FIT Lvls – BMI 28.4 // 86kgs
It’s a new year, so it’s time to turn up a new gear.
Let’s start by listing some classic New Year Resolutions for 2024.
- Lose some weight. The happy weight is no longer an adorable feature. It is now a genuine problem. Aesthetically anyway.
- Start integrating my partner more into my wider circle of friends
- Maintain a disciplined financial plan
- Start reconnecting with friends and actually plan out proper days
- Continue to balance work and life
It all sounds pretty basic, but as I noticed a long time ago when studying Special Forces operators, the secret to success lies with discipline and mastery of the basics.
The key difference between a regular U.S. Army grunt and a U.S. Army Ranger, is distilled down to a single fact …. the Ranger has the basics of infantry warfare nailed down to a capital I.
2024 is the year where I start looking at the Dragon that rules the year and praying to her to really put some long-lasting, healthy habits and routines that will do me good in the future. The theme and key word of the year is discipline and whilst it may sound corny, there is a hell of lot personal motivation for me to stick to that.
Because I no longer have any excuses. I can no longer blame work, nor my circumstances. It’s time to get off my arse and actually put in some work.
Working out once a day for an hour is not a big ask. Nor is dieting. Controlling what I eat is 70% of the fight when it comes to addressing the first resolution. Stick to small meals, drink more water and just cut out the damn snacks. Three simple steps that are difficult to follow in the foodie heaven that is Melbourne but still that is the point of the game. Stick to the rules, ignore the temptations and get out of the traps I’ve laid myself into.
The next resolution is an evolution of my relationship. My partner and I have very different friend circles, with various personalities and stages of their lives. That is just the reality of having met each other in very different circumstances and with no prior contact at all.
But there is a reason why our bond is so strong, and it is because we have such similar personalities, outlooks and drives. So it makes sense that our friends would appreciate the other for the same qualities. Our goal is to have a “friendmas” at the end of the year and not have it be awkward. In addition to that, just being able to go on more dates where we have our friends, instead of just us, is a definite positive. It opens up more activities and better memories.
Finance. My Achilles heel. I’m a spender not a saver. But they say clarity is something you get when you can, not when it is convenient, and since I am so much older and with bigger dreams than my short-term fun, it is time to put money aside every single time I am getting paid. A goal that I have started very late last year in 2023, but 2024 will prove whether I truly have what it takes to be a disciplined human being.
Curbing the reckless expenditure, coming to terms with missing out on some truly special collectibles from Lego and not buying random clothes whenever I feel the urge to get something new are all key restraints that need to be addressed in 2024. It’s a mental game, just like so many other things, and part of being strong is to understand I do not need everything I see in the world.
I need to understand the value of items better and that value is weighed by emotion and monetary cost.
Another key problem I identified last year was my lack of engagement with my friends. Whilst I can bitch, whinge and moan about how hectic my life is, the simple matter of the fact is … I got lazy and started to neglect them. It’s time to change that and actually put some effort and time in going out, spending time with my friends and actually catching up with their lives. After all, I’m nothing without my friends and it’s crucial that I don’t lose them, because … I got lazy.
What a stupid excuse.
Time to step it up.
The final resolution is probably the longest and oldest problem in the world. Balance your partner, work, hobbies, self-care and friends.
To be honest, it’s about separating days in a week and really planning them ahead, on a molecular level. Split them apart into an hourly basis and start prioritising elements that can combine both or the more crucial element. Which means my calendar management needs to be on-fucking-point.
It’s time to put aside some time in the week to plan my week ahead and reach out to my friends, my partner and my work to see what I can do to balance everything.
Whilst I’ve made a lot of logical and sensible plans for all these resolutions, talk is cheap. Action means a lot more and this weekly reflection is a means for me to actually track my progress.
I’ll be adding a simple fitness check on the top of the post now, to really pressure me into disciplining myself.
It’s time to awaken the sleeping dragon and really instil some discipline into my life.
This is now the start of my D24 challenge. The Damocles 24 challenge.
Let’s go.
~ Damocles.
Damocles' Journal 