Public Commitment 2023 – Recap

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 it could also mean letting go of non-productive parts to make the expansion possible.

This is the fourth (big/quarterly) update and general reacp to the goals of 2023.

House

Objective (O): Live in the dream house

V: Continue with upgrading house & garden (e.g. sports cabin, chicken coop, house rooms)

V: Get financial information from the accountant by <5 Feb

V: Get ‘inkomensverklaring’ info and/or check for financing from ABN AMRO

V: After the above, look seriously on Funda and refine the criteria once more

V: Visit houses & make offer (pending mortgage, bought a house)

V: Move (in June)

V: Sell old house (everything is lined up for sale in two weeks)

V: Buy a car

V: Continue with upgrading garden (e.g. sports cabin & chickens)

Whilst Lotte was away in India, I busied myself with upgrading or entrance, building a new storage closet (inbuilt) and when she was back also finished the chicken coop door. Next to the big projects, we worked on a lot of small things, from insulating the doors to making the outhouse (sitting area and sports area) look nice.

For the coming year, we will shift our attention to the garden and spend time remodelling most of it. Of course, we will use the greenhouse again, and plan to add many more vegetables etc to the mix. The chickens will get a few more friends. But more on the future in the 2024 goals.

Finances

O: Make 10k p/m (had one or two 10k months, still quite variable)

V: Keep track of finances p/w (ongoing, fully updated and back on track)

V: Spend <50% of income on normal living expenses (this is true in some months, but a good reminder to add this as a variable to the tracker)

V: Track and start improving the income of Blossom (started tracking & more promotion membership, also did a lot of consulting work.)

The last few months were quite a busy period, and I mean that in a good way. I finished out the year with the first paying clients for FLO coaching, and did a lot of consulting work for Delphi (from Blossom) working on psychedelics as medicines.

The new tracking excel (message me if you want a copy) is also live and everything is working great. The barrier to tracking is low and it’s ok if I miss a week and then cover two weeks the next time.

In 2024, I plan to continue with similar goals.

Flotte

O: Strengthen the relationship

V: Have 1+ deep conversation per week that doesn’t side-step challenging parts (all good, not tracked precisely)

V: Follow our habits such as Tuesday date night, meditate evenings (3+ p/w), check-in monthly (check-in could have been done more)

No big updates here. We did follow up on only going away one day of the weekend and that will continue into 2024 (which then also creates time to work in the garden). Btw, I didn’t mention it here yet, but we will get married in June 2024, so more on the topic soon.

Relationships

O: Maintain a diverse set of relationships, and meet (expand) new friends in my interest areas

X: Call friends when walking Max 3+ p/w (going, 2/10; needs to improve)

V: Meet 2+ new people in Q1 outside work (>100min)

V: Meet 2+ new people in Q2 outside work (>100min)

Seeing friends has been great, but I’ve slacked on calling friends or messaging to check in. Definitely something to do more of in 2024 and I have an initial plan to do this more regularly.

FW.com

O: Have a lively (>1 post p/m) personal website

X: Post updates on what I’ve written on social media

X: Write one large (>1000w) post p/m (paused for now)

X: Write about fitness & diet in Mar (to be done later)

X: Post major updates (~1 p/m) in personal newsletter

V: Write a post about kidney donation in Jan

V: Finish update of design site & personal brand

The blogs on this site are currently still on pause (but this might change, as this section will likely change to ‘Branding’).

Blossom

O: Expand the impact of psychedelics as medicine

V: Have ~2 calls with new people p/w (ongoing, 10/10)

X: Launch own (60-75min) course in Q1 (failed to make time for this, framework is there, and also have bought recording equipment, but no recordings or launch yet)

X: Reach >$1000 p/m income from non-consultancy work (still need to expand promo and membership benefits)

X: Reach >$3000 p/m income from non-consultancy work

V: Work through an online course (e.g. customer interviews; did one on course design/launch/validation)

V/X: Relaunch the reports as membership perks (planned/working on this; is half there, but there could be way more benefits for members)

V: Add all past summaries for members (not all are up to my standard, but they are there, and a VA was a great help with this)

X: Provide a who-is-who directory (still have the ambition, but shelved for now)

V: (re)Launch PsychedelicsCourses <15 Jan

A lot has happened behind the scenes, with a focus on working for clients on consulting projects. One included an update to a very well made report on psychedelic science, other projects range from for-profits to governmental organisations. The work has been gratifying, and I’m working with a great team. This work will continue into the following year.

