How are you Jun-te on
December 2023.
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It's been officially one year since I've written my newsletter.
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What an awesome little thing I've started and something I hope to keep doing as I go through my journey. Originally, this was started to keep things DRY ( Don't Repeat Yourself ). I believe it has become much much more.
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The biggest advantage that I've had with this newsletter was that not only do I get insights from the act of writing but when we do eventually meet for coffee, event, and/or catch up. I get to talk about you.
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For people who have done their homework, you guys can know my situation already and sprinkle it with feedback and/or remarks from your stories. Even better when I state a problem, and you guys give me access to resources that are usually available for free which I had no idea about.
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Just in case I haven't said it already:
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I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas and I wish every one of you an amazing New Year. I hope you experience all the love and the good in the world. If you experience hardship, I know you'll have the strength to overcome it.
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Was the plan to do 10 reps of 10 sets? Yes. Did I do that? No. Did I do 5 reps of 20 sets instead? Yes.
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The outcome of 100 reps was the same but the 10 reps of 10 sets was still a mountain.
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I wanted to talk to you about the pros and cons of setting a goal I found by having one for 6 months.
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First of all, the obvious reason to have a goal. It makes days you don't want to train, much much easier.
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In fact, after my McDonald Shift which can end at 1 am. My favorite thing to do was work out after. It was just me vs my goal.
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My goal didn't care if I didn't sleep well, My goal didn't care for how I felt. It was just there. A constant that not even the most devoted parent can do to their loved one. It was stable.
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I don't think I would have the motivation to try a workout at 1 am if I didn't have my goal. By having the motivation, due to the goal, I found I loved working out at night. The more miserable the better. Make it rain, make it cold. ( NB: make it miserable in the morning I'll be very upset. Tell me to do this at night, I'm wide awake and ready to go).
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My goal became the best gym partner. Let's call him Goalie.
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Goalie always showed up regardless of time and location. Goalie stared at me in the face whenever I was lazy, Goalie told me well done every time I kept track. Goalie ensured I was doing my best.
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If I stopped showing up, Goalie also stopped showing up.
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However, the moment I was ready to go. Goalie was ready to go.
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Unfortunately like every gym partner, even Goalie stopped showing up.
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In this case, after I scored.
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Jun-te: "Thank you for all you've done Goalie."
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Goalie is gone. Now what?
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Like losing a loved one, after you reach a goal there can be a sense of purposeless.
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Literally... "Now what?".
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However, the feeling of "Now what?", is always there. I was just blinded by Goalie.
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In fact, "Now what?" is an old friend.
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I saw her during my graduation, I saw her after I recovered from my manic episode, and I saw her after celebrating my 2 years in full-time employment after my illness.
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Jun-te: "It's nice to see you again."
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Sometimes... she tells me exactly what she wants.
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Sometimes... she likes to flirt with me with riddles.
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I have a few ideas on what she wants but for now, I need to ensure general housekeeping is in order.
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By achieving a goal. Other parts of my life have been neglected.
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For now, I'll carry on with my habits whilst enjoying the company of an old friend.
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We have a lot of catching up to do.
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Please watch this video otherwise it won't make any sense.
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From PirateSoftware's recommendation, I decided to go purchase the game and experience it myself. This game is better the less you know about the game. So do your best to not google anything except for the little I've shown you so far.
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I believe every creator worker (everyone is a creative), should play this game. It's a beautiful game. The game is only 1.5 hours long and I highly think it is worth your time, money, and attention.
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In case that didn't sell you either, it was also made by the person who made Stanley's Parable.
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If you can't afford this game for whatever reason and want to experience the game as well as being a creative individual. Please pass me an email and we can get that sorted.
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But also, not everyone needs to see it. I was hit by inspiration, motivation, and awe. That's a rare a combo and I'm glad I have a piece of art to help DO MORE.
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My fiancée, wanted to unexpectedly buy Korean flight tickets to visit her family this Christmas. Oh, how she loves to stress test the budget XD.
