Goals

Public accountability is the greatest motivator.

These goals are correlated with, but not causal to happiness.

They’re anti-sad, but pro-happy comes not from checking off boxes but by building meaningful relationships with God, self, family, and friends.

Why do I measure? Because whenever things aren’t going well I often attribute it to a lacking of one of these things. But I don’t keep this checkbox list to make me happy. Happiness is perspective and relationships. Purpose. So why this list? Well, they’re the foundation of a guided, structured, and prosperous life.

• Studying scriptures and praying teaches me who I am and what my purpose is here on earth. It also gives me perfect role models to follow (Christ’s example in the scriptures, and God’s influence on me during prayer). What better way to guide your rudder (as Christensen says), than to be influenced by God on a daily basis. They say you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Why not make the number 1 person you spend your most valuable time to be God? (I don’t have to spend 5 hours. 5 very meaningful minutes can correct my day.)

• Writing about my study is my little attempt to share God’s light with the world. Imagine what social media would look like if everyone shared an insight from Marcus Aurelius, Buddha, Ghandi, Jesus, Mohammad, on a daily basis and how that insight affected their perspective? Be the change you want to see in the world, they say.

• Writing gratitude rewires my brain. It causes me to see things I wouldn’t. Why not just say things I’m grateful for during prayer or a gratitude journal? I dunno. Those things don’t help me for some reason. It always feels forced (I’ve tried it dozens of ways). Somehow, writing in public, gives me a great sense of “I mean it.” Helps me think about that thing. Give it real thought.

• Physical health. Strength helps my bones. The effects of weight lifting are seen over decades, not months. I need to take better care of my bones. Same with cardio. They both energize today, but they prevent a whole host of bad things tomorrow and beyond. The effects are compounding - in both directions. Physical health also drives me to eat better. Eating better doesn’t cause me to exercise, but exercising caueses me to eat better. Less snacks.

• Meditating helps me train my mind. It’s a moment where I think about something I want to improve on. Less reactivity as a dad to kids misbehaving. More optimism. More appreciation for the body I have, the health I enjoy, the freedom I have in this world.

2024 Goals: Read, hike, pray, meditate, workout, give thanks daily, study scripture daily

Objective

• Deepen my relationship with and connection to God, self, family, and friends.
• Enjoy intellectual growth and historical understanding
• Have fun.

KPIs

Reading:

• 52 books. 12 fiction. 12 biographies. 12 business/self help. 4 religious. And 12 free choice (history, philosophy, career/data-ai). See Reading List.

Daily Habits:

• Pray
• Meditate
• Workout (strength and cardio)
• Give thanks (write a post)
• Study scriptures (write a post)
• Go to Sleep by 10:30pm

Weekly Habits:

• Family Home Evening with my kids (Come Follow Me study + activity)
• Church by 9:45
• Call a friend
• Hike (Goal: 30+ hikes in the year)

Monthly:

• Date night.

Quarterly:

• Attend the temple - a religious building (separate from church).
• Explore and vacate: Weekend trip or week vacation to new place (national parks, overnight stay). Goal is 4 trips this year.

Habits

Figure 1: Goals

Daily Habits
	☀️	💧	📖	🙏🏻	🚴🏻	🏋🏼‍♂️	🧘🏼‍♂️	🛐	🔗
Wed 4/24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tue 4/23	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Sun 4/21	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Sat 4/20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wed 4/17	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Mon 4/15	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Sat 4/13	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Fri 4/12	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Thu 4/11	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Wed 4/10	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Tue 4/9	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Sat 4/6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Fri 4/5	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Thu 4/4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Wed 4/3	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
📖: Study, 🙏🏻: Gratitude, 🛐: Pray, 🚴🏻‍♂️: Cardio, 🏋🏼‍♂️: Strength, 🧘🏼‍♂️: Meditate

Figure 2: Recent streak

Records

settings - G3, 29:3, i:0

Key metrics since 2024-01-10:

• Total Rides: 14
• Total Time: 150.5 minutes
• Total Output: 1890KJ

Peloton Records with percent-of-max calculations to pace myself for next ride.

Bike Records
Time	KJ	Avg W	Day	90%	80%	70%
15.0	216	240	2024-01-27	194.4KJ (216avg)	172.8KJ (192avg)	151.2KJ (168avg)
7.5	127	281	2024-02-02	114.3KJ (252.9avg)	101.6KJ (224.8avg)	88.9KJ (196.7avg)
8.0	101	210	2024-03-09	90.9KJ (189avg)	80.8KJ (168avg)	70.7KJ (147avg)
10.0	202	337	2024-04-13	181.8KJ (303.3avg)	161.6KJ (269.6avg)	141.4KJ (235.9avg)

Figure 3: Peloton Records

All rides

Figure 4: All Peloton Rides

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Bryan lives somewhere at the intersection of faith, fatherhood, and futurism and writes about tech, books, Christianity, gratitude, and whatever’s on his mind. If you liked reading, perhaps you’ll also like subscribing: