Public Commitment 2023 – Update 3

Theme: Expansion

This year I’m focusing on expanding myself and my impact on the world in various domains. It follows from a year where a lot of groundwork was done (e.g. finishing v1 of Blossom’s database). In 2023, it’s time to build on that and expand outward.

The expansion can take many forms, from moving to a bigger house, to offering more things with Blossom. It also means improving what I’ve done in terms of fitness and ‘recovering’ from the kidney donation (by ‘expanding’ to higher numbers on the big lifts).

Another way of putting the theme, with a slightly different meaning, is ‘Big or Bust’. It’s a bit more aggressive but also captures the pruning side of the equation. Expanding means building on what is working, but it could also mean letting go of non-productive parts to make the expansion possible.

This is the third (big/quarterly) update to the goals of 2023.

House

Objective (O): Live in the dream house

KR9: Continue with upgrading house & garden (e.g. sports cabin, chicken coop, house rooms)

V: Get financial information from the accountant by <5 Feb

V: Get ‘inkomensverklaring’ info and/or check for financing from ABN AMRO

V: After the above, look seriously on Funda and refine the criteria once more

V: Visit houses & make offer (pending mortgage, bought a house)

V: Move (in June)

V: Sell old house (everything is lined up for sale in two weeks)

V: Buy a car

V: Continue with upgrading garden (e.g. sports cabin & chickens)

The car is here, a family car (Ford Focus). The thing that remains to be done is more upgrades to the house. For this, I’m still working on a smaller coup for the chickens (that will come in a few weeks) but the large coup and house are done.

For the house, there are a few projects that will each take half a day, such as improving the cabins where we keep food, the entrance at the front door, etc. Bigger projects here include the redesign of parts of the garden so that it looks better. For the cabin, I will also have to do the painting of the walls and install the fitness gear.

Finances

O: Make 10k p/m (currently between 3-6k p/m)

KR1: Keep track of finances p/w (ongoing, need to get back on track)

KR2: Spend <50% of income on normal living expenses (not tracked that precisely yet)

KR3: Track and start improving the income of Blossom (started tracking & more promotion membership)

Here no good updates yet. I have started a new Google Sheet to better track the input and output of the time I’m spending (and the financial outcome of this). I can do much better here, and tracking is the first step.

I have been doing some consultancy work that pays well, but also understand that I can do better in building up the long-term future of Blossom and FLO coaching. Although on the last, we have started coaching actively again and will start charging people after the clients I’m now guiding.

Flotte

O: Strengthen the relationship

KR1: Have 1+ deep conversation per week that doesn’t side-step challenging parts

KR2: Follow our habits such as Tuesday date night, meditate evenings (3+ p/w), check-in monthly

No big updates. We have decided that we can use Wednesday during lunch to have a dedicated moment to discuss our goals and how we work together. We also found out that we’re spending too much time in the weekend doing things (e.g. visiting friends) which leaves not enough time for each other. So we’re cutting back on that a bit so we have enough time together.

Relationships

O: Maintain a diverse set of relationships, and meet (expand) new friends in my interest areas

KR1: Call friends when walking Max 3+ p/w (going, 6/10)

V: Meet 2+ new people in Q1 outside work (>100min)

V: Meet 2+ new people in Q2 outside work (>100min)

Still going well. Can improve on the time I’m spending calling friends.

FW.com

O: Have a lively (>1 post p/m) personal website

KR2: Post updates on what I’ve written on social media

KR3: Write one large (>1000w) post p/m (paused for now)

KR4: Write about fitness & diet in Mar (to be done later)

KR5: Post major updates (~1 p/m) in personal newsletter

V: Write a post about kidney donation in Jan

V: Finish update of design site & personal brand

As mentioned before, the blogs on this site are currently on pause.

Blossom

O: Expand the impact of psychedelics as medicine

KR2: Have ~2 calls with new people p/w (ongoing, 10/10)

KR3: Launch own (60-75min) course in Q1 (will be Q4 now)

KR4: Reach >$1000 p/m income from non-consultancy work

KR5: Reach >$3000 p/m income from non-consultancy work

KR6: Work through an online course (e.g. customer interviews)

KR7: Relaunch the reports as membership perks (planned/working on this)

KR8: Add all past summaries for members

KR9: Provide who-is-who directory

V: (re)Launch PsychedelicsCourses <15 Jan

No big updates here. I have added much more to PsychedelicsCourses so that is good, but I’m not getting to $1k per month with the site yet and I plan to spend more time on promotion this quarter so that people know about the site and can hopefully support it.

Queal

O: Maingain with a focus on customer satisfaction

KR1: Launch QQ offering each quarter (3x done)

KR4: Refocus on customer acquisition & retention (new project in Q3)

V: Relaunch go bars (<30 Apr, delayed)

X: Post blogs 3x p/w

No big updates here. Also no big plans yet besides keeping the QQ offering running successfully.

