Public Commitment 2023
Theme: Expansion
This year I’m focusing on expanding myself and my impact on the world in various domains. It follows from a year where a lot of groundwork was done (e.g. finishing v1 of Blossom’s database). In 2023, it’s time to build on that and expand outward.
The expansion can take many forms, from moving to a bigger house, to offering more things with Blossom. It also means improving what I’ve done in terms of fitness and ‘recovering’ from the kidney donation (by ‘expanding’ to higher numbers on the big lifts).
Another way of putting the theme, with a slightly different meaning, is ‘Big or Bust’. It’s a bit more aggressive, but also captures the pruning side of the equation. Expanding means building on what is working, but could also mean letting go of non-productive parts to make the expansion possible.
House
Objective (O): Live in the dream house
Key Result (KR1): Get financial information from the accountant by <5 Feb
KR2: Get ‘inkomensverklaring’ info and/or check for financing from ABN AMRO
KR3: After the above, look seriously on Funda and refine the criteria once more
I want to live in my dream house* when possible. It looks like it should be financially possible to buy the dream house, so why wait? I’ve listed the first steps to making it happen here. This area would best be captured by the ‘big or bust’ framing. I don’t want to settle for an ‘ok’ house.
*Dream house: 500m2 ground, 150m2 house, no neighbours, space for sports outside, space for the vegetable garden outside, preferably near woods, can be old (do lots of work self) or new, preferably place where you can throw a party and not think about the neighbours.
Finances
O: Make 10k p/m
KR1: Keep track of finances p/w
KR2: Spend <50% of income on normal living expenses
I’ve built a good foundation with Queal, and now the first signs of income are starting for Blossom too. Over the last year, I’ve been bad at keeping track of my expenses, though it takes one hour per month. Therefore I’m changing it to once a week (<30min) to be more on top (shorter feedback loop).
I should be around spending <50% of my income on living expenses, and as my income (could) increase, I might raise this number further. The living expenses include things like groceries and mortgage payments, the latter of which could rise substantially if the dream house is acquired.
Flotte
O: Strengthen the relationship
KR1: Have 1+ deep conversation per week that doesn’t side-step challenging parts
KR2: Follow our habits such as Tuesday date night, meditate evenings (3+ p/w), check-in monthly
It’s always, for me, difficult to fit a relationship with the OKR framework, though the goals here should reflect the ‘new’ things relatively well. The most challenging part, again for me, is to stay with discomfort and seek out deepening conversations that aren’t always fun.
Relationships
O: Maintain a diverse set of relationships, and meet (expand) new friends in my interest areas
KR1: Call friends when walking Max 3+ p/w
KR2: Meet 2+ new people in Q1 outside work (>100min)
I have amazing friends and have (a) diverse friend group(s). One thing I can do more, which unfortunately others also don’t do, is to call friends more. I walk with Max every day and instead of listening to podcasts can call friends.
Outside the current groups, there is still room to meet others who share my interests, from EA to mindfulness. Possibly through Twitter, or via friends I already have, I would want to meet others who I can share interesting ideas with.
FW.com
O: Have a lively (>1 post p/m) personal website
KR1: Finish update of design site & personal brand
KR2: Post updates on what I’ve written on social media
KR3: Write one large (>1000w) post p/m
KR4: Write a post about kidney donation in Jan
KR5: Post major updates (~1 p/m) in personal newsletter
I’ve found new inspiration to start writing again on my personal website. This time, I want to focus on making a few excellent posts (no more than 1 p/m) that showcase things I’m thinking about. This can be related to these areas, a large review of an impactful book, or even some fiction I’ve written (e.g. update to Spero).
Part of why I write is to strengthen my thinking (making it clearer by writing it out), partly to remember things better, and partly to promote the ideas (and myself) I consider helpful.
