No Day Without A Thought

There are many people with the best intention to set up goals for themselves. The problem most often is that the goal is not well defined.

'I want to loose weight', 'I want to do more sports', 'I want to earn more money', 'I want to get better at ...'

Those goals are all very admirable, usually won't bring you to where you want to go though.

If they are lucky, they have someone who asks them: 'How much do you want to loose?' or 'What's your goal, how much do you want to earn?'

That already helps quite a lot. What in my perspective helps the most is habits. By creating habits you will set the base for achieving whatever you want. When you manage to create a habit to do sports - let's say - 4x per week and eat healthier, chances are that you will achieve your goal to loose weight easily. If you look around in a room and spot the fit people, it comes from a habit of going to sports x times per week. It's not that they have more time, they follow their sports routine religiously.

When you want to be better in finance, spend 30min per day reading finance articles and I am sure you will gain enough knowledge to take on the next challenge, being investing or trading. Obviously in this case it helps to be specific about the topics you are reading.

Habits is what will bring you to the finish line (I don't think there is one, but that is another story). Clarify what and why you want to achieve, then think of a habit to follow this road and make sure to create this habit.

This one is specifically stolen from Paul Graham.

Since, I exclusively read non-fiction, I always think that I should be mentally super responsive and focused when reading a book, otherwise I can't absorb every word and thought of the book. Same applies to seemingly important articles.

That hasn't changed 100%, but I am reading more than before.

He basically said that the only thing that matters is that you read. You usually only take 2-5 things with you from reading a book. And that is ok. As with making decisions, your brain is not designed to handle so much overload. And while you 'only' (your vocabulary) remember some main points, your brain still gets stimulated the whole time and the perspective of others will influence how you see the world.

So, while you might forgot more than you take away from reading something, you have still read it and your brain expanded a bit. It wasn't enough yet to brake the wall down, but you did the first step. The next time a similar information comes to that area of your brain, the first path is already paved and it is easier to stick. And if it doesn't stick this time, it will the other time. And if it never sticks, it probably isn't that important to you.

Another angle how to view it: have you ever met a successful person who doesn't read extensively? Probably not.

I'm going to bed and finish my 10 pages before sleeping. (btw. atm reading: 'What got you here won't bring you there')

Have you ever found yourself procrastinating?

Chances are high that you have. And that is not a problem itself. Depends on how often that happens and more importantly, why it happens.

This post is supposed to be just a short description of a technique I use to make the step and actual start doing stuff. Let me give you a damn silly personal example I encountered.

When you travel South East Asia, you might notice that 'not every' shower comes with warm water. So, I found myself not only once standing in front of the water coming out of the shower head trying to make my non existing magic work to make it hotter. Obviously that didn't happen. Thus, I ended up standing there for a couple of moments hoping that it won't actually be that cold. It always was.

After many failed attempts, I thought about what other options I have. I didn't come across one. Next, what are actions I can take here? Well, you can go under that water and shower. All you have to do is one step. All you have to do is one step and everything afterwards will happen anyways, whether you like it or not.

There were just no more responsibilities I could take over. When I would make the step, the water would hit my skin and I would get a short shock before my body adapts to the situation - and that will happen automatically, again without any action/responsibility of me. The responsibility part is important. The rest is not on you, or at least not what you have to think about and be overwhelmed by, so you actually start procrastinating again because you freeze by the challenge in front of you.

This is an approach I took over to many other situations. For example running. I have a hard time going for a run while already thinking about the whole time I have to run, about being 'far' away from home and having to run back, about how exhausting it will be and so forth.

Instead, when I focus my mind on just getting started. Just getting on my clothes, shoes and go outside of the house, everything else will follow.

When I have a hard task to fulfill, it's not about focusing on the time, effort and mental or physical energy it might/will evolve, but only about focusing on how you can get started with it. Every other step will fall in place, as soon as the actual process is started. Just take the first step, that's all you have to do.

And sooner than you think, you will be finished. Ok, probably not, but you will have eventually done what you wanted to do and that is great!

Go out. Conquer!

Hallelujah - 00.30am and I am just coming home from the gym. 2nd time within 1.5 weeks.

Yesterday, I finished my 3rd run in the last 1.5 weeks.

Additionally, I had a yoga session last week and am sure planning on another one this week; plus, take the bike everyday which leads to approx. 45 minutes per day.

This might all sound like I am living a sporty life to you. And yes, this might be the case. Still, before that I wasn't running for 3 weeks and only had a fitness workout 2x/week. 

What's wrong with this guy, the sounds still totally ok and as a reasonable amount of sports. Potentially, I would agree. Where I am coming from is that I played soccer all my life. Meaning, since the age of seven, three weekly soccer sessions were standard. Since then I also did take the bike to school and every spare time activity. By the age of 17 I also started to go to the gym 2-3x/week and sometimes an additional run.

After 24, this changed a bit, but I managed to keep a steady workout schedule with running, gym and soccer. Other sports like ice hockey in winter, beach volleyball or swimming in summer were way too irregular, as that I could take them into account and that's fine. Since autumn last year I focus more on nutrition, sports and adjust other areas of my life to not contradict my focus - for example not going out that much anymore to make sure I can do sports the next day.

An interesting additional information would be that I ran a 25km race on May 10. Went to a wedding on May 16 with my new tailored suit. Everything fine. Two days ago, as I did put on the suit again, things got tight. (I was sick and couldn't really do sports for 2-3 weeks.) So, I also gain weight that f* easily, as soon as I stop doing sports.

But I lost track. Main part of this blog post is that sports is indeed my dope. Not only for my body, even more important is the effect on my mind. Granted, the fitter the body, the fitter the mind. Seems like my mind needs quite a fit body to actual perform, as I feel super sensitive about it and realized now again that when I am back on doing sports daily, everything is so much more in my control and I see things clearer, can prioritize better.

Doing sports is also the tipping point for my nutrition, not the other way around. Meaning, when I do more sports, I feel motivated to actually eat healthier, as I feel fit. When I eat healthier though that triggers no upside in terms of my sport behavior.

By different experiences (aging, life experiences, yoga, meditation, writing, ...) you get to know yourself better and know what you need/what works for you/what you should focus on and include in your life. Sports is for me a driving force I can't function without. That's why I make this a daily priority (6x, 1 day of the week is rest) For ex: every Wednesday lunch is blocked for yoga. If you ask me for lunch that day, not going to happen. 2x per week is gym. Which doesn't happen on following days, but is followed by one of my two runs, ideally not yoga. On the weekend there is one rest day and on the other day whatever I feel like. During the week it can also happen that I replace gym by bouldering or swimming, but I know that I need a balance for endurance, power and flexibility/mind.

Ah, and now I am getting tired. Perfect timing. Btw. when you start to do more sports and think you need less sleep because of sports. Think again. At least I need more sports when working out, as the body needs to rest to fill the tank of energy again.

Which is a good thing anyway from my perspective. So, put on your shoes and go outside!