LGOrcStreetSamurai [he/him]

Self improving Hexbears is what the systems fears the most. That and organized citizens crossing over social/racial/Religious/cultural barriers to come together to defeat the vampires at the top in order create more equality and equable world

Do you have any plans for October?

My big plan for October is to do a game jam. Something small and get my foot in the waters of game development with others or in some form of "community". I want to continue to expand my skills and abilities with Godot and game programming and I need to challenge myself to force myself to grow.

Do you want to share something you’ve done in the previous week? Everything counts, nothing is too small.

I let go of some friends who were really not doin' shit. Not in the "they are content with their lives and are keeping it lowkey" but more so "yo you have been the same dude since we graduated high school, I can't rock with you anymore because I have changed a lot and you have not. You're the exact type of dude I don't want in my life and yeah man I don't think we can really be homies like that anymore because I don't respect people who don't grow". It was an emotional complex realization and conversation.

Do you have any goals or plans for next week?

Find a job/job hunting

Do you have any streaks? For example, “sober for one day.” Feel free to post your streak every day in this thread.

I actually lost my streak of programming everyday but I'm building it back today. Day 1 again, this time with feeling. I am not deterred though. Losing some momentum happens in all endeavors, the key is to not stop. Slow down sure, even go in reverse sometimes in life hits you like that, but don't stop.

An excellent first post.

Lost my job due to a MEGACORP “restructure”, I’m not even mad. Does this suck? For sure, no doubt! Is this the end of the world? No, not at all. My budget and things are gonna be tight for a bit but I have savings and such so I should be straight so long as nothing catastrophic comes down the pipeline. I’m really happy with my rather “stoic” (in the good sense, not the marketing dudebro sense) response. This isn’t a flex, more so just a “I did something, and I’m proud of it”. So I’m filling for unemployment and stuff and that’s certainly going to be a bureaucratic labyrinth to navigate.

My big thing is I’m really ripping up my keyboard with focus on computer programming again. I’m re-learning a bunch of fundamentals I have lost while at MEGACORP because they did everything backwards and wrong. I’m re-learning and re-enjoying programming. I like being a computer dork, being a cyberspace hackerman on the CLI is a lot of fun for me. I’m also realizing there is so much goddamn nerd shit to both learn and master. I want to step up my game and go from a programmer to a real deal computer wizard. I want to build my own tools and software for my problems. I want to be able to go from idea to code to working code faster and more effectively. Some i’m in E-gym as well as the regular gym.

I’m also hitting the treadmill four times a week now. I hate running, as such I must run until I learn to not hate it. Cardiovascular endurance is a fundamental part of fitness and strength and no amount of broscience saying “cardio kills your gainz bro” is going to deter me. I want abs this time next year.

Other than all that, I’m good. Just trying to keep up with my health, reading, and social connections. Really trying to focus on building real bonds with my friends.

Moonlake is gonna be Chestlake in a few months.

I’m currently maintaining my various successes. I’m reading books, I’m lifting weights, I’m not wasting time on the internet, I’m actively working on developing my programming skills, I’m trying to “NETWORK™®©” (it’s far harder to have a simple but genuine conversation with strangers these days, even at networking events, everyone is trying to boost their brand and shit), and in general all is well. I’m also reconnecting with my writing passion. I have been writing really bad short stories to help get the creative waters flowing from my brain to keyboard, still SUPER far from where I want to be but we are moving in the right direction. Slowly, but certainly moving.

I hope all the Hexbear c/self_improvement continue to better themselves in every way they can. I really think that actively looking at yourself and becoming better for the sake of yourself is wonderful. Not for the market, not to “self-optimize”, none of that shit, but purely for the sake of being better because you want to be. I think that’s dope.

I’m running, i’m lifting, I’m reading, I’m coding, and staying in good spirits. I don’t have a detailed report but all of my personal indicators are green with trajectories are upward.

My first week back to school was fully successful.

My workouts are starting to get easier which means I’m making progress but I also need to switch it up soon. I’m going to start running more rather than walking. I hate how my body juggles up and down in space but I gotta get over that shit or Communism will never happen.

I’m reading some good fiction. Currently enjoying the cyberpunk classic “Snow Crash”. Never read it but pretty much everything i like has ripped something from it, and it’s good to see the thing that all the things you like stole from.

Reading more comics. Still doing my Hellboy and BPRD but I just started reading Saga and it rules.

Working on my indie game projects. Working in C++ and also working with Godot. I’m just trying to learn as much as possible and I think I’m going to make some great someday.

Looking for a new job, this MEGACORP is sinking fast and I need to jump ship.

All is well and I’m genuinely and sincerely happy with the progress I have made, I am making, and I truly think we are all gonna make it.

Fall semester starts next week. I’m gonna get A’s.

• Do you want to share something you’ve done in the previous week? Everything counts, nothing is too small.

  • I have been journaling. A lot of my real life friends have moved or have become a bit inaccessible the last several months (marriages, new jobs, having kids, that sort of stuff nothin’ bad) and I’m finding myself needing a place to vent and doing in written form in a notebook has helped me a lot. I have been journaling since February and I think it’s a must for anyone trying to improve themselves, and I think it’s a double must for the fellas. Not on some gender wars shit, but I do think in general dudes tend to have fewer outlets for safely venting and a journal is truly one of the safest places to do it. I also use it to track my goals, daydream, and generally get thoughts out. It’s one of the tools I think any self-improving leftist should have in their utility belt of self-improvement.

• Do you have any plans or goals for the following week?

