Mark Farmer
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Kolea, re: ring. Did they offer trade in or you just had to buy a new one?
Alright… putting a string of not “stellar” days together, but at least *solid* movement forward. Regular-ish bedtime at 2-3a; regular-ish wake up time @ 11a. More importantly I’m feeling rested and getting semi-good sleep.
Let’s tighten up the pattern: I still want to get in bed, by 1a; be ready for sleep by 2a. Striving for 11a – 10a wake up time.
All of this, of course, predicates that I get my work done IN THE DAY (as opposed to after midnight as I have for the past ~2 years.
I want this. Now let’s just put the work in to achieve it. <3
There’s considerable theory that the creativity and deep problem solving occurs when we’re screwing off; relaxing. That being said… boredom IS one of the huge reasons many (erm… myself) included doom scroll. Same as going to the ‘fridge and looking for the umpteeth time even though you KNOW there’s nothing good in there: boredom.
I’m getting ready to publish an article meant to provide inspiration on goals that people can set. I think that stasis – having life “as is” IS a huge part of 99% of people’s lives.
But, preemptively, even before the article… is there NO area of your life that you’d like to improve!?
And be careful here…
A quick 2 stories: you know I grew up in Las Vegas. My dad would sometimes gamble for entertainment. Vegas can be a superstitious town – lots of concepts of “luck” and how cards and dice and bets “go.” One of those beliefs is that numbers – the numbers you’re betting on – “run,” they develop patterns.
And, to be sure, if you look at the STATS you’ll actually see this.
The problem!? The problem is statistics show trends AFTER they happen. It’s like cherry picking: just because AFTER the dice were rolled 1000 times you can see groupings of repeated numbers or patterns does NOT mean that ANYONE could have predicted when and where those numbers would have come up or will again.
But… when a table is hot (hitting the numbers people are betting on) the idea is… GET IN ON THE TREND.
My father found himself, one night, on a hot table. He watched as number after number the players were betting on was rolled again, paying off all of the betters who had bed on those numbers. We didn’t have a lot of money so my father was a cautious better and he watched while others were raking in BUCK$.
Looking to a man to his right that was one of the ones raking in handful of casino chips my father remarked, “I wish I was winning as big!”
The man looked him in the eye and remarked, “it’s not that you don’t have the money… you don’t have the balls.”
——
It was just a while ago I was listening to a new podcaster. Promoted himself as “how to get rich” or some such focus. He was full of swear words and bravado, but I never really got much out of the topics he discussed.
Until about the 4th or 5th podcast of his I listened to: “You’re not bored…” he yelled, “you’re SCARED.”
Pick the goal that will change your life. The one that DOES put the fear of God into you: launch your own business so you can quit your job? Find your wife? Start an MBA?
Explore your fears, Kolea. Then name a goal.
Absolutely brilliant progress! Nicely done. Post a photo (if you’d like) of your neatly folded clothes or the pile of donations!
Meant to add that you picked the right month for this Challenge: Jan 13 is “Clean Off Your Desk Day” and Jan 14 is “Organize Your Home Day”! 🤣
So… *when* are you starting on the book!? 😉 Enquiring minds want to know (aside from the fact that effective goal-setting requires a date and deadline! <3
Another step forward: 4a-11:20. Not *enough* sleep… but stoked by:
- I was genuinely tired and ready for bed well before the 4a bedtime (something that’s really been off for months and months); and
- I awoke naturally (I believe… although something could have woken me) at a semi-normal time; and
- It’s 2 days in a row of a semi-routine
Plan tonight: light stretching prior to bed; in bed by 1a, lights off by 2a; tryptophan and CBD!
Looking to string together a number of days!
What’s the goal (aside of the stated)? Like… how will this make a difference in your life. And I mean deeper than, “I won’t waste time” or “I’ll have more time.”
Like what’s the USE of the time? What difference will it make in your life!? What will you build or create with extra time? AND… how do you turn this from a task (“Don’t visit Facebook unless I have something to post.”) into a mission (“Use my disposable income to “)
Checking in! Which of the suggestions did you implement!? First thing today, BEFORE you get tired, implement one (or a few) and dedicate 10 minutes to starting ONE of the projects! <3
@Koleah Haven’t ever heard of Phenibut. I’ll Google it.
I have used ZMA, melatonin and tryptophan.
ZMA really only gives me more dreams, but I’ve never found it to help me either fall asleep faster or sleep more deeply.
Melatonin HAS proved useful for shifting circadian rhythm and I do use that from time to time.
What I love and have had supper good experience with is tryptophan.
But, honestly, all are pretty lightweight.
