Author: spidern

Habits that changed my life

I first learned about the impact of good habits and daily routines on productivity from Tim Ferriss and Leo Babauta. I’ve been working on implementing many habits in my life for the last ten years. I remember reading so many blog articles and watching YouTube videos to learn about them, and to this day, I continue to do so. The majority of these habits are common sense that we are told as kids and teenagers we should do, but it wasn’t until I started practicing them regularly that I started seeing the benefits.

These are some of the habits that are important to me:

Meditation. I try to meditate first thing in the morning, after waking up. I don’t always manage to do it but for me this habit is very important, it helps me have a more focused day and lower any stress. I meditate for 20 minutes using the Headspace app. I’ve been using this app since 2014 and it’s the app that taught me how to meditate. Another app that I used in the past is Calm, but for me Headspace works the best.

Make my bed. I once read that making your bed first thing in the morning gives you a sense of accomplishment. Here are some links that talk about the benefits of making your bed:

Healthy breakfast. Most days I start with a healthy smoothie. I learned about its benefits when I read the book Revive by Dr. Frank Lipman and then I found this article to help me create different recipes: The Perfect Smoothie Formula.

Review goals. About four years ago, I created my bucket list, with all the items I wanted to accomplish in my life. I spent two days thinking about all the things that were important for me. I constantly review and update my bucket list, which is divided in six parts:

  1. Things I want to do/accomplish (ie. run a marathon)
  2. Things I want to have (ie. my own house)
  3. Places I want to visit, for this I checked a list of all the countries in the world and chose a list of the ones I want to visit first.
  4. Things I want to learn
  5. Activities I want to experience (ie. see the aurora borealis)
  6. People I want to meet/say thanks to, I have a big list of people I want to meet/say thanks to. It is a list of people that have inspired me, that have taught me many things and have helped me become a better person without knowing.

At the beginning of this year, I chose some goals I wanted to accomplish in 2019 for the following areas:

  1. Finances: Income, Give (Donate)
  2. Exercise
  3. Living Environment
  4. Relationship
  5. Family and Friends
  6. Work
  7. Learning: How many books I wanted to read 
  8. Career: Which certifications I wanted to get
  9. Mentoring
  10. Blog
  11. Travel and adventure

Then I divided those goals in quarters and then months.

At night I review my goals and define actions for my To Do list, and then I review this list in the morning. Constantly reviewing my goals help me keep focused.

Exercise. Exercise has been the most difficult habit I’ve implemented in my life. I’ve tried and failed many times trying to get this habit to stick. I know all the benefits but I still struggle. Currently I’m exercising 3 times a week as I’m training for my first 10K. Here is a blog post on how I’m working to become a runner.

Reading. I love reading. This is one of the habits that I never felt I had to work on. For me it’s something I enjoy very much. Reading allows me to learn about my many interests. The majority of the books I buy are in Kindle version, and only the ones I love the most I get them in paper version. The reason for this is that I often move to different cities and I can’t have many paper books at home.

For a few years now, I’ve been tracking the books I read with the app Goodreads. This app allows me to keep a record of what books I’ve read and which ones I want to read. It also helps me to discover new books and see what books are being recommended by my friends and the community.

Daily Journal. This year I started journaling every night. At the end of the day, I write a very short paragraph summarizing what I did during the day and I classify each entry as a “daily journal” or as an “accomplishment”, if I reached a goal or milestone. I can’t wait to review this journal at the end of the year. 

 

 

How I became a runner

Or should I say “How I’m trying to Become a Runner”? I don’t know. I wish I could tell you that I’ve been exercising all my life. That’s not the case. Growing up I never considered myself strong. I remember once in high school we were asked to run about 3 kms (1.8 miles) and I was the last one to complete them. I was in very bad shape. I would run out of breath very quickly.

Until recently, my adult life was no different, I would have a hard time on a bike or hiking. My life is very sedentary and I work all day in front of a computer.

The first time I ran a race was in May 2015. It was a 3.5 mile race, a coworker had shared during lunch that he wanted to run a 3.5 mile race and was asking for people to join him. I told him I would run with him. I remember immediately thinking “what did I just agree to do?”. If I remember correctly, I had about a month to train for the race and I started going to the gym to train 3 times a week. The day of the race came and I was very nervous about it, the crowd was so big that I lost sight of my coworker and I ran by myself. What I remember the most about that day is the happiness I experienced when I saw and crossed the finish line. To this day, I still remember that moment whenever I’m training.

After that race I signed up for 4 more races, but then I had to move cities, I moved from Albany, NY to Atlanta, GA and with that move I stopped running. I have moved cities twice again, and when I got to Tampa, FL. this year, I decided to start running again. I signed up for a Disney Run, a 5K and I completed it this April. Currently I’m training for my first 10K.

