Tag: Goals

Daily Life, Lists January 16, 2024

A January Progress Report

A quote came out of a podcast I recently watched with Theo Von (one of my new favorites) and Tony Robbins. Tony said (paraphrasing), “It’s not about positive thinking. Whats wrong with the world will always be available. Whats right with the world is also always available. It’s about which one you choose to focus on, because your brain will automatically delete the other one.” I like that. I find that one of the main drivers of my mood is the news. I think news is fundamentally predisposed to focus on what’s wrong with the world. When I spend too much time consuming events of the day, I am a more negative person. When I go skiing or for a bike ride, I’m more positive. Go figure.

So of the things I told myself I wanted to do better at this year… I’m not doing as well with staying away from the news. I’m a junkie. It’s like watching a car wreck. I can’t tear my eyes away. I need to work on that. While we’re on the subject of yearly resolutions, here’s how I’m doing so far with the other thoughts I had about making improvements:

I gave myself a goal of no alcohol until I hit a certain weight. Been six weeks, so doing well. Struggling right now because part of me says that life is too short to not enjoy a beer with friends from time to time. But I do feel better and have lost some weight. Not sure if I can hold out until the weight goal.
Speaking of weight, it is improving. More slowly than I’d like, but at least it’s the right direction. I don’t eat horribly, but volume is my main culprit. Other than alcohol I really haven’t changed anything. What this showed me is that up until last spring, exercise was the only thing keeping my weight in check. I went into sloth mode and the weight skyrocketed. If I can kickstart the exercise again and work on the volume a little bit, I’m confident the weight will return to a happier place.
I’ve implemented a few things from Dr. Huberman’s “morning routine”:
- Sunlight first thing in the morning. I’m using a UV light (it’s dark for hours when I wake up) and I actually think this makes a difference. I will continue this practice.
- Delay caffeine for 60-90 minutes upon waking. Nope. Maybe I’ll try again at some point, but noticed zero difference.
- Drink two large glasses of water upon waking with added sodium. I was already drinking one. Two, plus the coffee is just too much liquid first thing in the morning. I stopped the sodium because I think it was making me retain fluid.
- Switched to tea instead of coffee. I’m not sure I notice a difference, but I’m liking tea. I’ll probably flip back and forth. I think I’ll try the pour-over coffee method and see how that goes.
I’ve been struggling with sleep for quite some time. I fall asleep just fine, but wake at 3-4am and that’s it. Falling back asleep isn’t an option. I tried magnesium (again at Dr. Huberman’s suggestion). Not sure I can tell any difference. If I had to guess it’s more related to activity level during the day than anything. Sloth mode all day and I sleep like crap. Go figure.
I’ve been religiously tracking sleep stats with my Fitbit. I’ve been especially interested in HRV, since everyone says that zero alcohol will massively improve it. I’ve noticed a tiny improvement, but nothing to write home about. Maybe I’m too old at this point to make a big change?
I declared I was going to make an effort to stop dressing like a homeless teenager. I now have a pair of decent everyday boots and just ordered five well fitting shirts. There was an experiment with a vest that we won’t talk about. Not fashion related, but I also bought my first pair of really good ski pants. Retiring the three year old Costco ski pants that aren’t waterproof is a good thing, given the amount of skiing I do. I declare good progress on this resolution.
I said I wanted more spice in my food. There’s a bottle of Sriracha sauce in my fridge I’ve used once. This needs work.
I wanted to make music more of a priority. Zero progress. I need to do two things. First, curate my play list so that I want to listen. Second, find more opportunity to listen to music. Right now music only happens when working out… which is not often enough.
I told myself I was going to ride the bike this year. A lot. I’ve done… ok. Ridden maybe a half-dozen times in January. Not bad considering it’s single digits and snow on the ground. A friend just bought a Peloton and I somewhat mocked him for it. “Real” cyclists find a way to ride outside, right?. While we’re in the midst of winter, the back of my brain is now wondering if I’d use a Peloton?
One of my never ending goals is to be more creative. For the first time ever, I sent out one of my photos to be printed. We’re waiting for it to come back. Good or bad, hopefully this is the spark needed to start creating again.
And lastly, I wanted to make travel a priority this year. Mrs Troutdog and I continue to be at an impasse as to how to travel. Fortunately the country is in an icy death grip at the moment, so travel isn’t much of an issue. I expect this issue to heat up as time goes on. Stay tuned.

