#1 Self-Investment Update
I’m investing in myself to create a life that makes me feel most alive and where I can show up every day as my true, fullest self.
In January 2022, I drew this vision for myself:
I wrote my five values, very intuitively, on the bottom right.
Only recently have I understood that that, to actualize my vision with integrity and alotttta fun, I have to do it with immense self-love (value #1 💜)
I’m writing this on my 31st birthday.
This year, I’m on a mission of loving myself extraordinarily well.
Here’s how I’m thinking about it.
In the last two years, I’ve loved myself extraordinarily well in one area of my life: I began paying attention to my body and gave her the love she needs.
Reflecting on what led to my success here, it had everything to do with clarity of my goal, and accountability from my environment and my systems. I wrote about this previously here: I’m back, and I’m 120lb lighter.
While I’ve excelled at health, there’s a lot more I want to excel at. So I’m doubling down and upgrading all of my systems this year.
I want to love myself extraordinarily well. And one thing has become extraordinarily clear to me:
You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
My goals are clear. My vision is tangible. I’m upgrading my systems.
Shireen’s System for a Healthy Body
Goals:
Cellular repair and metabolism health:
Fast 16+ hours Day 1-14 of menstrual cycle; 13+ hours Day 15-35
Strength and flexibility:
4 workouts every week (HIIT and weight training)
Cognition and healing:
Get quality sleep most nights
Nutrition:
Hit macros every day confidently (I eat well but want to start tracking to verify)
Get on a data-driven supplement regiment
Target weight: 145lb by EOY
Week 1, July 1 - 7:
Using FitnessPal to track fasting, workouts and meals
Using EightSleep to track sleep
Shireen’s System for a Healthy Mind
Goal: Upgrade my mental software — my thoughts influence high quality actions in service of my most fulfilling life.
Current experiment:
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. Keep track of examples to reinforce habit.
Week 1, July 1 - 7:
YAY Patterns:
Actions > Thoughts. When I want to do something or feel unclear, “what is one thing I can do right now to put this into motion and get clarity?”
Ex. I want to create “self-investment updates” → grabbed phone and created an outline for it in Apple Notes
Ex. I want to decide if I’m doing Burning Man this year → grabbed laptop and copied over last year’s planning spreadsheet, wrote out open questions that will help me make decision and kicked off appropriate conversations
My relationship with Money: going through life changes that are making me think about money differently. I found myself caring about every $ going in and out, and initially thought I was falling into a scarcity mindset. But I was able to recognize that this behavior is actually representing my deep love and care for money. I’m not taking any $ for granted, and instead letting it feel seen and appreciated. I like this <3
NAY Patterns:
Decision by committee. When I’m overwhelmed, I find myself running into other people / seeking external validation. I’m break this by affirming "I’ve got this" and then leaning into my Action > Thought pattern.
Shireen’s System for Healthy Value Creation
I’m at an interesting point in my career — more on this soon. Regardless, I’ve always been driven to be of service to others, and want a system that optimizes my daily actions for high value creation and exchange.
Week 1, July 1 - 7:
I am building my system for this and will share soon. For now, my system is being guided by these two important questions:
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?
Some inspiration from Nat Friedman (former Github CEO):
Shireen’s System for a Healthy Environment
What parts of me do I want amplified?
What changes am I making to my environment to amplify these parts?
Retro - what parts of me were amplified?
Week 1, July 1 - 7:
I want my environment to select for my self-reliance, courage, empathy, and service-oriented self.
Maximizing alone time where I can hear my own voice and have space/time to flow, spending time in Miami where I can be in nature and have lots of space, choosing relationships with deeply empathetic humans <3
ill report back next week
I’ve got a nice google spreadsheet with tabs for each of these systems. My intent is to document weekly updates here, mostly for myself, and hopefully to inspire and be of service to you <3
lots of love,
Shireen