Part Six:
Measure
“In hindsight, the year
probably would have been more productive if I knew what I was looking to find.”
Where does a search begin when
you are unsure what is missing? How can you apply a patch if you have no idea
how to identify the fault? Is something even broken? Is the proper remedy
simply to heal? Can you restore your body to some prior state? If so, what
course will achieve your results?
What is the target?
What is the desired end state?
What is your goal?
What do you need?
What do you want?
What are you searching to find?
Over the next 12 months, Kevin
repeatedly asked those questions and so many more without discovering, in his
assessment, “one damn answer.”
As the year-long experiment
drew to a close, Kevin finally realized comfort that there must be a solution
to fit his needs.
As we already shared, answers
did not come from an analysis of one year’s worth of data — one year’s worth of
data explained how Kevin created his well-being. “I stopped asking questions,”
he explains, “when I finally realized there are no simple cause-and-effect
relationships between inputs, actions, and results. The data did show me the
holistic impact of my lifestyle choices. Detailed measurable inputs and
generalized activities collectively shaped my health and well-being, not the
other way around.
“Without getting ahead of
myself, here’s a quick example. I stopped looking at weight as a goal and
turned it into an input on my future meal choices (just one of so many deciding
factors).”
Every measured input, every
measured/described result, added value – just not in the way Kevin intended
when his journey began. He still diligently records some data points; others
have lost their priority or are no longer tracked. We will talk more about
everything in our following chapters. Here is a quick snapshot, without
analysis, of some of the high-level data accumulated over those 368 days.
Goals
Weight: the reason for
starting this whole adventure. Every effort centered on this primary goal.
October 6, 2019 – 178.0 pounds
Goal: maintain 178.0 (FAILED)
Achievement: October 7, 2020 –
170.8 pounds
Exercise
Goals – various physical and
performance objectives (ALL FAILED)
Achievements:
* Elliptical Trainer (pre-pandemic favorite) 150.9 hours
* Stationary trainer (post-pandemic favorite) 140.5 hours, 1906.24 miles (13.62 MPH)
Writing
Goal – complete and publish my
next novel (FAILED)
Goal – begin graduate school
program for an MFA in creative writing (FAILED)
Achievements:
* Nine blog posts published
* Unpublished
** Six blog posts
** Five short stories
Various nonprofit goals and
fundraising objectives (ALL FAILED)
Personal goals – who I want to
be (ALL FAILED)
Results
My Daily Grade
My daily grade frame of
reference (since I started tracking on April 8, 2013)
***
The
developing draft of my story will be shared on this secure drive location: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1E4cNpkFBU4qf3zYDIqZ5Nw72DzhGe88r?usp=sharing
These are the
thoughts going through my mind as I try to piece it all together…
This is not about what my life will be like when the
fight is over.
I will never stop
I will never quit
This is my story
https://mssociety.donordrive.com/participant/Eleanor
100%
of the royalties earned from my books go to the National MS Society, to support
our fight: http://neverstopneverquit.com/books
Never Stop… Never Quit…®
Kevin
Byrne
Portland,
OR
www.neverstopneverquit.blogspot.com
Never Stop…
Never Quit…
Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
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