"If you don't plan what you're going to do with the hours of the day,
the day will plan it for you.
You'll be led to do this, do that, this will get your interest, that will get
your interest, which leads to that, talking to this person, picking up
some groceries, filling up the car with gas, etc.
And at the end of the day, not a lot really gets done. Mostly running
around in circles.
Sort of like how people deal with money. Without giving purpose to their
money, they just spend it on anything that comes their way and then
they find it's all gone. "
- Brian Kim MIT of 4/30/13
I know I posted this MIT on Tuesday, but love it and I want to signify the significance of this statement. I was talking to my nurse I was shadowing today in the ER and he said "you'll see why/how the money you make just goes by" and also mentioned that he liked to buy expensive things. He was a great guy but in my mind I was thinking, "You're right, it could certainly turn out like that, but at the same time, I want to spend my hard earned money on my priorities. The things in life that are truly important to me. The things that will allow me to achieve my goals." Don't spend and buy on impulse desires, because as stated in quotes, if you spend without purpose, you'll find that it is, somehow, all gone.
Yesterday, Wednesday, was supposed to be day 11. But no I relinquished again. The second time in three days and the second time out of 13 days. I am here to analyze why this has happened. Is there something I am doing wrong compared to my research of how others became early morning risers? Well to start, I'm not past my 30 day cycle yet but that shouldn't really make the difference. I can tell already after 11 days, minus the two days where I slept in, that my body is adjusting to waking at this time. I'm still not incredibly energetic to get up when I hear that morning alarm go off. I would like it to be that way because that's going to sustain me in the long run. Right now, it has worked because I have a set process that allows me to wake up. This process, as I have mentioned before, is to set my alarm in my bathroom the night before, and when it goes off, go to the bathroom, TURN on the light, turn the alarm off, and urinate. Now I just tell myself, "Just go wash your face and you'll feel better". So that's what I do and by that time I think about the psychological meaning I am doing this for. And that is the discipline, to show myself how bad I want it. While that's said, it isn't completely about motivation. As of now, since I'm not rolling out of bed at the sound of the alarm, there are definite temptations to go back to bed, and from previously reading a Brian Kim's article talking about resisting temptations, the best way to combat temptations is to not let yourself get into a situation where you will be tempted. This means taking precautions.
Here are some of the things that I did wrong on both nights where I ended up sleeping in until about 9:20 on both days. I went to bed and fell asleep later than 10:45 - 11:00. This may insignificant but I am not done with my 30 day cycle yet, so it is. On Sunday afternoon and night, I was not tuned into my goal, meaning, I was taking a day off, and although I've read another Brian Kim article talking out taking a day off for yourself once in a while, I felt like this one day shifted my attention away from my purpose. This isn't to say that I won't want a day off, but I need to finish my 30 day cycle first to ingrain the habit. Know what you want to accomplish the the next day that night before bed. There's also a peculiar mentality that I took on Monday morning when I was urinating. I convinced myself that if I was going to wake up early, I was going to wake up at 5 AM. I wasn't going to wake up at 7 because I've already lost two hours. I could make a case for this both ways. What does this mean for me in the future though on nights when I do sleep later? Am I going to have the same reasoning? I am going to have to see and make adjustments.
Regardless, I wanted to get those thoughts off my chest.
Here is that article I was referring to:
http://briankim.net/blog/2009/12/dont-overestimate-your-level-of-willpower/
"There’s no such thing as willpower in it of itself.
Willpower is always attached to a belief you have and the desire to live up to that belief. The stronger that is, the stronger your willpower will be. There’s no need to exercise willpower directly. It’s a byproduct of a belief you desire to hold strongly to."
"Don’t overestimate your level of willpower. It’s easy to do so in order to stroke the ego, but it’s like a person who overestimates his own strength when lifting weights.
He puts himself in a situation that tempts his blown up notion of how strong he is by loading up more weight on the bar than he can handle and gets crushed as a result.
Don’t overestimate your level of willpower. Don’t even put yourself in a position to cave into it in the first place. Focus on what you believe, on your desire to live up to that belief and that’ll prove to be the best move to make so you don’t cave into your temptations."
Remember Who You Are
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Day 10
"If you don't plan what you're going to do with the hours of the day,
the day will plan it for you.
You'll be led to do this, do that, this will get your interest, that will get
your interest, which leads to that, talking to this person, picking up
some groceries, filling up the car with gas, etc.
And at the end of the day, not a lot really gets done. Mostly running
around in circles.
