Phoenixking

Yeah, it's kind of insane from a business standpoint. I mean, he still offers tsukemen for takeout and his rep is enough to get him by. I'd hate to see him go out of business, though. I hope they survive this crisis. You can really tell that this white guy trained in Japan under a proper master and in Brussels with proper Japanese restaurants. I have so much respect for his determination and work ethic. Oh yeah, I was a huuuuge Naruto fan, man. That's how I got curious about what it was, how it tasted, ... I was craving it for years before I found a place that offered it! And even then it was crappy stuff. I was so happy when I finally got to the good stuff... That reminds me I should start watching Boruto again... Thanks! It was fun but not as fun as I'd hoped. I got tipsy/drunk. But I prefer being a functional human being every day. Especially with this much work to do for the budding business. I usually keep a keen eye on my drinking, but during the lockdown, I'm kind of giving myself a pass. I started using Toggle to keep track of exactly how many hours I spend cooking, watching shows, and so on. The first few days were daunting to say the least. But I'm slowly now building up how many hours I'm actually working and dialing down how many hours I spend watching series or anime.

Cool man! Thanks for the info!

Detox day 87. "Nomidai." Three more days until I get to drink the tea of victory! I got a call today from my Krav Maga instructor. He's also a baker and invented Hooked donuts. Aside from their original shape and marketing, they're also ridiculously tasty. Holy shit does that guy know how to make amazing pastries... But he's changing his business, partnering up, selling stuff, ... And so he called me! From entrepreneur to entrepreneur. He had no idea how to communicate that big change. I told him to explain to me in 1 minute what's going on, why and what the situation will be next week. I simply instructed him to write that down on an A4 page, reduce the words to about 3/4 or half to make sure he trims the fat and skips unnecessary words and phrases and then record that. Put the recording on the website and àll social media channels, make it all very simple, clear and super visible. What is going to change, perhaps explain why and answer the question all patrons will have: "Can I get more donuts or not and if so, where and how?" He thanked me, complimented me for helping him so well and expressed that he was right to call me for stuff like that. I added he better print out a piece of paper with a brief message and a link to his website and social media to put on the front door of the bakery. If people come looking for donuts, he'll have an offline way to communicate. I feel so proud he came to me. I feel like I'm being taken more seriously as a speaking coach than I am taking myself for now XD It's a great confirmation that apparently the odds aren't so stacked against me as I'd think! And it's nice to be seeked out for advice or help, I mean, the guy is like 20 years my senior. Surely he knows how to run a business, no? But he still wanted my help! SO COOL! Tonight I'm doing something I've always wanted to do. It's called "Drunk Gaki". One of my favorite Japanese tv shows is called "Gaki No Tsukai". They have a discord, a fan website, and so on. Once every now and then they organize a stream with subs to watch the show and they lot play drinking games in the chat. It's going to be my first time participating. I even bout a small dish to drink sake from and 2 bottles of proper Japanese sake! Coincidentally my SO is baking gyoza tonight and making sushi. I once learned the word "nomidai" when I was in Japan. It's what they use to describe 'the big drinking' or 'drinking til you drop' or places that charge you a flat fee to enter but you'll get unlimited drinks. I think that might apply tonight... Recent highlight: Getting the call from the donut dude, making me feel like my advice and insight is worth something. Budget status: I suggested to my bank I might switch to the competition because they're costing me 5 bucks a month in upkeep and the bank where I have a joint account with my SO seems to provide the same services for free. I also asked the latter if that is right, just to be safe. It might be a promotion like "you don't pay upkeep in the first 6 months" or something. My one goal for the next 24h: Either do some more of my mails (insurance and stuff) or do some more work for Starterslab. What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits! There's 2 more to go and then I'll probably switch to "Life's A Pitch". A book about pitching, business and communication. My chore of the day: Vacuumed the apartment. How I spent the 1 hour of focus progresssing my business today: Filing the answers down to the essence on the document that's due Tuesday. There's still a bit of research due before I can call it a finished thing, though. And spent some time on emails about opportunities for my D&D ideas. I found some people who are eager to help me grow and spread the word. I'm so enthused! Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Just finished! -Make the bed - Done. -Drink enough water - It's 10 to 3 pm and the first bottle is down. I think I'll probably make my goal today. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - About to go do it. -Less daydrinking at home alone - I feel like I'm basically drinking daily now. I should maybe tone it down a bit. But on the other hand: CORONA IS CRAZY -Meditation - The park was so incredibly lovely. I might spend a lot of time there at some point while drinking my green tea of victory after 90 days. -Exercise once this week - My knees hurt after going shopping yesterday. Lucky for my I shouldn't be on my feet very long today.

How was that for you, quitting alcohol and sodas? Was it hard? Did you use some kind of technique? Do you miss it? Do you sometimes break the abstention and indulge?

Hey man! Yeah, I sometimes have to stop and fully realize the distance I've come. It's insane, truly. I should try and appreciate that a bit more sometimes. But I get lost in all of my ambitions and daily tasks. Yeah, you're right man. I try to drink enough water daily. If I get around to doing my dairy around noon, usually the rest of the day that follows is filled with water. But if it's really busy or if my schedule is unorthodox, I lose my structure quickly and just do stuff that needs doing instead of drinking water. It's a hard habit to form, it seems.

Yeah. That stuff really was worth it's money. You don't need a lot and a whole bucks was like 15 bucks. You could kill like 20 nests with that! They're no longer around. Just one loner here or there. The nest entrances seem post-apocalyptically empty. I might do some of it on the terrace to make sure we don't get a second wave of intruders. The ramen was so tasty. But also because I love it especially and I had to work for a whole hour figuring out Uber Eats, dealing with credit card shit, calling the ramen place myself and then going over to order in person and take it back with a McGuyvered backpack I lined with temperature-maintaining isolation and some padding and filling to prevent spills. Trust me, after that, amount of ludicrous effort to get takeout that should take 1 push of a button, any food tastes amazing. If you've never had it, try some! They didn't use to have it where I live until 1 place opened up and the chef was an Asian streetfood legend. I got véry lucky there! Amazing stuff. The next bowl I tasted was in Tokyo Street, so I got the good stuff right away like that. After I came back new ramen places popped up. There's this one that doesn't do takeout because they want to guarantee the quality of the experience. What a guy. That's dedication to good food. He'd rather go bankrupt due to Covid19 than compromise what he wants to offer patrons.

Detox day 86. "The best steak I've had all year." I'm in love with the new car. I love the smooth sound it makes when I drive electric. We took a trip today, just to get out of the house and came to an area, by accident, where we might want to own a house later... It's like the suburbs of the city we live in. Nice houses, lots of green, ... We went to the super special supermarket again and bought 2 steaks for 30 bucks in total. That's 15 bucks for 1 steak. That's the most I've ever spent on steak, holy shit. But fuck me was it tasty... 2 minutes on both sides, flip for the good grill marks, pepper and salt, down the hatch. Delicious. I also was able to work a full hour with no distractions whatsoever. It took quite a lot out of me. But slow and steady wins the race. My physical exercises, daily mental habits, push ups, dental hygiene, Japanese skills, chess, reading, ... I've already set a lot of great things in motion for myself and all of them were slowly built up brand new habits. So it stands to reason that working hard on developing the business is one of them. A part of me blames myself for 'only' working 1 hour full of focus, it's pathetic compared to people who do stuff 8 hours a day or more. But I've always hated going to an office and all that jazz. I'm no grey mouse. It's not for me, I broke down last time I did something like that. I noticed also that I'm great at doing what I do and have no qualms working insanely hard. But I suck at and loathe doing stuff like research, planning, paperwork, ... But if I can manage to do it at least 1 hour a day and slowly amp that up, it seems like I can conquer almost any mountain, as long as I do it slowly. It's a fucking long term superpower. It takes energy and I might not sprint as fast as other around me, but I'll win the marathon after they burn out their thrusters and my steady ship sails past them. I did have a little hiccup today. Because of my rather solidly ingrained habits, it's had to suddenly jam an hour of work into the middle of it all. I'd like to try and stack this journaling habit on top of the working. So that I do the journaling thing as soon as I'm done working to make sure I do the book thing, the push ups, and so on... I'm still looking for my optimal daily configuration. Recent highlight: FINALLY going to the park and getting some true alone time in nature. It was like a different world, everything was in bloom! Budget status: Splurged way too much money on tasty things at the special supermarket. But fuck me is this margarita tasty! My one goal for the next 24h: Try to keep in mind that I need to do the journal after I work tomorrow. What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits! It's almost done. I wonder what book I should read next. One about how to dress properly or one about how to pitch well. Maybe the latter? My chore of the day: Did the dishes, threw some trash out, cooked dinner and cleaned it up too. How I spent the 1 hour of focus progresssing my business today: Researching other coaches, filling in the entire document that was due next Tuesday for class and making a short list of other speaking coaches. There's not a lot of them! Yay! But a pretty big one is super close to me... I guess that means I'll be able to one day say that I started from the bottom 😉 Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Done! -Make the bed - Was done this morning ^^ -Drink enough water - Sadly, didn't drink a drop today. The sudden change in daily rythm due to working kind of threw me off my game. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - Didn't do it today. I should shower and do the whole workout and teeth brushing thing asap. No breaking the streak! -Less daydrinking at home alone - I am totally enjoying this margarita man. We spend a lot of money on drinks, I notice. But I'm not doing anything to combat it. Quarantine is hard on everybody. -Meditation - The park was absolute and complete heaven. It was like entering a different world. -Exercise once this week - About to go do my reps. Push ups and 40 lunges. My knees have been hurting less. So I'm definitely starting to feel some progress.