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However, I did understand the urgency and need for her to see her family at this time.
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With an unexpected and high cost of a flight ticket, I unfortunately did not spend Christmas with my fiancée. I am happy to say that she arrived safely in Korea and I miss her very much and she'll be coming back for the new year.
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I did in turn, get to spend Christmas with my twin-brother.
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My twin brother sat on my chair and realised my chair I spend more than 12 hours a day on. Is broken.
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I sat on my chair and to my horror, I also NOW noticed it was unbalanced on one side.
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Now this did mean I had an excuse to buy a new chair. To my very big surprise, my fiancee approved of my 'dream purchase' of a Herman Miller. I'm sitting on it right now 🤣. I must say it is truly luxurious. I do think its because I unquestionably said 'yes' to her last-minute Korean flight tickets. 😅
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However, there was a slight worry about why the chair became unbalanced in the first place. For the life of me, I could not understand why.
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From the nature of the broken chair, it seems I was putting more pressure on the left side of my buttocks than the right cheek. Which could suggest I was in-balance and thus could have future back problems.
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(Similar to if you keep your wallet in your back pocket).
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I then actively tried to keep note of how I was sitting.
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As soon, as the Herman Miller arrived and I got to work on this very email. I noticed it!
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This explained why there was a certain in-balance on one side of the chair. It also explained some knee pains when I put my whole leg on one knee.
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I then told this to my twin brother in which he gave me a huge lecture on why that is bad for you from the research and paradigms he knows.
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I am now actively avoiding the cross-legged sitting position and doing my best to break this habit. From my record of breaking a habit, I'm pretty sure I can do it. This one is simple, every time I notice, I actively change it. With time, this habit will be fixed + the added accountability of "I don't want to break the new expensive chair I bought".
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I mention this to help any of my sitting professionals friends. ( There are a lot of you ) To ensure they look after their back and their chairs. Who knows what long-term back damage I was doing to myself, the chair didn't last long. My back is clearly more adaptable but it will break one day too.
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The solution is not everyone gets a Herman Miller. It is a beautiful luxury. After purchase, I did realise I spend more time on my chair than I do on my bed. Was a very interesting perceptive.
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Best tools for me from 2023
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Speechify - A tool that reads out loud with AI any pdf and or Kindle I have.
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YNAB - A tool that keeps track of all my monthly and yearly expenses so I don't have to.
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Nutracheck - A tool that tells me what I can or can not eat dynamically
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Google Keep - The internet of my mind. Where I dump anything, in photos, recordings, and notes and it is all searchable like Google.
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SaneBox - The email filter that only forwards urgent emails to the inbox. Every other email goes to SaneLater and SaneNews. Thus, my inbox just becomes a list of to-do list items without the distraction.
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Abacus - A 3 pound charity shop abacus that keeps track of how many sets I have left in my workouts.
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StreamDeck - Keeps track of all my key binds and makes them into buttons so I don't have to memorise anything
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Workspacer - A tile manager that makes it look like i3wm but for windows
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Lumie Light + Cold Plunge - The best waking-up tools to not feel tired and make me feel invincible to the cold in the winter.
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Oura ring - keep track of my sleep automatically.
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A second phone - Redunacy of my first phone. Does everything my first phone does just with more battery life and I have 2 phone providers so I always have 'internet' wherever I go. No more dead spots.
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Google Workspace via a business account - Google Calendar and every Google stuff is much better on a business account. For example, labeling your colors on Google calendar.
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Slicing Pie - Keeps track of work accomplished and pays people on equity automatically.
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Canva - Makes my YouTube thumbnails.
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Books - Blogs in a physical format that are condensed, consistent, and time-saving for a little bit of money.
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Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter for the past year.
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I've truly enjoyed writing it.
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As a thank you, I've decided to add the WIFI password for McDonalds.
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As far as I know, it works for every UK McDonalds restaurant. I've been told it's worldwide. Please let me know if that is the case.
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I hope this gift serves you well in your endeavors.
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