A couple of days into my combined stress reduction and time management exercise experiments/school projects, I am pretty pleased with the results. Avoiding time wasters like Facebook and messageboards has allowed me to spend more time at the gym, more time reading, more time writing and even freed up some time to watch some NBA playoff games.
I'm finishing up the books 'First Things First' and 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People', both of which are for my Management Development class. I was a bit skeptical of the Covey materials at first but I've really gotten into them and I think there is a lot of great information in both books. I would recommend them for anyone who's interested in becoming a better worker, student, friend, etc. or learning more about time management. I have been following my plan for the past few days, with a few misses but I feel good about accomplishing small goals and I'd like to do my best to turn some of them into regular habits, as well as trying out some others.
I had started reading 'Stones Into Schools' by Greg Mortenson but given the recent accusations that came out in the 60 Minutes special, I've been waiting to hear more information. I have checked out a few random stories online since the story aired and I found this one to be interesting and somewhat hopeful:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/opinion/21kristof.html?_r=4&partner=rss&emc=rss
I first read 'Three Cups of Tea' when I was in pre-service training for Peace Corps in Mongolia. I found it to be an incredible story, very inspirational and very beneficial to my idealism. In addition to people like Samantha Power and Rory Stewart, I found Greg Mortensen to be an incredible person, someone who accomplished feats similar to what I dream about. I was pretty upset and disappointed to first see the allegations but like anything that comes from the mainstream media, I took it with a grain of salt and I'm patiently waiting to learn more. In the meanwhile, I just started Rory Stewart's 'The Prince of the Marshes', about his time in Iraq. I really enjoyed Stewart's account of his walk across Afghanistan, 'The Places In Between' and a couple of chapters in, I'm already enjoying this book as well. If you haven't heard anything about Rory Stewart, I highly recommend 'The Places In Between', as well as some of his articles in magazines like The Economist.
I've also started a book called 'The Primal Blueprint' by Mark Sisson, a text recommended to me by my friend Ryan, from Peace Corps. Hanna and I are both reading it and considering trying out some of the diet and exercise recommendations. I'm skeptical of diet fads or exercise routines but I'm open to reading about different approaches and giving them a shot. I love and hate reading about personal fitness and nutrition because it's so hard to figure out who or what to believe, there is so much conflicting information, and it's such a profitable industry, it's hard not to think that anything you try is just profiting some scam artist. More on this as my reading progresses and I try different things out. :)
Playing basketball and working out for a few hours a day definitely feels good but I believe that I need to try some new things and be more active (especially outside) in order to reach my fitness goals.
No alcohol and no fast food for a few days feels nice as well, though I admit, I have been wanting a cold beer while watching basketball. Persistence, discipline, mental strength, I must focus. :)
Other thoughts for the day:
Every crime show on tv is pretty much the same. And...there's a MILLION of them. WTF?
Today when I was at Souper Salad, 'Africa' by Toto came on. It made me even more excited to go to Kenya in a few months.
There's a guy in one of my classes who earned a bronze medal in wrestling at the Beijing Olympics. Pretty cool, nice guy to talk to. His name is Adam Wheeler, look him up.
I hate writing cover letters. I remember discussing this with my friend Chris in Cambodia, extensively and cynically. I take all of this time to prepare my resume, which details my education, job history, etc. and then I have to write a letter explaining to a company or organization why I want to work there, to talk up my job experience, and explain why I'd be a good fit. I think I've written about two hundred cover letters in the past eight months. Even more frustrating is when you have to fill out an application, detailing your job and education history, AND submit your resume. Are both of those really necessary? If I give my resume, I shouldn't have to fill out an application that has the EXACT same information.
I'm starting to ramble. I'll write more when I'm focused and have something worth writing in detail about. :)
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