During this off season I have been doing Mike Conley’s keeping the ball on a string workout which you can see on youtube everyday.
I also have been doing Steve Nash’s 20 minute shootingevery other day.

I am setting myself up to be the starting point guard with the old one moving out of town. Everyone on the team can see that my game has changed.

MY SECOND GOAL WAS TO TRIM DOWN. I WAS 240LBS IN JAN NOW I’M AT 219LBS. I’VE GOT ABOUT 10-15 MORE POUNDS TO GO BUT WITH DETERMINATION AND STICKING TO THE GOALS I’VE SET FOR MYSELF I BELIEVE I WILL COMPLETE THE TASK AT HAND.

1. “1 card swipe per day” rule: Budgets have never really worked for me, some days you just need more than other days! so I incorperated this new rule into my routine of 2009. I currently have 3 debit cards and 1 credit card. Each is only allowed to be used once per day. That prevents me from spending excess unnecessarily. I’m forced to consider do I want to buy something now and use up this swipe for the day, or should I save it for something I may need a little later in the day. And when I do this, sometimes I don’t end up needing to use it all day! It has worked wonders so far!

2. “Last one on the rack” rule: Ok, this one was kind of hard for me to follow at first because it seems like I can never find stuff in my size anyway. But the way it works is, if I see something that I want (not need, there’s a difference), like a pair of shoes or a jacket or something, I will not buy it unless it is the absolute last one that they have in my size. If there is more than one available in my size, I try to tell myself that it will be there the next time I visit the store, or that if it isn’t there next time, then it wasn’t meant to be, lol! It is really difficult though, but this rule does prevent alot of impulse shopping. And sometimes, it saves me money. For example, if I don’t buy something as soon as it hits the stores, and try to wait until the supply drops, alot of times it goes on sale for cheaper than when it originally came out. So thats a plus.

3. “Never dip into the savings” rule: This last one should be pretty simple, but it is alot easier said than done. I got my bank accounts set up so that money automatically rolls from my checking into my savings after certain transactions. For 2009, I told myself that I would NOT touch that money! I’ve slipped up a few times, bcuz from time to time, there would be an emergency that I had to take care of, but I have mainly been successful with it because for the past 6 months, even if I did dip into it, I have always put it back.

These were just a few good ways I’ve found to aid my resolution to stretch a dollar! Lets see how much longer I can keep this up!

This year I wanted to get serious about school and try to get my life in order. I enrolled in the local University in DC and later transferred to Clark Atlanta University. I feel like I’m living out my goals.

There’s still work to do; I can always get better and the only way is to work. I don’t spend as much time doing music as I probably should, but music is me, so I breathe it.

I hope to just reach a lot of people with it..that’s probably next resolution.