What can I say?

👋 🚀 👍

Another year, another “Hello world” entry! 😂

It’s all about the content, so there’s no need for fancy styling right now - please forgive me! 🙏

I’ve started 2018 by finishing a book “Principles” by Ray Dalio. I’m impressed about how you can use rules to create your own way of living. I’ve decided that this year I’m going to implement MY principles and stick to them. I would also like to share them with other people so they can see them and know what they can expect from me. Sharing, as a bonus, comes with an external motivation 🙂

Here we go, 10 rules/guidelines for Adam Nowak, let’s start with the first one:

Slow down. Enjoy, don’t rush

Not much to add here. I’ve realised that in 2017, I’ve read more books than blogposts. And I kinda liked it. Instead of skimming through the content or navigating by headlines – I took the time to enjoy the topic in a broad context.

This is connected to multiple contexts as well. My job requires wearing a lot of hats every day and switching the context all the time. I accept it, but I rather focus on doing one thing at the time than trying to handle multiple things at once. I feel that’s better in the long run and keeping focus helps a lot in achieving great results. As I want great results as much as I want to enjoy my work – slowing down and focusing seem like a good tips for me.

There’s a great quote by David McCullough Jr which fits perfectly here:

Climb a mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air, and behold the view. Climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world.

⏮ Read the first part of the “Principles” series here

If I don’t know how should I react in a given situation – I usually use this simple rule: Treat people the way you want to be treated. It works! And this year I want to make it more special, so I add treat them better on top of that. How do I want to achieve that?

Be nice, break the ice

If someone new joins my group, I need to make sure that the person doesn’t get ignored and gets recognition from other members of the group. I’m going to make the first step. It’s easier for me to start, then it is for a new person. They might not know the group well and be worried about making a good introduction. Or there might be a thousand other reasons which makes them uncomfortable. I want people to enjoy their time and not to stress a lot – taking of that stress does do the job!

Example I like here is the very short and simple. If I see someone waiting for a recruitment appointment, sitting somewhere in the lobby, I tend to ask what position do they apply for, who’s going to be in the meeting, give them a hint (or two). When after few weeks I can talk to this person as my new team mate and they remember the face I’m really happy and satisfied that I’ve made a good job. There’s a relation already and everything goes smoother with that in place!

What if something goes wrong?

I see stuff failing all the times. People are not happy about that. My job is to make things smooth. I want to be more helpful for other people and I want to do that by a few key guidelines:

1. Ask about the problem (don’t assume anything), and remember than asking once is not enough. The real problem lays deeper. You can help by asking questions and thus forcing the person to take a step back. You need to help them to get things in order.
2. Don’t make things worse by being ignorant. If someone asks for help, give them the answer and try to narrow down the solution. Saying nothing is worse than saying “I don’t know” or pointing to other person who might now the subject.
3. Stay in the loop. Don’t quit the discussion after first round. You’re done when the dust settles.
4. Make sure there’s the incident owner. It there is no one – congratulations, your job is to use your experience and make the problem go away.
5. Ask if your help is enough. We might thing that we’re helpful, but the reality might be different. Do one more step, and ask if “there is anything else you can do”.

Why do all of that?

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ― Maya Angelou

⏮ Read the previous part of the “Principles” series here

We all like to complain from time to time, that’s in our nature, especially in my Polish nation. This post is not about judging who we are, but it’s about the way we should reduce this step from our conversation with others.

Take a deep breath

Imagine this situation: you talk to your boss (or even your colleague), there’s something you don’t particularly like about it, maybe the task isn’t perfect or there’s no enough information. Your peer states their point of view and as the response – you roll your eyes 🙄, exhales deeply and say that you don’t like it. The conversation goes forward, days go by and you’re done with the task.

Can you see what’s unnecessary here? Exactly, the grumpy part.

Replace or eliminate?

The rule is simple:

• if you don’t have an opinion, just eliminate complaining and get your hands on the task’s execution
• if you have a better idea or some questions, engage in the conversation, saying all you have to say, without any grudge on your side.