Flo Coaching

O: Help 20+ people experience psychedelics to expand their minds (4 planned)

KR3: Get 8 paying clients for FLO Coaching (Floris) and 4 for Lotte

V: Relaunch Flo Coaching in Q3, (V: but after relaunching PC)

V: Remake customer flow, including coaching talks

V: Make how-to guidebook for potential clients (lead magnet)

X: Retest workflow with 2+ acquaintances in Q2

We have the perfect space at home to do psychedelic-assisted coaching and we’ve started doing this again. It’s been a good launch, with me having 6 people that are following some form of coaching (2 only prep/integration).

Now it’s time to focus on getting paying clients through different avenues. I plan to do this by doing 1-on-1 outreach, social media posts, and (over time) building out the blogs/resources on the site to attract customers.

It’s still early days, but the coaching so far is going well and I’m looking forward to expanding this section of my work.

Sports

O: Expand my all-round fitness to exceed that of 2022

KR1: Do sports 6x p/w (3x cardio & 3x gym), after kidney recovery (now at 4-5)

KR2: Lift more than 440kg on big 3 (squat, bench, deadlift)

KR3 (uncertain): Incorporate stretching goals later in the year

Also no big updates here, besides saying that I’m not that intense in doing sports. I have started tracking protein intake (and total calories intake), so I know with more certainty that I’m getting enough. With the sports cabin almost finished, I think it will be easier to get in a quick sports session.

Then in November/December I plan to start lifting heavy again and to get higher totals than I probably am getting right now. I might not get beyond my scores from last year in December, but plan to continue that season into January.

Health

O: Be in the best shape ever

KR1: Do 3 experiments (1x in Q2) with standard meals (2 meals x 5-7 days)

KR2: Track 3+ health metrics (e.g. free test)

KR3: Walk >10k steps p/d

Going well overall, but still no big changes to report.

Mindfulness

O: Improve the state of my mind, and expand it

KR1: Meditate >3650 minutes (60 hours; now a bit lower in Q2)

KR2: Investigate & find 1+ meditative path to explore

KR3: Take psychedelics for exploration 4+ times (2/4), including 1 (0/1) new compound

No updates here, and something I can definitely improve on.

Notes

A lot of moving parts and uncertainty on the outcomes of what will work career-wise. I am having fun doing everything so that is good. But it also means less time for sports and relaxing (as I’m working relatively much). And that is ok. This is a seasons, and there will be other seasons where I’m going less hard with work.

I do foresee that health, sports, mindfulness will get more attention in the coming months than I’ve given it previously. But know that it’s not the nr 1 priority.

I have written a longer reflection to myself earlier, so I’m going to keep this blog as is and get to work.

Public Commitment 2023 – Update 2

Theme: Expansion

This year I’m focusing on expanding myself and my impact on the world in various domains. It follows from a year where a lot of groundwork was done (e.g. finishing v1 of Blossom’s database). In 2023, it’s time to build on that and expand outward.

The expansion can take many forms, from moving to a bigger house, to offering more things with Blossom. It also means improving what I’ve done in terms of fitness and ‘recovering’ from the kidney donation (by ‘expanding’ to higher numbers on the big lifts).

Another way of putting the theme, with a slightly different meaning, is ‘Big or Bust’. It’s a bit more aggressive, but also captures the pruning side of the equation. Expanding means building on what is working, but it could also mean letting go of non-productive parts to make the expansion possible.

This is the second (big/quarterly) update to the goals of 2023.

House

Objective (O): Live in the dream house

KR7: Continue with upgrading garden (e.g. sports cabin & chickens)

KR8: Buy a car

V: Get financial information from the accountant by <5 Feb

V: Get ‘inkomensverklaring’ info and/or check for financing from ABN AMRO

V: After the above, look seriously on Funda and refine the criteria once more

V: Visit houses & make offer (pending mortgage, bought a house)

V: Move (in June)

V: Sell old house (everything is lined up for sale in two weeks)

The whole of May and the beginning of June was dedicated to moving house and all the logistics. Everything went smoothly, and I’m thrilled to be living there.

Two things still need to happen: buying a car (somewhere in the next few weeks) and a few big upgrades (and tens of small tasks) to the garden. The first of these two is making a chicken coop. The second is transforming the latter part of the garden shed into a fitness space.

Both are on track to be completed in the coming quarter, setting us up for a calm Q4 where we get the chance to test out the two (!) fireplaces.

