Trust the Grind

Greetings,

I started this journal for accountability and to track progress. I’m an experienced subliminal user but I’m inconsistent with taking action and following recommended usage instructions. I think logging here will help a lot, I read through the forum regularly as a guest.

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap

Goals:

  1. Become amazingly fit and healthy
  2. Become an awesome guitar player
  3. Become a financial success

Subliminal Stack:

  • Chosen + Wanted + Emperor
11 Likes

Welcome to the forum @Becoming! I actually started journaling here for the same reasons, so you’re in company. Would love to see you make progress here :grin: .

4 Likes

Welcome to the forum @Becoming !

Will be looking forward to share your journey and success here! :muscle::raised_hands::blush:

3 Likes

Thank you both for the welcome, @Beowulf and @Athanaxos. I have felt excited today at the thought of moving towards and better future and I’m happy to be here with you guys on the forum.

4 Likes

Day 1 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  1. Chosen (15 minutes)
  2. Wanted (15 minutes)

Workout:

  1. Ab Wheel Rollout: 1x10
  2. Kettlebell Swing: 10x10 (every minute)
  3. Push Up: 3x10 (every 2 minute)

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap
5 Likes

Warm welcome to the forum. You got an excellent stack and your goals are awesome.

Am confident you will get great results because of the way you stick to the listening instructions, take action and journal.

Here’s to your assured success!

6 Likes

Love the daily tracking, I’ve been very slowly increasing what I’m tracking on a daily basis.

These are great goals. Have you considered making them more specific?

For example:-

  1. Achieve (x) body fat % at (y) weight by the end of 2023.

I find that having goals that are more S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound) gives me far more clarity and are much more laser-pointed, which gives me more motivation to achieve them. The satisfaction is different too. Vague goals can be hard to “achieve”, since they’re not well-defined in the first place.

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Thanks for the welcome, @Lion, and for your vote of confidence. Good to be here with you guys!

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Thanks for the idea @Beowulf. I did think about being more specific with the goals but I decided to keep them simple and use them as a reminder of what will be achieved if I work on my true objective: to be consistent and work the plan. In the past I have given up on things, expecting too much, too soon - not allowing “time” to play its part, or chopping and changing plans in search of “perfection”. This time I want to take a long-term grind approach, thinking more in years than months. I do still fear losing discipline and falling back into old habits but I will give it my best shot and not allow a “failure” blip here and there to derail my efforts.

I started the “next day to do list” just under a month ago and it has been amazing at increasing my productivity at home and work. Out of the daily 6, it is by far my most important task. Due to the personal nature of the tasks, I write them out with pen and paper, but it’s going to be a big help being here with you guys and tracking this stuff.

5 Likes

Day 2 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  • Rest

Workout:

  1. Ab Wheel Rollout: 1x10
  2. Kettlebell Swing: 10x10 (every minute)

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap

Day 3 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  1. Emperor (15 minutes)

Workout:

  1. Ab Wheel Rollout: 1x10
  2. Kettlebell Swing: 10x10 (every minute)
  3. Goblet Squat: 3x10 (every 2 minute)

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap

Day 4 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  • Rest

Workout:

  1. Ab Wheel Rollout: 1x10
  2. Kettlebell Swing: 10x10 (every minute)

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap :triangular_flag_on_post:

I had a late night and failed the NoFap daily. I planned to make any failed daily tracking red in colour, so it would stand out when I scan through the journal, but for the life of me; I can not figure out how to change the font colour. So instead, I will use this triangular red flag emoji. I’m not too bummed about the NoFap failure, I’m not a “fapstonaut” aiming for a long streak; I do it mostly for the fast acting (1-3 days) confidence and energy boost, plus it makes sex better.

It’s been a good and productive end to the week. The Emperor loop stirred up some negative emotion, but I did my best to accept the feelings with a loving and accepting heart rather than trying to resist them. I’m often too hard on myself and self-doubt stems from these harsh thoughts and feelings. I know that taking action is the key to my success and provided I push myself into taking that first step, then I know anything is possible.

