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This is my first challenge on my journey to become the best ranger (larper) of them all (in my area). I hope you enjoy reading. Leitmotif: Falling leafs I have started to declutter my home, but also my routines and habits. Everything that does not serve a purpose, makes me happy or helps me grow, everything that holds me back, I will let go of. A look out of my window shows, that there can be beauty in it, too. When you have a generalist approach to fitness, I think it's easy to fall in to the trap of trying to practice everything at once. At some points this summer, I lost focus and track of progress, sometimes, things fell off the wagon, because I was tired at the end of training. I need a clearer separation between my training focus (+3x per week) and the maintenance work (occasionally at my own leisure once every week or two). “...you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.” lotr Body Running After a failed first attempt and some form and posture correction training afterwords, I started CT5K again last winter and build up to a fourth day of weekly running in spring. In August, I turned one of these into a long run by increasing the time gradually to an hour and above. That quite revealed my weak spots: It's not the aerobic endurance that is lacking behind but my legs, knees, and hip flexors especially. I think, I need to strengthen them before pushing for longer runs again. I will skip the long run until further notice and introduce some strength exercises instead. I started to add strides (now 4×100m, 1min recovery) to my easy runs twice a week, as a non-taxing way to work on speed. The forest runs are where the fun starts. I run alongside, across or through a small creek in a nearby forest, jumping from stone to stone, vaulting over fallen logs, balancing and crawling. It's not so much about speed yet, but about the integration of techniques into a run as well as the adaptability and fluidity of movement. I will continue those as long as the weather allows and before winter is coming. Easy Run: 3x per week, 35 min each, split between a soft track (dt:„Finnenbahn“ fin: „Pururata“) and a forest trail. Pulse < 130 bpm Leg strength: 2x per week, on the evenings after the ERs Forest Run: 1x per week, 30 min My final goal is to be able to run the 5km in 24min on the trail if I need to, without hurting myself. (That's one of the benchmarks in my epic quest log. But this is still far of.) Climbing When a ranger is not stalking, crouching or running away from something (s)he is hiding in a tree munching apples and watching the surrounding countryside. But You need to get up there first. After learning swing ups, tuck pop-ups and different traversing techniques, it's time to master … well to manage the muscle up. At the moment, I can get to one kick muscle up, but only on a bar from standing. Mayor weaknesses being the height and explosiveness of the pull as well as the transition. Goal: Get to a couple of muscle up reps on a branch, starting from a jump, then reduce kicking gradually. Muscle up with kick: 3x per week, starting on a bar For height: seated L-sit pull-ups, get from sternum height to the halfway point between it and the naval. Supportive strength training: My strength routine so far was quite cluttered with exercises and I saw not much improvement in the last couple of months. For the next five weeks, I want to go minimalist here as well and reduce the volume to something more manageable. Performed after the muscle ups. Inclined one-handed push-ups, one-handed pull up progression, dragon flag progression Three exercises, in a rep range of 3-5, three sets each. (For those interested, I'm using the operator template from the book „Tactical Barbell“, as far as that is possible with body weight only.) strength training: 3x per week Heart „How much higher, then, is the pluck of the single scout who goes on some risky enterprise alone, on his own account, taking his life in his hand, when it is quite possible for him to go back without anybody being the wiser (...)“ Aids to Scouting Without getting into too much detail, the psychological aspect is probably my greatest weakness. (Among other things, I'm a chronic ruminator.) I am quite good at researching different models (e.g.: CBT) and exercises, less so at implementing them. In what is left of week zero, I will go through my old notes and decide on two or three practices to implement, then make an update to this section. (WIP Otherwise, I would postpone this post even longer. ) Note to myself: Can not be replaced with more pull-ups. Goal: Finally get a habit going 3x a week Wits Meditation Reflecting on my sessions in the past months, they were infrequent, long and of low quality. Let's see, if doing the opposite will help my practice. Anapanasati: 5x per week, in the morning, for a minimum of 10 min, expandable to 20min. Woodcraft Well I wanted to practice my bow drilling skills again and guess who just got volunteered to teach a few people at my community how to start a fire. The date is not set yet, but will be somewhere in November. This means, I need to collect quite a bit of material (tinder, kindling, wood) make some bows, boards and spindels, maybe get a tarp in case of rain. Goal: every one of my pupils gets a fire going Preparing the event 1x per week Practicing bow drill 1x per week Wish me luck!

For my 5 Week Challenge, I'm pursuing the following goals: 1. Meditation Station Clear a space in my office to put my yoga mat down. Complete a meditation each morning before getting on my computer. [Constraint] meditation can be no more than 5 minutes. Meditation can be guided or quiet. Find a good source of guided meditations. Spotify? 2. What is Superfluous? Background: One of my lessons I took from my cross-country bike tour is how to identify what is superfluous. When I moved out of my old apartment, I realized how much stuff I had accumulated since graduating college. Currently, the majority of my possessions live at my parents' house. My goal is to reduce the amount of stuff I have by about half over the next five weeks. Utilize the Marie Kondo Method of tidying up and letting go. Identify a good location to donate your stuff to. Clothes Find what doesn't fit, or hasn't been worn in more than a year. Donate. From what's left, decide how many of each article of clothing you need. Donate everything else. Books, Games, and Movies Books <No Strategy Yet> Movies If you haven't watched it in the past year, donate. Games <No Strategy Yet> 3. LeetCode it up Complete the Dynamic Programming Course from YouTube [Constraint] Can not watch more than 1 chapter per day Practice with LeetCode [Constraint] Can not attempt more than 1 problem per day EDIT: Forgot I have a major project I need to tackle over the next 5 weeks (What is Superfluous?) Replaced my workout quest with it since I'm still getting lots of exercise on my bike. Thank goodness for Week Zero!

