Why should we track the process of mastering our habits? It’s simply a method to reward ourselves for the effort we’ve put in.

Habit tracking enables me to transition from a daily mindset to thinking in terms of months. When I review my achievements over a month, it fortifies my willpower. Sharing my tracked progress with friends also motivates them – it helps them see that I can not only start a task but also persist until it’s complete. “Ah, so in principle, it’s possible”. And they can do it too.

I didn’t grasp the value of habit tracking right away. A few years back, I was using habit tracking just because it seemed like everyone else was doing it. But I wasn’t really looking at my progress or sharing it with friends. I had trackers for intermittent fasting, running, gym workouts, you name it. Then, every so often, I’d just drop both the trackers and the activities altogether.

This year, everything shifted. I started not only tracking, but also really examining my progress. Plus, I began sharing these audit results. This made me more disciplined, which turns out to be exactly what you need when you’re trying to master new habits.

Summary of July 2023

What I’ve managed to maintain since January 2023 and how the transformation process is going.

The results:

✅ 26.4555 pounds (12 kilograms) of weight loss, an improvement from 7 last month.

On the topic of PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT:

✔️ Ran a total of 37.28 miles/60 km (15 sessions of 2.49 miles/4 km each).

✔️ Completed 300 pull-ups (15 sessions, 4 sets of 5 each time)

✔️ Did 300 dips on parallel bars (15 sessions, 4 sets of 5 each time)

✔️ Completed 600 push-ups (15 sessions, 4 sets of 10 each time)

✔️ Took 15 contrast showers

Regarding NUTRITION MANAGEMENT:

✔️ Completed 31 fasts, ranging from 15 to 18 hours each (overnight fasts without dinner).

✔️ Consumed no coffee

✔️ Avoided any flour products or items with added sugar or artificial sweeteners

On the topic of SELF-MANAGEMENT:

✔️ Started keeping a weight diary — I write down the date, time, weight, and make notes with ideas about what could have influenced any changes.

✔️ I’m keeping a financial diary — tracking expenses, from which I can identify when I’m overspending and calculate how many days I need to curb my spending to return to a positive balance, with the aim of achieving my saving goals.

✔️ I’m also keeping a record of my workouts.

Regarding LEARNING MANAGEMENT:

✔️ Had 8 tutoring sessions in a new foreign language, plus homework and practice exercises.

❌ The rest of the processes are not well-defined, so I’m not detailing them here.

WHAT’S NEXT?

  1. Improving muscle strength.
  2. Enhancing concentration and motivation for prospective computer-based tasks.
  3. Boosting self-confidence (in the broadest sense).

Summary of June 2023

Who was I 6 months ago?

I was someone who:

  • Didn’t run or do push-ups, pull-ups, or dips. Instead, I was often irritable.
  • Used to manage stress by drinking beer in the evenings, staying up late scrolling through news and social media, only to fall asleep from exhaustion because I couldn’t sleep on my own.
  • Started my day with several cups of coffee to get my brain working, relied on pastries for sustained brain function, and frequently consumed sweet drinks to stay alert.
  • Lived in a country where the mere thought of learning the language gave me anxiety, causing me to procrastinate on that task.
  • Viewed my financial future as uncertain, which caused me to worry (Who am I? What am I? Is this going to be my life forever?).
  • Barely managed to make progress in learning new things as I struggled to keep up with my work responsibilities.
  • Turned every attempt to learn something new into procrastination, creating a graveyard of unfinished books.

Who am I now?

I am someone who:

  • Runs 2.5 miles every other day, sometimes more, does floor and bar push-ups, and pull-ups.
  • Takes contrast showers.
  • Makes sure to go to bed by 10:00 PM and drinks at least 1.6 quarts of water daily.
  • Has lost 24 pounds (and aiming to lose more, to return to my college weight).
  • Has abstained from coffee, flour-based foods, sweets (except for fruits), and milk for 6 months.
  • Has practiced daily fasting for 6 months (no dinner, and sometimes skipping an afternoon snack).
  • Is learning a second foreign language from scratch, taking lessons with a tutor twice a week and doing homework assignments.
  • Is working on a startup in the field of habit change, thereby improving my qualifications in behaviorism.
  • Leads an experimental group for habit change based on the revolutionary WOOP/MCII technique (interested in participating? Message me privately).
  • Digitizes everything: the number of runs per month, the number of exercises performed, the number of foreign language lessons attended, the amount of money spent and saved (both daily and monthly), and the amount of food consumed daily. This way, I can track whether I am making progress with my habits and gauge the extent of my improvement. My performance in running, the number of exercises performed, etc. are all on the rise because I started with very little and am now prioritizing the number of repetitions per month, rather than trying to break records. Although each time I set personal records, it’s a competition with my past self, which is the best type of competition there is.

But the coolest achievement this month is my discovery of the revolutionary life-changing technique – WOOP/MCII. I am now focused on becoming proficient in it, first and foremost for my own benefit, and secondly for the participants in my habit change group.

I’ve realized that I couldn’t simply instruct others to mimic my actions – it doesn’t work. But this method allows me to lay out my strategies step by step, enabling them to repeat these steps while taking their personal individual features into account.

May 2023 Summary

New habits:

  • Time management: I’ve been using a planner and reminder system to manage all my daily activities, not just work tasks. (7 days)
  • Education: I’ve started mentoring a group of three people on changing habits (15 days) and developing a start-up focused on habit management. (I’ve only managed to do this twice so far; I’m working on improving this as much of my time goes towards mentoring). I’ve also begun refactoring an important side project that I had previously abandoned (migrating a complex, heavily visited training portal from Drupal to WordPress). (5 repetitions)
  • Physical exercise: I’ve begun doing daily push-ups (20 repetitions, 10 days), taking daily contrast showers (7 days), and doing daily pull-ups (12 repetitions, 4 days).

Existing habits:

  • Physical exercise: I’ve been maintaining my daily 20-minute runs. (15 days)
  • Nutrition: I’m sticking to intermittent fasting with no dinner after 4:30 pm (31 days), avoiding coffee (31 days), sweets (added sugar, 31 days), flour and gluten grains (31 days), and dairy (except for lactose-free cheese, 31 days). I’ve also continued to eat only homemade food and avoid cafes (31 days).
  • Education: I’ve continued my foreign language studies with a tutor (9 days) and doing self-study (homework, 9 days).

Outcomes:

  • Lost 22 lbs in weight (goal: lose 33-44 lbs to reach student weight, focus on 25 BMI),

April 2023 Summary

New habits:

Education: I started my foreign language studies with a tutor (9 days) and doing self-study (homework, 9 days).

Existing habits:

  • Physical exercises: 15-minute runs every other day; switched from being a night owl to an early bird.
  • Nutrition: Eliminated flour-based, dairy (except for lactose-free hard cheese like JUGAS), direct and added sugars, coffee; reduced heavy cereals like rice, oatmeal, corn, as well as potato dishes to a minimum; decreased portion sizes; started cooking on my own; began preparing meals in advance; started practicing 16-hour daily intermittent fasting; stopped eating during emotional states.

March 2023 Summary

Start: January 2023

Outcomes:

  • Lost 11 lbs in weight (goal: lose 33-44 lbs to reach student weight, focus on 25 BMI),
  • Increased work productivity and efficiency,
  • More free time, improved financial situation,
  • Improved relationships,
  • Progress in self-realization,
  • Contribution to the community: Increased the amount of charitable donations.

New habits:

  • Physical exercises: 15-minute runs every other day; weekly back massage; switched from being a night owl to an early bird.
  • Nutrition: Eliminated flour-based, dairy (except for lactose-free hard cheese like JUGAS), direct and added sugars, coffee; reduced heavy cereals like rice, oatmeal, corn, as well as potato dishes to a minimum; decreased portion sizes; started cooking on my own; began preparing meals in advance; started practicing 16-hour daily intermittent fasting; stopped eating during emotional states.
  • Mental exercises: Reduced doomscrolling to an absolute minimum; completed an 8-hour course in EMDR/PDTR therapy to get rid of toxic parasite thoughts.