It seems we've won the battle! Where I used to see about 100 of them, there was then 100 but 50 and later 80 percent dead ones; and nowadays, there's about 1 or something. So I assume the poison is doing it's job!

Odd question maybe but do you find Forex fun? Or do you experience it more like an education or some form of work?

Detox day 85. "It bugs me." Entry from day 84: There's been ants in the house for a bit now. I found their hole in our bedroom, under the window. A tiny hole in the wall, a pinhead's size. I plugged it and several other of their subsequent attempts to invade. But they kept digging more entrances to our home. So I resorted to poison. I'm a kind dude in general, but I draw the line at creepy crawlies like bugs or mice. It makes my skin crawl and so I just go all out. The poison is a micro-granulate kind and the packaging claimed the ants would take it into the nest with them, killing the entire nest with about 20 micrograms of poison because it uses the ants itself as its delivery device. I thought it was a genius thing and thus have tried it. I removed my obstructions of their tiny holes (used a type of gum to uphold posters with) and spread the poison around. It takes a while to kill them all because it's slow acting. It kills them quickly, but not quick enough; it's got to be slow enough to give the ants a chance to bring the poison inside their nests. But sadly, there seem to be more. Also because our house is in a state of disarray. If I was an ant, I'd head to our filthy kitchen too. Let's just hope the poison does what it's supposed to. Our place is a mess. Both of us are working so much, it's hard to maintain a regular rhythm when your coach and table are the places you work, eat, relax and live on and at. Work and private life are flowing over in each other. I think it's a clear sign I'm going to have to start pouring more energy in figuring out what my ideal work rhythm is. This week I'm going to try and start working 1 full hour a day, an hour full of focus and without any form of distraction. I'l amp that up to 6 days a week, 6 hours a day. That seems humane but realistic in proportion to my goals. I notice that I'm having actual trouble with sitting down and working. It's habit I've not yet formed. I quit my job in November and have been basically doing whatever the fuck I'd want since then. So suddenly working like a regular Joe would, 8 hours a day, is a huge challenge for me since I'm not really filled to the brim with self-discipline. Slowly ramping it up seems like a solid choice then. I have been messing up my sleep schedule a bit more. I go to sleep later than I'd planned and thus wake up later than I'd planned. I need to stay vigilant and reel this back it before I allow a bad habit to corrupt a budding good habit. We picked up the new car! It's so smooth! The electrical motor is so lovely. It's not designed for speeding, but cruising. It's almost silent when driving slowly. I'm in love! We dubbed "Cocktail". I was musing aloud about naming it when suddenly my SO absentmindedly mentioned wanting to go drink a cocktail with me. I'm secretly hoping it'll stick because it's so silly. I was hoping to get shit done today, but I'm starting to feel a bit sick. Stomach acting up, headache, low energy. I might still be recovering from my recent stunt of working till 2 am to finish a crazy deadline I'd set myself, juiced up on 5 cups of coffee. Or I'm actually getting some kind of bug. Or maybe the virus got me 2 weeks ago somehow. In any case, I'm trying to take it slow today and order ramen and not push myself over any edge. I'll take on the world tomorrow then... Entry from day 85: I started writing the entry above yesterday, but shit kept getting interrupted by other stuff. I feel like my days are sometimes such a clutter. I started using an app called Toggl today. I tracks what I do. How much time I spend on anime, reading the news, ... Combined with the fact that I woke up at my regular time today again, I hope to have a productive day. I'm already noticing how scary it feels. Like, I can't escape it anymore. I'm now accountable for all of the time I waste. It's freaking me out. I feel so conscious and aware of every passing minute, it's crazy. The ants are slowly dying! Huzzah! I'm not sure what changed, but yesterday I got some gloves and rearranged the mounds of poison powder. I carefully observed how the ants were walking, they follow each other's already set chemical paths, so I just put poison powder on those and some mounds near the entrances I saw were being used a lot. This morning I saw about 100 of them. I've never seen them so active! But upon closer inspection, a large part of them were dead! So here's to hoping we'll kill the lot soon! Spent quite a few hours figuring out all of the intricacies of a hybrid car. So many fancy buttons! Recent highlight: Craving ramen but having issues with Uber Eats, resulting in me doubling down and going over the the ramen place in person with a backpack lined with silver foil and plastic bags as something to cram in the backpack and in between the nooks and crannies of the take away bows to stabilize the load. After that a few cold beers. I was so happy. Budget status: Got a call from the car payment agency today. We'll get a letter next week to start the payments... Yay... O.O My one goal for the next 24h: Try to use the Toggle app as acurately as possible. I already feel it making me more accountable for the time I use to do stuff. What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits; getting closer to the end! My chore of the day: Did the dishes, threw out the organic trash and cleaned the sink How I spent the 1 hour of focus progresssing my business today: I sadly kept procrastinating once again. But I adjusted this daily thing to working 1 hour starting from 11 to 12, daily. Let's hope by making it more concrete that I'll find it harder to dodge. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Just finished it -Make the bed - Did it this morning! -Drink enough water - First bottle down already -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - About to go do it -Less daydrinking at home alone - I had some beers last night. -Meditation - Might drive over to the park today, actually... -Exercise once this week - Going to have a walk in the park today.