The database for Blossom has been continually expanded with new resources, and I will continue working on this in the next year.

Queal

O: Maingain with a focus on customer satisfaction

V: Launch QQ offering each quarter (4x done)

X: Refocus on customer acquisition & retention (new project in Q3)

V: Relaunch go bars (<30 Apr, delayed)

X: Post blogs 3x p/w

We have offered the QQ deal every quarter and overall have maintained what is there with Queal. I personally still enjoy the meals and foresee us running Queal for years to come.

Flo Coaching

O: Help 20+ people experience psychedelics to expand their minds (12 done)

V/X: Get 8 paying clients for FLO Coaching (Floris) and 4 for Lotte (2 and 3, with the rest test/launch customers)

V: Relaunch Flo Coaching in Q3, (V: but after relaunching PC)

V: Remake customer flow, including coaching talks

V: Make a how-to guidebook for potential clients (lead magnet)

X: Retest workflow with 2+ acquaintances in Q2 (but done in Q3)

The focus on FLO coaching was the right level if I incorporate all other aspects of the work that I’ve been doing. For 2024, it will become a greater focus, especially with Lotte wanting to transition away from her other work.

It was great being able to streamline the processes and be able to already help the first few people here. In 2024, we will greatly expand on the work here.

Sports

O: Expand my all-round fitness to exceed that of 2022

V: Do sports 6x p/w (3x cardio & 3x gym), after kidney recovery (still 4-5x but happy with how it’s going)

X/V: Lift more than 440kg on big 3 (squat, bench, deadlift) (got 120, 95, 170 without much specific training = 385kg and with moving house etc, still happy with the outcome)

X: Incorporate stretching goals later in the year (did purchase stretching app)

At the gym, I’ve mostly been doing weights on machines and this has been a great way to go consistently and build strength up again after the operation and then moving. My scores on the big 3 are about 15% lower than last year, which isn’t that bad.

I have been slacking in the cardio department and will pick this up more in the coming year. One goal will be to have my fitbod by the end of February, to make my suit for the wedding and then maintain this until the wedding itself of course (and beyond).

Health

O: Be in the best shape ever

X: Do 3 experiments (1x in Q2) with standard meals (2 meals x 5-7 days) (still want to track this more)

X/V: Track 3+ health metrics (e.g. free test) (did testosterone test; normal range; no other tests done)

V/X: Walk >10k steps p/d (not specifically always, but lots of walking in Anna Paulowna)

Did the first health testing with testosterone (besides what I get from my smartwatch already), plan to dive deeper into this in 2024 and build in some more feedback loops with regards to things like VO2 max.

Mindfulness

O: Improve the state of my mind, and expand it

X: Meditate >3650 minutes (60 hours; tried new meditation app but stopped in December)

X: Investigate & find 1+ meditative path to explore (started with app, but it in itself isn’t finished)

X: Take psychedelics for exploration 4+ times (2/4), including 1 (0/1) new compound (I work in the field, but have been slacking in participating)

If I would estimate my happiness and fulfilment versus random other people in The Netherlands, I would put myself in the top 10%. Yet, I know that there is a lot of territory beyond that. Put differently, there are a lot of orthogonal benefits in areas where I’m not fluent yet. Will be something that comes back.

Notes

That is a wrap for 2023, a year in which the theme expansion has surely been fulfilled. A new house, a mega garden, an engagement, a new dog (Saar), and lots of fun and new work.

Let’s see what 2024 has in store for me.