Anywho… SUPER breakthrough: after being out of the Mastermind for 2 days and REALLY struggling with some super fractured sleep for 2 days (like, “go to bed at 11p and wake up at 2a, then stay up until 6a and sleep to 11, then go back to sleep until 2p with a horrible headache) last night I had a breakthrough:
Bedtime by 1:40a, sleeping until 4a; back to sleep by 4:20a, sleeping until 11:40 – so, like, ~10 hours of sleep.
As screwy as that sounds it was super good sleep and FAR more than I’ve had in weeks or months.
it also represents a major step forward with a ~2a bedtime and a semi-normal waking time. Woke feeling like a million dollars, the sleep even affecting systemic inflammation (aside from chronic migraines I also am usually HORRIBLE achy, stiff and sore in the morning – strong indicators of chronic systemic inflammation).
Last night I was feeling awful after 6 hours, 5 hours, 6 hours and 4 hours daily sleep so I threw everything I could at, including:
- Aleve pain killers (for a headache)
- CBD
- 1/4 Sumatriptan (Imitrex) tablet
- Turmeric
Working to put 2 nights of these together. Heading to bed shortly!
Thanks for the suggestions, Odmaa and Kolea!
No graph today; struggling with this.
In the end, I’d like this to be a story of taking new actions… not simply pounding my head on a wall. But… as of this moment: I pound on.
Sleep @ 3:30a (Yay! That’s a win.)
Woke at 7:30a, with a migraine, by my cat. (Boo… that’s a loss)
Suffered until ~10:30, drifting in… and mostly out of sleep, not wanting to take medication (which, ultimately, damages your health for the meds I take), finally relinquishing at 10:30ish to taking meds
Back to sleep until 130ishAgain, the focus in on new action. But I’ll also keep pounding a way, a bit, trying to force this because sleep is such an odd thing to get ahead of:
– There’s no way to FORCE yourself to go to sleep; and
– Sleep including timing, quality and quantity, is controlled by far more than simply your actions and decisions“Making” yourself go to bed at midnight (or even 2a), then laying there awake in the dark only COMPOUNDS the problem with frustrations, THEN making it harder to go to sleep.
So that will be it for now: a combination of forcing things and trying new action.
New action: BC sleep depends on circadian rhythms, a friend, a child psychologist used to suggest that there were magic moments to go to bed… and that, if you missed them, you’d have to wait ~4 hours for the next circadian lull before going to bed would work.
I’ve long noticed – erm… in my exhaustion – that my circadian rhythm takes a serious dip right after dinner (I tend to eat late). Confident that has to do with blood sugar level as well.
So lets play with that:
Tonight, I’m aiming at being in bed as close to 11p as I can; noticing when I get sleepy (I have a HORRIBLE habit of semi-consciously “fighting off” going to sleep WHY IN THE WORLD EXECPT FOR SHEER REPETITIOUS HABIT I DO NOT KNOW) and turning off the Ereader/phone/whatever at that moment.
From prior successes I DO know that an earlier bedtime and sleep earlier in the night is FAR more rejuvenating for me so… lets give THIS a shot.
Because, other than that, I’m pretty frustrated AND damaging myself with medicine to function at this point.
No graph today; struggling with this.
In the end, I’d like this to be a story of taking new actions… not simply pounding my head on a wall. But… as of this moment: I pound on.
Sleep @ 3:30a (Yay! That’s a win.)
Woke at 7:30a, with a migraine, by my cat. (Boo… that’s a loss)
Suffered until ~10:30, drifting in… and mostly out of sleep, not wanting to take medication (which, ultimately, damages your health for the meds I take), finally relinquishing at 10:30ish to taking meds
Back to sleep until 130ishAgain, the focus in on new action. But I’ll also keep pounding a way, a bit, trying to force this because sleep is such an odd thing to get ahead of:
– There’s no way to FORCE yourself to go to sleep; and
– Sleep including timing, quality and quantity, is controlled by far more than simply your actions and decisions“Making” yourself go to bed at midnight (or even 2a), then laying there awake in the dark only COMPOUNDS the problem with frustrations, THEN making it harder to go to sleep.
So that will be it for now: a combination of forcing things and trying new action.
New action: BC sleep depends on circadian rhythms, a friend, a child psychologist used to suggest that there were magic moments to go to bed… and that, if you missed them, you’d have to wait ~4 hours for the next circadian lull before going to bed would work.
I’ve long noticed – erm… in my exhaustion – that my circadian rhythm takes a serious dip right after dinner (I tend to eat late). Confident that has to do with blood sugar level as well.
So lets play with that:
Tonight, I’m aiming at being in bed as close to 11p as I can; noticing when I get sleepy (I have a HORRIBLE habit of semi-consciously “fighting off” going to sleep WHY IN THE WORLD EXECPT FOR SHEER REPETITIOUS HABIT I DO NOT KNOW) and turning off the Ereader/phone/whatever at that moment.