Detox day 81. "Almost." I woke up with a nightmare. Not a common one. I dreamed I was playing a game, a stupid thing where you balance a bike and have to make it across an obstacle course, you know the one. I dreamed my SO was playing it and urged me to try it too because it's fun. After a few seconds of trying it, I realized what I was doing, remembered the abstinence and detoxing and felt agony at the realization that I'd come so close to 90 days but ultimately failed. I'm so happy to be at day 81. 9 more days 'til that bottle of green tea! Today is going to be a busy day. I already did the socials for my podcast, so that's done. I also called the wrecking company for dropping off my old car tomorrow, it's too polluting so I'll get about 1000 bucks from the city to get it destroyed. I'll also go and get the new car that same day tomorrow. Filled to the brim with cool new gadgets and stuff. Yay! It's also a hybrid so we'll save a lot on taxes on pollution and just fuel in general. But I have to ride my bike. And with my shitty knees, it might not turn out well... I'm prepared to call a cab, though. We'll see... I'll see the insurance guy tonight about the paperwork. The better part of the day will be spent finishing the work I did for the Starterslab workshop of tomorrow and drafting a list for stuff I still need to research. *sigh* A long way to go... I hate doing legwork... Recent highlight: Cracking a bottle of wine last night with the SO. Budget status: The 1000 bucks we'll get from the government is a nice plus. I just hope the monthly car payment won't chew into my budget all too much. My one goal for the next 24h: Go to the insurance dude and make sure I understand everything. What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits. My chore of the day: Vacuuming the apartment How will I progress my business today: Try to finish my business plan and a list of what else I'll need to research and figure out. I basically have the rest of the day to spend at going at it. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - 67 days and going strong -Make the bed - SO did it again. -Drink enough water - First bottle down. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - About to go do my bathroom workout ritual -Less daydrinking at home alone - Polished off a bottle of great red wine last night with the SO. -Meditation - I'm going to try and get in the zone later today while working. -Exercise once this week - Knees are starting to properly hurt. I'm going to skip the lunges today to let everything heal a bit more. If I do go ride my bike for 20 mins tomorrow, I might bring pain killers. I'd prefer other drugs, but they influence your body and help the coronavirus fuck shit up, so I better not.

Hahaha, it's stuff like that that reminds me how getting in shape is fun. I remember Chris Pratt getting in shape for Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a full year of suffering and making sacrifices but he felt so happy and great afterwards because of all of the stuff he could now climb and vault over.

