On using Lights

I have been keeping a Google Sheet (their spreadsheet program) that Sebastian Marshall started to help his followers and himself to develop and track habits. It is called Lights. My second full month of lights has been kept and I have added a few new habits to the list. I have also had a 70% or better keeping of the habit since my start. Most of them were things I wasn't particularly good at keeping.

This is last weeks results. It uses a simple "yes/no/halfway" logic and gives a readout of the percentage of times you kept the habit (in the top left portion. . . this was a crazy and lower counted week for me.

Anyway, this has increased the number of times I brushed my teeth, stretched, and edged up slightly the taking of my medicine.

Here is Sebastian's link to the spreadsheet (http://ultraworking.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=dd9f93652172603345875726307ef417&i=108A126A15A1575) and a guide to Lights (http://ultraworking.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=dd9f93652172603345875726307ef417&i=108A126A15A1576).

Toe touching

I have rarely ever been able to touch my toes. I have done it very few times without bending my knees over my entire life. After two-three months of stretching everyday, I am finally able to touch my toes.

Pretty exciting!

I'll keep stretching. I think most of my problems before was not realizing that more of the stretch is in the lower back than it is in the hamstrings. It is similar to another problem I had once.

Before I joined the US Army, about six months before, I was unable to perform a perfect form push-up. I just never realized how to do it and how to bend the right ways in my arms.

Of course, the Army made me do lots of push-ups. I can now do a good amount even though I gained a good bit of weight. I am working on losing it, but it can be slow.

Squatting is another big project of mine. I had trouble staying in a cross-fit program due to lack of being able to squat with perfect form. I'll start working on that next.

Getting stuff done

I have been getting a lot done.

I have been counting calories to stay around 1800. I have been drinking 166 or more ounces of water per day. My dissertation is sitting at my proposal stage and I have a population and sample lined up. I stretch and am getting really good at remembering my medicines.

I am looking forward to the next couple of iterations with my dissertation proposal. I think it will be accepted soon.

As for weight loss, there is probably minimal of that yet. I will get to it. My main goal isn't to look better or anything but deal with a fatty liver issue.

I have read probably 50 books over the last month. This would be bigger but I have been somewhat scattered, as two weeks ago I was dog sitting and house sitting.

I have been contemplating a single question: If my life were ideal, what would I do? Obviously, this leaves a few steps in between, but I should start figuring out those steps soon.

Rape of Nanking

I am listening to Jocko Willink's podcast on the Rape of Nanking (via iTunes). Terrible things occur there, but everyone is so caught up on the Nazi references that they do not think of Imperial Japan. As a right-wing person, I have been called a Nazi many times. I have never been called as bad as the Japanese. Maybe this is due to my white heritage.

Of course, as a young boy, I was always taught that Japanese culture was more enlightened than ours. We watched the martial arts movies, with special attention to portions with an Asian master. Many times, these were said to be Japanese.

It is too bad that history leans towards the cold, mass killings of the Nazis. There were many other situations like this. I think it is because of fighting against Western Civilization.

Goals and targets

I picked up SUCCESS Magazine with the Jocko Willink cover today. I was excited about it. I know there are some errors, that Jocko has worked on fixing. I am looking forward to reading it. 

The primary thing is to stay disciplined. I am waiting on my dissertation, but during the meantime getting a lot of reading done. Reading is the primary way I stay on top of what is happening and generate ideas. 

I am having a little trouble with my prospectus and its approval. This is a subjective struggle, where I pleased the chairman of my committee while not pleasing my methodologist. I have to please the methodologist to get the chair in line. Approval will follow.

The secondary thing is to branch out into my self-quantification. I am counting ounces of water I drink. I am also counting calories right now. I want to start journaling a minimal amount every morning. 

So, if you are having trouble meeting your goals, set little goals that target all the others.

Ethics in studies

I plan on going out to recruit for my dissertation study tomorrow. It is difficult.

Here's why? Recruiting can be seen as leading to bias. Especially if I actually meet the people I will by studying. The Institutional Review Board at my university sees that as a bad idea, forcing their answers.