Finances

O: Make 10k p/m (currently between 3-6k p/m)

KR1: Keep track of finances p/w (ongoing, good)

KR2: Spend <50% of income on normal living expenses (not tracked that precisely yet)

KR3: Track and start improving the income of Blossom (started tracking & more promotion membership)

Again no significant updates. I have started thinking more about moving my energy towards the promotion of my projects (see below) which should hopefully help with the improvement in incoming cashflow.

Because of moving the finances don’t currently reflect ‘normal’ spending. So from July onward I will track those again and aim to spend less than 50% on living expenses.

Flotte

O: Strengthen the relationship

KR1: Have 1+ deep conversation per week that doesn’t side-step challenging parts

KR2: Follow our habits such as Tuesday date night, meditate evenings (3+ p/w), check-in monthly

Again, no big updates here as expected.

Relationships

O: Maintain a diverse set of relationships, and meet (expand) new friends in my interest areas

KR1: Call friends when walking Max 3+ p/w (going, 6/10)

V: Meet 2+ new people in Q1 outside work (>100min)

V: Meet 2+ new people in Q2 outside work (>100min)

I could improve this (after the chaos of moving several times travelling). We’re also making friends with the neighbours here, with one of the kids being a big fan of Max.

FW.com

O: Have a lively (>1 post p/m) personal website

KR2: Post updates on what I’ve written on social media

KR3: Write one large (>1000w) post p/m (paused for now)

KR4: Write about fitness & diet in Mar (to be done later)

KR5: Post major updates (~1 p/m) in personal newsletter

V: Write a post about kidney donation in Jan

V: Finish update of design site & personal brand

As mentioned before, the blogs on this site are currently on pause.

Blossom

O: Expand the impact of psychedelics as medicine

KR2: Have ~2 calls with new people p/w (ongoing, 10/10)

KR3: Launch own (60-75min) course in Q1 (will be Q3 now)

KR4: Reach >$1000 p/m income from non-consultancy work

KR5: Reach >$3000 p/m income from non-consultancy work

KR6: Work through an online course (e.g. customer interviews)

KR7: Relaunch the reports as membership perks (planned/working on this)

KR8: Add all past summaries for members

KR9: Provide who-is-who directory

V: (re)Launch PsychedelicsCourses <15 Jan

I’ve been working diligently on improving the resources on Blossom. What I haven’t done much is do outreach to get more (paid) readership. So that is something I will do more of this quarter. This also includes adding some introductory courses I’m cooking up on PsychedelicsCourses.com. Stay tuned for more.

Queal

O: Maingain with a focus on customer satisfaction

KR1: Launch QQ offering each quarter (3x done)

KR4: Refocus on customer acquisition & retention (new project in Q3)

V: Relaunch go bars (<30 Apr, delayed)

X: Post blogs 3x p/w

With Queal we’re going to invest more in the acquisition of new customers in Q3. I won’t bore you with the details (as mostly I don’t know them yet). But I will report back how it went at the end of the quarter and possibly share lessons on my Twitter.

Flo Coaching

O: Help 20+ people experience psychedelics to expand their minds

KR1: Relaunch Flo Coaching in Q3, (V: but after relaunching PC)

KR2: Remake customer flow, including coaching talks

X: Retest workflow with 2+ acquaintances in Q2

With moving, this got pushed back further. But it also means that we now have the perfect space for doing psychedelic-assisted coaching. The current plan is to help promote Flo Coaching with Lotte doing most of the actual coaching. Expect a lot of updates here in the coming weeks.

Sports

O: Expand my all-round fitness to exceed that of 2022

KR1: Do sports 6x p/w (3x cardio & 3x gym), after kidney recovery (now at 4-5)

KR2: Lift more than 440kg on big 3 (squat, bench, deadlift)

KR3 (uncertain): Incorporate stretching goals later in the year

No big update here. Didn’t do too much during moving and whilst in America, but did do sports almost every day during the vacation before this. I just went and visited the gym that is a few minutes away from us and will likely go there 3-4x per week (pending the building of my own gym).

Health

O: Be in the best shape ever

KR1: Do 3 experiments (1x in Q2) with standard meals (2 meals x 5-7 days)

KR2: Track 3+ health metrics (e.g. free test)

KR3: Walk >10k steps p/d

In the evenings, I want to spend more time researching what is best to do in terms of food (and sports). Walking has become considerably easier (less biking, larger garden) but I will have to start ramping up the amount of sports sessions I do to get back in the best shape ever.

Mindfulness

O: Improve the state of my mind, and expand it

KR1: Meditate >3650 minutes (60 hours; now a bit lower in Q2)

KR2: Investigate & find 1+ meditative path to explore

KR3: Take psychedelics for exploration 4+ times (2/4), including 1 (0/1) new compound

Now that I’m back from travelling, I’ve picked meditation back up. I also have several meditations lined up that I want to explore. One is around jhanas, the other is from QRI exploring meditation from about the same perspective as I’m coming.

