Improve Thyself

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• 23 Dec, 2025 *

##dailyjournal

Started list on 10-12-2025 09:42:17.17

Ended on 22-12-2025 22:01:06.6

Do 💯 Things

1. Can I start with a list of things, I can do, without needing to ask permission from others out even from myself. What are we even waiting for? Let’s get cracking, and curious to see, what this activity can unearth (looking at it like an anthromorphic archaeologist)
2. Accepting yourself as you are, with the imperfections, is always an option. I need to remind myself, that this door is always there for me, not just that I can quit, but rest, ponder, do whatever shit it may take, to get my act together, before moving on.
3. Savour the moments. You’re missing life of you don’t. There is no 🏆 waiting at the finish line. The entire journey is itself the prize. Precious moments need not all have to be positive, happy, sweet dripping with honey. Bitter, sour, dark ones are good keepsakes too.
4. Not documenting your life meticulously, more diligently, systematically, was probably a miss. But nothing tragic or catastrophic. You’ll figure out quite a few good nuggets of wisdom, whatever way you decide to lead your life.
5. Was drifting thru life the single biggest mistake in my life, so far? Honestly, there are bigger things to worry about. Bigger? Like money? Sex? Or what else I should rather be doing?
6. How important is it to make more connections? Worry more about how you can help others, rather than being so self centred always. What interesting ways can you bring value to the table?
7. Is it futile to be Sisyphus? How can we look at ourselves as being heroes of our own tragic lives, and still feel good/satisfied about what we’ve done so far? How to strive harder and endeavour to improve ourselves, each day, with vigor and passion.
8. Even a simple skill like managing anger (or any of base emotion like hunger, possessiveness, or subtler negative thoughts like irritability, OCD-like disorders, mentally mostly on autopilot... Shouldn’t these have been conquered and solved long ago and not what one needs to battle each day? Shouldn’t we have evolved to bigger, better problems to solve?
9. Why do I get bad vibes, from few folks? How reliable is this gut feeling? Is it a miss from my side, not to have harnessed this vital skill or its just one of those hyped things?
10. Can I read/write better? More effective communication, especially self-talk with myself and also with others? How about body language? Mindful awareness of breathing? All these seem to be lifelong skills and shouldn’t one be spending more time energy and focus in honing these skills, instead of petty & mundane things.
11. How should I spend my days, working on long-term/short-term projects. How much friction am I able to withstand, what is my threshold for tolerance? How much is the minimum desired level?
12. What are interesting ways of looking at the world? By interesting, I mean is there something radically new/mind-blowingly insightful? How pertinent and deep are your observations? Can this be practised as a skill? Try and make any random observation, about yourself, life, others (3 frames of reference), and see where we can reach? Can It challenge you, with this as a WIP/ 2026🗓️ 💡 activity?
13. Do I have ways to generate new ideas? What are some old ones, which I should be recycling/replacing/ lost past valuable useful shelf life?
14. Is there any internal mental state management ritual/routine habit, which I can use? Anchoring to the present moment is a good skill to have. What are some other habits/skills which would be good to have? Negotiations/financial planning/ vacation ideas are definitely on the list.
15. Does every activity need to make sense? What are some things in my life, which don’t make any sense, but I keep doing, despite the futility & no clarity? Journal writing (doesn’t produce much insight, atleast not quantifiably, as yet), complaining about how much my life sucks, wondering why I haven’t been able to change myself, eliminate some of my irritable characteristics.
16. Frequent fantasy, which you’ll want to indulge in, given there are no constraints, obligations (travel (solo) without a plan, on a shoestring budget), write an article/blog post on...
17. Some absolutely bizarre thoughts in my head, wonder why they’re even present but still curious... Need to revisit this. What did I have in mind, when I started this point? to
18. I don’t get this at all. Puzzling things about others. How can people not want to use open source/password managers/ for making their lives comfortable? Is there a way people can be convinced why this is probably the best thing to have ever happened?
19. How much time are you willing to invest in the self development, why am I not being consistent? How can I improve my turnaround and ability to rise to the higher level? Skills to improve myself and become better. How to remain equanimous in the face of extreme pressure and chaos.
20. How to make better sense of the madness happening all around? What are some common problems you’ve been facing, in leading a life where what needs to happen tomorrow is not clear. Will you gain the ability to navigate through life with clarity and maturity?
21. How can I find meaning, in activities I’m doing? Is it necessary to find meaning in everything we do. What are the kind of activities which can be satisfying? Why am I looking for external/internal validation? I haven’t spent enough time identifying what I can do better, why things aren’t happening in ways I’d like them to.
