No part 2 for today, I'm getting chills from my flu and covid shots. Will leave my entry at that for tonight and rest instead. I am hoping this passes tonight with sleep.

Oh yeah, I wanted to share the pumpkin carvings we made. The first one is of Jack Skellington from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, which is my oldest kids favorite movie. The other is of Dragonite, which is my wife's favorite pokemon; her and my kids likes the series, though I personally don't (but the carving was challenging and fun). Carving designs into pumpkins is one of my favorite things to do this time of year. It's a lot of busy but very fun work, it looks cool, the kids like it, it gets me active while I do them, and the process taps into my creative thinking process. Overall a very fun family activity. ❤️  Both will be placed on quote blocks, so expand at your own comfort level.  

Thu 10.30 (part 1) No compulsive social media use: 28 days No compulsive research: 28 days No passive screentime before bed, first thing in the morning, and during work: 31 days I feel weak today. I got both my flu and covid shots yesterday, one per arm, and the covid arm specifically (my left) is very limp. I called both my grandmothers yesterday. One of them picked up, the other one said we should talk tomorrow (which is today). Posting early today, have appointments to get to in the afternoon. I'll call my other grandmother in-between those appointments. Things that I will do everyday to stay healthy Sleep around 8h - As I was tired last night, I went to bed at 1015pm. Baby woke up twice at 2am and 4am, but he went back to sleep within 15min. So that wasn't too bad. I got about 8h total, not straight, but total. Tonight is the last night that my wife sleeps at my in-laws to care for the puppy, we are both very much so looking forward to get some rest this weekend. Stretch - yeah, and this is when I realized how sore my shoulders were haha... Go for walks / Exercise - I'm gonna do cardio later today, I have a half day at work. Won't be doing weights with arms today, will see how I feel tomorrow. Drink Water - I'm drinking some right now and will keep it up Wash face + body - I'll do that after my cardio Nutrition: breakfast - yogurt with nuts and blueberries lunch - yesterday I had the last of the pumpkin lasagna leftovers. Today probably a sandwhich dinner - I'm cooking tonight, parmesan breadcrumbed chicken breasts Talk to my partner - yeah, this morning about the schedule for the afternoon. Last night we talked on the phone, which I will admit is very helpful for me to not go down a spiral with my addictive behaviors. This reminds me, that back in May this past year I went on a business trip by myself. Partly due to different timezones, but also mostly because I was alone; I'd be up until 3am on my phone, watching something or just browsing around the internet forums and apps which I am abstaining from now. Then I'd wake up at 8am, hit the gym (at least I still did that) and walked to the office there for 9am. It was a crazy dumb schedule and I have zero clue how I did that for a week straight. When I got back home, I was jetlagged but I was also more irritable. Surprise surprise... it's because I got used to bad habits that week, and my kids certainly aren't gonna let me muck around. So yeah, all this to say that it's helpful that I've been talking to my wife on the phone at night, while she sleeps at my in-laws as they are out of town. I go to bed at good times. Talk with my kids + play with them - my middle kid was really attached to me this morning when dropping him off, he didn't want me to go ❤️ I've got the baby on my as I'm typing this. I'll see if my older kids want to help me with cooking as well (basic things like passing me a bowl + a pan, etc). And I'll try some French with them tonight. Read a book - I did a few more workbook exercises last night. I'll be posting them after all my appointments tonight in a part 2 Meditate + deep breaths - yes to deep breaths. I'll make time for meditating after my shower (or before during a short break). Practice French - Oui, dans le matin. By the way, @indie_rok thank you for that storytelling breakdown. I gave it a go with my kids yesterday, as they have quite a few French books (my wife is fluent). So I'll be doing that again tonight 🙂 I do agree that Duolingo is kinda meh, it is repetitive with its own biased keywords; but I've mentioned this in other posts, that I think what helps me is not just that I use that app, it's also that I have other francophone speakers to talk with IRL. Merci beaucoup! Journal (gratitude and reflection) - I'm so glad that I'm staying out of my bottom lines despite how hectic this week is. Actually, during a meditation yesterday, one of the guided ones from Headspace said something along the lines of; "meditation doesn't fix difficult situations, it helps us look at them through new perspectives. Life will keep throwing those difficult situations, but we will find that we see them and observe them differently as we keep practicing meditation." I think I get that finally, that greater awareness has helped me recognize unimportant distractions which I should not engage with, as well as important situations which are hard but I can engage with in a better proactive manner. Part 2 will be 7 Habits - Proactivity Test - day 12 I'll be back later tonight, as I am going back to work now. Sending lots of support to everyone! edit; as per my latest post, I'm not feeling well. I'll say that I kept my commitment to talk with my grandmother at night, that was good to do and hear how she is doing. She is also looking forward to go to my brothers wedding next year. On my end today, my commitment will be to get better and call my other grandmother back.

