Taking occasional stock and inventory of your accomplishments is healthy. (Source: me.) And doing it in the presence of those who are more prone to giving you honest feedback is even better, which is something that you internet friends have over mom and dad.
And I think a feel-good post is important every now and then. Let 'er rip hubski, I want to know what you've wrestled with and pinned down to the ground.
I've been in a very small town in North Central Colorado called Walden, population 240, for the past month and a half. There isn't a gym for hours in any direction, so I decided to take up the 10,000 Kettlebell Swing Challenge which is exactly what it sounds like. Fucking hell. Doing 500 kettlebell swings a day, in an undulating set pattern (50 swings, 25 swings, 15, then 10, then repeat, with limited strength exercises in between each set), has proven to be one of the most miserable but oddly addicting and grit-testing challenges I've ever embarked on. The first day, I did 500 kettlebell swings in 44 minutes and 30 seconds. I almost quit, twice. Very seriously, I thought this was a dumb idea. But I remembered a quote from the originator of this challenge, Dan John, which went, Which is some of the best advice I've ever heard. So often my 1am resolutions to read more, exercise, quit smoking, write, they go unheeded in the daylight hours. It's because I don't keep the goal the goal. The goal changes. Because I finished that first day, which I'm so thankful I did, I managed to complete each day's worth of 500 swings each time I started. And yesterday, I amazed myself with a time of 19:58. Essentially non-stop kettlebell swings, with wall-assisted 14 handstand push-ups throughout each "cluster", for a total of 500 kettlebell swings with a 45 lbs bell and 70 handstand push-ups, in under 20 minutes.The goal is to keep the goal the goal.
Is there something similar to that I can do with dumbbells? I am about to enter an extended period of being unable to run or bike due to the cold. I have a bench and some dumbbells, but my shoulder has gone funny and I can't use the bench without twinges. So it's down to dumbbells, pushups and core exercises to keep me sane til spring. My current process is haphazard and I'd like concrete goals. Preferably not so simple as just 'fifty curls a day' but if that's what I end up doing, so be it.
Have you considered snowshoeing? It isn't as intense as running or biking, but it's an awesome way to stay active in the cold.
That is what bandanas are for man. Wrap one of those around your nose and mouth and you will breathe nothing but warm air. I use one when I am skiing in anything like 0F/-20C weather and it can even get too warm so you have to pull it down for a bit.
Be careful. I had shoulder twinges from benching too much back in December, and it turned out to be bicep tendinitis. For me, when I would lock out, my rotator cuff wasn't strong enough to keep my humerus in my shoulder socket for the last little push. Doing a massive number of pull-ups didn't help. You should probably look into strengthening you rotator cuff some, and make sure you are balancing pushing and pulling exercises. If it gets worse, go see a doctor or a PT. In the meantime, when you are doing push-ups, try to keep you hands along the line between your nipples, that will put less stress on that part of your shoulder.
Interesting, thank you. Like many American children, I also threw some half a million pitches before the age of 18, all without any real knowledge of stretching, rest, etc. So I suspect my days as a real bodybuilder were over before they began. I have been kicking around the idea of a few sessions with a PT but have never done anything of that sort so I'm not sure where to start. I'll look into it.
14,000. We are going to hit 14,000 outreach contacts as a part of the astronomy club's outreach program. The previous high was 6000 for the Venus Transit in 2008. In 2010, before I was an active member, they did 3000... FOR THE YEAR. Next year we are going to start earlier than normal and bust our ass to hit 20K. That is 3,000 people a month looking through the telescopes for the six months of summer, plus a little bit extra.
Despite putting forward essentially no effort my entire life at anything except studying Tolkien, and despite spending high school in a drug-induced haze, I am currently employed at a well-paying major software company and pretty much set for good unless I fuck something up. Up to now it has proved impossible for me to fuck things up, and I've sure tried. So I'm cautiously optimistic. God it's nice to have that crap out of the way and get down to the things I always promised myself I'd prioritize eventually, like reading Will Durant's 11-volume History of Civilization cover to cover.
What an awesome paragraph. Good for you flag.God it's nice to have that crap out of the way and get down to the things I always promised myself I'd prioritize eventually, like reading Will Durant's 11-volume History of Civilization cover to cover.
I'm not sure 'achievement' is the right word, but there is something I'm incredibly proud of. She's called Sophie, she's 18 months old, and she is an awesome person. I always knew I'd love my daughter, but I never realised how much I'd like her. She is good company.
