An Accountability Hack

It's day 211 of documenting 2025.

Hey 👋🏼 

How's it going?

I hope it's all good where you are....and if not, remember that things could have been worse, but they're not.

Still on the blackout countdown...

Update:

It seems everyone in my area already knows about the power outage situation. All are adapting...but things might get expensive.

On my end, it's all good.

Everyone is adapting as well.

Power banks are out of their break now...as they're constantly used.

Mine especially 😄

When the power was still predictable, I wouldn't use it but I would just wait till the power was restored.

It ain't like that no more...

Things might not be as bad as they seem tho....

Before now, I would spend up to 8 hours on my phone...a luxury.

Now, I'm considering ways to reduce those number of hours.

Like reading an actual book instead of a PDF, taking a walk instead of chatting with AI, singing out loud instead of listening to music....

Things like that.

It's even an advantage.

I can connect more with elements around me instead of scrolling.

I can write more instead of typing...

(Nope! Scratch that 😐)

My point is, situations like this always have a bright side.

But most people don't see it.

I'm not most people, by the way...

Anyhoo...life goes on.

Let's get into Highlights for today...and maybe we can meditate on a few lessons from Marcus Aurelius.

365 Days With Self-discipline 

📌 On a Simple Adherence Hack

"Photograph all meals or snacks prior to eating. 

Subjects who use food diaries lose three times as much weight as those who don’t."

Quote by Tim Ferriss

Photographing all that you eat will make you more aware of what you put in your mouth. 

It will make you pause and think before you cheat because there will be a clear consequence of it: a picture that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that you didn’t stick to your resolutions.

Such a simple hack can provide tremendous benefits or even be the single thing that will finally make you stick to your diet in the long term.

This trick doesn’t just apply to dieting. You can also use it successfully for other goals. 

For example :

- If you want to become an early riser, take a picture of your clock the moment you get out of bed.

- If you want to become more fit, record a video of your every workout or jot down the exercises you did, the amount of weight that you lifted, the number of reps, sets, and the duration of your session.

- If you want to save more money, photograph any purchase that isn’t a necessity.

Here's a funny thought 😂

You set a goal...and on the very first day, you fail to meet the requirement or take the needed action.

It happens, I tell you....

A way to stay accountable is when you find a way to record your progress.

Something visual, like a picture suggested earlier or if you want to avoid a digital device....use a trusty pen and paper.

Even ticking a box for each day makes you less likely to not take action...to keep all your boxes checked ✅ 

Try it and see what I mean.

One thing that helps me is the fact that I love streaks.

I love keeping streaks of several days and when I break one for some reason....I feel guilty.

This writing streak alone has kept me going to this day...

The visual element is the pictures I add to the top of every post.

On the website, the picture appears...along with the day I published them.

And it has to be in order.

There was a day I forgot to hit publish....and I felt terrible.

I posted the story anyway....and found a hack to make it look like I never missed it.

The streak is still alive 🔥 

200 days and counting...

Very soon it'll be day 250...and then day 300.

65 days in...I'll have a 365-day streak 😁

The highest one so far!

Okay...okay

Don't get so ahead of yourself, Duon. Live each post...as always.

Moving on....

Meditations 

📌 Book 4 (Final Lessons)

48. Don’t let yourself forget how many doctors have died, after furrowing their brows over how many deathbeds. How many astrologers, after pompous forecasts about others’ ends. 

How many philosophers, after endless disquisitions on death and immortality. How many warriors, after inflicting thousands of casualties themselves. 

How many tyrants, after abusing the power of life and death atrociously, as if they were themselves immortal.

How many whole cities have met their end: Helike, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and countless others.

And all the ones you know yourself, one after another. One who laid out another for burial, and was buried himself, and then the man who buried him—all in the same short space of time.

In short, know this: Human lives are brief and trivial. 

Yesterday a blob of semen; tomorrow embalming fluid, ash.

To pass through this brief life as nature demands. To give it up without complaint.

Like an olive that ripens and falls.

Praising its mother, thanking the tree it grew on.

49. To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. 

It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.

49a. It’s unfortunate that this has happened. No. It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed by it—not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. 

It could have happened to anyone. 

But not everyone could have remained unharmed by it.

Why treat the one as a misfortune rather than the other as fortunate? Can you really call something a misfortune that doesn’t violate human nature?

Or do you think something that’s not against nature’s will can violate it?

But you know what its will is. 

Does what’s happened keep you from acting with justice, generosity, self-control, sanity, prudence, honesty, humility,

straightforwardness, and all the other qualities that allow a person’s nature to fulfill itself?

So remember this principle when something threatens to cause you pain: the thing itself was no misfortune at all; to endure it and prevail is great good fortune.

50. A trite but effective tactic against the fear of death: think of the list of people who had to be pried away from life. 

What did they gain by dying old? 

In the end, they all sleep six feet under—Caedicianus, Fabius, Julian, Lepidus, and all the rest. 

They buried their contemporaries, and were buried in turn.

Our lifetime is so brief. And to live it out in these circumstances, among

these people, in this body? 

Nothing to get excited about. Consider the abyss of time past, the infinite future. 

Three days of life or three generations: what’s the difference?

51. Take the shortest route, the one that nature planned—to speak and act in the healthiest way. 

Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculation and pretension.

It seems I understand what Emperor Marcus was trying to say here.

It might not be same for you...so here's a breakdown of this whole passage:

48.   No matter who you are; doctor, philosopher, tyrant...you’ll die. Even entire cities fall into dust.  Life is incredibly short. 

We go from nothing to nothing in a blink. So instead of clinging to it in fear or ego, live it as nature intends; honestly, humbly, and gratefully. Like an olive that ripens and drops, content with having fulfilled its purpose.

49.  Be steady like a rock in a storm. Trouble may surround you, but don’t let it shake your core. When adversity comes, don’t say “unfortunate”; say “fortunate,” because you were not broken by it. 

True misfortune is letting external events corrupt your inner character. If you still act justly and wisely, you've already prevailed.

50.  Don’t fear death; it’s inevitable and equal for all. Even those who lived long lives still ended up buried. 

Whether you live three days or decades, the result is the same. Focus on living rightly rather than living long.

51. Live simply and naturally. Speak and act with integrity, free from overthinking or trying to impress others. That’s the most direct path to peace.

The core message throughout: Life is fleeting, death is certain, and what matters is living with virtue, calm, and alignment with nature.

Alignment with nature...😌

I like that.

That's what I was trying to imply when I said certain situations can be to our advantage. Like the blackout in Lagos.

To you it might be a lack of something...or a temporary setback.

Like Marcus said, nothing is actually unfortunate...if you see it the right way.

We talking perspective out here 😏

I hope you learned a few things today from this post....or at least was reminded of something.

Thanks for reading 🎀 

I hope you'll come back tomorrow for the next one.

I'm not actively promoting my posts on social media for now....maybe you can help me share this post if you think it's worth sharing.

If you can't, I understand 😌

You read to this point....and that's all that matters.

I'm Duon Ada.

I'm documenting 2025,

And I'll see you tomorrow.

Ciao 💕