Baby This is Ignition! - Ampers&d's BASE 2.1 Journal

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 6,

23,800 words. Now that I've outlined the first book (of 6) of my work, it's easier to fill in the gaps. However, I want to make sure that I create a good first draft. I haven't even finished my first chapter, but this word count includes a part that I'll use later.

My neck was stiff these past 4 days, due to an intense BJJ session; but I was able to do more BJJ today. I can amp it up tomorrow.

I seem to keep my mouth shut at many times where I normally would've opened it; usually, it would be to make a comment about someone behind their back.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 7,

Today was a busy work day, but an 'off' day after work ended. My brain isn't working optimally; I've had a sub-par Jiu-Jitsu performance, I wasn't able to learn all that many German words, I didn't get to practice guitar, and I couldn't write a lot (400 words today) My own coach stumped me in a quick-fire debate; I'm writing a book on that topic, so I should know what I'm doing.

I think it is in part due to all the takedowns I had to deal with during the lesson; very quick and violent throws that are impactful. I think it rocked me a head a couple too many times.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 8,

I'm becoming very mindful about money; I've realized that I keep 5/7ths my salary post-tax, so I'm making sure that I don't spend too much money on little purchases that add up. I've noticed that the small 'inconvenience buy' is about 30$ - you need to put gas in your car, you have to change the oil, you need a haircut, I have to buy a music book, I want to buy some video games, I go out for supper - it all averages to about 30 dollars a purchase. This past week, I've already made 4 of these purchases.

I have a very basic list of expenditures on Excel that I track and calculate. I'm already in the red for this month, due to the fact that I spent 5K in one day to pay off all my student loans and other debts. Otherwise, I've spent around 600 dollars, which isn't too bad. I plan to use December to pay some Christmas gifts, and to take a trip to a metropolitan area after Christmas. This might amount to 800$ total.

It's very strange how my spending feels exactly the same as it was before getting this high-paying job, except that the numbers are larger. I suspected that this would happen, so I decided to stay on high alert.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 9,

I got to 25K words with my book. It's taking longer to rack up the words because I had already written the structure, and so many of the words I want to use are already written.

I've been training BJJ whenever I can; a neck crank put me out of the game for about 4 days, but I've been becoming better. As a whitebelt with no stripes, I can hang in there will blue belts, including 4 stripe blue belts. I can even get submissions from time to time.

My German vocab is improving; I am going to start reading and listening a lot more in a couple of months, so that I can apply these new words in context.

I also bought 5 games on the Steam sale; my laptop can run a 2010 game on Ultra Settings, so I'm relieved that I bought a decent machine.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 12,

I haven't really written much in the past 3 days. However, I have been doing some research, and have been researching researchers who can fact-check the statements that need proof.

Otherwise, I've been repping out BJJ at class. I've also been working at my voice.

I need to begin practicing my X-Mas Songs.

EDIT: I'll be honest; I don't know why I'm not very motivated about very much; I drum up enough to get my ass out of my seat, and I can do the action, but I want to be on fire!

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 13,

Wow! The vocal course is actually paying off; the middle voice is becoming easier and smoother like he promised. While passing through the passage, the connected voice is naturally becoming louder, but it is not by any means connected enough to belt. That might take a few more months.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 15,

Well; I need to learn a striking sport, yesterday. This night, at a bar, my drunk friend friend pissed off the wrong guy, and got into a fight with a bigger dude. He was likely roiding; he threw a headbutt and a punch, and chased my friend around, called him "n****r" more than once. I let him walk past me, worried that he would turn his attention to me. I know how to handle white belts in BJJ, but not an angry, jacked guy who doesn't follow BJJ rules. I will probably upgrade my gym membership from BJJ to MMA (BJJ+Muy Thai). I'll need to figure out how to fit these two into my schedule; I'll likely go in during the weekend days too, taking days off for recovery.