So there we are. I’d give myself a B- so far. I’m actually making an effort to make some changes, which is probably the most important part. Not a lot of change so far, but hey it’s only January. By the end of February I might be a fashionable, picture taking, music lover riding a Peloton and eating spicy ramen. You never know.

Daily Life, Motivation December 22, 2023

Do You Even Know Where You’re Going?

I had an odd inspiration the other day. I stumbled upon a YouTube channel by a guy who was a Navy SEAL who ended up joining the French Foreign Legion. He’d reached the pinnacle of military achievement and squandered it due to stupid decisions. After drifting for a while and getting in more trouble, he decided the Legion was the only chance he had at getting his life back together. In his case, it worked. He’s now, at least according to him, squared away and on a good path.

The inspiration was a quote he shared in one of his videos from Yogi Berra: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else”.

What was interesting is that here’s a guy who had micro planning and goal setting down to a science. He had a goal to join the SEALs and knew exactly how to get there. How to train, workout, prepare, and what path to take in the military to get there. He had the discipline to stay focused and achieve his goals. And yet for as laser focused as he was on the micro issues in front of him, he had no vision for the big picture. He couldn’t see what the impact his daily decisions was having on his career. The end result was he lost everything.

What struck me was how close to my life that is right now. No, not getting in bar fights, being a Navy SEAL or joining the French Foreign Legion. Although, the Legion would be a great weight loss program. Hmm… Anyway, the similarity to my life is the Yogi Berra quote – I don’t know where I’m going.

Are we going to spend the next ten years traveling? Should I focus on photography or making YouTube videos? Should every day be spent exercising and doing a sport of some sort? Writing an award winning blog? What do I want 2024 to look like? I don’t know.

The critical part of the quote is the second part – “you’ll end up someplace else”. No matter what you do, you’ll end up somewhere. The question is, is that where you wanted to be?

This year, I was in drift mode. I did a little bit of this, a little bit of that. It was a weird weather year. We had a ton of house/landscape work that disrupted my routine (or so I told myself). I got hurt and had surgery. All in all, 2023 was a completely forgettable year. Not bad, just forgettable. Virtually nothing I can look back on and say, “I did that!”. There’s nothing wrong with years like that every once in a while. The problem is that I’m not twenty. I don’t have that many more years to squander.

So I can keep focusing on the day to day, week to week. Should I go for a bike ride today? Skiing? Maybe I should plan a motorcycle ride for next week. What are we having for dinner? That’s all well and good but I’m afraid if that’s all I do, another year will zoom by and I’ll be asking the same question next holiday season. What did I do this year?

It’s time to have some actual big picture goals and plans. It doesn’t need to be planned out to the nth degree… but we at least need a roadmap to help keep focus on a direction.

It’s interesting. Small goals are easier to wrap your head around. Lose ten pounds. Finally get that fence built. Take a trip to Vegas. It’s identifiable. Easy to plan for. Measurable from day to day. Big, macro goals are difficult. It’s hard to wrap your head around them in a way that’s quantifiable. It’s one thing to say “my goal is to travel this year”. But what does that actually look like?

I suppose it’s more about having a purpose in life. While going for a bike ride every day certainly isn’t a bad life… is that all I want for the rest of my time here? If I got hit by a cement truck tomorrow, is 2023 how I’d like to have gone out? (that’s a bigger philosophical question, but you get the point)

Some soul searching and planning needs to happen. We need to hit 2024 with a roadmap. Like any roadtrip, there’s nothing wrong with detours as long as you’re still generally heading in the same direction. The philosopher Yogi Berra was right – you’re going to end up somewhere no matter what you do. Just make sure it’s where you intended to go.

Cool, Health, Motivation April 4, 2023April 4, 2023

End Of A Season

And just like that, it’s over. The last day of the ski season. It happens every year. Most years, by the end I’m kinda meh. Ready for golf and mountain biking. But not this year. This was a fantastic ski year for me. The snow was amazing – more powder days than I’ve ever had. And close to record levels of snow (global warming, of course). But it wasn’t just the conditions that made it great. I made a fundamental leap in my skiing ability this year.

Interestingly, it wasn’t my skill that improved – it was my confidence. Up to this point, I’ve often let fear control what sort of runs I ski down. I’d look at a line through the trees or a black diamond run on the map and manage to talk myself out of trying it. I’d spend most of the season skiing the same runs over and over. The only exception would be when I’d ski with someone better than me who’d assure me, I would have no problem skiing a new run or line. That would be the only time I’d try something unknown.