Detox day 80. "Let go and finish." I'm going to try and finish the business market analysis stuff today. Last night I got totally depressed about all of it. I have been doing so much research, it's making me realize how much info is out there and how impossibly perfectionist I'm being about it. I think I'm going to just list up all of the stuff I still need to do or learn and just try to finish my current analysis with what I've got and a estimate or approximation of what I still have to figure out. It's going to give me some more peace of mind, I feel. 10 more days before I finish my detox from porn, games and falling asleep with Netflix or a podcast or whatever. In 10 days I'll drink my glorious bottle of Japanese green tea I've been saving for over 5 months in the fridge. And it's going to taste like victory. Recent highlight: Realizing that I need to not be such a perfectionist and acknowledge that 'good enough' is also okay. Budget status: SO has been looking at data about average family expenses on food, it seems like we manage well compared to the average. I've also contacted the agency that was looking for coaches to help students to study. I could start as soon as I start my own business, because of the paperwork. But because they had to change everything due to social distancing, I'm not sure if they'll let me start. I told them I'd feel safer in an environment where I could have direct feedback and guidance seeing as I'm just starting out. But there's also a huge workload for them, so I'm not sure if they can afford to refuse a new coach on the grounds of it being more difficult to educate and guide me during my start-up process... We'll see. My one goal for the next 24h: Try to finish the analysis with the info I got and fashion a list of stuff I'd still need to look into What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits. My chore of the day: Folding the laundry. How will I progress my business today: Try to finish, as good or far as possible, my prospective customer personas, my business environment analysis and update my business plan. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Just finished it. -Make the bed - SO did it again. -Drink enough water - Took my first sip, but this habit is slowly devolving again. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - I gotta make a call first before I go and do my workout-shower-teeth-ritual -Less daydrinking at home alone - Had a pina colada with my SO last night while watching silly over the top film Shaolin Soccer. -Meditation - Starting this new week, I'll be allowed to go back to my park again with my car! I'll have to get the new car first, but I hope it get that sorted asap! Then I'll just have to find a moment where there won't be a lot of people in the park. I would LOVE some me time! -Exercise once this week - I'm well on track of doing 10 daily push up and 40 lunges per day. It's starting to show. I can more easily do the push ups now! If I can do them really comfortably, I'll start amping it up and thinking about what other exercises to add.

Oh yeah, I don't watch a lot of anime on Netflix; I just use an anime streaming site that gets revenue from ads. Beastmaster looks like so much fun, holy shit! If I were waaaay fitter, I'd kill for a go at something like that. To the kid living inside of me, it just looks like a big fun jungle gym!

Detox day 79. "Growth." Another day, another chance at progress. I'm starting to get a bit bugged by the amount of chores that keep piling up. I think I'm going to add something about doing a daily chore in this diary too. I feel like I'll be working daily on the business stuff, trying to research and progress as much as possible. I do get the idea I'm doing six times what another would be doing so as long as I keep going at it, I'll make it in the long run. Just chomping off bits and pieces here and there, whenever and wherever I can! I set my desktop background to one of my favorite 'Revolver'-quotes: "If you break the rules on what controls you, you break the rules on what you can control." I feel like some of the stuff I'm trying to pull off is pioneer shit in these parts. There's no culture for commercial D&D here. But groundbreaking stuff happens everything. Things always seem like they're impossible until somebody actually does it, then it just seems really difficult to do. Recent highlight: Getting responses from professionals in the field, reading their feedback and changing and adapting my plans. Budget status: Got paid my unemployment money. It's more than last time; but last time I spent a few days filming abroad and getting paid properly for that. So the total amount I got was bigger. I really am going to need some new ways to make money if working via videochat is going to remain a thing... Hard to teach or coach people if one-on-one sessions are out of the question. How can you read body language and subtle micro-expressions if the connection is too tame? My one goal for the next 24h: Have a productive afternoon exploring the opportunities in the health and care sectors. What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits. How will I progress my business today: Look up multi-functional centers for mental care, day center for similar patients and student facilities; I feel like there might be some budget in some student groups who might be interested in D&D. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - 65-day streak, yo! -Make the bed - SO did it. -Drink enough water - Bottle is next to me, but I'm still a bit groggy from waking up. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - About to go do the ritual. -Less daydrinking at home alone - Had my last bit of Japanese whiskey last night while finishing the stream. -Meditation - I feel a bit more sane nowadays, I'm starting to find a better work rythm. -Exercise once this week - About to go do my daily push ups and physical therapy exercises.

Yeah, I don't know man. My knees hurt daily, it seems. I got the physical therapy for that reason XD They used to be literally too weak to hold my weight when I walk, run or whatever because of an injury. The only way I got rid of the pain, was to work out the muscles the therapist taught me. So if it hurts a bit, those knees I mean, that's nothing new; but if all the other muscles around it hurts, that means I'm working out the right things. Surely I should let them recover. But they only hurt a bit. And I've only started with 1 exercise: the 40 lunges. There's about 8 and all have different varying degrees of difficulty I could amp up. So I'm doing the lightest of the light right now. When the world starts up again around me and it's safer to come out, it'll all fade back into the background, luckily. My life's pace and the amount of places I need to be in and stuff I need to do used to be enough exercise for years to not have issues. It's because I was moving too little that shit hit the fan. So in a weird way I welcome the new pain on top of the knees XD But I understand what you're saying and appreciate your concern 🙂

I use a cap on data limits rather than hours spent. My brain is hardwired a bit weirdly. I require a lot of recovery when doing tedious stuff like what I'm doing now, it seems, if not I'll fall apart XD So I usually start the day with an episode of Ultimate Ninja Warrior and used to watch Beastmaster on Netflix; then some anime (black clover) and some Primitive Technology (on youtube). In between those I'll have breakfast, respond to emails, manage my social media, read the national and international news and finish my journal here; the latter implies I also work out, shower, get clean, do my Japanese, and so on... So usually it all takes quite a few hours before I sit down to actually work. But when I do do that though, there's nothing left to distract me or worry me.

