2019 - Expectations

More self-reflection

Instead of using time management to perform tasks, I'd like to use more time for self-reflection and reviewing past situations. This will result in doing fewer things but doing more important things better. The two main tools for self-reflection will be writing a private diary and using NLP to review various human relationship encounters from optimistic and forward-looking perspective on how to communicate to others more efffectively in a way that the other people understand and are able to receive.

Minor tasks from 2018

In 2018 I set a challenge for myself to read a book in all foreign languages I know. For one language, German, there are still 320 pages to read. I'm also planning to take the HSK test in March. In addition I've promised to take a work-related certification examination (AWS Certified Developer - Associate.) I'll set more detailed SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and timed) goals for 2019 once these are off my plate in February.

The Year of Love

In 2019 I intend to make determined effort that girls are attracted to me. If the girls are not permanently attracted to me in a romantic relationship thanks to my handsome height (163cm), athletic weightlifter's physique (able to bench 50kg), extroverted salesman's flirt (trained by years of software developement outside customer interface) and socioeconomic status as a leader of men (still on suorittava porras after 15 years in the IT industry) then at least I can make them attracted to me by the hour in a transactional relationship in exchange to a fraction of the monthly salary I earn.

Summer Cottage

In 2018 I've been regularly using my father's former house as a summer cottage. Having visited it every 3 weeks I've decided that I want to own a cottage also after my father's former residence in Pori is sold.

Fundamentally, the decision is as much based on feelings than rational justifications.

• I've visited the temporary summer cottage monthly, so I know I will find use for the actual one.
• I'm simply more happy waking up in the cottage in the countryside, looking outside from the window to see my own seeing garden instead of someone else's blocks concrete.
• Time log consistently shows that I get more done in cottage weekends. The 2 main factors causing this are: (1) in cottage I exercise more because of "hyötyliikunta" like clearing willows from ditch-sides or cutting grass and (2) less temptation to spend the whole day in playing some stupid computer game, thanks to more options in the cottage.
• I've dream about what I will do with my own house for a long time, although it is still unclear what part of these dreams are daydreams and which once I'll actually implement. Hopefully we'll see that in Review of 2019.

2018 - Return By Choice To Middle-Class Lifestyle

Our lives are defined by how we spend our time. This year I returned to salaried employment, which took most of my energy in exchange for superior monetary resources to live more intensive leisure. Last year, I wrote about a time management system being once-in-a-ten-year realization that year. 2 months later I abandoned the hobby project, deciding that if I can't earn a living income independently in 1.5 years, more time is not going to make a difference. After that I've been applying 3-part time management in work and leasure.

In work, time management has produced results which earned me a hefty Christmas, relevant for my employer but irrelevant for me except as a time management practice which prepares me to seize an opportunity in the future years - an opportunity which may or may not ever arrive.

In leisure, results are mixed. I've been participating in many social events in Pori, Tampere, Orivesi, Porvoo, Helsinki, Espoo, Joensuu and Ilomantsi while also using time management to advance projects out of which 2 have completed (reading a book in all foreign languages I know and training for a second obstacle course run) and 2 have not (publishing the second hobby project and finishing Chinese studies with an official HSK exam.) I feel that this has produced great satisfaction in leisure, but measurable achievements have not realized. At this point it is unclear and only time will tell if (1) time management system is still too unripe for realizing measurable achievements, or (1) I should just abandon those long-term projects and accept that the one-weekend time scale is the real pleasure from time management or (3) the long-term projects will produce profound imporovement on life quality, they just take more time than one year to have the impact.

For the record, here are the once-in-ten-years realizations of my life thus far, just to show that I'm not throwing that name on light grounds.

• 10-20 years: Realizing how thouroughly authority figures misrepresented and lied about how the world world works.
• 20-30 years: Realizing that most human relationship trouble I've hand stems from talking too little.
• 30-40 years: Discovering a time management system which allows me some level of getting things done without someone telling me what to do, even if it still does not allow earning a living independently as an entrepreneur.

Languages

In 2018 I set a challenge to read a book in all languages I know (Finnish, English, Russian, Chinese, German.) I've complete 4/5 of it and expect to complete the German part in January 2019. Next year I'm planning to finish away Chinese studies with a HSK test.

Execrise

This year I ran again Tough Viking obstacle course race. Since I got fired last year just before the race and got employed this year only in March, I've focused on anything but exercise on the 8 months after the race and trained regularly only on the 4 months before the race. Consequently I entered the race in the same physical condition as last year. This year I focused more on running time and less on clearing obstacles, running faster but clearing less obstacles as expected. This year I've been tranining in gym since November and might enroll next year to the race in better condition than ever.

Love

I've had two longer Tinder conversations. While 2 long convos a year does not produce enough practise in the game of seduction, it is still improvement. Chatting up girls in social events has continued as in last year but hasn't produced any sexual encounters. I've also had paid sex 3 times, budgeting one visit each month after finishing the trial period in my job. Paid sex with a sex worker I've met before and I'm familiar with has been the most mind-blowing experience in 2018. Contrary to popular claims, sex is not overrated and porn does not create unrealistic expectations compared to actual sexual encounters. Paid sex has been my biggest pleasure this year and it is just as great as fantasies presented in porn, just in a very different way.

2010

Some main goals:

• Clean up the blog. A year ago, this blog had about 5 readers, most of which I could name. There were no consequences whatsoever from writing embarrassing stuff. Quite the contrary, writing produced clarity and I got some valuable advice on a difficult area of life. (A difficult area of life is one where you make mistakes, so it is embarrassing almost by definition. On the other hand, a difficult area of life benefits most from extra clarity.)
  During 2009, this blog took first steps as a channel from which people hear about me for the first time. So embarrassing posts should be restricted a bit.


• Year of bodyweight training. Hopefully by the end of this year I can do some headstand-to-handstand push-ups. If not, then it's time to move back to iron. I pretty much stopped going to gym after the post about one year training diary.


• In the intellectual hobbies front, I should get Chinese to some kind of completion. This means that there is no longer need to set goals and allocate time for it - instead, I'll just read Chinese news and blogs and books in relaxed manner, slowly strenghtening vocabulary and routine. Currently that is not the case, but it's close as I've already started to slowly read Chinese trash lit.


• More active social life is in my wishlist, and I have 2 promising approaches to get it. Should both ones fail (it always depends on other people too, so it's not possible to set fixed goals) I'll have to consider postgraduate studies as a way to make progress and use leisure meaningfully.

Last year:

• Year of gym. Got my first spell of healthy lifestyle.


• Year when going to India had fucked with my head. Fortunately it's over now.


• Year diagnosing the problem. The problem is losing in the game of talking. Didn't make any breakthroughs solving it, though.