After many weeks of agonising thinking, debating and cruel mathematics, I have arrived at my list of achievements to aim for over the next year. I can start collecting achievements from the 00:01am UK time on the 1st October 2011. The challenge ends midnight on the 30th September 2012, because that’s when the world ends if you’re a mentalist.

I’m trying to ensure that most achievements are reachable but challenging, some perhaps too much so, but there are others that are easy in comparison to balance it out. I’ve also aimed specifically at the areas that need real help, elaborating on my initial posting here I’ve added below the full list of achievements along with an explanation of why I chose them. I know, it is rather kind of me, isn’t it?

My progress will be recorded here.

• Lose 1.5 Stone (Dead weight)
  This is the first of two weight targets for me to attain over the next twelve months. The reasoning behind this is obvious, I’m quite the chunker!
• Lose 3 stone (Run, Fat Boy, Run)
  This one should be a genuine challenge and probably the one I have to dedicate the most time to, this is the grindy achievement!
• Go on a date (Invitation to the pants party)
  Quite how I will achieve this is beyond me. Being naturally shy and uncomfortable around unknown people, let alone attractive females, this one will take me right out of my comfort zone. This is the using a special ability for the first time achievement.
• Go on three dates (Pick me, pick me!)
  Well its unlikely the first date in years will yield a win on the love front, so this is to force me to accept rejection, dust myself off and get back out there. If however it does and it progresses to a relationship then this is automatically achieved.
• Get a girlfriend (Got the girlie)
  The holy grail of my achievements second to losing a lot of weight and possibly classed as the collectibles achievement. A plan for going about this still alludes me…any advice gratefully accepted.
• Get a payrise (Cross my palm with silver)
  This is a bit out there as I don’t really have any control over it, if anything this is the unobtainable glitched achievement.
• Go on a course (Skills to pay the bills)
  It doesn’t have to be a degree or anything wild, but it will have to be more than buying a ‘learn x in twenty days’ book and reading the first chapter.
• Say yes to 5 social occasions in a row (Social butterfly)
  Personally this one is a tough one, mainly due to money and not liking having too many evenings/weekends away from my self-contained little world. I’m hoping this’ll force me to be more receptive to invites and make me open up socially. Or the RPG self-realisation achievement.
• Make spontaneous gesture towards family (Acquaintances Forgotten)
  I don’t pay my family enough dues. I am always the one receiving calls, never making them. I’m not intending to gush on them, but the odd nice act to show that I do actually care probably wouldn’t go amiss. This is the soppy hero achievement.
• Invite people to dinner & don’t kill them (Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?)
  I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone over for dinner in a grown up, socialising type way. Sure, a mate over to game and eat takeaway, but never a group of friends solely for the purpose of a nice cooked meal. I get the impression that someone in their 30′s should have done this by now. This is the crafting achievement.
• Go away for the weekend (Weekender)
  Hopefully I can do this with a girlfriend should it occur, but otherwise this is about getting away and roaming around somewhere like Bath looking at old stuff and having a nice meal in the evening before heading back to the hotel. This is the traveling a certain distance achievement.
• A month without booze (My body is like the Atacama)
  This one will be the most testing of me. I don’t think in the last 18 years I’ve gone more than a week without drink, often not more than a day, let alone a month. This is the frustrating achievement with zero fun attached to it.
• A month without fizzy drinks (No added sugar)
  I drink an inordinate amount of fizzy drinks. When my 20 bottles of coke gets delivered along with my groceries the driver sometimes wonders if I’m having a party. The look on their face when I reply “Nope” is priceless. Anyway, dropping between a litre (weekdays) or 4 a day (weekend) will please my teeth and my weight loss efforts immensely.
• Clean house (A tidy house is a tidy mind)
  I’m a messy bastard. There are before pictures and when the house is tidy and the achievement pops you’ll see them as well as the after. After moving out and living alone, no longer having to clean my room every Saturday for my pocket money, my mess was like a rebellion. That was 15yrs ago, its time to grow up. This would be the classic campaign progression achievement.
• DIY Fix (Make a house a home)
  I am the worst person in the world for anything handyman. Hell my CDT teacher wouldn’t touch, let alone sit on the chair I made for the GCSE coursework. There are odd jobs that need doing in the garden, the bathroom, etc – this is for getting those done myself.
• Decide your future career path (I immediately regret that decision)
  I’ve languished in indifference and floating between specific directions for too long. I have a choice, go analytics or go technical. Or I could completely change my career altogether, but I’ve finally found something I like so now I need to work out which route I want to take going forward in order to earn those juicy paychecks everyone else seems to have.
• Save £500 (More than a fistful)
  A challenge given my financial situation and rising costs across the board. This saved money is to be used well though, with it I can do a few of these achievements and that is the aim. This isn’t an achievement because I spend money, I’m a good saver, this is here because this money is not to be used for stuff like car insurance, car repairs, boiler service, etc – this is to be used for holidays, fun and gaining more achievements.
• Nurture a plant (Audrey III)
  I tend to kill stuff, this one is simple: keep my new house plant alive for the full year.
• Read 5 books (Input. More input!)
  I don’t read as much as I used to, mainly because I’ll find myself setting my phone alarm for the morning and then playing a phone game instead of reading myself to sleep. Bring back the old ways.
• A month without takeaway (The *last* of the petty cash)
  This one shouldn’t be too tough, but those 10pm walk-ins after a long day at work and a grueling game of squash make the urge for take away ever stronger. This is a test of will, but one not as taxing as going without fizz and booze.
• Perform a random act of kindness (One with the Karma Army)
  There isn’t enough of this in the world. I want to prove that the helpful British spirit isn’t dead just yet. This is the feel-good achievement.
• Strike up a conversation with a stranger (Hello. My name’s not Forrest)
  This one will be tricky, thank fuck we can always talk about the weather in England. This would be the easy achievement you get for reading the credits or suchlike.
• Watch a classic movie (Let’s do the timewarp)
  I’ve always been a little short-sighted when it comes to films, often dismissing black and white films as rubbish when in fact I’ve seen very few indeed. So I’m going to watch a classic film with interest and see if the magic of the silver screen gets to me.
• Visit a new country (To boldly go…)
  I’m not much of a globe trotter, the prospect of dodgy water, foreign language barriers, strange cultures and extreme weather puts me off. Time to overcome my stupid fears and worries and get out there.
• Meet an old friend (Friends to the end)
  I’ve regained contact via facebook or Twitter with a gaggle of old friends yet not met up with them yet. This needs to change, and it will. This is the gather a party or meet a campaign NPC achievement.
• Visit a local attraction (A local place for local people)
  How often do you visit local landmarks or attractions? Not regularly and I’m surrounded by great things to visit. Time to open myself up to a little local culture.
• Write a story (Pratchett what you preach)
  I’ve wanted to do this for a while but I’m awful at writing entire plots and endings. I do a mean intro though. I want to write something complete for once.
• Write a will (The rumours of my death have been greatly…oh)
  This has been on my to do list since I first bought a house. Over ten years later I really need to get this sorted. This is the achievement you keep putting off but is an easy win.
• Donate blood (Bleeding out)
  Since leaving a job a couple of years ago I’ve not been able to take time out to visit a hospital for blood or platelet donations. I have too much blood anyway, it always leaks out of my nose in summer, and I always feel better in my skin after a donation.