Why is it important?

No one wants to spend a lot of time on persuading someone else. From my own perspective, when I see that my conversation partner goes the grumpy way, I feel like the other person is mad at me like I’ve done something wrong and like I would like to do something bad to them. And that’s not the case 99% time.

I try to pause the conversation when I see something like this, say how I feel about it and ask if we can replace this behaviour by spending time on generating ideas or arguments why it might not be the best idea ever. And do this in a pleasant way, without aggrieving anyone.

⏮ Read the previous part of the “Principles” series here

Believe it or not, but most of the people don’t want to make other people’s lives worse and they don’t plan to ruin your day! At least, I think so:)

After spending many years with different people, I’ve realised that what we feel about some decision or a situation isn’t the same what other people feel about it. And that’s the source of all the issues and misunderstandings.

I want to encourage you (& me!) to do three things:

• Don’t take decisions personally
• If you have doubts – simply ask the person behind it about their point of view.
• Assume positive intent!

If you want to talk to the person who you think might have done something bad/stupid and you disagree with this, don’t hesitate to express your concerns. The key thing here is to use some form of Nonviolent Communication, by using your sincere feelings and explaining your point of view.

I try to follow this guidance and I never assume that someone (especially one of my co-workers) would like to do something bad. My algorithm is simple:

1. Accept the fact that someone has a different point of view
2. Try to understand it
3. Ask this person about things that concern you
4. < someone is going to profit from this discussion >
5. Move on

Assume positive intent, have a meaningful discussion and benefit from understanding a different point of view. It’s much better than getting angry and letting stress to come into your body.

⚓️ Originally posted on Linkedin as a haiku-like entry

I’ve always assumed that DevOps are the people who work between servers and developers.

That was until I read a novel titled The Phoenix Project, recommended to me by Bartosz Pranczke.

Suddenly, all the pieces started to fit, and the software development environment looks different to me. I realised that DevOps is not a function, but a culture.

… and that everyone on the team is responsible for a project’s success.

Implementing DevOps around a project is HARD.

So imagine that my current goal is to help the entire organization do that.

I’ve spent a lot of time recently working closer to the projects, analyzing our development processes and talking with people.

For starters, I would like to define and track KPIs that will help us decide whether we’re headed in the right direction.

Once we know the baseline, we can start improving.

The metrics pick will likely not be ideal, but we need them to build self-assurance, improve, and celebrate progress.

🔗 Originally posted on Linkedin as a haiku-like entry

Improving daily work is even more important than doing daily work.

The above is another quote from The Phoenix Project book I’ve mentioned in my last post.

When I heard about “kaizen” for the first time, I didn’t expect that I would experience its power so much in my professional career.

When Netguru was a small company, we made dozens of small improvements every day. It helped us to improve quality, embrace the growth, and be ready for all the challenges in front of us in the constantly changing environment.

I see no other option for hyper-growing companies than embracing Continuous Improvement principles as a part of their core values.

I feel that the one area which we haven’t improved in a kaizen way is… the kaizen way of doing things in the company.

We’re not small anymore, and finding the time for improvement is not granted. We have to make room for that.

We’re on our way to address this: we’ve introduced investment time for our team. We’re thinking about adding “kaizen blitz” to our flow, so people can more often focus on a given area, gather like-minded people, and introduce various improvements.

Hello 👋!

I’m experimenting with my site right now, stay tuned for the updates!

Since I moved to my new office space some time ago, I wanted to build a workspace worth sharing. It’s very basic, works well for my needs and helps to get work done when I work at home!

Core setup

Laptop

I use a 2016 MacBook Pro 13″ in Space Gray.

I’ve liked it in the beginning, but recently I run into issues with the keyboard (this is real and I actually know more people who have some issues with their MacBook keyboards than the people who don’t have any issues) and the overall performance of the OS and I’m looking forward to a replacement in upcoming months (probably a 16" MacBook Pro).