Sorry for the late arrival. I knew what I wanted to do, but I'm kind of having a hard time squaring it with the general mode of daily practice and new habit formation and stuff like that. But whatever. If I wind up in a better place because of what I do here, it almost seems like de facto I had to overcome something, right? So a challenge it is. For those of you who were around last time, hi! Welcome back! For those just tuning in for the first time, I'm Kishi, sole surviving Guild Leader of the Monks. We don't talk about what happened to the other two. Sadly, I'm not some sage figure, so I can't give you much in the way of answers, but I like to think I help with asking different questions. Things last challenge took a turn for the dramatic. I got diagnosed with heart disease, the striking program I was going to got shut down, I had some tumult occur at work, and the training program - so meticulously programmed - collapsed on contact with the real world. Much of last challenge was spent picking up the pieces and carrying on, and I'd like to think I did so relatively well. And the situation has changed. Since then, I've started on a low carb Mediterranean diet, but it's low carb enough to really be a Keto Mediterranean diet. Interesting results so far - my waistline is shrinking (probably water weight) and I've got a lot of slow burn energy as documented by rolling for about an hour and a half without any dip in energy or performance. Which is interesting, but for all I know could just as easily be chalked up to more technical rolling and generous rest. I have designs on veganizing this at some point, because it sounds like a challenge, and vegan diets are tied to good outcomes for the heart also, so this sounds like a real possibility, but given all the everything that's getting thrown at me this round, that's more likely something that's gonna phase in over time. Because a lot's happening, y'all! I'm going back to the office; I misspoke when I said last challenge it'd be 11/8; it's actually going to be 11/15. And it's a phased re-entry, so over the course of three weeks, I'll be adding a day, so first week will be one day, second week two, and so on until the 4th week, when I just go back to fulltime. Why's that complicated? Because one, the holidays will be starting around that time, and two, I'll be starting up at a new school, meaning new logistical challenges to overcome. The theme this time is about balancing the books, because I've decided I want to upgrade my computer. I took a look at the new school and I realized that there's only one no-gi day there, so I'm basically done as far as no-gi grappling attire is concerned. But before I start putting away for a new computer, I want to make sure that my finances are in good order. I think I've got some expenses coming out that I don't need to, and there's no reason to keep throwing money away. I also want to go further in my meditation and to make time/space for my writing - hence, balancing the books. Goal 1: Meditate Bumping up to 9 minutes. Goal 2: Balance the Books Might wind up being something of a gimme. Ideally, find one thing a day and do something about it in my finances, whether that's regular savings or finding and disposing of an extra bill I don't need to pay anymore. I really don't think I've got that much to do, but honestly, if this makes the challenge easier for once I'll take it. Goal 3: Write Gotta get back to butt in chair time. It's worth doing. Just gotta do it. At this point, just gonna focus on getting to my writing; no word count goals just yet, just carving out space. And, uh, yeah. That's really it this time. Let's get to work.

Oh look, I'm doing this thing during 0-week. Most excellent! It's almost like my life is falling into some semblance of order. Almost. Y'all what been around a while should know that it never lasts. The big thing that's causing me to change is that I'm dealing with some ongoing gluteal pain that's responding to stretches and home treatment, which is why I'm not going in for PT just yet. It's mostly okay, but there have been some times where it's got to be a bit much. Like, on my recent drive to Gatlinburg, I basically spent 5.5 hours sitting in the car and it got pretty painful, to the point that it actually impacted my mobility until I was able to stretch out some. Also, I'm a little dissatisfied with my current training regimen. For those just tuning in, I've been using Pavel's strength-endurance program The Quick and the Dead for my base and been doing that 3 times a week. For the other four days of the week, I've been rolling 4D20 and scheduling random work and rest days based on the results. Work days have morphed to mean the GMB vitamin program (15 minutes) plus another thing, generally skipping rope or Turkish Get Ups. There are some other minor add-ons based on my specific situation, but even so, everything's done rather remarkably fast and I'm glad. Believe it or not, I actually really like this way of doing things. I think my prior drive to "work every day" was based on old programming principles or else were based in some unaddressed insecurities that I've been working to meet and manage, and I feel like compliance is super-easy and I'm totally not burnt out. But it's not perfect. My dice, it turns out, are very generous to me, and I tend to roll a lot of rest days. (oh no, what a nightmare. 🙄) And based on both recommendations and prior experience, I tend to give skipping rope priority, because if I'm only getting one work day a week, it feels right to give it there. What that's working out to is less time with TGUs. And why does that matter? Well, in the short term, TGUs are to grappling what skipping rope is to striking: a kind of fundamental full body movement with a ton of carryover and benefit to the sport. I don't want to leave that benefit on the table. In the long term, I'm going to want to get strong in TGUs because one day I'm going to want to try to build some muscle with kettlebells and pretty much every source I can find on the matter aims for low reps and heavy weight. Enter the Kettlebell, the Ur-program in such matters, requires a 32kg swing and a 32kg TGU before allowing adherents to begin. What's a boy to do? Well, I feel like the answer to this problem lies in this program here, which I've referenced before. You might notice that he combines Quick and the Dead (QD) with another program, Simple and Sinister (SS), which is a swing-TGU focused program. His setup involves two SS sessions and one QD session per week of training. I think there's something to this for me, so that's what I'm gonna do. As to the other 4 days of the week? Well, there's GMB like I said, which at this point is mostly about movement quality and skipping rope. I did, however, buy their recovery programs, and I feel like I could be using those rest days to actually dig into recovery work and also work on flexibility and stretching. So. Enough navel-gazing. Let's get to the brass tacks. Goal 1: Training Seems appropriate to make a training goal again since I'm switching things around. Also, I have come pretty close to some compliance issues recently, and I want to smooth that out if I can. Goal 2: Meditation This was a struggle last time. I got toward getting better at it, but I really feel like I do better with a meditation habit, and I want to cement this in place. So. We will remain at 8 minutes this time. Goal 3: Clean Goal remains because I've still got a serious lack of floor space and a serious surplus of dirty surfaces. I'm getting better at both, but that's breeding some complacency, and I know me too well to let myself off the hook on this just yet. The prior arrangement of cleaning and moving a box per week (as a boss) worked good. No reason to mess with it now, beyond expanding what surfaces I clean. And that's that. Should be good.