Blossom
O: Expand the impact of psychedelics as medicine
KR1: (re)Launch PsychedelicsCourses <15 Jan
KR2: Have ~2 calls with new people p/w
KR3: Launch own (60-75min) course in Q1
KR4: Reach >$1000 p/m income from non-consultancy work
KR5: Reach >$3000 p/m income from non-consultancy work
This year, I want to expand the reach of Blossom and the income I can generate from that. Part of this plan is the overhaul of the courses website. Another part is getting more money from memberships, for instance, corporate memberships to Blossom, or more personal memberships.
I also want to expand the luck ‘surface area’ by connecting with more people. For that cause, I will start reaching out again for calls (I have some incoming, but would also do well by doing more outreach myself).
Queal
O: Maingain with a focus on customer satisfaction
KR1: Launch QQ offering each quarter
KR2: Relaunch go bars (<15 Feb)
KR3: Post blogs 3x p/w
Queal is still going strong, and I eat one to two meals per day myself (Cool Chocolate Athletic and Ready Berry Good most days). We’ve remade the big (40 meals) offering and will focus on providing more value to our customers.
The adjunct products are being revamped, with the bars taking much longer than expected, but a relaunch is getting closer.
Flo Coaching
O: Help 20+ people experience psychedelics to expand their minds
KR1: Relaunch Flo Coaching in Q1 but after relaunching PC
KR2: Remake customer flow including coaching talks
KR3: Retest workflow with 2+ acquaintances in Q1/2
I’ll be doing Flo Coaching together with Lotte. It’s something that will take away time from the other goals, so I have to be conscious of that. But if possible, I want to relaunch it and coach people one-on-one. My focus would be on self-development and professional creativity (e.g. helping an entrepreneur find new inspiration). Lotte would focus on self-development and women.
Sports
O: Expand my all-round fitness to exceed that of 2022
KR1: Do sports 6x p/w (3x cardio & 3x gym), after kidney recovery
KR2: Lift more than 440kg on big 3 (squat, bench, deadlift)
KR3 (uncertain): Incorporate stretching goals later in the year
This year, I will expand my all-around fitness without doing any specific races (I must prepare for, anti-goal). Last year, I did 440kg so it will be a good challenge to go bigger than that. I will also have to build back my cardio, which I will do with three cardio sessions per week of different sports (swimming, running, biking, etc.).
Health
O: Be in the best shape ever
KR1: Do 3 experiments (1x in Q1) with standard meals (2 meals x 5-7 days)
KR2: Track 3+ health metrics (e.g. free test)
KR3: Walk >15k steps p/d
Health-wise things are going great. I did donate my kidney (still have the other one), so will have to recover from this. I intend to track some health metrics, but haven’t done much and might want to talk to others to know what is smart to track. One person who invested a lot of money into improving his health found out that walking was great for him, and I plan to walk more than I’m currently doing.
Mindfulness
O: Improve the state of my mind, and expand it
KR1: Meditate >3650 minutes (60 hours)
KR2: Investigate & find 1+ meditative path to explore
KR3: Take psychedelics for exploration 4+ times, including 1 new compound
I’ve been blessed with an exceptionally calm (and rational) mind. Overall, I’m super content with how things are going, and my stress levels are miniature. I’ve read about others who’ve explored meditation more (e.g. jhanas) and would be very interested in following a meditative path beyond what I’m currently doing (10min meditation daily).
The Perfect Day
6 – wake up
7-12 – deep work
12-14 sport
14-17 communicate/various work
17-21 relax/write more/game
Habits of Note
The goals above include some new habits that I’m forming or strengthening. Other notable habits that I have include:
- Daily flashcard training (Thought Saver)
- Reading (no specific goal anymore, but average about a book per 2 weeks at the moment)
Notes
Two things came up that I haven’t incorporated yet into the goals. The first is that I would want to seek out coaching again. I did so last year and found it helpful. This was in regard to life/work but also have had positive experiences with coaching for sports. I want to do more research (talk to multiple coaches) beforehand this time around. The second is that I probably want to define my hobbies better. There is already a lot here, but I might benefit from a passive/relaxed hobby like watching movies with intent. In other words, have something high-quality to do when relaxing.