Welcome to the Q2 2023 report. I have to be honest with you; I was procrastinating big time to make this report, but finally it’s here. Just with a “small” delay of 1 month, haha.
Better late than never, I guess.
Anyway, I’m going to share how it went, what I was able to achieve, and what I didn’t achieve.
I have posted a detailed report for each of my goals below, but for those who just want to read the conclusion of the overall Q2 instead of diving deeper, here’s the overall summary of Q2.
I’ve included the expectations that I wrote before Q2, so you have a better reference point for where I was before and where I am now after Q2 2023.
Expectations BEFORE Q2 2023:
I have to say, Q2 looks very powerful and packed with many important things across many Pillars of Life.
If I manage to implement more or less all of these things, it’s quite hard for me to imagine right now how much different my life will become. That’s some serious next-level stuff right there.
I will do my best to implement most things, but I also allow myself to not finish them all. I have a habit of “over-planning” things and thinking that I can do more than I actually can.
Also, I’m trying to be more understanding and nurturing toward myself. After all, you cannot bully yourself into self-care and self-love.
Conclusion AFTER Q2 2023:
In Q2 2023, I wanted to do many things.
And I think that was my #1 mistake – having too many goals on my list. When I realized I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish all those things, I got a little unmotivated and low-key avoided working on the rest of my goals (since I was going to kind of “fail” anyway).
So that’s my first takeaway for the next quarter: set fewer goals and achieve more of them.
Also, my biggest project suffered a big loss in earnings (lost ~66%), so I wasn’t able to do several things on the list that needed extra money, like detox, health check-up, buying all the supplements, etc.
But even though I didn’t implement quite a lot of things that I was planning to and a few unexpected things happened (like a huge decrease in income), this has been a transforming and life-changing quarter for me, with a lot of fundamental understandings and revelations.
I won’t share all of them (at least not yet), but I can share some. So, here’s what happened with me in Q2:
I sorted out several super-important things related to my romantic relationships that have troubled me for years. Now everything seems clear to me.
Now I clearly know what kind of person I want to be, what I want to achieve, what I want to do in my life, and where I’m headed next.
I meditate more than I have ever done it before. Almost every day. I guess that’s what happens when you find techniques that resonate with you (I will cover this more in depth in the “meditations and practices” section below).
Finally, I have realized and fully accepted that nobody outside me knows how to live a better life. Only I know what’s best for me – what I should do, what I shouldn’t do, what is right or wrong, what works, etc. This is a super huge change, as previously I had a feeling that others outside of me knew it better (coaches, teachers, enlightened people, etc.).
I have clearly defined 4 criteria that are crucial for me to feel happy and fulfilled in my business or career.
Here they are:
- I HAVE to like what I do. It has to be interesting, and I want to be passionate about it.
- There is higher added value to what I do. It has to make the world a better place in one way or another.
- I can make enough money to live the way I want to live (freely and abundantly).
- I am my own boss and make my own schedule. I love to work and be productive, but I also love to be able to take a day or week off whenever I want.
I have come to a deep understanding that true self-love and self-acceptance is the KEY to anything in life. Everything else is built on that. And I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve had issues with that in the past. That I didn’t really love and accept myself the way I am. Always striving to change something, be different, be better, and so on.
Don’t get me wrong, changing is good, but the whole point is: why do you want to change? Is it coming from a loving place because you want to become a better human being?
Or are you not feeling good enough the way you are and are always striving to be better, so somewhere in the future, when you have reached XYZ, you will be good enough?
Also, I have understood that I have anxiety. And now that I know it, I can deal with it so much better. I’m so much more loving and kinder to myself.
So these are some of my most important realizations and changes in my life in the past 3 months.
Overall, I feel so much better emotionally and mentally every day. I clearly know (and feel) that I am on the right path right now and that I am doing all the right things that I need to do in order to get where I want to get. I just gotta keep moving forward.
I will go even further and say that this has been the most transformative and best period of my life.
It all started in January 2023, when I moved to Spain and started working on my Masterplan. Q1 was already a personal success for me, but Q2 has been outstanding.
When I look back at the beginning of Q2 and where I am now, it feels a bit surreal. This is a completely different reality.
So that’s how things went for me in the past 3 months. Now I’m going to share with you which goals I’ve been able to implement and which I haven’t yet had the willingness (and, in some cases, the resources) to implement. Shall we?
Quarter II (Apr, May, Jun) 2023
Whole well-being
1) Try out Dr. Huberman daily routine – I definitely want to try out and implement Dr. Huberman’s daily routine for at least 30 days (and adjust it for my own needs). There are various Youtube videos available with more in depth details if you are interested.
