Darren Singleton TV

Following my last post about focus, I surely haven’t gained that much of it back.  The 365 Days of Blogging Project has been put on hold whilst I spend some time further planning and developing the idea.

I would like to extend an invite to all subscribers here at the blog to visit my new video blog Darren Singleton .TV, it is through this new blog that I will be discussing my efforts towards completing my very own Bucket List.

a Bucket List is . . . a wish list of things to do before they “kick the bucket” – Wikipedia

By working to achieve every item I place on this list, I am hoping to enhance my life and experience many things I would have otherwise continued to put to one side until old age prevented it from being possible.

My first completed item on my bucket list was starting a retirement fund and I am also making progress with around 5 or 6 of the others at the moment.

If you have any suggestions for additions to my list I would love to hear from you and I would also like to encourage you to start your own list – I’m only a week into this project but I am having fun with it and I will be updating the blog with new videos each week to keep everyone informed of my progress.

Focus

Since returning from holiday on the 16th of May my focus on my online ventures has been all over the place.  I haven’t been updating any of my various blogs/websites and I have been sporadically checking Twitter and interacting with a couple of people via email.

Since starting this blog on June 26th 2008, I have been losing and regaining focus on this and my other projects all of the time.  My commitment has been awful and I really want to start making something of the time I have been spending online trying to build my reputation.

Blog Statistics

As this blog is approaching it’s two year birthday I am looking back at what has been achieved.

• 105 Posts
• 368 Comments
• 7,090 Visits
• 15,185 Pageviews
• 00:02:08 Avg. Time on Site

Looking at the stats above I am very disappointed in myself.  It is obvious that the last two years haven’t shown an ounce of success for me in blogging.

Time for Focus

If I am going to succeed in blogging, I need to set my mind on a particular task.  Have clearly defined goals in mind and work towards them at full force.  On the anniversary of DarrenSingleton.com (June 26th), a new blog will be launched – 365 Days of Blogging.  I am giving myself a full year to develop a blog and achieve much more than this blog has ever done.

The updates won’t be as sporadic, aiming for a minimum of four new posts a week.  Leading up to the start date I will be preparing the blog template and getting content prepared for the launch.

This is a personal project, but I will need your help.  If anybody would be willing to Tweet out to their followers or post a blog post about this project it would be greatly appreciated and I’m sure we could work out some form of compensation.

The End

By Wednesday 25th May 2011 I am hoping to have a mildly successful blog that puts the above statistics to shame.  I will ensure that the first post on 365daysofblogging.com outlines these goals in more detail and I will also update here as a reminder of the project starting.

Thanks for your support here on DarrenSingleton.com – this isn’t the end of this blog, just the start of something new and exciting for me.

Personal Challenges #1

One way of improving oneself is to set personal challenges and goals.  At the start of 2009 all of the goals I set were related to this blog. 

My personal fitness levels have declined greatly over the past few years and I am feeling it more than every today.  Having spent yesterday out in the country with a group of friends and a variety of sports equipment I feel like every muscle in my body wants to seize up and never work again.  It’s my 23rd birthday in six days and I hope that over the coming year I can improve my fitness levels to a point where I am much happier running about and not to eat as many takeaways, crisps and fizzy drinks!

The first of my challenges originates from the Internet, in the form of the One Hundred Pushups Challenge.  The initial test invites you to see how many pushups you can do, this then starts you off at a difficulty level suited to your ability.  I managed a whole 5! That’s not a typo! FIVE pushups.  The last time I checked I was roughly 174lbs and I am around 6’2” (a BMI score of 22.3).  I am at an OK weight for my height, yet it is obvious that I am incredibly unfit and not nearly as strong as I should be.

I performed this test on Saturday and then went on to perform day #1 of the 100 Pushup Challenge yesterday.  This required me to perform five sets of pushups with 60 seconds rest between each one.  The sets involved 2, 3, 2, 2 and then a minimum of 3.  Each of these was performed correctly and I even managed to complete 6 pushups for the last set.

Tomorrow will be my next test – I will be required to perform 3, 4, 2, 3 and then a minimum of 4 pushups with a 90 second rest between each set.  As long as my arms start to feel better in the morning I should be able to perform these without any problems.

Week three is where it seems to get a bit more difficult – but I shall tackle that once I get there.  Over the coming weeks I am going to post updates to this blog on further challenges that I set myself along with a progress report on this challenge.