Nerd99

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[🍂 @Lovandfear]

— Ernest Hemingway

[Jay Yang @Jayyanginspires]

You can just do things.

[Kevin Dahlstrom @Camp4]

Today I turn 55.

I’m the fittest, sharpest, and happiest I’ve ever been.

If I’m an outlier, it’s not because I’m built different or discovered a secret formula. The truth is far less glamorous:

It’s a million tiny choices, compounded over decades.

Here are 55 of them:

1. Walk 15+ miles a week, even if you do other exercise. Humans are uniquely made to move slowly over long distances—it’s critical to longevity.

2. Develop a writing practice. It’s the single best way to sharpen your mind. And remember, you don’t have to be a good writer to write. Start with 10 minutes a day.

3. Swap out your toothpaste, deodorant, lotions, soap, shampoo, and other personal care products for natural versions. Here’s a rule of thumb: Don’t put anything on your skin that you couldn’t safely eat.

4. If you have a positive thought about someone, don’t keep it to yourself—share it immediately. Encouragement defies the laws of physics: When you give energy, you also receive it.

5. Wear shoes with a wide forefoot (I like Topo Athletic) and wear toe spreaders around the house (search “yoga toes” on Amazon). Spine health begins with the feet.

6. Get sunlight regularly. Moderate sun exposure (without sunscreen) is hugely important for overall health.

7. Do a 3-minute deep (“ass to grass”) squat every morning. Deep squats are often called the anti-aging exercise. It’s been said that, “It’s not that you can’t do deep squats because you’re old, it’s that you’re old because you can’t do deep squats.”

8. Explore minimalism (it’s not what you think it is).

9. Set boundaries on toxic relationships. We tend to cling to relationships past their expiration date, and it takes a bigger toll on our health than we recognize.

10. Eat real food. Not too much. Don’t eat garbage. Binge occasionally. Fast occasionally. That’s the diet.

11. Learn about FIRE. It’s a great framework for financial success.

12. Don’t take antibiotics except in emergency situations. They’re massively over-prescribed and aren’t needed in most cases. Antibiotics have done untold damage to our guts, which is where health begins. Great natural alternatives are out there.

13. Get 8 hours of quality sleep each night. To optimize sleep:
—Don’t eat after 6pm
—Get blackout shades and cover LEDs with black tape
—No screens 2 hours before bed
—Try ashwagandha (an herb) to calm the nervous system

14. Stop drinking, even in moderation. People find all sorts of ways to justify drinking, but there’s no escaping the simple fact that alcohol is a toxin and it limits your potential.

15. Travel as much as possible. Nothing expands the mind like seeing the world. And travel doesn’t have to be expensive—the best experiences happen outside of fancy resorts, when you live like a local.

16. Let go of resentment. When you forgive someone, you release the prisoner, and the prisoner isn’t them… it’s you.

17. Show up on time, every time. Poor time management limits success more than most people realize. If you struggle with punctuality, stop everything else and fix that first.

18. Spend lots of time in nature and touch the earth. Humans evolved over 300k years to live in harmony with nature, and only recently have we retreated indoors. If you don’t spend time outside, you’re fighting biology (hint: You won’t win.)

19. Stop doing dumb things. As Leo Tolstoy said, “People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing—refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.”

20. Find your happy place and (eventually) move there. Most people live where they live because... that's where they live. We are products of our environment—choose yours carefully.

21. Find a hobby and pursue mastery. You can’t have a happy life without a passionate pursuit that isn’t your vocation. Your work—even if you enjoy it—isn’t enough.

22. Avoid mainstream medicine except as a last resort. The results are in—our healthcare (or more appropriately, sick care) system is badly broken and only makes people sicker.

23. Have a mindset of abundance. There is no advantage to being a pessimist—even if you’re right, it’s a miserable way to live. In a very real way… whatever you believe, you’re right!

24. Do hard things. Choose courage over comfort. Everything you want is on the other side of fear and hard work. As Jerzy Gregorik said, “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

25. Ignore haters. Hurt people hurt people. Negative/toxic people live in a prison of their own design. Don’t join them!

26. Say no. Protect your time and energy like it’s your most precious asset… because it is.

27. Become a water snob. As an alien said on Star Trek, humans are “ugly bags of mostly water.” You are what you drink—literally! We have Mountain Valley Spring water delivered in glass 5-gallon jugs and also have whole-house water filter (Aquasana Rhino).

28. Stop drinking sodas and sugary energy drinks. After a few weeks you won’t miss them, and a few months later they’ll seem disgusting. Refined sugar causes inflammation, which is the root of most disease.

29. If you’re over 35, find a good functional/longevity medicine doctor and start tracking your hormones. Modern life is hell on the endocrine system and restoring healthy hormone levels can change your life. As we get older, we either accept a slow decline in performance or we do something about it—choose the latter!

30. Develop a morning routine and follow it faithfully. Win the morning, win the day!

31. Invest in experiences, not things. People frequently regret buying things, but rarely regret investing in great experiences (especially when shared with loved ones). Remember, there’s nothing you can buy in a mall that you’ll remember in ten years.

32. Explore spirituality. It’s arrogant and small-minded to believe there’s nothing going on in our universe that is beyond our comprehension. We know less about our universe than an ant meandering on a sidewalk understands about this planet.

33. Have a strong bias toward action—doing rather than talking. If you ask a bunch of old people about their regrets, they’ll talk about the things they *didn't* do—the shots they didn’t take—more than the things they did do (even if it went wrong). As Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Most people don’t take enough shots.

34. Stay lean. Men in particular are obsessed with muscle mass these days, but bulk doesn’t age well. The goal is to be strong but lean. The fittest guys in their 50s and beyond aren’t meatheads, they’re lean guys who are serious about a sport.

35. Curate your inner circle carefully. Surround yourself with people you admire and who challenge you to grow. Remember, we’re the average of our 5 closest relationships.

36. Be the fittest version of yourself. Your body is your only vessel for experiencing life—so treat it as such. Fitness isn’t working out a few times a week, it’s a lifestyle. The older you get, the more time you need to devote to your health.

37. Take the time to appreciate art and beauty in all its forms.

38. Think globally, but act locally. Too many people put their energy into far-away problems they don’t understand and can’t impact, while ignoring problems right under their nose. Want to change the world? Start at home.

39. Try psychedelics. It’s one of those things everyone should do at least once, and it might be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.

40. Limit bad habits, including unhealthy thought patterns. We all have them—practice avoidance and find substitutes. Get professional help if needed.

41. Be a lifelong learner. Your brain is just like a muscle—if you don’t feed and flex it regularly, it will atrophy.

42. Find your purpose. People with a strong sense of purpose are happier and live longer. Lack of purpose sucks energy and magnifies depression.

43. Only take advice from people who embody the traits you want to have. Talk is cheap—emulate those who have DONE it.

44. The goal is not to retire and do nothing, it’s to build a great day-to-day life that you don’t need to escape. A life of leisure is a slow death. Happiness isn’t possible without a little struggle, uncertainty, and skin in the game.

45. Have fun! Do frivolous and silly things that make you smile. As George Bernard Shaw famously said, “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

46. Whatever you want to do or achieve in life, start NOW. Don’t fall victim to “someday thinking” because someday never comes.

47. Accumulate assets—things that grow in value over time. It’s the #1 habit of rich people, and it can be done in tiny chunks. Instead of spending $100 on an impulse purchase that has no lasting value, put that money into an index fund or Bitcoin. It becomes addictive (in a good way).

48. Don’t ignore the big 3 canaries in the coal mine for health:
—Low libido (and ED)
—Frequent sinus & respiratory issues
—Depression
These usually aren’t medical conditions in themselves, they’re symptoms of an underlying problem. Find a good doc (outside of the mainstream) and figure out the root cause.

49. Have a clear vision for your future. How can you decide which direction to go if you haven’t clearly defined the destination? It sounds obvious, but 95% of people haven’t defined their “Ideal End State” in detail and in writing. (Check out my thread on this topic.)

50. Make your own decisions. We live in an era where most of what society tells us is wrong. Don’t be afraid to break from societal norms—if people say you’re crazy, it’s a sign that you’re doing something right.

51. Get hardcore about mobility exercise. As you age, it’s usually the knees, hips, and lower back that limit physical performance. 30 min a couple times a week can spare you a lifetime of pain. YouTube is a great resource.

52. Go all in on family. Get married, stay married, have kids. Burn the boats. In the end, family is all that matters.

53. Be ruthless with your time. Money comes and goes. Time only goes. Audit your calendar ruthlessly—cut the trivial, double down on the meaningful, and spend your hours like your life depends on it. (Because it does.)

54. Have a strong bias toward action. Be curious, try things, meet people—it’s how you increase your surface area for serendipity, the most powerful unseen force in our lives.

55. Reinvent yourself every decade. Over time, we slowly drift off course from our priorities, values, and true identity. Take stock and don’t be afraid to hit the reset button. Bold, calculated moves made for the right reasons almost always pay off—usually even more than you can imagine.

🎁 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, would you give me a birthday gift? Repost or comment with the item number(s) you liked best?

[Blake Burge @blakeaburge]

Underrated life advice: Your biggest fear shouldn’t be failure. It should be waking up 5 years from now and realizing you’re the exact same person.

[Blake Burge @blakeaburge]

Major cheat code in life: Understanding you can reinvent yourself at any time. New habits, new standards, new friend group, new career, etc. There's no rule that says you have to stay the person you've always been. You're allowed to decide––"I'm done being this version of me."

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Things you can do to change your life:

[love drops @lovedropx]

— Annelyse Gelman

[Kunal Shah @kunalb11]

AI won’t take over the world.

