Report Card

On failing. And getting back up.

As the first month of 2018 is officially over, here’s a time to look back. Without trying to link back to posts and give evidence of promises, here is a list of things that I failed (and won) at, #in2018.

In no order,

A. I decided to take up the 2019in2018 challenge. Was on it for a few days in the beginning of the year but with time I lost the plot.

I want to end the year at 30″ and its going to take superhuman effort from here on. A large part of it will be diet. And a smaller part (not so small) will be working out. I had thought that I will start with daily walks, easing into jogs and then eventually a run. Ending in an attempt at HM. But January has been disappointing. Lets see whats in store for Feb.

B. A few people I know IRL went and came back from JLF. And their twitter feeds tell me that as someone who’s interested in the writing scene, I ought to be there. To be honest, not sure if I want to be on the stage at all the litfests around the world but would love to have an opportunity to be at a place where my books are sold.

No, I dont want fame. I merely want to tell stories, create time to write and of course make money. I am ok if my books get published under a pseudonym and all I get is royalties. Actually, thats an idea there. Need to think more.

Back to the point. I want to get the second book out. And I want to get #BetterYou out this year. Both are stuck. Because I dont have time to work on em. And why do I not have the time? Because I am stuck in the rut :(.

Ok. Cribbing.

Point is, need to get back to writing.

C. I wanted to work on my waning mental faculty. For the same, I wanted to start with these app-based games that apparently train the brain. And, I’ve been able to more or less do this!

Yay!

So, a win. Phew.

Been playing on Peak and havent missed too many days. And there’s a marked improvement in my scores. May be I am getting used to the games that Peak makes me play. May be I am actually improving. Irrespective. A win. Something that is needed to create habits (you know, the trigger, action, reward triad?)

D. I had started posting a pic a day on my instagram last year. It went well for a few days and then I lost the plot. All those things that they say that make habits if you do something for 21 days? Yawn.

I need to restart it. For two reasons. One, it allowed me to stay curious about the world around me. And, two, it made me a better photographer and a storyteller. Every pic I uploaded, I would think about what the pic meant to me and I would be forced to pen my thoughts bout em.

Did you follow the thread? You want to tell me what you liked about it most?

Just realised that I still have issues with means or meant. Present tense, past tense and all other tenses. Need to fix em. Where do I start?

E. I dont know if I have spoken about this earlier but I’ve been tracking each day of my life since (well, most days) 23 May 2017. I started with a daily log of work and all and with time I have expanded it and most days I track 32 variables. Starting 26 Jan 2018, I have started tracking what I eat. And since day before I’ve started tracking some 20 other tiny things on Nomie (inspired by Thej). I dont know what would I do with all the data but I like the feeling that I will be able to look back at a random date and see what I was upto.

For example, on 12 Aug 2017 (I promise I cooked up this date to give you a case in point), I did the following…

Was in Delhi for an event at Andaz (which is an awesome hotel)
Met Vanita, Kunal, Ankit
Spoke to Jinal and Parry about things that they are working on

You get the drift?

So, net net, its a win. It keeps me grounded. Keeps me going. Gives me a semblance of stability in a world that is in perpetual chaos.

F. I started maintaining a daily journal at the beginning of the year. Again, after the first week I havent been able to do much about it. Will restart it. I think I got stuck with it because I did not know to write on it. Do you maintain one? What do you write on it?

G. I have not played pool in 2 months I think. Before I did that big project at Bangalore last year, I was getting in 2-3 sessions a week. I need to find a way to spend more time around home. May be on the Maker days? Start with a session of squash / yoga, shoot some pool, write and create. Thrice a week. Lol. Wishful thinking, Mr. Garg.

H. As I write this, I am in HCMC, trying to put together an event for a client. And since I’ve been here, I havent done any of those “daily” things that I am supposed to do (Peak, photos on insta, writing, daily journal etc). I realised that its tough to do anything when you are on the road. Immense respect to the ones who are on the road and get things done. How?

Oh, and I carried a pair of running shoes with me on this trip, hoping I will go for a run each day. Lol, high hopes.

***

So, yeah, that was January of 2018. Not exactly what I wanted it to be. I remain cognisant and aware. Lets buck up in February and beyond.