3 Likes

Day 5 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  1. Chosen (15 minutes)
  2. Wanted (15 minutes)

Workout:

  1. Ab Wheel Rollout: 1x10
  2. Kettlebell Swing: 10x10 (every minute)
  3. One Arm Row: 3x10 per side (every 2 minute)

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap

Day 6 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  • Rest

Workout:

  • Rest

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap

I was tired this morning, needing the alarm to wake me up. I ran the Emperor loop and felt a little better despite the added fullness I felt in my head. I’ve been busy, perhaps a little too busy. After today, I’ll back off for a few days on the ‘next day to-do list’ productivity tasks and instead focus only on the staples such as subliminal use, workouts, cold showers, food preparation and my caffeine reduction plan. I’m now at 1.5 coffees a day and hope to be caffeine free by the end of the month. I’ve been eating between midday and 8pm, while making sure I eat a well prepared nutritious lunch, or should I say midday breakfast? I didn’t gain fat over night and I know realisitically that it’s going to take time until I am happy with my physique again. I craved a lot of sugar last year while recovering from COVID and those sugar cravings combined with a complete lack of energy that lasted months; resulted in a 10kg fat gain. The exercise plan is working well, I am feeling fit. They’re quick workouts that leave me more energised than drained. I smash them out in the morning, followed up by a cold shower. It’s a 12 week program and I actually did the first 4 weeks before I started this journal, but I decided to repeat them and restart the program from the beginning.

The subliminal combination is working well, I feel more confident and am pushing myself into situations I would normally avoid; like a parent’s visiting day at my kid’s school. I’ve been interacting better with people, surprising myself on occasion with loud genuine laugh during conversations. This is not usual, as I am normally more serious and introverted. I thought I’d give an update because I’m too tired at night to journal and instead copy/paste the accountability data and read through some topics. It’s the first week down and I remain disciplined to maintaining the grind. I need to learn when to push it and when to back off, so I can continue making progress without burning out.

2 Likes

Day 7 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  1. Emperor (15 minutes)

Workout:

  • Rest

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap

There’s a PMO trend starting at night, on the days I listen to Emperor in the morning. I don’t think it’s reconciliation, I feel greater sexual charge on the days I listen to Emperor.

I’m having an easy day today after a lot of physical work yesterday. I felt a little beat up this morning, so I did extra foam rolling and mobility warm-ups before working out.

I’m starting a new book “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life” by Scott Adams. I saw a recommendation for it after I was researching the topic of goals vs systems. My current approach is system based, where an overarching goal exists, but the related system becomes more the goal than the actual goal itself. The S.M.A.R.T goal recommendation from this journal had me thinking, which led me to researching this topic. I have used fitness and weight loss related S.M.A.R.T goals and achieved them, only to gradually lose progress over time. I think it’s because I achieve a goal, become complacent and gradually abandon the systems that got me there. I might add to these thoughts at a later date, after I finish the book.

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Interesting! I’m currently planning on reading “The Power of Habit” and “Atomic Habits”. This seems like a book I’d add to my list.

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I’ve read “Atomic Habits” some years back. I remember enjoying it because it was an easy read and it provided a practical framework for habit formation. I think I will give it another read as a refresher sometime this year. Funnily enough, I also have “The Power of Habit” book, but I’ve never gotten around to reading it. I have too many books to be honest, I might need to up my reading to 20+ pages per day!

I’ll let you know if Scott Adams’ book is any good. I think you’ll enjoy “Atomic Habits” though.

1 Like

Day 8 (Cycle 1)

Subliminal:

  • Rest

Workout:

  1. Ab Wheel Rollout: 1x10
  2. Kettlebell Swing: 10x10 (every minute)
  3. Push Up: 4x10 (every 2 minute)

Daily Tracking:

  1. Wake early
  2. Read 10+ pages
  3. Guitar 10+ minutes
  4. Intermittent fasting
  5. Next day to-do list
  6. NoFap :triangular_flag_on_post: