"When you see somebody succeed at something, it's so easy to think
that everything was all sunshine and rainbows up to that point.
But when you start reading their biographies, you see it all.
Tears, humiliation, embarrassment, fear, giving up, doubts, worries.
It's all there.
And then you can see how that all tied in to where they are today.
You can see those invisible connected strings.
And then you realize that's the story we all share.
It's the story of the human spirit.
To experience all that crap and to overcome it anyway.
And to pass those stories on to the next generation to help guide their way."
- Brian Kim MIT of February 6th, 2013
Up at 4:22 AM. Stopped eating by 5:30 yesterday. I feel alright, even though I did not get to sleep in as early as I would have liked. I probably fell asleep around 10:30. I am alright though. Today is day 16 and there are eight more days of my Junior Two semester.
Remember Who You Are
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Day 15
"One of the traps we fall into is thinking that things HAVE
to go a certain way and if they don't go that certain way,
then all is lost.
That's a very limited way of looking at things and it comes
from our limited experience.
There's MILLIONS of ways it can happen.
So if it doesn't go that particular certain way, that's like losing
a grain of sand at the beach.
It's no biggie.
Plenty more where that came from."
- Brian Kim MIT of Feb. 18th, 2013
Today is day 15 and I feel excellent. For the past two days- including today- I'm up at 4:22 AM. I fell asleep around a little past 10 PM, I estimate. Today is the first time that I've experienced waking up and getting out of bed instantly once hearing the alarm go off. I want to make a note that I stopped all eating by 5:30 while yesterday, it was 7. Keep this up. Yesterday, I spent an estimated five hours total of resting, eating, and non-studying time. I'm up for about 17 and a half hours, so leaves about 11 hours of work done. Signed up for EMT classes yesterday. I'm excited. Silvestri is giving me confidence as well. And today, our last day of clinical, we will see the life flight. Let's see how this goes.
To another day of learning to becoming the leader, a life-saver, and the difference maker in a crisis.
to go a certain way and if they don't go that certain way,
then all is lost.
That's a very limited way of looking at things and it comes
from our limited experience.
There's MILLIONS of ways it can happen.
So if it doesn't go that particular certain way, that's like losing
a grain of sand at the beach.
It's no biggie.
Plenty more where that came from."
- Brian Kim MIT of Feb. 18th, 2013
Today is day 15 and I feel excellent. For the past two days- including today- I'm up at 4:22 AM. I fell asleep around a little past 10 PM, I estimate. Today is the first time that I've experienced waking up and getting out of bed instantly once hearing the alarm go off. I want to make a note that I stopped all eating by 5:30 while yesterday, it was 7. Keep this up. Yesterday, I spent an estimated five hours total of resting, eating, and non-studying time. I'm up for about 17 and a half hours, so leaves about 11 hours of work done. Signed up for EMT classes yesterday. I'm excited. Silvestri is giving me confidence as well. And today, our last day of clinical, we will see the life flight. Let's see how this goes.
To another day of learning to becoming the leader, a life-saver, and the difference maker in a crisis.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Day 14 & Grateful Mindset
"You hear the statistics on cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc., and it's just
that: statistics.
That is, until you find out somebody close to you is one of those statistics.
And all of a sudden, the things you thought mattered so much, don't
matter as much anymore.
Part of those things are still somewhat important, but priorities shift.
And part of you can't believe how you didn't think the way you do now
in the first place, but such is life.
The trick is to remember that new mindset and to live it and to never forget it."
- Brian Kim MIT of 5/6/13
Be grateful. I'm grateful for the opportunity to become a nurse. Yesterday night before bed, I was watching episode 4 of Inside Combat Rescue- In the Crossfire. Saving a life, there is no feeling like it. There is no better feeling, it's just a different feeling of pride, gratefulness for your life and all forms of life, and analyzing ourselves of how to improve to save the life of others. Today is Day 14. Woke up at 4:22 AM by myself- alarm set for 4:30. I did sleep in yesterday until 8:25 though. I ate my last meal for yesterday at 6:30 PM. Don't know how much of this is due to sleeping in and how much is due to eating vegetables and fruits for my last meal and 3 hours before bed. Keep experimenting though, and make adjustments.