Thanks for your post! I don't worry about the birthday party too much. My two biggest friends are my friend and my girlfriend anyway. The rest is kinda "optional" - acquaintances and students. I meet quite a lot of people, but I have to admit it's not easy to make friends now. Maybe it's because I prefer quality over quantity 😄 Traumas are definitely a thing, although I feel like "trauma" is a too strong word for me to use. I mostly worry about how to best overcome these problems now; I think it's good to at least be aware of them and how they influence me. Yes, I do think being in a relationship is/has a lifestyle of its own. I think my girlfriend and I have made good work on working together as a team in a relationship, especially over the last 3 months. We both put some effort in and the relationship seems to be on the up, though I still worry a little about a few explosive problems. The book has some advice on that, so I hope to use it well. Good luck with your journey! 🙂  I remember reading "7 Habits" a few (or perhaps several) years ago, so it struck me to see it again in a very similar format in the "7 Principles" book in combination with you working on what seems to be a very similar exercise too. It sounds like a great idea to do it for your family later! I've never been big on these things (maybe because they are hard 😄 ) , but I'll write about some of the positive traits you mentioned below and what they mean to me, at least as an intellectual exercise: Honesty: I strongly prefer to be honest. I'm nearly 100% honest in my speech and I often avoid even "white lies". I squirm if I lie and avoid eye contact; I have to say I am very bad at lying. Integrity: I think my integrity was heavily compromised when gaming. I broke promises and made up excuses; not only to others but to myself as well. I effectively "lied" in my actions. I now know it's much better, but still I think I sometimes "nod away" an issue or avoid doing things (mainly at the request of others) when I feel it's not important/worth my attention. At the same time, when I truly decide for something, I can be sure I give it my 100% and take it seriously for everyone's benefit. Fairness: I generally don't like to keep scores, but I think I am fair to others and myself. Being self-employed is basically all about managing good relationships and treating others fairly and equally. I think not saying something at a certain can be a lie as well. That said, I suppose this is an area where people differ. I consider not being transparent/withholding information about e.g. fee structure a lie. Case in point: financial advisors. It's perfectly OK to have one, but I also think it's perfectly OK to know how much they are charging. Are they honest in what they are charging and how? Did they wave it off as an irrelevant concern? Did they find the numbers straight up? Investments are numbers on a paper and should be judged by their advantages and disadvantages; much like cars. It's not smart to buy the car just because the man looks nice and tells nice stories. Thanks for your comment!

Day 14 Time I woke up: 8:00am Time I went to sleep yesterday:  11pm Physical task: Went to get groceries and clean up my house Getting more money task: Finish recording videos for me CV, added that video to my CV, ready to send CVs tomorrow ⛴️ Finding a new house task: Finished "dossier" and ready to send house requests tomorrow French task: None Music task: None Miscellaneous accomplishments: ~ Cooked one very good meal Summary of Day #: Getting back on track, went to sleep early yesterday, trying to keep my 8 hours. This alone is very powerful. Also I got a recomendation from a friend: Trying cold showers in the morning. It feels like shit and its very unconfortable. But it trains your brain to recognize and deal with resistance. I'll have one for the next 30 days What I am grateful for today: ~ Getting back on track after relapse