again...funnily enough, the same as it is every year!

4) Like everyone else I definitely feel the hit this time of year...but sure as night follows day, pay day will arrive.

But with the new found sense of hope, quite possibly achieved in conjunction with having 18 days off work and enjoying all that the Christmas festivities had to offer, I am able to think past these normal sentiments and try to focus on all the positives that the year ahead has to offer...a number of which I will spend January planning for and getting excited about!

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there will be challenges that arise by going back to work and I will no doubt be craving time off the further we get in to the next 3 months and I'm sure I will long for the festive feeling that the Christmas build up brings...all whilst always wishing pay day came round more than once a month!
However, something has changed, a new mantra can be felt echoing around my head, one that I hope stays for a long time to come and one that will surely see me through any dark days to come as well as help caption the happy times I hope are afoot:

"I Can!"

It may not be spectacular or mind altering and it may only be four letters long but simply by adding a letter "T" on the end (with an apostrophe of course) it can quickly turn negative and have just as big an impact...in the wrong direction!

But by leaving the "T" (and apostrophe of course) off, I am instantly able to think positively. To feel like 'I can' do anything or achieve what I want and that is a pretty powerful tool to have tucked away!

So from now on, I am going to let myself run wild with this mantra and see where it takes me...and no doubt you'll read all about it on here in the weeks and months to come!

Please don't take this as preaching...I merely want to share this new positive feeling with you all!

So don't be like every other year and let January pass you by in a blue doom filled cloud of negativity...

Instead, why not create a new tradition of activities for January, why not start planning the things you want to do with your spare time or start searching for your next holiday or find inexpensive things to do until pay day arrives.

And on another positive note, once again by publishing this blog post I am continuing to achieve my #RandomTask goal of weekly blogging and to make things even more positive...you'll never guess what?...

I READ A CHAPTER OF DANNY WALLACE'S "CHARLOTTE STREET"!!!

So it seems that the #RandomTask worked as not only that but I as I type this I am in the heady heights of also being one third of the way through Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl"... making the first 4 days of 2015 pretty successful I think you'll agree!

So here's to a great January and believe when I say this...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

p.s. I realise that the title of this blog post is a reference to the Pharrell Williams track "Happy", which was number one for the first 4 weeks of 2014 so I'm "Sooooo last year" but I feel it is just as appropriate now as it would have been then and was a little more appropriate than "Uptown funk you up, I said Uptown funk you up" just to be current... even if that is as equally great a song!

It's Sunday, right?

So who knows what day it is?

That isn't my way of admitting I'm sat here writing this blog post drunk...far from it...it is my way of capturing a time of year when we all lose track of what day

The past 7 days have no doubt been as busy for you as they have for me.
It was of course Christmas week! And I hope you have enjoyed yours as much as I have mine!
This is always, a week filled with last minute present buying, gift wrapping, gift giving, food buying, preparing, cooking and finally eating!

Not that I will bore you with the details of my Christmas week, needless to say it has been filled with last minute present buying, gift wrapping, gift giving, drinks with friends, food buying, preparing, cooking and of course eating!

It is however, a week in which we all say we're "off" but in truth we are more switched on in this week than any other as there is always so much to remember that come Christmas night we can't help but collapse into the nearest armchair and "just have 40 winks"!

Somehow, this one week coupled with unusual amounts of time off together and visiting friends and relatives we haven't seen since the year before leads to a very surreal feeling of waking up each day and basing our day around activities rather than the habits of the other 51 weeks of the year dictated by what day it happens to be.

Now of course I am full of the festive joys that this time of year brings, the food, the presents, the time with family all help reaffirm the world around you...but there is also something else bringing an unexpected cheer to my heart and affirmation for the passion that I have...writing!

That's right, by completing and publishing this blog post, I have somehow managed to complete the final (and arguably hardest for me) #RandomTask of the year!

I've done it! I've only gone and blooming well done it!

For those of you regulars, or at least recent regulars you will remember that on 16th November 2014 I made a triumphant return to this blog post after a 3 month absence and decided to challenge myself to not only return but be more prolific than ever before by publicly committing to the following #RandomTask:

"#8 Between now and 31st December 2014 I am going to publish a minimum of one new blog post per week (Monday to Sunday)"

For anyone who thought I was a dead-cert to fail a task that required regular blog posting (to be honest, from the outside looking in I would have thought exactly the same), I apologise for any bets lost or for making you question the reality in which you live.

Truth is, this hasn't felt like a task at all and has actually been the one that has given me the most pleasure and impetus to complete!
I have enjoyed having the ever impending countdown looming over me each week.
And most importantly, it has helped me find my voice again and end the year on a bigger high than I could have expected when I first started these #RandomTasks!

So why not carry this on?! That's why I am making my first #RandomTask of 2015 a continuation of my last for 2014:

#2015-1 Between now and 31st January 2015 I am going to publish a minimum of one new blog post per week (Monday to Sunday).

Unfortunately, my poem last weekend hasn't led to the Children's book deal I was hoping for, so no poem this week but I did receive some very kind feedback on it and the habits of how and when my blogs are read this past week, which is always enjoyed and nice to hear!***

Also back in my post from 16th November, I mentioned that I was still a long way from getting around to completing Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" (otherwise known as #RandomTask 7) so marked that #RandomTask down as "Ongoing".

Well, it's always good to carry the lessons of the years gone by with you into the year ahead so as not to make the same mistakes again. So with that in mind, I shall carry that #RandomTask forward in to 2015...but alter it slightly...

#7.5 Read one chapter of Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" each week until the book is completed.

See what I did there? Surely that's made it slightly less of the mountainous task it has become...surely?!

So with all of that tidied up, the final #RandomTask count for 2014 stands as:

#RandomTasks Set = 8 Completed = 5 Pending = 1 Failed = 2

Now, a 25% fail rate (not counting the Danny Wallace fiasco) may sound like a disaster, but as the intention of creating #RandomTasks in the first place was to improve my ability to commit to New Years Resolutions for longer than the first few months of any given year, I would say that the 62% success rate is the far more positive figure to focus on!

In fact that's exactly what I'm going to do...use that figure and aim to improve on that in 2015!
Let's agree to see what the year ahead holds and meet back here same time next year (obviously I encourage you to come back far more regularly than that but I was just trying to create some early suspense...I'll get better at it I promise!) and see if #RandomTasks have evolved and surpassed their inaugural year!

#2015-2 Achieve better than 62% success rate in #RandomTasks by the end of 2015

Technically that's 3 #RandomTasks to start the new year with...a pretty good start but I'm sure I'll be adding to that figure sooner rather than later so watch this space as for me, 2015 has so much potential to be the best year yet and I will be doing all that I can to make sure that potential is reached...and will no doubt be updating you on all that unfolds throughout the year!

And so I guess all that is left for me to say is...
Happy New Year to all my lovely readers, regulars and newbies, I hope 2015 is the happy, healthy and successful year we all hope for!
Do whatever works for you to make the resolutions you feel you need to make as successful as you need them to be and keep checking back here for updates on how I'm getting on with my #RandomTasks!

See you all next year!

p.s. For anyone wondering, the beard is coming along nicely, my grooming skills are improving and my girlfriend appears to have embraced my facial fuzz by buying me a "Beard Grooming Set" for Christmas, so be prepared for a future blog post solely inspired by all things beardy...tentatively entitled "A Close Shave" (thanks Nikki)!

***Hello Hannah and Scott, hope you enjoy this week's instalment, sorry there's no poem but you never know in future...now get up and out of bed, make a massive breakfast and enjoy all that the day brings!