22. Is there a specific pattern or mental habit, which has been dragging me down and not allowing me to change or evolve? How can I undo my mental wiring and default behaviours? This question is not new, I’ve asked myself this question quite often, but haven’t really taken time, think through, plan on how to change myself internally, neurologically.
23. What is the point of not stretching yourself in all areas of life? Is there a way I can repair specific aspects of my life? Can prayer, meditation, visualization help? How precisely can these changes within myself be manifested. What’s been preventing me in doing any of the above, till date?
24. How do we change the course of our lives? Are we doomed to follow the script? Unseen but to be undergone, without any options to make significant changes?
25. Is there a higher power? Superior form of intelligence, which we can tap into? How should I discover other(easier, better, cheaper) forms of energy to become better?
26. How to come up (discover) stories, which I can write, share with a larger audience, convey nuanced meanings. Express subtler emotions. How to become a better, evolved story teller? How do I discover the stories I want to be telling? This has been bugging me, from a very very very long time.
27. Can we undo/rewind our lives back, or forward it? Seems like a pipe dream/fantasy. What can I do to enrich my life qualitatively? Few aspects of my life haven’t turned out the way I’d want them to. Anything I can do to choose correct my life in this area or specific aspects?
28. Would I want to be a different person? Given a choice, what aspects of myself do I want to change and what do I like the way I am.
29. I have wanted to connect better with God. Is there any way I can improve my personal rapport/relationship/connection with the Man Upstairs?
30. Do I have friends, whom I can count on, to bail me out, if stuck? Am I a good friend to myself, to others? Responses to both the questions weren’t surprising, but not the most heart warming.
31. Why do I come across as a sulky cantankerous grumpy guy? Was I always this way or have I drifted to this mode by default? Do I get a second attempt at repairing my life?
32. Why do I feel like damaged goods? How can I stop feeling screwed up and pissed off with myself and life in general. This phenomenon has become very pronounced this last one year.
33. How can I bail out/eject/quit my job, without ruining the rest of my life? It’s not in great shape. Please cut down the negativity. Let’s bring in some sunshine and clean out the mental cobwebs.
34. Is it futile to be paranoid, especially about cybersecurity? Is it all a hyped game of money? I spend quite a bit of time fiddling around with security (browsers, password managers, is it all maya / an illusion?)
35. I feel myself drifting away from people I used to think I was close with. Is that something I need to actively work on towards improving? My building blocks of relationship building, send to have gotten misplaced (data over written with random junk?)
36. Can I construct an inner compass🧭, to guide me on the next steps. I’ve begun feeling lost and directionless. The feelings were present earlier also, but not to this current level of becoming an irritant. Why new, surely the one inbuilt must still be in good condition, except being under used.
37. Can reading heal? Help me grow up? Become a better person? I’ve been hiding behind the reading, all these years, but am I really a better person, from the habit? I still have so many flaws? Even managing my temper, emotions in general, requires lots of effort. Maybe I should be more reflective, when reading. Maybe engage in a dialog with the author and the emerging conversations could show if things seem to be working.
38. Why does having a job equate to your self worth? Isn’t there a way to just be and the world allows to do just that. No questions asked, no eyebrows raised. 🤨
39. Can I solve these problems by thinking through them? Let’s try and step back a bit and see what emerges? Why are you so passive about how problems are coming at you, and all you seem to be doing, is sit around and do nothing about it. K’s seizures are the concern here. How do we rehabilitate him? How does one overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed by the challenges in my life?
40. Does problem solving come naturally to all? What is the strategy to overcome the hardships right now? How to pray for help/divine intervention? I feel like I’m submerged by difficulties. This is turning into whining and complaining. How can I shift my mindset, my attitude and stop feeling pity for myself?
41. Are there cycles in our lives? Waiting to see if its possible to ride out the bad 🌊 phase, of I can call it that.
42. What if I start spouting self-gained, self taught wisdom and behave like an illuminated, embroidered Guru? The advice you profess, doesn’t necessarily apply to you. You need to solve your own problems, but make clever statements, to make everyone feel awestruck by your brilliance.
43. What’s the least level of discomfort you can tolerate and how far can you make yourself go on the path?
44. Do we have gadgets of our personality (un)known to ourselves but (un)known to others? Can we dive a bit deeper on this subject?
45. Making lists need not be a chore for you to struggle with. But it’s an interesting way to whiteboard, brainstorm and keep adding to the thoughts from different perspectives. The gaps are there to give each one of us the time and space to find ourselves, breathe and connect. How should we leverage the ways of list making more disparate ideas come together. Potential book ideas to start the day with.