Notes

Moving house has taken up a lot of bandwidth and has overall been a pleasant experience. Now that I’m completely settled and have caught up with most of the work that I was behind on, I feel energised to go and get things done.

In the coming days, I will continue working out the details for the work and life plans and keep improving, or ‘expanding’ as I like to say this year.

Public Commitment 2023 – Update 1

Theme: Expansion

This year I’m focusing on expanding myself and my impact on the world in various domains. It follows from a year where a lot of groundwork was done (e.g. finishing v1 of Blossom’s database). In 2023, it’s time to build on that and expand outward.

The expansion can take many forms, from moving to a bigger house, to offering more things with Blossom. It also means improving what I’ve done in terms of fitness and ‘recovering’ from the kidney donation (by ‘expanding’ to higher numbers on the big lifts).

Another way of putting the theme, with a slightly different meaning, is ‘Big or Bust’. It’s a bit more aggressive, but also captures the pruning side of the equation. Expanding means building on what is working, but could also mean letting go of non-productive parts to make the expansion possible.

This is the first (big/quarterly) update to the goals of 2023.

House

Objective (O): Live in the dream house

KR5: Move (in June)

KR6: Sell old house (will be on market mid April)

KR7: Make plan for house/garden upgrades (e.g. sports cabin)

KR8: Buy a car

V: Get financial information from the accountant by <5 Feb

V: Get ‘inkomensverklaring’ info and/or check for financing from ABN AMRO

V: After the above, look seriously on Funda and refine the criteria once more

V: Visit houses & make offer (pending mortgage, bought a house)

Well, that went a lot quicker than I thought it would. The very first house we visited was one that we loved and which was well within our budget. We will move into the house in the first half of June, and my apartment will be for sale soon.

Two fun projects will follow after moving in. First, making plans and starting the execution of them concerning the house and garden (e.g. sports cabin). Second, buying a car gives us more mobility (though a train station is a 5min bike away).

Finances

O: Make 10k p/m (currently between 3-6k p/m)

KR1: Keep track of finances p/w (ongoing, good)

KR2: Spend <50% of income on normal living expenses (not tracked that precisely yet)

KR3: Track and start improving the income of Blossom (started tracking & more promotion membership)

No significant updates here. I am following a course on how to set up sales, do customer interviews, etc., for building out the membership (or a future course) for Blossom. I’m working through the steps and have started promoting the membership more. The biggest challenge is discovering what people find helpful.

Flotte

O: Strengthen the relationship

KR1: Have 1+ deep conversation per week that doesn’t side-step challenging parts

KR2: Follow our habits such as Tuesday date night, meditate evenings (3+ p/w), check-in monthly

No updates here; still going well, and working on the house etc., is a good project together. We haven’t started working together more (for Flo Coaching), but I’ve helped Lotte with some things.

Relationships

O: Maintain a diverse set of relationships, and meet (expand) new friends in my interest areas

KR1: Call friends when walking Max 3+ p/w (going, 6/10)

KR3: Meet 2+ new people in Q2 outside work (>100min)

V: Meet 2+ new people in Q1 outside work (>100min)

This has been going relatively well. I can call more people when walking Max, and this will probably become more prominent when I’m not living in Rotterdam anymore.

FW.com

O: Have a lively (>1 post p/m) personal website

KR2: Post updates on what I’ve written on social media

KR3: Write one large (>1000w) post p/m (paused for now)

KR4: Write about fitness & diet in Mar (to be done later)

KR5: Post major updates (~1 p/m) in personal newsletter

V: Write a post about kidney donation in Jan

V: Finish update of design site & personal brand

This is the place where I’ve done the fewest things. The redesign went well, and I’m happy with the site’s appearance. But I haven’t made time to write again. I’m writing a lot for Blossom and notice I also don’t have the bandwidth to write for here. So, for now, I’m pausing this and will pick it up when I have more space.

Blossom

O: Expand the impact of psychedelics as medicine

KR2: Have ~2 calls with new people p/w (ongoing, 10/10)

KR3: Launch own (60-75min) course in Q1 (probably late Q2)

KR4: Reach >$1000 p/m income from non-consultancy work

KR5: Reach >$3000 p/m income from non-consultancy work

KR6: Work through an online course (e.g. customer interviews)

KR7: Relaunch the reports as membership perks (planned/working on this)

KR8: Add all past summaries for members

KR9: Provide who-is-who directory

V: (re)Launch PsychedelicsCourses <15 Jan

Most of my working hours are dedicated to building out Blossom. Since starting the course (KR6), I’m considering expanding my offering and doing customer interviews for that purpose. I don’t know where I will end up exactly, and who knows, the goals will change over the coming quarter, but this is the direction I’m currently heading in.