Detox day 78. "Slow and steady." Meine Gute, this is tedious! I have to do research on how financially doable each ambition is. Find potential partners, research any and all competition and map out their prices, services, USPs, ... And I've been doing that for 3 days just for my DM'ing alone! Granted, the progress is there. But it's a slow and arduous slog. I'm not good at shit like this. Sitting down and doing the legwork. But if you break the rules on what controls you, you break the rules on what you can control. I've now found peace with the fact that I am out of my depth. I'll still do the work, but I'll be two or three times as slow as another would be. I'll not make the deadline several times over. But I'll keep going at it. Slow and steady wins the race. Maybe the next assignment will be something that I find easier to do. And if I don't make it and am unable to finish it all by the end of next month, I'm not worried. The final thing is a public speaking assignment 😉 You have 7 minutes to explain your whole business. Pricing, projected income, marketing strategies, ... Even if I have to pull the whole thing out of my ass without any numbers to back it up, I'm not afraid. If there's 1 thing that I'm a natural at, it's speaking. So in the mean time, I'll do slowly keep my grind going. I'll wash out several times a day, get pissed off, tired, anxious or frustrated; walk away, drink, curse and binge Netflix. But I'll be there, back at the desk, toiling away the next day again. I'll move slower in this specific element than other would, but I'll still come out as victorious in the long run. I just have to not give up. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm built to last, not built for speed in this sense. Recent highlight: Time with my SO. And seeing an inbox full of reactions to the messages I spread, seeking knowledge about how viable my ideas are in the sector. Budget status: Starting to notice the drop in my income due to corona. It's subtle, but it's there. I just won't be able to save the same amount as I used to. And I asked around if there's any failsafe for freelancers. I don't reckon I'll get much, if anything at all. But you should always give yourself as much chances to succeed as possible. My one goal for the next 24h: Have a good livestream tonight. It'll be the last one! What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits. How will I progress my business today: Continued contact with people on how to commercialize D&D; mainly looking for opportunities in the care industry; people with mental of physical disabilities and organizations with budget to use D&D as a form of gamified therapy; I'd look for a therapist to join forces with or work as a consultant. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Done. -Make the bed - Done. -Drink enough water - First two bottles down already. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - About to start 🙂 -Less daydrinking at home alone - Man, I really loved that G&T yesterday. Been drinking more and more lately, but it's dying down again. We bought new super tasty gin and I was also quite stressed the past few days. -Meditation - My SO and I are starting to give each other more space. -Exercise once this week - About to hop into the shower and do the push ups and lunges too. It's starting to become a steadfast ritual. My knees hurt now. But also my muscles. So that means I'm progressing, I think.

Detox day 77. "Legwork." Today there only exists one thing: the analysis. I made a template to fill in for myself. A list of prices, service, geographic area, products, ... of all of the direct and indirect competitors; of all of any potential partners and certain key demographics I'd like to tap into. Then I also made a matrix cross-referencing all of my services with all of the targeted demographics and using that to figure out where the money is and where my joy is. Like I'll probably do D&D with the most love but I'll not make a lot out of it. On the other hand, teaching fancy companies about speaking and presentations will most likely make me more money, but I'll feel a bit more bored. The core of my activities will be related to finding a balance between doing what I love and making enough money. It's going to be a lot of work, but I need to lay this foundation to make sure my business decisions are grounded in facts and not instincts. Recent highlight: Hearing grandpa on the phone. Finally. After 2 months. Budget status: Submitted another request for unemployment money. My one goal for the next 24h: Sit down, work and not get distracted. What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits. How will I progress my business today: Start the analysis via my template. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Done. -Make the bed - Done. -Drink enough water - Bottle is next to me. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - Not done yet, since it's rather early for me. I still have to have breakfast. -Less daydrinking at home alone - Yesterday I had a G&T at lunch, very stressy day. -Meditation - Lo-FI music helps me focus and Primitive Technology videos help me escape a bit. -Exercise once this week - Did 10 push ups and 40 special lunges; this is now going to become a daily ritual, just before I hop in the shower.

