Saturday Success: tricky mind, past = future & building a better body
Making life & money work for you.
Welcome back to the Saturday Success Series email!
This week we have:
Master Yourself: The world is weird because your mind is tricky
Master Your Money: Marcus Aurelius on the past & future
The Weekly Special: How to build a better brain, heart & liver
The goal here is maximum value, so let’s get to it.
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Master Yourself
We all see the world through our own lenses.
Obviously.
What other choice do we have?
But here’s the thing you need to understand.
Because of our lens bias, it becomes difficult to imagine other people actually see the world differently.
We know logically other people have other views.
But, we can’t emotionally connect to them.
It’s hard to understand how you can believe Trump is an evil stump of a man and someone else thinks he’s a god sent to save us.
And because of this inability to actually connect to other points of view, the world seems a lot crazier than it should.
But if you spend more time trying to understand people, the world will naturally make more sense. So instead of arguing, try to get in the head of others.
Find common ground on one issue and it becomes easier to see their point of view on another.
Ask “why” a few times and you’ll start to get to the roots of things.
Turns out most humans have core things in common. We want a good life for ourselves and our loved ones. How we think we get there is what’s up for debate.
Master Your Money
“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.” - Marcus Aurelius
The future will look nothing like the past. That’s true. Technology is changing our world at such a rapid pace it’s impossible to predict where we’re headed.
But, certain cycles play out time and again.
Cycles such as: Hard times create strong men who create good times which create soft men who create hard times. Markets going up, up, up then popping and dropping.
Read books like The Changing World Order and 2030. They break down history, trends and how the future may look a lot like the past.
Weekly Special
How to Build a Better Brain, Heart & Liver
Last Sunday I was laying on the couch thinking about health in general and my health in particular.
So, I started researching the healthiest foods for the brain, heart & liver. I was intrigued.
I decided to write this to help you have one resource for building a better health system.
What Actually Matters?
Exercise.
Particularly sports. Tennis, badminton, basketball, softball. These games increase blood flow and you need brain power to play them.
But also, walking, lifting, CrossFit, anything that moves your body.
Sleep.
7–9 hours per night. At roughly the same time every night.
There’s evidence indicating the time between 10pm and 2am is the most restorative.
Learning.
Most adults stop learning for the most part at some point. I’m 35 and I’m finally finishing my college degree.
Most things in my life have come easy. So this year I’ll be focusing on tech certificates. It’ll be a nice challenge. And challenge is good for your brain.
Social connection.
I was so bad at this that I started tracking it. I need to make sure I’m socializing at least once a week.
Keep up with your family and friends. And not just via text. Go see them in person.
Avoid toxins.
Things like tobacco, alcohol and most drugs. Quit them. You won’t regret it. Tomorrow is 1 year sober for me :)
I would not include marijuana or caffeine in things to avoid, personally.
Manage your stress.
Scheduling your time: If your time is scheduled then you know everything has its place. No need to stress over what’s next or if you’ll get everything done.
Meditation: Start with 2 minutes every day. Work your way up to 10 or 20 minutes of daily meditation. The benefits are endless.
The ‘best medicine’ big 3: Sunlight, laughter and a good night’s sleep.
The Big Deal: Diet.
Maintaining a healthy weight was huge when you research how to optimize brain, heart and liver health.
It basically came down to inputs = outcomes. What you put in your body matters, a lot.
You know the general gist:
No trans fat
Low sugar
Whole grains
Fruits/veggies
Fish > meat
Healthy fats
These 4 particular foods made all 3 lists:
Green tea
Fatty fish
Berries
Nuts
Sounds like we should build our diet around them.
For me this is 2 cups of green tea daily, a handful of nuts every day and half a cup of berries in my morning smoothie. Then we eat fish 3x/week and I supplement with fish oil 2x/day.
Thanks for reading! If you found this valuable, please share with someone who could use it. See you next Saturday!
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