#5, Finding My Center + Self-Investment Update
Letting go of feelings quickly and defaulting to action <3
Refresher of why I’m doing this:
This year, I’m on a mission of loving myself extraordinarily well.
This requires me to upgrade my systems for my physical, mental, career, and environmental/social health.
Every week I share an update on how the systems are working.
This week’s Notable Moments:
MIA - SF roadtrip: already on day 12 and officially half-way across the country! Took me almost 7 days to release the “work anxiety” and truly appreciate this very novel and privileged experience. Reflection below.
Shireen’s System for a Healthy Body
Got hit with COVID last week and lost some momentum on the workouts, but building back up:
Roadtrip Goals:
Cellular repair and metabolism health:
Fast 16+ hours Day 1-14 of menstrual cycle; 13+ hours Day 15-35
Strength and flexibility:
10K steps + hit micro-exercise goals every day during roadtrip
Cognition and healing:
8hrs/night sleep during roadtrip
Nutrition:
Hit at least 30% protein on macros every day
AM and PM supplements every day
Target weight: 152lb by end of roadtrip / 145lb by EOY
Week 5, July 29 - Aug 4:
✅ Exceeding fasting goals, +26min from last week’s daily average
✅ 5 nights of 8hr+ sleep, staying disciplined about this while on roadtrip to give body stability
❗️Not hitting my daily protein goals due to roadtrip snacking — fasting is saving me, alongside ensuring small meal portions.
Shireen’s System for a Healthy Mind
Observe my thoughts / thinking patterns. Evaluate if I want to keep or change. Track them in yay/nay list.
Actions > Thoughts. When there is a thought to do something and it is determined to be a healthy thing to do, take action immediately.
Week 5, July 29 - Aug 4:
❗️NAY Patterns:
Dreams and visions are nice, but overrated. I fell in a trap of dreaming more than doing. Talking more than walking. Thinking more than acting. Upgrading my systems to force action.
Shireen’s System for Healthy Value Creation
I made a very hard decision last month to shut down Edvo, my startup of six years. If you know me personally, you have likely experienced my obsession with Edvo and my work in general.
There is so much reflection I can share here, but mostly want to keep my head down and build. Frankly, six years of dreaming big dreams and not actualizing real value has me pretty speechless. Grateful for the lessons and the immense support and love from everyone involved.
Feeling a lot of urgency here to work / create, but haven’t been able to get deep work hours in while on the road. That said, I recognize the very novel reality I am currently experiencing — what a privilege to see so much of America at such a young age, during such a transformative time in my life.
The best thing I can do is be present, and build a system that lets me enjoy every day fully with an open mind while also helping me progress other priorities.
Upgraded roadtrip system to include a retrospective every night where I plan the following day based on the scheduling knowns, and block out at least 2 hours of deep work. Goals for end of roadtrip are to feel confident in family office operations and have initial prototype for Skillify/ChatLMS.
Week 5, July 29 - Aug 4:
What did I do to create value and be of service today?
What new roads did I create for that value to be received / exchanged?
Every “0” feels like shit.
Shireen’s System for a Healthy Environment
Retro - what parts of me were amplified last week, what did my environment look like?
What parts of me do I want amplified?
What changes am I making to my environment to amplify these parts?
Week 5, July 29 - Aug 4:
Last week’s Retro:
got sick with Covid and time blocks went out the window
generally feeling more action-oriented in mindset though, tackling things head on versus scheduling/delaying them
action, action, action towards delivering professional value → less words, less emotion, less planning, more experimentation
time blocking hours on roadtrip to get deep work in for Skillify towards completion of prototype
Poet and novelist Sylvia Plath reminds us that choosing a path means ignoring the rest, but not choosing means squandering them all:
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.
One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out.
I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
Keep trying,
Shireen