Basically doing 10 every day. It's starting to get more easy now so I'll amp it up to 15 or 20 one of these weeks. I also do my physical exercises in the same breath, 40 lunges. So those 2 are the current daily workout.

Shit man. I'm sorry. Be careful and isolate and all that jazz... Not to want to upset you, but seeing as it's a highly infectious thing, you probably do have it. Maybe try to get tested? And your mom should totally quarantine herself. Shit man. Good luck and strength to you.

Detox day 76. "Cornered." There is so much to do, holy shit. I am to make a complete analysis of the market. So I have to figure out every type of product and/or service I want to bring to the market, figure out who's already doing it and then check their public records to see how they're faring. Considering I want to act, write, do D&D, coach, speak, ... that's a lot of research. I'm good at performing under pressure and coming up with cool shit in no time. I'm not a big legwork type of guy. But I understand. To be safe and sound, I have to build my business on a solid foundation. If I do this and learn that coaching is just simply not safe financially, I'll be happy that I learned that now and not in 5 years. But holy shit... I feel like suddenly there's so much coming at me! I now have a site and several social media channels to maintain. I also had another idea for a new video that I'd like to write, film, edit and release next month. I was thinking of making a series, because that'd separate my from the competition (I think... I have no idea who my competition even would be!). On top of that, now that I have a site, there's legal stuff involved, like I have to put down my business number and address on it, if not I could get fined. I didn't know that! That's a thing?! I feel like I'm in way over my head. And to top it off, I stupidly mailed 2 big companies in the past 2 days, directing them to my site and offering them my services. I really hope they don't respond. I have no services to even offer! I have not ready a single book on coaching, have no presentation, slides or database on public speaking, ... There is so fucking much to do. And that's just stuff I'm thinking of on the spot, general stuff. On top of it all is the workshop homework. It's like my head is splitting at the seams! So I'm stressed, and scared and anxious. Normal for a fresh rookie business owner. Relieve that stress, you say! Well, the knees are shot for now, so no walks in the park. I can't really go there because the cops'd stop me since it's not essential to go there. We're allowed to walk and work out, but if I go there by bike, the shitty knees will give away halfway and I'll be in pain for a few more days. So I'm kind of fucked on that note. On top of it, there's chores at home. My SO works basically 24/7 it seems and I got the feeling this place used to be cleaner when I was the one with the time to clean it all up. Suddenly there's been this huge shift in my daily life and priorities and it feels so insanely big! I've been watching Primitive Technology on YouTube because of all the nature sounds. It relaxes me. I'm seriously stressed out today... Djeezes... There's emails, social media, there's just so much that it's freaking me out today! Maybe I should just do nothing and try to relax? Have a chill day, or something. I'm like always turned on. I should be allowed to turn off too! My SO working all day and taking calls and videochatting in the living room isn't really helping either. She can be rather messy, asks a lot of random questions and requires a lot of confirmation. I kind of vented all of it and said that I understand we're not made to be in the same room for so long. Like damn, do I miss having a lot of personal space. I like being alone, it's quiet and peaceful. I'm glad to hear that a lot of companies will be allowed to open their doors again next week. Though I'm also véry happy I'll be getting my safe mask next week. Glasses and a mask should protect me from catching any virus, not for 100%, but still better than nothing. Recent highlight: Ordering a fancy face mask with filters in it and the smell of fresh rain. Budget status: All is well it seems. The car payments would start on the 5th of May it seems. So we'll finally get the new car! My one goal for the next 24h: Start my physical therapy exercises. What did I read today: Another chapter of Atomic Habits. The book should be done by next week. I'll try to finish all current books that matter so that I no longer have like 5 I'm reading at the same time! How will I progress my business today: I want to make a file for the analysis, clarifying every product/service I'll offer and then the potential customers or archetypes, potential partners, direct or indirect competitors, and so on... I'm pretty stressed today, so I might just make the template and not the research, if I do the research, I'll start with a smaller bit, like the D&D. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Done. -Make the bed - Done. -Drink enough water - Took my first sip. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - About to go do it. Together with exercises and push ups. -Less daydrinking at home alone - Man, I really, really needed that G&T. -Meditation - I need to take a breather. Like wow, I'm freaking out. -Exercise once this week - I'm about to go and do my physical exercises.

