Tag: check-in

I didn’t do this at all in 2024 so let’s get back on that horse.

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I started 2023 with an unwanted present, a little pain in the left side of my upper back. Small but consistent, the irritation would build up into anguish like Chinese water torture. Add to that the mornings when I’d wake up to find the pain had found its way into my neck or it was sending aftershocks down my left arm and I was left miserable for days on end.

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Thought I’d try closing out the year somewhat differently this time. Rather than leaving it to the final few calendar days I started my personal review of 2023 on 1^st December and will continue to develop it over the month. In a way, I’m treating December as a Dave Gorman intermission between 2023 and 2024. I’ll make a few posts to both clarify and solidify my thoughts on a significant events that took place in 2023. I hope you enjoy the ride.

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Here we go again. Let’s get right into it then.

The Project is (unofficially) complete!

At the tail-end of 2022 I made reference to something I called “The Project”, a personally-meaningful endeavor that I’d (re-)started. I’m proud to say it’s complete! It was an amazing ride that has provided a new window of insight into things I’ve known before and a door revealing that maybe the time is right (finally!). I still say it’s “unofficially” complete because there is some admin needed to put a bow on this but the powers-that-be have assured me that the journey is done.

I’m excited not because of what I’ve accomplished or even for what’s now possible but for the opportunities that have been presenting themselves. Things have been falling into place so neatly leaving a part of me frustrated because it didn’t happen sooner. The longer I live the less I understand what “Life” is and how it operates but I know enough to be thankful for what comes and to enjoy the ride.

“Don’t wanna close my eyes…”

Sleep and meditation are a bit rocky again (though meditation has always been the house built on sand). My sleep isn’t terrible and has in fact been very good but I have not been protecting the time leading up to sleep. I can’t remember the last time I did my stretching routine to slow myself down and can’t even bring myself to lay down the mats to begin the process. I’m still doing Yoga Nidra which helps but it’s not the sitting meditation I want to do. Even my daily check-ins have gone invisible on me and I turn off the reminder alarm without a second thought.

At the same time other parts of my mind have been quite engaged thanks to a renewed spark of interest in several other projects. I’m all for deep engagement but not when I feel it’s robbing attention away from other projects or costing me sleep. I need to find a way to control/channel the excitement properly so I get the best of all worlds.

What of the exercising?

I have been doing more cardio and have recently switched from the stationary bicycle to re-visiting jump rope again. I feel the bike wasn’t getting my heart rate as high as I wanted it to be so decided to do intervals with a jump rope. And it’s working though I foresee fatigue becoming an issue if I don’t control the number of intervals.

This also means I haven’t done resistance training in a while. I still love it and am looking for a way to incorporate both especially since resistance training puts me in a good place mentally. A challenge I’m facing is (once again) containing myself so that I can get the best of all worlds; when I do resistance training I usually go all-out leaving nothing left for cardio. I’d alternate between days for resistance training and days for cardio but I can feel a petulant child inside me declare “NO!”

I’ll take this slow. That I am exercising regularly is already a win. That I’m doing more cardio for heart health is also a big win. I just need to find that configuration that makes me happy where resistance training is also part of the picture.

An overall look at my annual one-pager

I am really happy with what I’ve accomplished so far and with how things are generally going. No one said there wouldn’t be speed bumps so we take them as they come. I’m excited to see what the final 3 months hold for me.

One of the items on my annual one-pager is to write more blog posts as a way of clarifying thoughts. Seeing as how the previous post is literally my Quarter-Year Check-In, I think we all know how well this item is (or isn’t) progressing 😂

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ItΓÇÖs that time of year again when I exclaim ΓÇ£this year is whizzing by!ΓÇ¥ and dig out my one-pager to check on my progress. So how is 2023 going for me?

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