1. You must regularly work out, starting today. Our understanding is that your office building has an available gym, as does your apartment complex (the latter of which happens to be open twenty-four (24) hours a day and is a mere two (2) minute walk from your front door). You must, no less than three (3) times a week, visit the gym and enthusiastically - or at least with as much enthusiasm as you can muster for gym time - work out until you’ve lost those extra pounds you’ve been wanting to jettison for the past several years. After the weight has been eighty-sixed (86’ed), you may reduce your workout times so that you’re merely maintaining that ideal weight and fitness level.

2. You must write and self-publish at least one (1) novel during the 2015 calendar year. You and Jeff have spent considerable time researching the medium and have scraped together enough financing to make it a serious endeavor by employing professional artwork, editing services, etc. Over the past several years you’ve grown disillusioned with an industry where writers so often need to wait for someone else’s approval, and you’ve at times let it discourage you from writing at all. This will be the year where you begin the process of putting your work out there so its potential and success is determined by readers rather than agents and executives.

3. You must develop an author website and begin building a web presence for yourself before the end of 2015. This includes securing your own domain and paying someone to design a professional-quality website (unless you feel up to the challenge yourself). You must maintain this presence by blogging, tweeting, and promoting your work.