An Invitation...

A few years ago, I began a long journey of changing bad habits that I had formed.  I failed continuously and I haven’t completely ended that journey.  The habits I’m referring to involve some very basics that should have been common sense, or at I didn’t think I would form such bad habits.  They involved poor health choices, mostly through food and the lack of exercise; terrible financial decisions; paralyzing any chance at a career of my choice due to my fears and insecurities; and frankly, not making any right choices to live a great life.

I’m still working on trying to figure out why I made certain decisions.  I don’t know if they were psychological or random acts of foolish decisions.  I do know that I will have to find the root, but I will also focus on making positive changes.  I’ve already made positive changes but I’m still not there yet.

I no longer need to lose as much weight as I need to, I no longer need to pay as much debt as I used to, and I’m certainly becoming more confident.  I thought long about discussing these things online with an audience that may be anonymous or may be people that I know.  The truth is that I haven’t been honest with the people around me.  I haven’t had the courage to say that I lost myself and didn’t know where to begin to pick myself up and move forward.

That’s when I realized that it was impossible that there wasn’t a single person out there that perhaps went through or is going through something similar.  I was too afraid, embarrassed and perhaps proud to ask for help.  I felt that the choices I made were so absurd that only I could make such mistakes.  But I was wrong.  There are many people that have made similar choices, whether in a good or bad economy.

As I come to the end of my journey that has been private for the most part, I am going end it by documenting this process.  The main reason that I want to do this is to connect with others who are in a similar position or have completed a positive change in their life, especially changes involving bad habits.  I understand everyone is different and has a unique way to make changes in his or her life.  But many of us need motivation, and need a helping hand.

I’ve tried so many diets, healthy routines, financial plans, debt reduction plans, professional development plans, and the list can go on.  There are many plans and many will be effective for a number of people while others will not.  I’m not interested in all of the plans out there, there’s a good chance I’ve tried them.  In fact, the name 22nd Plan came as a random number because I feel I’ve tried twenty something different plans or programs out there.

The purpose here will be to focus on a support system and not the plans themselves.  From trying different things, most plans have similar rules and processes and many can end up with similar results.  The point here is not the plan, but rather a continuous dialogue of what works and what doesn’t.

The closest concept to a plan will be a timeline.  It took me about three years to get to where I am today, and I’m still not done.  Part of the problem has been that I’ve done things on the go, without any concrete timeline and only following instructions from various plans that I may end up breaking anyway.

I’ve decided to give myself a 22-week deadline, a random number that coincides with this website’s title.  There is no science or magic behind this number, in fact, I’m hoping that I can reach most of my goals before then, but I think I can realistically be in a different plan in about 22 weeks.

Here is my invitation to you.  If you have been through any form of positive change in your life, perhaps changing very stubborn but bad habits, I would love to hear from you.  If you’re going through this process, it will be wonderful if I can help you in any way I can.  I feel that I have a great support system in my life at the moment.  I would like to support you if you need it.

Each week, I will focus on different subjects and basically document what I am going through, the obstacles and successes.  I’ve learned a bit through my journey and I will try to teach as much as I can during this process.  Please note that I am also a student at the moment and not an expert.

I would like to also be able to document other’s journeys if possible.  To start, I would like to select about 20 people that are willing to work with me one-on-one online.  I will directly help you track your progress and make sure that the plans you have selected is working.  I may document your successful and challenges, anonymously if needed.

Through this process, I believe that we’ll be able to change a few of our lives for the better.  This probably sounds very optimistic but I am confident that something great will come out of this experience.

A little about myself, I’m a 24-year-old, work in the nonprofit industry and live in Los Angeles, California.  I will document gradually where I came from in health, finances and my working life.  I wasn’t in a great place in 2008 and a living hell escalated in 2009 as we lived through The Great Recession.  I’m not going to compare myself to anyone because I’ve seen people in worst position than myself, but if I was only comparing my life, this was my personal rock bottom.  There was a moment so dark during those days that I thought the worst thing to this rock bottom was ending in jail or dying for some reason.  I know, exaggeration, but it truly was mentality at the time.

Through this process, I also met many people in similar or worst positions than I was who had very little support in their own lives.  I’m now attempting to help people online in any way that I can.

If you are interested, please continue to visit this site.  I would also encourage you to sign-up for the newsletter below.  As the site picks-up speed, I will send important updates so you don’t miss anything.  I hope to see you soon around these quarters.

-Marvin Barrios
February 22, 2012
2:22 a.m. PST