2024 yearly report I'll lump reading, learning and university into one chunk: Facts: I finished the university. I read two business/lecturer books, a book about health and a book about relationships. I finished the CELTA course. I met with my CELTA course-mate online. I read up on Reddit about finance and English teaching. I added and removed newsletters. Feelings: I realized going to courses and reading books is nice, however it's not of much use if one doesn't actually apply the advice. Therefore, I'm quite OK with having read 'only' three books during the year, because I made notes (photos) of the important parts, grasped important concepts from them and overall put the advice into practice. I also became much more intent with newsletters. Whenever I find something interesting, I usually sub for a few weeks, check out the basic concept, and then unsub. My email is now much less cluttered than it used to be. Family: Facts: I think 80-90% of the whole kitchen project is done, mostly done in the second part of the last year. I think that's the only fact I have worth mentioning. Feelings: I guess my mom is slowly succumbing to dementia. It's been happening for a few years, but I think putting a label on it helps me cope with it. I also don't think my father has skill-set and toolbox to make the situation better. I think the kitchen project really stretched my family's ability to work together. There would be problems even if we worked smoothly though. I'll let that be my lesson for the future; to do something for somebody with extreme limitations in how I do it, worrying about getting something wrong (for somebody else) and having to take blame from somebody else when something ultimately does go wrong. Maybe I'll grow closer to my family when I have kids, I don't know. Business/English: Facts: My business/English teaching is trending upwards. I improved the lessons for my students (questionnaires, CELTA), improved my business education (business books), worked on the marketing (new website, pricing) and eliminated nearly all language school courses. I have less than 10% of reduction of profits compared to the last year, but I also worked about 25% less lessons. Feelings: I made some pretty big one-off investments into my business this year: I got the CELTA, new computer/technology and I'm working on the new website with a few other people. I feel good about it though, as it was and is necessary. Getting the CELTA was very demanding, but I managed to do it. Eliminating language school courses was also a big confidence boost and it assured me in that what I'm doing is correct and in demand. Exercise: Facts: My efforts to do exercise and stretch have been going up since May. I found a workout group I went out with a few times. I also started working out with my girlfriend several weeks ago. Feelings: I think I started exercising more due to my occasional headaches and higher blood pressure. I don't know whether they are related, but exercise yields more benefits besides perhaps solving these problems. Relationship with my girlfriend: I've been looking forward to living together and we moved in together in April. I can say it's much better than living with flatmates, though perhaps a bit more distracting at times. I like to spend time by myself (for example when I have a free morning and my girlfriend's at work), so that's sometimes a challenge. What's great is that I think we solved/managed the traveling issue as well. I also started to exercise more, so I think that brought us closer together than ever before. We also worked on the "Seven Principles" book by Gottman and took some techniques and exercises from it. We also try to spend at least a bit of time alone with each other every day and I can say we're quite successful with that. Social: I participated in multiple different events: organized my friends and went to the shooting range with them, played billiard, laser game or table football; all that with different people and friend groups. I meet my best friend a few times a month. Oddly enough, I can also say an important social aspect has been the work on my new website with the web designer (and possibly the same for the coder this year as well). I can also say I have a good time with my girlfriend's family whenever I visit them. Writing/Blogging: I wrote/rewrote a grand total of two articles this year. I still have a few half-written articles I could finish, but I can't be bothered. I can't say I missed it or that I had an urge to write more often than that. Maybe later. Other hobbies/activities I worked on this year: modern history, politics (though mostly as fun or infotainment), personal finance/investing, theater/culture events, shooting range, billiard, table football, my business. Plans for this year coming up below.

@YanIn your posts, the day counts look very attractive. Your journal displays perfection which may also guide you to the reason for the relapse. This attraction to counters distinguishes gamers because video games of all sorts communicate their successes to the player in this way. I have this thinking for men who have taken the path to recovery in general: they have to start doing things they habitually outright avoid and deny. It can be difficult due to lack of knowledge.  many do not have safe people with whom they can share so that they can become more aware, many do not address areas of chronic neglect. Asking someone close and trustworthy for help is a major step in healing.

Thank you for posting Matt. Will reply more elaborately hopefully in the next few days or today. Really appreciate it!

Entry 13.1 (Written on 13.1, posted on 14.1 because of tech issues) Day 0: No Useless Videos Day 830: Sticking to Food schedule Day 433: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00) Day 3: Being in bed before 23:15 3 Things I did well no matter how small -recovered lacking workout -5 pomodoros -retiring to bed within specified time 1 Thing I could do  better -do more duolingo

Day 6/90 update: I'm already 1/5 of the way through a new book. That's unheard of from me. I typically read 2-3 books a year, and if I keep pace and interest, I'll finish this book within a week. I also tend to accelerate reading the further I get into a book (it takes a while for me to latch onto it). I spent 20-30 minutes practicing piano. It's fun playing around kids - they'll hop on and bang on the piano for a little bit, and then meander and go do something else nearby, still listening. What sucks is effectively starting over, skill-wise. I can't play any of the old stuff I used to be able to play. But, what took me 3 months to learn in the past, should only take me 1 or 2 months to re-learn now. Through some combination of sleeping better, reading more, exercising more, and not playing games, I'm able to focus on things longer. Which feels really nice. The boredom has subsided a bit. I'm enjoying my book a lot. And I'm excited to hit 1 week tomorrow!