Renewed Commitment and Dailiberate Discomforts

Why I'm back and my theory of daily habits...

Dear readers, all 3 of you,

Hello again!

Start tiny. Do it daily. I’ve figured this out with a few resolutions, but writing and publishing? This goal remains elusive. Stubbornly, elusive...

My failed writing resolution has now attained new urgency. I’ve been haranguing my eldest daughter to get on with her writing habit, and she’s now of an age to agree to things - conditionally. Sadly, I must increasingly practice what I preach. So with this post, here’s to my renewed commitment...

I mentioned success with some other resolutions. For example:

1. morning activation routine. Every morning, before allowing myself any digital or caloric consumption, I do the following less-than-five-minute exercise:

   • 90 second plank --> 25 push-ups --> 90 second plank --> 25 pushups, while singing!

if I have time, I also add in some lunge squats and 45 second single-leg-stands with my eyes closed.

2. Chinese reading and speaking routine. I try to spend at least 10 minutes a day reading a news article in Chinese and speaking in Chinese. Because of all of my travel, the conversation these days is often with ChatGTP or with Grok.

Warming up my core and chords has become a first-thing-in-the-morning feeling that I now crave. It started in November 2024. I was traveling like crazy and had not prepared a performance for our annual Christmas party. Sure, it’s mostly about the kids’ performances, but parents are expected to lead by example. Since my singing is terrible, I thought I would make it more interesting by combining it with a plank and push-ups. Surprisingly, the plank seems to have made me a slightly better singer.

Dailiberate Discomfort - that’s the name for my theory of habits. They should be daily, done with deliberate (mindful) disposition, and there needs to be slight discomfort on the journey to improvement. Indeed, these routines remain tough to do every day that I do them. If these dailiberate discomforts required a longer time commitment, I’d probably lack the discipline to practice them daily.

Here’s me singing 孤勇者 by 陳奕迅 in December 2024 and Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran in February 2025.

Until next week....

Stefan