46. Struggling to complete this project, and as usual distracted with too much free time on my hands and wishing for things to change by themselves. Why am I unable to move my ass and not wait for the world to give me a welcome, introductions and support this kind of stuff.
47. Gosh, my wife really screams at her students. I guess, is frustrating teaching students who aren’t interested, don’t want to work hard but just coast through life.
48. Developing ones capability for first principles thinking as a first pass of any problem solving I need to be doing. How to do it will, effectively? Can you start with a current & relevant problem? Can you state the problem briefly and capture the core idea effectively?
49. Boredom is a sign of not being fully engaged. What patterns or behaviours can I see in myself? Which ones are +ve and how can I leverage them to move forward in life?
50. I need to build a library of mental habits and rituals which can help go through the storms which will keep coming in life. Maybe making this list, will open up my mind, to newer ideas and ways of thinking. What are some common thought & habit patterns in your life, which definitely require to be replaced, improved upon?
51. How can I find answers to problems which are not understandable by whatever we’ve been doing thus far? How to help our son, handle his medical condition?
52. Doing random acts of kindness, sounds cliched, but do I see any benefit in doing it? The world is too big for it to stop by and congratulate you for your good deeds of the day. As long as you are ok/Happy/satisfied/content with your deeds, please keep it up and don’t boast about it. This is required to keep you ground, level-headed and rooted in reality, in the present.
53. How to solve a tough problem? This is worth spending more time on. There are a few which are looking pending resolution, or atleast a favorable direction.I need to do a multi-modal approach on this. But should I ways of breaking it down, looking at it differently. These are God-given opportunities, gifts to be discovered.
54. thought catalog of ideas, and quirks in myself about stuff which I know but haven’t thought about too seriously like why do I not see stuff when looking for it? I need to have an audio track as commentary on what’s running in my head.
55. Try to speak to yourself in a more kinder gentler manner. Specifically applies to when you’re speaking with your close family members.
56. Mental vacations for destressing and self renewal. Maybe short, but try and have a theme for doing things better.
57. What can I say to myself, when I find myself feeling lousy, lost and defeated? How to pep myself up for short term and long term challenges.
58. Should I use LLMs for continuous improvement? How can I get more structure, systematic in my thinking and doing ?
59. Should I make a bucket list for projects? I already have a wish list of todos. Revisit these and start with one, few. Just to see how effective, useful the ideas were. It might trigger some better more, more practicable projects.
60. Do more Art, music and read difficult books. Summarise the ideas, concepts and understanding.
61. What if we have a never ending list of ideas?
62. Read articles and frameworks. These should give you the scaffolding, ladder, to climb higher and build better thoughts, ideas, projects.
63. Should I do more depth or breadth? Maybe it’s not a 0 or 1 for a given situation, but is more nuanced. I know it depends on every situation, but should I prefer one over the other as a default? If you need consolidation, capability then definitely go for depth. In situations where you may want more quantity, volume, multiple perspectives, brainstorm ideas etc, prefer breadth.
64. Time box as a dominant strategy, should be a part of your overall life strategy. Use the clock as your friend, guide and aid. Rather than a manager, boss or minder.
65. Finding and making new friends. Reconnecting with old friends age renewing the bonds of connection. Sounds noble and desirable. Work on the challenges and let’s see how far we can push this further.
66. Cooking as a life skill. I must do something about it. I really must. Do dinner waste time talking about it.
67. Now my brain wants to take a break. Should there be one? Is this habit making you weak?
68. Sport, games? Another grey area is dancing (any performative art form ).
69. Travel -is an aspect of my life I need to make more time for. Is biking a good idea?
70. Be more spontaneous and observe how things, people change?
71. What is slow time? When things around us/within us change in ways which are not perceptible. Can you observe and note these slow changes in and around you?
72. How to test if ideas are good or not?
73. How to find meaning? (Is this a repeat) Can I associate/attribute meaning? Can these be changed arbitrarily, deliberately?
74. Should I follow a pattern of internet usage? What about reading? Other daily habits? What are the benefits/downsides of following a system?
75. Where can I get good quality information, news, data? How can I digest such large volumes? Is it worth the time and effort?
76. Storytelling techniques to build, develop and try on myself, on the world?
77. Develop a more systems mindset? Is that contradictory to a first privileges approach? Can the two more be combined? How about inversion, as a first step?
78. How much effort do I take to understand others? Is there a way to go deeper, into being more intentional in what I’m doing? How should I recalibrate my inner compass?