Sort of like how people deal with money. Without giving purpose to their
money, they just spend it on anything that comes their way and then
they find it's all gone. "
- Brian Kim MIT of 4/30/13
Today is day 10, not day 11. This is because on Sunday, I slept late, around 11:45 and that morning my alarm was set for 7, but I capitulated. This is Tuesday and day 10.
the day will plan it for you.
You'll be led to do this, do that, this will get your interest, that will get
your interest, which leads to that, talking to this person, picking up
some groceries, filling up the car with gas, etc.
And at the end of the day, not a lot really gets done. Mostly running
around in circles.
Sort of like how people deal with money. Without giving purpose to their
money, they just spend it on anything that comes their way and then
they find it's all gone. "
- Brian Kim MIT of 4/30/13
Today is day 10, not day 11. This is because on Sunday, I slept late, around 11:45 and that morning my alarm was set for 7, but I capitulated. This is Tuesday and day 10.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Spectacular Hikes Around the World
I was looking at this website yesterday.
Europe
Matterhorn
Beautiful! And Of Course, Kilimanjaro!
My Laptop Background:
I'm just sitting here this morning appreciating the quiet, peaceful sounds of nature, of birds chirping, some bird that makes a hoo, hoo, hoo sound (not an owl) that immediately stimulates my neurons and takes me back to the feeling of grandeur, splendid beauty, and unknown of Yosemite as a kid. It reminds me of very fond split images and memories that I have of sitting exactly where I am sitting now typing this and listening to this cassette of piano music and the sounds of nature together. I still remember the piano music, although I do not know the name of the pieces. And on a side note- this may sound silly- but it reminds me of the Berenstain Bears books I used to read as a kid and I always associated them with nature. Just reminiscing here. It's a cloudy day- so far at least- and I don't mind one bit.
Day 9 and Planting Seeds
"I'm a firm believer that the good things we experience in life can be traced
WAY BACK in time when we planted good seeds.
When we planted the good seeds of treating others right.
When we planted the good seeds of discipline.
When we planted the good seeds of patience.
The fruits didn't appear 2 minutes after we planted.
They appeared when we planted and cultivated them for a long period of time.
All the more reason to keep on planting and cultivating today as much as we can."
- Brian Kim MIT of 9/19/11
www.briankim.net
Today is Day 9. I was tired yesterday night. Fell asleep around 9:30, that's right, fell asleep. And this morning, before my alarm went off, I could tell I was already decently refreshed as I was awake from my slumber and wondering how much longer I had until the alarm would go off in the bathroom. To be honest, there are still times when I wish I could just snooze and relax to whenever I finally felt completely rested. But I remember that even though that can feel good when laying in bed, those who rise early are more productive in the morning and throughout the day, and are higher correlated with success. I'm also up 3 extra hours per day compared to sleeping at 2 and waking at 12, so that makes about a surplus of 21 hours per week where I can work on myself. That's pretty much a whole day right there! That's the power of doing the small things as they accumulate quickly over time that is going to pass regardless if you're sleeping or not! I'm not saying that I'll never stay up late again. If I should be out doing something I enjoy, then certainly, but I want to set in the 30 day lock to ingrain the habit into my subconscious.
I also want to mention that our family is going healthy eating-wise after recently reading an article that I very briefly mentioned about yesterday by Tim O'Shea. We are only going to be consuming foods that do not contain MSG, hormones, pesticides, herbicides (so we're going organic), GMO's, additives, and preservatives. In terms of water, I was startled by the fact that the water we purchase from the water store reads a 007 on the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) water meter because the water filtered through Zero-Water's 5-Stage Ion Exchange Filter should read 000. When the TDS meter reads 006, the filter needs to be replaced with a new one. Yet the water from the water store read 007 consistently! So now we are filtering the water from the water store before we boil it and drink it. Perhaps in the water store's defense, it does say on the Zero-Water's box that: "It may also be used as a simple method to compare water quality by displaying the TDS in pars per million only. The meter does not specify what substances comprise the total. The meter should not be used to assess the safety or purity of water, which should only be undertaken by a qualified laboratory." I used to think tap water was safe to drink. I swear I read that from what I thought was a reputable source. After using the meter, our tap water scored in the 300's. Can't believe that what Lucky used to drink.
Plant the seeds of waking early and eating & drinking truly healthy Michael, as they will grow into giants in the future.
WAY BACK in time when we planted good seeds.
When we planted the good seeds of treating others right.
When we planted the good seeds of discipline.
When we planted the good seeds of patience.
The fruits didn't appear 2 minutes after we planted.
They appeared when we planted and cultivated them for a long period of time.
All the more reason to keep on planting and cultivating today as much as we can."