It’s the basic configuration with TouchBar and 16GB of RAM. I usually work with Chrome, some docs, terminal and other small apps but the amount of RAM is never enough!

MacBook sits on a silver Rain Design mStand. It’s not matched to the color of the hardware but I don’t mind it (there was some kind of promotion on this particular color after all).

Display

In 2017 I bought LG 27UD88-W display. It’s 27", 4K and it has a USB-C connection which works great with my MacBook (one cable for power&display).

The only issue I had initially, was the USB-C cable itself. The one delivered with the display was to short for my cable management needs and I had to look for a replacement. The one provided with the MacBook doesn’t transfer data (it transmits power only), the other ones are short or have some other issues. After some time, I found the right cable on Amazon, unfortunately, it’s not available anymore.

The display is mounted on a Maclean MC-628. It’s cheap but for a couple of years I had 0 issues with it and I’m able to move the display in all directions. Sometimes I bring it closer to my face, sometimes I put it back. There’s no such thing as one-hand, assisted arrangement, but it’s good enough to not worry about it.

Keyboard and trackpad

I use Apple’s  Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2. I don’t use any mouse for years and don’t miss it at all. I like the fact that I can charge them over a cable and I don’t have to worry about buying another pair of AA batteries.

Additional devices

I have a couple of additional devices on my desk as well.

Speakers

Long time ago, it was 2002 or 2003 — I dreamed of having a 5.1 speaker system. I bought Creative Inspire 6.1 6700 back then. They are with me for almost 20 years already, even though I use them as 2.1 system right now.

Ten years later I bought a pair of 2.0 Creative GigaWorks T20 Series II, but after few years and changing the desk I decided to put them back to the box and have some fun with the sub and two satellites from the 6700 set. Why? Mostly because of the size (satellites are very small) and they have a wired remote which is glued to the bottom of my desk and I use it to control the volume of the speakers.

It’s not ideal but for work — this setup is pretty much OK.

Headphones

Newest addition to my setup: Jabra Elite 85H. These are noise-cancelling headphones which helped me to survive train and plane travel last year. I like the fact that they offer 3 modes of working (ANC/Off/Hear-trough), have physical buttons, the battery lasts for 35h+ and they pause the music when I put them off.

Clock

The clock is some no-name LCD device bought for 50PLN on Allegro. It shows the temperature and the time obviously, but it also fits nicely to the black desk.

Microphone

I love this one — it’s a beautiful Blue Snowball in a… blue color. I bought it mostly because of the color, but for the number of remote calls I do every day — I think it’s worth the investment. The microphone is mounted on a Rode PSA1 arm and is one of the things that allows me to keep the desk tidy.

External camera

As I mentioned, I do a lot of Meet/Zoom/Slack calls every day, so it’s important for me to have a decent Audio/Video setup. In addition to the Blue microphone described earlier, I use a Logitech C920 webcam which offers nice quality and allows me to get a better angle than using a camera available on my MacBook.

Phone

iPhone 6s — it works! I don’t rely heavily on the phone so I don’t need to upgrade it every year. However, I’m going to switch it as soon as iPhones will get the USB-C type connector. I love the photo quality of the iPhone 11, but the Lighting port was a dealbreaker last year.

I use a stand for the phone which also holds the Apple Watch charger and allows me to charge the devices when I work at the desk and helps me to keep the cables organized.

The Desk

The desk is a custom-built one. Two pieces of Swiss Krono Worktop — the front one 70x180cm and the side one (on the left) 60x110cm. It’s very deep and there’s plenty of space. The worktop sits on two IKEA Alex drawers which suit the black&white theme of the desk and offer additional storage for the commonly used items like cables, accessories, etc.

That’s it! If you have any questions — reach out to me on Mastodon @lubieniebieski@social.lol!

Im bliżej wiosny, tym bardziej się cieszę, że słońca coraz więcej i razem z nim – takie oto cuda będę mógł oglądać częściej!