PS: While writing this post I realised that the marathon, lit fest and others are all “properties” owned by event companies. Why can’t I be the one to create something like this? #note2self and to Team @ C4E.

Monthly Report – Feb 2014

The second month, the shortest in the year is gone. Someone rightly said that the time flies. Anyhow, here is the update for the month.

Here are the thing that I did in this month

The credit card bill for the last month was my lowest ever. Ever. Since I started earning all those years back. May be it was because it was the shortest month of the year, but then, I am not complaining.
I launched a new idea. Still working on it. You may want to read this post for more details. You may subscribe to it here.
Thanks to a tweet by Anaggh, I discovered Producteev. This has to be amongst the best personal project management tool that I have seen (apart from the good pen and paper). Do check it out.
Had a good month with poker. A good month for me is when I do not loose. I did not.
Big news. Lost couple of inches. Off all the things that I want to achieve this year, I want to get fitter. And this is the first time ever, in my life, when I have lost inches. I am really really happy about it. So happy that I dont have words. Over the next few days I would continue to talk about it.

Report on things I had planned for Feb.

I had planned five things. I did none of those. Multiple reasons. But will not go there. I failed.

In Mar of 2014, these are the things that are on the cards

Things for Feb (sell sgElectra, work on Cpt Obv, ISIN and next plot)
Clear Evernote.
#tnks. Finish second draft of #tnks. And start talking to publishers. I have a friend who has promised to publish the book, but I want to get published on its merit, not on goodwill.
#poker. Get yet another good month with poker. Like I mentioned, a good month is when I do not lose.
#poker. See all of grisped on youtube.
#36to30. Take yoga as a challenge. Try and do asanas with more poise and tougher intensity. I would take it up as a challenge. I wrote about it here. Remember the tread mill that Will Smith talks about?

Thats about it from the month of Feb. Over to you March.

In the meanwhile, do check out The Nidhi Kapoor Story’s facebook page.

Previous updates: Jan

Monthly Report – Jan 2014

The first month of 2014 is over. Its went past by so fast that I am wondering if someone hit the Fast Forward button on the remote control of the Matrix that we are hanging in. I had made elaborate plans for the month and had promised myself that I’d do so much that I’d leave my 30+ years of existence to shame.

But the malfunction at the matrix ensued that I did zilch. I mean not exactly zilch but when I compare it to other things, its more or less zilch. Anyway, the point of a report card it to evaluate how I did. Here is a list.

Here are the things that I did in this month.

Finished the first draft of The Nidhi Kapoor Story. Now I need to send the draft to friends, look for an editor and a publisher. If you know how to go about publishing, please help.
Ran out of money that I had saved while I was with Gravity. Now that the first draft of the book is done and I am out of money, I need to find something that pays me enough to pay my bills in Mumbai. I am in the job market now.
I took steps towards the inch loss goal that I have set for myself for the end of the year. These are yoga, walking and swimming.
This month, I also complete ten years of blogging. I started writing this blog in Jan of 2004 and its been ten years. Like I keep saying, apart from living and dreaming, this is the only activity that I have done for so long. This is the post that I wrote about it.

I missed the following things this month.

I had listed a few writing projects. I haven’t been able to work on any. Its a long list. I have them archived on my Evernote. I shall try to initiate those in Feb.

In Feb 2014, I would do the following.

Work on Capt Obvious. Its a blog about brands and businesses.
Launch ISIN. Finally. I have been thinking on this for some time now. Its about time I did it.
Start the next plot. I have a vague idea. I want to retell a classic, set in modern context.
Sell sgElectra. I know. Sell. 🙁
Do things that I was supposed to do in Jan. Ref Evernote.

That’s it. I hope to make these report cards every month. I think I did sometime in the past but I cant seem to recall. Over a period of time, I would try to put tangibles in these cards. For example, I’d say that I wrote 20000 words this months or I spent 30% less than last month or something like that.

I can try and make this report on a non-public forum. I did a pros and cons analysis. I realized that by putting these online, I give myself an outside chance of bumping into people that may help me with these goals. If I do this bit on evernote, I lose out on the opportunity.

Lets see when I do that. You may want to read tnks blog in the meanwhile.

P.S. Thanks James. Really really appreciate all that you write.