- Brian Kim MIT of 9/19/11
www.briankim.net
Today is Day 9. I was tired yesterday night. Fell asleep around 9:30, that's right, fell asleep. And this morning, before my alarm went off, I could tell I was already decently refreshed as I was awake from my slumber and wondering how much longer I had until the alarm would go off in the bathroom. To be honest, there are still times when I wish I could just snooze and relax to whenever I finally felt completely rested. But I remember that even though that can feel good when laying in bed, those who rise early are more productive in the morning and throughout the day, and are higher correlated with success. I'm also up 3 extra hours per day compared to sleeping at 2 and waking at 12, so that makes about a surplus of 21 hours per week where I can work on myself. That's pretty much a whole day right there! That's the power of doing the small things as they accumulate quickly over time that is going to pass regardless if you're sleeping or not! I'm not saying that I'll never stay up late again. If I should be out doing something I enjoy, then certainly, but I want to set in the 30 day lock to ingrain the habit into my subconscious.
I also want to mention that our family is going healthy eating-wise after recently reading an article that I very briefly mentioned about yesterday by Tim O'Shea. We are only going to be consuming foods that do not contain MSG, hormones, pesticides, herbicides (so we're going organic), GMO's, additives, and preservatives. In terms of water, I was startled by the fact that the water we purchase from the water store reads a 007 on the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) water meter because the water filtered through Zero-Water's 5-Stage Ion Exchange Filter should read 000. When the TDS meter reads 006, the filter needs to be replaced with a new one. Yet the water from the water store read 007 consistently! So now we are filtering the water from the water store before we boil it and drink it. Perhaps in the water store's defense, it does say on the Zero-Water's box that: "It may also be used as a simple method to compare water quality by displaying the TDS in pars per million only. The meter does not specify what substances comprise the total. The meter should not be used to assess the safety or purity of water, which should only be undertaken by a qualified laboratory." I used to think tap water was safe to drink. I swear I read that from what I thought was a reputable source. After using the meter, our tap water scored in the 300's. Can't believe that what Lucky used to drink.
Plant the seeds of waking early and eating & drinking truly healthy Michael, as they will grow into giants in the future.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Words to Remove from My Vocabulary
Words To Use Instead of "a lot":
Exorbitant, exuberance, plethora, surplus, overabundance of,
"It bothers me a lot":
considerably,
Words to supplant "important":
Imperative, paramount,
Words to supplant "I'm thinking about":
preoccupied with, engrossed in, captivated by, immersed in, obsessed with, grasping with the thought of
Words to supplant "angry":
exasperated with,
Words to supplant "annnoyed":
pestered with,
Words to supplant "vocabulary":
vernacular, nomenclature,
"interesting":
captivating, intriguing, thought-provoking, mind-blowing, compelling, enthralling, consuming, spellbinding,
"Don't you give/feed me that, that's ridiculous" (colloquial sense):
manipulative, that's an affront to what I've suffered through, that's grandiose of you to say that..., unfair, petty, partisan, unwarranted,
"that's ignoring of the fact...":
evading, bypassing, circumventing, neglecting, to turn deaf to, that's slighting the facts that the side effects of chemotherapy are..., offsetting the fact that..., beating around the bush of the fact that...,
"significant" ("you are evading a very significant..."):
consequential, paramount, pressing, cardinal,
"You have to look at it as a whole":
entirety, holistically,
"That's stupid!":
asinine,
"surprising":
astonishing, extraordinary, startling, stupefying, stupendous, inconceivable, confounding,
Exorbitant, exuberance, plethora, surplus, overabundance of,
"It bothers me a lot":
considerably,
Words to supplant "important":
Imperative, paramount,
Words to supplant "I'm thinking about":
preoccupied with, engrossed in, captivated by, immersed in, obsessed with, grasping with the thought of
Words to supplant "angry":
exasperated with,
Words to supplant "annnoyed":
pestered with,
Words to supplant "vocabulary":
vernacular, nomenclature,
"interesting":
captivating, intriguing, thought-provoking, mind-blowing, compelling, enthralling, consuming, spellbinding,
"Don't you give/feed me that, that's ridiculous" (colloquial sense):
manipulative, that's an affront to what I've suffered through, that's grandiose of you to say that..., unfair, petty, partisan, unwarranted,
"that's ignoring of the fact...":
evading, bypassing, circumventing, neglecting, to turn deaf to, that's slighting the facts that the side effects of chemotherapy are..., offsetting the fact that..., beating around the bush of the fact that...,
"significant" ("you are evading a very significant..."):
consequential, paramount, pressing, cardinal,
"You have to look at it as a whole":
entirety, holistically,
"That's stupid!":
asinine,
"surprising":
astonishing, extraordinary, startling, stupefying, stupendous, inconceivable, confounding,
Day 8 and Digestion of an Exorbitant Amount of Information
"When you CONSISTENTLY execute and follow through on something hard, every
single day, it's like you're slowly building a sun inside of you.