Detox day 75. "Next steps." Today I had about 4 hours of class. How to analyse your environment. Prospects, partners, prices, competition, ... There's ALOT of info to digest, holy shit. I was hoping I'd be able to work on my workshop or something, but it's looking like it's going to be a spicy few days... I was so enthusiastic that I mailed a school and a local business academy, offering my services. I don't even have a course to offer them XD I'm going waaaay too fast. I've also selected quite a few books on coaching that I'd like to pour into my brain. There's lots of work to be done. But the coaches tell me to chillax and do the ground work now. I'm not really 'allowed' to get paid or invest stuff yet. I have to do the workshops first. I entered the program because I thought I'd lack motivation and oversight. But it seems like I'm so fired up, I'm passing everybody by. But I need to calm down a bit and chew what I've bitten off. It's important I calm down and lessen my efforts to find customers and increase my efforts to prep what I'll offer them when they'll eventually come and improve my infrastructure and organisation. I'll be ordering a shitload of books and I already have a small library that I've yet to read. I'm adding something about reading in this journal to progress that load a bit further along. Recent highlight: The numerous reactions on the video I released yesterday. So many compliments! Budget status: Ended up waiting to order the 200 bucks worth of books. If I order them now, it's a private thing; if I wait, I can claim it as a business investment. My one goal for the next 24h: Start my physical therapy exercises. What did I read today: A chapter of Atomic Habits How did I progress my business today: I followed the Starterslab class on analyzing your environment Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - Just finished. -Make the bed - SO made the bed, but then it got fucked around because she spent a few hours working in there. -Drink enough water - Still have to drink my first bottle. It's been a weird morning. -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - My SO is nagging me to drive us to a garden center so I'll do this when we get back. -Less daydrinking at home alone - Nah, all good. -Meditation - I got a real internal peace boost from watching "Primitive Technology", the youtube channel. So lovely and peaceful and educational. -Exercise once this week - I'm going to try the physical therapy exercises. I'll do them together with the push ups. I've oddly now started associating showers with push ups, I wonder if I can do the same with squats or something. This is something called 'Habit stacking', I picked it up from Atomic Habits.

Detox day 43. "Golden Dawn." Within 24 hours and with the help of a friend and my SO, there is now a website, a FB page, a YT channel and a video explaining what our PM did wrong in her presentation and why. I am so proud of the momentum. I already have 2 prospects that seek coaching and friends are handing out info about which school networks need speaking coaching, what companies have budgets big enough, and so on... It seems like this is truly something people need and there's budget for it. All that is left is to continue this. I'm going to try and apply the stuff I learned via Atomic Habits and try to either improve something about my socials, my business or my site or either create something new like writing content, articles or what would be the content of my workshops. I am also terrified. I have now successfully set my board on this wave that washed over everybody and it seems like I'm able to surf it. But what if it works? I currently have no actual coaching experience. I have no workshops ready and filed to a sharp point to take with me to companies, and so on... Hahahaha. I'm in way over my head! XD Looks like I'll be working like a madman for a while! I'm going to order a shitload of books on coaching and then start working on a file that has all of my current anecdotic knowledge and stuff I learned from practical experience. Then I'll try to add enough info I got from books, video, and so on to make sure it's all legit and not just personal experience. I guess at the end of a project like that I should have a workshop that I can more or less use to teach companies and schools how to speak in front of a crowd. This is all so crazy and exciting. I'm getting compliments about the video and the initiative left and right. There's even people online that I've either never met or people I haven't heard from in ages that are picking this up. I even got a call from a fellow Starterslab-entrepreneur. He wanted to congratulate me over the phone for my idea and execution. I'm so happy and proud and excited and terrified all at the same time. Holy shit! Recent highlight: Releasing the video and riding the wave of exhilaration Budget status: I'm going to blow some money I saved on books on coaching. Also, I hate math. Did I mention that? We went to a supermarket and got a complicated bill. Some stuff for her, some stuff for us, some stuff for me, but we paid with the joint account. Checking out who owed who was harder than I thought. I'm a language guy, not a math buff. My one goal for the next 24h: Try to find a healthy way to preserve this momentum and make sure I work on progressing the business on the daily. Maintained habits: -Daily Japanese lesson - 60 day streak and counting! 10 more days and I'm breaking my record! -Make the bed - Done. Sleeping was a bit better last night too, due the the open window. A nice breeze! -Drink enough water - On my way to meeting my goal today (again! yay!) -Brush teeth two times a day, floss and clean once a day - About to order some books, watch some Netflix and then hit the shower and do the teeth. -Less daydrinking at home alone - Half a bottle of sparkling wine, to celebrate the website and the video! -Meditation - I'm trying to give myself some me time to come down from the high. I'd like to keep working like I am now but I don't want to overextend myself. -Exercise once this week - Push ups are going fine. Knees still kind of hurt, but I think I'm starting to get ready for my physical therapy exercises. I'll try to be calm for the rest of the day, I'll probably work or do house chores and we'll see in the morning about those exercises.

The shading is really cool!