"'Tis the season!"

Although it isn't said as authentically as it once was, in the west we know that no season takes on as much of its own persona as the winter holidays. At time of writing, we are currently nestled in the last week between the Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's Eve/etc holidays, a sort of last bit of permission to labor amidst the three major holidays in the US.

I've been working to curate more seasonality in my life, in my work, physical fitness and mindset. Like many others I benefitted from the pronounced and specific structure of adolescent life: School, Sports, Semesters, Finals, etc.

The season gave cues to the behaviors we should take to make best use of the time.

For basketball, at any level, it was very simple:

• Winter - Season (performance)

• Spring - Postseason Workouts (optimization)

• Summer - AAU & Offseason (rest & work on skills)

• Fall - Preseason Workouts (preparation)

For school, just as straightforward:

• Fall - School starts

• Winter - finish the semester, finals and holidays

• Spring - spring break, midterms

• Summer - school's out, rest, relax, vacation

Yet once we enter the "real world" most of that seasonality that was dictated to us over the years is left for us to create in our own lives, or not. From my own experience, my first 10 years of my professional career were spent in an "always on" seasonality. In the 3 years following the outbreak of COVID-19, I've been curious as to what seasonality would look like in my professional and personal life, but have met a lot of resistance and it seems as though the status quo on seasonality is: "We'll get to it when we get to it."

As part of my efforts to bring seasonality into my life, I decided to go back to my habit of making an end of the year list. What gets measured gets managed, after all.

So I've attempted to do that below, from TV and Entertainment to Health, Diabetes & otherwise, here are my Top 5 lists of 2022. Videos and social media posts to follow!

enjoy

Rob

Top 5 lists of 2022

Top 5 Favorite New TV Show Episodes of 2022

• Andor S1 E10 - "One Way Out"

• Rings of Power S1 E6 - "Udün"

• The Bear S1 E7 - "Review"

• Tokyo Vice S1 E1 - "The Test"

• We Own the City S1 E6 - "Part 6"

Note: I have yet to watch Severance, Abbott Elementary and Industry, but they are next up.

Top 5 Movies of 2022

• Top Gun: Maverick

• Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.

• Nope

• Avatar: The Way of Water

• The Batman

Top 5 Reads of 2022

• 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

• Heat 2 by Michael Mann & Meg Gardiner

• A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

• The Network State by Balaji Srinivasan

Top 5 Purchases Under $100 in 2022

• Athletic Greens AG1 monthly subscription

• Nedrelow Laptop Mat

• Momentous Supplements Magnesium Threonate

• Slant Boards

• Move Insoles All Day Shoe Inserts

Top 5 Meaningful Personal Changes I Made in 2022

• Adding 20 push-ups to my morning routine

• Renu Therapy Cold Immersion Tank

• No caffeine for the first 90 mins of the day

• Journaling before I get on my computer

• All-Time low levels of Alcohol Consumption

Top 5 Diabetes Decisions

• Taking a pump break to let my body heal

• Going back on my pump after the break

• Listening to my body and switching back to Humalog from Lyumjev

• Focusing on sleep, hydration and movement as part of my essential Diabetes therapy

• Recognizing and accepting that my needs as a person with Diabetes are different than the general Diabetes population

Top 5 Questions for 2023

• How can I do more with less?

• What is enough?

• Am I operating in gratitude?

• What does consistency look like?

• Do I need rest or adventure?