The weeks are going fast, aren't they? This check-in almost got away from me. At least they're starting to get lighter, warmer, and generally more welcoming. I'm sure those of you with exercise goals will be thankful for this. So how have we all been doing in our pursuit for personal improvement?
Bonus Question: How do you feel when you realise you've failed to pursue a specific goal?
The document of compiled goals can be seen here. Feel free to add yourself if you have not yet done so. If you didn't participate in the past thread(s), that's okay too. You can also join in whenever you like, so go ahead.
Shoutouts, let me know if you wish to be adder or removed: nowaypablo, ghostoffuffle, kleinbl00, thundara, veen, OftenBen, lil, thenewgreen, swedishbadgergirl, doesntgolf, blackbootz, Cumol ,ButterflyEffect, kingmudsy
Just a quick note to all the people who feel like they aren't making enough progress, or feel stalled, or feel like they're failing: Be gentle with yourself. Dust yourself off and try again. Just because you failed the first time, or the first 300 times doesn't mean you should give up on reaching your goals of self-improvement. hugs to all.
I just got the letter this afternoon that I was accepted into the Raikes program! I've brought it up from time to time, but just in case; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_S._Raikes_School. I'm over the moon, this is huge for me. With it comes free housing for four years, a textbook stipend, and a full ride for tuition. Hopefully I will have vanquished most of my debt. Oh, I'm also getting my wisdom teeth removed next monday, so that's a lot of fun. My girlfriend will help take care of me for the week, since we both have it off for spring break.
The imposter syndrome only escalates as you go upward in education. Maybe relevant quote from DFW at the grocery store?Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, afraid, always on the verge of being found out.
Let me add: This, I submit, is the freedom of a real education, of learning how to be well-adjusted. You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't. You get to decide what to worship.
DFW nails it in this commencement address. We all still have to decide what to worship, if anything. Sounds like an "Ask Hubski" -- for some point.
Thanks rezzeJ -- this is a good thing. I have a lot of work to do, but the goals project did get me to do many of the things I wanted to do for Jan/Feb. Now I have to get motivated for March - August. Meanwhile, Could you delete one of me from the shoutout list.How do you feel when you realize you've failed to pursue a specific goal?
When I fail to achieve a goal, I know that I haven't been serious about either the goal or the process. -- usually the process.
I skipped the last check-in because I smoked the night before and if I didn't check-in then it never happened, right? I find myself in a similar situation with this check-in. As I'm sure all smokers can attest, the devil is the pleasure of a cigarette after a drink. My previous success with smoking cessation was because of the structure and environment I was in, and now that that's gone, I find myself giving in to the temptation more often. But also, because it's way, way less of an occurrence (I went from a pack a night to now just a few cigarettes and only when I go out) there's way less of a gut-level concern for my health. And that concern was what overwhelmingly served as motivation for quitting. So does this mean that I will now not smoke? Sober me thinks it's a really good idea to quit, and can't even fathom the appeal, but even-one-drink me wants one and thinks a cigarette won't kill him. I think though that since I'm gearing up for a similar change in structure and environment, this issue will resolve itself. I'm very happy with my follow through on this one. I have found that it is much easier to be motivated to exercise if you have a more specific goal than just fitness: that goal being to compete on American Ninja Warrior. Also -- and can I be self-indulgent? I know it's bad manners but I feel it's sort of appropriate on this thread -- I have really started to like checking myself out in the mirror. I know deep-down that it's bad that I enjoy it so much, for the fact that I don't want my esteem to be based on something as superficial as my abs, but I'm elated with what I see because my girl be 'miring. My financial situation is out of whack, not because I'm poor (although I am), but because I'm transitioning from volunteering full-time and living off some savings to working and making money again (yay!). For some reason, this is my excuse for not tracking my spending. Which, I have learned, is one of the most important steps to financial security, if not the most fundamental. I hope to amend this within the fortnight. This goal has stalled somewhat. I used to keep track of everything with an app that was essentially like a daily checklist and a calendar to show your streaks of progress. But then the app maker completely switched priorities and is now marketing it is as a coaching app, rebranding and even renaming it. So now I have to find another app that let's me do that sort of thing. The good thing is that one google search in the midst of making this post reveals a ton of similar apps, so this should be a success story next check-in. • Smoking cessation
• Regular exercise
• Keep track of expenses with You Need A Budget (YNAB)
• Keep a track of daily habits (Read. Write. Exercise. Brush. Floss.)
A long long time ago tng posted a great NPR article about why smoking and drinking go hand in hand. I'll try to find it when I'm not on mobile. It was one of the first really good discussions I was in that I remember on Hubski - that wasn't deeply rooted in philosophy, as far as I recall. thenewgreen remember that post?
Hmmm, I vaguely remember the post but I absolutely know the experience.
I think I found it! Posted, will read shortly. edit: maybe not. You're not in the comments.
- Move out of LA I am so. Fucking. Sick. of commercial real estate. - Rebuild wife's business in another market ZOMG. Die brokers die. - Learn WWise & FMod Have not forgotten WWise. Have not touched FMod. - Add another industry to roster A NYT Bestselling author has informed me that my book could be "Gaiman-big." A NYT Bestselling editor has informed me that my book is "really promising." I have also been told that I need to knock it down by a third. But I have also been informed that Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel was trimmed down from 600,000 words to 220,000 so no real sweat, right? Which doesn't much matter as I'm mostly getting good at satisfying the peculiar, sporadic and ill-timed requests of commercial real estate brokers. - Log into MyFitnessPal every goddamn day I like the easy ones.