But something happened at the beginning of this season. After thinking about, contemplating, and worrying about a new area I’d wanted to try – I finally told myself, fuck it, we’re going to do it. What’s the worst that could happen? And sure enough, I had the skill to do it and had a blast. That boost in confidence opened up a whole new world for me.

All season long I’ve been on a mission to ski the entire mountain. Every time I tried a new line through the trees, I’d discover an entire new area I never knew existed. It’s been an absolute blast. Probably the most fun I’ve had skiing. And with each new run, my confidence soared.

I’m ending this season with the knowledge that I can ski the entire mountain (with some crazy exceptions involving cliffs and chutes). There isn’t any place I don’t have the confidence to go. It’s an amazing feeling. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not always pretty. There’s been a few lines that were more survival than skiing. But I got down. And there’s been a few yard sale wipeouts for sure. But I did it.

And now for the first time ever, I have goals for next season. I want to make that next big jump in ski ability. It’s time to move from average intermediate skills to expert. I’ve never before felt like that was possible for me. Now I do. If I work hard physically this summer to get ready, I’m sure I can make that leap in ski ability. The plan is to start next season in the best shape possible and take some lessons right away.

It’s exciting to have a new goal. Skiing has always been just something I do. I enjoy it, but it’s been routine for as long as I can remember. Like going for a hike. I enjoy it, but I certainly don’t get excited about it. This year changed it for me.

I finished my last day of the season with a powder day. Amazing to think we’re still having powder days in April. I spent my day skiing all my favorite lines. I tried one steep new line through the trees. I joked with a few of the lift operators. The resort was mostly empty, so I was often the only one on the run. It was quiet in the trees. Towards the end of the day the clouds rolled in, snow started falling, and visibility dropped.

I stopped halfway down my last run and just listened to the wind. I looked around at the mountains surrounding me and watched the snow falling. I’m grateful I live in a place where I can do this. I’m super stoked to see what I can accomplish next year.

205 runs and 298.1K vertical feet skied. It was a good season.

Daily Life, Motivation January 3, 2023

Resolution Or Revolution?

It’s time for the annual beginning of the year resolutions. I’ve never been a big fan of resolutions. Mostly because I rarely keep them for more than a week. Also, because at my age do I really need to be resolving to eat more tofu to save the planet? No. Tomorrow is not a guarantee. Besides, making resolutions like that are just virtue signaling. Nobody cares.

But every few years I do try to set goals. Take last year. I was bored leading up to the new year and binge watched a bunch of minimalist and productivity YouTube videos. I went on a two-day productivity frenzy getting ready for the new year. I re-re-re-started a bullet journal. I put schedules and workout plans together. I mapped out all the motorcycle and camping trips I wanted to do. I even put a 2022 Goals page together with tracking metrics that I was going to use to measure progress.

I had a lot of fitness goals, some fly-fishing things I wanted to do, motorcycle camping trips, and a bunch of river rafting day trips I planned on doing. You can see that my goals are not terribly intellectual, spiritual, or altruistic. I never claimed to be the sharpest crayon in the box. Anyway, so how many did I accomplish? Zero. Zip. None. Nadda. Whoo hoo! Underachievers of the world, unite!

Interestingly, I’d completely forgotten I’d even set those goals. I stumbled upon them yesterday while I was looking for something else. Clearly, they weren’t terribly memorable or important to me if I didn’t even remember them. It made me think about what I wanted out of this current new year. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there wasn’t any single thing I could come up with. I literally couldn’t come up with a single, burning desire that I wanted to accomplish this year. Not one thing. My god, how uninteresting and shallow of a person does that make me?

Have I turned into one of those boring country rubes with no life desires other than to sit on the porch and watch the traffic go by? Don’t get me wrong, there are things I want to do – ride the motorcycle, get back to making YouTube content, lose weight, work on the house, etc… but I don’t have a driving passion to make them happen. If they happen, great. If not, oh well.

After writing and re-reading that last paragraph, I don’t like what it says about my state of mind. My god, that’s a recipe for complacency and a ticket straight to sitting on the couch, watching ESPN reruns and eating bon-bons. So now what?

I thought about writing down goals again, but I’d just be making stuff up and would be ignoring them in a few weeks as per usual. I really thought about this for some time, and then accidentally stumbled upon one of the definitions of “revolution”.

a forcible overthrow of a social order, in favor of a new system

It reminded me of something cartoonist and writer Scott Adams says, “for success, create systems instead of goals”. For example, wanting to lose ten pounds is a goal. Learning to eat right is a system that substitutes knowledge for willpower.