Weeks and a month later, the sun is starting to glow and radiate out of you.
You'll notice people react to you differently. Something's up. Something about you
people can't put their finger on, but it's good.
Your "aura" begins to shine ever so brightly.
It's a whole mix of things really - positive self image, self confidence, self esteem,
discipline, thinking, etc., and one of the greatest things about it is that it spills
over into other areas of your life, raising those levels to new unimaginable heights.
The best way to experience this?
Stop a bad habit. "
- Brian Kim MIT of 12/12/11
www.briankim.net
An "aura" that people will notice from you. Step by step will make all the difference. Today is Day 8 and I am reviewing my new knowledge on cancer for my professor's paper. BTW, I just happened to be browsing through Yahoo's slideshow when I serendipitously, I saw an article discussing the non-benefit and increased risk of getting mammograms where a day early, I read about the dangers of the screening procedure from "To the Cancer Patient: Natural Cures vs. Traditional".
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/breast-cancer-awareness-story-asks--are-mammograms-necessary--194041170.html
http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/cancer/to-the-cancer-patient/
<--Exposes the truth about big and despicable pharmaceutical companies (Dr. Tim O'Shea)
Question that is Consuming my Mind this Morning:
How do you digest something when you feel there is an overload of information to grasp and make near-perfect sense of?
My first thought is by taking it step by step. One read at a time. Perhaps SQ4R's wRite's step. Perhaps Cornell Notes. Naturally, digestion of information will take time, I understand that. Perhaps I should try learning by outlining important and insightful parts with interesting questions like from many product advertisement pages nowadays where they convince you to purchase their merchandise by ask intriguing questions- like there is some huge secret, esoteric knowledge kept from the majority of the masses- that get you to really think and desire to know this lost, clandestine body of knowledge. After all, answers to QUESTIONS is an imperative step in SQ4R to accentuate our active participation and ability to retain information that you spend time on. I need to try this "mimicking of product advertisement questions" tactic.
single day, it's like you're slowly building a sun inside of you.
Weeks and a month later, the sun is starting to glow and radiate out of you.
You'll notice people react to you differently. Something's up. Something about you
people can't put their finger on, but it's good.
Your "aura" begins to shine ever so brightly.
It's a whole mix of things really - positive self image, self confidence, self esteem,
discipline, thinking, etc., and one of the greatest things about it is that it spills
over into other areas of your life, raising those levels to new unimaginable heights.
The best way to experience this?
Stop a bad habit. "
- Brian Kim MIT of 12/12/11
www.briankim.net
An "aura" that people will notice from you. Step by step will make all the difference. Today is Day 8 and I am reviewing my new knowledge on cancer for my professor's paper. BTW, I just happened to be browsing through Yahoo's slideshow when I serendipitously, I saw an article discussing the non-benefit and increased risk of getting mammograms where a day early, I read about the dangers of the screening procedure from "To the Cancer Patient: Natural Cures vs. Traditional".
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/breast-cancer-awareness-story-asks--are-mammograms-necessary--194041170.html
http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/cancer/to-the-cancer-patient/
<--Exposes the truth about big and despicable pharmaceutical companies (Dr. Tim O'Shea)
Question that is Consuming my Mind this Morning:
How do you digest something when you feel there is an overload of information to grasp and make near-perfect sense of?
My first thought is by taking it step by step. One read at a time. Perhaps SQ4R's wRite's step. Perhaps Cornell Notes. Naturally, digestion of information will take time, I understand that. Perhaps I should try learning by outlining important and insightful parts with interesting questions like from many product advertisement pages nowadays where they convince you to purchase their merchandise by ask intriguing questions- like there is some huge secret, esoteric knowledge kept from the majority of the masses- that get you to really think and desire to know this lost, clandestine body of knowledge. After all, answers to QUESTIONS is an imperative step in SQ4R to accentuate our active participation and ability to retain information that you spend time on. I need to try this "mimicking of product advertisement questions" tactic.
Friday, April 26, 2013
A Conversation to Remember and Day 7
"The difference in terms of how you feel about your dreams when
you have "space" vs. when you don't have "space" is scary.
When you have so many responsibilities and things to do and you
can't seem to keep your head above water, your dreams have no
spark. They feel like burdens. Like anchors.
