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By C. Jake Williams. April 26, 2010
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Nobody's perfect; we can all improve. I can't make you a better person, but I'm dedicating this post to ways that I can improve my shortcomings and bad habits, which appear in no particular order of seriousness.
Here is a list of problems; I'll cover the solutions after.
1. Nasal speech - I believe my voice resonates within my throat, mouth, and nose. The proportion in my nasal cavity is, I believe, far too large. I'd like to eliminate that component of my speech.
2. Water-to-Mountain Dew ratio - I don't drink enough water and, although I have cut down greatly on my Dew consumption, I drink too much soda. I'd like to increase the relative amount of water that goes into my body.
3. Posture - My posture sucks.
4. Working out - I don't. I should.
5. Flexibility - Shane tells me that the best athletes are very flexible and I've never touched my toes straight-legged.
6. Study more
7. Read more recreationally
8. Write more
9. Get on a more regular and possibly more human sleep schedule - since I don't have one.
10. Sleep on my back - because it will help with posture and keeping my girlfriend happy.
11. Make fewer lists
Those are the issues, next are my proposed solutions. I will begin implementing these today, April 26 in the year of your lord 2010.
Maybe I'm wrong about my nasal cavity being a problem and maybe I'm wrong that I can correct it even if it is an issue. Time will tell. Basically the idea I have is to plug my nostrils with cotton balls and go about my daily business. When I speak with nostrils plugged I notice pressure in my nose, especially with the sounds from letters M and N. The plan is to teach myself to speak those sounds without the use of my nose.
Drinking more water seems easy enough, as does drinking less Dew. The key here is that I'll keep cases of bottled water in my apartment and car so that when I have a craving for any liquid, I can walk over/reach back to my water stash and hydrate.
I slouch my shoulders forward and my stomach has two horizontal lines from constantly shortening my torso. I need to concentrate on rolling my shoulders back, keeping my lungs open, and hinging more at the waist. I don't have a reminder system yet for this point of improvement. Any ideas?
My brother is doing P90X and seeing noteworthy results. I had started the program with him, but stopped when I stopped working. Today is day one; ninety days to go (since I haven't actually completed the first workout).
P90X will also help with increasing my flexibility, but I also plan to complete extra sessions of YogaX and Dr. Oz's Seven-Minute Workout. I know, that's basically more Yoga, but I always feel a great stretch from Oz's quick routine. I really want to touch my toes with straight legs and a bent waist.
Studying more will be easy because I have tons of time that used to be occupied by a job. Same goes to reading for fun and writing.
My idea for getting on a good sleep schedule starts with not going to bed tonight (it's 2am Monday morning) until Monday night. I've been awake since 2pm Sunday afternoon, so I figure I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight after being awake for about thirty hours. After that I need to decrease the amount I sleep, take fewer or no naps, and have discipline in my decisions to only sleep at night and to actually sleep each night.
Sleeping on my back is probably the toughest challenge I face. I've tried to sleep on my back for years now with little success. I sleep best on my side with one arm under my head and the other shoulder forward. Basically, that means I can sleep if my posture is terrible with my shoulders up and forward. My lungs aren't receiving maximum oxygen and the fibers in my chest are shortening to further deteriorate my posture. I need to think more about this problem. Again, any ideas short of tying myself down? Because I tried that.
I'll give you ten reasons why lists are a problem for me.
No I won't.
Please send me your ideas to anything from above. As with any post on my site, you can click the Email Jake link next to my picture and it will email me anything you type.
Thanks for reading!
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