This challenge is all about cultivating the quiet strength of balance, and I can’t think of a better time to set that intention than at the new moon just before the Autumn Equinox. I’m focusing on the core elements that sustain me and bring me peace, security, and the quiet strength to be who I am in the world. Heal as I can, when I can. Eating Wellness Wednesdays Sometimes the gym Do not give in to despair. Writing (Dissertation is 12, 343 words as the challenge opens) Classwork Connections Allow no one to choose combat for me Sleep, regularly but also often Schedule as little as possible by the clock and calendar. Meditation, including small bits of sitting throughout the day.

Hello. I am Stronkey Kong. I've been on NF for over eight years . I'm still fat and making the best of it. learning from my mistakes. 🤔 GOALS: MEDITATION+: Still practicing the Buddhism. Still on a meditation streak since March 21st. That's all fine and good, and is habit. Now I need to step it up and memorize the "King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra's Aspiration to Good Actions." The prayer/mantra itself is a guide to the essential meditation preliminary practices we do. It is also 259 lines long. But for the benefit of all sentient beings I will memorize it... in English at least. Then I'll start on the Tibetan. Settle in to the WIZARD TOWER: As some of you saw last challenge, I bought a house and moved in. While I'm almost done upacking, now is not the time to stop. So definitely want to get all that finished up this challenge. This weekend I got the bedroom in order by unpacking all the clothes, doing ALL THE LAUNDRY EVAR, and putting clothes away. There's one more box in there, then I need to get the office and kitchen done. MOVEMENT: Now that the house moving and all is tapering off to just regular chores, I need to start working out again. So I'll be lifting weights and following the Greyskull LP... M, W, F or S. It'd be great to get a little cardio and yoga on top of that, but that'll be a bonus. NOOM: Just showing up and getting it done. Weigh in, log food, read articles. I think that's all. I thought briefly about a writing goal, but maybe I'll add one when the office gets settled. And there will be pictures of and stories about this idiot...

(Story Time) Leaving the Forest Valley Academy for Druids, to enter my own next quest... I started to notice the relief of no longer having a grade. However, noticing the viciousness in my last trials That instead of just a grade, my name of Bouncer could be harmed. Sharp blows I could barely handle with criticims in a place full of magic. The old ways back in the darkness, especially with the Golden-Eyed Curse of cravings is not the correct way to go. Where placing good habits was difficult on top of quieting down the old ones. I was out of the darkness, but the strong feeling I should do more but tired. Professor Jade came forward, reminding me of my celebrations. Not just a man being my professor, but also a mentor who keeps an eye on me with check ins. He saw my puzzlement through a conversation, where I finally asked him for guidance. "If you are willing Bouncer, it is time for you to go to the Regal Woodland. Just being able to enter can be a challenge, no less find your way back out. I believe that will help get you to where you need to go". I felt the magic coursing through me with confidence. I believed that it would be easy to get into the Regal Woodland, however surviving it would be something else. --- So a story to hopefully make the challenge a little easier. Little about me: Self-reflect I finally feel like I can do more, but man I'm my worst enemy. What has helped me say goodbye to depression, my classes and chronic stress pains? Mindfulness... yup sounds stupid to me also. So before I can hit my goals of weightloss, no less finding a job I can live off of (and actually enjoy). I need to lean into the "magic". Have to write this out to remind myself when I hate this tomorrow. So challenge GOALS: Meditation Journaling Budgeting Gut Health I find all of these to be stupid a bit difficult but needed, and there is a "good feel" along with "crazy amount of anxiety" with these. Upside all of these are to help curb the anxiety if I do it long enough! And whatever Meditation and Journaling -- I see someone weekly that helps give me guidance. Been told for years to practice, now leaning in. Budgeting -- Using YNAB, I have anxiety to work through feeling "but I want to SPEND!!!" Plus I tend to eat healthier when I'm intentional about my budget. Gut Health- I'm seeing a Naturopath and am SUPER behind on the next step for gut health. Plus helps with my side effect of my hormones and birth control stuff. To add some fun, I'm adding a daily pic. I always love seeing people's posts, helps make people. Love to share with my favorite community.

