Let's Fight (our) Mediocrity, One Round at a Time!
Today’s Life-Sparring round is all about Bagel. No, I don’t mean the dry stepbrother of the doughnut, but another ambitious Kickstarter project I backed last year. The Korean team of Bagel Labs promised nothing less than "The World's Smartest Tape Measure". Does the sleek looking Bagel device live up to that promise?
While I enjoy running in general, it constantly and painfully reminds me of my physical limits. Despite my almost life-long relationship with running, I am embarrassingly slow and technically bad.
As the stubborn and competitive person that I am, being slow and bad at running does not stop me from occasionally reaching for the sky. My recent participation in the Green Power Hike, a 50km trail running race over the full length of the Hong Kong trail, across the rocky backbone of the island was an example for me testing my limits. The 24th edition of the iconic trail running event was my fourth participation. How would my lack of training, five years of age, and five kilogram body weight since my personal best in 2012 affect my performance?
After chasing big and lofty goals in 2016, the focus in 2017 is on habit setting. Using a strategy called "Mini Habits", I try to set small but very regular tasks to establish healthy habits that bring me closer to my ambitious goals, with much less stress. To make sure that I am not forgetting my daily goals, I was experimenting finding the perfect mobile up to nudge me at the right time. Which of the contenders Irunurun, Nozbe or Strides proofs to be best suited to keep me on track over the year?
Despite the bad reputation of New Year’s Resolutions in the scientific world and my mixed record with meeting my annual goals in the past, I continue to make resolutions year after year. New Year's Eve would just not feel the same without good intentions and lofty goals.
After going all S.M.A.R.T. in 2016, this year it's about going small, taking a page or two out of Stephen Guise's book Mini Habits.
It's January, a year just passed, so let's do what people do and look back! I am sure, you can still handle one more year in review article.
I have a history; you might even call it a habit, of backing Kickstarter projects with the potential to ease the troubles of modern life. My newest Kickstarter acquisition is a little box called "Monument". The promise of the Monument campaign was nothing less than creating “The world's smartest photo storage and management device.” Did they deliver on that promise?
In part one of my "Ode to Active Holidays" I explained why I return more mentally refreshed from holidays in which I stayed physically active and challenged myself than from lazy beach holidays. In part two we pick up where part 1 left, one day two of my recent adventure trip to the Japanese Alps. Come with me to Azumino and climb Mt. Tsubakurodake.
If you want a memorable holiday, look for a challenge!
While a week in a luxury beach resort in Thailand is nice, I realized that for me the holidays where I returned the most mentally refreshed were the ones, in which I stayed physically active and challenged myself. Just recently I had one of those adventure holidays, a free guided mountain tour in the Japanese Alps.
