Women are Crazy

Incredibly, the end of January is already approaching. 

Which is good for many reasons; the bleakest month of the year gone again, the dark nights becoming one or two minutes less dark each day, being one month closer to the return of The Great British Bake Off... etc, etc. 

But it is also the first real milestone in Project 9626. 

How realistic were the targets I set? Is it motivating to almost be competing against myself to get things done? Does it make relatively good reading to be yammering on about it every week or so?

Let's see.

Firstly, I have bossed the reading this month. 

Last time I posted on 9626 I had just started Book #2 - Gone Girl. I have now finished Book #2 - Gone Girl, and it was good. I wish I hadn't seen the film first, I think that took away some of the suspense but it was still interesting enough for me to read it in a few weeks.

I did not like the end of the film at all (AT ALL!), and whilst I didn't really like the end of the book, it at least ended in a better, more rounded way than the film did. It made relative sense. This is, of course, once the author, Gillian Flynn, decided she was more or less bored with the story and took the nearest exit going. 

Don't get me wrong, it is good. But I was left with the feeling that it could have been awesome. 

In any case, it has reminded me that women are invariably crazy. So thanks for that Gillian. 

Next up was Book #3 - Lock In. This is a story set in about 15 years time where people who are paralysed and 'locked in' to their bodies are able to live life through 'threeps' - basically like the 'I, Robot' umm, robots.

The story is a classic whodunit (well, classic except for the fact that half the characters are living through robots...) and is enjoyable. It'll be interesting to see in 15/20 years time whether the technology does exist for people to live outside of their bodies... hopefully not causing the chaos they do in this mind, but it's interesting to think about all the same. I'm sure there will be some high-tech, mega-rich company somewhere looking at it even now. 

So yeh, get me. On to Book #4 of 25 already. Which is 'Red Rising' - supposedly like the Hunger Games but set on Mars. 

I am so excited today. My super special, and probably overpriced winter running tights/leggings have arrived. This is great news because, let me tell you, running at 6pm on January nights is COLD. 

I have hit the 50 mile target for the month with a couple of runs left this week, so I'm getting some good miles in the bank to cover lesser months later in the year.

With just over 50 days until the Reading Half, I upped it last week to three runs a week including my longest run since September at eight and a bit miles which was not bad at all.

The more I run, the more convinced I am that it is all in your head. If you can get to a state where you're not thinking 'I bloody hate this' every step of the way then life becomes a lot easier. It's the days when I can't shut down my brain that it's hell. Like last night. Five miles felt rubbish because all I could think was 'I bloody hate this.' But generally I succeed in letting my mind drift to job stuff, football or wonderment at the lyrical genius of Taylor Swift.

If you can run three miles, you can run six and beyond. It is all in your head.

So overall, it's all a-ok so far on the running front. 

I've sent eight or nine job applications out and I can categorically say that the application process at 25, with three years 'real' working experience, is a damn sight easier than it was at 21 and fresh out of Uni. 

Back then, the endless questions that required essay length answers in order to try and separate you from the other hundreds/thousands applying used to take hours and be the biggest pain going. Now, all I have to do is send my CV and a cover letter and boom, job applied for. 

Not that I've had any responses yet, so perhaps my cover letter skills are lacking.

I am focusing primarily on brand management related jobs at the moment - Assistant Brand Manager and Junior Brand Manager roles seem to be the most prominent. The idea being a few years in one of these positions will then set me up well for a Brand Manager role (... and Project 1452, or something). 

I've always said I wouldn't apply for a job in London.

I lied.

I've applied to a number of jobs in London. 

So many of these type of roles are in the Capital. So it might be a case of manning up and dealing with two or three years of London madness which will hopefully set me up well for the future and the next job. 

We shall see. I am determined to make the right move and not just take the first opportunity that presents itself. It has to add up. And it has to make me want to get up in the morning. That's the ambition anyway.

In terms of the end the year in Cape Town goal, I would love to be able to say I have booked flights, but because it is so far away I literally can't! So that's bubbling under in the background.

So January is pretty much done, and so far it is going well.

Now I can answer my questions from the start of this entry...

1. How realistic were the targets I set? Probably pretty realistic - there will be some months I don't run nigh on 50+ miles and read three books so it'll level out. We'll see.
2. Is it motivating to almost be competing against myself to get things done? God yes.
3. Does it make relatively good reading to be yammering on about it every week or so? It sounds good in my head.

Peace out.