Uroki życia na wsi. A ile uciechy z oglądania prac rolniczych dla moich dwóch urwisów!

Jak tylko zobaczyłem, że jest model w kolorze “niebieskim”, nie mogłem się powstrzymać.

Różnica prędkości między s2, a s6 jest kolosalna – korzystanie z wszystkich funkcji sprawia autentycznie radość i satysfakcję. Mam wrażenie, że to samo uczucie towarzyszyło mi przy pierwszym zegarku, więc chyba Apple specjalnie dodaje jakieś instrukcje w swoich aktualizacjach, żeby uczucie spowolnienia i niechęci wywołać.

BTW, sorry za odcisk palucha, przynajmniej widać, że to nie jest super sterylny sprzęt – on ma być używany i będzie tak wyglądał!

Na pierwszy rzut oka wygląda nieźle, a potem się zastanawiam dlaczego zasłaniam sobie wizjer 🙈

Czasami warto z rana przejść się po okolicy, widoki wynagradzają. Listopad w swojej łagodnej okazałości!

Właśnie sobie uświadomiłem, że jednym z fajniejszych prezentów jakie można sobie sprawić jest… fotoksiążka.

Jak to miało być? Plany vs rzeczywistość

Miałem w planach zrobić sobie takie bardzo dobre jakościowo książki ze zdjęciami podsumowujące każdy kolejny rok, jednak jakoś nigdy nie było we mnie wystarczająco dużo weny, żeby ten projekt zrealizować. Na początek — przeraża mnie selekcja zdjęć — ładnych zdjęć, które są dla mnie istotne jest w każdym roku ZA DUŻO. W ostatnich miesiącach lepiej sobie radzę z ratingiem ★★★★☆ podczas pracy z biblioteką, ale nie jest to coś co praktykowałem od zawsze. Czyli póki co — pod górkę. Żeby było ładnie, chciałbym żeby wszystko było spójne i w jednym stylu, a to zawsze kojarzyło mi się z olbrzymim wysiłkiem włożonym w projekt layoutu, w jakimś Photoshop czy innym cudzie. Again, pod górkę. Ci, którzy mnie znają wiedzą, że też lubię robić trochę lepiej niż “dobrze”, więc naczytałem się postów o obróbce, kalibracji, papierze, gramaturze i szeregu innych parametrów, które mają wpływ na docelowy wydruk. Jak się pewnie domyślacie, efekt jest taki, że nie zrobiłem żadnej fotoksiążki.

Do dziś!

Moja pierwsze przygoda z fotoksiążką

Dostałem ostatnio w zakupach kod rabatowy na fotoksiążke w cewe.pl, wywołałem i… tak to wygląda:

Jest całkiem fajnie. Przede wszystkim uśmiech na twarzy wywołują wszystkie zdjęcia które się znalazły w wydruku, wspominam z chłopakami KIEDY TO BYŁO i co w tym czasie robiliśmy — dobrze spędzony czas.

Proces powstawania

W bólach:) Ale nie takich jak sobie wyobrażałem! Jest aplikacja, ma gotowe layouty, ma możliwość edycji wbudowaną, zarządza się intuicyjnie i nie było żadnych problemów (było tam wszystko co mi przyszło do głowy, w stylu templatów na różną ilość zdjęć na stronę, style kolorystyczne, podpisy, etc.).

1. Wybrałem foty, po kilka z każdego miesiąca ostatniego roku
2. Wyeksportowałem do jednego folderu
3. Rozpocząłem pracę z kreatorem, wrzucając cały folder ze zdjęciami, wybrałem ile stron ma się znaleźć w finalnym produkcie
4. Program podzielił mi sprytnie na strony zgodnie z porządkiem chronologicznym
5. Pozostało mi wprowadzenie poprawek (wymiana zdjęć, inne kadrowanie, inne rozmieszczenie)
6. Klik, klik, wysłałem, zapłaciłem (kuponem! a bez rabatu jakieś 150zł przy 40 stronach) i gotowe

Czego się nauczyłem?

