I have a lot going on in my home today. A visitor is staying over for a couple days. While he’s here, we’ll host a dinner party for more people than we can seat this evening. I had a friend invite me over for supper this coming Wednesday evening. And my beloved wife would like to enroll us in Salsa classes every Tuesday evening. Then Friday is Family Night. Don’t get me wrong. I love my family and friends and I enjoy my time with them. But what I’m trying to say is that finding just a single evening per week where I am not booked for some sort of activity that prevents me from focusing on my side-hustle is a real challenge.
One of the things I will have to struggle against in order to take control of my life is my social calendar. While I enjoy connecting with friends and loved ones, it will be hard to be husband, father, full-time employee, socialite, and successful entrepreneur.
So, I will have to fight for this optimization of my life.
Self-discipline is the ability to pursue what you think is right despite temptations to do otherwise.
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.
