Today is my day 2 practising Robin Sharma’s 20/20/20 formula (20 minutes of exercise/ 20 minutes of journaling / 20 minutes of reading or gaining knowledge through listening to an audio book or podcast). Niru and I have gained a lot listening to Robin Sharma through the years, when he launched a value packed online course this month, Niru suggested we should invest in the same and checking out what the course had to offer I was more than convinced and we readily signed up for the same.
One of the methods taught in the course is the 20/20/20 formula, having read Robin’s book 5am club I was already familiar with the same and also have experienced benefits of practising the same on and off in the past.
In the frame of mind that I am in now, I consciously made a decision to consistently practice the habit for 66 consecutive days. And in the process capture my experiences of developing a new habit here in my blog.
Day 1 (5 June 2022, Sunday) – Here is what I did for my 20/20/20 habit installation – woke up at 4:30am, showered got ready for the day, did 20 mins. of gratitude journalling that I love, listened to the course we invested in from Robin Sharma as I folded our washed clothes and this was for close to an hour. We had rainy weather most of yesterday so had little chance to go out for a walk, nevertheless later during the day I danced 20 mins. (after ages) to some of my favourite tunes from school days. I am still a huge fan of 90s Indian dance music, IYKYK 🙂
How I felt – Felt well relaxed through the day with no anxious moments, had clear thoughts, I felt happy reaching out and interacting with family, had yummy Kesar mangoes that Niru and I both relished very much, made a healthy evening snack (which is kinda uncommon) for us – Jhal Muri with mangoes  and icing on the cake was when Universe presented us beautiful double rainbow after all the rains while making Dosa for dinner which we relished with delicious brinjal and channa that we got from a nearby takeaway place in Too good to go. Overall a very pleasant day – I made healthy choices, and was in good control of my mood and kept me calm in all situations.
Full rainbow view from our balcony, a positive sign from the Universe
Day 2 (6 June 2022, Monday) – Here is what I did for my 20/20/20 habit installation –
Today is a Whit Monday holiday here in Zurich.
Woke up around 7:30 am, after some initial minutes to quickly get ready, headed out for a 20 min walk in our neighbourhood, spotted sparrows going about their daily routine, and a couple with a puppy each entertaining the other. After a sumptuous breakfast in our balcony we headed to Niru’s workplace. While Niru was getting some work done I wrote in my gratitude journal for the day, crafted this blog and will be readingfor 30 mins. right after I publish this blog now.
How I feel – Feeling good, creative and energetic, making healthy food choices and open to going with the flow of the day whilst still being able to pursue things I enjoy doing.
Super glad kick starting this new habit creation, completed 2 successful days of 66. Why 66 days? that is for another post. Most of all enjoying the process and being kind to myself through this all. I believe this overall allows you to take the habit building process in an easy way and not force yourself through it.
For now excited to follow through on building this new habit and meet you soon in my next blog post. Love to hear if you have installed a new habit consciously and how it turned out for you.
It is not very often during this year I woke up feeling as excited or to seeing a hope becoming reality. Thanks to the U.S. elections, it instilled in me faith that there are still wonderful things to look forward to in 2020 🙂
Hard work pays, like no other.
Though it may be easier and something so natural to choose partnering with someone who is like you. Looks, talks and behaves like you. It is Important to value how a diverse partnership can enrich this experience for you and for all those involved.
Age is just a number. Having said that, energy and longevity is everything!
You can be part of or lead a great change at any age.
Grit and Perseverance is key to achieving dreams.
If your dreams is what drives you, any amount of hardwork in the right direction , will only be time invested and never time wasted.
Believe in yourself for others to believe in you.
In a room (these days in virtual meetings), it is not uncommon to find yourself being the only women (or gender represented in minority) or from minority ethnicities or sometimes both. That shouldn’t stop from your voice being heard where it matters.
In this picturesque Central European nation, nature begins at your doorstep. Widely popular for the Swiss alps, snow caped peaks, beautiful train journeys with panoramic views, fine chocolates, exquisite watches and wooden chalets perched on alpine meadows. Now add to that list self-picking apples, cherries, strawberry, peas, cauliflower and a whole lot more.
As a new expat in the country and a nature lover, the abundance of opportunity for city dwellers to enjoy weekend or days off at local farms got us planning and experiencing farm life in small and medium sized farms (mostly family run), through spring, summer and Autumn months (May to October).
Self-picking fruits and vegetables are very popular with the locals in Switzerland, for both young and old alike. Watching elderly gentlemen clad in shorts with suspenders climbing up ladders to pick Cherries is as common a sight compared to kids running around strawberry fields with baskets of Erdbeeren (literally translating to berries grown on the ground over straw in the German speaking parts of Switzerland).
