From the December ’18 review of my first 725 entries…
Strategies/Tactics:
- Consider short bursts like “sprint months” to start or restart good habits
- Name things dramatically, like The Path. Magic Bag, etc.
- Don’t take on too much!
Vital:
- It’s four things: sobriety, diet, exercise, and sleep
- Gotta do daily tracking
- Modest, constant improvement is better than yo-yoing. Be patient.
- Core motivation is the missing piece: what’s it all about/for?
- Repeating elements: motivation, bad weekends, sickness/recovery, backsliding and getting motivated to bounce back, busy brain, cyclical on/off mystery, work/volunteer stress, wondering why this isn’t working
- Set time aside to relax with intention: goofing off is okay, but do it mindfully
- My tracker is really great!
- Treat self-improvement like a for-credit course or job, not a fun option
- Check in in the morning, check out at night
- Use a checklist!
- Focus on small pleasures
- Leave lots of time for ADL in daily scheduling
- “Cheat days” don’t work for me
- Weekends are REALLY BAD and I need to figure that out
- Avoid turning regular things I should enjoy into YAGO
- “One Day at a Time” is a great model for long-term change
- I need to expect to be irritable and tired when losing weight
- Kill the bear!
- Don’t get too ambitious with exercise and injure myself
- Do small tasks immediately when possible
- Don’t make life tougher than it is
- Manage the cats
- Don’t take on too much. Leave space for fun and/or emergencies.
- Short inspirational phrases
- Caffeine’s fine. Don’t give up more that booze and crap food.
- Drink 2L of water per day.
- Forgive weakness on the road / on vacation. Treat breaks as breaks.
- Lean on your partner
- Exercise daily, even if it’s just a bit
- …even Walk Away the Pounds, or 10 minutes of spin, or whatnot
- Evening Me needs to be handled by Morning Me and Afternoon Me
- Ask myself if I’m taking on more than I need to, just because “somebody should.”
- I’m not a gardener and I’m not going to garden and I’m fine with that
- Take digital days off (Sundays?)
- Don’t get held hostage by booze. Do what you want to do.
- Set a big fitness goal (half-mara again?) to train for
- If you get up in the night, chill out.
- Reflect regularly on good fortune
- Nap at lunch at work when possible.
- PROJECT OF THE MONTH for 2019, plus ongoing banjo
- Friend time is necessary for both of us, even if we have to force it
- Listen to / watch comedy! Laughter is great.
- Set dedicated partner time
- Set dedicated me time
- 10-day challenges don’t work. “Sprint” months work sometimes.
- Exercise w/ Marisa on Saturday mornings
- Seek expertise with challenge areas. Read up on improvement.
- Re-investigate fasting (circadian?)
- “Wake up naturally” is bullcrap, use an alarm
- Salads are great! Eat them for lunch.
- Plan all food for the week on Sundays WITH RECIPES AND CALORIES
- “Church” didn’t work, but some sort of weekly couples thing might
- A terrible work environment/colleague fucked me up for about nine months
- Pack a Magic Bag every morning
Daily Journaling:
- Checklists (morning, evening)
- Big Three once a week
- Food logging (cals from LoseIt)
- Short entry a day without fail.
- Progress/feelings for day. One thing I feel gratitude about.
Technology:
- Social media for work use only
- Don’t argue online
- Take one day off electronics a week? Every two weeks?
- Canoe days in the summer
Work:
- Manage up – 15 minutes a day of reporting upward (EOD every day)
- 30 minutes of best/worst of week
Challenges:
- Boredom
- Weekends
- Vacations / staycations
- Houseguests or visiting
- Taking on too much
- Insomnia
- Cats (especially w/ mornings)
Exercise:
- Circuit training was hard as hell but worth it
- Make use of the rowing machine
- Set goals (half-mara for rowing)
- Running: mix runs and steps
- Arms/core every morning! Just a little is fine.
- Every single day, even just a little. Never none.
- With Marisa on Saturdays
Money:
- Stick to a budget w/ Marisa
- Don’t be afraid of money!
- Daily financial logging as checklist element
Morning Routine:
- no phone no phone no phone no phone
- get up
- get day’s clothes ready
- get some exercise clothes on
- go downstairs to 2nd floor (not kitchen!)
- drink a big glass of water
- exercise
- shower/weigh/track
- jerkpod
- feed cats
- prep for work, leave for work
Evening routine:
- Walk/cycle home
- Dinner
- Chore Button
- Check in with “Evening Me”
- Couple time / projects / whatnot
- Night Checklist
- Night Journal
- Bed
Food:
- Eat:
- …when I’m hungry (REALLY hungry)
- …real food, not sugar/fat/salt
- …what I make (and make what I eat)
- …without any shit in the house
- Plan weekend food before weekend
- Don’t drink coffee after noon
- Drink 2L of water every damn day