79. Should I pursue a new stream of study? Programming, Public Policy, Economics, Data analytics with Excel? Should I do a little of all?
80. Write more about what I’ve been reading. How has it made an impact on my thinking and how can I make it better? Give examples of specific actions taken of (mindfulness during the day, first principles thinking, inversion,)
81. Should I attempt to read War&Peace, this year? Two objectives-try something hard and being consistent over a long period.
82. Doodling as a means of finding answers, seeing opportunities
83. How to push myself, to do stuff which I’m not inclined to, but is probably good for me.
84. Write what you’ve been thinking about. How well can you explain the situation and what do you want it to turn into? A 🐸 transformed to a prince? Two sample situations: saw a movie, what was your takeaway, how would you have wanted it to turn into instead
85. Libido - is it a measure of how you’re doing in life? Can this be tweaked to increase/decrease? Should I experiment with vitamins, supplements?
86. What’s the point of writing, of it doesn’t do anything for you. Isn’t it a future activity, it do you have no issue with it, even if it’s being done, for its own sake.
87. How to do something which is difficult (not easy) for a long time span of time, is it just mental grit?
88. What will I do with this list? Revisit when I run out of ideas. Keep doing variations of this, when I feel stuck mentally. Is it just honesty or probably creative free wheeling brainstorming for more ideas to bubble up. Snapshots of the mind - essay topic.
89. Good essay, article summary. Key idea, how do you explain complex terms in simple ways glossary of terms eg spontaneous order, pulliyabazi, tryst with destiny,
90. Idea bag for all occasions. How can you create build one?
91. Can I ponder on a few important questions and really find my way around certain mental blocks in life? Is there a specific strategy which I should adopt, to cut down on the negativity in my life? Is being mindful the answer to must of my imagined/real problems/issues in life?
92. What should I do in my life, to make myself more likeable, loved and appreciated? Can I stop hurting myself and heal within. There needs to be a definite move towards a bigger drive towards likeability and saying and doing things which really matter.
93. How do I start towards actualising my goal of writing a book. I don’t think I can write fiction. Yes I can write about myself in a more vulnerable way, without sounding creepy preachy and peachy. But the entire process should force you to become better. What’s the immediate next step you can think of in this stage?
94. Should I worry about stuff which is not at all under my purview. Just surrender to God and accept everything as his blessings. Don’t behave like it’s a burden, but a mechanism to test you and build your fortitude. Don’t worry about pain and pleasure, they’re merely imposters and labels which people associate with their individual biases. This is not mumbo jumbo ancient woowoo stuff but the humble acceptance of reality, that there is a higher power which can help us heal and overcome any challenge.
95. Go with the flow but do what’s hard and chase the ability to focus and remain anchored in the present moment. I feel a bit bad and sad when I realise that I’ve not been on a holiday since way too long. But God will protect me and hold me through this phase of my life. Don’t give up and keep pushing yourself to remain deeply connected within.
96. Make moves which resonate impress and just felt right.
97. Eliminate the negativity from my mind. Lot of it has developed in the previous one year. You’ll need to clear out the crap and replace it with some quality material. You have all the required raw material to be building a new mind or atleast renovating the damaged parts. Ok, one of the biggest focus areas of my writing is to identify the damaged areas and heal it completely, so that I can become a better person.
98. If I need have a genie, who can do my bidding, what will be the most simple task and most complex responsibility I’ll delegate? Will I work about world peace and big ticket items? Instead if I stick to solving some fundamental problems within, is that a better choice? Should I try a broad focus or specific area focus? How to be more honest with myself? Stop talking anything negative. Whatever negative stuff is there, you’ll need to put it on paper (in this journal, or any other equivalent platforms). Stop cribbing to your wife. She will be better of, if you don’t spread the negativity around the house and family members. Focus on eliminating negative and replace with massive amounts of positivity.
99. Spending time gainfully is another key area of improvement. I’m wasting away large parts of the day, doing practically nothing of value. Please correct this. Don’t vegetate. Even if it’s not aligned with work, please be doing stuff which is important, hard and will take you on a path of self improvement, betterment.
100. Now that we’re here, I would like to use this as a jumping off platform, to bigger and greater things in life. How do I explore, discover inner regions, domains and parts of the hidden-from-self-me? What lessons have I learnt in doing this, so called mindless activity, of compiling a list of 100 things, I should be doing. How should I make this list making activity more meaningful, beneficial and realistic. It should not end up being another dead-end litany of complaints, rants, wishlist of pipe dreams. Rather it should become a brainstorming tool for self discovery and meaningful growth.