Here’s the one that I have watched:
He shares a lot of useful knowledge and tips on how to optimize your hormones and biology to your own benefit. And all of it is backed by science.
And if you don’t know who Dr. Huberman is yet, I definitely suggest checking out some of his podcasts or videos. He’s a brilliant scientist sharing a lot of useful and science-based information about many important topics. Just Google him.
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – I won’t say that I tried everything that was recommended, but I did most of it. I was actually already doing many of the suggested things (cold shower, fasting, etc.).
My biggest takeaway from this is to get the morning sun in your eyes ASAP after waking up. I’ve been going for a walk every single morning, and tbh, it has become one of my favorite parts of the day.
I find it so refreshing and calming to be outside just with my thoughts (it’s also summer time right now, so that definitely helps). I’m not sure if I would enjoy this as much in January or February haha.
Emotional Health
2) Continue doing meditations and practices daily – I want to keep doing meditations, breathing exercises and other practices daily. Things won’t change just by reading or thinking about them. I gotta put in the work and actually DO them regularly.
In this article I’m not going to explain why I want to do each of these practices as it would make it extremely long and cumbersome to read. But in the future I plan to publish more in-depth articles about the practices that I do.
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – I meditate more or less 3x per day and do my morning routine with affirmations, short journaling, etc. But I haven’t really stuck with any of these practices that I planned to do 3 months ago… I marked this as semi-success,” as I did plenty of meditations and practices, just not the ones I initially planned to do.
Some practices that I want to implement daily:
HRV (heart-rate variability) breathing exercises – HRV breathing synchronizes our heart rate and our brain waves by putting our brain in the meditative alpha and theta states. Basically it helps to create a coherent inner state.
30.07.23 FAIL – I did this practice for a couple of days but then stopped. I understand that there is science behind it, but it just never really stuck with me. Maybe it just wasn’t the right time for it.
Mirrors (everything is a reflection of myself) – I have realized that the world serves only as a mirror. Everyone and everything in my life is a mirror. If I experience it, there’s a corresponding energy within me that attracts such a person or event.
Practicing this alone could change my life completely. But as you can guess, it’s a very challenging practice to carry out when you are upset or angry about something that seemingly is not your responsibility.
I’ll write a separate article soon about how exactly I’m going to practice this.
30.07.23 FAIL – as it turns out, this is a very hard practice. When it really counts, I forget about it. But I still want to integrate this in the future and make it an “autopilot” for me. If you can get to the level where you perceive anything as your own creation, almost nothing can control you anymore. Personally, I’m not there yet.
Blessing and forgiveness to myself and my past – for me this is a very powerful practice that increases my vibration.
30.07.23 FAIL – I didn’t do this either. As it turns out, I tend to change techniques and meditations very often. If I keep repeating the same thing over and over again, it just isn’t effective anymore, as it becomes more of a chore for me than something I look forward to.
That’s one of the great things that I have learned in these past 3 months: to follow my intuition. If it doesn’t resonate with you, just look for a new meditation, teacher, book, technique, etc. There are so many good resources out there that you should never stick with something that’s not for you.
Ho’oponopono – a traditional Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness.
Here’s the one that I’m practicing:
And here’s a short video explaining it:
30.07.23 FAIL – I haven’t really done this either. I did it for a couple of days here and there, but somehow it just didn’t stick with me. Maybe in the future, I will give it another shot. Btw, I still think this meditation has a lot of potential; it just didn’t resonate with me for the time being.
3) Implement a growth mindset – another golden nugget from Dr. Huberman. Basically he explains from the science viewpoint how we can leverage our dopamine circuits to reach our goals much easier.
Instead of focusing on the end goal, the key is to learn to focus on the effort itself. Here’s a video where he explains this concept much better than I could:
30.07.23 FAIL – Sadly, I didn’t really implement this either. I tried it several days here and there, but then I just kept forgetting about it when it mattered. But I still believe this could be extremely beneficial, so I might revisit this next quarter.
4) Visualization meditation (added on 01.06.23) – this seems like a great meditation! Visualization + manifestation felt very easy for me.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – This is HUGE! Finally, I have found a meditation that I really enjoy and can do for 20-30 minutes easily (sometimes even 40 minutes) every day, and I’m not getting tired of it.
I guess the trick for me here was that my mind can remain active while still focused on the desired outcome. I have been doing this for over 2 months every day, and it’s not getting boring at all.Now I understand why it’s so crucial to find a method that works for you.
For some, it might be a walk in nature, some silent, focused meditation, some visualization meditation, and so on. What matters is that you have to find what works for you!
