Good evening everyone (In EU timezone
) The warmth of the sun is making me feel great and I am starting to get into the writing flow. Today felt motivated to make a diagram. The diagram lists out my interest and connections. (Inspo from somewhere on the forum, I forgot)
The diagram will be adjusted from time to time and clarifies for me and others what the heck I am doing and working on.
The diagram contains 3 types of line strokes.
The line strokes say something about the state.
- 1. Solid stroke. I am doing this currently, intensively and in a deep state.
- 2. Dashed stroke. Doing it, but not so active. I May have done more intense before. For example, German and Hydroponics are dashed. I used to do this daily. My german is now solid, and am not actively studying it. Hydroponics are not active.
- 3. Dotted stroke. I want to work towards it. In my home country, I used to ride my bike a lot, we are famous for it, but since I emigrated, I don't ride anymore. I want to see how I can bring that back into my life.
In making the diagram, a few areas have emerged.
1. Career
The diagram clearly shows me one thing. Most of my current activities in life are related to work. Many have a direct or indirect connection with my work and career. I have been obsessed with the financial aspect of FIRE and it has shown. I have progressed in my career and feel like a decent craftsman in my field, but have overlooked the other side of FIRE. For me personally, the financial part easier. It's clear what needs to done. Save and increase income. The harder part is working on myself. Finding my inner renaissance man, my soul, purpose or whatever you may call it.
If I had made this diagram a few years ago, it would look very different. Then the left side would be solid and the right side would be dashed. As I've written before, a goal of mine is also to bring back more of the left side. Health, Art and Passions.
2. Health
I have been in Portugal for 5 weeks now and my endurance has improved immensely. Mostly by a mix of hiking, running and swimming. I was shocked how bad it was.I thought I looked pretty fit, have a healthy BMI and am in my 20s, but it was very noticeable that I need to actively maintain and improve it through exercise. When I get back home, I want to continue with the trail running I've been doing here. Hiking is also very nice, but it doesn't build the endurance I am looking for.
3. Languages
Surprisingly for someone with dyslexia, but languages are a big part in my current life. Programming languages included. I studied German daily for about 2 years and have now switched to Chinese. I have people around me who speak Chinese and it's super fun to talk with them. I use Anki software, 20 minutes a day, and exchange basic language with friends.
At the peak of my German studies, I was studying about 2 hours a day, but I think for Chinese I need to take it slower. It gets you down a lot faster than German. Since Chinese is one of the hardest languages to learn, maybe that's not surprising
My native language is also a Germanic language, which made learning German easier.
Whats next
The Art part is improving. I picked up all my old art supplies from art-school at my parents house and am in touch with @mountainFrugal to share our progress on a weekly basis. To help us improve and for me personally, to keep me motivated. He suggested this about 6 months ago, but I felt not ready for it yet.
Since I am trying to actively participate on the forum, instead of just consuming It felt like the right time. I am really looking forward to it
Writing. I started to increase the frequency of my posts so I can work more on my writing skills. I am looking for ways to write more clearly and interestingly for others to follow. I am sometimes jealous how native speakers on the forum build their sentences and structure. I would love to have tips on how to learn more about editing in general.
I got a new writing/diary/todos setup in my text editor of choice, VIM. I will once dedicate a single post to it. I am very happy with it!
Cycling. My flywheel is stuck and I found the right tool to fix it. I have done this before. The plan is to fix the flywheel, new brake pads and a good wash. Then I'Il sell the bike and buy a new used one for bicycle touring.