• Bądź bezwzględny w selekcji zdjęć!
• Rating zdjęć — rzecz obowiązkowa. 3 gwiazdki to dobre zdjęcie, 4 to coś co śmiało trafia do takich rocznych fotoksiążek, a 5 to totalne koksy, które powinno się wydrukować i poprzylepiać na ścianach
• Wyłącz wszystkie autopoprawiacze zdjęć (nie wyłączyłem tego globalnie i nie jestem zadowolony miejscami, bo sam zrobiłem obróbkę wcześniej)
• Sprawdź sobie kilka produktów, w różnych serwisach, różnice są, czasem jest to jakość, czasem jest to cena, czasem UX aplikacji, czy inne aspekty
• NIE BĘDZIE IDEALNIE ZA PIERWSZYM RAZEM!
• Chociaż raz przeleć przez projekt po zakończeniu ale przed wysłaniem. Dobrym pomysłem jest niepowielanie tego samego zdjęcia kilka razy (tak, tak właśnie zrobiłem).
• Daj sobie czas na pracę z materiałem, takich rzeczy nie powinno się robić w pośpiechu, emocje ze zdjęć są warte chwili refleksji nad tym jak je najlepiej przekazać na wydruku
• Kombinuj z różnymi rzeczami w rocznym albumie: dodaj coś co się działo w okolicy, wspólne przygody w kuchni, najbliższych, rzeczy wesołe i rzeczy ważne — you can do better niż “tylko dzieci” 😉

Kilka lat już nie wywoływałem fotek, ten krótki projekt uświadomił mi jak przyjemny jest efekt końcowy i że warto czasem poświęcić kawałek wieczoru, żeby móc “pomacać” wspomnienia!

This week, the new Porsche GT3 has it’s premiere.

The flagship model is painted in a beautiful Shark Blue colour and I couldn’t resist to create my own specification (just in case I have 1M PLN to spare 🙈). Renders from the configurator went directly to my desktops and they are replacing the previous gen Porsche!

I really like this one, especially all the blue accents (Shark Blue seatbelts, blue rim and lights decors). I could definitely ride one! There should be a GT3 Touring version coming soon (no spoiler, manual only) and I’m really looking forward to see one!

Updates from the previous edition are marked with 🆕 and include: the heart of the battlestation, keyboard abd a Loupedeck interface. If you’re interested in the previous setup, please take a look at [My workspace 2021][1].

Core setup

Computer 🆕

I use a 2023 Mac Studio.

M2 Max with 12-CORE CPU + 38-CORE GPU, 1TB SSD + 64GB RAM. More than enough for anything that I throw at it. Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve, Docker, VS Code, even browsing the web – everything is fast and smooth. I’m really happy with this machine.

I’m satisfied the most with the number of ports available. I can connect all my devices without any issues. Not a single dongle is required. I still have my Anker Hub connected to the computer, but it’s mostly because of the cable management.

2023 is the first year when I bought a stationary Mac, after almost 15 years of using laptops. I’m happy with the decision, but I have to admit that I miss the portability of the laptop. If I had to travel a lot, I would probably stick to the laptop.

Display

In 2017 I bought LG 27UD88-W display. It’s 27";, 4K and it has a USB-C connection which works great as a laptop companion (one cable for power&display). Currently connected via HDMI.

The desktop is occupied by a beautiful GT3 Touring most of the time, or a different creation coming either from my own camera.

Keyboard and mouse 🆕

I used trackpad for years, but when I switched to MX Master 3 for Mac – I never looked back. Great scrolling and customisation possibilities, I can have a different mouse-key bindings for each application.

Big change for me was switching to a mechanical keyboard. I started with Keychron K14 some time ago and after some time changed it to Kechron Q1 Pro. I struggled a lot after switching from the Apple flat keyboard, it hurt for quite some time. Didn’t give up, bought a funny things called arm rest from Fellowes and it helped a lot.

It has a blue esc key, has a knob, all the F-keys are available and it’s a pleasure to type on it!

