Monthly Retrospective: January
It’s the final weekend of the month and so I look back at the month to see what I did and did not do.
General
January was all about getting more structured in both life and work. I started exercising more often but pulled that muscle near the end so there goes the habit. I also did a lot of house-cleaning (mainly digital) to gain a clearer picture of things.
Positives
This month the greatest positive thing I did was to create that structure. If I can’t see where I am, I can’t see where I’m going.
- I have diligently posted every day,
- I created the convenient bullet-point lists,
- I started mild calorie counting, and
- I created the Trello boards.
The bullet point lists allow me to clearly see where I’m going wrong, the calorie counting may not mean much in the larger picture (diet composition and timing are much more important) but has been somewhat successful in stopping me from overeating.
Finally, the Trello might be the best thing I did. I have slightly changed the goals and will make them more SMART style or split them at a later moment. I also added a little note on each goal stating what I did or did not do towards this goal the past month. And I’ve created one board just for the retrospective.
I like how it works so far. I’m considering adding colored labels to them. Still need to consider whet those might represent though. Priority? Effort required?
Negatives
What, if anything, did I find lacking? Where could I have done better?
In order of importance:
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Sleep management
Obviously I still can’t help myself from saying up too late and sleeping too little. The first week went well, but I quickly devolved to staying up late and oversleeping. I am going to need some strategy to deal with this and could use some advice. More on this in the Questions section.
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Time management
Separated from the above, our bodies and minds prefer routines. Performing the same actions at the same time every day. You can see that when exercising every morning. If you suddenly skip a day your body will actually still act like you’re exercising.
In my case, in part due to oversleeping, my actions are all over the map. This in turn can also lead to a stressful sprint to the finish line which in turn leads to a late dinner and chill and an even later bedtime.
So I will need to find some way to schedule my recurring activities. This may or may not be possible before the sleep management is fixed.
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Diet management
Even though overall I did reasonable, there is a lot of room for improvement. A strict diet would be harder to maintain if I have to cut out the cheat days (even though they are the cause for all the issues). It is the eventual goal though. For now, however, I will need to see if I can cut back on the “cheating” even more so there is nothing left of those foods during the weekdays.
As far as the last one goes, with my dentist having moved the appointment to March and the official IQ test also in March, combined with the back muscle recovery time, I am considering fasting throughout February. It might give me a quick boost back into ketosis, make it easier to go into a better diet afterwards and help with my annoyance with having more flexibility than movement range. Then again, it may just be an excuse to overeat this weekend…
Subliminals and Me
This is a hard part for me. I might be considered a hard gainer. Or at least a very subtle one.
A second consideration is that some of the results I’m getting might not actually be from subs I’m running but ones which I have run in the past. For example, the biggest changes I could attribute to Khan actually happened a year after I had completed running it, when I was already listening to something different entirely.
For these reasons I have given up on the constant focus on how the subs might be affecting me. Instead, I simply state that they do and make notes of anything which I would consider other than ordinary. I then consider the subs I’m running and the ones I was running before that.
So, where does that leave me?
I have experienced a massive drive to structure and clarify everything. The bullet-points, jouralling, Trello and a lot of de-cluttering have really made a difference and came as an unexpected surprise. I have been wanting to do things like that for years but never got around to them and now it came natural and effortless.
This of course is hard to put on Emperor Fitness or Spartan. But I was running EoG & AM before the start of the ZP tests and after the end of them. And I have little doubt that these are skills which greatly benefit financial success.
I have been more assertive at work, as if I am less afraid that people will respond negatively to me speaking my mind. This comes combined with apparently having more emotional connection with the people I work with. So who knows, Chosen ZP may also be at work here.
The sudden interest and drive concerning IQ may have been brought on by JCast bringing it up and me getting curious and seeing it as a game, it could also have been because I ran Limitless ZP at the time. Either way, it’ll stay strong at least until the end of March I expect, although the N-Backs are getting a bit boring.
As far as Spartan, eFit, GLM & Paragon go, I suppose I have not seen that much yet. If anything, maybe it’s easier to do certain things. Like eating healthy during weekdays or picking up a weight and exercising. I don’t get energized and enthused doing those things, but I don’t meet any internal resistance either. It’s more a feeling of not caring either way so I might as well go ahead and do it.
I also find myself thinking about how fast I was able to make progress on those swings. At first I kept getting annoyed that I almost never reached that 10 minute set. But then I realized how difficult Tabatas used to be and those are only 4 minutes long. So I’m already doing a great deal more than I thought I would.
In the end, there is only so much progress one can make in the health & fitness category at any given time. So I try to focus enough actions in that category to keep moving forward and fill the rest of my time with other areas of focus. I’m moderating myself a bit better though, in the past I’ve been so driven by exercise that I injured myself.
I’ll probably add a column in my retro board for things I can link to subs. Then in future reviews I might have more for you.
Questions
I notice that when I ask for help from the audience, you either don’t see it, don’t feel like helping, don’t think you can help, don’t think I’ll listen to you or one of many other reasons.
So, I’m giving it its own section here. Here goes.
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What techniques do you use to get enough sleep?
I’ve heard people say to set the alarm and wake up to it even if you only went to bed an hour earlier. Doing it often enough would force you to go to bed earlier from exhaustion. I’ve also heard people say to simply have the discipline to go to bed earlier.
I personally have been playing with the idea of determining a time (midnight for example) when I go to bed. When that time arrives, I drop whatever it is I’m doing, brush my teeth and go to bed.
This would mean I may leave a lot of things unfinished. But over time might lead to better patterns and actually increased productivity.
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Do any of you actually plan your day in advance? If so, how do you get started with that and how do you deal with unexpected things?
I recall Saint telling me he plans everything, he always knows exactly what he’s going to do on any given day. Would lead to crazy productivity I think.
For diet management I don’t really need answers. I know all I need to know for now, but am still challenged to apply it evenly. I tend to jump from one thing to the next.
And there you go, my first 2022 retrospective. Another one next month, a bigger one every quarter and another post from me tomorrow.
