Update 4 on my new year’s resolutions
You can only improve what you track and measure. Therefore, I journal my progress for my 2020 resolutions.
Running around Shengsi Island
- 25 books I deleted Twitter. Nothing there that would make my life better in any meaningful way. Maybe this helped me to finish 3 books by now. Right on schedule. But the current book I am reading is a big one. 1600 pages of 18th century Russian literature - tough to get through this in the next 14 days.
- run 2 marathons, one sub 4h, one sub 3h I am on and off with the running. Not quite running as much as I wish I would, but also not completely lagging behind. I am on track for my monthly target of 250k, and will start my morning routine runs as of next Monday again. My updated training log.
- visit Germany once
Less homesick than I was after returning from Germany, but still have to keep this goal in mind for Eli & Jade.
- go on a bare-bones camping holiday with Jade & Eli
No update, it’s winter still and this is definitely something for summer, before Eli goes to kindergarten.
- sleep 7 to 8 hours per night, aim to be in bed by 9:30pm
Did well last week after I adjusted to the Chinese time zone again. The jetlag seems to be worse going east, instead of going west. First time in my life I used sleeping pills for the long flights and taming the jet-lag. I used melanin, which is supposed to be all natural, and also didn’t seem to have any effect on me. Heavy training in combination with factors like jet-lag or alcohol also increase insomnia. Last night I only got 4 hours of sleep after a strong run (15k), a long days work in a coffeshop instead of my office, and too much alcohol (2Liter) in the evening. Definitely need to keep reducing alcohol intake in order to be able to perform at my best. More than 1 glass of alcohol (wine, beer, schnapps) is affecting sleep and rest. Since I use my Garmin watch to track my sleep, I can even see, track and measure the effects in the astoundingly accurate body battery.
- use a scale to check my weight every day
No scale around while traveling. It will become become a priority to turn into a habit once back home and at work in February.
- do not use my phone within 90 minutes of waking up or going to bed
Have been better at this last week, mainly because I deleted twitter from my phone and worked on my reading goal. In the mornings I am still checking the phone for work updates or the weather, so I know when I can go for a run.
- earn a promotion
Been busy following up on the purchasing orders from our trip to IMM Cologne and also work has picked up significantly this week, with more regularity getting into the work from home. Next week Monday work will be back to normal with me being physically in the office.
- write weekly progress of 2020 goals every Monday 5am for 30 minutes + 30 minutes diary
I’ve been procrastinating this task until Thursday this week for no apparent reason. I think it’s just that the updates are getting less significant and I value writing these reports less the more often I do them. I figure that I need to keep my resolutions flexible to the upside, adding more where I deem it necessary or scrap some which evidently don’t change for many months. This way writing and keeping track of the improvements becomes more interesting.
I am not sure whether the Corona virus is under control now, but certainly businesses are eager re-open and thus many people are getting back to their offices this and next week. I’ll be going back to work next week and look forward to the regularity of the live in Ningbo.
To that effect, turn your goals into habits and progress will be noticeable and much more attainable.
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