Simplifying Life

I’ve found myself to be on a bit of a simplification kick lately. I find that with all the information on the internet, and everything we as a society can get our hands on we’ve sort of fallen into a trap of too much information. Now I’m the last person that would say that the internet is bad, and that Twitter and Facebook are bad. I love both websites and I use them often. They’re great for practicing foreign languages, getting quick headlines, and staying in touch with friends.

I find that taking in all of that information has its negative effects too. Take for instance language learning, there are so many options on the internet and if you use peer to peer programs, there is so much software and material to download and take in. Also there are many polyglots and people who have mastered certain foreign languages that all have their own methods. I found myself reading and studying more about ‘how to learn a language’ than actually learning the languages, which was miles away from my actual goals. I can study linguistics in school if I want to learn about languages, but I want to learn them and know them. So it seems to me the best and simplest way is just to input as much as I can into my brain and the internet can help me immensely. I of course use Lingqs tools and though I’m mostly studying Polish and I don’t have a lot of reading/listening tandems, I use lingq to read and studying as much vocabulary as I can, and I read everything. My biggest problem in life is that I’m too interested in everything. You name it: sports, history, politics, culture. It’s just all too much to keep up with. So I read and I listen and I do it a lot and it’s simple and it works.

What else in my life have I simplified? Well how about working out? Keeping myself fit and strong, has always been one of my biggest goals. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on gym memberships books and supplements and hundreds of hours on the internet, and in books and magazines reading and reading. I’ve decided to simplify it all. I’m going to eat lots of protein and vegetables and fruits, and do push ups, sit ups, jog, and play basketball whenever I can. I just simplified it instead of wasting time and worrying about all this crap about what I should eat and tracking protein. I found a simple push up plan on hundredpushups.com and I’ll follow it.

Another one of my goals is to build a family and great strong relationship with my wife. Now I could bury my nose in all kinds of self help books and try all these tests and whatnot… But why not just spend time together doing things we both like to do? It seems simpler and better to me.

Other goals? Opening a wealth management-financial planning practice? Finish school, that simple. Anyway you get the picture. I’ve needlessly cluttered my life and my thoughts with things that are complicated and things that make reaching my goals difficult. Maybe you don’t have this problem. I did, but I don’t anymore.

Physical Goal- Motivation and Rough Planning

Physical Goal-Motivation Rough Planning.

I'm in the middle of a move right now so it would be pointless to join a gym and I'm not sure how long we'll be staying in Crakow so I don't know how smart it'll be to join a gym there either. But I'll need to eventually find a gym and find the cheapest way to buy whey protein and creatine there. All the other things I'd need to make a shake shouldn't be much of a problem. I'll probably have to buy my own blender too though.

When I get there and find a gym I'll put up a detailed workout plan and keep updates on how close I'm actually following it and what changes I need to make. I definitely need a defined work out and nutrition plan because when I was just rolling in there and lifting and not really paying attention to exactly what I was doing I wasn't showing any kind of important gain. I'll be taking the majority of my workout from a recent issue of FLEX magazine and I'll probably do the basic creatine/whey protein mix since I can't afford to buy all the other crap body building site/magazines recommend.

It looks like I'm going to have to work in some cardio too. It was the first time that I stopped working out for a period of time and kept the weight. Normally quitting weightlifting caused a 10 to 15 pound drop in weight, this time the weight stuck but the muscle tone didn't.

Another problem is motivation. I need to kick it into a higher gear. I may not be able to be in a gym but is that any excuse to not be doing a certain amount of push-ups a day? And why aren't I doing any crunches or sit-ups. There's certainly no excuse for that. So I need to make a little mini work out plan that doesn't involve any weights but one that keeps me working and doesn't give me a rest. It's Friday night as I write this and I leave Tuesday morning so I think I should be able to pull 20 push-ups, 30 sit-ups and 60 crunches Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday just as a discipline test.

1.Find an affordable way to buy creatine and protein.
2.Find a gym that has what I need and is affordable.
3.Write out a detailed workout/nutrition plan.
4.Stay motivated.

So that's the mini goal. Like Mark Twain said it's better to cut a large problem into smaller more manageable problems. After I'm well in Poland Wednesday or Thursday I'll write on whether I was a disappointment to myself or whether I succeeded. I should probably get started on Friday's batch right now... and continue the journey.