Weekly journal: 2023-02-12

As part of my year of connection, I’m going to experiment with a weekly journal here to connect with myself. You’ll probably be bored if you read this.

Last week

Let’s start with a vowel check:

• A – Have I practiced abstinence this week? Yup, thanks to last week’s weekly experiment (see below).
• E – Have I exercised well this week? Good week! Three solid lifting sessions and 20 miles running.
• I – What have I done for myself this week? Started reading Harry Potter again. It’s been a few years and I’m loving it already.
• O – What have I done for others this week? Gathered up a list of book recommendations for my 12 year old and we’re starting to read one at the same time like a little book club.
• U – Do I have any unexpressed emotions? I keep getting these little pangs of stress. I feel them in my chest and they seem to come habitually now at random times, especially when I’m thinking about growth or work. I’m trying to do a better job of following this rule: “I commit to feeling my feelings all the way through to completion. They come, and I locate them in my body then move, breathe and vocalize them so they release all the way through.”
• Y – The “yeah” factor; what brought me joy this week? Fun trail run with my brother in law! I don’t usually get to run with other people and that was dope.

Last week’s plans vs. reality:

• Weekly experiment: Text someone (Nancy, probably) whenever I want to eat something I’ll regret. This has been working really well. I spin up a “Don’t Eat That” group chat with Nancy and my brother in law and told them they’d probably want to mute it. Whenever I want to eat something, I text them first. It’s similar to sharing pictures of everything I eat except it happens before instead of after eating. Usually the text is enough to prevent me from eating it because it adds awareness and kills the mindlessness of the whole thing. I’m hoping this sticks once the novelty wears off. I think the trick will be to never ever ever eat something unhealthy without texting it first, because that’s how the slippery slope starts.
• Mistake of ambition: Nothing planned this week. Stuck to that. Just a good solid week, nothing crazy.
• Looking forward to: Getting back on a trail for a long run sometime this week. Did a 10 miler solo and another 4 miles with my brother in law.
• Stressing me out: Kicking off a coaching training at work. First session was great! Someone else said they were nervous about being there so I used that as an opportunity to admit I was nervous about leading it. Respond to vulnerability with vulnerability, amirite?

Takeaways from last week:

• I should ask for help with whatever I’m struggling with (like the food texting thing).
• Running with someone else is pretty cool.

Next week

• What’s my next weekly experiment? Shower at the gym and go straight from there to a coffee shop, instead of going home.
• What is stressing me out? Just those weird pangs of stress that I’ve been getting lately, mentioned above. Not sure what to think about those. I’ll just keep recognizing them and accepting them and do a better job of vocalizing them.
• What’s my next mistake of ambition? Write a manifesto for focusing the entire team on one piece of work, and share it around my workplace.
• What am I looking forward to? I’m taking Tuesday off work for Valentine’s day! 💘 Gonna clown about town with Nancy while the kids are at school.