Public Commitment 2025 – Update 1

Theme: Increments

Over the last three months, the incremental changes have compounded. I’ve planted trees, painted the bathroom, upgraded our stove, added curtains, labelled the storage, stopped the heater ticking sound, and made many more changes.

Most are in the physical domain, but some changes to how I work have also transpired. However, there is still a lot of room for the latter to streamline and make those processes go better.

In this first reflection of 2025, I’ll check in on the progress of the goals and update them where necessary to reflect the new objectives for Q2.

Pillars

Objective (O): Improve our living space whilst compounding our finances

KR1: Pay off 10% of the house (H1)
KR2: Finish at least one remodelling project (Q2)
KR3: Fully map out the steps and finances of all remodelling projects (Q2)
KR4: Plant and grow our garden (Q2)
KR5: Remodel the chicken outdoor area (Q2)
KR6: Keep track of family finances every month (Q1 ok)
KR7: Earn twice as much as we’re spending (Q1 ok)
KR8: Donate 10% of our income (done in Q4)

V: Have a fully fleshed-out remodelling strategy (Q1)
V: Plant new trees and seeds before spring arrives (Q1)
V: Install an outdoor pizza oven (Q1)

I’ve paid off a part of the house, but not all I had intended, so this goal will still be here for the next quarter.

I’ve mapped out all the different things we want to do for the remodelling. This includes an outline of specific materials and tasks, but not an overall plan for when to do what. This is what comes up next, and what will be the goal for this quarter. We may not be able to do all the remodelling at once, but we will have at least one of the rooms/projects finished by the end of the quarter.

It has worked out nicely for planting trees and seeds; we now have two old trees (pear & apple) and two younger trees. I’ve also pre-planted a lot of seeds (from tomatoes to courgettes), and they will move into the garden in the coming quarter.

We now also have a small outdoor pizza oven. It’s a wood-powered one and just a basic model, but it’s good enough to start with and enjoy when the weather improves.

A new goal for the quarter is to remodel the chicken coop. After I built the fence with the neighbours, the chickens were let to roam free throughout the garden. They enjoy the experience, and we love seeing them running around the garden. But they also poop everywhere. So, for the sake of our bare feet, I will remodel the chicken coop so it’s a bit bigger but contained to a part of the garden instead of roaming free.

On the finances side of the pillars theme, I’ve been mostly tracking our finances and will do so again when this post goes live (tomorrow). It’s generally going well, but I must consider which projects to focus on to generate income. Still, I’ve paid off a part of the house, and we are generally doing well.

People

O: Take good care of our relationships and community ties

KR1: Have one day a week dedicated to each other
KR2: Visit friends and family at least every second week
KR3: Support the family in Zaandam during a challenging time (H1)

This all has been going well. There are still health problems in the Zaandam family, so I will extend the goal also to capture the second quarter.

Pursuits

O: Maintain strong business foundations while making consistent improvements in each project

KR1: Get a total of 50 clients for FLO in 2024 (12+ in Q2)
KR2: Build a chat interface for Blossom (Q2)
KR3: Promote Queal & Phase out old products (Q2)
KR4: Start first Delphi EU project (Q2)
KR5: Share three pieces of content each week
KR6: Update one resource on Blossom each week

V: Publish the report on psychedelics and reimbursement in Europe (Q1)
V: Launch the new product line for Queal (Q1)

I put a lot of work into the reimbursement report last quarter. It was a big push to finish it in time, but we did it, and the report came out great.

For Queal, the new product line is ready and available through the Queal Quarterly package deal. In the coming quarter, I will focus on promoting Queal and the phase-out of the other lines.

For FLO, Lotte has had an inflow of clients, and things are starting to ‘work’. We are still exploring how to promote efficiently, but so far, it has resulted in new clients. Although 8 is the closer number (of the 10 goal), let’s aim for 12 in the next quarter.

For Blossom, the chat interface had to wait because of the report release. But I’m happy to report that for the report itself, I have implemented a free chat interface (so there is way less customisation, but it is still helpful as a case study/smaller test case for myself). During the coming quarter, I plan on finishing the chat interface and will continue updating the resource pages (now with a focus on the specific compounds).

For Delphi, I will lead the European consultancy engagements. I’m still figuring out how to shape this role and what projects to pursue. But it’s a great opportunity, and I look forward to exploring it. Next to the consultancy work, Delphi and Blossom will cooperate closely on content/research.

Finally, I have been publishing new things (e.g. on LinkedIn or The Bloom newsletter) every week, and I plan to continue doing this at about three pieces per week.

Physique

O: Get into the best shape of my life through healthy habits that last

KR1: Improve the health dashboard (Q2)
KR2: Do sports 6 out of 7 days (training schema for Hyrox)
KR3: Perform stretches in the morning after walking the dogs
KR4: Drink fewer than 2 alcohol beverages per week

V: Map out and save standard meals
V: Make health dashboard on fw.com (Q1)

Generally, it has been going well with my health. The results from the kidney monitoring (yearly) came back good.

Rens and I have decided to do a Hyrox challenge later this year. From Q2 onward, I will be training with a focus on cardio. The fuller plan for this can be found here (link TBD).

This also means that I’ve updated my task, which has generally been going well (but would say 5 out of 7 days), to reflect the changed focus to training for the Hyrox event.

I haven’t been doing the stretches. Now that I reflect, I realize it may also be because there is no ‘plan’ (besides using an app). So, from now on, I will also include which group of muscles to focus on each day in the stretches (and still use the app for the exercises).

I’ve mapped out a few meals, and hopefully, by this time tomorrow, I will also have them on the health dashboard.

And finally, I have been really good at not drinking alcohol (and still enjoying it here and there). The average is below two (and this includes a ski vacation with six drinks in total).

Presence

O: Mindfully implement incremental upgrades in my life

KR1: Switch to a dumb phone for most of the day (H1)
KR2: Set specific daily tasks after stretches based on weekly plan
KR3: Make a weekly plan based on the OKRs and update these
KR4: Keep track of daily goal-related activities
KR5: Make one thing incrementally better each week

Before the vacations, I used the dumb phone most of the time. But I haven’t picked up the habit after travelling (and having my regular phone there). So (because it isn’t entirely a habit yet), I will extend the goal to the coming quarter. I have all the right apps and tools (including a feed for newsletters, so they are in an article reader format on the phone), so the setup is complete.

I have been tracking (also until the vacations) my daily goals and doing the shutdown ritual (check tasks, plan tomorrow, verbally ‘complete shutdown’ the day), and from today onwards, I will continue doing this.

As you might have read at the top of the newsletter, there have been incremental weekly changes for the first 12 weeks of the year.

Notes

That is it for the Q1 update of my yearly theme. Everything is improving incrementally, and it’s been fun to tackle these small projects around the house. There will be a few more significant house projects this quarter and likely a larger focus on incremental improvements in work processes in Q2.

See you in three months.