Additional devices

I have a couple of additional devices on my desk as well.

Speakers

Long time ago, it was 2002 or 2003 — I dreamed of having a 5.1 speaker system. I bought Creative Inspire 6.1 6700 back then. They are with me for almost 20 years already, even though I use them as 2.1 system right now.

I use the sub and two satellites from the 6700 set. Why? Mostly because of the size (satellites are very small) and they have a wired remote which is glued to the bottom of my desk and I use it to control the volume of the speakers.

It’s not ideal but for work — this setup is pretty much OK.

Headphones

I choose beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO. You can wear them all day long, they produce good reproduction of the voice and are aesthetically pleasing. I didn’t like the original black/gray combination and went for the all-black edition. Until they arrived, I didn’t notice that they come with a different impedance (250 vs 80 Ohm). Not sure how much I lost because of that, but I have to admit that the are great!

Additionally, I own a pair of Apple AirPods Pro 2nd gen. These are noise-cancelling headphones which help me to survive train/plane travels as well as help to cut off the environment when I need it.

Microphone

My mic of choice is Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB. I spend quite a lot of time on calls and look like a serious podcaster

It’s a dynamic microphone and I think it much better suits my needs and it’s a good choice for people who deal with a lot of noise around.

The microphone is mounted on a Rode PSA1 arm and is one of the things that allows me to keep the desk tidy.

Microphone is capable of running via USB-C, but I picked up Audient EVO 4 interface. One of the reasons was that the provided USB-C cable was too short. XLR cable is much more robust (and longer) and works fine with the setup. I like the fact that I finally have a hardware mute button available for me and I like the visualisation provided by white LED on the device.

External camera

As I mentioned, I do a lot of Meet/Zoom/Slack calls every day, so it’s important for me to have a decent Audio/Video setup. In addition to the Blue microphone described earlier, I use a Logitech C922 webcam which offers nice quality and allows me to get a better angle than using a camera available on my MacBook.

Clock

I would like it to be a piece of art, but — this clock is some no-name LCD device bought for 50PLN on Allegro. It shows the temperature and the time obviously, but it also fits nicely to the black desk.

Loupedeck interface 🆕

I’m not a professional photographer, but I like to spend some time in Lightroom and edit my photos. In order to improve my game and speed up the process, I’ve bought a Loupedeck Live device. It’s a customisable interface which can be used with a variety of applications. I use it with Lightroom mostly and it’s a pleasure to use it. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s worth it.

Apart from using it in Lightroom, I use it as a macro keyboard. I have a couple of shortcuts configured for it and it’s very handy – switching things on/off, opening applications, managing windows, etc.

The Desk

The desk is a custom-built one. Two pieces of Swiss Krono Worktop — the front one 70x180cm and the side one (on the left) 60x110cm. It’s very deep and there’s plenty of space. The worktop sits on two IKEA Alex drawers which suit the black&white theme of the desk and offer additional storage for the commonly used items like cables, accessories, etc.

When I want to change my position from sitting to standing, I use a standing desk converter FlexiSpot EdgeRiser. Entire platform looks a bit ugly, like a transformer but it does a good job in delivering the ability of working in a siting or standing position. Everything is steady event in the top position. It’s not electric, but it turned out not to be that much of an issue. The only challenge I had with this setup was the cable organisation. It’s pretty clean now, after buying some cable organisers, double-sided tapes and other stuff.

Shelves

Behind the computer, I have a few shelves. I use them to host some of my LEGO cars — currently it’s a Porsche 911 RSR, a Porsche 911 Turbo/Targa, and an Aston Martin DB5.

Unfortunately, the plants don’t survive in my office for too long, so after many casualties, I decided to go for a cactus 🌵. It’s a nice addition to the shelves and it’s easy to take care of.

Lightning

I’ve added a few lighting sources around the room. The most important one is the Yongnuo YN-300 Air LED lamp. It allows my face to shine (lol) during the calls. There’s a variety of combinations of how can this lamp be used, starting from flexibility of movement and ending up with the light temperature. Additionaly, I have some Philips Hue lights around the room to add some colour to the background.