Of the person I'm becoming. Holy smokes, the last one and a half months have been a ride. I've met tonnes of new people, realized that I'm actually not as much of a fuck-up as I used to think (not the least bit thanks to the people I've met), allowed myself to do things I enjoy (including starting origami and learning Icelandic) and persevered through quite a few obstacles I would otherwise back up on. I've asked out two girls and felt more at ease about telling others about how good-looking they are. I got back to writing - a step at a time, but already there've been a few stories out (sorry, folks, but they're in Russian at the time, and I'm having a hard time translating them). In general, I've been feeling less restrained about stuff, more willing to do what I see worth doing. Like Markiplier said here, paraphrased: "What the hell am I waiting for?" - why would I want to wait before doing things I care about, to postpone them without necessity? It just clicked with me one day that - hey, I'm actually worth doing good things for! I'm actually a person who's worthy of receiving good things, wherever they come from! Even those little things, like asking the cashier where can I put the travelling bag if it doesn't fit the holding boxes ("Just put it here, near me! I'll keep an eye on it"). It's amazing how much you can get by simply asking. I don't think it would be fair for me to sign all this progress on my own effort. A lot had to do with me living alone for the time, having space to think and to feel accepted at whatever I do, as well as having been being pressed to do things for my own good. Being forced into an environment where only my actions influence how I proceed - instead of being constantly protected in a helicopter manner - has been a blessing for me, and I'm grateful for it happening.
That I've reached the summit of nine of the 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks and that I care enough to want to hike the other 37. It's weird, actually caring. I like it.
Woohoo!! As someone who just finished the New Hampshire 48, I know exactly what you're talking about! It reaches a point where the most satisfying thing in the world is reaching a summit and realizing you're one peak closer. Definitely something to be proud of :)
I started taking an acting class this semester just for something to do/trying something new/ meeting new people. I had no idea I would benefit from it this much. When I took theatre in high school, I was way too focused on being nervous about performing in front of people. At 24, that really doesn't bother me any more and I am able to focus on the acting itself. It is incredibly therapeutic. In our day-to-day lives, we spend so much time talking ourselves down from intense emotions that to have to push yourself to feel a particular emotion, especially an unpleasant one, is incredibly difficult. Once you practice enough and do it though, it is so rewarding. Sometimes I like to take hallucinogens as a way to explore my own mind, and I have found this class to be as therapeutic (but in a slightly different way.) Nothing could have prepared me for how intense it was going to be, but I am so glad I threw myself in. It has made me decide I want to pursue it consistently as a hobby, and I definitely recommend that anybody else try it out too.
I've been thinking about the stuff I do at work that I'm really good at but no one notices. I can freehand straight cuts with a razor and (less so) a glass cutter. I wrap picture frame wire really tight and can do it very fast. People don't appreciate craft anymore and those aren't even the hardest things I can do but I do them most often so I'm going with cutting paper and wrapping wire.
I played Go on and (mostly) off for some years, but I never left the beginner realm. Then I found Go Quest, where you can have matches of 3-6 minutes on a 9x9 board. I started to play daily in early summer and had the goal to lift my ELO from 1500 to 1600 on this site before university started again. That's the difference of being on place 9500 or 6500 on the sites ranking list. And I did it last week, just in time! Comparative ratings are difficult to translate to words, but I'll just call me a weak intermediate player on a 9x9 Go board.
You just sent me on an hour long quest to learn how to play Go. Thanks mate. See you in high elo soon! ; )
Go is harder than chess, but for what it's worth, there have been a few Go programs that beat professional players a few times in the last 10 years. MoGo and Crazy Stone are the two that come to mind.
I have produced more in the last three weeks than the three months before that. I feel that way at least. I picked up the swing of things I had before school started, and then added my school load too that. College apps, writing class assignments, personal writing projects, networking e-mails, new projects are all happening at last. I'm not done yet, or quite at where I think my max could be, but I'm proud of how much I have been able to do recently.
That's awesome! Are you as happy as you imagined you'd be after accomplishing these? Or has the treadmill of life added new dizzying heights for you to traverse? Regardless, that's a lot to be proud of.
It's a mix truthfully. In many different senses I'm kind of shocked I'm still here. (Alive, on hubski, not drowning in depression, take your pick.) I can't remember ever thinking about what it would feel like to accomplish big goals like that. I think I've just always assumed that happiness (That isn't fraudulent or harmful to other people) followed success, and I didn't need to think about it too much. As I age and attempt to develop a more casual relationship with non-binary thinking ( lil ) I realize I still have a lot of work to do. The cool part is that I am in a position where that's not a scary prospect anymore. The amount of work I have to do is directly proportional to my aspirations. I think that sort of addresses the part. The reason that prospect used to scare me (I think) was because I didn't understand that relationship. I had it in my head that I would pursue some great labor, and that it was somehow a great sin to have questions about the 'why' of it. I've come a long way I think. Thanks :]Are you as happy as you imagined you'd be after accomplishing these?
Or has the treadmill of life added new dizzying heights for you to traverse?
Regardless, that's a lot to be proud of.