Rainmaker. Knowledge broker. Healer.
Wishing everybody a Happy New Year!
I am planning to expand this blog from a water and tea blog to a wellness blog and I will document my journey of becoming younger and younger biologically. My goal is to help as many people as I can, to inspire them to become the better version for themselves.
So many dreams for 2020….
While I have been silent for the past months as our family transitioned from Myanmar to Malawi, the start of the new year is also a motivator for me to finally relaunch my blogging.
Over the past months, a lot of things have happened. The move from Asia to Africa has not been without any bumps, but we finally settled into our new life here in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Malawi, also known as the warm heart of Africa, is a wonderful place with so many opportunities, but also challenges. While Malawi is the second largest exporter of teas in Africa, access to clean water is an issue and access to fine water is almost non-existent.
Despite all of this, I managed to continue exploring my passion for water and tea, but an additional desire slowly emerged.
The Year 2019 – My main achievements
These are the moments I am most proud of in 2019 (in no particular order):
Successfully transitioned from Myanmar to Malawi
Walked 100,000 steps in one day to earn the Fitbit Olympic Sandal badge
Being a husband to my lovely wife Kristen
Being a father to my lovely sons
Listened to 230 audio books
Presented at the Fine Water Summit in Stockholm, Sweden
Conducted 5 water tastings on 3 continents
365 days alcohol free and member of OYNB
Maintained my target weight
Built my first home gym
365 days of Elevate and Calm – my ultimate go to apps in the morning.
The journey to better health
As many of my friends know, I have enjoyed my journey to a healthy and better me over the past two years. More and more I realized, that developing a new wellness strategy, is what makes me happy and ultimately will contribute to a stronger me.
Out of this, a new idea was born for me: Push my envelope and create a new ambitious goal.
Daily mantra
My daily mantra over the past two years has been:
“How can I become a better version of myself by the end of the day?”
The daily change has been tiny, but doing this every day has allowed me to reach a level of performance and health I would never thought of possible two years ago.
My wellness and fitness journey, started with a simple Fitbit tracker in 2017 and reaching 10,000 steps every day has been a motivator going forward. In 2019, I even managed to walk 100,000 steps in one single day (took me 17 hours walking nonstop in Rome, Italy) to obtain Fitbits Olympian Sandal badge.
To motivate me to grow as a person, I started using technology on a new level as of this year. In 2019 I managed to listen to 230 audio books and expanding my knowledge has been a passion for me and my personal growth. I read a lot of books on wellness, health, nutrition, bio hacking, aging and most of all reverse aging.
Michael 2.0 – The Year 2020
My 2020 goal sounds crazy, ambitious – but I know, achievable. One of the questions in 2019, which stuck with me is : “Will it make the boat go faster?” I only focus on development goals, if they will add value in growing as a person. If it is counter productive, I will not do it. Sounds easy, but requires a lot of daily discipline. The key is to balance your developments to the point that they support each other and make you as a person overall stronger.
Over the past 48 months, I have eliminated alcohol, sugar, actually any drink calories, as I have now a zero calorie drink diet (I only drink water, tea and coffee).
I am at my ideal weight, set at a BMI of 22.5 , which I have maintained over the past 2 years (give or take a pound). I have a healthy, 117/75 blood pressure, a full range of healthy within normal stats including cholesterol, blood sugar and BF.
My main 2020 goal is:
While I will get one year chronologically older, I will become one year biologically younger.
Everything I am doing wellness wise, is driven by actual numbers and data goals. I have created a detailed affirmation and a plan on how I will achieve this.
Anything I do on wellness has to fit into my busy day. I am first of all a husband, father and work as the head of resource management for the World Food Programme in Malawi. Life is hectic and there are a load of daily challenges which need tackling.
The wellness path forward – A new blog
I am planning to expand this blog from a water and tea blog to a wellness blog and I will document my journey of becoming younger and younger biologically. My goal is to help as many people as I can, to inspire them to become the better version for themselves.
My development plan for 2020 is build on 6 pillars:
Tracking: Making my goals visible is one of the most important elements. I am using a Fitbit tracker, a Fitbit scale and an Oura ring. This provides me with insights on my progress towards my goals and my health status.
Mindfulness: I am a big fan of the Calm app and I have started using Muse 2 this year. Mindfulness has been a game changer for me to be present in the moment and to build a strong mind/ body integration.
Fitness: I am passionate about my fitness routines. I have started to use Neuro Priming and Neuro Stimulation (Halo Sport) this year to achieve better results. I focus on cardio, core and strength trainings. My favorite room in the house – our own gym!
Nutrition: I started my own nutrition programme and I labeled it : Reverse Engineered Metabolism (REM) – I am focusing on giving my body the elements it needs for growth and maintaining the proper health. I also started incorporating vitamins and probiotics on a mindful level. This also includes my zero calorie drink diet.
Skin: To look and feel younger, skin care is essential. This is not coming natural to men so it took some time, but now I am hooked. For me the skin is our largest organ is the entry gate to cell rejuvenation and growth.
Social aspect: While my growth is focused on me as a person, I cannot do this alone. I am so blessed being part of several great communities, most importantly the OYNB community but other amazing facebook groups as well to learn from others. I want to give back and help others in their journey to achieve a healthier and happier version of themselves.
Over the next 12 months I will document my journey and highlight what has worked and what has not. Certainly I will include my thoughts on the latest trends in tea and water as this remains one of my most important interests.
Please feel free to reach out to me in case of any questions and I am happy to include the topics in my next blog.
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