Trying Out Before Buying In

After a week of meditating every day it’s tough to say what the impact is, if any at all. For now, I think I’ll stick to what exactly I’ve been doing and the progress I’m making.

Mastering Mindfulness

There’s probably an image that comes to mind when hearing the term meditation. It’s likely a monk looking guy sitting perfectly still, maybe he has his hands out at his sides or they’re just resting on his lap. You might even hear an “owmmmm” as he concentrates. I can’t lie, this is still what first hits me when I think of the word.

Practicing meditation comes in a lot of different forms. There’s guided meditation, mindfulness meditation, transcendental meditation, and the list continues. What I’ve been practicing for the most part of this week has been mindfulness meditation, I think.

Most often, I practice just before bed. I sit on the floor with the lights out and try to attain as much silence as possible. Then, I start a timer for 10 minutes and focus on my breathing, trying to let my mind remain empty. As thoughts arise, I let them pass and bring back the emptiness. It’s said that this practice is like doing reps for your brain. This metaphor has me seeing myself doing hundreds of bicep curls with 2 lbs weights in hand with how often my mind runs rampant.

Seeking Guidance

Another popular form of meditation is guided meditation. I’ve done this practice a few times, but admittedly kind of hate all the ones I’ve done recently. When I first learned about meditation, I started with guided practices, and remember liking it more.

The place I do really enjoy guided practice is at the yoga studio where I currently take classes. I’m not sure if it’s the presence of an actual person, the yoga I just finished, or the general environment, but I actually like the few minutes at the end of class where I can let my brain go and just listen to the instructor.

A Nighttime Walk

A type of meditation, at least in my definition, I’ve been doing for a while have been long walks at night. Going back to the idea of wrangling thoughts, this was kind of the opposite approach. I let my brain loose.

Allowing my brain to jump around from topic to topic without any restraint kind of tired it out before bed. More often than not, I’d be able to close my eyes for sleep and I thought myself out. The “not” unfortunately was sometimes my brain used the walk as a warm up and was about to start the sprint, as I tried to sleep.

For the next week, my plan is to focus on the mindfulness approach, especially as I’ll be traveling and away from my precious yoga classes. My hope is that a consistent practice will lead to longer periods where I can cage my “monkey mind.”

The last few weeks have given me a chance to step back and find my bearings on the important things. I started out chasing random ideas that I didn’t even care about just to do something. Luckily, I was given some good advice and stepped back.

There was a moment in the past few weeks that I struck new inspiration. A new project was unfolding, one I actually cared about, and I made a solid plan. Unfortunately, I found out what I was seeking to make already existed, so I downloaded it. The idea was an app to tell you what credit card should be used at a given moment to take advantage of any rewards programs.

It was fun to feel engaged in a project again, and was fine with dropping it after finding it already exists.

I wasn’t planning on making a long post today, as the nature of not doing a trial leaves little to mention. The main goal of this post is simply to announce the next trail – daily meditation.

Last week, I shared the three pillars I lean on when it comes to life. Wealth is a particular area I’ve found myself invested in as of late. Personal finance has long been an area of interest, especially this one particular area, financial independence.

Discovering FIRE

I first learned about the financial independence, early retirement movement, or FIRE as the cool kids call it these days, through Mr. Money Mustache. His blog was a huge inspiration to start my own, as well as a hefty amount of trials since the beginning.

Admittedly, I was lucky that I found myself with a decent base after graduating college. I had a fairly good salary and I lived in a cheap city. After finding the blog, I was amped to turn things up to the next level.

Learning more and changing my perspective on a lot of things seemed a lot easier than working for another 50 years. I happily embraced many of his practices, such as biking or walking to destination, reading more, and even trying to DIY solutions to my problems.

Losing the Spark

At the beginning of this year, I found myself starting a new job. With this change, I was luckily to be making a bit more money. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the opportunity as well as I could have. Rather than maintain my already comfortable lifestyle I bought some “upgrades” and let myself start slacking off.

There would be months I didn’t pay attention to my finances at all. Instead of investing it or taking a chunk out of my hefty student loan, I lazily kept it around or spent it without thinking.

Getting Back in the Groove

Recently, I’ve been on a huge kick to get my act together. One of the first things I did was determine exactly what I would need to do to pay off my student loan by next May. Seeing $0 in my spreadsheet was one of the most satisfying feeling’s I’ve had in a long time.

