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Since I love getting a great start at the beginning of a challenge run, I'm going to do the best possible thing I can do to make the first week a week of a resounding success: go to a martial arts bootcamp at a beach site and relinquish control over my timetable to two crazy trainers who enjoy making us do push-ups in the water (in full gear of course) just a tad bit too much.[1] Oh, and what better place to write a PhD application to, well, anywhere-not-here than by putting us in straw huts with no electricity or paper whatsoever? Doesn't that sound great? … Okay, so now you know where my first week is going, let's talk about week four: the 50-year celebration of our martial arts branch in Germany and Europe, and we're hosting the event. Some 600+ people are expected to come. It's gonna get crazy. Not just that week, but also the weeks before, as everyone from our school slowly loses sanity and gives in to paranoia. Oh, and did I mention that the other Singapore application is due by end of June, right around the 50-year celebration above? … So yeah, by the looks of it, this challenge too is dominated by the "important and urgent"… and not the "important but not urgent", which is where I'm trying to get to. So, taking into account that I don't (realistically) have a lot of say in what I'll be doing, I'll be working on the small things which I can choose to do, in between everything else. In detail: Challenge Goals Burpees, burpees, burpees. To misquote a case study from Made To Stick: “Why are challenges successful? It's because of three things: Burpees, burpees, and burpees.â€[2] Therefore, I pledge to do (number of week) × 5 burpees per day, minimum. Convict Conditioning. I've been on and off CC for the whole of my NF career. If there is one major downside to this program,[3] I'd say that it is intimidating to restart if you've slacked on it for some time. (At least for me that's the case.) Therefore, I pledge to do round_up((number of week) ÷ 2) sets of at least one repetition of a CC exercise, one CC exercise per day. Both of these goals aren't exercise goals in the common sense, they're willpower goals. They're supposed to get me used to exercising regularly again. Therefore, while there is a steady increase in load (# of burpees/sets), right now I don't care about e.g. having at least 8 reps per set or so. Just that I show up and do the work, no matter how shitty it is. Side Quest Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues. In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin outlines 13 virtues he practiced to achieve moral perfection. I pledge to practice the 13 virtues according to Franklin's system (with modifications to virtue #12, chastity, because it's based on religion and IMO thus outdated) over the next 13 weeks. Each week, I will focus on exhibiting that week's virtue, as well as all preceding weeks' virtues, taking note of where I have failed to do so. This means that for this challenge, I will be practicing the first six virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality and industry. And yes, there is a steady increase in load here as well. Book 7/Conclusion Of Book 6 …will come sometime next week if I find internet access, and at the beginning of week two otherwise. 1I swear I'm not making this up and I'm not exaggerating. They really love making us do this sort of stuff. 2The actual case study is about a local newspaper with above-average readership. Original: “… asked why the [local newspaper] Daily Record has been successful, [founder] Adams replies, ‘It's because of three things: Names, names, and names.’†(Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Made To Stick. p. 42) 3I hear that not everyone is happy with CC's progression system, its steps and conditions for advancing. But I don't feel knowledgable enough in calisthenics to pass (useful) judgement here.

Book 6 – Prologue (Previous act) After a few minutes of noise, the siren died down suddenly. From afar, I could hear footsteps approaching us. It was probably the guard team they had called for just now. I gulped. We were both underequipped and outnumbered. Things would be getting ugly any minute now. It was just me, Emma and the guard team now. “Sweetcheeks.†“Yes, Emma?†“You ready for this?†“I hope.†“You… hope?†“It’s better than nothing, right?†“True.†A second of pause. “Sweetcheeks.†“Yes, Emma?†“You know, the real fun begins once we’re out of this mess. But first, let’s focus on the mess.†“Wait… what? What do you mean, ‘real fun?’†“Your ninja training.†“Ninja training? That stuff again?†“Yup. Only this time, it’s for real.†“What that supposed to mean? Are you saying all the pain I went through so far has been for nothing?†“No, it hasn’t. That was your entrance exam, remember?†“You’re kidding me.†“Totally not. Oh, and also, congratulations on passing that exam!†Emma gave me a big hug. Or rather, a squeeze. A tight squeeze. “Th—thanks.â€, I replied, deflated. “You’re welcome, sweetcheeks. From now on, the fun will only increase, now that you’re a probationary ninja.†“You’re… you’re making me a probie?†“Yep.†“Oh boy…†“Tee hee, I’m glad you’re happy too.†“That’s not…†“Well, as I said, the fun will really begin once we’re out of this mess. So let’s do that first. Here they come!†*sigh* “Aye-aye, Coach.†Challenge goals For the first week: survive, with no lasting damages. I’m on a business trip. Or whatever you’d call “get your butt kicked by a grandmaster for 9 days straight, until it’s the shape of his footâ€. For the following weeks: track everything, intensify and socialize. Track everything. Write the following into my journal every day, so I have a clear view of how I spend my time:strength training (Am/ToD)[1]martial arts (Am/ToD)wake-up timePhD application work (Am/ToD)(computer) programming (Am/ToD)TV/video games/YouTube/etc. (Am/ToD)Progress on goals #2 and 3 below.Intensify. Do the above-mentioned things (except items #6 and 7) in higher intensity. This means more reps/whatevers, or more frequent sessions, or earlier time of day, or more proactive work. Yes/no mark, on a daily basis, per item.Socialize. Comment intelligently on a single person’s thread from my accountability group, and on a single person’s thread not in my group, preferably Monks and Assassins. Optionally strike a 2min+ small talk-ish conversation with A Real Human™… you know, like, face to face, and stuff. Yes/no mark, on a daily basis. “Overachiever†mark for also managing the optional.Rationale (Not for the first week… The rationale for the first week is “they promised me cookiesâ€.) The big theme here is “step up my game.†I already do things #1—5, just mostly haphazardly. So now, I’m adding intention and difficulty. As for the “socialize†goal: I’d describe myself as “cyclically socialâ€, meaning that I have phases where I am very sociable and phases where I’m socially distant and shut off.[2] For my own taste, I’ve spent too much time in a former phase. I’d like to return to the latter. So then. Let’s get dangerous! 1amount/time of day 2Interestingly, the latter phases tend to happen when I’m involved in video game sprees, or Bachelor/Master theses. Coincidence…?