5) Clean up my self-growth notes – right now I have a document where I put all my realizations and golden nuggets that I have thought of or found during the past couple of months.
And now it’s getting to the point where it’s hard to manage it. It’s a very simple goal, but I am certain that I will come across some useful information that I’ve already forgotten.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – I’m proud to say that I did this and compiled all my notes, nuggets, etc in one easy-to-navigate document.
6) Define more specifically what patterns/beliefs/programs I need to work on – I think it would be very helpful to compile a list of patterns and programs that I want to sort out/work with.
This would give me much clearer “data” about what’s going on in my life, what’s not working and what needs to be changed. Personally I forget many patterns and programs rather quickly (until they resurface again).
30.07.23 SUCCESS – I have created a document where I have compiled a list of various things that I need to work on. This really helps me stay on track and not forget it so easily.
7) Start working with specialists – in Q2 I want to start working on my patterns and programs not just individually but also with coaches, practitioners, therapists (just to give you an idea).
I have done this before, but mostly my intention was pretty generic like “I want to be happy” or “I want to feel better”. This time I want to work on specific things and programs that I have identified as limiting and go from there.
It can be just 1-2x per quarter, but I want to start doing this regularly. There’s nothing noble or glorious about struggling alone.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – this quarter, I went 2 or 3 times to a holotropic breathing session (I’ve been doing them for quite a few years already). But this time they were extra insightful.
I guess it’s because I was much better prepared and had specific topics and intentions why I went there and what answers I wanted to get (instead of the generic “I want to be happier”).
Mental Health
1) Implement positive thoughts and feelings – I want to implement more positive thoughts and feelings daily. Regularly sending gratitude, blessing and love to myself and everything around me. Both in real time and in meditations.
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – to be honest, this one is pretty hard to track and report. Yes, I still have negative thoughts here and there, but the overall feeling is that I’ve become much more positive.
It all really changed when I realized that I have anxiety and started to treat myself with much more compassion and self-love. I accept myself no matter how I feel, and all my emotions are okay.
2) Overcoming emotional spirals – I want to find a solution to overcome my low points when I’m going in a downward spiral and meditation or reasoning doesn’t work.
The goal is to find a technique/s that help me get out of that spiral and reach a neutral state. I have realized that it’s not possible to go straight from negative (-) to positive (+) vibe. First you have to get to neutral (0) state and only then you can increase it to +.
Some of the techniques that might help:
push ups,
crunches,
short HIIT sessions,
dancing or moving my body,
shaking,
circular breathing.
Pretty much any bodily exercise should help as emotions are stored in the body and not mind.
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – since I’ve realized that I have anxiety, somehow I am managing my emotions much better, and I have way fewer “downward spirals”.Â
Acceptance, kindness, and deep care towards myself has been the key to it. Don’t get me wrong; I still have my “not so positive” moments and struggles, but I’m learning and getting better.
This podcast opened my eyes and allowed me to see what anxiety really is. Maybe it will help you too (if anxiety is something familiar to you).
3) Once per quarter set aside time for The Masterplan – basically once per quarter I want to set aside time to plan out next quarter. What do I want to achieve? What’s important for me now? How did it go with the last quarter? And so on.
I also plan to check the current quarter goals once a week.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – 1 month too late (it’s almost August already), but I keep doing this. With all the work and other big changes in my life, I kind of procrastinated starting this, as it’s a pretty time-consuming task.
But I know that looking at the previous quarter and making plans for the next one is extremely important, so I will try to do better next time. Overall, this is like a blueprint for my life. What can be more important than that, hey?
4) Schedule time for reading books – even 30min per day would be a good start. I should plan time for that in the morning or during the day, before I’m too tired to read.
Just gotta create a habit where I read useful and interesting books every day. In the evening I can read fiction or something that doesn’t activate my brain.
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – I haven’t strictly allocated 30 minutes or more per day for this, and I haven’t read as much as I would have liked. But compared to previous years, I have read much more often in the past 3 months.
5) Learning Español – I want to continue actively learning Spanish every day for 30mins. It doesn’t have to be anything extra or intense. After plenty of research, I have decided to focus on expanding my vocabulary and using a method called “language immersion”.
Vocab with Memrise (I’m using their free plan) + language immersion (Laura’s Youtube channel is great for that) + reading some easy-to-understand books in Spanish.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – I am learning Spanish every day for 30 minutes using the language immersion method. I really enjoy it, and I’m getting better at it.Â
Who would have thought that just by watching videos in your target language, you could actually learn the language, haha. Not me. Now my main focus is on Dreaming Spanish material (since I’ve already watched all Laura’s videos).