To stay on track, I’m busting out some old tools. Mint is probably going to be the biggest one for me. I’m hoping to utilize the budget tool to make sure I stay on track with all of my expenses

These days, instead of looking around for a widget or gizmo to buy when bored, I find myself reading MMM or even the even more intense Early Retirement Extreme. I personally don’t know if I care about the “retire early” piece of FIRE, but having to take money off of the table of worries is certainly something worth pursuing. I’m hoping getting this student loan out of the way opens up the opportunity to take my savings rate to the next level.

Last week, I was burdening myself with a bunch of new habits and projects I was starting to get into. Luckily, I have a brother who is not as attention deficient as I am and he talked some sense into me.

Finding Focus

My brother came to visit this past weekend, and we had a good time. During a long run, we got talking about goals and projects and all that. Then, he, intentionally or not, talked some sense into all the random crap I was doing.

I so often find myself like a dog chasing cars. Excited by the new shiny sight that I lose track of all progress elsewhere. One of the few times I was successful in a goal was earlier this month participating in the GMTK Gam Jam. This was a 48 hour challenge to make a game. The entry I submitted, with help from a friend and said brother, was extremely simple, but it was submitted.

In preparing for the jam, I put nearly everything else on hold. Talking about this over the weekend, kind of woke me up from an insanity.

Back to Basics

One quote that I find fascinating is one from Ben Franklin. “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Now, I may not always be great on that early to bed and early to rise piece, but the pillars of “healthy, wealthy, and wise,” are what I particularly enjoy about the quote.

With this in mind, I am trying to solidify some good habits I’ve been on top of as of late and working to rebuild ones that have been slipping.

Healthy

On the health front, I’ve once again started up yoga classes. Inspired by a recent read, I wanted to get back in the practice. With a couple classes in, I’m already feeling looser and more relaxed. Keeping up with meal prep, most of my diet now is fresh veggies, and with a trip over the weekend to finally visit Dubuque’s farmer’s market, I am looking to add more interesting options. Finally on health, I am trying to get my sleep schedule a bit more towards that early to bed and rise part, though not quite 5 AM.

Wealthy

When it comes to wealth, I’ve sat down and laid out a rough budget needed to meet some of my financial goals in the next year. Though, I don’t see it as purely financial. Wealth is also relationships, experiences, and time management. With this in mind, I’ve started making plans for visits and trips with family and friends.

Wise

Wise is a tough one right now. Like I said, I’m trying to avoid particular projects or plans until I get a bit more settled. I am learning things throughout my other practices, i.e. yoga and personal finance, but not quite the deep learning that I typically attribute to this category. To keep all three pillars standing strong, I might make a trip to the library for another biography of someone I find fascinating.

These three pillars are a loose framework I use in a lot of areas in life. My yearly goals fall into these three categories. Even my weekly journals highlight sub-categories of each of these. Without a particular focus at the moment, it’s time to solidify the foundation.

While I intended to take the next few weeks off of trying out new habits, little did I realize it’s near impossible. Over the past weekend, I started laying the path for two new “unofficial trials.”

My intention of taking a break from trials was to take some time and consolidate habits that have been slipping or falling off. Taking time to reset or reorganize can help to build the foundation needed for progress to emerge.

Stream Team

I’ve been trying to stream on Twitch for fun throughout this month. At the beginning of the month, I participated in a game making event over the course of a weekend. Throughout the event I streamed my progress. I really enjoyed the feel, so I kept going.

I had a lot of fun a few streams ago talking with a total stranger for a portion of the stream. The really interesting part, to me, was that he was from Germany. I never thought I would have the opportunity, and Twitch gave me the platform to do so. Over the weekend, I gave a stream ago, but really wasn’t feeling it. I took a step back and laid out a plan that I think I will enjoy. I’m gonna give it a try for a while and see if I continue to enjoy it.

Lady Killers

This past weekend, at a friend’s wedding, I had a long chat with another friend. We were talking about our failures in the realm of relationships. The root cause of the failures really lies in not doing anything. We know that we need to do something, but make excuses for not putting ourselves out there. We decided to hold each other accountable.

With success I’ve seen with accountability groups in the past, I thought this would be a good way to not only benefit myself, but my friends too.

I’m not sure if I’ll do any further write ups on these two, but with no trial planned in particular, these came at the right time.

Over the past few days, I’ve been considering what else to say on my latest trial, weekly meal prep. I feel as though what I’ve said so far really captures the experience so far. This week will be a bit different than some of my other posts. Think of this week as a recap episode, read the highlights, or click on the links for more details!

Week One – The Time Save

After the first week, I was loving how much time I was saving during the week not worrying about cooking and cleaning for each meal. Funny enough, it was the week that I spent the longest time cooking.

