6 Goals | Episode 32

I went for one run and I finally ran in under ten minute mile pace. Other than that I did a fantastically bad job of hitting any goals because it's one of the busiest weeks of the year at work.

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My websites:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.DanDanTheArtMan.com/

6 Goals | Episode 31

In this episode I go through the 6 goals and share how I've been doing. Frankly I have not been hitting many goals. I did one sketch, though it was more of an illustration, I went for one run, I wrote one for about 900 words, and other than that I just didn't achieve many goals but I did have a pretty good week because at least I went for a run.

Download the .mp3

My websites:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.DanDanTheArtMan.com/

Skipped a Nap for a Hot Long Run

3 mile run. My dog came with me and it was in the middle of the day. It was in the middle of the day and the park was packed with people for kids birthday parties and general hanging out. I like it much better at dawn when it's just me, my dog, and maybe one other jogger. The run was tiring because I started in reverse direction from usual which put me running up a pretty steep hill right off the bat. It felt like I never really recovered from it. Still, I almost took a nap but as I was laying there falling asleep I thought 'I should go for a run.' Even though it was long and hot, I'm glad I went. 6 Goals podcast episode 31 should drop tomorrow. Usually I release episodes on a Monday, but it's been a really busy week at work. Thanks for stopping by!

Here's the stats:

3.0 miles in 34:29 minutes - 9/16/12

6 Goals | Episode 30

In this podcast I talk about what I've been up to including writing a couple novels, finally going for a couple runs, and a few other things.

The book I read: What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings--and Life

The blog post I wrote about reading that book with plans for how I'm going to make over my mornings.

Listen to chapter one of my work in progress novel called "The Truth About Zombies."

See my novel experiment where I am writing a novel longhand with no outline.

My latest short story "Stuffed Monster" is available as a FREE ebook:

I forgot to talk about doing 6 sketches a week, something I haven't done lately. The latest art I've produced can be found in a comic I started based on a novella I wrote for last years NaNoWriMo.

My websites:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.DanDanTheArtMan.com/

Download the .mp3

A Couple Runs at a New Park

The few runs I've done from my new house were on trails behind a huge sports complex out in the woods. My wife had a nightmare that I was killed by a bunch of gang members selling drugs on those trails so I chose to go running at a nearby park instead so she wouldn't worry about me and go back to sleep. It turns out the park is exactly one mile around, so I'm thankful I went for a run at the park.

Today I ran two miles in 20 minutes and 51 seconds. Pretty slow, but it felt good. Yesterday I ran for 30 minutes, and probably covered 2.5+ miles. My plan is to start doing 3 miles every weekday morning, and a longer run on Saturday with Sunday as a rest day. Let's see if I can do it! I already have two running spots recorded and ready to play in the next 6 Goals podcast episode. It's been FOREVER since I recorded a 6 Goals episode because it's been forever since I have gone running. Hopefully that's all going to change now and I will be a consistant runner. I'm curious what that would like like so I'm going to make a little table right here to see:

Running Schedule

Day	Distance
Monday	3 Miles
Tuesday	3 Miles
Wednesday	3 Miles
Thursday	3 Miles
Friday	3 Miles
Saturday	5 Miles
Sunday	Rest Day
Total	20 Miles

20 miles a week. Not much, but it's a start. I'm still just going to try and hit my 6 miles a week goal, but I'll be keeping this table in mind. I started late this week on Tuesday - it was the first day of preschool for my son and seemed like a nice time to start a new habit - of running. It looks like if I just go on one more run this week I will at least hit my 6 miles a week goal so that is something I'm proud of! Check back next Monday for the latest 6 Goals podcast episode to hear all about it, and thanks for stopping by!

Here's the stats:

2.0 miles in 20:51 minutes - 9/5/12

2.5+ miles in 30:00 minutes - 9/6/12

It's Been A While, But I Have Big Plans

I have a plan to get more goals accomplished including way more running and doing it consistently. My new plan will also allow me more time to put into my creative pursuits. Here's the recent blog post I wrote about my plans which I've been thinking about a lot but feel empowered to do after reading this tiny book. As I'm writing this I am on my third read through it.