Hey everyone! Getting on late at night because somehow it worked out to being the best time to do the thing. Big changes happened in the past week. I had originally meant to reward myself with rash guards for BJJ, but midway through, I 1) had the chance to change to earlier hours, and 2) saw a cool gi design go up that I wanted more. I still feel quite rewarded for my efforts last challenge; it's just that I had a last-minute chance to take a deal that turned out to be closer to what I wanted. This has the neat side effect of allowing me to use rash guards as a reward again. How fortuitous. Um, also, accidentally got the chance to show some character growth. Saturday I went to a party with my friend group. One of us got a little too drunk for my liking and I slipped and got a little too harsh calling him on it. We didn't come to shouting at each other or blows or anything, but I really hurt him in a way I didn't think I could. I had the chance to talk it over with him this morning, though, and we were able to patch things up. I say it was a growth thing because the last time I wound up in a situation like this was with my Ex and I botched it. I didn't botch this time. I grant you, it's not trying to salvage a romantic relationship, but I think it's got enough in common to count. Hence the title of the challenge. Everything's crazy and up in the air and I'm going back to the office in about a month and some change and just... yeah. It's a lot right now. So we're rolling with it. Goal 1: Meditate I'm up to 8 minutes now, which is great, but I'm not sitting consistently, and that's not great. Need to fix that. Goal 2: Clean Car troubles are managed enough that I can get after getting boxes o' stuff out of my place. But I need to clean the car first. This is going to go alongside my old cleaning goal from before, because now that my sinks are reliably clean, I want to start expanding out onto regularly cleaning other surfaces too. So, the way this will work is that it'll have a daily component build up over the course of the week. However, in order for a given week's total to count, I have to defeat a mini-boss, defined as one seat-section of the car (first couple weeks) and then a box a week for the rest of the challenge. Goal 3: Eating So, I've basically crept over into obesity per my body fat percentage as run via the Navy formula. I know for a fact that my macros are fine and even my daily expenditures are fine, but I'm letting social eating be an excuse to indulge and it's getting in the way of the results I want. While I'll be tracking this as a daily, the real goal is to focus on "leaving things behind" - in other words, if I go out to eat, I come back home and drink a protein shake for my vitamins instead of picking up 'healthy' indulgences at the grocery store. With that in mind, as I'm posting early Monday morning: Goal 1: 0/1 Goal 2: 1/1 Bosses: 0/5 Goal 3: 0/1 Aw, look, it's not as bad as it was last time. I can only imagine how well it'll go!

Hello. I am Stronkey Kong. I've been on NF about eight years . I'm still fat and making the best of it. I just bought and started moving into a house... aka WIZARD TOWER. For the next two weeks I'm going to be packing and moving things over. Then there are projects coming. Lot's of projects. The house is 101 years old. It's in good condition and the living areas are solid, but the basement gets quite wet and even floods when it rains heavily. I now have grass to cut regularly. More chores than before and a bigger space to maintain and take care of. Also, I am getting a cat. Soon. My cousin found a stray and can't keep her. I meditate and am for all intents and purposes a Tibetan Buddhist of the Gelug Lineage. I am have it in my head to hit the trails and do some camping this summer, tho I will be quite busy. Right now my fitness goals are basically: Stay functional and limber and don't throw out your back doing stupid shit. Eating so I can maybe drop a few pounds And get some movement in so I can push back some of the medical trauma that runs in my family. I am also writing my fantasy novel again, and reading for inspiration. And, yeah, here's that big list I keep bringing up at the beginning of these things. GOALS WIZARD TOWER: I finally have my Wizard Tower. But that means things to do... I have to finish moving out of my old apartment and into my house... goal is by Aug 14. I have one major project that needs to be done ASAP, install a sump pit/pump. I want to be at least ready to start on that by challenge end. I need to go through my home inspection reports, and make a big list of repair projects. Also, add to this, listing improvements I want to make, then prioritizing and scheduling, so I can plan ahead for the future. Also, making this place friendly for my new house mate, Arya: MEDITATE: maintain my current streak since March 21st (127 days) MOVE: I have plenty to do to keep me moving daily. There's plenty of house chores and projects. If not I can go for walks or do some exercise. NOOM: There's quite a bit of daily stuff with Noom: Reading articles daily. Weigh in. Log meals and water Try to hit calorie goal READ/WRITE -- Set up a writing space in my new place and strive for 15 min per day. And get back on following my writing success guidelines.

Challenge goals: Walk Meditate Study Bonus: Do logical things when there is emotional resistance. Stardate: Week 0 Day X Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Journal Fitness Vulcan Meditation Study Daily Schedule Planning Daily List Generator & Tracker

New challenge to be found on a later post.... For Bouncer's Golden-Eye Dragon Curse Challenge. More info on old challenge below: Bouncer has a Spreadsheet challenge put aside.

