I'm using the template I used the last time. 14/2/26 - 12/3/26
"L" will stand for the (last) plan/notes for this term. "T" will stand for done this term.
I added "Future goals/direction" to better reflect on the things I am trying to do and to add specificity. I will copy it and stick it somewhere where I can see it to remind myself whenever I feel aimless. I will also use different colors: blue for newly added goals/habits, green for completed/successful, orange for ongoing/some progress and red for ones I haven't worked on in that period.
Books/Reading articles/Learning:
L: I had a good string of finished books in autumn, unfortunately I managed to kill my momentum by reading a book that wasn't up my alley. Regardless, I've read dozens of articles from the White Coat Investor website and Morgan Housel's book - "Psychology of Money".
All this had a practical effect of me making an investment plan (!). I've invested my money consistently for the past five years, but I've never really set any goals, except not to gamble and pay unreasonable fees. Suffice to say, I already have enough savings to last several years, perhaps a decade on my current spending levels. I also added some milestones to celebrate on the way; it least I'll have a reason to perhaps spend some more money on fun stuff!
T: Read up on finblogs again - WCI and Nick Maggiulli. I've also been reading "Six Easy Pieces" by Feynman, but I didn't have much time to do that at the army training.
Possible direction/goals/habits:
(Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report.
Read daily (a few times a week). Reading (and crosswords) are a good way for me to relax.
Drop a book whenever I don't look forward to reading it. CHECK HERE EVERY MONTH.
(While this is technically just a hobby, I like to keep it separate, because it's a big one.)
Family:
L: My mom and I had to go to the hospital with my grandma at the start of January. We installed some flat improvements to help her get around and also a new washing machine. She also gets daily visits from health keepers and various other assistants, so I am happy my mom doesn't have to carry most of the brunt anymore just by herself.
My grandma is (unsurprisingly) opposed to going to an assisted living facility. I really have no idea to what extent she needs help, but granted she can't climb into the bath to shower herself, it's hard to argue she doesn't need any. It's frankly difficult to visit her, when the apartment smells like urine. I honestly don't know how long this can last and whether it makes sense to hope that it will get better in the future.
Other than that, my mom had a birthday celebration and I also met my brother for sushi.
T: My grandma oscillates between being relatively OK to just straight up shit-talking all other family members (Who knows if she doesn't shit-talk me behind my back?)
Either she's despicable for consciously behaving that way; or if her illness is to blame, she should be institutionalized to save everyone the pain and trouble. My girlfriend said it best: getting old is ugly. Especially when you lose your faculties faster than you realize.
NOT: I don't want to get alienated from my family.
Possible direction/goals:
Work on getting the new kitchen for my grandma.
Continue work on maintaining the relationships with my family. Keep in contact at least once a month.
Business/English:
L: Very few days off in both January and February mean that I can get a lot of lessons done. I'll just have three work days off due to my army reserve involvement. That written, I've had more headache with it recently, just because of the way the bureaucracy works. I can say I've met some great, interesting and inspiring people there, but the admin is just a PITA.
My point is not to "survive it", but to derive some positive meaning from this mission. Free shooting range practice and motivation to keep fit can help it. I know the worst case scenario is to just do one exercise per year or none at all, but I don't want to do it just for the money or out of necessity. I'll review this part of my career regularly, just to make sure I've got my thinking straight. When I compare the experience to my smooth running business with my students, I can say I'm truly grateful for both my business and my students.
Had a meeting with my web-designer, mostly out of curiosity than any specific plans for the future.
Managed to have 15 lessons on average per week, which is great!
T: I had to write a price offer after an interview for a company that is looking to start a few courses. I also did some testing and evaluations for my company courses. I found a new resource for real-life English. I also intentionally cancelled a lesson when my girlfriend's friend flaked on their trip to the mountains. I went with her instead :)
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The army training was better this time than the last time. I got better sleep, the weather was amazing for the whole duration and perhaps we did more stimulating activities than last time. I feel a bit tired after it, but I'm slowly catching up on sleep. I should have the next training in September.