To being the leader, a life-saver, and the difference maker in a crisis.
that: statistics.
That is, until you find out somebody close to you is one of those statistics.
And all of a sudden, the things you thought mattered so much, don't
matter as much anymore.
Part of those things are still somewhat important, but priorities shift.
And part of you can't believe how you didn't think the way you do now
in the first place, but such is life.
The trick is to remember that new mindset and to live it and to never forget it."
- Brian Kim MIT of 5/6/13
Be grateful. I'm grateful for the opportunity to become a nurse. Yesterday night before bed, I was watching episode 4 of Inside Combat Rescue- In the Crossfire. Saving a life, there is no feeling like it. There is no better feeling, it's just a different feeling of pride, gratefulness for your life and all forms of life, and analyzing ourselves of how to improve to save the life of others. Today is Day 14. Woke up at 4:22 AM by myself- alarm set for 4:30. I did sleep in yesterday until 8:25 though. I ate my last meal for yesterday at 6:30 PM. Don't know how much of this is due to sleeping in and how much is due to eating vegetables and fruits for my last meal and 3 hours before bed. Keep experimenting though, and make adjustments.
To being the leader, a life-saver, and the difference maker in a crisis.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Adjustments
I’ll be honest. I slept in until 8:45. I got up at 5 today, got into my morning
routine and found that the internet does not work for some complicated reason
that is beyond my comprehension. See, my dad is the one that nine times out of
ten, fixes it. I’ve certainly asked him before how he does it and while I get
an idea, I’m not completely sure. But I stayed up for 35 minutes trying to fix it but with the
internet not working, I oscillated with the thoughts of going back to bed vs.
salvaging the rest of the early morning and begin to review my notes. NOTE: I have
written down before that I need to plan what I want to accomplish the next day,
the night before, but I forgot again. I need to put this sentence in plain
sight so I see it. Well, needless to say, I know which choice I elected. I’m a little disappointed
in myself. But at the same time, I know that there is no rush. Many people don’t
get this down until their late 20’s or early 30’s I suspect. Secondly, I’ll
just try and make some adjustments. I’m getting used to waking at 5 in the
morning but I still feel a little tired and not as awake as I’d like to be. Number
one pillar is to experiment, so let’s experiment.
Save the step by step morning routine with small differences here and there, that is what I want to feel like when my alarm ticks 05:00:00.
Links I've used to learn how to rise early:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/10/how-to-wake-up-feeling-totally-alert/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser-part-ii/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/04/how-to-get-up-right-away-when-your-alarm-goes-off/
http://briankim.net/blog/2009/08/the-power-of-having-a-great-morning-routine/
My diet recently has been evolving into healthier choices
after reviving my research into cancer thanks to Tim O’Shea. I usually stop
eating two hours before bed and this portion would not be over the top buffet
style. In fact, eat lightly at night is another pillar. Yesterday, I violated
it. Perhaps I need to be stricter with this rule. I’m going to change it to 3
hours. Be done with all ingestion three hours prior to bed. Yesterday night, I ate
some buffalo sauce chicken breasts from Costco about five hours before bed and
some fruits an hour before bed. That was the first time I ate some thicker
styled meats in a while but that was several hours before. I don’t think I’m
going to go vegetarian- maybe in the distant future. I’ll try no food at all for
the last three hours before bed and assess my early morning energy levels.
From research, I’ve read that “the fog of the brain”- yes
like the fog of war- should not be an issue in the long run. It does take time to transition
but you should be up and alert and ready to go. In the beginning, it will take
a moderate amount of discipline but it should not take an inhuman amount of
discipline. Currently, when that alarm goes off, there are days where I will
experience that fog of the brain, and other days where my circadian rhythm
tells me that it’s about time to get up. In terms of rating my alertness in the
first hour of getting up to the rest of the day, it’s about a 7.5 - 8 versus a
9, on a scale of 1 – 10 where one is the sound of the alarm going off for a minute
before I realize the alarm has already gone off; five is I’m up, sitting at my
desk but enveloped in a haze where I can function but it’ll be quite
unproductive (ex: staying up late and trying to do work at 3 in the morning);
seven being, I can sit at my desk and function but my mind will remind me that
another hour of sleep would be nice; eight being: “I’ll just play some Immediate Music or Two
Steps From Hell and I’ll be as ready to go like a 9 as I am in the
afternoon”; nine being, zero thoughts of sleep or being tired circulate in my mind and
ready to use my time productively; and ten being, raring to go as if today is
the day I set flight for an Adventure in a far away land- which is the type of
energy level I have sparsely experienced.
