Here are the topics I will be covering
[When I showed the topics to a friend, I was suggested to mention which are helping with physical health, mental health and Work goals. While the reason I did these is to optimize my joy. I enjoy doing these a lot. I do see they are falling into those buckets(not planned, but by chance). So I am diving them below to show which one affected me in which way]
[Physical Health, Mental health]
- Runs – 2000km (163 runs), 5 events
- Workouts – 50 hours(half of them – low intensity)
(I do experience flow in runs, not sure if it’s spiritual as it is being in the present)
[Mental health]
- Books – 31
- Travel – 5 places
[Work goals]
- Work Goals
- Ebook (The subtle art of solo travel)
[Mental health, Physical health]
- Other thoughts (acceptance, therapy, better daily routine, fermented vegetables)
[Everything repeats, but better(public goals). Plus few new(private goals)]
- Goals for 2024
Runs:
Closing this year with <163 Runs> and <2000 Kilometers>
Runs + walks together that are recorded on strava(actual will be high as you will see below from Garmin) Below is my yearly stats
This is the monthly breakup
Total steps this year
Below are the run events I participated this year (5)
Events –
Club Run: 21.1km – Timing: 2:19 Hours
Industrial (half) Marathon: 21.1km – Timing: 2:24 Hours
NMDC HM: 21.1km – Timing: 2:33 Hours
Ladakh Marathon (High Altitude Run): 42.2km – Timing: 7:30 hours (DNFed, cut off: 6:45 hours)
Malnad Ultra (Trail run): 30 km – Timing: 5:11 hours (Cut off: 6:30 hours)
[Below I am writing about my experiences from the above events. But I did have a large learning curve in running, you can read about it in detail here]
Club Run Half Marathon has the best timing so far and I did not expect the timing as I was coming back to run after an 18-month break (before club run, I started back 4 months back properly).
Industrial Marathon in Pune, I went to get a qualification for the Ladakh Marathon. NMDC HM, I thought of quitting in the first few Kilometers but thought I would go slow, I was hit with really bad shin pain. After the 10th kilometre, I felt better and ran properly.
In Ladakh, I fell sick so badly three days before the race, my eyes and face felt swollen. It’s a wonder I even made it to the start line. Long story short, my HR went up even when walking fast. I think I walked off 25 km + in the race but decided to finish the distance(DNFed).
Even with Malnad, I fell sick a few days before the race. I was sick for 5 days and recovered fully before race day. I did enjoy the run on race day though.
While Ladhak and Malnad run, it’s easy for me to blame the sickness, I hardly feel bad about them. Actually, I feel great doing them, because, how many people would want to get on the start line and finish them with a weaker body than usual?
Also note that I would have stopped or pulled myself out of those events, if I remotely felt they were affecting me negatively on the body while on the run, thankfully, nothing much happened.
Workouts:
Haven’t been consistent on workouts from the start, but have been consistent over the last couple of months. Here are my yearly stats for (strength/rehab/prehab) workouts.
Nearly 50 hours.
I plan to not miss any Strength sessions in the coming year too.
Books:
I had a goal of 25 – 50 books this year.
I finished 31 books.
You can check the list here – https://goo.gl/PbrwLr
Books I loved the most that I read this year:
Fiction:
- The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
- Valmikis Women (Audible)
- Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection (Audible)
- THEFT OF SWORDS: The Riyria Revelations (Audible – check the dramatic version for this and next 2 books in this series)
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Non Fiction:
- The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership
- Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be (Audible)
- The Rise of the Ultra Runners: A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance
- Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life
- How to Die (It’s from Seneca, a philosopher, I do not agree with many of them, but listen to it.? You will have a broader perspective)
I loved listening to Audible books. Given Sherlock Holmes and The Riyria Revelations books are over 100 hours together, they helped me walk more because I loved listening to Audiobooks on walks more.
I did include kids books initially in the year as I needed some momentum in reading physical books and they served me the purpose well.
Travel:
I wanted to do an International Trip and planned it towards the end of the year. While I thought I would go in December.
Falling sick a few days before while travelling in Bangalore and Chikmanglur, I kind of hated the Idea of travel as soon as it was mentally pinching me that I may not enjoy it. I planned for Sri Lanka and took the Visa too (on the Atlys app). But once I go and do not enjoy it by any chance, I feel I would be reinforcing a negative thought process cycle. So I skipped the Idea.
After all, what’s the point of travel, if it doesn’t feel like I may enjoy it? I know this was an important goal for me this year, but I do not fear to change things if needed.
Here are the places travelled this year:
- Devarkonda Hike (near to Hyderabad)
- Goa with friends I met in Wayanad (all solo travellers when we met)
- Old Malsjed Trek (Monsoon Trek and totally loved it, unique experience)
- Ladakh for Marathon
- Chikmagalur for Malnad 30km Run (but haven’t seen any places in Chikmagalur as I feel sick)
I did travel to Mumbai for work & Pune for the Half Marathon but not counting them as I did not explore much when I went there in terms of being a tourist. In Mumbai, I did enjoy going to Leopold.
Work Goals:
I had few goals at work in terms. But our company and products were constantly evolving. So I tried my best to keep up with my work and did my best to go in the right direction. While currently I cannot put a number on it, I felt I did decent work there.
Ebook:
I wanted to publish an ebook this year. I had multiple Ideas and wanted to get started on the topic – Solo Travelling.
While I wrote the complete draft, as of today(Dec 31st 2023), it’s unedited. But still, I want to hit publish today and keep it on sale.
I have done 2-day to 100-day solo travellers over the years. I have come over multiple mental blocks while forming a mental model for planning and executing my solo travels with ease.
For now, here is what I am doing for this ebook
Title: The Subtle Art of solo Travel – Timeless guide for first-time solo travellers to plan on their 2-day or 100-day journey with shoestring budgets.
Cost: $1
Deal: Once I put in more effort on editing and formatting. I will raise the ebook price. Everyone who buys now will get the updated version for free(new higher prices won’t be applicable)
Buy here: https://manojsurya.gumroad.com/l/thesubtleartofsolotravel
Other thoughts:
Acceptance: I think I have developed a mind this year. Nothing worries or surprises me much any more. It’s a work in progress, but it’s way better.
Therapy: I know therapy helps when you feel down and it’s a hard pill to swallow. However, I did not have any downtime because of issues, but more like I was lost wanting to do multiple things and doing nothing about them.
The good and bad parts for me have been having interests in multiple things, when the momentum is good, things go well, when things stop, everything seems important and was too lost to start anything.
Going to therapy helped. In just 3-5 weeks, I flushed out everything overloading my mind and got the momentum. Basically, the therapist helped me to prioritize and move on tasks at a time each week. This is one of the best investments I made this year.
Better daily routine (Vegetables, Strength training, Sleep): Last couple of months, I started eating more vegetables(400-600 grams). I started working out with weights. I started to have better sleep (6-7 hours at least). I am feeling way better now and even my runs started to improve. I do not want to trade this for anything else.
Fermented Vegetables: I was watching videos about Gut health and one of the things I came across was having fermented vegetables. It hardly takes 5 mins to do (+ 4 days wait period). I love the taste of them. You should try. I learnt from this Video. You and your gut will love this.
Goals for 2024:
I would divide my 2024 goals into public and private goals.
Here are public goals:
- Runs – Run 1 or 2 ultras (50km +)
- Strength sessions (at least 2 every week, for at least 40 weeks)
- Books (25-50 books)
- Travel (1 or 2 countries, nearby)
My private goals, maybe I will tell them towards the end of 2024 if I hit any of them.