This book was just what I needed when I needed it. Isn't it great when that happens? I bought it today on audible for under $3 - it's very short. I already listened to it one and a half times. It addresses something I've been thinking about a lot and never successfully doing anything about for a long time. I've been talking for a while about going to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier and have time to run and work on my creative projects like writing. This book gave me a road map to do it. The author Laura Vanderkam tells you to lay out how you spend your time. She even has an excel spreadsheet you can download for free from her website to fill out to do this. I did, and I saw how I was spending my time in beautiful excel glory. Seeing it like that was very interesting. Laura Vanderkam encourages you to study your time logs and challenge your assumptions about how you think the best time to spend your time is. I was able to rearrange my schedule a bit to have time for things I'm always wishing I was getting done. I looked at what a typical weekday was for me, and then I built my perfect day in a new column. 

Here's what I came up with:

5:00AM - 5:30AM Go for a run

5:30AM - 6:00AM Get ready for the day

6:00AM - 7:00AM Commute and write via recording into phone

7:00AM - 7:30AM Transcribe audio of writing / read paper books & eBooks

7:30AM - 3:30PM Work

3:30PM - 4:30PM Commute and read via audio books

10:00PM - Asleep so I can get up at 5 & achieve some goals!


Now with all that said - I'm not going to start this schedule until the Olympics are over. My wife and I are avid Olympic viewers. There are a few reasons, let me explain why we've been staying up till midnight every night watching our country compete. First of all I just think the Olympics are awesome and have always loved them. Beyond that, I've been a distance runner since third grade. In high school running became a huge part of my life. The distance team ran before school, after school, through the off season and even met three times every week during the summer break. It took me until my senior year to make the varsity team in cross country and that year we won the state championships. It was an amazing experience. Mostly I'll aways remember getting up early and running with a bunch of other guys and then listening to classic rock in the coach's office which was lined with couches and a fridge so we could all seat and eat cereal for breakfast afterwards. As for my wife she did gymnastics as a child all the way up to high school becoming a level 8 gymnast. More recently she did a lot of private club gymnastics coaching and high school gymnastics coaching, as well as gymnastics coaching. So with a couple who are passionate about track & field and gymnastics you can see why we stay up to watch. Once they're over there, I'm going to go all out with this new schedule.

6 Goals | Episode 29

In this episode I talk about my one relaxing run on dirt trails with my dog, how the third draft of my novel is just about done, how I'm losing weight with Advocare products, drawing my web comic/graphic novel character a lot to get his design down, and a few other things.

My websites:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.DanDanTheArtMan.com/

Download the .mp3

Character Sketch

I plan on drawing out a novella I wrote for last years NaNoWriMo as a graphic novel / web comic. Here is a recent sketch of where I'm at with the main character's design. I've tried simplifying his design as I'm going to be drawing him a lot! The sketch on the right is more recent and took me 2-3 minutes so it's getting faster. The other is me trying to nail down what I want his facial features to be. I think I'm getting close to a final design for his head, but I'm still not totally sure about his hat and his clothes so we'll see. Thanks for stopping by!

6 Goals | Episode 28

This week I talk about my first run from our new house and how I'm almost through the third draft of my novel and the dream of seeing it published is much closer!

My websites:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.dandantheartman.com/

Download the .mp3

6 Goals | Episode 27

This week I talk about getting ready to move, the one run I went on, and how I'm still doing good on some of my other goals. It's a short episode because I have a lot going on with the move but I wanted to get it out there since I went for a run.

Links to stuff mentioned on the show (My new diet program) :
http://www.advocare.com/

Links to my stuff:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

View some of my art
http://danabsoart.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.dandantheartman.com/

Download the .mp3

Pictures From a Nice Walk

6 Goals | Episode 26

This week I talk about finishing the revision of my debut novel and how just about all my goals, other than running, are going great. I also talk a bit about a diet I started called Advocare. I'm losing weight, I have way more energy, and I'm never hungry.

Links to stuff mentioned on the show (My new diet program) :
http://www.advocare.com/

Links to my stuff:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

View some of my art
http://danabsoart.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.dandantheartman.com/

Download the .mp3

6 Goals | Episode 25

This week I talk about how bible reading and running are going pretty good, and how easy six sketches a week are with the Draw Something app on my new iPad.