Alternative directions could include focussing more time on Flo Coaching, providing more resources for a general audience (versus focusing on the research), or a wholly new direction.

Queal

O: Maingain with a focus on customer satisfaction

KR1: Launch QQ offering each quarter (1x done)

KR2: Relaunch go bars (<30 Apr, delayed)

KR4: Refocus on customer acquisition & retention

X: Post blogs 3x p/w

I’ve dropped the goal of posting blogs 3x per week. Although they were about topics I found interesting, the match with Queal and with our audience wasn’t what it could be. We might reconsider this in some time, but for now, we’re getting the bars out as soon as possible (packaging is currently being made).

Flo Coaching

O: Help 20+ people experience psychedelics to expand their minds

KR1: Relaunch Flo Coaching in Q2, but after relaunching PC (started)

KR2: Remake customer flow, including coaching talks

KR3: Retest workflow with 2+ acquaintances in Q2

This has been pushed back slightly. On the one hand, there are still quite a few courses with missing information. On the other hand, we’re moving house and might not want to set up too much in Rotterdam. But, I have started promoting Lotte as a coach/guide, and if everything works out, we should be able to host people in Q3.

Sports

O: Expand my all-round fitness to exceed that of 2022

KR1: Do sports 6x p/w (3x cardio & 3x gym), after kidney recovery (now at 4-5)

KR2: Lift more than 440kg on big 3 (squat, bench, deadlift)

KR3 (uncertain): Incorporate stretching goals later in the year

No big update here. The recovery has gone well, and I’m feeling totally normal again. Times are a bit hectic, so I haven’t started a new sports plan. I plan to keep on doing what I’m doing and possibly update slightly before moving to the new house.

Health

O: Be in the best shape ever

KR1: Do 3 experiments (1x in Q2) with standard meals (2 meals x 5-7 days)

KR2: Track 3+ health metrics (e.g. free test)

KR3: Walk >10k steps p/d

I’m in good shape, but far from the best I’ve been. The goal is to ramp up the effort in the latter half of this year. For now, the goal of 10k steps is something I can take more seriously and will hopefully also be easier in the new place (especially because I probably will bike significantly less with Max, so will walk more with him).

I did do an experiment with a green smoothie and this was not too bad. It’s not something that would immediately go into my routine, so will experiment again in a bit.

Mindfulness

O: Improve the state of my mind, and expand it

KR1: Meditate >3650 minutes (60 hours; now a bit lower in Q1)

KR2: Investigate & find 1+ meditative path to explore

KR3: Take psychedelics for exploration 4+ times (1/4), including 1 (0/1) new compound

No big updates here, besides doing less meditation than I was planning to do. I might pick this back up soon, but also feel content at the moment with less regular meditation practice.

Notes

Building on the ‘release’ notes, I have picked up coaching with the course (a coach is available over email). I haven’t written more about hobbies, but have been playing video games for 2-4 hours per week, which is very relaxing.

Public Commitment 2022 – Recap

I’ve discussed my goals with my coach (Chris) each month. But I failed to update the website here.

I will do a short recap to still have something in writing. Expect more recaps every quarter in 2023.

The theme of last year was ‘living fully’, and I can say that I’ve lived up to that. I went on many vacations, from Vietnam to Bulgaria and Norway. I’ve enjoyed the work that I’m doing and generally am very content.

Here is a short recap on the goals/mood for each ‘project’ of my life.

House

No major updates. Looked at redoing the kitchen, but there isn’t enough space to do it properly (add things). Did look at moving houses, and if it works will do so in 2023.

Finances

Had no specific goals, but did manage to bring in revenue for Blossom, though I also spent a lot on a full-time employee.

Flotte

Made more time to do fun things together (remember: Covid restrictions only ended somewhere in January).

Relationships

No specific goals, but I enjoyed a lot of time together with friends.

FW.com

I spent nearly no time on this site, which I hope to counter very much this year.

Blossom

I didn’t get to $3k revenue per month from recurring revenue. I did do consultancy work and helped organise ICPR. I’ve learned a great deal and will keep applying this in 2023.

Flo Coaching

I’ve made a website that features Lotte and me, but I’ve not actively worked on client acquisition. This is something that will change in 2023 unless other significant opportunities present themselves.

Sports

I trained for and had a lot of fun doing a 42km obstacle run. The run went great, and it was fantastic training for it. The day itself was hot, but luckily it was the water edition. I did the run with my brother Tom, a friend Maikel and a few of his friends.

After completing the run, I focussed on weightlifting (powerlifting) and finished the year with a 140kg squat, a 100kg bench press, and a 200kg deadlift.