That’s where I am right now and my end goal for alertness and energy in the early morning is something like this: “Your
alarm goes off at 5am, and you immediately get out of bed without a second
thought. As you orient yourself to the
waking world, you can barely detect any lingering grogginess, even if you look
for it. You stand up and stretch,
feeling totally alert, fully conscious, and eager to start your day. The thought of going back to bed to get some
extra sleep seems completely alien to you.
It feels great to be up early, and you know you’ll put those
early morning hours to good use. You’ll
be able to exercise, shower, get dressed, eat a healthy breakfast, read some
inspiring material, and invest an hour in your home-based business — all before
8am. And you know that the habit of
starting each day this way will serve you well for life.
Maintaining this habit is easy for you. You don’t have to force yourself out of bed,
and it doesn’t seem to require much discipline at all. It feels normal and natural to be alert and
active at this time.”
-
Steve Pavlina
Save the step by step morning routine with small differences here and there, that is what I want to feel like when my alarm ticks 05:00:00.
Links I've used to learn how to rise early:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/10/how-to-wake-up-feeling-totally-alert/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser-part-ii/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/04/how-to-get-up-right-away-when-your-alarm-goes-off/
http://briankim.net/blog/2009/08/the-power-of-having-a-great-morning-routine/
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Day 13 & The Essence of What a Man Is
"Stuff is going to happen to us all.
It's how you learn how to react to that stuff that's going to make
the difference.
Remember everything that happens is neutral until you give it a meaning.
Feel that distance between event and response.
Often, we can't understand the meaning of events until time has passed
and we look back."
- Brian Kim MIT of March 21st, 2013
For some reason, throughout high school and even as a kid in middle-school- when I started finding myself consistently noticing and thinking about girls- I always knew in the back of my mind that not having a girlfriend and not having the typical adolescent short-term emotional roller coaster flings did not rock my sense of a long term developing-masculinity. I always knew that being in a relationship is not the determining attribute of a man. You may say, "well teenage girls are attracted to guys with men-like qualities, so if you're in a relationship, that gives substance that proves your worth, your masculinity." To which I would respond with this:
http://briankim.net/blog/2007/08/how-to-be-a-man/
One day in high school, I read this article for the first time in my life and a bright light bulb went off.
Spectacular. Just excellent. The definition and passageway of a man. It reminds me of how and why so many teenagers and college students nowadays can still be seen as young-adolescents who need to grow up mentally, personality-wise, value-wise, attitude-wise, and generally, holistically in life.
The benefit of studying and implementing Brian Kim's plethora of wisdom is the undeniable truth that you will automatically be taking the road down to having your self-chosen noble direction and purpose; to be understanding your own values or where your "lines" are; making the sacrifices needed in order to pursue your direction in life; practicing the courage to sacrifice things in your life for a higher ideal; along with the thickening desire and engaging belief system to manifest the will, confidence, and strength to overcome ANY obstacle that stands in your way.
I love his point about the ultimate male fantasy, which is of utmost truth for myself: "Contrary to what most people think, the ultimate male fantasy is not a night of passionate love making with the most beautiful woman on the planet. It is having the will, confidence, and strength to overcome any obstacle set forth before him."
He relates this as to why men are obsessed with sports: "Sports provide a safe haven to showcase masculinity in the absence of other dangerous mediums that require it, such as warfare.
Direction, drawn lines, sacrifice, courage, goals, hard work, leadership, teamwork, planning, putting it all on the line, physical exercise, endurance - all of this mirrors the foundational essence of masculinity. All of this leads up to precisely what the universal archetype of man always seems to be:
The Hero."
The natural archetypes we have of men are soldiers who defend their country, firefighters who go into burning buildings to practice the apex of courage and self-sacrifice.
