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My Journal - Alex


AlexTheGrape

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Wow, it’s been 9 days since I posted here! I’ve been busy every evening with some event, club, party, or working, so no wonder it didn’t occur to me to post. I’ve been really busy since university has started, more so now that the workload is ramping up. The parties and such to kick the year off have finished, so now it is just time to work hard. With that comes the need for me to pick up my helpful habits from where I left off, to maximise my productivity and keep me the healthiest I can be.

Today has been a great day of studying and spending time with my little brother. We went out for running and biking twice, and I got a decent amount of studying done.

Gratitude journal

I am grateful for having my own room.

I am grateful for my cupboard doubling as a desk.

I am grateful for the help I’ve received from fellow students.

One amazing thing that happened/I did today:

I ran/walked for half an hour this morning with my little brother, which was awesome! It was a good time to chat and get exercise (before he jumped back onto his xbox).

Workout/run

Yup!

Daily task planning ahead of time

Done.

Exercise planning

I’ll just do another run tomorrow, the dogs need it too!

Meditation

Yup.

Visualisation

No.

Daily affirmation

No.

Fully cold shower

No.

Reading + taking notes

No.

Getting to bed before 8:50pm

Nope.

Jar of Awesome

Nope.

Daily application of self-development skills

Meet my commitments today. The decisions I make one day will reflect what I do every day.

I didn’t set myself commitments properly, so although I intended to do lots of studying, I wasn’t able to set time constraints properly and didn’t get nearly enough done.

Weekly Goal(s)

Don’t fail a single day of my success streak! (Sadly failed).

Get to know the neighbours in one house this week.

Monthly Goal(s)

(I have an extra weekly goal).

Old 3 Month Goal (1 month left!)

My three month goal is to develop my leadership skills enough to confidently coach a sports team or lead another form of community group.

3 Month Goal

Expand my holiday programme to a running business/be running my own community group within my neighbourhood.

Know my neighbours from at least 100 households/have them as contacts for my holiday programme.

12 Month Goal

Be running my own community group, hosting public events (more detail needed)

48 Month Goal

Have grown my holiday programme/community group to be accessible by at least half of the NZ population.

Have the skills (namely leadership) to have my options open for being an entrepreneur or having a normal job.

What went well today:

Doing exercise twice.

What didn’t go well today:

Not being organised enough to determine when I’ll do all the tasks I wrote for myself.

What I could have done to make my day better:

Same as above.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

Set in stone when I’m going to do each task, have a cold shower, get ready to work heaps faster.

Photo Stream

Here’s a photo taken by my university of Marshmello – I went to this concert last week and it was a blast!

17239928_1447552805263382_5581240020853402163_o.jpg

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Update:

This week has been a busy one, i've been filling in much of my time with studying and almost every evening I've stayed late at school for a club gathering or event. I'm aware I've joined more clubs than I can handle, so I'm currently prioritising what is really important to me.

I've been gyming relatively consistent this week, and had a better work ethic than the last, but my bed time has been quite inconsistent.

I've been making plenty of friends recently, I hope that they'll stay friends for a long time. 

I've applied for various leadership positions within my university faculty (engineering), so I'll see how that goes.

I am yet to write here about my youth development voyage, so if I have time this weekend I'll try to do that.

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Friday:

Today has been the day for voting for the representative(s) for AUES (Auckland University Engineering Society). There have been about 10 people campaigning, including myself. I made a one minute casual speech in front of my morning lecture of 800 people today to gather more support, and I'm proud of what I did. I was the only person to make a public appearance, and I got very positive feedback. Unfortunately I didn't get enough votes to become one of the two reps, but I'm proud of my achievement nonetheless.

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Wow, a whole week has gone by without me posting! I've been finding it hard to do things consistently recently, I just haven't been self-development focused like I used to. I need to get back into my old habits, as they provided the structure and momentum to do the best I could in other areas of my life (particularly studying). I'm finding that I'm making the same mistakes because I haven't been reflecting daily, so I need to get back into it!

I'm needing new goals, both short term and long term, to work towards. Since I haven't set these goals, my mind has been wandering off to the old days when I played video games, when I certainly did have goals (in-game). That is a wake-up call for me that I need to get refocused.