NOT: I don't want to have a job that I don't enjoy. I don't want to have a job that is not well paid.
Past projects: Copied to a Google Doc to keep this less cluttered.
Current projects I'm working on:
Website improvement project - since August 2024 - finished August 2025 with some small upgrades in autumn 2025
lecturer trainings - ENG business February-May 2025
55 minutes F2F lessons (+ online reminder too); pricing updates
I and one of my FIRE friends organized a teacher/lecturer meeting.
Find more teachers/colleagues to share workload with (with or without commission).
Areas to work on continually:
English table update - check every now and then for improvements.
Keep classes at around 15 hours a week.
Keep asking for reviews or recommendations from students.
CELTA colleagues calls.
Go through "lecturer academy" + CELTA materials + lecturer course.
Exercise/Movement/Health + 10-13 break:
L: Thanks to my 10-13 break, I managed to exercise 23 out of planned 28 days so far. Feels good! I have a new pillow as well. I also visited the urologist, again without an issue.
I noticed that some of my exercise sessions are quite short (depending on the length of the YT video), but as mentioned above, I managed to do 23/28 days. I also cram whatever appointments and housework I need to take care of into this window.
T: I managed 8/12 these past four weeks or so. I missed out about half of the possible days due to the army training and I also tried not to push it before going there. That said, I hit 10k steps every day of the training, but there was little true structured physical "exercise". I should also say the meals there were rather terrible - mostly just sugary snack bars and a lot of second-grade canned meat. Feels good to be home to have some real meals. I had no visits to the doctors this month, but I have some lined up in the next few weeks.
NOT: I don't want to become fat.
Possible direction/goals:
Keep in shape by exercising at least twice a week for 30-60 minutes.
Have a session every weekday from January.
Start flossing regularly.
Incorporate balance and spine exercises.
Keep on using the Oura ring to track vitals.
Keep having the 1000-1300 break.
Social + Personal Hobbies + Free Time (cool things I've done):
L: No holidays this period, as the weather isn't really optimal for hiking or cycling. Met my FIRE friends, the quiz group, my best friend. I also met my brother for sushi and went to a hockey match with my family. Of course, met my students too.
T: Met my FIRE friends again, met my friend. I also went to the shooting range as a part of my army training. I also got in touch with one English lecturer and we talked about finance and money, which inspired me to write an article on my blog.
Possible direction/goals:
Keep in touch with my friend groups (FIRE, quiz, best friends).
Relationship with my girlfriend:
L: So we've lived together for almost two years and I can say it's still a nice experience. I don't think we've had any really heated arguments that would span days or even weeks. Last year, I often got a bad headache during the holidays/trips and was a bore to be with. So staying hydrated and fed during trips is my top priority these days.
We spent time together my going to the planetarium, having lessons together, going to the café and for walks as well as the few trips. We also spent some time next to each other watching films or the Olympics.
T: We went to a book festival, watched hockey and went to a nice restaurant. We also had some lessons together. Didn't manage to do more due to my absence for almost two weeks.
Possible direction/goals:
Make time to talk every day.
Keep on working on strengthening our relationship via common activities.
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For thought:
Maybe I should just learn to plan better, though just the thought of having some hours of my day scheduled makes me cringe. Oddly enough, I don't get this feeling while planning lessons of my students, normally in bigger blocks. Maybe I should rethink that belief to make me happier. This might change with the late morning exercise lessons. 10-13 change works well.
I've had this recurring thought every now and then that I am often somehow prevented from what I want to do in my free time; basically whenever I am not with students or sleeping.
No, I just need to stop reading and learning all the time and start doing things. Imperfect action yields results. Information alone is useless.
I like these reports, because they take me back in the calendar and let me see if there's something I've missed or something I need to check on again.
By
Ikar ·