Measure EVERYTHING and your life will transform

redpillrobby · 2017-03-06T22:16:49+00:00

Measurement forces you to go about your life CONSCIOUSLY. I don't know about measuring everything you have on your list there but I can definitely say it's difficult to improve at anything without measurement. Good post.

Mandrake211 · 2017-03-07T04:32:56+00:00

Gotta know where you are to find out where you're going.

Gobiel · 2017-03-07T12:10:12+00:00

Keep track of your lifts: use Fitnotes

starkiwi · 2017-03-07T15:23:17+00:00

Being able to see tangible results of your efforts is the best motivation to keep going. When you first see the hint of a six pack in the mirror, that diet is so much easier to stick to. When you see the numbers keep going up in your strength or compare your current physique to older pictures of yourself it's easier to decide you will go to the gym today after all. Without that, it can be difficult to believe you are making progress at all.

Incremental progress is invisible on small time scales. When you can't see or measure these things, then it's much harder to believe anything is changing. It's not illogical to want to give up if you keep doing the same things with no apparent results. The problem is that the things that have the most benefit in our lives are the small gradual changes that require motivation and discipline.

Something else that I think is easily quantified but often overlooked is supplements and drugs. Those of us who use AAS, nootropics, recreational or prescription drugs should know that it is super easy to plan and track how much of these compounds you use and how often, especially if it comes in a standardized pill or a vial. It's worth mentioning that many drugs can have wildly different effects (and side-effects) on different individuals. If you can measure your use of these drugs and supplements then you can correlate that with the factors already mentioned (as well as changes in your lifestyle, health and mood) then you are in a much better position to see if they contribute in a positive or negative way to your life then make informed, rational decisions about how you use them (or whether to use them at all).

I believe that tracking progress is the best way to gain more self-awareness and motivation. I have used a combination of Excel and MyFitnessPal for years, but found it difficult to see the correlations between all that raw data. I develop software systems for a living, so last year as a side-project I started building a website and app to more easily record all these data and to visualize it.

I can already see how just recording a few little achievements a day forces me to think more consciously. I feel guilty as hell when I see that I haven't trained for a few days, or that some aspect of my strength is not improving the way I planned. Things I wouldn't have even noticed if I wasn't actively recording them and reminding myself of them every day. I have to consider the consequences of my actions in terms of these little incremental goals that add up.

thibi · 2017-03-07T04:37:42+00:00

Regarding #12, I sat down to figure out a budget and found that I could still live quite comfortably with 1/4 of my income being saved! This was all being spent here and there on all sorts of small things...

Do start on measuring out your life, as everything does add up in potentially unexpected ways.

mytrpname · 2017-03-08T00:36:19+00:00

Any tips to reduce time spent logging ? I have tried data driven life in the past and found I spent an inordinate amount of time just entering and analyzing.

KomoSinitri · 2017-03-07T04:40:25+00:00

YES! I cannot recommend this enough, the Peter Drucker quote is famous in this regard as well.

Thank you for sharing.

Kazekage1111 · 2017-03-07T08:30:01+00:00

Strides app is very good for tracking goals and habits. Best in iOS imo.

asktrpthrow123 · 2017-03-07T15:19:19+00:00

Just to add some anecdote: I used to use MyFitnessPal to track my meals every single day and a few years ago I went from a 200lb fatty to around 150lbs. Over time I became complacent in tracking and started eyeballing meals. Worked pretty well but when I injured myself and stopped hitting the gym, I fell out of the dieting habit and slowly made my way back to 185.

And in the past 3 months I've been trying to cut back to hit 160ish again, and I didn't lose a single pound trying to re-eyeball my food while intermittent fasting and doing cardio. Started tracking about a month ago and I went down to 180. Turns out I was biased with my eyeballing probably because I fell "out of practice"... and I'd munch on things and the calories would add up. I could probably go back to eyeballing now that I know what was going on but I'll stick to tracking at least until I hit my goal.

If anyone ever asks me on advice to lose weight, I always tell them to track meticulously for at least a year so that they know their eating habits. If you've done it right for that long, by then you should know how much calories the food you eat has, how much food your body needs to lose weight, maintain weight, and gain wait, then and only then can you can start eyeballing successfully, not before.

Have heard people tell me that it's an anal way to eat (and I'm not enjoying my food like that... what?), but they're fatties, and I'm the one who's getting results.

Edit: I did the same for lifting a while back. Downloaded strong and paid a few bucks and started tracking my lifts. Every workout I aim to beat my previous lift now. Previously I'd half ass some workouts because I was "tired" that day or whatever. Now, at the bear minimum I'm forced to match my previous lifts because who the fuk wants to write down a workout less than the previous and I've made significant gains to my lifts.

Dat_Chad · 2017-03-07T12:20:59+00:00

Just took an 8.1 oz shit, however my input was not in the 80/20 range as you suggested.

TheRedStoic · 2017-03-07T11:44:30+00:00

Nice post OP. I'd like to add that most people should purchase a good food scale, they're cheap. It really helps when used with my fitness pal.

TrumpRules2016 · 2017-03-07T14:21:07+00:00

I always measure how much food I am making/eating for my meals and it makes things so much easier, in terms of portioning the meat when I freeze it and all that.

I also keep track of how much I was able to lift for certain exercises, so I can see if I am making progress or not.

NakedAndBehindYou · 2017-03-07T15:47:32+00:00

I had the same revelation one time when I decided to write down everything I ate in a journal. After a few days of that, it became abundantly clear why my body was overweight.

Need2LickMuff · 2017-03-07T09:50:16+00:00

Measured my penis and it's 7.5" BPEL, so life's pretty good; I think I'll continue to rot.

Title	Measure EVERYTHING and your life will transform
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	119
Comments	19
Date	March 6, 2017 10:15 PM UTC (9 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/5xwco6/measure_everything_and_your_life_will_transform/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/measure-everything-and-your-life-will-transform.41486 https://theredarchive.com/post/41486

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