Getting back on the blog | Mid-Q1 checkin | Report

16 Feb 2021 . category: report . Comments
#radicali #startup #singapore #fitness

It’s been a while since I wrote the blog, feels good to write words on Sublime text that aren’t lines of code! The recency bias is strong and hence sticking to weekly is important - it is also one of those things that give me a reset to the week, and one hour of upfront commitment has a high upside to the overall productivity through the next seven days.

i recently watched Elon Musk on JRE, and was once again impressed by his command over his subject matter - he is one guy whose work ethic and mental models are something i really look up to. There is no fluff in his conversations, and often things with first principles.

The last six weeks at work have been a whirlwind, as i singlehandedly managed the backend of a new product we built out to experiment an adjacent problem in compliance. We did the launch of the private beta of the product earlier today, and i am satisfied with how i managed the overall development process. Continous deploys helped us maintain a constant feedback loop with internal testers, and reduced iterations. i feel like i need to push myself to a launch like this every quarter to make sure we’re growing as a team and individuals. Personally, i can manage stress of product releases much better than how i did when we started out in ‘19.

i had promised to start work on understanding my finances & investments better - this resolution hasn’t been going very well. There has not been any progress on the side-business idea. Another resolution i have been failing at consistently is handling social media with the post & ghost approach - in the first few weeks, i tried to check myself while opening the app, but eventually gave in to the temptation. i was listening to a ‘Fake Woke’ by Tom MacDonald, and he said, “They never freed the slaves, they realized that they don’t need the chains. They gave us tiny screens, we think we’re free ’cause we can’t see the cage”.

i have started regular JiuJitsu, and have become an addict to the art. If i were to summarize the whole experience in one word, i’d say “humbling”. There is so much to learn, and i am currently the least experienced person in the whole gym - which means i am always learning something new. The ego is supposed to be crushed - if i stay in a manager-like position the entirety of my life, i’d never get my ass handed to me. i’ve had a bad choke done to me which got my neck hurting for a few days, i’ve got my big toe paining for a while now, i’ve got a bunch of mat burns on my feet, and am currently nursing a pulled thigh. My flexibility is too bad, but i can already see improvements. i sometimes question myself if i’m built for this, but then realize that i was not good at tennis but i kept practising for years before getting any good at it. Good shit takes time.

i’ve realized that having a buddy when it comes to starting a new skill is super important. One of my friends has signed up with me for BJJ and both of us keep ourselves accountable to each other. That is a strong indicator that i need to find people who’d work on the other resolutions along with me. Another thing that i realized is that starting a lot of new things at one time is not really possible for me - hence, i’m going to take it easy on other goals and believe in myself to achieve them.

Running and workouts have naturally taken a hit because of introduction of three days of jiujitsu in the routine. In January i ran 33 kilometers and have completed 10 kilometers in Feb so far. Not too bummed about it, i’ll be fixing my work routine to allow for morning runs and this problem will fix itself. i’ve tried a few afternoon runs, which make me quite productive through the day. i have started pennyboarding while doing quick errands around my house, catching lunch etc - good fun, but probably not worth the risk of breaking my hand. Meh, i dont care - the fun is too good.

Sleep hasn’t been good - i’ve been functioning on 5-6 hours of sleep on a daily basis, although i’m getting an afternoon nap on most days. Writing this blog at 2:30 in the AM, hoping i get back to human routines this week onwards. i put in two nightouts last week sleeping at 6:30 in the AM, the night is highly conducive for my mind somehow. However, watching Jocko wake up at 4:30 makes me feel like an idiot and inspires me to fix the routine.

i’ve started taking supplements to boost immunity and muscle-building. i’m currently taking fish oil, Vitamin D-3, Zinc and Glutathione on a daily basis. Will be adding quercetin and creatin to the stack soon, some more reading up to be done before committing to it.

i’m sad to report that i broke my NoFap streak on Day 87 while edging. The 100-day goal is still something to work towards, although i’m not going to force it if it affects my mind in a negative way. Currently on Day 15.

On the relationships front, things have been slightly rocky because i sometimes feel the lack of physical proximity affecting my state of mind. Trying to figure it out inside my head, but this is not something that i want to devote too much of my problem-solving effort towards - ideal state should be cruise control.

On the early twenties podcast, we released two episodes in the last month or so. It’s fun catching up with the folks and our conversations are very much like the reset that these blogs offer!

Things have been bad on the reading front, and i need to get back on the log. i’m starting to plan out my weekends better by splitting it into reflection time, reading time, and socializing time. Weekends seem like the off-days, but they need to be the days that make the on-days better. To report on this in the next weekly report.

Alright, that’s enough for this blog. Keep hammerin’

---