So that’s it. It’s time for a Revolution. We’re throwing out my old social order and creating a new one. The plan for 2023 is to create systems instead of goals. Routines that make it easier to succeed at the day-to-day. Routines that lead to better habits around health. Routines that make it more likely to plan trips, house tasks, and creative projects. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

The problem with many revolutions is that once you’ve fired up the population and stormed the gates, you hit a “now what?” moment. Do I go throw everything out of the pantry? Mount a huge chalkboard for meal planning in the kitchen? Start blocking out days on the calendar to force myself to plan things? Re-re-re-re-start the bullet journal?

Hmmm… Analysis paralysis. Ok, maybe I don’t know what this is going to look like yet, but I promise change is happening. Stay tuned.

Viva la revolución!

Health, Motivation November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

With Discipline Comes Friction

I read a short article this morning about Tom Brady and other various GOAT contenders that made a great point. Brady said that he’s not the most gifted athlete on the field… just the most disciplined. Someone told a story about him playing in a celebrity golf tournament in early spring. He was spotted running wind sprints in the parking lot before the tourney. When asked what the hell he was doing, his reply was “trying to win a super bowl”.

That attitude is what 90% of the population lacks. There isn’t a person on this planet that doesn’t know what needs to be done to lose weight and/or get in shape. We simply lack the discipline to do it. It’s hard. When everyone else at the table is having a cocktail, it’s hard to ask for iced tea. It’s hard to order just a salad without that creamy dressing when everyone else is ordering burgers and pasta. When you’re sore and everything hurts from yesterday’s workout, it’s hard to go back to the gym. That’s the friction that bombards us daily.

Friction is the enemy of progress. Friction is why my weight ballooned up. I couldn’t say no. Working out sucks when you can no longer do a pull up or run a mile, so why bother? I know I could change it, but it’s going to take a long time. It’s hard to picture six, eight, or ten weeks out before being able to get that pull up. You picture the discipline it will take to get the workout in every day for all that time… and it just seems like too much. And suddenly you’ve skipped a day. and then three. And we’re right back where we started. I already blew my diet today, so I may as well order pizza and start again tomorrow. I’ve been starting again tomorrow since August. Friction is a killer.

Tom Brady’s throwing coach Tom House has observed, “What separates these elite athletes, the Hall of Famers, is that they try to get better every day not by 20 percent but just 1 percent.”

“When you’re disciplined, with it also comes friction, because you’re not just doing what everyone else is doing. But if you’re willing to pile enough of those 1 percents together over 20 years, they can turn into seven super bowl rings”.

We’re on day five of the great reset. Down four pounds. Solidly in ketosis. Last night provided some serious friction. I had an event that I’d scheduled way before the reset that was all about good (non diet) food, wine, and desert. Skipping wasn’t an option. Normally this would derail me completely, but I’m determined this go-around to find a sustainable way forward. I worked out hard prior to dinner. I limited my calories pretty significantly during the day. And then I enjoyed the evening. I ate the food (and desert) and drank the wine. I fully expected to pay for this setback.

This morning I did not want to step on the scale or check my ketones. I guessed I’d be plus a pound and be knocked out of ketosis. But… ignoring reality is what got me here in the first place. I closed my eyes and stepped on the scale. And… down another pound! I checked my ketones and low and behold, still in ketosis! I’m not sure how that happened, but I’ll take the win.

Is it a 20% win? Nope. More like a 0.25% win. But it’s progress. It’s motivating. Ten weeks of work to get that pull up feels slightly closer. Definitely not skipping the workout today. Somebody needs to figure out how to bottle that feeling. Because that feeling, that glimmer of hope is what makes a diet and exercise plan successful. It’s not eating a magic combination of foods or buying the fancy piece of exercise equipment or gym membership. It’s the continued, small incremental wins against friction that make or break your march towards the goal.

I’m not on the downhill slope yet. In two weeks we have Thanksgiving. Travel. Family. Food. Lots and lots of food and drink for multiple days. I’m worried. I’ve clawed out some tiny improvements… I don’t want to go backwards. The next two weeks will be a hard core push to keep the discipline and make gains as a hedge against T-day.

Friction is a cold hearted bitch.