"It is this archetype, the archetype of a hero, who has noble direction, who has drawn the line, who has sacrificed, who has persevered and confidently overcome obstacles, who possesses the ultimate form of courage, the courage to sacrifice oneself for the lives of those around him and/or for a higher ideal, it is this definition of man that seem to permeate and transcend ALL cultures, societies, and religions around the globe, making it the universal definition of man."
And when I look at the steps Brian Kim has listed to becoming a man, I can't deny the fact that I'm feeling great about myself. Number two, Seek Out Older Men You Look Up To And Have Them Mentor You, poses an interesting question for me. Who are my male role models? Where have I gotten my values from? Several names come into my mind. When it comes to developing relationships and communication, there are a few that have and will pave the way for my development there. David Wygant and Carlos Xuma are two I admire and look up to because they teach how to build relationships based off authentic connection and communication with others, not your idiotic pick-up techniques and tactics with inauthenticity. And when it comes to the types of relationships I want with people, it's all due to my good friend who first gave me the opportunity to realize how satisfying a deep friendship was. Before that, the thought of talking about the more important things in life just did not really cross my mind, nor did I have the opportunities of this level of depth in conversation. Past conversations would usually reach a moderate level of depth and connection and it would halt there. My personality has played a big part of contributing to the type of conversations I like to have and it has also very much contributed to the infrequent opportunities to have this level of conversation.
When it comes to my values, a lot of them were set in by my parents and Chinese school I attended from a very young age until the end of 10th grade in high school. I am proud to have become and individual with compassion, integrity, humility, understanding, empathy, and honesty. Other values as to what I desire in my life has really been shaped by my childhood experiences mixing with other people's lives who I've come to admire and would like to experience similar experiences as them. Bear Grylls is one. I love his desire for the beauty of nature and outdoor adventure. I can really see how Man vs. Wild has contributed exceedingly to my desire for outdoor adventure and travel.
I can't summarize briefly and do even close-enough-justice to how much I've grown spiritually ever so gradually since late high school to early college to today. And my desire for self-improvement has really been an inevitable result of the entire accumulation of my life, although if you wanted to pinpoint a time of inception of my "official" self-improvement journey, it would be in early high school and I can even make a case for 8th grade.
I've grown physically with my weight training which started the summer after junior year of high school. Amazing that it's already been four years. And although I'm still muscle bound right now, I may have to adjust my physique according to the activities that I wish to pursue in the future. I shall see.
I've been growing in many facets of my life. I'm proud of myself, of who I've become, what I've done with my life so far. But with that said, there is so much more I want to accomplish for myself and for my fellow mankind. I'm far from being satisfied with what and how much I want to positively influence the lives of others. I don't think I'll be satisfied for a long time to come.
It's how you learn how to react to that stuff that's going to make
the difference.
Remember everything that happens is neutral until you give it a meaning.
Feel that distance between event and response.
Often, we can't understand the meaning of events until time has passed
and we look back."
- Brian Kim MIT of March 21st, 2013
For some reason, throughout high school and even as a kid in middle-school- when I started finding myself consistently noticing and thinking about girls- I always knew in the back of my mind that not having a girlfriend and not having the typical adolescent short-term emotional roller coaster flings did not rock my sense of a long term developing-masculinity. I always knew that being in a relationship is not the determining attribute of a man. You may say, "well teenage girls are attracted to guys with men-like qualities, so if you're in a relationship, that gives substance that proves your worth, your masculinity." To which I would respond with this:
http://briankim.net/blog/2007/08/how-to-be-a-man/
One day in high school, I read this article for the first time in my life and a bright light bulb went off.
Spectacular. Just excellent. The definition and passageway of a man. It reminds me of how and why so many teenagers and college students nowadays can still be seen as young-adolescents who need to grow up mentally, personality-wise, value-wise, attitude-wise, and generally, holistically in life.
The benefit of studying and implementing Brian Kim's plethora of wisdom is the undeniable truth that you will automatically be taking the road down to having your self-chosen noble direction and purpose; to be understanding your own values or where your "lines" are; making the sacrifices needed in order to pursue your direction in life; practicing the courage to sacrifice things in your life for a higher ideal; along with the thickening desire and engaging belief system to manifest the will, confidence, and strength to overcome ANY obstacle that stands in your way.