Links to stuff mentioned in show:

Catbeard the Pirate webcomic:
http://catbeardthepirate.blogspot.com/


My links:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

View some of my art
http://danabsoart.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://www.dandantheartman.com/

Download the .mp3

6 Goals | Episode 24

This week I talk about finally going for a run after buying some brand new running shoes, and doing some eBook and podcast artwork for some fellow authors. It's great to be running and podcasting again!

Here are links to the podcast and authors I mentioned:
http://www.actionpackpodcast.com/
http://www.michellplested.com/
http://www.jrmurdock.com/
http://www.scottroche.com/

My links:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

View some of my art
http://danabsoart.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://dandantheartman.com/

Download the .mp3

Artwork I Created for the Action Pack Podcast

Here is some artwork I created for my friends over at the Action Pack Podcast. Here's a quick about from their site:

The Action Pack Podcast is an idea that began last year (either in November or December) when JR Murdock, Scott Roche and Michell Plested were talking about their writing goals for 2012. It was suggested that the three should join forces to create something new: a podcast that included three different stories told serially.

The idea gained traction in January when a few others heard about the idea and whole-heartedly encouraged its creation. The three creative geniuses (yes, that is what I said) :) met again to come up with a plan and 45 minutes later the podcast was born.

Action Pack is both an eBook and a podcast, with both elements being simultaneously released every month. The eBook will be published by Flying Island Press and the podcast will be available for download from this site and on iTunes. Each story will be a straight read by the authors and you can expect just a little cliffhangering.

Here's my artwork:

New Shoes

I got a new pair of running shoes! The Nike Zoom Structure Triax+ 15 running shoes. I'm really excited to run in them. I walked around a lot in the store, and did a tiny jog outside the store for about a block, and they felt amazing. I tried a few others but ever since I started running a lot in high school the Nike Triax shoes have always fit my feet the best. A lot of my team mates liked Brooks and New Balance, a few had Asics, but it was always Nike Triax shoes for me. Almost every time I bought a new pair I would try the other brands, but this line of shoes fits my feet the best. With this new pair, because I'm used to the pair I bought about nine years ago, it feels like I'm running on the spring floor at the gymnastics club my wife coaches at! Maybe I just forgot what a really nice pair of running shoes feel like when they're new, but they feel fantastic. I'm really excited to go for a run in them. Expect a new podcast episode to drop next Monday.

6 Goals | Episode 23

This week I talk about how it's been a while since I've recorded, and that I only want to record a new episode when I have running spots recorded and or something interesting and exciting to say about my writing or art. There were a couple things I forgot to mention. I have a new redesigned author website with a new url. The old http://www.writingsofdan.blogspot.com/ still works, but the official address is: http://www.dandantheartman.com/! I'm so excited to have a .com instead of a .blogspot.com for my web address. Also, when I say I'm planning on waking up early I forgot to say I came up with a new plan with a good reason to wake up early - to get more writing & reading time in my life. Here is that plan:

MON, WED, FRI
________________________________________________
 5:00AM - Wake
 6:00AM - Arrive at work, run for 20 min.
 6:45AM - Shower, clock in
11:00AM - Clock out, read / write
11:30AM - Clock in
 3:15PM - Clock out
10:00PM - Go to bed
________________________________________________
TUE, THU
________________________________________________
 5:00AM - Wake
 6:00AM - Arrive at work, clock in
11:00AM - Clock out, read / write
11:30AM - Clock in
 2:30PM - Clock out
10:00PM - Go to bed
________________________________________________

My links:

Blog for this podcast
http://6goals.blogspot.com/

View some of my art
http://danabsoart.blogspot.com/

My writing blog
http://writingsofdan.blogspot.com/

Download the .mp3

eBook Covers I've Created for Others

Here are some book covers I've done recently for some of my fellow authors. If you click on the image it will take you to where you can purchase the book. Need a cover or some graphics work done? I'm cheap. I've even been known to work out a trade for artwork. I'd love to work on something for you.