Welcome to My Blog-Personal Development Quest

What does a fat man with no money know about personal development?

I have been reading up on personal development (pd) for some time and know that it is time to put that knowledge to use. I figure I have one thing to offer readers that most professionals of personal development can't. The opportunity to witness the effectiveness of personal development principles in action. That is, most professionals have already achieved success and therefore it can be quite intimidating to compare your success to someone that has either already climbed from the trenches or has never been in them.

When I read personal development books and articles written by the latest and greatest guru, I have one question that is usually left unanswered, "What was their life really like before they made the claim that they were successful?" How many of them lived the first 30 years of their life overweight?

How many of them actually dug a hole so deep they felt they couldn't get out? I have lived with obesity for 30 years. I have placed myself in debt and barely make ends meet.

So what makes me qualified to start a personal development site? Nothing...yet. Over the next year I intend to earn that qualification. I will be your pd guinea pig. At this point, I intend only to use ideas already established and readily available.

Four major goals
I am going to focus on four areas of my life that I want to improve. I will break up the actual goals into separate posts as the details will make this first post overly lengthy.

The first is my health. I currently weigh around 275 pounds. I get winded climbing the stairs to go to bed or carrying my 10 month old son to his room. I suffer from constant headaches, backaches, leg cramps, and--worst of all--anxiety attacks. I am certain that all of these physical problems are a direct result of obesity. I also fear that I will not be able to introduce my son to sports, camping and other physical activities if I continue to let my health slide. I feel that if I can achieve this goal it will make all other goals easier to achieve therefore I will make this goal my priority and the setting of this goal will be the subject of my next post.

Next is my finances. I am living paycheck to paycheck. I often have to choose which bills I need to skip for the month and which ones I can pay. I want to retire before I am 65. I would like to do this at the age of fifty. This gives me 20 years to bank enough money to support my wife and I for another 30 years. I also have a 13 year old step-daughter and a ten month old son that will need money for college. I must put a savings plan into action immediately.

Third, I intend to complete a novel. When I imagine what I want for my life five years from now, I picture myself working from home in my office while my son is at school, then when he gets home we have the day to play and explore.

Finally, I want to improve my spiritual life. I spent four years in college wrestling with my faith. In the end, my belief in God prevailed, but I rarely attend church or live my life as a Christian should.

I will develop a detailed goal for each of these areas of my life mentioned above during the next four posts. Each, goal will not only be written with measurable details, but I have placed my name and these goals out for all the world to see. My success or failure will not be hidden. Should I cease to post blogs regularly it can only be assumed that I did not meet my goals with success and I am too embarrassed to admit it. Should I succeed, then I will have a documented success that hopefully will be an inspiration to anyone looking to re-create themselves.