If I meet them, I can recruit them and make them more likely to complete the study. If I don't, I can keep out bias.

They won't answer emails without introduction, so my idea is to try to pass out a flyer to the church secretaries. It would be easier if I had large churches to work with, but I have already recruited the largest in the association I am attempting to study.

I could change my sample and population, but that leads to a change in the prospectus and proposal. Since I already have a third of the sample, I am not giving up at this time on my current subjects.

Ethics is good, but sometimes makes it impossible to run into people.

Genghis Khan

I recently read Jack Weatherford's Genghis Khan and the Quest for God and Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Weatherford points out Genghis Khan out for his own contribution to religious freedom. Also, his dynasty has a long reach.

First, many Chinese-appearing artifacts are Mongol appropriations of Chinese work. To fit in, Genghis and his followers would have artwork make in Chinese style garb. They would also take names that appeared more Chinese.

Second, Genghis Khan's numbers of vanquished foes were great but likely exaggerated to reflect the times. Many militaries kept greatly exaggerated numbers at the time, but Khan's numbers (even if exaggerations) were larger than others. This may reflect a larger truth.

Third, Genghis Khan appropriated both religious belief, cultural ties, and followers that were great craftsman. One of Khan's generals and closest confidants was a man who had shot one of Genghis Khan's horses through the neck. Khan liked what worked, and gained literature and culture through hiring vanquished men.

These books taught me a great many things about the time and culture of the Mongols.

Enchantment

I just finished reading Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki.  Great book. The first parts are how to grow your brand. The second (non-divided) part is on technology and how to leverage it to grow a personal or business brand. The last part is like a 48 Laws of Power for nice guys.

This book tells how branding works, and how to use it to become enchanting. I especially loved the checklist that tells how to make ethical decisions towards the back of the book. I have made an effort to engage relevant news articles for my Twitter and will soon do so for my personal Facebook.

Airpower on the wane?

I just read Martin Van Creveld's The Age of Airpower. It is an excellent history of airships, airplanes, and helicopters. It walks one from early manned airpower (from the Wrights) to today just after the Iraq surge. I am not ready to give Van Creveld the applause because he believes airpower is on the wane, partially due to David Petraeus' wishing to leave most airpower at home in insurgencies. I think they still have their purpose, especially planes such as the A10.

I am in Tucson, where the A10 has a mainstay, so that may influence it. I have also heard about the A10 being significant for close air support with the infantry. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about the history of airpower.

Do you believe airpower is less necessary for waging warfare? Respond in the comments section or tweet me @jtarb1 on Twitter.

Freedman's Strategy: A History

I highly recommend Sir Lawrence Freedman's Strategy: A History. It debates what strategy is, exactly, by moving from game theory, business, and war studies. It does this in a lengthy 630 page treatise, but does not stay away from Foucault and Pareto's contributions. I feel like I knew a lot, as a student of strategy, but the book definitely treats it well. The book also starts with the Iliad and moves forward, so no student of history will be left with dissatisfaction.

It used rudimentary diagrams of the Prisoner's Dilemma and explained the Nash Equilibrium as well as I have understood it. I am not mathematician, of course. Yet, I highly recommend this book.

On The Republic

The Republic did its job tonight. Donald Trump may not be the best man for the job, yet it is the job of the electorate to decide that. The electorate, not always being perfect has an electoral college to make sure they are voting for the Republic.

The Electoral College system, mostly voting on party lines, is the broken system. The electors should vote for the needs of the country. Yet, they often go with whatever candidate they are associated with.

The Republic, with rights to vote for whoever, votes how the media cycle pushes them to. They do not always have the education to know the needs of the Republic, due to a broken educational system, that rewards the wealthy.

The real thing I am disgusted with is the people that are telling Americans to lie in the bed they've made. No one else made it. What else should they lie in?

On the Draft

I feel that the draft is for men. In fact, I feel the combat arms jobs are for men, but that ship has sailed.

When a nation can no longer raise enough military age males to defend itself through volunteer means, the country has already lost as a nation. The nation has lost its ability to continue as a nation due to loss of people who care enough about the nation's will to fight.