I'm going to add some new habits I want to build but also some of my old ones!

Gym workout/run

Nope.

Gratitude journal

I am grateful for computers at university.

I am grateful for the opportunity to dress up as a carrot at work yesterday.

I am grateful for the lift I got here this morning.

One amazing thing that happened/I did today:

It was my floor manager's last day at work today, so I was given the opportunity to dress up as a carrot (we have a couple of costumes in the store) to make work more fun for her last day. I was happy and joyful for the rest of the evening, it was great!

Daily task planning ahead of time

No! I need to get on with that.

Exercise planning

Tomorrow I may not have time for exercise, I'm running behind with a couple assignments.

Meditation

5 min only.

Visualisation

No.

Daily affirmation

No.

Fully cold shower

No.

Reading for 20+ mins

Yup.

Getting to bed before 8:50pm

Nope.

Jar of Awesome

Nope.

Daily application of self-development skills

--

What went well today:

I made sure to let my boss know I needed extra time for studying, so I got off work early to race home and do that.

What didn’t go well today:

I had a sloppy start to the day, hadn't planned out my day the night before, didn't have a study plan, and was slightly late for work. I really messed up!

What I could have done to make my day better:

Planning, planning, planning! Also I need to have more urgency if I'm pressed for time, so a cold shower will help with that.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I'm going to plan my day ahead of time, make sure I don't mess around in the morning, and get into my habits!

Photo Stream

--

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Alex, consider getting the 5 Minute Journal. Might help you with a bit more structure each morning/night. I use it. :)

Thanks Cam, I'll try that out. I knew Tim Ferris did a similar journal structure, but not selling it as a book! :)

How was today?

Today has been a successful day of studying and university. I swapped out my gym time with more studying which I'm not sure will pay off, but I'm certainly gymming tomorrow. I caught up with some of my new friends, and I went to a social entrepreneurship workshop in the evening (I now do that every Monday, I'm excited about it!).

Gratitude Journal

I am grateful for The Minimalists podcast.

I am grateful for having the opportunity to network with startup enthusiasts and experienced people.

I am grateful for the free food I have been given today, twice!

What would have made today better?

I could made my lunch the night before, and had proper exercise.

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Today has been a fulfilling day at university. I went to every lecture I needed to, but also spent plenty of time studying with my new friends and socialising. I got out to the gym too, but ran out of time to do my full schedule.

What went well today?

I did plenty of exercise at the gym, and had a well-balanced day.

I made good use of my time spent travelling, and I now have a plan sorted for using my time in the bus.

One amazing thing that happened today:

I managed to display super discipline skills as I ate my packed lunch/dinner before (and sneakily while at) a restaurant with friends for dinner. We’re all university students so know the need to save money. I had great conversations with my friends and saved money, I’m chuffed!

What could have made today better:

I could have checked the weather and dressed accordingly. A tropical storm came through and it’s been raining very heavily. I’ve been drenched! I also could have had a fully cold shower after gymming, a warm one made me take too long.

What I’m going to do differently tomorrow:

I’m going to do the most I can for my high-priority assignment, and make the day more successful than the last! I’ll make sure to get in bed on time.

Speed-lunch making

Todays time: 21:27?! I need to speed up heaps!

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Today I had a relatively successful day. I had a really good workout in the gym, and gave myself plenty of time to study and such in the afternoon. My productivity started to drop after about three hours of studying, so I think I should have moved place a second time for a change of scenery. I still spent plenty of time with friends, and got an assignment finished.

Gym workout/run

Yup!

Gratitude journal

I am grateful for the library having so many desks.

I am grateful for getting a lift to and from uni today.

I am grateful for my amazing new friends.

One amazing thing that happened/I did today:

I practiced a good study technique that works for me, which is changing where I sit (and having a 5 minute walk or so) between study sessions. It helped me a lot with keeping motivated to study, so I’m going to do more of that in future!

Daily task planning ahead of time

Nope.

Exercise planning

Yup.

Meditation

Nope.

Visualisation

No.

Daily affirmation

No.

Fully cold shower

Yup.

Reading for 20+ mins

Yup.

Getting to bed before 8:50pm

No way! I need to get better at this.

Jar of Awesome

Nope.

