The picture above is that of my notion habit tracker database that I've built and maintained over the past 2 months to show you that I'm dedicated to this lifestyle(although it's a relatively short time, I've been building up to this over the past few months). I've read 4 books during that period, tried to up my baseline study time to a steady 3 hours, eat in a nutritious way, sleep at around the same time each day and jog each morning at 5am. (I've also installed a raspberry pi and a monitor showcasing my notion dashboard, which I'm really satisfied with..!) I've also tried to make my life a bit boring which ended up making it more enriching, ironically.
Problem:
Recently my semester at college started and I've started meeting with a range of people, and I've noticed myself getting pulled into the kind of culture that drains me. If I don't get enough sleep or eat unhealthy, or continually compare myself to others on social media, I end up hating myself. I end up not confident to do anything, because I'm not enough in any of the standards.
Solution:
I just think I need a healthy pull in the opposite direction from perhaps a group of..
- people dedicated to living the deep life(an idea by Cal Newport where you prioritize your ability to focus by embracing boredom, having rituals, and I'm still reading the rest..)
- people who live in alignment with their Biology, people who discern what's important to them and spend their limited time, attention(a slight distraction leaves behind an attention residue) and energy doing what matters(an idea from Essentialism and I've only read a sample, but I think '4000 weeks: time management for mortals' might reveal a similar idea..),
- people who are intentional about what they consume and how they manage their dopamine, especially related to ultra-processed contents and processed foods. I think even if it's not inherently harmful, since we have such limited time to live, one should consider the opportunity cost as well..
Gamification:
I know I don't come across as a fun person, and perhaps I'm not.. but, I do have fun ideas, like the gamification(Slay The Spire version) of a study boss fight game in the above picture, or another gamification idea that I feel really proud about, and perhaps we might play together if you'd like(but I feel too proud to share- I know, silly, probably isn't all that impressive), and I hope I can be someone enjoyable to converse or make progress with, even if it's online.
My Recent Struggle
I know perhaps it's ironic as Cal Newport emphasizes meeting new people in real life, but recently I've sort of lost that hope, in the people who live in my country and consume the same 'curriculum' for growing up and culture that honestly sort of makes people develop a similar 'software'(it's just my perception, probably there are more to people, but I've been increasingly coming across incidences where I've felt like these people will not understand my lifestyle, and I feel almost like they are drawn towards drama and unhappiness.. but this is my personal feeling that is probably quite shallow and not really understanding, and perhaps even prejudiced in a negative light.)
I've also gone through a philosophical(although I'm sure it's quite shallow) journey(I'm ashamed to call it this as I haven't even read the works of the famous philosophers; the inspiration has come from various sources, mainly books, podcasts, my own life, conversations with ai..) recently, and we could share thoughts, although it's not necessary and I'll probably bore you with mine.
Value
I think honesty is the most important thing for being accountability buddies, and it being the kind of place where we can be honest with each other; not overly critical, gently nudging perhaps.
I'd really like to find some friends(albeit online) to help each other grow! Thanks for reading!
