Diary of Cool Things: January 2024
February 5, 2024•1,566 words
Welcome to my first monthly issue of Diary of Cool Things (DOCT).
DOCT is inspired by Tim Ferriss’s newsletter, 5 Bullet Friday which he actually describes as his “diary of cool things.”
DOCT serves two purposes:
- A way for me to document all the cool things I’m consuming, creating, and thinking about each month
- A way for me to share these updates publicly so others may benefit from them
Here is my DOCT update for the month of January 2024
Favorite Purchases:
BASIC CONCEPTS Tongue Scraper for Adults (2 Pack) Surprisingly easy and effective way to enhance my oral hygiene routine. I’ll write more about why this is something everyone should get in another post. For now, just trust me. It’s cheap too, which makes it a no-brainer.
MAYEV Mini Broom with Dustpan for Kids I bought a pink one of these a while back for my daughter because she wanted to help me when I was sweeping crumbs and she loves pink. But I ended up using it more than my larger adult size broom and dustpan because it’s so easy to get around into tight spaces. I ended up buying a second one after she insisted I get my own (different color).
Sengled Alexa Light Bulb, S1 Auto Pairing with Alexa Devices, Warm Smart Light Bulbs This bulb was only $5 and it just worked seamlessly with Alexa as soon as I screwed it in. No setup or anything required. It was just there in the Alexa app immediately. I love stuff like this. Also a nice warm color light that’s dimmable all the way from 100 to 1% via the app or voice command, so it’s great for night time.
Favorite Podcasts:
David Goggins on Huberman Lab: I've listened to a lot of David Goggins interviews and many of them are repetitive. But this one revealed some new insights I hadn't heard from him before, like how he balances personal relationships with the long periods of focused solitude he needs to thrive.
https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/david-goggins-how-to-build-immense-inner-strength
Noah Kagan on Tim Ferriss Show: Noah launched his book, Million Dollar Weekend, this month, so he’s been all over the podcast scene. I liked this episode because it gives you a very clear idea of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur (lots of asking for stuff, rejection, and iteration). While Noah makes it very accessible, the mindset is not for everyone.
https://tim.blog/2024/01/23/noah-kagan-million-dollar-weekend/
Abud Bakri on 2am Podcast: This episode gives you a unique view into circadian health, leptin, weight management, and more from someone who is both a practicing physician in centralized medicine and a holistic health optimizer. Not often do you get to hear from a dude with skin in both sides of the game.
https://youtu.be/LRhy2Q3al5M?si=QwEYHSD5YH4_mjwS
Recent Posts by Me:
Where Do Our Kids Learn to Judge? January 25, 2024
The All-In-One Note-Taking and Publishing Tool That Inspired My Return to Blogging January 30, 2024
2023 Personal Health Score Year in Review January 31, 2024
My 2023 Annual Review (5K PR, Body Composition Changes, Personal Finance Audit, Weekend Protein Hack, and More) January 31, 2024
Favorite Tweets by Me:
@trynotsuck One of my favorite things in life is going out for a monthly 2+ hour long meal at a nice restaurant with my wife and 2 of our good friends: a retired couple in their 70s.
Best part: We always have the next one scheduled on the calendar before saying goodbye.
@trynotsuck Water delivery day
5 gallon glass bottle of Mountain Valley spring water on my doorstep every 4 weeks for $25 is easily the biggest bang for buck health subscription I have.
@trynotsuck There needs to be another word for “retirement” the way I envision it.
Quitting traditional 9-5 work, yes.
But not so you can “slow down” and take it easy.
Instead so you can ramp up other meaningful areas of your life like health, fitness, and creative output that require more energy and focus, but also provide more fulfillment (and potentially more income).
Naturally, this works better the earlier in life you can manage to do it.
“Retirement” doesn’t do it justice.
What would you call this?
Cc: @p_millerd
@trynotsuck My favorite creator advice:
Don’t find your niche.