Towards end of spring, our first farm visit was to Sunnehof farm (reachable by public transport or a short drive away from ZĂĽrich city) for Strawberry and Cherry picking in the month of June. A beautiful family run farm situated between the cantons of ZĂĽrich and Zug seemed quite busy for a Monday afternoon. The farm has over 30,000+ strawberry plants and couple of dozen cherry trees. Overcast days are the best to actively participate in farm activities for a newbie like me, it could get quite tiring even if it is only for a couple of hours.
This farm is situated uphill in Mettemenstetten (address shared below) with beautiful sweeping views of Zurich.
After a good couple of hours picking Strawberries, we strapped the cherry-picking basket around our waist and climbed well fixed ladder up the cherry tree to experience yet another first -time activity in this beautiful country.
On picking all the berries to meet our need and greed, we weighed the fruits and paid around CHF 5.50 (INR 400) per Kg of Strawberry, which is almost half the price you pay for it in a grocery store with an added experience and satisfaction of picking your own fruit. The friendly cashier also showed us the ongoing peas picking in the farm, those were the sweetest peas we have ever tasted. On our way out we were greeted by the farm’s friendly calves who loved interacting with children and visitors.
Zug is the cherry canton of Switzerland. Every cherry season (end of June/ early July) starts with Chriesiglogga (Cherry bell) of St. Michael’s church, marking the start of cherry season for the year. People of all age groups sprint through the city’s cobbled streets carrying long wooden ladders to get their share of the finest cherries available.
Some general rules to follow while fruit / berry picking:
Bring your own basket or vessel that you can use to collect the berries.
Often a farm worker will assign you an area in the farm where you are allowed to pick, pick from your allotted area indicated by a pole. When you are done picking move this pole to the space where you finish picking. So, other visitors to the farm can continue from there.
Help maintain the stretch allotted for your picking by removing the trash/ undesirable fruits.
Most farms permit you to eat as much as you like while in the farm.
Our first experience, left us wanting for more. This time we chose Jucker farm. Jucker farm is more of an establishent with multiple farms growing wide range of fruits and vegetables. We walked through apple orchards – labyrinth made up of 5000+ apple trees, grape vines and did some blueberry picking. In Jucker farm, the experience of self-picking involves a price of CHF 5 (approx. INR 350) per person in addition to paying for the fruits picked. This time we spent more time tasting the blue berries in the field before we decided on the ones we liked. Well-formed and bigger berries were more delicious, alternatively you can look out for spider webs as they are mostly formed near best tasting berries. Kids and adults can also pet farm goats, play on heaped stacks of hay, enjoy alfresco dining under cherry trees or just walk around the farm and enjoy the views of Lake Pfäffikersee and the mountains. These beautiful farms also turn venue for various events/ wedding.
One of the Swiss National day tradition is to go for a family breakfast / brunch at a farm. Farm stores also sell products processed from their produce. Most neighborhood in Switzerland have Lädeli – a small shop run by farmers where they can sell their seasonal produce to the people in the locality, thereby bringing down the carbon foot print of everyday consumables. As consumers, you also see the cows that provide milk and farms where your vegetables and fruits are harvested during your daily morning walk.
Farms across Switzerland also offer multitude of experiences including milking cows, alpine cheese making, sleeping on hay, flower picking, drafting beer. For those that are in serious pursuit to experience and learn about organic farm life in Switzerland, in exchange for their time and effort, can look into WWOOF (Worldwide opportunities on Organic Farms) which link visitors with organic farmers and growers promoting cultural and educational exchange.
If you are a leisure traveler or resident of Switzerland looking to spend a day in a local farm, this website has details of all farms that permit self-picking of fruits, vegetables and flowers https://www.selberpfluecken.ch(translatable to English using google translate), it also has a harvest timetable across all months of the year. For family run farms I always suggest to call and check before you plan your visit, as there are usually no standard days or time for visitors and are usually decided based on the availability of produce in the farm.
Getting there – 25 min. car ride from Zurich city center (or) approx. 1hr 10 min travel by public transport (train s5 or s14 from Zurich main station to Affoltern am Albis, and 8 min. bus ride to Mettmenstetten, Oberdorf)
Jucker farm – Dorfstrasse 23, 8607 Seegräben
Getting there – 25 min. car ride from Zurich city center (or) 50 min. travel by public transport (Any train from Zurich main station to Uster, and 3 min. train ride from Uster to Aathal followed by a short walk)
Jucker farm Jona – Blaubrunnenstrasse 70, Jona SG
Getting there – 40 min. car ride from Zurich city center (or) 1 hour travel by public transport (s5 or s15 train from Zurich main station to Jona, followed by 4 min. bus ride to Jona Grünfeld)
