Ballad's Challenge: Light the Way

[maegs]

Oh man, do I have a list of podcasts for you!

 

• welcome to nightvale
• the history of english
• the british history podcast
• no such thing as a fish
• stuff you missed in history class
• stuff mom never told you
• Are you in canada? I forget who is.. but if you are canadaland and canadaland commons are both pretty good imho
• library and archives canada has a podcast, forget the name
• we're alive (zombies!)
• the rugby coach's corner (rugby-focused but has stuff related to coaching in any sport as well)

[Ballad]

@maegs - AWESOME! Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to slowly working my way into your list. I've heard fantastic things about Welcome to Nightvale, and your other suggestions sound excellent for someone who is both Canadian and an English Lit grad.

 

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Day 20 (!!) Update: Book #1 is complete! I'm now 50% of the way through Quest #4. Debating whether to go in for Hemingway or Murakami as book #2. Will update you all on this critical, life-changing decision shortly.

 

Happy weekend. xx

[tei_]

You are my inspiration on the appointment-booking front... I have one I've been meaning to book for... um... two months. Go you!

 

As for podcasts, I absolutely love Jesse Brown's Canadaland podcast. There's also the "spinoff" Canadaland Commons, and apparently they're starting a third one for Canadain arts and culture. 

[tei_]

Haha oops, just realized maegs already recced canadaland. well, SECONDED.

[RMDC]

Yeah, I was going to recommend Night Vale, but maegs beat me to it.

[Ballad]

@tei_ - Thank you for the recommendation! I'll definitely have to check it out now that it has 2 recs. (Also, book that appointment!)

 

@RMDC - That just solidifies me having to listen to Night Vale. Thanks for the rec!

[Ballad]

January 2016: Challenge Wrap-Up

 

And the January challenge comes to a close! So, how did I do?

 

Quest #1: Sleep for 7-8 hours per night [26/26 Days]

 

This quest alternated between being difficult and being straightforward. If I didn't set myself a minimum goal of 7 hours of sleep, I definitely would have seen a few 5 or 6-hour nights this month (and that's a bad habit spiral that I don't want to re-visit). Tracking the number of hours I slept each night encouraged me to be more conscious of how sleep affects my energy and health, and I've realized that hitting the minimum of 7 hours is not my ideal place to me. I'm much more functional with a good 8 hours of sleep each night. Another issue that came up for me was that I didn't have much time in the mornings if I went to bed at 12:30am or 1am, because I was letting myself sleep in to keep up with the 7 hour minimum. I'll be addressing this in my next challenge.

Quest #2: Drink 1 glass of water each morning [26/26 Days]

 

This was an awesome quest for me. I got into the water drinking habit pretty quickly, and it translated to me drinking much more water throughout the day. This helped my energy levels, my physical health, and my skin. I definitely plan to continue this habit throughout 2016. The positive effects were huge.

Quest #3: Book a doctor's appointment [incomplete/Complete]

 

It took be forever to book an appointment - but I did it (thank you to everyone who held me accountable)! I visited my doctor this week, and have a couple of follow-up appointments that I've already booked.

Life Quest: Read 2 books between Jan. 4th - Jan. 29th [2/2 Books]

 

I read two great books during this challenge: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I had some trouble building in the time to read, and definitely spent some time on Friday night finishing up Hemingway's book so that I could meet the challenge deadline.

 

One of the benefits of this challenge is that it made me remember how much I love reading during long chunks of time. Another benefit is that it made me more conscious of how I'm spending my time. I adore books, but didn't prioritize them during 2015. I think I can change that during 2016. While I won't be including reading in my next challenge, I still plan to read 3 books during the month of February to keep myself on track for my Goodreads challenge.

 

Not too shabby! This was an enjoyable challenge for me, and really helped to build a few keystone habits. There's still a long way to go (just bought a 32oz water bottle to bring to work on Monday!), but this was a great start. It feels good to be actively addressing stress and my mental health.

 

I will say that my treasure pile was a huge motivator for this challenge. It forced me to put some time into finishing Hemingway before Friday came to an end, since I really wanted that facial. I've been planning to go with my best friend sometime in Feb, so I'm glad I made that push.

 

Since treasures stack, I get the full load:

 

Complete all 4 quests: Get a facial or sign up for a class (singing, improv, yoga, wine), + bragging rights

Complete 3 quests: Buy a new workout top

Complete 2 quests: Cook (and eat!) a delicious meal with friends, complete with wine

Complete 1 quest: Guilt-free "me time" day

 

Boo yah.

 

Big thanks to everyone who followed along and supported me during this challenge! I didn't update too frequently, but your comments, likes, and encouragement were extremely helpful. I'm very grateful to you all! xx

[Rihor]

They STACK?! Booyah indeed! Way to go...can't get better than 100% adherence.

[Ballad]

@Rihor - Thanks! I will say that I'm probably way too excited to spend my own money on the reward pile, haha.

[RMDC]

Fantastic! You knocked this one out of the park!