But when you start simplifying, minimizing, creating systems,
becoming more efficient, and that space starts to grow, that
same dream has room to breathe.
It feels light. Energizing. Exciting.
It's not suffocating anymore."
- Brian Kim MIT of 4/26/13
www.briankim.net
When I just read it for the first time, I felt confused about what was being talked about. I read it again and all of a sudden it made sense. When you are swamped with things you have to do to achieve your goals, it can be a burden more than a blessing. People associate hard work with the feeling of burden often times. It's important to do the simplest yet most effective things that way we don't burn ourselves out. A process of taking things in manageable steps. A good example of this just occurred yesterday in fact. My brother and I had just a deep, honest, stimulating conversation about life, our topic that we proposed to write about which my brother and I are ardent about (cancer related) & books that she's read that relate to the epidemic of cancer (ex: the omnivore's dilemma), spirituality, the story of Lucky, her own nursing experience, the future of medicine, introversion (as she is also an introvert is what she said)/ why I am the way I am, the depth that I have, and she also recounted to us, for the second time, the effectiveness of a simple yet profound statement to ask people, especially patients. "What's important to you?". This simple question has yielded answers that she could never have thought of or expected. This simple question is deep and it truly allows one to build connection with that individual. Many times patients will love you for asking this question because they will see the discussion you have from this as signs that you care and are on the same side with the same goal: to get them back to as healthy as they can be.
I loved our talk. She is great with positive body language that encourages you to continue talking about what's on your mind. Head nods; voice tone of interest/curiosity; active listening; and circulating honest opinions from each one of allowed our conversation to go to its level of depth. Definitely my favorite professor and very likely still tops the list out of favorite teachers I've had throughout my 20 year life. Spectacular professor. Encouraging, and a definite a role model for me in the sense that she is a promoter of yourself, of your talents, of your ideas; a disciplined individual who thinks for what she wants in life and looks for the bigger picture instead of falling into the trap of materialism; a person who genuinely cares for other people in every sense of the word; an individual with the courage, integrity, humility, and compassion to do what is necessary to care for others; and a person, after all her experiences in life, is still motivated and lives with purpose. Respect.
Today is Day 7 of my 30 day challenge to build the habit of becoming a habitual early-riser.
you have "space" vs. when you don't have "space" is scary.
When you have so many responsibilities and things to do and you
can't seem to keep your head above water, your dreams have no
spark. They feel like burdens. Like anchors.
But when you start simplifying, minimizing, creating systems,
becoming more efficient, and that space starts to grow, that
same dream has room to breathe.
It feels light. Energizing. Exciting.
It's not suffocating anymore."
- Brian Kim MIT of 4/26/13
www.briankim.net
When I just read it for the first time, I felt confused about what was being talked about. I read it again and all of a sudden it made sense. When you are swamped with things you have to do to achieve your goals, it can be a burden more than a blessing. People associate hard work with the feeling of burden often times. It's important to do the simplest yet most effective things that way we don't burn ourselves out. A process of taking things in manageable steps. A good example of this just occurred yesterday in fact. My brother and I had just a deep, honest, stimulating conversation about life, our topic that we proposed to write about which my brother and I are ardent about (cancer related) & books that she's read that relate to the epidemic of cancer (ex: the omnivore's dilemma), spirituality, the story of Lucky, her own nursing experience, the future of medicine, introversion (as she is also an introvert is what she said)/ why I am the way I am, the depth that I have, and she also recounted to us, for the second time, the effectiveness of a simple yet profound statement to ask people, especially patients. "What's important to you?". This simple question has yielded answers that she could never have thought of or expected. This simple question is deep and it truly allows one to build connection with that individual. Many times patients will love you for asking this question because they will see the discussion you have from this as signs that you care and are on the same side with the same goal: to get them back to as healthy as they can be.
I loved our talk. She is great with positive body language that encourages you to continue talking about what's on your mind. Head nods; voice tone of interest/curiosity; active listening; and circulating honest opinions from each one of allowed our conversation to go to its level of depth. Definitely my favorite professor and very likely still tops the list out of favorite teachers I've had throughout my 20 year life. Spectacular professor. Encouraging, and a definite a role model for me in the sense that she is a promoter of yourself, of your talents, of your ideas; a disciplined individual who thinks for what she wants in life and looks for the bigger picture instead of falling into the trap of materialism; a person who genuinely cares for other people in every sense of the word; an individual with the courage, integrity, humility, and compassion to do what is necessary to care for others; and a person, after all her experiences in life, is still motivated and lives with purpose. Respect.
Today is Day 7 of my 30 day challenge to build the habit of becoming a habitual early-riser.
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