  • My big goal this week is to increase my daily programming and game development from 70 minutes sessions to 80 minutes sessions. Rather than trying make a big jump, I want to make a small incremental increase. Just like with lifting weights, going up 10 minutes and getting the most out of those 80 minutes is probably a better way to sustainable get to even deeper and longer working sessions in the long term. I’m very much not where I want to be in my creative output but I’m just telling myself slow and steady, build the habit of doing it every day first and then build upon that doing it longer and more intense every day in the future.

• Do you have any streaks? For example, “sober for one day.” Feel free to post your streak every day in this thread.

  • Mostly just reading a book everyday. I’m reading some sci-fi classics, currently working through a ton of the American cyberpunk classics but also reading physical mangas and comics. Personally, I think building the habit of reading physical works (both big brain heavy stuff and lighter fun stuff) is just good for me and helps be less of a passive consumer. Reading isn’t exactly punk rock, but it feels like it in this modern age of everything big clips and screenshots.

• Did you come across some useful information or resource that might help others?

  • Not really, but I just want all the hexbear commie leftist internet dweebs to be in good cheer. The world is burning and it’s probably going to get far worse before it gets better, however I think if we are really about this better future shit we gotta embrace that and figure how to get through together. We aren’t alone and better future is possible if we work for it today. That’s a big takeaway for me in this self-improvement thing.

@moonlake@hexbear.net remains the one true leftist with this roll call.

Weening seems like a good option.

I think because people think it’s “All or nothing” when it comes to self-improvement, weening is an underrated methodology. If taking small steps leads to bigger steps down the line I think it’s a healthy and viable pathway to a goal. Best of luck and be well!

I’m still just hacking away on computer. Writing code and game development remains my two primary goals on the computer.

I’m reading, I’m cooking, and I’m trying my darnedest to keep the lesser self at bay. I’m trying to choose to be my best self in every instance I can. I don’t have “wins” this week, but I certainly don’t have any loses.

We are all gonna make it.

Things for ya boy are still on the upswing.

• Programming and game development is going well, I just found a real life meet-up in my city to attend to link up with other game development hobbyists and professionals, everyone seems really nice. It’s a good blend of people which was surprisingly, I thought it’d be all dudes but got a lot of non-dudes too.

• My health and fitness is really taking shape. and I have really locked in my diet. No more sloppy trash veganism, I’m really focused on whole foods and making sure I’m preparing my meals as one should. It’s helping the pounds fall off and my muscles continue to grow.

• Reading has increased, screen-time has gone down.

• All of my social media accounts have been deleted, Hexbear and game development web forums are still in use but social media like Instagram and Reddit are just attention funnels for me. Still have a Facebook purely for extended Family contact. I value my attention and focus now and I’m trying to spend it where it matters.

• Less time watching long-ass Youtube video essays about productivity, and I’m just being productive. I have found that self-help stuff is good, but “MOTIVATIONAL™©®” content is procrastination with extra steps.

• The time I do spend on Youtube is related to my goals. Watching more focused videos on creative writing, game development, programming, that sort of stuff to help foster my creative ambitions

• Gave my friends some phone calls and told them I love them cause they are my friends. It was weird cause one of them thought i was gonna do something bad, and it made me realize that maybe I should ease into something like that next time.

Yessir! Getting back at it with enthusiasm and optimism is the way we grow!

Not gonna lie Self Improving Hexbear comrades, I fell of this week. My room is a wreck, my journal unwritten, my books unread, and my meals unprepped. All I did this week was go the gym and thug it out because it was just a rough one. I’m going to start rebuilding my winning streaks both big and small today and start with the basics. Cleaning up my room and getting my laundry done. I can’t be a big communism builder in dirty socks. Hygiene and organization are for me the two best ways to secure that mindset of “Yeah I can accomplish things because I’m clean, don’t smell bad, and know where all my shit is because it’s where its supposed to be”.

Maintained my sobriety streak for another week. It gets easier and easier to not drink at this point.

That’s what up! Well done man. Sobriety is cool and good.

I’m back up to a weight I’m happy with now that I’m consistently eating 3 meals a day and my digestive system isn’t constantly being fucked over with alcohol.

GAINZ!

I choose to invest in myself. I 🏴‍☠️bought🏴‍☠️a bunch of online courses on some technical stuff for computers and programming and I’m going to see if I can hack my way to a better job. There is so much to learn and the industry is always change so I’m looking to specialize in one language (C++ to exact) and try to increase the depth of my knowledge and skillset. My scheme is if I get at really good at one thing, I’ll be able to do other things okay-ish because I have rich understanding of how the one thing works and how it relates to other things.

One of my big issues is that I struggle with is “you’re not worth the effort” mindset, so I’m doing this totally on my own and my hope is that if I can get nice with C++ I can create opportunities for myself through my own skill and efforts (but not in the bootstraps way, more so in the I am good at a thing way). I think back to my eagerness of my undergraduate degree in computer science and how I just ate up every textbook or website I could find on programming. fast forward to now, I don’t care about writing good code at work or even care about understanding how anything works, so long as it compiles, and I don’t get yelled at so I’m fine. I want to keep that slacker-hacker mindset at work, but I want to get back into the hack into the matrix mindset I had when I initially began. I want to be good, for me because I’m worth being good for.

Also I bought a budget planner so I can track my spending by hand and hopefully get my money up and save for a rainy day.

I also got back into Street Fighter and it I’m re-learning how much I love fighting games, the depth and complexity is so robust and interesting that I feel much like the language programming thing is that if I get hella nice at USFIV I can translate that knowledge of systems and mechanics to any other fighter like something more modern like Guilty Gear Strive.

Overall I’m really happy with upward trajectory in several areas.

Got through a major bit of work drama without going back to eating, feels extra nice to cross that 300 pound barrier today.

Hell yeah! Congrats on that! That’s wonderful. Line go down!