Post: #1

I am currently unsatisfied with my life. Reflecting back on my life to date, I have to realize I have not done enough to improve myself. It might be the lack of self confidence. Maybe it is the lack of human capital. Or perhaps I have not enough to address my past failures. Regardless, I am dedicating a year to self improvement. The main feature of the tasks I am focusing on are all things a single human can control themselves. What is great about my tasks is they are achievable dominantly via effort. Here are the areas I will focus for my self-improvement in one year:

Learn to speak or read and write in 10 different languages
Lose 84lbs(38.1kg)
Read and review 1 book a week
Become a better computer programmer
Become faster and more precise at mathematics

Some of these goals I have already started to put effort into performing.

These are some fairly difficult goals to have. I may not end up achieving all of them. However, they do set for a fantastic target to where I should be heading in a one year period. Even if I only accomplish 20% of what I set out to do, I’ll be much better off then where I am starting.

Why start a thread about this? It helps keep a track on what goals I have achieved. It subjects me to public scrutiny.

I'll maintain a blog on any additional events. I will use this thread to maintain more major events.

Post: #2

(09-06-2015 10:57 PM)PolymathGuru Wrote:  Even if I only accomplish 20% of what I set out to do, I’ll be much better off then where I am starting.

That's a good perspective to have. While setting the bar high has its merits in terms of a benchmark in which achievement can be gauged, we are only human after all, and require a work/life balance lest we burn out (eventually).

Work/life balance notwithstanding, there's also the opportunity cost to consider - time spent focusing on the tasks you mention will take you away from other important tasks. I'd suggest to not be afraid of finessing your goals ad hoc if need be.

Having said that, compromising your weight loss goals in any way shape or form would be perilous, as the knock-on effects you'll get from achieving (and on the way to achieving) will far be greater in terms of benefits than any other goals you've posted. Get into a routine, and stick to it, seeking out anything that motivates you in achieving that goal (and discarding everything and anyone that sabotages it).

Good luck.

Post: #3

You're dissatisfied with where you are in life and want to change. I understand that. But I strongly suggest setting only three goals and pursuing all of them with vigor. You will accomplish not less, but more.

e.g.
*lose weight through a fitness program and healthy diet
*learn a new language
*increase income by 50-100% through upgrading programming skills.

That will give you PLENTY to chew on. As far as reading and reviewing books, and additional things, do them (if at all!) as little extras in your downtime after you're tired and satisfied from 12+ hour days going after your main goals.

Be hardcore. Focus on a few meaningful goals and CRUSH THOSE GOALS.

Post: #4

(09-06-2015 10:57 PM)PolymathGuru Wrote:  I am currently unsatisfied with my life. Reflecting back on my life to date, I have to realize I have not done enough to improve myself. It might be the lack of self confidence. Maybe it is the lack of human capital. Or perhaps I have not enough to address my past failures. Regardless, I am dedicating a year to self improvement. The main feature of the tasks I am focusing on are all things a single human can control themselves. What is great about my tasks is they are achievable dominantly via effort. Here are the areas I will focus for my self-improvement in one year:

Learn to speak or read and write in 10 different languages
Lose 84lbs(38.1kg)
Read and review 1 book a week
Become a better computer programmer
Become faster and more precise at mathematics

Some of these goals I have already started to put effort into performing.

These are some fairly difficult goals to have. I may not end up achieving all of them. However, they do set for a fantastic target to where I should be heading in a one year period. Even if I only accomplish 20% of what I set out to do, I’ll be much better off then where I am starting.

Why start a thread about this? It helps keep a track on what goals I have achieved. It subjects me to public scrutiny.

I'll maintain a blog on any additional events. I will use this thread to maintain more major events.

Firstly, it's great you're deciding to do this.

Here is some constructive public scrutiny:

This is not proper goal setting. This is an expression of your wish to be different only. It won't achieve anything and will only make you feel worse this time next year. You have to convert this wish into will by setting proper goals.

Goals must be SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound.

The first goal isn't achievable. You'll be lucky to pull off one. You cannot say 'even if I only do 20%', because that defeats the purpose of goals. It causes you to not really believe in your goals. It makes them wishes, which guarantees demotivation and ultimately failure. The goal must be realistically achievable.
I might suggest: 'Learn language X to a level sufficient to pass language exam Y'.

The second goal is OK. It can be improved though by breaking up the time period into stages, and stating the specific weight rather than the loss. I.e. 'After 3 months I will weigh X kg. After 6 months I will weight Y kg.' etc.

The third goal is OK, but doesn't seem to have a strong result-focus. I assume it's to increase general knowledge? Is there another reason beyond that? If so, tack that onto the end of the goal.

The fourth and fifth goals aren't specific, or measurable, and thus not achievable either. Here are some good examples of powerful goals to replace them:
- Learn the computer languages X,Y,Z to a level sufficient to publish at least one fully functional mobile app / web app / computer app using each, before 12 months is up.
- Raise my proficiency in mathematics to the point where I can solve problem X, under a time of Y, and to a precision level of Z, before 12 months is up (use actual Year and Month).
Those goals are solid because you know specifically what you have to achieve, you know how to measure it (the app is online and working or it is not), you tailor it to be achievable (i.e. if you worked your guts out it is certain you'd succeed), the result is clear (so you can pat yourself on the back when you achieve it), and the time-bound is known.

After you do that, you need to draw up a schedule of actions you will take for each, that will realistically lead to the goals being achieved. For example, for the weight loss, your schedule could be:

• Preparation: Download MyFitnessPal, locate a gym, and choose a basic and credible fitness regime.
• Initial action: document all food intake on MyFitnessPal for 1 week (sets normal baseline), visit the gym for two familiarization sessions.
• Actions for first 2 weeks: reduce calorie intake per day to 75% of the daily average recorded in the Initial Action week, 2 gym sessions of 45 minutes each week.
• Actions until goal, each following week: reduce calorie intake per day to 50% of the daily average recorded in the Initial Action week, 4 gym sessions of 45 minutes
  

I think if you do all that, then your plan for the next 12 months will look a lot more real, doable, and exciting.

Post: #5

Congrats on setting very ambitious goals, though I'm also skeptical about #1. I know one person who might be able to do something like that, but he is a legitimate linguistic genius, and doesn't actually speak the languages he learns, but can read and translate many, and understand a new language in a few weeks.

Just one thing to add. Results are not and cannot be linear. Your actions may well be (e.g. Learning X language every day from 11:00 to 13:00) but progress is not anywhere close to linear. Real progress comes in fits and starts. Only when you zoom far far out will it have the appearance of linear progression.

Post: #6

I didn't leave a lot of details about how I was going to go about doing all that stuff. I wanted to keep it terse.

-On Language
As far as my language skills, not all goals are equal for each language is equal.
Languages like Latin, Sanskrit and Classical Greek are languages I am interested in learning to read and write in but not a strong interest for speaking. The target purpose would be to read classical works and academia based work.

A language like Chinese, Russian and Arabic would be important for me to read and write in and speak in. I would converse with people in addition to reading literature.

Most other languages I would prefer to simply speak it and only learn to read and write if needed. These languages are going to be more focused on socializing. The rough target is command a skill of understanding the 2,000 most used words.

I don't have to achieve 10 languages in 1 year, its an ideal target.

-On weight loss
My main area of weight loss would be to adhere to classic laws of thermodynamics. I already track my calories in a notebook and track my exercises in a different notebook. The estimates I have is that I would need to lose about 1.6 to 1.7 pounds on average a week to achieve my goal. I should be able to perform the task. Keep in mind most of the weight loss will occur in the beginning. Its actually very easy for a large person to lose weight because they need so much energy to sustain it. I started with a diet with a maximum of 3000 calories for daily consumption and will reduce that by 100 calories each week. I'll increase my caloric intake every few months to recover my metabolism.

If I find myself short on time during the year, I can always use the rapid fatloss diet from Lyle McDonald. I'll look into using that around in the spring next year.

-On reading
Like language learning, reading and reviewing a book once a week is an ideal target. Part of it is that I have a backlog of books I own but haven't finished and I sometimes move onto a new book. I want to complete more of my books.

In college, I had to take one course where I had to read at least one book per a week and had trouble keeping up(I also had to complete it in one week because we were quizzed on it each book every week.) I ended up not passing the course.

-On computer programming
My skills are mostly on a level where I can use it to make basic calculations. It hasn't expanded beyond that. Right now, I am learning C++. It is one of the more difficult languages, granted if learned, I can easily learn other languages much faster. My target on this one is able to use know the works of Beginning Game Programming and Advanced 2d Game Programming from Johnathan Harbor. If you can program a video game with C++, you can do nearly anything.

-On Mathematical Skills
I have actually some strong cognitive skills, the problem is the speed at which I need to solve problems. I want to focus on getting it much snappier at executing them. The ideal would be to solve elaborate calculus problems in a matter of 3 minutes.

Each day, I write down a schedule in how much time should be spent on a single task. I have it set up to be worked on in 30 minute intervals for the most part.

Thanks for the input guys.

I'll give a monthly report on how things are going.

Post: #7

84 pounds in a year is ambitious, though certainly possible. That alone will take a lot of your discipline if you're overweight enough to need to lose that much weight. It has taken me about 2 years to lose 85. I'm at 243 now and ultimately trying to lose about 40 more by the end of 2016.

From experience, if you're overweight enough to need to lose that much weight, you lack the energy for a lot of your other goals currently. As strong as your brain is, it will be stronger still without your body making it lag behind. Start on your weight loss first. You will have more energy, and you will learn discipline through routine that you can transfer over to your mental improvements. After awhile, your energy levels will be through the roof, leading to greater alertness that you can turn into focused intensity for learning. Also, every hour or so of study, you can improve your results by getting up and doing about 5 minutes of exercise.

e: Keep track of when you eat as well as what you eat. Eating needs to turn into a routine like exercise to have greater control. Intermittent fasting will help you quite a bit, and you can accustom yourself to eating less food very quickly if you try a 300-400 calorie deficit right away with 1 day a week when you eat more. As long as you're still at a deficit for the week, your 1 day of eating more will help you to feel normal while you lose the weight. Do not be discouraged if your weight fluctuates quite a bit. I usually come in at 243 now but I've gone as low as 240 and as high as 249 at different times of the day just based on how hydrated I am and how recently I have eaten a meal.

