My Routine that Leads to Success and Happiness

A question I somewhat receive on a frequent basis from friends and family is – ‘What do you do on a daily basis?’ or ‘Do I do any work?’

My answer isn’t anything complicated, usually I respond by saying something along the lines of ‘Yes I work as an Engineer for a medical device company I believe is making a difference in patients lives.’  The second part of my answer again is simple ‘On top of that I do a lot of activities that allow me to grow.’

I imagine, based on my previous posts, I’ve made it very clear during my weekends I’m usually out adventuring around Puerto Rico.  However, my daily routine that I try to stick to during the weekdays that gives me the most of my day goes like this:

• I wake up early and go to the beach early.  At first I was going to Steps Beach to snorkel.  Now I’m trying to move from snorkeling in the morning to surfing at Domes Beach.  If I decide not to do either, I brew coffee and stand on the balcony or lay in the hammock to watch the sunrise and recap what I have to do that day and week.  Sometimes I’ll go through some of my personal goals in my head to assess if I’m making any progress on it.  This has been key for me since I’ve moved here because it really puts everything in perspective and prevents me from having a mundane mentality of what is ahead.
• I go to work and my day is usually set since I prioritized and itemized most of the projects/activities/meetings/actions that I need to complete.
• After work I got to the Rincon Fitness Center.
• Immediately after that I work on a skill or interest that allows me to progress on a personal goal.  Usually, every weekday since March I’ve been teaching myself Bioinformatics. At some point I believe this is what I will ultimately be doing. Working on a skill at some point during the day is key because this is easily what will move you toward your goal.  Not only that, it challenges your mind and prevents complacency.
• Before I sleep I read – usually it’s a self improvement book on how to be a better person in all aspects of my life or a book that drives an opinion or thought and usually allows me to internally debate if I agree with it or not.  Right now I’m reading David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.

Essentially, my routine or formula is basically doing anything/everything that allows me to continue to try and think at a higher level and work on a skill that will help me grow.  Anyone can easily follow this or some variation of this.  But I truly believe, following a daily routine that allows you to think and grow correlates to creating success.

Below are some photos that I haven’t gotten a chance to upload.

I’ve had Airbnb guest stay with me throughout my time here.  Earlier in the year I hosted a couple from Maine and they were some of the best guest I’ve hosted.  I took them around Rincon and some areas I hadn’t explored yet in my early time here.  This was a captured shot on the rope swing in Gozalandia Waterfalls in San Sebastian.  I’ve made multiple trips to this waterfall already, but at the time of this photo this was my first time here.

Sunrise at Domes Beach before I headed out to surf.

Two of my co-workers taking me out to eat at a food trunk in Aguada.  I think they were debating if we should get Yuka or Rice and Beans on the side.

Rincon Fitness Center Crew

Earlier in the month, I made a solo trek to Survival Beach in Aguadilla.  To get to the beach required some small hiking through an uphill and then downhill route within the woods.  The beach is infamous for its stellar eye catching rock formations that are huge and beach goers can climb. Its really a great beach to take some scenic photos.  Instead, I ran into a bunch of nomads who set up a small “tent” and treated me to some food and Medallas after they found out I was on the beach alone.  I have come across some of the kindest people living here.

Finally, upon my return home, I captured some shots of my neighbors.