Praxis is about doing, not about an event per se, but about the doing of being. This challenge is a relatively blank canvas for me, an open landscape that I developed and nurtured last challenge. There will be a lot of looking back from many years past to see what truly supported me in being, and then working with doing that. Thanks for being along with me on the journey, Friend. ❣️

Hello. I am Stronkey Kong. I've been on NF about eight years . I'm still fat and making the best of it. My NF Birthday is July 8, and I'm turning 8. Four days later is the closing date on the house (aka Wizard Tower) I'm trying to buy. Tho it's less of a tower and more of a single story bungalow. This challenge will revolve around surviving that while trying to do the basics here. I meditate and am for all intents and purposes a Tibetan Buddhist of the Gelug Lineage. I am have it in my head to hit the trails and do some camping this summer, tho I will be quite busy. Right now my fitness goals are basically: Stay functional and limber and don't throw out your back doing stupid shit. Eating so I can maybe drop a few pounds And get some movement in so I can push back some of the medical trauma that runs in my family. I am also writing my fantasy novel again, and reading for inspiration. And, yeah, here's that big list I keep bringing up at the beginning of these things. Frankly, buying a house is THE BIG ONE on the list so as long as I pull that off, this challenge and this year is a win no matter what. MEGA GOAL: BUY MY FREAKING WIZARD TOWER AND MOVE INTO IT This is just one big, pain in the ass TO-DO List that will, like a snake, slither left, right, turn, coil, snap, wrap, and constrict my life until the process is done. As of now: Inspection: June 19, 9:30 am. Decision: Jun 20, 11:59 pm -- make the final decision whether to buy and promptly notify my apt. complex I'm moving the fuck out. Buy Homeowner's Insurance Pay Appraisal and admin fees Closing: July 12 But, I don't want to forget about the little things. So I'm going to just keep nibbling daily. Goals: MEDITATION: do at least one session daily -- this is mostly solid habit now MOVEMENT: 15 min. of exercise: rucking, yoga, qigong, stretching, and dammit, packing counts. WRITING: 15 min. or one writing task including making a character profile, outline a scene, describing a place or thing in my novel. READING: a combination of reading for writing inspiration and studying Tibetan and Buddhist philosophy. I've been good at doing this before bed, but any 15 min or more of reading, any time of day will suffice. I'm good with that. If I can at least keep some regular momentum on all those things while buying a house and moving.

Basically, I'm tired of Kathryn Janeway not being the most awesome thing ever, so it's time to go back with a rewatch and see if we can change that. This challenge: Captain's Log - Stuff is going on in my life, and I need my brain to work on it, so I will write it all down and create documentation. This is the "pics or it didn't happen" of the thinking process. Starfleet Fitness Training - Does what it says on the tin. Vulcan Meditation - Having Vulcan officers makes this hard to avoid. Ship Routines - Routines are hard, but ships run on them. I will try again. What Would Janeway Do - Take advice from Janeway during my rewatch.

i want to do a taoist inspired challenge, something centered around mindfulness and the middle way. i've found taoist philosophy inspiring for years, and with everything going on in my life, i desperately need to find my center. there's a book i read that contained the phrase "return to trueness" and that's exactly the vibe i'm going for with this challenge. taking time to check in, to be my authentic self. my adhd has been out of control hard to deal with, returning to the present moment and being mindful of distractions (both helpful and not) is a good way to help manage my stress and anxiety. i've been reading some articles about adhd management so i'd like to try and incorporate a tip a week. but ultimately this challenge is about staying present and listening to my mind and body. 1. mindful reading: read a page of the tao te ching every day 2. mindful reflection: daily to do list 3. mindful breathing: daily meditation 4. mindful body: continue with the doctor follow ups, trying to figure out the cause of my exhaustion and headaches LETS GOOOOOOOO!!!!

"Okay, here are the rules. Word one is, you don't call me 'master' and I don’t name you after some damn insect. It's not my job to discipline you, it's yours. For it is written, 'I can't be having with that kind of thing'." Lu Tze, humble sweeper and most famous operative of the History Monks, is an expert at manipulating time, a master of Déja Fu (the martial art that leaves the victim feeling that they've taken these blows before), and a follower of the way of Mrs. Cosmopolite, his landlady and (unwitting) guru during a youthful pilgrimage to Ankh-Morpork. During this challenge, I will be learning the ways of Lu Tze in manipulating time and following the tenets of Mrs. Cosmopolite. Many of these goals will be very similar to last challenge, but focusing on the time angle, which I had a lot of trouble managing properly last challenge. This is going to look like a lot of goals, but most of them are there or half-there already. Time Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. Therefore, he understood, there is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it. The ADHD symptom I've been having the most trouble with lately is time-blindness. This is the sort of thing where I don't really have any sense of time passing. There's only now, and indefinitely far in the future. Great for enlightenment, terrible for getting things done. (This is why habit formation is terrible for me.) I read an aikido article recently that said ADHD people don't have a problem with mushin, they have a problem with zanshin - empty mind is easy, keeping the focus on the target is hard. I'll be honest, I have not found any really good fixes for this. Sure, there's schedules and reminders and whatever, but in my experience, those are incredibly ignorable if you don't actually believe that the time they represent is meaningful. There are some things that help, but nothing that works very well. So this is all mostly TBA, but includes roughly these things: Goal: Find a good after-work routine that doesn't result in everything getting dropped and forgotten while I cook and relax. Goal: Find a good weekend routine so I don't lose large chunks of time. This may involve making some external commitments just to start my inner organizer running. Goal: Find and try some strategies for dealing with time-blindness. Meditation “The wise man does not seek enlightenment, he waits for it. So while I was waiting it occurred to me that seeking perplexity might be more fun.” Goal: Focus-based meditation for five to ten minutes a day. Goal: Meditate on the way of Mrs. Cosmopolite for five minutes a day. One Time Task: Stick the koans of Mrs. Cosmopolite into a randomizer to get my daily meditation. Martial Arts "Dojo! What is Rule One?" Even the cowering challenger mumbled along to the chorus: "Do not act incautiously when confronting little bald wrinkly smiling men!’" Goal: Kung Déja Fu conditioning workout, 3x/week (MWF, ideally before work) Goal: Stretching workout of choice on the weekend. One Time Task: Calculate reasonable start times, so I don't run out of time so often. Food and Drink For is it not written, 'Eat it up, it'll make your hair curly'? I've been doing reasonably here, but I do need to work on hydration a lot, and on tightening up my IF a little, especially since I'm being pretty loose on carbs. Goal: Track my IF hours Goal: Track how often I ignore my hydration timer going off Goal: Fill my water bottle as soon as I get up and before I get in the shower (and, er, drink it, of course) Sweeping “I’m a little man and I carry a broom. Everyone has some mess that needs clearing up. What harm is a man with a broom ?” This is pure training. Learn to love doing the boring manual work. Goal: Ten minutes a day on sweeping (or other similar housekeeping task)

