Figuring out signals of product-market fit, and staying on the path | Report

22 Mar 2021 . category: report . Comments
#radicali #startup #singapore #fitness #bjj

Welcome to #230 - this time summing up the last three weeks, as we close out on March.

i’m not Keith Urban, i won’t put you in a song. World-wide don, i feel like Shah Rukh Khan - what a line!

Writing this blog on in the early hours on a Sunday after a well-rested Saturday spending time with myself. Sometimes i feel a little worn out after a long week and feel the need to take it easy. Earlier this week, someone asked me why i dont take weekends off and i’ve been reflecting on that question for a while - it’s not that i don’t take weekends off, but i take them when i feel the need for it. Planning my weekends around work seems like a fulfilling use of time. There might be other ways of spending time too, but i feel like life is a quadratic(or even higher order) equation with multiple solutions - each solution works out in its own way.

Work has been coming along well - don’t want to jump the gun, but i feel we might be seeing early signs of product-market fit. This stuff takes time, still lots of execution left. We’re finding it difficult to meet all the demands of user trials and user stories to be built with our lean team, it’s a game of prioritizing the right things to get to the next level. We switched our product management/task tracking to Jira recently, with the aim of streamlining the process. i’ve been spending a bunch of time stress testing the product focussing on stability. i spent a considerable amount of time writing out PRDs for stories to be built out, and also started leading our company-wide Monday morning meetings.

i finished reading a 400 page biography on Tiger Woods, a masterclass on how not to manage fame and money. i was actually moved to tears while reading about the apology that Woods made after his sex scandal - quite a powerful piece of human history that happened in front of our eyes. As an after effect, i’ve been watching some golf on YouTube and now i want to learn golf also. Someday!

i finished reading the Art of War, and the learnings somehow align with the principles in JiuJitsu. i’ve started reading Snowden’s Permanent Record now.

i’ve been trying out no-lunch days, instead i snack on fruits/eggs/fish/sandwiches through the afternoon and have a heavy dinner in the night. It’s ideal for work productivity, but probably not the best thing to do for long-term health. i don’t feel low on energy, but feel like i should be consuming more protein in the day. i’m going to try out some meal-prep options in the coming few weeks to bring consistency in my eating patterns - finding good and healthy food everyday is a task that needs to be automated. Cooking in the nights has become difficult in 2021 since i started doing JiuJitsu classes, there’s not much energy and motivation left in me after 10PM.

The sleep structure is a little better than before, as i’m not pulling in all-nighters anymore. Getting six hours of sleep everyday at the minimum. i’m forcing myself not to be distracted through the afternoons, and have tried to increase my deep work quota everyday. i’m tracking my Instagram usage time - and it varies anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour on certain days - aiming to limit it to 20 minutes. My mornings are starting with preparation of to-do lists, which makes me less anxious as i don’t have to worry about myself forgetting anything. Recently, i started sitting on the floor more often in the day - i’m doing meetings, readings and doing calls while sitting on the floor on my yoga mat. Trying this out to improve hip flexor mobility and just to be more comfortable with squatting in general.

Recently, we recorded and released another episode on the Early Twenties. Check it out!

On the fitness front, i can see visible progress in my BJJ skills but i’m still unable to submit people at the gym while sparring. i can get into good positions, but don’t have enough flows or traps mapped out that can get a submission through. Earlier, i used to be at a loss of options but now i don’t face that problem often. Earlier this week, i was sparring with one of the white belts and got choked and armbar-ed convincingly - i was so angry with myself and wanted to smash the floor after getting tapped. This is one of the first times i saw myself getting competitive on the mats. It’s a good thing because it means i care enough to work hard at this, but i also noticed myself not tapping early enough in order to somehow escape - that’s dangerous when i look back. Armbars are no joke, i need to stay humble when getting tapped. Emotions don’t help anyone.

An update on the nofap log - i relapsed a few weeks ago after a couple bad attempts, but now i’m feeling strong on a 17 day streak.

i’m running 1-2 times a week, which is okay as long as i maintain my cardio base. One thing i need to continue is my interval training, so that i’m putting in max heart rate efforts as well. i’m able to hit the gym two times a week on average - skipping leg day for the last month as my lower knee felt a little weird after some deadlifts & squats recently. Yoga has fallen off the routine in the last three weeks, need to get it back in the morning routine. i am foam-rolling almost every night to ease my quads and glutes, helps shake away the tightness post BJJ.

i’m managing my relationship with my girlfriend relatively well, got some feedback recently on my time commitments and i’ve tried to improve on the same. Slotted in a recurring weekend dinner together with the girl, having someone to talk to on a daily basis helps a lot with mental clarity. Yesterday, i counted all the coins in my piggybank for 20 minutes - it was something that i would term utterly non-productive and meaningless, however i found it weirdly fun. They call it the art of doing nothing?

Keep hammerin’

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