Confirmation bias, Government, Health, Motivation January 23, 2021

Yesterday, Today Was Tomorrow

Time is a cold hearted bitch. It doesn’t care about you, won’t wait for you, and is moving forward no matter what you do. I constantly need reminding of this. I am crazy guilty of “on Monday I’ll start my diet”, “I will workout tomorrow morning”, or “this spring I will start taking some day trips”. The problem is that tomorrow may or may not come for you. Just this week I had a patient who was young and fit. Had a silly accident and is now paralyzed. It’s a stark reminder that there are no guarantees. All of his plans for tomorrow are gone. For the first time ever, I actually wrote down some goals for the year and shared them with Mrs Troutdog. I didn’t think it would make a difference, but the act of writing them down and being public with them helped make them more real. I always have ideas, things I’d like to do floating around in my head, but rarely act on any of them. Just writing down the goals got me excited enough to start researching and making actual plans. The more I think about my young patient who’s goals are now permanently altered, the more resolved I am to start doing and stop just thinking about plans. It’s time to move forward because time is certainly not going to wait for me.
I had to laugh. An ultra left leaning friend on Facebook who’s spent the last four years spewing as much venom as possible towards the bad orange man, posted: “If you are a believer in the disinformation put out by Fox, Newsmax, Oan, Parler and all the other bullshit peddlers of lies – please do me a favor and unfriend me now. After the the last 4 years I’m just ready for truth and decency.” This is the equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and chanting nah, nah, nah. Regardless of your personal and political beliefs – if you only seek out information that confirms what you already think, you’re a puppet and a very shallow thinker. And yes, we’re all guilty of this. It’s human nature. All you can do is try your best to look objectively at the world. It doesn’t mean you can’t be passionate about something, just try not to get so wrapped up in your beliefs that you lose sight of reality.
The Biden administration is unveiling plans to combat “domestic terrorism”. I wonder if that will include Antifa and BLM? Get ready for Patriot Act 3.0. Remember, if you see something, say something.
In 2006 the United States debt to GDP ratio was 60%. Today it’s roughly 136%. In 2001 Argentina’s debt to GDP ratio hit 166%, they defaulted on billions in loans, capital started leaving the country and unemployment reached 19%. They still haven’t recovered. We’re accelerating down a path that isn’t recoverable. Talks continue about printing more trillions. And Buttigieg is talking about possibly taxing Americans on the number of miles they drive to raise more money for infrastructure spending. Not only is that a regressive tax on the poor, it’s a massive intrusion into your privacy.
I almost violated my own admonishment to not seek out only information that confirms what I think. Tucker Carlson had a segment the other night that said CNN had conveniently removed the Covid death counter they’ve displayed prominently all election season as soon as Biden was sworn in. I was going to post that, because, of course, disinformation from the left! I did a little bit of research and that may not be really true. What’s reality? My guess is that CNN is showing it less than they did before because it no longer fits the narrative. Tucker is hyping it because it fits his narrative. So the truth is somewhere in the middle. My advice? Turn it all off an go outside for a run.

Song of the day: The Crystal Method “High Roller” (Live)

Cool, Daily Life, Motivation December 13, 2019

I Am Freaking Out

Cool things, random thoughts, advice, and independent thinking from someone who’s been around the sun a few times.

We recently had three patients on our floor that were early to mid fifties and in relatively good shape (compared to the overall population). All three had a sudden stroke. We also had an extremely nice patient who suffered a horrible, life altering, work accident. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. These kinds of patients freak me out and make me want to sell everything and travel the world because you never know…
I passed a coworker in the hall and I said the standard, “How’s it going?” as I walked by. He replied with great enthusiasm, “Amazing!”. It was such an unexpected reply I had to stop and laugh. It actually brightened my day a bit.
I stumbled on this emergency dog carry harness. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I get pretty far out there with the hound and I’m not sure how or if I could carry him out? Seems like a good idea but it’s expensive and a bit large to pack.
The possible crazy running goal I’m toying with… Now I’m on the fence, scared, and thinking it’s a pretty stupid thought. From near zero to goal would be extremely hard. I have no desire to build up with smaller goals, or do anything similar beyond. I’m too damn old for that. It would simply be a one time, “could I do it?” thing. Still a few weeks to decide. I’m trending towards no. I simply don’t know if I have the mental discipline to do the training.
Pat Mac’s Basic Dude Stuff cracks me up.
* outrage warning for millennials
We got a pretty good dump of global warming this week. Cross country and downhill season starts (for me) next week! That pesky work thing keeps getting in the way of my fun.
Speaking of snow, I was totally planning on doing this run sometime this year. I may have to rethink now.
Staying on the snow theme, I’ve really been enjoying Cody Townsend’s “The Fifty” project.

Song of the day: “Pancake” by Jaded

Cool, Daily Life, Motivation December 8, 2019

Staying Focused