Daily application of self-development skills

--

What went well today:

I practiced good study techniques.

What didn’t go well today:

I didn’t get enough sleep, which appears to be a recurring issue. I let a bitter conversation drag on today, I should have stopped it.

What I could have done to make my day better:

Being faster with certain tasks would help. I’ll make sure to time myself or have a particular time in mind to get things done by. Also getting more sleep.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I’ll make sure to get more sleep, and be even more productive with my study time through timing and moving about between study sessions.

Photo Stream

--

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Yesterday has been a well-balanced day. I started out in the gym, but it took longer than normal as I was with a friend. I did studying with friends, attended a meeting, and had a fun bingo night with the snowsports club.

Gym workout/run

Yup!

Gratitude journal

I am grateful for the amazing club opportunities at my university.

I am grateful for my better self-awareness about my gaming mentality.

I am grateful for having protein shake powder.

One amazing thing that happened/I did today:

I introduced my close friend with my new friends which was good for everyone, and now I won’t have to divide my time amongst my friends if they’re all in the same place.

Daily task planning ahead of time

I’m going to leave this one for weekends, as I don’t need to plan my university days (they are already scheduled).

Meditation

Nope.

Visualisation

No.

Daily affirmation

No.

Fully cold shower

Yup.

Reading for 20+ mins

Yup.

Getting to bed before 8:50pm

Nope! It’ll be a challenge for me to do it tonight.

Jar of Awesome

Nope.

Daily application of self-development skills

--

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Today has been a superb day. Simply because things went according to plan, and I think I did fairly well all-round. I went gyming, went to my lectures, and spent heaps of time studying today for a test. I did fencing in the afternoon, and although there wasn’t many people there it felt really rewarding to get back into the sport. The holidays are fast approaching, and I must admit the prospect of gaming for a few days is seeming a little appealing from my lack of goals to achieve over the holidays. However I know that doing so would waste much of the positive habits and momentum I’ve built up over the past year without gaming, so I’m not going to let some random cravings get to me.

I’m aware I’m not very much of a contributor to the GQ community right now, so if I get into helping others through their troubles it’ll remind me why I decided to quit in the first place.

Gym workout/run

Yup!

Gratitude journal

I am grateful for having all my limbs and no injuries.

I am grateful for the endless opportunities offered by my university.

I am grateful for the financial support I get from my parents.

One amazing thing that happened/I did today:

I attended fencing at uni today for the first time this semester, and it was great! I was thrilled to get back into fencing gear, doing footwork, and I tried epee for the first time too.

Meditation

No. I’m failing hard at these, I need to start doing them on the bus to do it consistently.

Visualisation

No. I also need to make new visualisations.

Daily affirmation

No.

Fully cold shower

No.

Reading for 20+ mins

No.

Getting to bed before 8:50pm

Nope.

Jar of Awesome

Nope.

Daily application of self-development skills

--

 

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Today has been a good day of studying. I started the day a little late, but I got a satisfactory amount of work done, however it could have been better.

I'm getting better with my daily habits, and am starting to form new visualisations. I've also made new goals for the holidays so that I can look forward to achieving something by the end of the holidays instead of wasting the time gaming.

Gym workout/run

Yup!

Gratitude journal

I am grateful for having time to catch up on my studies.

I am grateful for having the choice of which of my friends I want to see.

I am grateful for friends covering shifts I’m unable to.

One amazing thing that happened/I did today:

I had breaks between study sessions by having short runs and juggling. It was really fun, and awesome to improve in a skill whilst having fun!

Meditation

Yup!

Visualisation

Yup!

Daily affirmation

Nope.

Fully cold shower

Nope.

Reading for 20+ mins

Yup!

Getting to bed before 8:50pm

No.

Jar of Awesome

No.

Daily application of self-development skills

--

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Today has been a relatively laid-back day in which I cleaned out my car, went on an hour run with a friend, and made all the preparations (and travel) to stay at my grandparents’ place for the next week. I saw some of my cousins and helped a tiny bit with dinner.

I’ve also added some new things I want to work on these holidays as habits to build up. I have decided I want to learn some Spanish as well as continuing to learn Japanese, but also continuing playing guitar as it is a great engaging instrument to play.

Gym workout/run

Yup!

