The Monday Read: Ball is Rolling

My financial incentive habit creating system is working well (see below). I went to jiu-jitsu three times this week, even though I am still slightly injured and very busy with work. There is no way I would have gone without the public commitment and financial penalty.

Today I got on my rowing machine for the first time in months.

Coincidence? I think not.

Momentum is definitely a thing. Start exercising, and you’ll find yourself eating differently, moving more, and stretching without even thinking about it.

Finish something small on your to-do list, and you’ll find starting the next task that much easier.

The hard thing is that initial push.

RetireJapan TV

Don’t forget RJTV tonight (Monday 20th) at 20:00. With special guests Alan and Katie Donegan.

Be there or be considerably less well-informed and entertained 😉

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. I made a video about paying into the UK state pension on a voluntary basis (just for Brits, I’m afraid, and people who have worked there).

This is the first time I have written a script for a video (I wanted to make sure I got the numbers right, and covered all the points) and to be honest I don’t really like it.

It feels kind of fake and bland. Just me? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

I think in the future I will stick to outlining videos rather than writing out scripts. It’s the same way I approach presentations.

Metrics

Second week.

Jiu-jitsu training sessions: 3 (pass)
YouTube videos: 1 (pass)

Consequences: none 🙂

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (26,516 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

I read What’s Your Business Worth? mainly because Daniel Priestley was a co-author, but it turned out to be a long infomercial for their business valuing company -don’t recommend this.

On the other hand, I am loving Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara. It’s about restaurants, but also about service and building teams, so very relevant to my wife’s school. Really well-written too. Check it out if you are into restaurants or management 🙂

This week’s gadget

This week’s gadget (the first one this year?) is the Mi Smartband 7 Pro.

I’ve been a huge fan of the normal smart bands from Xiaomi for ages now. They are cheap, functional, do everything I want them to (track my activity and give me notifications), and the battery lasts for ages.

The Pro version also tracks activity, delivers notifications, and has good battery life (I seem to be using about 10% of the battery per day), but it also looks really nice.

They are definitely copying Apple’s design aesthetics, and pulling it off.

I got the white one, and I’m really happy with it. There is also a black one, but I don’t think it looks quite as elegant.

Basically if you are looking for something comparable to an Apple watch for Android, but with much better battery life and for 1/3 of the cost, definitely check out the Mi Smart Band 7 Pro (could probably do with a snappier name).

This week’s track

Love Chvrches, love their new song Over (YouTube).

This week’s links

1. Big fan of Craid Mod (I just joined his membership program) and this annual update is gold: Running a Membership Program: Four Years In
2. Something for the Japanese government to ponder? The Surprising Effects of Remote Work
3. Enjoyed some of this list of lifehacks
4. This book on AI (written with GPT4) is actually pretty interesting: Impromptu Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI
5. A good explanation of the banking crisis: Banking in very uncertain times
6. This is a pleasant surprise: Hotels in Kagawa urged not to request foreign residents’ ID
7. The most popular jobs for kids list seems to be shifting, but still pretty stereotypical (Twitter thread).
8. Incredible, kind of cool, very worrying: The gap between impossible and normal
9. More great stuff from Tim: Japan’s Two Biggest Obsessions
10. Anyone who isn’t actively getting ready for retirement risks this: More seniors in Japan destined to work until they drop
11. A very clear explanation: How to create your own company in Japan
12. First time hearing Vicki Robin (Your Money or Your Life) speak (YouTube): Personal finance: How to save, spend, and think rationally about money
13. Food for thought (dopamine and wanting stuff): Everything You Can’t Have
14. Eeek, hadn’t noticed there was an egg shortage: Japan on high alert as avian flu rages across the country and heads north
15. Usually worth reading these two: Interview: Kevin Kelly, editor, author, and futurist
16. Interesting as 60 pounds a year doesn’t seem very significant: Max visits 40 homes a day to help keep energy costs down: Here are the eight errors he sees most often… and fixing them could save you £60 a year or more
17. I find it interesting to compare obesity rates between countries: Why aren’t medical breakthroughs in obesity a bigger deal?
18. This seemed timely for me: Fasting and Weight Loss – Solving the Two-Compartment problem

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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