Week 2023#28: resting and saying no

Saying "no" to things you enjoy is hard but sometimes necessary

The view from next to Meremäe vaatetorn - South Estonia is definitely worth a visit!

What I’ve learned

Sometimes you need to say no to the things you enjoy.

After attending the Võnge festival last weekend, I felt incredibly tired.

That’s also why there was no post last week!

So week 27 was spent essentially in maintenance mode.

And this turned out to be hard!

It meant saying no to all kinds of social gatherings, opportunities to meet new people, and ending things just when you have the most fun.

But while saying “no” in the moment is hard, the reward of getting to bed before midnight is obvious the next day.

After managing a few nights of going to bed early, I discovered a different problem:

I was still tired!

The only reason I could think of was changing my exercise routine from frequent workouts (4 to 5 per week) at medium-high intensity to less frequent workouts (2-3 per week) at an all-out-the-weight-doesn’t-move-anymore.

Re-reading the 4-Hour Body because I remembered a bit about High-Intensity Training, which is essentially what I’m doing now, I found a footnote about muscle tissue needing a similar amount of time to heal like burnt tissue.

Currently, I like to think that that’s the reason for my tiredness, and desire to eat and sleep more, and also explains why my legs feel like glowing embers a day after a leg workout.

That brings me to another “no”: working out even more. Going to the gym is a strong habit for me and it’s difficult not to go. Kind of like not brushing your teeth.

Direction vs Movement

Direction for Week 26:

• Vision: I drafted a vision, amended it two days later, and reviewed it a week after, and everything turned out to be still relevant! Time to continue with the book!

Direction for Week 29:

• Saying “no”: I want to consciously experiment with saying “no” to opportunities and things I enjoy. The biggest challenge: not going to a café Monday to Friday.

• Recovery: sleep and eat more, on the few workout days, left: go all-out and fully fatigue the muscle.

What happened

Not much, given that I was sleeping/resting a lot!

The highlight was that I finally got my paper from Germany confirming that I’ll be released from German citizenship upon gaining Estonian citizenship 🎉

Only 9 more days until my appointment at the Estonian police office to hopefully finalize the process 🤞