Humans who are adept with AI will.

[Dan Go @CoachDanGo]

Cheat codes I know at 42 I wish I knew at 22:

[Dan Go @CoachDanGo]

Cheat codes in life

No porn
Gratitude
Journaling
Meditation
Visualization
Lifting heavy
Masterminds
Time in ocean
Habit stacking
Walks in nature
Good mentors
Mobility stretches
Asking good questions
Re-reading good books
Wife that cooks & cleans
Having a chief definite aim

[Dan Go @CoachDanGo]

Workout cheat codes I know at 43 that I wish I knew at 23:

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

My Anti-To-Do List:

(the things I want to avoid on a daily basis)

1. Do not complain about anything.

If the thing is within your control, then go do something about it. If the thing is out of your control, then it's just a waste of energy to complain about it.

2. Do not allow negative people to steal your energy.

Stop avoiding difficult conversations. Growth requires discomfort. Maintain a growth mindset in all of your relationships and embrace the need to remove toxicity from your life.

3. Do not allow more than 2 hours of inactivity.

Get up and go for a walk. Do a few pushups or lunges. Move your body and feel the rush of new energy and creativity.

4. Do not "graze" on low-value tasks.

Parkinson's Law says that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. When you don't set fixed windows for managing low-value tasks (like email), you end up "grazing" on them (spending all day doing them slowly and inefficiently). Create short, discrete windows for processing low importance tasks.

5. Do not become an ostrich.

An ostrich will bury its head in the sand to avoid danger. A lot of humans behave the same way when they encounter new information that challenges their existing beliefs or views. They care more about being right than finding the truth. Embrace new information that forces you to change your mind.

6. Do not have your phone out when your kid is trying to play with you.

When you are working, work hard. When you are playing, play hard. Strive to bring present, focused energy in all areas of life. Never let your phone come between you and your kid.

Note to Self: Focus on this, as it's the one you struggle with the most!

7. Do not hit the snooze button.

It's not about sleep, it's about stacking evidence that you are the captain of your ship.

8. Do not say yes to things under the assumption of having more time for them in the future.

You won't have more time in the future. If you wouldn't want to do the thing tomorrow, don't say yes to doing it a month from now.

9. Do not take calls or video meetings without a clear purpose.

Calls or video meetings without any clear agenda or purpose are where your joy and energy go to die. If it can be an email, it should be an email.

Note to Self: Embrace in-person meetings without a clear purpose, as these end up being some of the most interesting discussions.

10. Do not check your phone within the first 15 minutes of waking up (or the last 15 minutes before going to bed).

We have enough technology addiction in our lives. Create space—give yourself a few fixed windows of intentional tech avoidance to breathe.

11. Do not allow comparison, envy, or jealousy to enter your headspace.

When you feel it creeping in, default to curiosity instead: Ask what that person is doing that you can learn from.

12. Do not fall victim to the algorithm vortex.

The algorithm will encourage you to create content exclusively for its pleasure, but if you lose the soul in the work along the way, you'll never be able to stay in the game long enough to win. Create things you would want to consume and avoid checking metrics for 24 hours.

13. Do not text or check social media throughout the course of the day.

Establish fixed windows when you will read and reply to messages. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode. Turn on Grayscale Mode to make the icons and notifications less appealing for the "just a quick check" during the course of the day.

***

To create your Anti-To-Do list, sit down and write down the things you are struggling with personally and professionally.

Use my list as a spark to get the ideas flowing, but make changes, additions, or subtractions as necessary.

The list is intended to be dynamic, so don't worry too much about the starting point. It can be as few as 3-5 high-priority items.

Just as you have your To-Do List in front of you during the course of the day, I would recommend having your Anti-To-Do List in front of you as well.

As you avoid the daily actions on the list, check them off.

There will be good days and bad days, that's just part of the game. Every day you achieve 100% compliance with your Anti-To-Do List, give yourself a moment to appreciate the win.

Remember: Each day is an opportunity to stack new evidence in favor of the person you want to become.

[Navalism @NavalismHQ]

"Choose the non-emotional response to any given situation and see how much easier your life becomes."

@naval

[Johnny Brown @johnnyxbrown]

8 TED talks that will teach you more than a 4-year degree:

[Navalism @NavalismHQ]

"The secret to public speaking is to speak as if you were alone."

@naval

[Alex Bernier @mythoughtfood]

Bodies fall apart when they lack the strength and mobility to hold a Deep Squat.

Your compromised frame attracts pain and injury.

I’ve met too many adults over the years who failed to hold the position.

Practice your Deep Squat to spare yourself from future torments.

[TheManMaker @TheManMakerx]

A horny man can lose everything.

Think with your head, not d!ck.

[Navalism @NavalismHQ]

"If the work doesn’t require creativity, delegate it, automate it, or leave it."

@naval

[Navalism @NavalismHQ]

"The larger the herd, the lower the returns."

@naval