[AbundanceCH]

Stage 3, Day 15,

Well; I need to learn a striking sport, yesterday. This night, at a bar, my drunk friend friend pissed off the wrong guy, and got into a fight with a bigger dude. He was likely roiding; he threw a headbutt and a punch, and chased my friend around, called him "n****r" more than once. I let him walk past me, worried that he would turn his attention to me. I know how to handle white belts in BJJ, but not an angry, jacked guy who doesn't follow BJJ rules. I will probably upgrade my gym membership from BJJ to MMA (BJJ+Muy Thai). I'll need to figure out how to fit these two into my schedule; I'll likely go in during the weekend days too, taking days off for recovery.

Well either do that or just get better friends and hang out in better environments.

[Jakeb203]

Stage 3, Day 15,

Well; I need to learn a striking sport, yesterday. This night, at a bar, my drunk friend friend pissed off the wrong guy, and got into a fight with a bigger dude. He was likely roiding; he threw a headbutt and a punch, and chased my friend around, called him "n****r" more than once. I let him walk past me, worried that he would turn his attention to me. I know how to handle white belts in BJJ, but not an angry, jacked guy who doesn't follow BJJ rules. I will probably upgrade my gym membership from BJJ to MMA (BJJ+Muy Thai). I'll need to figure out how to fit these two into my schedule; I'll likely go in during the weekend days too, taking days off for recovery.

Well in striking port like Boxing / Muay Thai, weight divisions are set for a reason. A lightweight will most likely have a hard time defeating a light-heavyweight, given that the strength, endurance, and reach are all different. Unless if you have extremely long reach and technically savvy at the same time, trying to have real fight with larger opponents could be potentially dangerous as they could pose more threats than you think.

If you are really into self-defense though, I recommend doing Krav Maga over learning Muay Thai / Boxing. It will give you some advantage over real street fight as it's what the sport is known for.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 17 (am),

I've upgraded from BJJ to MMA, so I'll be learning both arts and being able to handle myself in a future fight. I'll be going quite often, but this means that I'll be splitting my attention; I was going to BJJ 5-6 times a week, so maybe 3 and 3.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 17 (pm),

I feel as though I have generally less motivation as I've had before; I don't care to read books, I don't even really want to succeed. It's just that I'm running BASE at the moment. However, it doesn't feel as though I am. Hopefully, this is a form of resistance, and that I will experience a big windfall in the next couple of days.

I've gotten past 30.5K words today; I get a mild form of enjoyment from writing, but it takes some motivation to get writing.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 18,

32.1K words as of tonight; I've realized that I can release one book at a time (it's a collection of 6 books). I can release the first chapter for free on a Kindle book in Amazon, use that to funnel new readers to an email list in exchange for more chapters, then sell the completed book to people in the funnel. This should be a useful way of generating feedback loops by way of money, signups and others.

I did a one-arm BJJ roll with another purple belt who wanted to only use one arm himself. We had a great roll, and it's a wonderful.

It's funny how the mainstream media is pushing the idea of "fake news". Like what? their candidate having a 99% chance of winning?

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 20,

I'm relieved by the fact that I can leave my thread alone for a couple of days, and have it buried to the third page; it means that people are engaged with this thread. Let's make Shannon a millionaire!

First Muy Thai lesson; it went alright. I seem to be able to get 50% of the material to stick in the moment, but there's something that's off; my feet, my twist, etc.

My voice lesson was awesome; I managed to hit an F4 in full voice, which I had never done before. Last week I hit E4 in full voice. This is all awesome. Between my classical (opera) voice classes, I practice Ken Tamplin.

Chapter 2 of my book is taking a new direction, one that I hadn't anticipated.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 3, Day 22,

I'm disappointed in my progress so far. I'm halfway through the program, but I've not made any progress towards financial independence. I won't kid myself; I got a new job, a small pay increase, and I'm learning useful skills that I'll need soon. However, my writing has been spotty, I have very little motivation to make websites or look for clients, I'm not shopping for new clothes, I'm not being social. I don't know what's going on; it's not depression, but it's just indifference, which is where I was when I began this program.