From prior successes I DO know that an earlier bedtime and sleep earlier in the night is FAR more rejuvenating for me so… lets give THIS a shot.
Because, other than that, I’m pretty frustrated AND damaging myself with medicine to function at this point.
Day 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Daily accountability moves mountains to motivate action!
Do you mind process for a bit? That is, rather than what is your outcome… would it be helpful to follow along with a little of my thinking about setting your goal up for success for yourself?
If so, read on (if not ignore everything below here!):
A few pointers, then a few questions, followed by one possible suggestion of ONE way you might structure your 21-Day Challenge:
First, taking your list as-is, may I suggest a slight rephrasing (again, ignore this if you don’t want suggestions):
- Read =>13 pages a day of Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” (224 pages/remaining 18 days)
- Finish Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” on or before Jan. 21, 2022
- Pack one or more bags of clothes and donate them by Jan. 21, 2022
- Pack one or more boxes of books and donate them by Jan. 21, 2022
- Go through my belongings and de-clutter the closet space
- Decide on 30 book I want to read for the year and put it in a box.
Right? Because simply setting the end point, rather than actionable steps, *sometimes* disempowers us. No goal gets done simply by “Get X done.” For everything, from getting a master’s degree to building a marriage, the goal is comprised of discrete, steps – each of which, if met with success, equals the eventual goal.
But I have a question: Having read Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” I know that Marie sets out a precise plan *for* tidying up; a plan that’s hard to implement the Marie Kondo way (which is part of the Marie Kondo magic) unless you’ve already finished the book.
So, is reading the book simply *one step along the way* of tidying up your own way? Or is the book *pivotal* to HOW you’ll clean up? To be clear, even is this 21 days is YOUR way of cleaning, that doesn’t negate the purpose of learning the Marie Kondo way… but I ask because I *does* change the structure (at least of how I’d suggest) you DO the challenge. Post your answer/thoughts if you’d like me to run with them.
Even so, much of your list remains simply outcome oriented, rather than my typical suggestion to clients that they focus on 1) actions; and 2) steps TOWARDS an outcome.
Making 2 assumptions – 1. that you intend on actually USING the Marie Kondo way IN this Challenge; and assuming you agree it would be more empowering to focus on actions steps – (again, ignore if not helpful) I would further finesse your list:
- Read =>25 pages a day of Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” (to finish the 224 page book in TEN days, allowing a little more than a full week to actually implement the ideas in it)
- Finish Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” on or before Jan. 13, 2022
- Set out a bag TODAY to begin placing clothes to be donated (allowing you to begin putting clothes in today, even before using the MK way).
- Donate whatever clothes I’ve gathered in my donation bag by or before Jan. 21, 2022
- Set out a box TODAY to begin placing books to be donated (allowing you to begin putting books in it even before using the MK way).
- Donate whatever books you’ve collected by or before Jan. 21, 2022
- Begin implementing the Marie Kondo method on or before Jan 14 using as much of the method as I understand at that point (allowing this to be an independent step regardless of how far you’ve gotten with ANY OTHER steps!)
As for “Decide on 30 book I want to read for the year and put it in a box” -although infinitely valuable… I’d leave that OUT of *this* current challenge! To the degree you focus on and hone your attention, energy and outcome on ONE outcome… is often to the degree you reach it.
No matter whether you find these suggestions helpful or a distraction, YOU CAN DO THIS and I’m imagining your space will feel SO much more empowering, lighter and full of life once you have that it will imbue nearly everything else you do with energy!
Here’s to your success. I can’t wait to follow along on your daily posts!
<3
How’s it going Kolea?
Really fractured sleep today: went to bed around midnight (I think), then woke ~2am? Back to sleep 4a-8:30a, then back awake. Back to sleep around 10:30 or 11a for another 1/2 hour to hour.
Migraine.
6 hours, 6 hours and 4.5 hours is crazy.
I’ve been through this before – the really off hours, trying to get back on track – so will persist. Think the only way is through this.
No graph to post; working to finish up work tonight to be in bed by 2. (crosses fingers)
Computer time IS a huge contributor to the late nights. It’s just nighttime is my primary time to work and so much needs to be done – I’ll think, “I’ll just get this ONE thing done,” then that leads to “one more thing” and on an on and on… next thing I know it’s 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 am…
It’s the cycle that kills me: if I could get the earlier waking time, I could get more done during the day and then not need to stay up late.
A work in progress
Here’s my resolutions this year:
- Read one book a week; 52 books for the year
- 17+ days of 7.5 hours of sleep, bedtime =<2am in January
- Lose 30#
- Begin exercising 3x/wk or more
- =>2x last year’s income
How about you!? What are YOUR NYE Resolutions!?