Continuing this trial, I am thinking about switching things up to possibly increase efficiency in my meal prep session. I am actually thinking of switching out the chicken, the longest cook time by far, for lentils as a protein source that will cook up in a fraction of the time. Time will tell how I will tweak this process, but for now, I am enjoying the time Monday to Friday in which I can step in the kitchen and a meal is ready to go.

Week Two – Simplify

As a few of my trials have proven, simplifying my life has been a theme of many trials. From the minimalists’ challenge to wearing the same outfit each day, meal prep definitely fell into this category.

There is time for experimentation while prepping, but once cooked, the base meals are set for the week. I did try adding some variety this week. With some fresh picked jalapenos from my aunt, I baked one of the chicken breasts covered in cheese and sliced jalapeno. It was certainly different than the other days I experienced this week. So even when keeping the base meal of chicken, veggies, and rice the same, there is wiggle room for distinction.

Week Three – Save That Money

Last week, I focused on how meal prep has helped me to reduce my grocery and dining spending. Knowing exactly what I need to get at the store helps eliminate grabbing random ingredients that I may or may not need. It also helps avoid buying some ingredients but am forced to buy large quantities. I’m looking at you herbs.

While the grocery store definitely has a spot in my weekly spending, eating out can sometimes creep into a much bigger bill if let run wild. I like to think of myself as a frugal person, but even I found myself eating out 3-4 times in a work week. The problem always arose on the tough days when the last thing I wanted to think about was cooking and cleaning.

A story from this week actually applies to this exact feeling. After lunch yesterday, I had a bad craving for fast food. I had just watched a video prepping Harold & Kumar’s White Castle order and I got the crave. With an unfortunate lack of White Castle here in Dubuque, I was ready to settle for anything. Luckily, when work got out, I was able to pop in the kitchen, throw my dinner in the microwave, and eat. It was actually easier to eat in than get fast food.

In Conclusion

In the end, I really enjoyed this trial. Finding a new habit to save time, money, and stress is always a successful trial. I do plan on continuing over time. I’ll be experimenting more with the base meal to be sure. If you have any recommendations let me know!

This is normally the spot in which I tease the next trial, but for the next few weeks, I want to take some time and reset a few existing habits that have been slipping. I’ll still be writing, but I will be covering a variety of topics and habits.

This trial has been one of my favorites so far. I don’t think I’ve been as exited for a trial since the very first one. I love having all of my meals in the week figured out before I even wake up on Monday. Something I haven’t really touched on is the impact on my wallet.

What I’m Buying

In the past, I would frequent my local grocery chain, here it’s called Hy-Vee. Pretty decent prices and a decent selection of goods. At some point a roommate and I decided to start going to Aldi for those nice cheap off-brand prices. That brought down our grocery budget pretty well. Between the two of us I’d say we’d range in the $200-250 per month range each.

For this trial, I actually switched over to finally using my Sam’s Club membership. I’ve had one for a few years, and would maybe go once or twice per year. A huge inspiration for this switch, and this trial to be honest, was this post by Mr. Money Mustache. His approach to salad, relying on bulk ingredients from a wholesaler and homemade dressing, inspired me to follow in those footsteps.

With the switch to Sam’s Club, I would say I’m in the range of about $30-$40 per week, so about $120-150 per month. This doesn’t include quite everything if you want to get into specifics, for example the olive oil I use for the salad dressing. I really broke down the big items that were easy to compute. The smaller per meal items are pretty minuscule, so I didn’t feel like crunching those numbers quite yet. Though, should I make an update after a while I might get into the details. Also, the annual membership fee is something I’m taking into account, but I haven’t really decided how to compute that. Should it be per visit? Per meal? Ultimately, I’ll keep an eye on how things break out over time and get a better idea then.

What I’m Not Buying

While reducing my monthly grocery bill is definitely a plus, I think the more important thing might be what it’s helping me avoid. Having a meal ready to go helps keep me from eating out for convenience sake. In the past, I’ve frequently compromised to eat out due to the effort a meal would take. I mean, I need to eat right?

Taking that option off the table has potential to save a significant amount of money in the long run. I will still go out from time to time, but it’s no longer a “just because” situation. A loose rule I’ve sort of made for myself is that I should never eat at a restaurant alone. Going out to eat is a time to be with other. With friends and family. Not simply to eat. If the goal is just to eat, it can be easily accomplished in one’s own kitchen.

Another week whipping up meals in a single sitting. Once again, I have nothing to say but good things. To conjure some conflict, the only difficulty I would say I experience would be that the meals seem boring before eating. After I’m done eating, I forget there was any resistance. Keeping things simple has let me stick to a core idea in habit building, least effort.