Gratitude journal

I am grateful for my grandparents being so welcoming for me to stay with them.

I am grateful for the opportunity to go running for so long with one of my best friends.

I am grateful for peace and quiet.

One amazing thing that happened/I did today:

Going running in the morning was a great refresher and an great way to catch up with a friend, because we had so much time to talk whilst running slowly.

Meditation

No.

Daily task planning ahead of time

Nope.

Exercise planning

Tomorrow I’ll run down to the beach, meditate, visualise, do a workout and then head home.

Meditation

Nope.

Visualisation

No.

Daily affirmation

No. I don’t want to be reading out the same ones (probably why I’ve stopped), so I’ll make up a new affirmation each day.

Fully cold shower

No.

Reading for 20+ mins

Yup.

Guitar practice

Nope.

Japanese learning

Nope.

Spanish learning

Nope.

Juggling

Yup.

Getting to bed before 8:50pm

Nope. I’m going to change that time to 9pm as that seems better.

Jar of Awesome

Yup! I’ve realised I probably need to do this whilst journaling, so I’ll do that now.

Daily application of self-development skills

I’m going to make sure to do all the right, small decisions, as they are what compound.

What went well today:

I got my car cleaned out properly.

What didn’t go well today:

I didn’t put in the hard work to study on a flexible schedule.

What I could have done to make my day better:

I could have had a cold shower, and gotten stuck into the work.

What I will do differently tomorrow:

I’ll have a cold shower, do all my morning routine, and make sure to nail my homework!

Photo Stream

Here is a photo of the head of my guitar. I’ll be modelling it with Creo for a uni assignment, and is also relevant since I’ll start playing it again!

WIN_20170415_110418.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks like the large format has been too much for me the past week. Last week I've been constantly working on my assignments, working at the restaurant and going to other events such as a fencing competition and a business workshop. Today has been a dedicated day off, which I think has helped me recharge properly. Tomorrow I'll make sure to do my day according to a high-school format so that there's no room for procrastination.

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Today has been an average day. I started out moderately on time to work well, however I had skipped my exercise and I think my day has been mostly unproductive overall because of that. I'm going to make sure I do my meditation and running in the morning. I'm not going to try do everything at once (visualisation etc) because if I do too many new things I'll likely fail. To that end, I'm keeping myself accountable for that.

I'm grateful for having an awesome camera.

I'm grateful for taking some time off today.

I'm grateful for being the analytical person I am.

Here's a picture I took today, it was great to finally get out my camera again! A bit of dust on the lens made the sky have scars but it was a great view!

DSC03084.JPG

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Today has been a decent day. I started off the day with meditation and a run like I committed myself to do. I was mostly 'onto it' when it came to doing timed work according to a normal school day schedule, however I didn't get much exercise during the day and my drive faltered in the afternoon. I didn't get as much work done as I wanted to, but I've learned from my mistakes today. Tomorrow I'll make sure to have exercise in between 50 minute work sessions, even if I really don't feel like it. I also managed to learn a little Spanish today on Memrise, however I didn't practice my Japanese.

I'm grateful for being able to watch the news with my family today.

I'm grateful for being an active member of this community again.

I'm grateful for oats and porridge.

Here's another photo I took on the beach yesterday!

DSC03137.JPG

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Today has been pretty much just a whole day working at the restaurant and travelling. I am not happy that I have missed out on so much potential study time right before a test, but I guess I'm making money so I can't complain much. Tomorrow I'm going to do my absolute best to study as much as possible! I'm going to need to persevere to do this as I'll be exercising and going all-out all day.

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Hello there, my NZ mate!

I'm interested if you're still eating toast with beans? :D

Jokes aside, are you a waiter in a restaurant? Because if so, I suggest to try practicing giving suggestions to people. I mean, it's quite persuasive, but sometimes people are more likely to give you a tip when you're able to repeat their order.

I'm interesting how well will you persevere. Just tell me when you'll crush all studying! :)

Greetings, Mad Pharmacist

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Yesterday has been a pretty productive day, I gave it my all and did mini workouts between study. I had a couple of long skype calls and I had to work in the restaurant in the afternoon which took up a  lot of time, but I think I spent my time well. I didn't achieve any of my normal habits though.

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