I love his point about the ultimate male fantasy, which is of utmost truth for myself: "Contrary to what most people think, the ultimate male fantasy is not a night of passionate love making with the most beautiful woman on the planet. It is having the will, confidence, and strength to overcome any obstacle set forth before him."
He relates this as to why men are obsessed with sports: "Sports provide a safe haven to showcase masculinity in the absence of other dangerous mediums that require it, such as warfare.
Direction, drawn lines, sacrifice, courage, goals, hard work, leadership, teamwork, planning, putting it all on the line, physical exercise, endurance - all of this mirrors the foundational essence of masculinity. All of this leads up to precisely what the universal archetype of man always seems to be:
The Hero."
The natural archetypes we have of men are soldiers who defend their country, firefighters who go into burning buildings to practice the apex of courage and self-sacrifice.
"It is this archetype, the archetype of a hero, who has noble direction, who has drawn the line, who has sacrificed, who has persevered and confidently overcome obstacles, who possesses the ultimate form of courage, the courage to sacrifice oneself for the lives of those around him and/or for a higher ideal, it is this definition of man that seem to permeate and transcend ALL cultures, societies, and religions around the globe, making it the universal definition of man."
And when I look at the steps Brian Kim has listed to becoming a man, I can't deny the fact that I'm feeling great about myself. Number two, Seek Out Older Men You Look Up To And Have Them Mentor You, poses an interesting question for me. Who are my male role models? Where have I gotten my values from? Several names come into my mind. When it comes to developing relationships and communication, there are a few that have and will pave the way for my development there. David Wygant and Carlos Xuma are two I admire and look up to because they teach how to build relationships based off authentic connection and communication with others, not your idiotic pick-up techniques and tactics with inauthenticity. And when it comes to the types of relationships I want with people, it's all due to my good friend who first gave me the opportunity to realize how satisfying a deep friendship was. Before that, the thought of talking about the more important things in life just did not really cross my mind, nor did I have the opportunities of this level of depth in conversation. Past conversations would usually reach a moderate level of depth and connection and it would halt there. My personality has played a big part of contributing to the type of conversations I like to have and it has also very much contributed to the infrequent opportunities to have this level of conversation.
When it comes to my values, a lot of them were set in by my parents and Chinese school I attended from a very young age until the end of 10th grade in high school. I am proud to have become and individual with compassion, integrity, humility, understanding, empathy, and honesty. Other values as to what I desire in my life has really been shaped by my childhood experiences mixing with other people's lives who I've come to admire and would like to experience similar experiences as them. Bear Grylls is one. I love his desire for the beauty of nature and outdoor adventure. I can really see how Man vs. Wild has contributed exceedingly to my desire for outdoor adventure and travel.
I can't summarize briefly and do even close-enough-justice to how much I've grown spiritually ever so gradually since late high school to early college to today. And my desire for self-improvement has really been an inevitable result of the entire accumulation of my life, although if you wanted to pinpoint a time of inception of my "official" self-improvement journey, it would be in early high school and I can even make a case for 8th grade.
I've grown physically with my weight training which started the summer after junior year of high school. Amazing that it's already been four years. And although I'm still muscle bound right now, I may have to adjust my physique according to the activities that I wish to pursue in the future. I shall see.
I've been growing in many facets of my life. I'm proud of myself, of who I've become, what I've done with my life so far. But with that said, there is so much more I want to accomplish for myself and for my fellow mankind. I'm far from being satisfied with what and how much I want to positively influence the lives of others. I don't think I'll be satisfied for a long time to come.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Day 12 and Competing with Yourself
"The trouble with competing is that your effort is based outside of you.
It's determined externally.
If the competition is tough, that can be a good thing because it causes
you to excel.
But if the competition isn't tough, it's easy to slack off and not try
as hard - thus leading to so many "upsets" in games.
If you play to the level of your competition, your development won't be
consistent.
It'll yo yo up and down.
And what happens when you run out of competition?
Then there's nothing left to "power" your development.
The drive to get better must come from within because only then will
it become consistent."
