What do I do with my time?
On July 20, 2023, someone whose opinion I respect told me that I wasn’t crazy enough. My initial reaction was shock. I believed myself to be pretty crazy - I go out, I make plans, I live life. But then I got to thinking, what if this person was right? What did they mean by crazy and what did I mean by it? Did I use my 8 week internship in Barcelona to have as many experiences as I possibly could? Probably not. Were there some days where I did absolutely nothing? Definitely. Then, I look at my sister: a social butterfly. Every minute of most of her day is jam packed with activities, adventures, and plans. Kinda inspiring.
Looking back at those 8 weeks, I justified my lazy days with excuses. I travel every weekend. I go out enough. Some days I’m just tired. I rationalized by saying “people travel in different ways, maybe I just like the simpler things in life.” But what if I stopped relying on those excuses? Would my life be different? Happier or better? Quite possibly. So, I decided that I would dedicate the rest of my summer to becomming crazier. Here’s a log of everything I’ve done since that day. This page is going to be my accountability log for living life fuller. It’s more for me to keep myself accountable to doing things everyday.
Note: Stopped on August 5, 2023 because I realized that I was living life exactly how I wanted to.
Saturday, August 5, 2023
My brain has no distinctions between weekend and weekday because of school I think. I do the same amount of work on the weekends as I do during the week which is weird. I woke up pretty late went for a swim at apartment building and then used all the amenities. Got home around 4 and then did a little bit of work. Took a nap which ended up being way too long, ate dinner, and then went to Ajay’s cousin’s bday party. His family is huge and so much fun and it was good to catch up with him. Before I left I was reading through my town’s budget just because I was curious and then I fell down a 2 hour rabbit hole of my area’s Country Club, various litigation efforts, and then my high school’s alumni network. There is someone from the class of 1960 something sending out regular newsletters and updating Wheatley alumni on relevant things and I think that is really really nice. Restoring the country club would make Roslyn Heights even closer to “ideal suburbia” (though suburbia has inherent flaws) and strengthen the community.
Friday, August 4, 2023
Got bagels with Ansh in the morning and filled him in on a lot of the stuff that happened at Princeton and it was good to get his advice. Then did a bit of work for TSIG (mostly writing) which actually went pretty well. Hit a quick 30 minute erg session and was able to pull slightly better times but I let my ego get in the way and got my HR up too much. Went to a dinner with my parents friends and that was a good time too. Then left for the city and went out with Ansh. Got home pretty late but had a good time.
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Tried to start my morning right with a 6x500 piece but I could barely get through the first 2 500m sprints. Switched to steady state and did nottt enjoy that either and ended up stopping after 20 minutes. That kind of ruined the rest of my day and I felt lazy and slow and lethargic for the rest of the day. Caught up with Kate for a bit and then Valentina came over for dinner and my mom made some really good food which was nice. At night got bored so I played some video games with old high school friends and it felt really nostalgic.
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Got crepes in the morning with Alex and it was really good to catch up with her. We talked a bit about luck and drive and motivation which was cool too. Before crepes I did a steady state workout which felt really slow and even though it was a lot less volume than usual it felt realy hard. I think this is because I had a little cold/congestion. Ran to a meeting right after and then finished my project up. Lazed around for a bit and then went rock climbing with Quin again in Brooklyn.
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Got coffee with Caroline in the morning and spent a long time sitting outside at the French Workshop which was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. The coffee was also really good and it was nice to hear about her year and talk about the things we liked/disliked. It’s so cool hearing how everyone else has also grown so much from college. Went home and continued working on my project and worked a bit on some family stuff.
Monday, July 31, 2023
Shadowed my mom for the entire day and helped a bit with their work. There are a lot of things that always need to be done and they are always so busy. This day was pretty much just all work.
Sunday, July 30, 2023
Woke up a little late, got bagels in the morning in Mattituck then drove back pretty early. Went for a really nice 11 mile bike ride which was a bit tougher than I thought it would be but I think that’s because I ran out of water. Rode my bike on a really dangerous road by accident and got really nervous from the cars coming close to me. Spent the rest of the day being lazy.
Saturday, July 29, 2023
Drove home from the city and then listened to my parents about a few things related to the business and realized I have a lot of stuff to learn too. I gave my mom and dad my perspectives but I want to shadow my mom a few times to try and help lighten her workload. Then left for Mattituck to spend a night there with friends. We had a dinner on the beach with pizza and prosecco it was really vibey and gave me a serotonin rush. The way back up the ladder had a ton of wind and started drizzling and made us run back. so much fun!