Hobbies
1) Look for new hobbies – in this quarter I want to sit down and think about what new activities I want to try and what could bring me joy? How can I let myself relax and enjoy life? What do I like to do outside my daily routine?
I can start this by simply Googling “hobbies for men in their late twenties” haha. After I gather a list of activities that seem interesting to me, I should actually try them out.
I have realized that it’s super crucial to give myself that positive feeling of joy and interest that comes from doing something I really like, as it increases my overall vibration.
For most people this might seem like a no-brainer, but in my case it’s a biggie as I never really had any hobbies or interests in my adult life.
I guess it’s because I was subconsciously always focusing on doing something “productive”. Like working or doing something that makes me better like working out, self-growth etc.
So accordingly, leisure activities and hobbies automatically became a “waste of time” for me. Something that you do only if you have spare time. But now I realize that they are crucial for my well-being and relaxation.
30.07.23 FAIL – this one is totally on me, as I wanted to do it several times but somehow didn’t. My excuse was that “this is not a priority right now, and I have other things to do”.
A classic excuse This definitely moves to the quarter, as I want to treat myself by doing interesting things and activities.
Career/Money
1) Improve my financial situation – right now this is not the main goal, as my main focus is to improve my inner world (since everything outside is just a reflection of inside).
I know that the main reason why I came to this Earth is to develop myself as much as I can spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically.
So working a random 9-5 job or building a random business just to make money is not my path. I’ve done it for the past 10 years. I’m grateful for the experience, but I’m done with that.
I want to do something that truly fulfills me and brings me joy (hence starting this blog).
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – in the last Q2 I finally started to work on this blog almost full-time. I’m still not entirely sure how I want to structure this website and how I’m going to earn with it while providing value to my readers, but I’m actively working on it.
And I’m sure that I will find a way that’s both fulfilling, valuable to others, and also makes me enough money so I can live the life that I want to.
Another very important realization that came to me last quarter regarding my career was that I have finally narrowed down what my future business or career has to look like.
Just in case you skipped the “Conclusion” part at the top of this article, here are my 4 criteria:
- I HAVE to like what I do. It has to be interesting, and I want to be passionate about it.
- There is higher added value to what I do. It has to make the world a better place in one way or another.
- I can make enough money to live the way I want to live (freely and abundantly).
- I am my own boss and make my own schedule. I love to work and be productive, but I also love to be able to take a day or week off whenever I want.
Health/Fitness
1) Start eating high-vibration foods – I want to eat foods in the right order (to regulate my blood sugar level), in proper proportions + eat as much as possible natural and local food. Basically all the fruits, veggies, legumes, whole-grains, nuts, seeds and so on.
My goal is to eat like this for 80-90% and leave a little wiggle room if I ever feel like having something naughtier. I’m not going to be too drastic about this.
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – I have stepped up my nutrition game, but still not to the level where I would like to be. I ate pretty clean these 3 months, but I still went sideways here and there for a few days. Overall, I would say that I ate pretty clean for ~70-80%.
My target is to reach 80-90% and snack very occasionally.
Funnily enough, I have noticed that the more I snack, the more snacks I want haha. And after 2 weeks without snacking, I don’t even crave them that much.
2) Do a 30-day clean food challenge – for 30 days I want to do a challenge where I don’t eat anything “low vibrational” like sugar, junk food, processed food, unhealthy snacks, supermarket dairy and meat, white flour and so on.
I want to see how my body feels after excluding these products.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – I did this once or even twice. Overall, I love challenges like these, as they help me cleanse and get back on track.
I know that clean food is crucial for my mental well-being as well. Idk why, but I just feel more positive and “lighter” emotionally when I eat clean food.
3) Start intermittent fasting (IF) from 8PM – 12PM (16h) or 6PM – 12PM (18h) – IF is a super popular topic in recent years, so I won’t go into details of why I want to do it.
But there are many health benefits of IF and it also helps me to avoid eating unnecessary snacks too close to the bedtime.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – during the past 3 months, I have fasted very consistently. I fast from 8PM to 12PM each day, including weekends.
Sometimes, if I’m going out or feel like having a movie with popcorn in the evening, I let myself do that. The key for me is to maintain this for 90%+ of the days. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Also, fasting has become much easier for me than it used to be. I used to crave breakfast whenever I woke up, but now it’s not a problem anymore. I’m not sure what exactly changed that, but I’m grateful for that.
4) Cut out junk food completely – after the initial 30 day challenge, I want to cut out junk food completely. No sugar, no salty snacks and no other things like that.
I want to accustom myself to eating and enjoying real snacks like berries, fruits, healthy home-made snacks and so on.
