Recovery Week

I was sleep deprived after the “Weekend Getaway”. It took…

• 3 days to re-calibrate my sleeping pattern.
• 2 days to clean-up our place from all the mess we left before we took off.
• 4 days to free up some time for lifting weights (at home).

It basically took a week for things to normalize again.

I’m not complaining. It was worth it. Now, am I willing to do it again? Hell YES!

I’m writing a “back-to-back” weekly update so I can stay in-schedule.

A few random insights from that trip:

• I ran out of refined sugar for my coffee. So I tried honey. The result? Not so great. It made my coffee taste more bitter. Some things may have the same properties (in this case they’re both sweet) but at the same time, they’re very different.
• There’s a similarity between being hungover and sleep deprived – they give me this kind of a headache that makes me want to puke. Then I started wondering that perhaps it’s not the alcohol that causes you to feel hungover but the disruption of your sleeping pattern (or lack of sleep) combined with dehydration.
• Focus on the “Fundamentals” – had a tough time catching up with my e-mails. Much of the e-mails are product offers to provide a shortcut to a goal. Everyone wants the quick and easy solution. There’s a high demand for it which is why people sell it. But if I want to stand out, then perhaps I should head in the other direction. How? Learn things the hard way. The harder you learn a lesson, the harder it carves itself into your “refusal to change” to become a better person. Don’t get me wrong, these e-mails are useful. That is why I don’t unsubscribe from them. But sometimes they take too much…

Headspace

I gave in. The 40% off got me. Now I’m not saying that as if the product’s marketing “screwed me over”. The truth is, it was cheap. For an annual subscription, I am paying $0.30/day for the whole year. Now is “$0.30” a smart investment to clear my head for 10-minutes? Hell YES!

I used to have 3 meditation apps on my phone but I only use their free version. After a while, the free version becomes boring or unhelpful because I’m not improving and it’s not giving me the result I want. I may be saving money because it’s free but what about the time I spend on trying to make them work for me?

While free service is good, paid service is better.

You may disagree. After all, that’s not always the case. I used to run on the idea of “It’s not how much money you make, it’s how much you save” but saving can only take you so far. A better strategy is to “spend money on things you love and eliminate expenses that don’t benefit you much”.

Which is why I don’t hold myself back from spending on things that either improve my life or helps me maintain my well-being. This includes things most people find “useless or random” – video games, online courses, unplanned trips, bed, ramen, “bed of nails”, self-massage tool, or ambient music for increased focus.

However, I’m cheap on other things: I rarely shop for clothes. Rarely go out to eat. Don’t have cable. Been tempted to buy PS4 but still use my PS3 even if it’s already obsolete. Only have 1GB on my data plan. Only buy phones that are free (if it comes with a 2-year plan). Use the same backpack I’ve been using since high school. Only have 3 pairs of shoes – yes yes know I have a poor sense of fashion. Borrow someone else’s Netflix account.

This type of “cheapness” reminds me of my friend who has the money to buy a brand new car (to replace his beat-up car) but refuses to buy one until the old car breaks down to a point where it is no longer usable. Instead of buying a new car, he talks about investing money on buying a property. This tells me he is more focused on the long-term gain than the short-term. Perhaps it’s that way of thinking that separates him from most people when it comes to their spending. It’s a common trait of…

Smart/Successful People

Most of us prefer to go for the quick fix. The easy way out. Instant gratification…

If you have kids and you want them to have a good future, perhaps you should start teaching them self-control.

It’s a skill I wanted to get better at.