Niel

is figuring out if he likes what he's doing.



I'm doing 40 things
 

Niel's Life List

  1. 1. plan
    16 entries . 25 cheers
    16 people
  2. 2. lose weight
    9 team members . 108 entries . 44 cheers
    35,226 people
  3. 3. be as buff as Yul Brynner in the Magnificent Seven
    4 entries . 7 cheers
    1 person
  4. 4. never have a BMI of more than 30
    3 entries . 9 cheers
    1 person
  5. 5. stick to a schedule
    5 entries . 4 cheers
    74 people
  6. 6. read
    3 entries . 14 cheers
    498 people
  7. 7. live in a tidy, spacious environment
    16 entries . 28 cheers
    2 people
  8. 8. Get a PhD
    2 team members . 26 entries . 130 cheers
    2,669 people
  9. 9. declutter 15 minutes a day
    15 entries . 24 cheers
    63 people
  10. 10. be an adventurer
    23 entries . 66 cheers
    13 people
  11. 11. keep a good laboratory notebook
    17 entries . 24 cheers
    4 people
  12. 12. keep track of each penny I spend
    21 entries . 31 cheers
    4 people
  13. 13. do all the exercises in Undoing Perpetual Stress.
    10 entries . 20 cheers
    1 person
  14. 14. discover motivation through enjoyment
    32 entries . 41 cheers
    2 people
  15. 15. mindfully and gently examine some of my habits
    84 entries . 53 cheers
    7 people
  16. 16. make a list of 43 things I'd like to own
    34 entries . 7 cheers
    2 people
  17. 17. Make new friends
    7 entries . 24 cheers
    12,210 people
  18. 18. be an eligible bachelor
    8 entries . 27 cheers
    1 person
  19. 19. Make a list of 43 reasons why you want to be my girlfriend
    30 entries . 39 cheers
    1 person
  20. 20. fall in love with someone who loves me too
    7 entries . 10 cheers
    1,044 people
  21. 21. break up with my girlfriend
    2 entries . 1 cheer
    21 people
  22. 22. Daily: Reflect on at least 5 things for which I'm grateful (Happiness Manifesto #2)
    14 team members . 794 entries . 10 cheers
    154 people
  23. 23. write a Linux device driver
    3 entries . 15 cheers
    3 people
  24. 24. learn C#
    3 entries . 16 cheers
    607 people
  25. 25. fix my car
    25 entries . 13 cheers
    235 people
  26. 26. hike the Fish River Canyon
    3 entries . 22 cheers
    5 people
  27. 27. learn zulu
    9 entries . 31 cheers
    53 people
  28. 28. vigorously attack superstition wherever I find it
    10 entries . 29 cheers
    2 people
  29. 29. own a home
    2 entries . 28 cheers
    936 people
  30. 30. start my own company
    10 entries . 36 cheers
    868 people
  31. 31. learn to talk to my boss
    3 entries . 16 cheers
    1 person
  32. 32. create my own Happiness Project
    9 entries . 21 cheers
    3 people
  33. 33. see a Short Sunderland flying boat
    3 entries . 3 cheers
    1 person
  34. 34. reveal 43 random and inconsequential things about myself
    16 entries . 3 cheers
    3 people
  35. 35. go sailing again
    2 entries . 2 cheers
    9 people
  36. 36. photograph my slides
    1 person
  37. 37. Present at Riva 2010
    1 entry
    1 person
  38. 38. prepare for the inevitability of a new laptop
    5 entries . 1 cheer
    1 person
  39. 39. Find out what happened to Trauma_Junkie.
    3 entries
    1 person
  40. 40. do another triathlon.
    3 cheers
    15 people

How I did it
How to earn a Triple Crown in Toastmasters this year
It took me
1 year
It made me
communicative


How to organize a smoothly-run Midwinter celebration.
It took me
2 months
It made me
grateful


How to write poetry
It took me
30 days
It made me
surprised


See all "How I Did It" stories...

Recent entries
Daily: Reflect on at least 5 things for which I'm grateful (Happiness Manifesto #2) (read all 794 entries…)
Disc access 21 hours ago

It is Friday, and I am grateful …

... for and touched by the card the schoolchildren made me.

... that I now have access again to the data from my previous computer, and that it didn’t cost too much.

... that we could get a delivery to an enthusiastic new customer.

... that I could speak to the technician who couldn’t repair our stove: I know he did his best and his diagnosis seems reasonable.

... that I recognised that part of my misery was caused by being cold, and I got to fix it by going home, eating hot soup and sitting by the heater.



Daily: Reflect on at least 5 things for which I'm grateful (Happiness Manifesto #2) (read all 794 entries…)
Collected. 1 day ago

It is Thursday, and I am grateful …

... that the GC-MS is back in the lab, and should work once I got it assembled. Nothing more to organize for it.

... the great help I got from Logan.

... that my previous laptop is still broken in the same way that it was. For the repair shop’s report I wondered if something else had not gone wrong with it.

... that maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to get some work done on my own PhD project.

... that David smelled the gas leak and did something about it.

... that I could squeeze in some gym time.

... for my evening hot chocolate. I can see this becoming a pleasant habit.

... for a nice lunch in great company.



lose weight (read all 108 entries…)
Another round. 2 days ago

Oh dear. Still overweight, after all these months. Just started getting down my travel weight, then got the flu. No gym for a month, and when I don’t get exercise the discipline peters out like a trickle of water in dry sand.

Getting free lunches the last three days drove home the point. Although I was perfectly free to choose what I wanted to eat, my choices were not good.

So for about the fourth time I’m in the process of losing the few kilograms that will put me in a truly healthy weight range. I can accept that my weight will fluctuate a bit (as it does at the moment) but at the momement it gets toward dangerously unhealthy at the high end, not to mention the unsightful wobbliness that goes with it.



See all entries ...


 

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