These are some things I’m doing to create the habit:

1) The thing that motivates me the most to run is signing up for a race. For me, knowing that I’ve already paid for an event is enough to get me to train for it. After I finished the 5K in April, I signed up for a 10K in November and I’ve already signed up for a 21K (half marathon) next year.

2) Getting home and immediately change into my gym clothes.

3) Use a habit tracking app. I’m currently using Habitify but I used Coach.me for many years.

4) Post on Facebook and Twitter after each training session, to keep myself accountable and let my friends know that I’m training for a 10K.

5) Save YouTube videos to the “Watch later” list and then watch them while I’m on the treadmill. This makes it less boring and I get to learn new things while training. I also watch Netflix videos or listen to music or podcasts.

iPhone/Apple Watch apps that I use to train:

Currently I’m starting week 8 of my 10K training plan and I can’t wait for the race.

How I became a minimalist

I became a minimalist the day I moved to the US. I had lived in Aguascalientes, Mexico for 3 years when I got a job opportunity to move to the US. Once I got accepted for the position, I started selling the majority of my stuff. The process was long and tiring. I lived in a two-bedroom apartment and the process took a little more than a month. I sold all the furniture, sports equipment and my car. I donated many clothes that I knew I wouldn’t use anymore, especially because I was moving from Aguascalientes (a warm city) to Albany, NY where it is cold for about 6 months (or that’s the way it felt to me, coming from Mexico).

The plan was to sell my stuff, and whatever I wanted to keep I would take it to my parents’ house.

When that process was over and I finally settled down, I promised to myself that, going forward, I would be very mindful of the things I bought.

A while ago, even before the big move, I noticed that when I bought clothes, if for example I bought a new pair of jeans I ended up using the new jeans and not using my old ones as much. I noticed that I only used the old ones in case the new ones were dirty. So, ever since, I decided that if I wanted to buy something, I needed to be aware that most likely I would end up not using something else, and that made me think if I really needed it. So, the rule that I have now, is that if I bring new clothes home, is because my old ones need a change, and I need to get rid of them, otherwise I will end with a closet full of stuff I don’t use anymore.

My habits changed even more with that big move.

  • Books: I buy the majority of my books as ebooks. I only buy physical books when it’s a book that I enjoy a lot and I want to re-read it.
  • Clothes: all the clothes I have in my closet I use them regularly, if I identify there is something I’m not using it as much I donate it. I have also noticed that when I like something like a shirt, I buy the same shirt in different colors.
  • Shoes: I wish I had less. I don’t think I have that many considering I have a pair of shoes for each specific type of occasion/event/sport activity: running shoes, hiking shoes, hiking boots, golf shoes, sport winter boots, formal winter boots, office shoes, formal evening party, casual sneakers, sandals, etc.

Minimalism is important to me because I’ve moved 3 more times in a matter of 4 years, it’s important that I keep only the essentials with me, things that I really value and use all the time.

One book that changed the way I feel about things is “Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”. With her book I learnt that I should only keep things that bring me joy.

I enjoy watching YouTube channels on productivity and minimalism.

These are some of the YouTubers I follow on minimalism:

Moving Tips

I recently moved to Tampa, Fl. This is the 4th time I relocate in the last four years due to work. The first time, I moved from Aguascalientes, Mexico to Albany, NY. That time I packed 3 bags: the first one with clothes, the second one with winter clothes and the third one with shoes.

A year and nine months later, I moved to Atlanta, GA. That time, I packed only what fit in my Honda Fit (clothes, kitchen stuff and my TV) and drove there.

The third move was from Atlanta to Washington, DC. For that move, I used the service of a company called PODS.

And now, I’ve relocated from DC to Tampa, Fl.

There are a few things that I learnt from this last move. When it’s time to move again I will:

  • Use wardrobe boxes. U-Haul has some really cool wardrobe boxes that make it really easy to pack your clothes. In every single move I have used luggage, bags and boxes to move my clothes, but when it’s time to do it again I’ll buy some wardrobe boxes. It helps that you don’t need to fold your clothes in order to transport them and it saves you time.
  • Bring an iron and a few hangers with me on the car. My stuff from DC hadn’t been delivered in my new apartment and I was living with just the things I brought in the car with me. I wish I had brought an iron to iron my clothes and a few hangers.

For this last move I used an app called Apartments. This app allowed me to search for an apartment and filter by commute time. The app asks for a destination, travel time and travel mode, this way I was able to find the apartments that were close to work. I highly recommend this app.