Hello. I am Stronkey Kong. I've been on NF over seven years -- it's getting close to 8 now. I'm still fat and making the best of it. Some days I'm not sure if I can even. I'm kind of winnowing down to what matters and that's having good health, a calm mind, good relationships with others, and being able to enjoy life better. Lately I've been really committing myself to practicing Buddhism, and studying through the Tibetan Gelug lineage (same as the Dalai Lama). So meditation and study has become a real focal point. I'm also no longer worried about losing weight or getting ripped/buff/jacked... or stronk even, I just want to have the flexibility, stability, and stamina to move through daily life with less effort and be able to endure through my meditation practice comfortably and not have a shitty back or diabetes and whatnot in a few years if it can be helped. Just so I can even. During the holidays I made a wishlist for this year to work on. Every challenge since I've come back to it and picked out a few things to work, made some amendments, etc. Then I make a challenge of it. Here is said list (with updates and shit): Goals: Shop and cook/prep smarter: Something that's bothering me is that I keep having to throw away good food at the end of every week. This is usually because I bought too much of something because I thought I needed it or wanted it when I didn't really need or want it at all. Then I'm hungry, I look in the fridge at all the things I don't want, and I'm like "Fuck it, I'm having pizza." I've actually been pretty good about not eating fuck loads of pizza lately, but this general area of picking foods better and wasting less needs work. Here's an example: I had three yellow squashes that are on the verge of going bad cuz they've sat all week. There are fresh carrots and celery that I snack on with PB. There's lettuce and tomatoes for quick salads. And while yellow squash in pasta or soup is fine, I'm not thrilled about mushy, bland summer squashes and didn't make any soup that called for them. So why the hell did I buy them? ... because I thought I needed another vegetable. Basically I need to be more mindful of why I'm buying something. I need to ask myself, before I put it in the cart: Do I really need it? -- Is it going in a recipe that I plan to make? Will it be harmful to my diet to not eat this, and is there no other substitute for it? Do I want it? -- If it's not part of a bigger tastier recipe, will I eat it on it's own? Is it good? If I buy this do I have something to pair it with that is good? If I have to buy another thing to make this thing edible is it worth it? Also: Do I need to buy/make that much of it? How long will it hold up in the fridge and can I freeze it for later? Daily Movement: Work on one of the following for at least 20 min daily Ruck: Walk with backpack with 25 lbs. weight Yoga: Go back and re-read/study Yoga for the Inflexible Male and work on the poses and routines therein. Qigong: For when yoga gets boring and I still want to work on being flowey and breathing and stuff. Quarterstaff: Not sure yet, but if I start working on this again it will be acceptable movement Write Get crackin' on that novel. I was supposed to come up with 5000 words last challenge to get to the end of part 1. FFS, why not try to finish the thing? Do at least one 15 min writing sprint daily Study: All my Buddhist classwork, readings, and language study, also taking breaks to read other things. I typically do some Tibetan study in the morning, and study a text at night. Then lighter filler material when I'm bored on the weekends. Tibetan Main goal: Memorize writing and reading the conjunct characters -- I can do this before the end of this challenge. Stretch goal: transcribe and memorize the Prajana Paramita Sutra in Tibetan -- I might be able to start this before the end of this challenge. Nagarjuna: Mulamadhyamakakarika -- keep going Lighter stuff: take a break from study and read for recreation, but keep reading things People: I have to start peopling again. What? How? I'm getting my first covid shot on Wed. May 5. We're getting toward the end of all the hardest social distancing stuff. I haven't been totally cut off from family and work, but I haven't been meeting new people, or only rarely. And by the end of this challenge, my Buddhist Center will likely open back up so I can hang out with those people and attend classes in person. I'm not sure what the goals should be, but something to do with getting out of the house and peopling again. Idk. Meetups? Dating? Going to new shops/restaurants? Learn a couple Dad jokes? I've got until I get my second shot (+ 10 days I think) to figure out a plan for how to people again. Oh! And now I'm sober... how do I even? Camping: I am going camping sometime around the end of this challenge. At least an overnight trip. My zero week goal will be to research and make arrangements for said trip... i.e. pick a park and site, and purchase passes/reservations as needed... Probably gonna hike in somewhere on the Tecumseh trail and do it backwoods style but car camping will remain an option. However, I am on night shift and will likely be getting somewhere in the evening and staying up all night meditating and reading. Could be weird, but it's still time outdoors.