The Principle of Least Effort

Today was a prime example of why I am loving this trial. Sometime around 4:30 PM, I hit a wall at work and felt unmotivated to do anything with my evening. Friends and I planned on meeting up for trivia, a weekly ritual for almost a year now. I couldn’t imagine getting up from my seat, not alone leaving the house.

Luckily, my body requested a meal. In the past, this may have been a day where I order take out or get delivery. However, knowing I had a ready to go meal meant popping it in the microwave was actually less effort. Similarly to how I wear one outfit, I don’t have to think about what I’m wearing. We’ve all had moments where choosing what or where to eat has taken just as long as eating itself.

Minimizing the effort needed to start an activity is a good way to stick to good habits. Introducing the opposite is a good way to stave off bad ones.

Sticking to Simple…For Now

The only downside I can think of is that my meals have been a bit dull. I shared my menu from last week, and this week the only difference was that I swapped out chicken for fish. Exhilarating stuff, I know!

I wonder if having a couple options would help with this. There is a chance that adding more choices would break the simplicity of it all. More meals means more time to prep, cook, and clean. I might look into some good ways to use the same core recipe to shake things up. Share any suggestions you have in the comments below!

Last Sunday, I made a week’s worth of lunches and dinners. The meals were simple, so they took little time to prepare a single dish vs many. Doing this has saved me a considerable amount of time throughout the week. I’m looking forward to continuing and improving the process over the next few weeks.

The Menu

In an effort to eat healthier I set up my meals to be full of good foods.

Breakfast didn’t even require any cooking or prep, I simply ate a handful of mixed nuts and a cup of coffee. As someone who isn’t much of a morning person, I like being able to get a bite without any effort.

Lunch turns things up with a giant salad. I mixed up a big pack of spring mix with tomatoes, green peppers, and cucumbers topped with a homemade salad dressing. I added a clove of garlic per part for some extra flavor.

Dinner was definitely the most prep. I made a few cups of white rice, steamed a few bags of frozen veggies, and baked several chicken breasts. Because of how these dishes were prepped, it would have been nearly the same amount of time and effort to make a single plate.

The Advantage

Not having to plan, cook, and clean every meal took a lot off my mind. Being able to grab a bunch of salad or pop a plate in the microwave has sped up the time usually spent around mealtime. With a lot of things going on in my personal life lately, it’s been really nice to get all the thinking done on Sunday.

I hate to say it, but this trial was kind of a flop. Tracking or noticing if I was ever really in focus on something was a complete failure, at least it felt that way. There were definitely some moments I was able to look back and think, “damn I was in the zone there.” One last thing I won’t really be able to measure the impact of in a few weeks is in regards to long term goals.

Focus on Future

Long term focus is definitely something I struggle with. I find myself constantly pursuing something new with the intention to return to the prior interest. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, but hey maybe I will one of these days.

Last year, I wrote a few posts on essentialism, one of which was literally a brief discussion of stepping away from all my side projects I have going on. I wish I could say I learned my lesson since that time. There’s definitely improvement, but I still find myself trying to pack a few too many things on at once.

Luckily, my most recent project has a very set end date. Over the past few months, I’ve been learning a lot about game development for the Game Maker’s Toolkit 2019 Game Jam. This is an event in which the goal is to make a video game in 48 hours. My goal is really to make something, anything. I’m totally new to this, but have been interested in participating the last few years.

Because of the amount I’ve needed to learn, I’ve really put a lot of other things on hold. Sure a few things slide into my inbox here and there, but I’ve been able to keep a surprising focus on the game jam.

The Daily Grind

Throughout the trial, I’ve made note of the things that lead to a loss of focus, and and taking steps to mitigate that. For example, I struggle with work sometimes if I’m sitting in silence. I started just putting some music on to get out of that silence. Here are a couple of my go to choices:

• Timecop 1983
• Eighth Grade Motion Picture Score by Anna Meridith

Something else that may have helped recently is setting some time in the day to let distractions reign. Going for walks, I let my brain jump around from thought to thought off the leash. Afterward, it tends to be easier to sit down on something.

In the end, tracking focus kind of seems like an oxymoron to me. If you’re focusing on something, but have to track that you’re focusing, you end up losing focus. Of course the intention to track would be a hindsight thing, but then you have to remember and all that. All in all, I don’t regret this trial, as there are some benefits, but it didn’t quite turn out as expected.

With this one behind me I’m gonna shift my focus from my mind to my stomach. For a while I’ve wanted to try doing larger meal prep days, and am going to try starting this week. My initial plan is going to be preparing all my meals Monday to Friday on Sundays, but might adjust as time goes on.