I am against any draft for women, and am against any draft at all in general. A nation has already rolled over when it cannot raise men to fight.

I pointed out on this opinion on the old Twitter account (the one I deleted) and had several military officers suggesting the US government would never quit without a draft. I concur, but the US government doesn't always act in a moral manner, either.

Feeling too comfortable

I almost took a break today. Yet, I decided that I should post something.

The moment I get into a comfort zone, I'll not push myself. That said, I am tired of writing because I just worked at a longer paper for school.

I cannot believe I still have a year or so. I am, quite frankly, tired of learning in a traditional sense.

I will continue learning long after April 2018, when I feel that I am probably going to be done.

The question is this: will I end with that EdD, or not?

One PIGs and Poor Customers

While reading Tim Ferriss' The Four Hour Work Week, I am amazed by the simplicity of his muses, or passive income generators. I know that they are not always easy to find. The elegance comes from not offering services and parting ways with the bottom 20%, who always cause the most hassle.

It would be nice if business worked this way. Let's say, you hassle the commissioned cellphone salesperson and they told you to get the hell out of their shop. The problem is, commissioned cellphone people do not own their shops. It would be seen as racist or just hateful, depending on the people involved.

Like the hoaxes with receipts that tell people to stop being gay, the employees should have more input into who can shop at their stores. Unfortunately, in the age of outrage journalism, this wouldn't end well for anyone.

Pomodoro work

I have done a lot this morning, by working with the Pomodoro Technique. I have read about it, yet I find it motivating to practice. I find myself chomping at the bit to get back to work. I also find that I take more breaks than I normally do, while monitoring excess work.

I am also using RescueTime starting today to keep track of what type of sites I visit. I'll regulate them better after getting a good picture of what I'll use by setting up budgets for each type of productivity or distraction.

Thanks for reading. If you have a productivity tip for me, or an app I have not mentioned thus far, let me know in the comments.

Proof racism and sexism are universal

Your grandma, your dentist, the people at the church, your high school friends: if they are voting for trump they are racist & sexist

— Tressie Mc (@tressiemcphd) November 2, 2016

If my Granny can be racist, sexist or friends I went to school with can be, just for voting for Trump, then we see that women can be sexist and non-whites can be racist.

Challenge accepted

I was recently challenged (via /r/KaizenBrotherhood to avoid candy and a vice of mine for three days. There were other challenges, such as tobacco and alcohol. I misinterpreted the challenge to believe all were in order. I was only actually challenged for one of them. Yet, I will avoid the two that I have the most trouble with for three days. Candy and my bad habit.

I am re-reading Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Workweek, and get more out of it every time I read it. I really should set up go to times for chekcing email (reminder to self).

Three days I changed the wordpress template to something. . . not so pink.

On being the worst

As a hirer, hire those better than you. You want to be the dumbest in the room. That goes doubly if you consider yourself smart. The smarter will help you to be the best.

As a subordinate, accept that your job is to get credit for those higher than you. If you are working for the right people, you are going to get either credit or some other benefit. If you are not working for the right person, you'll soon know it when credit does not trickle down.

Finally, in the words of Mattis, "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet."

MAGA Mindset reading is up

I wanted to take this advantage to share a partial reading of Mike Cernovich's MAGA Mindset by Stefan Molyneux. I am not pushing a political party or person. I am sharing this as a State of the Union that only Cernovich can get.

Expansive and Contractive feelings

I recently heard of expansive vs. contractive feelings. I heard this on James Altucher's interview of Jewel.

The way I understand it, expansive feelings cause on to think of others. Contractive feelings cause on to close in on oneself.

From the scant sources that weren't from wild New Age-y sites, Love is expansive. Jewel said that excitement, on the other hand, is contractive.

I have not bought into all the premises, but think that this is excellent way of gauging feelings. One may temper feelings with meditation, by letting feelings simply pass without a reaction.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, in mind own experience, is noting a feeling cycle (thought, mood, actions=> which all impact each other in turn). It differs from traditional meditation, which seeks to separate feelings from action, by attempting to keep certain feelings over others.

I think CBT/ DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) and meditation both build upon each other. Yet meditation is better.