Post: #8

^^^On Weight Loss

Maybe one thing to track and keep in mind is blood sugar levels. It is the opinion of many, including myself for what it matters, that the reason many overweight people don't stick to a particular diet is not so much a lack of "will power", but a very uneven blood sugar level. Basically hypoglycemia. They have learned to modulate blood sugar by eating in a certain way, and in changing that everything gets thrown for a loop. So they have serious crashes in blood sugar that may even result in losing consciousness. Expecting a person in that situation to stick to his diet is like telling a very, very thirsty person that he can't drink the water sitting right next to him.

Anyway, you can obviously get the strips and machine that measure blood sugar, and track this for yourself. There are also supplements that claim to help stabilise blood sugar.

Post: #9

Dude I would just do the rapid fat loss diet right now. It's not hard and I can help you set it up if you're interested. Success in one area will bleed to the others and motivation will be at an all time high. Don't use it at a backup, use it to fucking crush your weight problem. The scale will be your positive feedback loop.

Let me know.

Post: #10

Definitely focus on the weight loss above all other goals. It will change your life more than any of the other stuff.

3000 is way too high though.

I'd be aiming for 2000 at a maximum.

Post: #11

Also, I don't mean to be rude but I studied Latin and Ancient Greek for 6-10 hours per week for 5 years at a proper academic powerhouse school and didn't even scratch the surface.

Post: #12

Alright time to share some data so far. Regarding my weight loss.



The first two charts are just about my weight over a period of time. I created the second chart so Non-Americans could easily read it.

Homeostasis regards how much is energy(in Calories) is required to sustain myself that day.

The fourth chart regards how much food I eat in Calories and the difference is basically homeostasis subtracted by the amount of Calories I consumed.

The last chart is to show the relationship between the differences in how much weight I should be losing theoretically and what my actual changes are. Take note that I tracked my weight in terms of whole numbers and rounded up all the time. The projected loss was based on the accumulated caloric deficits divided by 3500. It said you to need to have a burn at least 3500 calories to lose one pound. While in the short run, it doesn't show a strong correlation. I am expecting in the long run, the lines to strongly correlated.


Tomorrow, I will show the hours I worked on my other projects.

Post: #13

If you want to learn programming start with java first. You said you can do basic calculations which is basically nothing in programming. The concepts in java are easier to grasp and can help you transition into other languages is easier. All languages are the same once you understand the general concepts, they are just all written differently.

My experience: IT/ComputerScience major

Post: #14

(09-29-2015 09:39 AM)Oz. Wrote:  If you want to learn programming start with java first. You said you can do basic calculations which is basically nothing in programming. The concepts in java are easier to grasp and can help you transition into other languages is easier. All languages are the same once you understand the general concepts, they are just all written differently.

My experience: IT/ComputerScience major

I already done Java before. C++ has a lot of technical advantages over Java. However, I agree Java is great for picking up other languages as you begin to learn others. Although I may try to get back into java in the future. Most books on Algorithms are taught in Java and would be worth relearning.

Post: #15

Just wanted to ask what you do for your profession and how you are. I too felt unsatisfied with my life until I dedicated a substantial amount of time working towards achieving mastery of my profession. Maybe you need a career change?

cheers.

Post: #16

That's way too many goals.

I'm a programmer and right now just learning MVC is taking up most of my time. Technology is moving at a dizzying speed right now, especially if you're in web development.

I also prefer to have flexible goals. Earlier this year I did my CELTA. Well putting that on my CV/resume was a total waste of time as English teachers are less highly valued than lavatory cleaner in the UK. However, the self confidence I gained from doing the CELTA landed me a job in the city - an unexpected bonus of the vague plan of doing a CELTA and going overseas to do something.

Post: #17

(10-02-2015 02:43 PM)se7en Wrote:  Just wanted to ask what you do for your profession and how you are. I too felt unsatisfied with my life until I dedicated a substantial amount of time working towards achieving mastery of my profession. Maybe you need a career change?

cheers.

I'll need more than just a career change. If you want to know more, just PM me.

(10-02-2015 04:30 PM)TopPanda Wrote:  That's way too many goals.

I'm a programmer and right now just learning MVC is taking up most of my time. Technology is moving at a dizzying speed right now, especially if you're in web development.

I also prefer to have flexible goals. Earlier this year I did my CELTA. Well putting that on my CV/resume was a total waste of time as English teachers are less highly valued than lavatory cleaner in the UK. However, the self confidence I gained from doing the CELTA landed me a job in the city - an unexpected bonus of the vague plan of doing a CELTA and going overseas to do something.

Even if I do not accomplish them all, getting most of them out of the way will make me much better off.