Ok, so this is totally overdue, but hey, better later than never! I wanted to share with you a snapshot of my internal state two months after the trip. Yeah..right now it has been more like three months since I have been back, but I had too much fun over the holidays (stories will follow). 🙂

Remember, this is just a snapshot. I thought it would be interesting to track the transformation that is still happening, learning and growing in real time. I will go into more details in topics mentioned below in some later posts (or better yet, let me know in comments about what you want to learn more!)

Similarly to the previous posts (a week, two weeks, a month snapshot after being back), I’m still riding at the high energy levels that I had during the trip. Though I do have to pay attention to it and make sure it stays that way. So I still keep sleeping 8 hours a night most nights. With that kind of schedule it is much easier to recover after not sleeping enough for a night and my productivity at work barely suffers.

I’m way more protective of my “me time” and will actually schedule it in my calendar. I’m social, but I also need my alone time. This probably is the second biggest contributor to keeping my energy levels high (first being getting enough sleep).

My basic routine is finally rock solid. I’m finally in the habit of flossing my teeth regularly. The final piece of the puzzle was to come up with a cue (advice from the book The Power of Habit) of when to do it. For me it is the following. As I walk through the door at home at night, I drop off the bag and walk straight to the bathroom (even with the jacket on) and brush and floss my teeth. It finally works even at times when I came back home really tired after dancing. Victory! 🙂 You would think its such a tiny thing, but it took me over 20 years of learning to make flossing into a consistent habit.

Another habit that I finally do consistently is writing down 3 most important things to get done before I start my day.

I still can’t believe how writing is easier compared to a year ago. Not just writing posts for this blog is easier, but also writing emails is easier. Most importantly, writing work emails is much easier. It takes less time as I’m not rewriting them so much and I procrastinate less in starting to write them. The effect is that I get more sh** done because I get unblocked earlier and have things lined up ready to tackled. Also, I’m not afraid of asking stupid questions. So I learn more and faster. Heck, I’m not debating forever anymore whether to ask normal questions!

All of this make my productivity consistent instead of being all over the place. As a result work is going fantastic. I get so much more done!

Another feeling that I have maintained is that I feel like nothing is impossible. For example, I decided to learn German and committed to it. From experience of learning quite a few languages, I feel one of the most important things is consistency of studying every day. And that is what I do. I study German every single day, even if it is just 3 minutes. I haven’t missed a single day! This way it doesn’t feel that hard, I just do it regularly. Step by step, the same way I climbed Mount Fuji, step by step.

The change is not just internal. Often people say that I look energetic and happy, both of which are true.

To be continued.