Health

Healthwise, I have nothing to complain but did do something radical in December of 2022. I donated my kidney to a stranger. I will write more on this in January 2023. Overall, super happy with the decision and nearly fully recovered within a week.

Mindfulness

I started exploring mindfulness by reading a few books and doing a mini-course. I’ve also picked back up the daily 10-minute meditation from Sam Harris (Waking Up).

Public Commitment 2021 – Recap

The last year didn’t go well with regard to my goals.

Because of a lot of different circumstances, I spent very little time reflecting on the goals I made and working towards them.

Though covid didn’t have a personal impact on me per se (I did catch it, but next to the loss of smell for a few days, had no other negative consequences), the time of being at home the whole time didn’t positively influence me.

I won’t bore you, the reader, with too much detail, here is a mini recap of the goals I set.

Goal 1: Write something every day

I’ve kept up with writing and actually produced a report of 200 pages in the summer, I didn’t write each day. It’s something that I do want to do most days and hopefully will get to in another form with my 2022 public commitment.

Goal 2: Promote my work

This is something I haven’t done enough of when I look back. Still, something that I aspire to do and could take more action on. For Blossom, there will be a lot of promotional activities coming up, and there is much to read and learn about this process.

Seen differently, it’s being proud of what you’ve made and sharing this with a wider audience so they can benefit (and possibly buy some services from you).

Goal 3: Meditate daily

I might have dropped off somewhere, but for the last 3-4 months, I’ve been meditating each morning.

Goal 5: Learn three songs on the harmonica

Alas, I let this one go and don’t foresee myself picking it up again soon.

Goal 6: Add 2 features to this website

The dark mode is here; no other features were implemented.

Goal 7: Improve my learning process

Here is also room for improvement.

I have updated my work-day scheduling and end of the work day process.

Goal 8: Move more money towards effective charities

Not something I actively accomplished. I did donate quite a bit, and the final number should be on the EA page.

Goal 9 (new): Achieve the elusive six-pack

I did work on this and did a photoshoot at the end of September/beginning of October.

Feel free to ask me about the pictures.

Public Commitment 2022

This year’s theme is Living Fully.

Last year (2021), I was less happy/satisfied/fulfilled than I thought I could be.

So this year, living fully is the underlying theme.

One example of where I plan to improve is to be better at stopping work at 6 pm. This will give me more room to enjoy things in the evening, but also more energy and focus on getting work done before that time. As Cal Newport (also featured in last year’s update) would say, we are working 20% too much (number of tasks/commitments). By cutting out some of that, also next to work (e.g. voorzitter VvE, EA Rotterdam meetups), I think I can be more fulfilled and produce better results.

Here is the preliminary Q1 2022 plan

• Blossom: get (average) revenue >€3000
• Flo Coaching: Book 10 clients
• Sport: Finish 19km obstacle run (start of April)
• Relationships: Stop working after 18:00 on most days
• Life: Read in the evenings (vs YT etc)
• House: Plan new kitchen

Public Commitment 2021 – Update 1

This years theme is Serial Tasking. The goal is to be more focussed and work on the things I’m saying I will work on.

Recently I’ve been listening a lot to the podcast by Cal Newport (Deep Work) and the biggest concept from there is time blocking. Something I do, but then am not as good at enforcing as I should be.

In my own words, time blocking means planning out your day (according to your weekly plan, which is building on your monthly/quarterly plan). And then doing exactly that which you had planned in that time.

Ways I can improve on doing this (vs switching to different tasks), is to have either my notebook open (where I make the planner on paper), and/or the iPad open with Toggl running (which indicates the time block that is ongoing). I think that I should also start discussing the day with Onno, Queal co-founder, again.

Ok, enough rambling, onto the goals for this year.

Goal 1: Write something every day

I have been writing things, but not consistently every day. I now have that time-blocked in the morning so that I can focus on writing before I jump into email and all that.

I have also started using Calendly to start grouping calls on Thursdays so I have more time also on other days to write.

One big thing that will help with writing is that the database should be nearing the finish line so I should, after that, have more time to focus on writing each day.

And just to note, this could be anything as small as a few paragraphs about a psychedelic term, to a long book review (or part of an essay that I can publish independently – I think the metric should be to publish something each day).

Goal 2: Promote my work

I’ve been doing this ok-ish on Twitter for Blossom. There are still many more ways to do this that I know of already.

Another way to become better at this, is to partner with someone who has more feeling for this. But I think the first part is, that I block time (during my end-of-work checklist <- I’ve been making a few of these) each day to see/check if I’ve shared my work that day.

Another part of the things that I want to share is more art work. But for now, I fear that I wont have enough time to do that.

Goal 3: Meditate daily

Going very well. I don’t know how much transfers to being more aware during the day, but is a good start of the day (followed by some exercises).