That's really exciting. What do you think of these high words from high places?A NYT Bestselling author has informed me that my book could be "Gaiman-big." A NYT Bestselling editor has informed me that my book is "really promising." I have also been told that I need to knock it down by a third. But I have also been informed that Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel was trimmed down from 600,000 words to 220,000 so no real sweat, right?
"Hollywood's the only town where you can die of encouragement." - Pauline Kiel Turns out that isn't entirely true. I find that promises are cheap. You can always find fans of your writing. Buyers for your writing? Another matter entirely. I've had between 4 and 5 figures thrown at my writing in the past. It's validating but it isn't a living. So far, all the money on the novel is flowing the other way. Confidence is high that the velocity is due to change but there's a lot of road betwixt here and there.
I'm doing fantastic! Replaced running with fitness / weight lifting, although I do have some problems with my hamstring and my triceps, both lacking in strength. Thanks to Myfitnesspal I've been eating way more and way healthier and I actually feel much better because of it. I started reading the Hubski Literary Thing book (Adventures of Kavelier & Clay) and it's going slowly but it's going. Also started listening to Flash Boys by Michael Lewis today. So far so good! Academically, well, I'll tell more about that tomorrow in pubski, as it's late here now.
Still going strong with vegetarianism, 3/6 will be a month. The gym hasn't been going so well though. Ever since the whole heart but not really my heart thing a couple of weeks ago I've been too scared to do anything that physically straining. Soon enough, I hope...
It's been a crazy couple of weeks, so I've had to delegate to one post a week the past two weeks. Not bad, though, checked yesterday and my views for February have beaten those in January. I'm trying to go a little higher each month. I want to migrate my blog to Ghostly, but I'm thinking it might be better to just buckle down with Wordpress, get a dedicated host and url so I can ditch the ".wordpress" part of my blog, and actually learn something about SEO (shudder) if I want to get more views. That way I can keep the reader-base I already have while continuing to grow. Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?
I say do it! Sounds like you could learn a lot in the process. And by it I mean find a host and learn some SEO. Although now that I think about it, that view is predicated on the idea of you losing followers when migrating to Ghostly. Do you think you'd lose a lot of traffic migrating?I want to migrate my blog to Ghostly, but I'm thinking it might be better to just buckle down with Wordpress, get a dedicated host and url so I can ditch the ".wordpress" part of my blog, and actually learn something about SEO (shudder) if I want to get more views.
To Ghost, yeah. I just want a bit more control in my website as a whole. I'll do it tonight, just to see what happens. Edit: Whelp. http://eightbitsamurai.co/ is now a thing. Let's see how this goes. Gonna read a massive SEO tutorial tomorrow, and start getting a redirect going from the old blog to keep traffic. Woot. Do you think you'd lose a lot of traffic migrating?
I am a little late to the game, but I have been a little busy :) Go running 2-3x a week Well, I actually thought that I will be dropping this. But now, I am jobless, so I can choose my time as I wish. Been running twice this week. We will see how this improves. Meditate at least 5 days a week for 10-15 mins This was going great until the last week of February. I noticed that taking breaks longer than a week set me back by a lot. So I deiced to restart the Focus pack of the Headspace.com app. 3rd day in now, regaining peace. Set up knowledge base about MDMA, LSD, Psilocybin and Cannabis While the direct reading and putting together of infos is not working that well, I have been in contact with 2 psychedelic societies. One in the UK and the other in The Netherlands. Might be starting a student organisation that supports psychedelic research in Germany. There used to be such an organisation, but the members simple... died. Of age. Find a PhD position that suits me/Leave current job With some help from thundara and another native speaker, I was able to write a proper letter of purpose. Since then, I have applied for 3 graduate schools from my list of 6. Heidelberg, Munich and Freiburg are done. Tel aviv is nearly done (just waiting for one email) and then Berlin and Zurich are next. Additionally, I have been in contact with my former boss form UCL. Turns out he has met some Neuroscientists at UCL since he has started there, two years ago. Doesn't hurt to be the head of the Cancer Institute... So, overall, its going great!
Cons: -Heard back from the original dream job posting, they filled the position and I wasn't selected. -Played some guitar, but not nearly enough. Luckily my skill doesn't seem to have dropped at all in the time I've 'taken off,' just my endurance, which can be rebuilt with a few hours of cramped hands. -Been more sedentary than I'd like, and anything I'd list from the past few weeks is just an excuse. Pros! -GOT A FUCKING JOB OFFER WITH DECENT PAY AND FULL BENEFITS. It's not precisely what I want in terms of field (Corporate job rather than academic/research), but the skills transfer well and I could live a very happy few years in Metro Detroit just living. Also, I have a long time before I have to decide on the offer, so I'll continue looking for something that better fits my goals, AND I'll be negotiating from a stronger position than I had before. -First round of exams came back and I'm sitting on a comfortable 3.5 in everything. I had a long appointment with my independent study adviser and we were able to devise a good framework for organizing the concepts and history I want to study, now it's just a matter of reading the three remaining books and small avalanche of contemporary research materials.
Bonus Question: Depends on the goal honestly. Granular failure builds up and weighs me down in the same way that granular success builds up and feels empowering.
Crockpot: Ha ha. Science: First author publication finally got accepted. Operated the mass spec for the first time this week. Testing of samples relevant to anyone other than my training is planned for Friday. Collaboration on a mega-systems study in the works. Much reading to be done in the mean time. Also: Suck it. Drawing: Stalled