Hi Everyone! This week I resumed writing Book 1 of the Phoenix Quartet. Previously, I stopped writing after my father’s passing in 2019 and now feel the longing to continue. With all the chaos going on in the world currently, it’s nice to be able to go deep into a world I have control over. My newest goal is to have Book 1 of the Phoneix Quartet ready for publication before the end of 2022.
Goal #1: Manage My Eating Disorder
✅ (1) Goal met in eating between 1200 to 1700 calories during the hours of 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM for Week 8/52.
Goal #2: Become more organized starting Week 2/52
✅ (2) Goal accomplished in spending 15 to 30 minutes organizing every day using a timer for Week 8/52.
Continuing on with playing the first 30 minutes of this Instrumental Pop – Work Playlist | Productivity Music!
Goal #3: Write consistently
✅ (3) Goal accomplished in writing between 2 to 8 hours every day for Week 8/52.
Goal #4: Read books to gain knowledge and new perspectives
✅ (4a) Goal accomplished in reading 30 minutes a day for 5 days for Week 8/52. I tried reading The Poppy War, but stopped early on when I realized it was much more grimdark than fantasy fiction. Next up on my reading list is Shuggie Bain, another dark book that talks about alcoholism. I have to make more of an effort to finish Shuggie Bain than The Poppy War because my book club voted for it.
🚧 (4b) Goal in progress: I will summarize/review 6 books in 2022 and post them on this blog.
Book 1/6: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Book 2/6: If I Had Your Face
Currently in the process of reviewing Atomic Habits for Book 3/6.
Goal #5: Improve my listening skills
✅ (5a) Goal accomplished in listening to one Design Matters Podcast for Week 8/52. This week, I listened to Debbie Millman interview Glennon Doyle & Abby Wambach.
They [women] want purpose and connection…What I’ve noticed about people who have found both is that they’ve figured out what makes them angry, what makes them heartbroken…When they can ask themselves and say where in the world are people working to change this thing that breaks my heart and they go towards those people and they find their purpose and people.
Glennon Doyle & Abby Wambach, Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Asking myself, “What breaks my heart the most?” led me to realize that I feel so sad for those people who have left abusive relationships do not get the support they need to recover and blossom. Many of them are shamed and guilted into returning back to their abusive relationships instead.
5/19/2022 Edit: Currently, what breaks my heart the most is that critical thinking is not encouraged in most parts of the world.
✅ (5b) Goal accomplished in listening to one TED talk for Week 8/52. This week I listened to There’s more to life than being happy | Emily Esfahani Smith.
Many pschologists define happiness as a state of comfort and ease. Feeling good in the moment. Meaning though is deeper. The renowned psychologist Martin Seligman says meaning comes from belonging to and serving something beyond yourself and from developing the best within you.
Emily Esfahani Smith, There’s more to life than being happy | TED
I started searching for meaning sometime in January 2017. In doing so, I realized most of the people I know were more concerned with money, travel, status, and success. They equated that to happiness.
Without people in real life to emulate and ask questions, I started reading self-help books and listening to podcasts around January 2017 to find my meaning and purpose in life. I found it in February 2022 through reading numerous self-help books and listening to (listed in order of discovery) Design Matters with Debbie Millman, Krista Tippet, Sarah Jones, We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, and Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert. I’m so thankful to these amazing people!
Goal #6: Emulate Krista Tippet’s (Winner of the National Humanities Medal, Peabody Awards, Webby Awards) way of speaking.
✅(6) Goal accomplished in emulating a sentence of Krista Tippet’s for Week 8/52 from this Design Matters Podcast.
Goal #7: Learn how to grow microgreens from Mark starting 6/1/2022 (Week 22/52)
🔜(7) Goal N/A for Week 8/52.
Goal #1: Maintain my mental and physical health
✅(1a) Goal accomplished in singing two positive songs and one song of my choice every day for Week 8/52.
✅(1b) Goal accomplished in meditating and practicing 25 minutes of yoga 5 to 7 days for Week 8/52.
✅ (1c) Goal accomplished for lifting weights 3 to 5 days a week for Week 8/52.
✅(1d) Goal accomplished in doing a physical activity for Week 8/52.
I did a 1-hour walk this week to the local playground.
❌ (1e) Goal accomplished in sleeping before 11:30 PM every day for Week 8/52.
Goal #2: Work on my marriage
✅ (2a) Goal accomplished in continuing my weekly marriage meeting (#186), financial checkup, and date night with Mark for Week 8/52.
✅ (2b) Goal accomplished in helping Mark organize for 15-30 minutes every day this past week for Week 8/52.
Goal #3: Encourage my mom to expand her worldview starting Week 8/52
✅ (3a) Goal accomplished in teaching my mom English for Week 8/52.
✅ (3b) Goal accomplished in practicing Senior Yoga with my mom for Week 8/52.
✅ (3c) Goal accomplished in teaching my mom how to become more proficient at using her iPhone for Week 8/52.
This week I taught how to use the Camera in Google Translate to translate English into Chinese instantly.
Goal #4: Prioritize friendships
✅ (4a) Goal accomplished in meeting up with friends 1 to 3 times a month for Week 8/52. I hung out with Brink to watch him do a podcast live and I got together with Maverick to celebrate his birthday.
✅ (4b) Goal accomplished in chatting with 1 to 3 friends over the phone/zoom for Week 8/52. I chatted with Super P, Nala, and Ubongo.
Goal #5: Remember my late father through cooking starting Week 9/52 on 3/3 (my father’s birthday).
🔜 (5) Goal N/A of posting recipes on this site for Week 8/52. Next week is going to be Week 9/52!
Week 8/52 Goal Summary
✅ Accomplished goals: 18
❌ Goals not met: 1
🔜 Goals N/A for Week 8/52: 3
🚧 Goals in progress: 1
This week’s completion percentage: 94.7% (18/19)
Week 1/52 completion percentage: 91% (I missed the 5 to 7 days of mediation and practiced 25 minutes of yoga goal.)
Week 2/52 completion percentage: 100%
Week 3/52 completion percentage: 92.8% (I missed the sleeping before 11:30 PM everyday goal.)
Week 4/52 completion percentage: 100%
Week 5/52 completion percentage: 94.4% (I missed the eat between 1200 to 1700 calories everyday goal).
Week 6/52 completion percentage: 100%
Week 7/52 completion percentage: 100%
Week 8/52 completion percentage: 94.7% (I missed the sleeping before 11:30 PM everyday goal.)
2022 Average completion percentage thus far: 96.6%
Dear readers, how was your progression towards your 2022 goals? 😃
Last week’s stats were a bit out of the norm for me as I was away the entire week. I had to change to a base level, but for that level I was actually 100% for the 5 days!
I listened to the Glennon Doyle podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert that made me think of your journey in writing. It’s so hard to be consistent, so hard to chase your dreams, not for anyone else but yourself. Because you want to do it. Because you feel it in your bones that you wake up everyday and just have to do it. That is such purpose that I envy.
It took me around 5 years of constantly asking myself what’s my purpose in life to find it. I think you’ll likely find your purpose sooner! 😃