It’s been about a week since I started testing my new schedule — staying up later so I can enjoy more of the football season while still staying disciplined.
It’s been a struggle.
But the truth is, I don’t know if the struggle is because of the new system... or because my body hasn’t fully recovered yet.
First, there were the 10 days of COVID. That’s how long it took for me to start feeling somewhat normal again. Just as I was starting to ease back into my routine, I aggravated an old back injury — doing something as basic as home maintenance. Nothing intense. Just bent over to pick up something light, and that was it. My back went out.
It felt a little better yesterday, so I went to an on-site job. The work wasn’t physically demanding, but it did require a lot of movement and bending. Even with my back brace on the entire time, I’m hurting again today.
I won’t sugarcoat it — my discipline has taken a hit this week. And honestly, I’ve been feeling pretty low.
The takeaway here isn’t that the system failed. The takeaway is that life throws curveballs. Injury. Illness. Unexpected setbacks. If you’re on any kind of long-term growth path, these things will happen.
What matters most is how you respond.
You have to give yourself grace when things fall apart. You have to believe that down times don’t last. You have to keep pushing forward — even if “pushing forward” today just means resting, healing, and doing the minimum.
At this point, I don’t know.
I haven’t had a clean baseline to really test it. Once I’m healthy and back in my rhythm — back to studying, training, and moving through the day without pain — then I’ll be able to evaluate this new system honestly.
Right now, the most honest report I can give is this:
I don’t know yet.
I’m hopeful that this coming week will bring some healing — physically and mentally. That will give me a better picture of how well this lifestyle experiment is working.
Until then, I’ll stay focused on what I can do: small steps, recovery, consistency.
Whatever it takes to get back to baseline.