Friday, July 28, 2023
Spent the morning in a meeting for TSIG and then did a bit more work for it. Hung out with my brother for a bit and then went to his friend’s housewarming party in the city which was a lot of fun. I really like how all of his friends have kept in touch even 8 years out of high school. They seem super close and I love that vibe.
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Finally cleaned my room which was still not unpacked from college and got my desk setup so I can finally write all of this stuff up today. Then spoke to my dad about an idea I had and he gave me some really interesting perspectives/problems I need to work through and then listened to some Y Combinator podcasts on my drive over to Williamsburg to hang out with Quin! It was so good going climbing again I already feel like I got slightly better from last week. Also Quin had so many friends with her because she’s such a social butterfly and it was nice to meet all of them.
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
I biked to Wheatley and Val met me there to play tennis. She’s the Queen of “I let you win.” Playing tennis feels a lot better now and I think all the residual deficits in sensation are slowly disappearing. I cannot serve for the life of me. We ended with me having won 5-4, 2-0 and then she won 2-1. Biking home was fun but I was so drained from tennis and then we went to Grill Mark and I got some food then I rushed to see Oppenheimer with Declan and we caught up a little on the way. Oppenheimer was kinda confusing but well made IMO. Also ran into some Wheatley kids there which was funny.
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Kinda wasted the morning and then did a quick 2x15’ erg session. Got really sweaty which felt so good and then Valentina came over and waited while I showered and ate a croissant then we went to get pizza. Was nice to catch up because we haven’t seen each other in a while. Then she came over and we ate a small second dinner because some family had came over and then she left and I went to go hang out with Neil and Michael and we got fro-yo. Good to see them too.
Monday, July 24, 2023
Left early in the morning and the coach took sooo long again. Didn’t get home until 2:30 ish. Went straight into a erg workout and did an 8x250 to train speed as I think that is where I am most lacking. Crushed my expectations and all the steady state from Barcelona and prior really helped my heart rate recover quickly. I was super happy with this. Then went for an 8 mile ride to see my newborn niece. I missed biking outside so much and I think that this is going to replace some of my steady state sessions on the erg. Also, a concept2 feels so much better after rowing for 8 weeks on an erg-shaped-object in Barcelona. Organized my bathroom a bit as I needed to declutter a few things.
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Got breakfast with one of sister’s friend and then saw her lead a dance practice which was super fun and all the parents learnt some Indian dance moves. She taught really well too. Saw her KKG house and then we went swimming hole hopping. We almost drowned crossing the river to get to a rope swing and ended up having to have her friend pick us up (this was an adventure and ended with burnt feet from walking on asphalt barefoot). Went to this cute (everything in NH/VT is cute) ice cream place and then got takeout and showered. Went to a small concert on the water which was so beautiful I wish we had stuff like this at Princeton. Then we went to a drive in movie to see Barbie.
Saturday, July 22, 2023
Went to this super cute farmer’s market in the morning and loved seeing how all the people were so nice. Rudeness is definitely innate to New Yorkers. Then we went on a short little hike to a fire tower which gave us sick views of the area. Went to Quechee Gorge and saw how the flooding was causing super strong currents at the little waterfall and so we couldn’t swim there. Then we got food and my sister and I went swimming in the Connecticut River and it was so cute seeing all the kids by the water swimming and stuff. The current was really strong and initially I thought I was just swimming really fast. Dinner with her friends and their parents again and then went out again and there was a really cool DJ who had mixed some really unexpected songs together pretty well. Made me interested in learning how to mix.
Friday, July 21, 2023
In the morning had a meeting for my investment club. Left for Dartmouth around 1:30 and then worked on some stuff for my family on the coach ride there. Coach took forever and ended up getting there around 8:30 but there was some really pretty lightning the whole way which made it better. Once I got there my sister immediately took my parents and I to dinner with her friends and their parents then we went out. One of her really talented friends was performing at the frat and it reminded me how much I miss playing the drums. Will try and get involved with music on campus.
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Spent the morning lazily in the city with a friend. Went rock climbing with Quin at this super cool place in Williamsburg and some really good convos about what we want our futures to look like. We talked a lot about how we have both changed over the summer and things we have learnt about ourselves. Also talked about selling out which is something I want to think about deeper because I’m not sure where I stand on all of it. She’s really cool and probably the kindest person I’ve met.