- Brian Kim MIT of April 24th, 2013
http://briankim.net/blog/2006/11/your-competition-is-with-yourself-and-no-one-else/
"Competition with yourself makes you GROW because it is based entirely within you. When you adopt the model of ceasing to compete with others and resolve only to compete with yourself, a series of events start to fall into sequence that will forever change your life.
Anxiety ceases to develop and in its place, a warm, soothing wave of calmness spreads throughout your body from head to toe as you realize that your actions will now be dictated from within.
You no longer harbor any anger, resentment, or ill-will toward others who you previously viewed as “competition”. You become at peace with them because now you are at peace with yourself.
You start to develop a laser like focus in terms of how you can become better for YOU, not for others and adopt the kaizen model of improvement, little by little, which is arguably the most effective way to do it.
With this newfound laser like focus on improving yourself, you develop an uncanny sense of control of your own life. You don’t waste any time thinking about what other people are doing. Your sole focus is to become the best that YOU can be, based on the standards that YOU set.
When you realize this, you start to develop that virtuous quality known as action, not reaction.
Competition as you once knew it, begins to fade away and what's left is rewarding, joyful, and healthy competition with yourself that actually becomes more motivating and fun as time passes by. It becomes so addicting that it naturally instills itself within you in the form of a habit. You begin to look forward to seeing if you can jog for 15 more seconds on your next run, to pushing 2 more reps than you did last week, or to doing a better job at work than you did the day before.
As you see yourself overcoming the bars you set for yourself, you develop an unshakable confidence that is second to none and now, truly, nothing outside of you can stand in your way.
True competition lies within you. That’s the proper way to view it. Only by competing with yourself will true personal progress be made, because that progress is measured on your own terms and not that of others.
Competition based outside of you can be a powerful driving force, but ultimately, in the end it works AGAINST you. Competition with yourself; now that is a something to be feared by all."
It's determined externally.
If the competition is tough, that can be a good thing because it causes
you to excel.
But if the competition isn't tough, it's easy to slack off and not try
as hard - thus leading to so many "upsets" in games.
If you play to the level of your competition, your development won't be
consistent.
It'll yo yo up and down.
And what happens when you run out of competition?
Then there's nothing left to "power" your development.
The drive to get better must come from within because only then will
it become consistent."
- Brian Kim MIT of April 24th, 2013
http://briankim.net/blog/2006/11/your-competition-is-with-yourself-and-no-one-else/
"Competition with yourself makes you GROW because it is based entirely within you. When you adopt the model of ceasing to compete with others and resolve only to compete with yourself, a series of events start to fall into sequence that will forever change your life.
Anxiety ceases to develop and in its place, a warm, soothing wave of calmness spreads throughout your body from head to toe as you realize that your actions will now be dictated from within.
You no longer harbor any anger, resentment, or ill-will toward others who you previously viewed as “competition”. You become at peace with them because now you are at peace with yourself.
You start to develop a laser like focus in terms of how you can become better for YOU, not for others and adopt the kaizen model of improvement, little by little, which is arguably the most effective way to do it.
With this newfound laser like focus on improving yourself, you develop an uncanny sense of control of your own life. You don’t waste any time thinking about what other people are doing. Your sole focus is to become the best that YOU can be, based on the standards that YOU set.
When you realize this, you start to develop that virtuous quality known as action, not reaction.
Competition as you once knew it, begins to fade away and what's left is rewarding, joyful, and healthy competition with yourself that actually becomes more motivating and fun as time passes by. It becomes so addicting that it naturally instills itself within you in the form of a habit. You begin to look forward to seeing if you can jog for 15 more seconds on your next run, to pushing 2 more reps than you did last week, or to doing a better job at work than you did the day before.
As you see yourself overcoming the bars you set for yourself, you develop an unshakable confidence that is second to none and now, truly, nothing outside of you can stand in your way.
True competition lies within you. That’s the proper way to view it. Only by competing with yourself will true personal progress be made, because that progress is measured on your own terms and not that of others.
Competition based outside of you can be a powerful driving force, but ultimately, in the end it works AGAINST you. Competition with yourself; now that is a something to be feared by all."
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Today is Day 11, How to Resist Temptations, and Spending with Purpose
"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."
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."
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