What should I do, in 2022? (hey, that rhymes!)
#16 - a good dose of accountability
Happy New Year 2022!
2020 was a nightmare playing out in real life. 2021 was a return, back to a new normal, thanks to the magical vaccines. Here’s hoping that 2022 takes us closer to that elusive point in time where we can (some what) lead a life minus the face masks and constant caution, a sadly standard mode of operation at the moment.
I have been spending the week reflecting on the year that 2021 was, sifting through my photos and calendar. I wish I could find my diary that I used as a list tool this year: it would give me greater insight into the little things I did this year.
I encourage you, even if it isn’t a full-on essay on how you grew 4cm in 2021 and got through 59 rolls of tissue, to at least hit Slideshow and relive the highlights of the year that your Photos app readily compiles for you.
And as a sequel to last week's learnings and laments at my substandard success rate with 2021 resolutions, here’s the result of a sit-down-and-decide what to do this year.
Eat 3 fruits and vegetables a day - now, I'm trying not to be one of those people who sets the resolution to lose weight for 18 years in a row, only to see the weighing scale display numbers that increase faster than taxes. But I have a sort of plan: write down all the possible fruits and vegetables I’d have access to. Then at the start of the week, see what needs buying and telling Mum to get it for me. Other ideas include eating one before school, at school and when I get home and finally, merging cooking and healthy snacks by digging up some recipes and havocadoing a go.
Drink 2l of water - to be kind to me, it’s meant to be 2 litres of fluids so my morning and evening milk counts. But, I'm considering drinking a tall glass of water, around 500ml first thing when I get downstairs. It’s apparently good to cleanse out the body whilst also starting me off on the right foot to reach 2l.
Meditate every day - I could use my bus ride but I use the one to school for news and messages and the way back consists of a trip through email, Teams, a couple of Twitter accounts and WhatsApp. I guess the morning Adi will have to save the day by waking up early (he’ll need to be helped out by night Adi to get into bed in time)
Do yoga once a week - should act as a counterbalance for the all the sitting I am destined to do at school and at home. You can never do too much stretching and not one person I know, especially athlete, doesn’t have high regard for it.
Do a thing of self-care once a month - I don’t exactly know what ‘self-care’ if I’m being honest. But when I was doing the rounds on Google for ideas, this one came up a bit. I think it’s stuff like a bath…I’m not sure. I’m feeling cringe writing this but we’ll see whether it is of any use.
Do art once a month - will help exercise my creativity muscle and it's a very rewarding practice - you can see your hard work in a material form.
Mindfully eat once a day - I’ve found myself getting ‘bored’ of late when I’m eating something on my own and not watching/listening something. But this habit, I have a feeling won’t last because I’m always rushing in the morning (aren’t we all?), I’m around people for lunch and the family convenes, almost like a ritual, for dinner.
Make 1 compliment a day - this provides a good opportunity of a fore warning if you receive a strange, out of the blue message of appreciation from me. I am generally polite, say Please and Thank you when I can and if I’m honest, quite people pleasing. But there are days when I can be self-centred so this might help.
And the list is done. To prevent the mistake from last time, I'm taking it step-by-step, with the plan of doing these one at a time. What should I start with it? Maybe the yoga or the eating. Of course I’ll begin the monthly ones in January but from the others, what should I start with? Let me know.
Book of the week 📖
One day, I want to have my own website with book notes from the books I’ve read. So, since I have some time on my hands, I’ve been making notes from Fermat's Last Theorem whilst reading, making the thought of doing it seem hard
Podcast of the week🎙️
The Darius Foroux Show: The Smarter Choice
Didn’t listen to much this week. Here’s one from a couple of weeks back
Article of the week 📰
Forget New Year’s Resolutions and Conduct a ‘Past Year Review’ Instead
This one from the venerable Tim Ferriss goes completely against what we’ve been speaking about. I’ll be trying this at some point.
Quote of the week💬
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an action, but a habit.” - Will Durant
I hope you have a wonderful week. Look after yourself: Omicron is tightening its grip.
Adi
P.S. I’m sorry for leaving you on pessimism. Here’s a joke I recalled when I wrote ‘out of the blue’:
I just realised I’m colour blind. It came completely out the purple.