it's been a while, friends! here's the brainstorming for this challenge, based on an ACT therapy tool about living into your values. BUT HOW YOU MAY ASK??? well. by tracking my time. i have been playing one particular game a lot lately (genshin impact) and it's taking up too much of my time during the day. there are other things i need to do, i need to make the time. but i need to know where i stand, first. so this might be a stages challenge? what is my next step after tracking my time? finding the ways i want to be spending my time: - meditation - chinese - insurance certification for work -VARIOUS OTHER THINGS i also used to do daily inspirational quotes so i think resuming that is a good way to get me jump started for the day. i haven't been sleeping well and had my second covid shot tuesday so i'm not feeling the best, but i sat down in the shower this morning and just felt like i needed something new. or something old that's new again. so that's why i'm here! looking forward to going around to all the other threads and saying hi to old friends.....i miss the doodlies! here's today's inspiration: Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you. -Walt Whitman

Hey there everyone! Your neighborhood Kishi back at it again. I kind of dropped off at the end of last challenge. I have a reason for this. So, the challenge didn't end badly, but OTOH it didn't go as great as it could have. I gotta go for now, but I'll explain more later, and I wanted to stake my place. Sorry I left y'all in the lurch, and I didn't even thank people for stopping. Sorry for that too. I'll get around to you when I can. It'll be sooner rather than later.

My Goals... My Goals Never um... Changes I'm a Mighty Mighty Man, I'm Young (ahem) and I'm in my Prime (cough, cough) Keeping it simple this time, sticking to what I need to do and what I've been doing, but doing it better. Not expecting miracles but aiming to get back to the level of fitness I had about 5 years ago, which seems achievable with some effort and consistency. Basically, be able to run fast for a sustained length of time, have some upper body strength, be able to do a bridge, and not feel like my belly is always getting in the fucking way. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire Week zero is prep: fix my bike, review my morning routine, get the allotment organised, clean up my eating (which took a real nosedive towards the end of the last challenge) And then 1. They Call Me The Wanderer Move ever day, including at least one long run and two other runs per week 2. Hack, Whack, Choppin' That Meat Eat properly: porridge for breakfast and paleo for the rest of the day, no booze 3. Civilization? I'll Stay Right Here Carry on Meditating* This is becoming a habit now - I've only missed 3 days since the start of the year, I think. I'm still undecided about it though. I only really feel like about one session in five is effective. The others are just me sitting there thinking about stuff and not really engaging. I think I need to do more prep beforehand to get things out of my head - you know, make notes, turn the oven on for breakfast, drink something, that kind of stuff. So that I don't have so many distractions. I think I need to make this challenge period a make or break for this one. Either i find a way of making this more reliably useful or I give up on it and use that ten minute slot for things that are going to benefit me more. I still feel like there's something to be got out of it but that maybe it's not something I'm suited to and maybe I'm better off cutting my losses. Hm... *=now there's a Sid James/Kenneth Williams film I'd love to see

SYRRAN: [My name is] Arev. T'POL: That means 'desert wind'. SYRRAN: Does it. Why are you here? ARCHER: We could ask you the same thing. SYRRAN: I follow the path of Surak in meditation and study. Challenge goals: Walk Meditate Study Bonus: Do logical things when there is emotional resistance. Challenge Tasks Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Walk Meditate Study Cleaning Meditation Intermittent Fasting Logic Over Emotion (stretch goal) Yoga (stretch goal) Mindful Sleep Don't Forget Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Meds Mail Monday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Trash Tuesday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Wash (clothes) Wednesday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Food Friday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

I have thought about how to get out of my funk and found an easy cure: new beginnings are what I live for. so today I start a new challenge. the game is to get out of different wards in a hospital, win and move in with the girls or lose and dissolve slowly at "Shady Pines" orthopedic goals: walk a minimum of 30km each week. Do this just like last challenge, by hiking 2 to 3 times with dogs and friend and moving the dog daily. do an early evening session 3x/week of the NF bw circuit or kettlebell workout. I may be alternating those ... psychiatric goals ( addictions): back to the old game of limiting the cigarettes to 25 each day. bonus if I get down to 20 again! have 2 alcohol free nights per week, 5 days with little to moderate drinking 1-3 glasses of bubbly/wine eat veggies daily and stay in your caloric budget. neurological goals ( brain function ) do Duolingo French every day whenever you feel upset or hyper: meditate sleep 9 hours/ night ( this might seem a lot but Im taking medication that makes this necessary ) the cafeteria and garden goals: do something fun and creative 3x/week.. keep looking for a creative project tend to your garden see you guys tomorrow! ❤️

Back for more of the same Fast Travel Get faster, get stronger, do something every day, no exceptions Craft Squirrel Stew Eat Paleoish, no booze Protect the Commmmmmonwealth Continue with the daily meditations following on from last time (summary here) and see where it takes me You Feel Well Rested Morning Routine starting at 5 (get to bed early) good posture, language work (Duolingo +one other thing) and cross one item off the to do list per day.