That’s it! If you have any questions — reach out to me on Mastodon @lubieniebieski@social.lol!

After the events in Twitter back in 2022, I decided to rethink a bit my visibility there and other social media. Somehow, I ended up with a pretty old-school conclusion.

I’m giving this blog/site another go. I don’t expect to post multiple times a day, but a few entries a year would be a nice improvement comparing to the last few years…

Currently, I’m exploring a few things:

• Mastodon lubieniebieski@social.lol as a Twitter alternative and re-entry to interactions in the webz if you’re out there — let me know!
• 2FA improvements with YubiKey
• Loving RSS more than ever (thanks Reeder!)
• Changing my e-mail setup a bit — I decided to buy a domain and run it on Fastmail
• My plan is to write about these topics a bit more in upcoming weeks.

Cheers!

So… Last night I had this idea of changing one more thing in my setup and that was to move my site from Wordpress to Hugo. For a few last days I had been thinking about it and I was really curious how it would work out. I had a few things in mind that I wanted to achieve with this change:

• migrate away from my hosting provider and reduce costs
• have a static site that I can host anywhere (Github Pages included)
• have a site that is easy to maintain and update
• have a way to write posts in Markdown
• have a feeling of doing something new and exciting
• have a site that is fast and lightweight
• being able to write posts in my favorite editor (currently VS Code, as my Vim muscle memory faded away a bit)
• do something “hackish” and fun

Here we are! I’m happy with the result! There are a few things that I’d like to introduce, like light/dark theme switcher or a better way of handling images, but I’ll get to that later.

I’ve just closed the activity rings for 100th consecutive day!

There are two main thoughts in my head which I’d like to share.

I wouldn’t believe myself that this is even possible

Yes, me! I did it and I’m celebrating it here!

Usually when I tried keeping track of my activities, I’d eventually failed due to some random coincidences like a bunch of clouds, pain in the a… ahm, important body part, or just sheer lack of motivation. Every time I failed, I felt awful and frustrated ‘cause I’d put in effort for like, a single day and then have to start all over again. Plus, with all the things I have to get done or simply would like to do like work, playing with the kids, talking to family, and getting the proper amount of exercise- it often seemed impossible.

But here I am, having achieved my goal of consecutive 100 days!

I heard other people did it, yet me? Yes, me indeed! I’m here celebrating it!

It was surprisingly easy

I went for a walk one day, closed the ring, felt good. I did the same the next day. No one complained, no one was angry, no one was disappointed. Job was done.

It was dark outside (thank you Polish winter!), but thanks to multiple flashlights waiting for me in the drawer I was able to walk and conquer the darkness.

It was raining outside, but I had this jacket which was waterproof and I was able to walk and conquer the rain.

It was cold outside, but fancy beanie, gloves and winter jacket made the difference and helped me to conquer the cold.

It was busy at work, but I found a walking pad laying under my desk. It turned to be quite useful and helped me to stay active while working on my computer. Lack of time was no longer the issue.

It was not difficult at all. All I had to do was to apply the right tools and techniques and I was able to conquer the obstacles that I faced.

Results

• 100 days of activity rings closed
• one weird exercise during company’s Christmas party (I realized at 23:40 that I still need to close the rings for the day and ended up running up and down the stairs in the building for 15 minutes)
• weight KPIs not met 😬, but I guess it’s more about the fact that there were many occasions to eat a lot of great food and it would be a sin not to eat a lot of it
• I wasn’t ill, nor felt bad in any way
• I don’t feel tired, coffee is more of a habit than a necessity
• I sleep well
• it was the first time since a few years that I didn’t feel depressed during the end of the year season
• I feel good!

What’s next?

Next steps? Who knows? Keeping up a routine is something I plan to continue, and I can’t wait to get back out on my bike and enjoy the sunshine!

Good job Adam! 💪