#progress

Stef's PicksStefsPicks
2026-02-02
2026-02-02

"Strength always comes back the moment you begin to show up again." - Futurist Jim Carroll

Today is a big day as I FINALLY head back to the gym.

For ten weeks, my world has been defined by limitations.

Don't twist. Don't lift. Don't rush. When you live in "protection mode" with a spinal injury for that long, it’s easy to believe that you’ve lost your edge. You start to wonder if the engine has rusted over completely.

But data doesn't lie, and it doesn't care about my worries.

Before heading back to the gym today, I ran a diagnostic on my own recovery when I went into my home gym on Saturday. And I was impressed with the results.

Looking at the hard numbers from this "shakedown" home workout. I expected to see weakness; instead, I saw a lot of capacity. My body handled 60 reps of heavy pulling without a single complaint from my back. My heart rate recovery has hit a "safety floor" and refused to drop further. My VO2Max has actually started to go back into the upper-edge of "above-average" with all the indoor 'mall walking' I've been doing.

The charts proved that while I was busy healing, I wasn't decaying.

My foundation is solid!

It might have to do with a screen I shared early into the story of this process - my biggest exercise for 2025, before slipping on ice and breaking 3 small bones on my back - was back extensions!

I've had long-running conversations in a chat with Google Gemini AI about my situation and recovery. One moment, it pointed out that what probably saved me from greater damage was all the muscle I built back there!

And my test workout shows that muscle never really left - it's just the bones that had a 'thing.'

That realization shifts everything.

I am not walking into the gym today to "fix" a broken body.

I am walking in to reactivate a strong one.

One way to put it - the rust is just on the surface—the steel underneath is as solid as ever.

Time to get to work.

---

**#Strength** **#Recovery** **#Comeback** **#Gym** **#Fitness** **#Resilience** **#Healing** **#Motivation** **#Progress** **#Foundation** **#Health** **#Determination** **#Reactivate** **#Mindset** **#Patience** **#Data** **#Perseverance** **#Body** **#Wellness** **#ShowUp** **#Steel** **#Capacity** **#Journey** **#Grateful** **#Onwards**

Futurist Jim Carroll will be working out with the guidance of his neighbor, a professional personal trainer, and has a tightly defined set of exercises that are compatible with recovery from his injury.

Original post: jimcarroll.com/2026/02/daily-i

Miss Kitty 🌈🌈🌈misskitty.art@bsky.brid.gy
2026-02-02

...functions as an #anchor #preventing #progress because the non-profit structure itself becomes a path to legitimating unequal social orders rather than creating a space that protects people from the overreach of both the state and the market.3

OnFitness Magazineonfitnessmagazine
2026-01-31

Experience changes what you chase.
Over time, many trainees stop optimizing every variable and start protecting what actually matters: consistency, recovery, and clarity.
Our latest piece reflects on what experienced trainees quietly let go of—and why.
onfitnessmag.com/more/what-exp

2026-01-31

Càng sửa càng thấy nhiều vấn đề—đây là quá trình tiến bộ! Nhà lập trình SaaS chia sẻ vừa giải quyết 10 lỗi, giờ lên 50. Ví dụ: Trang Focus có 3 ô "click" nhưng không phản hồi. Có ai từng gặp giai đoạn này chưa? #SaaS #PhátTriểnPhầnMềm #LậpTrình #Dev #TiếnBộ #Progress #StartupVn

reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/1qs

2026-01-31

And the secondmajor part of the piece. the actual character! 

finished work and full 360 view: rivalmit.com/gallery/1-sculptu 
#sculpture #WIP #progress #dragon #commission

2026-01-31

Progress looks different for everyone.
What matters is moving forward — at your own pace.

Build your business step by step.
Stronger customer loyalty starts with consistency.

✨📱

ACT OUT TEESactouttees
2026-01-31

SPACE TRAVELERS…
Our design merges the wonder of cosmic exploration with the urgency of justice on Earth.
Act Out Tees ~ www.actouttees.com

Wisdom in Spacewisdom@c.im
2026-01-31

Our practical faith in progress has ramified and hardened into an ideology -- a secular religion which is blind to certain flaws in its credentials.
-- Ronald Wright (A Short History of Progress)

#Wisdom #Quotes #RonaldWright #Progress

#Photography #Panorama #Palms #Florida

photo by richard rathe
Stef's PicksStefsPicks
2026-01-31
Destiny S. Harrisblacklistedlibrary
2026-01-31

THE TWO-DAY RULE:

Miss once — Loss today.
Miss twice — A decision.
Miss three times — An identity.

Momentum is invisible until it's gone.
Protect the streak. The streak becomes the person.

Destiny S. Harrisblacklistedlibrary
2026-01-31

The real 1% isn't 1% better every day.
It's the 1% still going when it stopped being fun.

2026-01-30

Firast stages of getting the castle base made. and one of most adorable booklets I ended up making. I loved how it came out and the texture papaer for the coverd I had really fit the middle ages aestheatics  

Finished work and 360 view: rivalmit.com/gallery/1-sculptu 
My wesite: rivalmit.com/gallery

#sculpture #art #WIP #progress #dragon

2026-01-30

I've been noodling for awhile about the power of narratives, and how they shift our power and agency.

Understanding that is really important for navigating the moment we find ourselves in.

andrewtrivette.com/articles/20

#narratives #civics #politics #thoughtoftheday #blog #progress

2026-01-30

Yann LeCun cho rằng các mô hình AI mở nguồn tốt nhất hiện không đến từ phương Tây. Nhiều nhà nghiên cứu đang dùng mô hình của Trung Quốc. Tư duy mở đã thúc đẩy AI phát triển, ngược lại nếu đóng cửa, phương Tây có nguy cơ tụt hậu. #AI #Technology #TríTuệNhânTạo #KhoaHọc #MôHìnhMở #ChinaAI #Progress #NCKH

reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/commen

Stef's PicksStefsPicks
2026-01-30

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