Hi hey howdy ever-body! Hope you're doing all right. I'm sorry I didn't step up sooner, but after last challenge, I didn't really know where to go. I know I wanted to do another challenge, but everything had got so well locked in place at the end that I didn't really know what to do. I wanted to take some time, if not to think, then to observe and consider, and try to figure out what next steps were necessary, if any. It took all week for me to figure out where I wanted to go next. Basically, things didn't stumble into clicking just right until I made a point of scheduling things. I responded well to that - swings every hour actually turned out to be a good way to break up the day and get my other training done. I'm pleased to report that it hasn't caused me to hurt worse. If anything, I'm feeling better. I want to keep that going, and with diet and exercise mostly under control, it's time to turn to sleep and mental stuff. Goal 1: Honor My Bedtime Basically, I want to start getting more sleep. I know I do better when I have a concrete bedtime, but for too long I've been letting it be dictated by my waking time. I want to break that if I can. Bedtime for me is most realistically 01:55 for now. Further edits to be made as needed but for now, let's start with something that'll be easy for me to keep. Goal 2: Wim Hof Method This is a breathing technique by Wim "The Iceman" Hof, a famed figure for feats of inhuman endurance. I've done this before with good results, and I want to get back to it. Goal is to actually take my lunch break (since I'm writing first thing in the morning, still making sure that's locked in) and to go do my practice. It's not exactly lengthy work or anything, but it'll take long enough that doing it in the morning would be prohibitive. Goal 3: Meditate Want to come back to this again. I'm a better me when I do this. So! Goal is to do this at the end of the working day. It fits in well there when I've done it before; the reason I haven't been is because I've been too wrapped up in trying to get other stuff done. Gonna start at 1:00 per day for the first week and add a minute per week. And that should do it, I think. Sci Fi got moved to Tuesday Nights, which in the long run is good for me because when I'm cleared to get back on the mats again, the MMA place will be having strike work on Wednesdays, so it'll be nice to have that time open. That's the way it's gonna be. Today's goals will be something of a wash on account of just really only having crystallized this stuff in the past 20 minutes, but what can you do? BTW, quick shoutouts to @Tanktimus the Encourager, @Rurik Harrgath, @Mistr, @WhiteGhost, @Treva, @Kyellan and anyone else I missed for stopping by last challenge to cheer me on. I appreciate the work as always, although I'm not always good at saying so. Let's get to it.

Good day fellow Rebels. Last challenge, I made some observations about goals that were lacking, and I selected three: reading, breathing (specifically Wim Hof Method breathing) and journaling. The other goals have essentially become daily habits now because they have been part of my routine for quite some time. So if you have been following me for a while, assume that the rest of my usual daily habits and routines that have been mentioned in the past are now expected. And so I begin: Goal 1: Read Harder and More Often -- I love to read. I love books. I have all the traits of a bibliophile. However, I'm not very disciplined, and I struggle to focus and pay attention when I read. I know this is normal and nothing to be ashamed of, but it still bothers me. I'm also a very picky reader, like... picky to a fault. Yes, some of it is because I have standards, and because I value my time, so I struggle to read something that just... isn't very good. But, if I'm honest, much of this pickiness has led me to make unfair assumptions about various genres, authors, and forms of writing. So, I have decided to take on the BookRiot Read Harder Challenge, as well as to set an ambitious but doable reading goal of 50 books in 2021. I have a few strategies for helping meet this goal: read every day for at least 30 minutes put my phone on the charger on the other side of the room while reading select and read books from the Read Harder Challenge first audiobooks, children's books, and poetry collections totally count towards the 50 goal Goal 2: Breathe Harder and More Mindfully -- I have practiced the WHM in the past, and many of the elements have stuck like glue, specifically the cold showers and cold exposure (going outside shirtless and shoeless in the cold, taking long hikes in the snow with no shirt, etc.), but the breathing (which, if I'm not mistaken Wim himself said is the most important part of the method) has just been a struggle to fit into my daily routine. It's not that I don't want to; in fact, I really enjoy it and feel great every time. It's almost like my brain says, "Dude... It's breathing. We do that al the time. Just skip it." And so, I end up skipping it. However, I noticed last challenge that I was filling that gap of time normally reserved for WHM breathing with mindless scrolling of Instagram or Facebook. So, for this challenge I will work to fit WHM breathing into my morning routine, just as I was before. Below are my strategies for meeting this goal: schedule a time for breathwork, after prayer/devotional time but before workout and cold shower: 0445 Mon-Fri, Sat/Sun time varies use the app and/or music or a guided audio or video to make the experience more interactive at least three rotations; time is not as important as impact, so be mindful of the impact of each inhale and exhale, as well as how your body feels during and after each rotation Goal 3: Journal More -- In addition to loving to read, I also love to write (or at least I used to love it in that I used to write a lot because I wanted to, not because it was a requirement or a chore). I need to get back to that love, but in practical ways that don't make it feel like a task or just something else to check off on my daily to-do list. I used to keep a journal regularly, writing just a few paragraphs a day, recording my thoughts and my feelings and occasionally sharing favorite poems or song lyrics or lines from movies and TV shows. And sometimes I would draw (not very well, but it brought me joy). I need to get back to that less prescribed and more open journaling practice because if it feels to rigid or more like a "have to," I won't do it. Instead, it should be a "get to." I get to journal every day. So below are my strategies for meeting this goal: journal every morning before starting my day and at the end of the day: Mon-Fri right before leaving for work (0630) and before bed (2100); Sat/Sun times vary aesthetics matter; use a notebook that you want to write in and a utensil you want to write with in order to feel encouraged to do so make it brief but important and free flowing, not prescribed or stilted; just express yourself freely and openly without judgement keep it secret; keep it safe (you knew I wouldn't get out of this challenge without at least one LotR reference) And there you have it. My goals for this challenge. Sorry it doesn't have any creative theming or anything, but I knew these areas needed to be refined and strengthened, so that was my main purpose. And of course, you can expect plenty of nerdiness to arise in the form of cool gifs and memes and quotes.