Goal 5: Learn 3 songs on the harmonica

I have been practicing some, but less than I wanted. Still, I think I can already play 3 songs if I’m looking at the notes.

This month I’ve switched my goal from playing each day (which wasn’t working), to playing 3x p/w.

Goal 6: Add 2 features to this website

The dark mode is done (can of course improve it, but no priority now).

I do have plans for adding more search functions to the book reviews and have already added my Obsidian notes so that I can find them here too.

Goal 7: Improve my learning process

The addition of Obsidian should help with this process. Still, I don’t (very) regularly make notes there.

One thing that has been going well is studying my Anki notes, and I plan to add more notes to there to really keep the spaced repetition going.

Goal 8: Move more money towards effective charities

This is something for later months, but for now I’ve made the post for GWWC and plan to publish my blog for the EA forum sometime soon.

—

And, some more concrete goals for Blossom and Queal

Queal

1. Increase revenue by 20%
   1. Ongoing, did some experiments in the first few months of this year
   2. Brexit has not been nice to us, but hopefully all solved by next week

Blossom

1. Launch/run Blossom Analysis (ongoing!)
   1. Weekly updates
   2. Database
   3. Essays (psychedelics and …)
2. Launch/run Blossom Guides (later, if we’re vaccinated)
   1. 2 to 3 sessions per week by mid 2021
   2. Possibly together with other coaches
3. Launch/run smaller projects (first two going well, last two in statis)
   1. PsychedelicsBooks
   2. PsychedelicsCourses
   3. PsychedelicsDirectory
   4. PsychedelicsProtocol
4. Launch/Kickstart PsychedeliCards (no, not enough time, maybe before holidays)
   1. First half of 2021

—

Finally, some goals that are more for fun/relaxation/habit

1. Do sports 5 out of every 7 days (yes)
   • Same for mobility training (yes, but only short)
2. Achieve <12% bodyfat (not currently main focus)
3. Play videogames for more than 100 hours (estimate 2020: <10 hours) (going well)
4. Drink fewer alcoholic drinks than last year (estimate/log 2020: sum 559, average 1.5, median 0 (more days no drinks), max 15, 10+ 5 times, ~56.000kcal ~18 days of energy) (90 so far, so on schedule)
5. Learn to ride a motorcycle (first exam done, two more to go)

Public Commitment 2020 – Update 4

This year my theme was Upgrade. The goal is to use the things I already know and apply/improve/renew them to build more new things.

As I look back on 2020 I see that in some ways I’ve held true to this theme. I’ve been able to use knowledge I had before and build on that. For instance, I’ve been very consistent in weightlifting, knowing a thing or two about programming. And even using this to be flexible when the gyms are (still) closed.

I think that in other regards I haven’t been focussed enough on my goals/theme. I’ve been doing a lot of things for Blossom (my new company, goal 5) and that has been very rewarding. Yet at the same time, I’ve neglected other things like writing essays or make time to write summaries of books (through which I believe I will be better able to remember them).

I have started working more on knowledge systems like spaced repetition (using Anki – a flashcard app). In the coming year I plan to build this out further. But before we go to 2021, here is my reflection on the goals of 2020.

Goal 1: Write Nova (and possibly other short stories)

As mentioned in the last update, not something that has a priority for me now. I have updated my daily check-in to ask not if I’ve written for 30 minutes, but if I’ve written something original. So diverting it from the original goal of writing fiction to also include anything written here or for Blossom or Queal.

Goal 2: Improve this website

This worked well and I’m happy with how the website looks. I do have plans for some more things (like dark mode and some adjustments to the homepage). Not very high on the priority list, but definitely something to do.

Goal 3: Do something crazy for love

Alas, all my plans were thwarted by the ongoing pandemic. Or I just wasn’t serious enough about completing this goal with the current circumstances.

Goal 4: Write essays about 6 topics

The post about Effective Altruism took a long time, but I’m happy with the result. I do plan on writing more (smaller) posts for the next year.

In the end I’ve written/worked on 4 posts/topics.

Goal 5: Start a new and successful venture

Still going very well in terms of developing my understanding of psychedelics and mapping the territory.

Not going that well in terms of monetization. I also haven’t put in much work to get that going to be honest. But it is something to work on in the coming year. This could either be the coaching I’m planning to do (post-covid?) and the online resources that should be able to make some money.

Public Commitment 2021

This years theme is Serial Tasking.

In 2021 I aim to be better at doing one task at a time. Writing this post, not browsing online to distract myself. Reading a book, not checking my phone every few pages.

Another way of expressing this theme is being indistractable.

If I do want to take a break from one activity, or switch to another task, I should be cognisant of doing that.

