In-Year Review

Previously on 40 by Forty...

It's in-year review time in the civil service so, in honour of this fact, it's time for an in-year performance review of my 40 by Forty challenges. Also, you may recall that challenges are suspended over holiday periods and I'm counting this week (which included a mini-break to Perth and a Halloween house party) as a holiday week.  By which I mean I've not done anything this week.


It's not like I've done my in-year review at work either, though, so at least I'm consistently not doing anything.

Long-term challenges

The long, dark teatime of the challenge year is fast approaching.  The effort required to stick to the long-term challenges is growing. This is exactly the sort of time that I would normal drop things like this.  Good job I've got you, fictional reader, peering over my shoudler to keep me going! As before, each one is linked to its respective blog entry.
  1. Learn French (me) - Yeah, this one is now thoroughly in the "crap I wish I wasn't doing" category.  I'm not sure how much it's actually sinking in and I'm not managing it every day.  But I'm slogging onwards.
  2. Learn to draw (me) - This one I'm still enjoying. The Inktober challenge thing has been good for getting me to draw most days and branch out into a new(ish) medium requiring different approaches.
  3. Finish a writing project (me) - Well, I'm writing this rather than playing the PS4 while alone in the house, so still going well.
  4. Design a board game for grown ups (me - has to get to playable prototype by 31 March 2019) - I've had a first test run with Renae and Lindsay playing it. The core mechanic seemed to work well enough, although there's tweaking required.
  5. Learn swordfighting (Andy Leask) - Andy and I have been a fair bit, but the last month and a half our attendance has tanked. Illnesses and busy, grown-up lives have hamstrung us. If it weren't a long-term challenge, this is precisely the point where I just wouldn't go back. But I will.  Honest!
  6. Do 10 pull ups (Andy Law - yes, this is a long-term goal for me!) - Up to five in a row, and now the proud owner of one of those stupid bars.
  7. Eat healthily and take 30+ minutes exercise a day (many people in concert) - I've now lost 13kg and am quite enjoying fitting into my clothes a bit better. Still not anywhere near 30 minutes of exercise a day though.
  8. Write a thank you letter (emails and phone calls do not count) for every gift received over the year (Tatty) - The joy of this challenge is that it only really kicks in twice a year.
  9. Take and share a photo a day each day for a year (Laura) - At risk of jinxing myself, I've not missed a day in six months. Sure, sometimes they're shared late, but they've always been taken on the day.
  10. Read only women authors for the year (Juliet) - Still reading the women.  A couple of my favourite male authors have new books out, too, which is testing my resolve but I'm staying strong!
One of my favourite Inktober drawings so far.

One-off challenges

One-off challenges are either done or they're not. Challenges with a link have been completed and written up, those without, haven't. I suspect this list is not going to be as far advanced from the previous update as I would like!
  1. Kayak to somewhere I've never been (Magnus)
  2. Learn a song on the guitar (Andy Leask)
  3. Learn to pick a lock (me)
  4. Learn to tango (Lindsay)
  5. Perform poetry, written by me, in public (Magnus)
  6. Milk a thing (Magnus)
  7. Paddle out to neck deep in freezing water and stay there for 40 seconds (Andy Law)
  8. Dye my hair a bright colour (Andy Law)
  9. Hold a creepy-crawly type beastie (Andy Law)
  10. Volunteer for a local charity event (Andy Law)
  11. Buy 40 scratch cards (Andy Law)
  12. Invest £40 and try and make a profit (Andy Law)
  13. Climb a munroe, with the entire family, with me being the only one allowed to carry the children.  Take a photo at the top.  (Christine.)
  14. Go axe throwing (Magnus/me)
  15. Try fire spinning (Jackie)
  16. Run a mile (Shra and Neil) - (my personal favourite blog entry so far)
  17. Learn to bake bread (Emmy)
  18. Attend one or more preview nights at the Lyceum (Juliet)
  19. March in Pride (Juliet)
  20. Waxing - crack and sack (Mike)
  21. Learn the bongos (Ben)
  22. Skinny dip (Matt)
  23. Hold a karaoke night at an actual karaoke venue (Lindsay)
  24. Whittle a thing (Jen)
  25. Drive something I've never driven before (Dougie)
  26. Make a banner for Processions (Lindsay)
  27. Moon the neighbours (*redacted!*)
  28. Brew beer (Logan)
  29. Ask a stranger what their passion is (Stephanie)
  30. Go to three local tourist attractions I've never been to (Graham)

Backup challenges 

These are one-off challenges that I can do if the opportunity arises. Any completed count towards the forty. So far, I've done one.
  1. Get a family photo taken (Andy Law)
  2. Do a turn as a Boylesque (Lindsay)
  3. House sit (Gregor)
  4. Acro (Danielle)
  5. Spend a night in one of Renae's dresses in public (Donna)
  6. Travel 100m by pogo stick (Graham)
  7. Play a game of touch rugby (Neil)
  8. Cycle to work for a week (Andy Law)

 So, how am I doing?

Ignoring the long-term challenges, how am I doing on the 30 one-off challenges? I'm a bit over halfway through, so I should be at about 17 or so complete to be on pace for finishing my final challenge around my 40th birthday. And the completed challenge count is...

19!

Woo-hoo!

We're definitely hitting the more complex challenges, though, plus winter and Christmas are fast approaching. I've got a plan for a couple of the one-offs still to be done, but I'm not sure about the rest. We'll see what happens, I suppose, but I'm still determined to make it before I turn 40!

Right, I'm off to lift myself up and down repeatedly for no reason, then take the dog for a walk.  I'll get my 30 minutes today at least!

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