Saturday, October 26th, 2024
I have reached the ripe old age of 53, and finally I’m going to deal with some things I haven’t paid attention to for 5 decades. In particular, self-discipline is an area where I want to improve. So, for starters, here are some key metrics in areas of my life that I expect to change over the coming years. Obviously, I’ll have no control over the first three but I’ve included them for some context.
- Sex: Male
- Age: 53
- Height: 5 foot 11 inches
- Weight: 211.8 pounds
- Flexibility: fingertips about 3 inches from toes in front bend
- Pull-ups: 8
- Hand-stand push-ups: 1 (on floor)
- Bar Dips:
- Push-ups: 37
- 1-legged squats: 4 (good form on right, only 90-degree bend on left)
- Spoken Languages: English and French
- Written languages: English and French
- Chess rating: approx. 1100 (according to Chess.com)
- Employment status: Employed
- Side hustle income: 0% of salary
Reading
I have begun listening to what some would call a “self help” book, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, on Audible and my goal is to continue reading these types of books and reporting on my observations here. One thing I’ve taken away from chapter 2: “How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)“, is that habits that are based on goals, generally don’t last whereas habits based on beliefs (the type of person we believe ourselves to be) do. Therefore, rather than focus on the desired outcome (the goal), we will have better results if we focus on the process (becoming the kind of person who gets the results we want).
Fitness
I will be using the “grease the groove” technique to increase my reps in the exercises I listed above and working daily on my flexibility.
Language
I am using Duolingo to learn Spanish as my third language (I currently speak, read, and write English and French)
Chess
I am learning how to play chess at a level that would make me comfortable to sit down with any stranger at a board and have a friendly match without fear of being humiliated.
Side Hustle
And this blog will be one of my side hustles.
Habits
I am also breaking some bad habits. Until this week, I would go to bed late, sometimes after midnight and waste time playing mobile games and scrolling social media.
- As of October 26th, I am going to bed as soon as possible after washing supper dishes and putting my stepson to bed.
- Also, I am avoiding mobile games except for educational ones like chess and geography quizzes, etc.
- And finally, I am also making a conscious effort not to doom scroll social media. I will look up posts that are shared with me. And I will use social media to support my side hustle. But I won’t use it for entertainment.