30.07.23 SEMI-SUCCESS – I would say that I almost did it. Yes, I had 2 or 3 more snacky weeks because of the vacation and other things like that, but for the better part of Q2 (more than 2 months), I didn’t eat sugar or processed snacks at all.
So I can’t say I was completely snack-free, but I made some really nice progress.
5) Do a detox program – I have heard great feedback from several people that have done this and I have no doubt that this would be very beneficial for me as well.
Normally it’s a 5 or 7 day program for removing toxins accumulated in the body and cleanse the liver, kidneys and lymphatic system.
It’s possible to do this at home, but I don’t have enough knowledge and it can be a complex process (as far as I know), so I want to do this in a clinic with professionals.
30.07.23 FAIL – I didn’t manage to do this primarily because it’s a rather expensive procedure. But once I have more finances available for spending, I will do this for sure, because I still think it can be very beneficial. After all, tons of hormones are produced in the gut.
6) Keep working out – in Q2 I plan to keep doing my strength workouts 3x per week + yoga/cardio on off-days.
I would also like to watch Dr. Huberman’s video about optimal workout regime from the science point of view, so I can improve my routine.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – I’ve been working out properly every single week, all quarter long. I’m proud to say that I’m very consistent with the workouts.I haven’t watched Dr. Humberman’s video about an optimal workout regime yet, but for now I’m happy with my workout regime that I wrote about here.
7) Improve my sleep – I want to improve the quality of my sleep (as sleep is the KEY for everything else).
I should find a time for this in my schedule and do some research about this topic, as I don’t know too much about it.
For example, the optimal temperature for sleeping, having a dark room, dim lights in the evening, blue glasses, x hours before bed no screens and so on.
30.07.23 FAIL – I didn’t really put in the time to learn more about this. No excuses here. For some time, I managed to go to sleep and wake up at the same time, but I got out of that habit very easily. I wake up every morning at 7:45AM and go to bed around 12AM’ish.
I also try to stay away from screens (phone/laptop) after 10PM. Most days I’m successful, but there’s still room for improvement.
8) Get morning sun – it’s very crucial to get sunlight in your eyes for at least 10min on sunny days and 20-30min on overcast days within 2 hours of waking up (the sooner the better) + combine that with a short morning walk.
According to Dr. Huberman this is one of the most crucial things one can do in the morning to improve the overall quality of well-being.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – I’m doing this every morning. I haven’t skipped almost a single day yet. Summer time helps, though. I have noticed that my overall mood and outlook on life have improved since I started this.
10) Do a health check-up – once my nutrition is sorted out, it would be pretty useful to do some basic health check-up (like blood tests) to better understand which nutrients and vitamins my body is still missing and what supplements I should add to my daily regime.
30.07.23 FAIL – I haven’t done this yet because of the financial situation. First I have to sort it out, and then I can start spending more money on detoxes, check-ups, supplements, etc., as I would rather wait and do it properly than do it now in a less trusted establishment.
For now, I will just stick with the basics: clean food, workouts, and so on. Everything else will come.
11) Start taking necessary supplements – after the blood test I want to start using necessary supplements + do some more in-depth research about the most important supplements that are crucial for physical health and well-being.
Dr. Huberman has several videos about this topic that could be helpful for this.
30.07.23 FAIL – same as above. First, I have to sort out my financial situation, and then I can tackle this. In Q2, my earnings were reduced by ~66% due to “expense reduction”, so a lot of my plans have changed as well.
12) Go to massages/chiropractic/osteopathy – this is optimal, but it would be nice to treat myself with body massages here and there.
30.07.23 FAIL – same reason as above.
13) Quit drinking coffee – I would like to quit drinking coffee this quarter as well. I have never really felt an actual energy boost from it and I just drink it out of habit. Since it’s my morning ritual and I like to have a warm drink when I start my day (plain tea doesn’t hit the spot), I plan to switch coffee for Green Matcha Tea.
30.07.23 SUCCESS – I successfully switched to Green Matcha Tea but then got tired of it after 2 months. I guess it’s not really a substitute for coffee.
Nevertheless, I’m done drinking coffee anyway. I have had a few cups of decaf coffee and 1 cup of normal coffee, but overall, I count this as a success, as my main goal was to quit the daily habit of drinking coffee.
And a cup here or there doesn’t really matter for me. Almost anything in moderation is fine.
So, there you have it. This is how my Q2 of 2023 went! I have included a proper conclusion about this quarter at the very beginning of this article, just in case you missed it.
And if you have read my report this far, you are the real MVP. I appreciate it and thank you for being a part of my journey.
And just in case you haven’t read it yet, here are my goals for Q3 2023.
I hope to see you there!
Cheers!