I have the following implementation intentions planned to make this theme work:

• Phone away, especially when reading (or when sleeping)
• Toggl (time tracking) open on iPad to be more aware of the current task and to make conscious switching even more frictionless
• Become better at doing nothing when taking a break vs finding something (useless things like YouTube) as a distraction
  • Picking up meditation again to become better at this
  • And when I learn to work better with Affinity Designer (Photoshop-like) I can also see myself doodling more (or just on paper)
• Manage my environment better by being more proactive in when I can or can’t be bothered (read: WFH life)
• Do different activities in different places (e.g. reading in chair, break on couch)

One thing I want to achieve with this theme is to continue to learn about and understand the world. The topics below are, somewhat in order, the things want to learn and write about here on this website.

Topics

1. Animal Welfare & Ethics of Eating Meat
   • What is your personal impact?
   • What is the impact on people (who work in the industry, health, pandemics)?
   • Arguments for/against consciousness (level) of animals
2. Eat for Health & Energy
   • Revisit essay and update habits
3. Flexible Weightlifter
   • Revisit essay if necessary, already have a plan for this year
4. Reason and Science
   • Write a page that details my philosophy/summarizes how I see the world
   • Probably will feature many mini posts that could themselves turn into longer posts
5. Effective Altruist
   • Update my essay/write a new one about how to effectively spread the ideas of EA
   • Or how to do this in the best way for myself (i.e. is that speaking more about it, writing more online (in Dutch), showing my donations, how to measure this all)
6. Dog Whisperer
   • Teach Max not to bark at the doorbell (be less on guard) and not to eat stuff in the street – I have a plan for both, probably won’t be an essay
7. Financial Independence
   • Revisit essay, possibly focus more on the time x money aspect
8. Writing
   • Possibly continue to write fiction again
9. Stoicism (Philosophy of Life)
   • Explore this in more depth, bring together ideas from several books
10. Longevity
    • Explore where the research stands this year and what looks promising
11. Meditation
    • Write down my experiences later in the year
12. Religion
    • I’ve read quite a bit about religion, but still have to read the primary sources and more direct commentary on this, and then write something from my own perspective
13. Entrepreneurship/Marketing
    • Learn to better market my own work and make money with it

Next to these ideas for essays/topics, I have some goals I want to achieve in 2021.

Goals

Goal 1: Write something every day

Write a book review, essay, notes from things I’ve learned, and more, every day. The difficulty will be in writing something on the weekend. One step I could take is to plan to write a book review (easy to do) or notes on things I’ve learned (vs writing a large essay or the like).

Goal 2: Promote my work

This applies to both Blossom and Queal. Becoming better at marketing what I’ve made and showing what the value is in it. This also implies that I should spend less time on making the actual work (i.e. getting help with that) and more on the marketing of it. I have the resources (websites/ebooks/books), implementation is key here.

Goal 3: Meditate daily

Using Waking Up for this. It also has great lessons that I might listen to after a meditation session.

Goal 5: Learn 3 songs on the harmonica

I’ve been gifted a harmonica for Christmas (per request) and I would like to play music again. The goal for three songs is arbitrary but I think better than ‘learn to play’ in general.

Goal 6: Add 2 features to this website

The first would be the dark mode, the second I don’t know at this moment.

Goal 7: Improve my learning process

This one is still a bit vague but includes more spaced repetition (Anki), atomic notes (Obsidian), discussions with other smart people.

Goal 8: Move more money towards effective charities

Again a bit vaguer. A possible number could be €100.000 if GeefBeter.nl takes off (a website/tool to help others start birthday fundraisers). I think I should be able to donate €10.000 next year so that would already be great by itself.

Goal 9 (new): Achieve the elusive six-pack

I’ve wanted to do this for years. This year is the year.

—

And, some more concrete goals for Blossom and Queal

Queal

1. Increase revenue by 20%

Blossom

1. Launch/run Blossom Analysis
   1. Weekly updates
   2. Database
   3. Essays (psychedelics and …)
2. Launch/run Blossom Guides (rename?)
   1. 2 to 3 sessions per week by mid 2021
   2. Possibly together with other coaches
3. Launch/run smaller projects
   1. PsychedelicsBooks
   2. PsychedelicsCourses
   3. PsychedelicsDirectory
   4. PsychedelicsProtocol
4. Launch/Kickstart PsychedeliCards
   1. First half of 2021

—

Finally, some goals that are more for fun/relaxation/habit

1. Do sports 5 out of every 7 days
   • Same for mobility training
2. Achieve <12% bodyfat
3. Play videogames for more than 100 hours (estimate 2020: <10 hours)
4. Drink fewer alcoholic drinks than last year (estimate/log 2020: sum 559, average 1.5, median 0 (more days no drinks), max 15, 10+ 5 times, ~56.000kcal ~18 days of energy)
5. Learn to ride a motorcycle