I have spent the last few months trying to "fix my life". To put it differently, I tried to identify what was wrong and how I could improve my life in general. Although in good shape and healthy, I wanted to be more energetic. Likewise, I had a few bad habits that I wanted to get rid of. Let's go through them:

Health

• Quit smoking: that was definitely the hardest. In total, I'd say it took me several months.
• Exercice at least 30mins per day: not always doable. At KAIST, I am fortunate enough to have a gym right next to my dorm.
• Eat healthy food in moderate quantities (not too much, not too little): not easily doable at KAIST. Ultimately, I'd like to become a vegetarian.
• Stop using electronic devices at least 1 hour before going to sleep: this is important in order to sleep well. Screens are known to prevent you from falling asleep.
• Every hour of sitting, stand up for a few minutes: more info.

Culture

• Read books (novels) in English: I am reading "Animal Farm" at the time being.
• Keep learning English on a regular basis: the book "The Elements of Style" is on my nightstand.
• Write in English: that's what I do with this blog.

Lifestyle

• Owning as few things as possible. Ideally my whole life would fit in two suitcases.
• Anti-consumerism. It is a mindset I adopted a while ago.

Other

• Check Twitter two times a day tops: that one is pretty hard, I am still struggling.
• Go to bed before 2am: same. At some point in the future, being a morning person?

Furthermore, I also started learning about topics that are not related to my skills whatsoever, such as politics, the environment, green energies, etc. I would recommend these videos as a good starting point:

• Before the Flood: Join Leonardo DiCaprio as he explores the topic of climate change, and discovers what must be done today to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet..
• Réformons l'élection présidentielle (FR)
• Demain: Climate is changing. Instead of showing all the worst that can happen, this documentary focuses on the people suggesting solutions and their actions..

Moreover, I recently found that interesting article which suggests "A 23-Minute Morning Ritual That Will Transform Your Whole Day". I am still working on it... Essentially, it gives 5 things to do in the morning:

1. Write down three acts of gratitude (2 minutes)
2. Journal one positive experience you've had during the past 24 hours (2 minutes)
3. Exercise (15 minutes)
4. Meditation (2 minutes)
5. Express kindness through a text or email (2 minutes)

Last but not least, here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2017:

• Read more
• Play another musical instrument
• Learn Dutch and Spanish
• Learn how to dance Rock and Roll or salsa or swing.

Further reading

• In 2017, learn every language
• How to Become a ‘Superager’
• How I quit my smartphone addiction and really started living

UPDATE: 2023-10-01

I was just randomly scrolling through past articles on my blog when I stumbled upon this one. I thought this deserved an update, 6 years later! Let's go through all the bullet points I had listed back then and try to see what happened with each.

• Quit smoking: I must admit this was kind of a lie. When I wrote this I was in South Korea. I had greatly reduced how much I smoked but I would not say I had completely stopped. I remember smoking a couple of times in nightclubs there. Also, the following year (2017), I started smoking again while in San Francisco. I remember my own deception after so many months without smoking. Anyways. My very last cigarette drag was in July or August 2019. Since then, not a single one. :)
• Exercice at least 30mins per day: if my 30-minute times two bike commute and my daily walks in the park nearby count towards it, then I definitely hit that! If not, then I'm very close, and my weekly exercise time is way above 4 hours anyways, thanks to regular long bike rides on the weekend.
• Eat healthy food in moderate quantities (not too much, not too little): hell yeah, this has become second nature since a couple of months now. Hopefully it'll stick long time. Back in 2016 I mentioned that I wanted to become vegetarian ultimately... This happened end of 2018 and I am still vegetarian to this day. No reason to change that.
• Stop using electronic devices at least 1 hour before going to sleep: that one never worked. On my phone till the very last minute.
• Every hour of sitting, stand up for a few minutes: whenever I'm in the office, yeah I totally do that. At home it depends on how focused on some task I am, but I mostly do it.
• Read books (novels) in English: huge hiatus from the end of 2019 until 2 months ago, when I started reading Hyperion.
• Keep learning English on a regular basis: not at all. I guess my current level is more than enough. On the flipside, I'm considering learning German further and aim for the B2 level (my current level is A2/B1).
• Write in English: every single day, at work, texting friends, on this blog, etc.
• Owning as few things as possible. Ideally my whole life would fit in two suitcases: the 2 suitcases thingy... yeahhhh no. Can't happen. Won't happen. But I'm still trying to only own stuff than I truly need. Like I never buy clothes or shoes, I think I already have enough for the next 10 years. Not that I have so many, but who needs more than 3 pairs of jeans, or 20 t-shirts?
• Anti-consumerism: yup, still valid, that's me. Only buy what you need. I favor second hand as much as possible, except for things I know I will keep for life or whose lifespan isn't so long.
• Check Twitter two times a day tops: I broke up with Twitter 🎉. Now I'm struggling with Youtube. I spend way too much time watching random shit.
• Go to bed before 2am: am I ever gonna learn?! Overall there has been improvement. I'm usually in bed before 1am, now targeting midnight.

Let's check out my New Year's Resolutions for 2017:

• Read more: failed, at best I maintained the same level.
• Play another musical instrument: major failure. I did buy a ukulele in 2018 though 😂
• Learn Dutch and Spanish: not even tried. Did I mention German? 😅
• Learn how to dance Rock and Roll or salsa or swing: some day, some day...

Ha ha that was funny, looking back at the old me from 2016 and my life goals. What would I add today? Probably more stretching, more weight lifting, at least more frequently. Going to bed earlier, rising earlier? And more German of course! Meet me here in a few years for an update. 😉