Create the niche of YOU.
Mine:
Data-Driven Health/Longevity x Self Awareness x Digital Writing
With a disdain for political correctness
& some passionate side interests:
• USMNT soccer
• PGA Tour golf
• 90s moviesQuote
@trynotsuck “You can probably take it as a rule of thumb from now on that if people don’t think you’re weird, you’re living badly.”
-@paulg via @tferriss #5BulletFriday
Favorite Tweets by Others:
@NavalismHQ "Children are happy because:
1) They're not self conscious
2) They lack a sense of time pressure
3) They've no goals.
The bottom line is they are living from moment to moment, and the mind is not there to interfere in their bliss."
@muscleforlife Fundamentally, we have two choices in life: we can work to stay well or we can get ill. There is no third option.
@bengreenfield This 55-year-old single mom makes less than $100k per year and is reverse aging without spending millions. Here’s her daily routine: From finance.yahoo.com
@Paddy_Barrett Want to reduce your risk of early heart disease by 90%?
Do these 9 things.
- Keep Blood Pressure Normal
- Maintain Normal weight
- Normal Cholesterol
- Minimal Alcohol
- Avoid Diabetes
- Good nutrition
- Reduce stress
- Don't smoke
- Exercise
It's about stacking odds
@BowTiedOx If you really boil down the most common issues you need to avoid to be considered healthy on a technical level:
- Insulin resistance/metabolic dysfunction
- Skewed lipid profile
- Excess fat, especially visceral
- Lack of muscle mass
- Mitochondrial dysfunction
- High blood pressure
- Hormone Imbalance
- Neurological decline
- Malnutrition—Vitamin/Mineral deficiencies
- Circadian dysfunction
- Excess cortisol/stress
- Liver damage/elevated liver enzymes
Probably missing a few but this covers most of the big ones.
Seems like a lot but in all reality they are all connected & a product of our lifestyles.
Avoiding these is actually very, very easy in theory, just a handful of tasks:
- Exercise plenty, both resistance training & cardio
- Be active in your daily life
- Eat a predominantly whole food, nutrient rich diet
- Sleep well
- Avoid excess drugs & alcohol
- Proper hydration
- “Touching the grass”
These are all things easily assimilated into anyone’s lifestyle (to say otherwise is cope) & take up a surprising small amount of time in relation to our total week considering their enormous impact & benefits.
The most common trope is “not enough time” but these activities buy you more time in terms of longevity & in quality—both in the long term & the short term in terms of boosts to your energy levels.
I understand life is complex & we have tons of other responsibilities & priorities but these things are usually the first “luxuries” to be sacrificed when in reality they need to be at the top… without our health we are nothing & we can’t give our best quality time to those people & other activities we love and/or take pride in.
Please care, I don’t want you to suffer at some point in the future… life is short & that distant day where it happens is coming sooner than you think & it might be too late to change it, like you think you will one day, when it comes.
Insights from Journaling:
Nutrition was solid this month. I made good food choices, did damage control when eating out, and only had a couple of minor slip ups. My weight has stayed mostly the same while my scale body fat has come down slightly, which is a good sign.
Training has been good during the week, but I’ve been less active on the weekends since 3 quit napping. This just means I’ll need to incorporate more physical activity at home with her on Saturdays and Sundays. I’m thinking about buying more “sports equipment” like a basketball hoop and a pull up bar for the backyard which will be nice for when the weather starts getting warmer.
Sleep has been good on average, but not consistent enough. I’ll string together a few nights of 7-8 hours and then have a night here or there under 6 hours. I need to work on hitting a 7 hour minimum every night.
My biggest area of opportunity is being more patient with 3 when she’s being irritating. I caught myself yelling at her a couple of times, but more often than that just not having a kind tone of voice when speaking to her. I need to work on always leading with kindness, especially when I’m grumpy or annoyed.
Thanks for reading!
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