Personal Improvement

Why you HAVE to be consuming podcasts and videos

September 28, 2022

I’ve been consuming podcasts and videos more than I’ve been reading for a few years now.

It’s a change I’ve been feeling increasingly uncomfortable about. Reading books has impacted my life in a big way – yet here I am reading significantly less. Podcasts and videos feel like a shallower version of reading – yet I’m consuming them alot (probably 10-15 hours a week).

I’ve come to realise that podcasts and videos can be incredibly powerful though – just in a different way to books.

I find podcasts more tactical. They often inspire me to make immediate changes in my life. This type of immediate change helps me iterate on my behaviours and habits regularly.

I find books are generally more useful for understanding broader themes. These themes tend to shift my thinking at a macro level, but in a much slower way. If an idea or a theme clicks for me in a book, it’s like a seed has been planted. And then over time, this helps to change or inform new beliefs – which then leads to an actual shift in how I live my life.

Here are a few examples of how podcasts and videos have helped me make immediate, tactical changes in my life recently:

The Foot Ability Protocol by Ben Patrick (Kneesovertoesguy)

I’ve been aware of Ben Patrick for a while. I watched his interview with Joe Rogan. Since then, I’ve kept up with him on Instagram and YouTube. I also bought his Knee Ability Zero book. That said, I hadn’t yet incorporated any of his ideas into my training.

His recent video The Foot Ability Protocol got my attention. He shared a very simple routine that includes the foundational exercises he often recommends for good foot and knee health.

This felt like something really easy I could fold into my training once or twice a week, and would be very beneficial to do. And I’ve done exactly that. Eventually. I’m going to buy a drag sled so I can add some extra stimulus for backward walking.

1870 – Max Lugavere – The Joe Rogan Experience

The Max Lugavere interview with Joe Rogan is possibly one of the best well rounded conversations on metabolic health I’ve listened to. It inspired a few immediate changes in my health habits.

Joe and Max talk about the benefits of the sauna and cold exposure and Joe’s sauna and cold routine.

Sauna: 20 mins
Cold plunge: 3 mins
Sauna: 20 mins
Cold plunge: 3 mins

Always starting with the sauna, and ending with cold.

The benefits of hot and cold exposure aren’t new to me. I just haven’t found a way to incorporate it into my life. And then it clicked. My local outdoor swimming pool has a sauna. If I were to use that, I could then use the pool for cold exposure (it’s currently 15 degrees celsius, and gets down to 4 degrees celsius in the winter). It’s a perfect way to get cold and heat exposure.

Four days later, I turned up at the swimming pool at 7.30AM on a Sunday morning. I did the above routine and it felt amazing. It was such a nice way to start the day. I plan to do this at least once a week going forward.

Joe and Max also talked about oral hygiene (benefits of flossing and concerns around fluoride and mouthwash). This caused me to stop using mouthwash and start using a fluoride free toothpaste. I also intend to start flossing each night too.

The conversation around dairy fats is also well timed, as I’m currently re-evaluating my diet. I’m already starting to be more flexible in incorporating some cheese, milk and greek yoghurt into my diet.

Metabolic Flexibility and Longevity by Crossfit Health

I’ve been doing time-restricted fasting for many years. I keep to an 8 hour eating window and a 16 hour fasting window, which I achieve by skipping breakfast. I have my first meal of the day around 13.00 / 14.00 and almost always train before that in a fasted state.

I am very inflexible on this. That’s because once I start eating, my appetite starts to ramp up and I end up feeling the temptation to snack and graze throughout the day (and often do!). By skipping breakfast I am essentially pushing this out. I also love the efficiency of not having to think about food until the afternoon.

However, the panel in the video defines metabolic flexibility as ‘being able to optimally switch from one fuel source (carbs, fat etc.) to another’. Essentially you want your body to be able to cope and be efficient with various states of training and fasting. When you do one thing all the time (i.e skip breakfast and train fasted), your body only gets very good at doing that.

It made me realise that I need a bit more variation if I want my body to be metabolically flexible. I’ve already started to add some variation into my fasting and have done a couple of unfasted training sessions. As I suspected, it didn’t feel great – a sign that I probably have some work to do to be more metabolically flexible.

The above are just three examples of how podcasts and videos have helped me change some of my habits and behaviours for the better.

We literally have access to some of the smartest people on ANY topic you can imagine – and for FREE. If you’re not consuming podcasts and videos regularly, you really are missing out on opportunities to be inspired and better educated – and to become the best version of yourself.

A final tip. You must become a good curator of the podcast and video channels you subscribe to. You have to really care about your information diet and be willing to put in the effort to have it serve you. It’s SO easy for podcast and YouTube feeds to become noisy and overwhelming. I might write up some ideas for how to do that well in a future post.

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How to solve hard problems (and how to get good at it)

September 11, 2022

Being good at solving problems is one of the most valuable skills you can build.

It helps you think through and make good decisions in your life. You can help friends with their problems. You’ll also be able to help companies save a lot of time and money – making you very valuable to them.

But, how do you get good at solving problems?

That’s something I’ve always struggled to give advice on. I like to think I’m a good problem solver. But, I haven’t been able to think about it in a systematic way that can lead to pragmatic advice – until recently.

There are two parts to it – how to solve a problem and how to get good at it.

Let’s take the how first. Solving a problem seems to go through three main phases:

How to solve a problem

1. Becoming aware of a problem

This is your starting point. You become aware of a problem through directly experiencing one, or seeing others struggle with one.

You’ll likely start to have some ideas for what’s causing the problem, and how to solve it. Almost always, you’ll be tempted to act fast. But, one of the most common mistakes is to come to a conclusion too quickly. This is what causes people to solve symptoms, instead of getting to the root causes of a problem. Don’t do that. Discipline and patience are key for this stage.

Push away the noise and look at the situation calmly. Sit back and organise your ideas for what the problem is, what is causing it and how you might solve it. You’ll have specific ideas, as well as some areas that need exploring further. A list of people you want to speak with. Research you need to do. Start to organise your ideas and pull together a high level plan of how you intend to dig in further.

2. Working through the problem

This is where the real work gets done.

Start talking to people. Look at things more deeply. Do any research that’s needed. Start working it all out.

The biggest thing to remember at this stage is that you have to keep an open mind. This quote by Paul Graham sums it up well:

“expect 80% of the ideas in an essay to happen after you start writing it, and 50% of those you start with to be wrong”

He was talking about writing (which lets face it – is problem solving), but the same applies for problem solving. It’s natural to have an early instinct for what the root cause is and how to solve it. In fact, the better you get at solving problems, the easier it is to see what’s happening. That’s fine, and your instincts might be right. But, you want to avoid simply building a case around your instincts. Try and keep your early instinct to one side and let things unfold how they need to.

I’ll warn you now, working through a problem can be painstaking and frustrating work. You will find yourself lost at some points, wondering if you can ever bring things to a close. Sometimes you’ll question whether you can get everyone onto the same page for what is wrong. It can be a messy process. But, don’t give up. Push through it.

Eventually, some themes will start to stand out. The root causes will become clearer. You’ll also start to see which things are only symptoms. You’ll have specific ideas for solutions. Let these ideas unfold and slowly start to organise your ideas. I find it useful to start writing a document so you can lay them out and organise them well.

Keep talking to people as your clarity builds. If you’re on the right track, this will all start resonating with people in your discussions.

At some point, you’ll experience a moment of clarity where everything will start to feel directionally correct.

3. Strip it back and find elegance

You should now have a strong sense of the root causes, solutions and have identified what are only symptoms. Almost always, what you have is too complicated.

You now have to fight to strip it back to something which is simple and elegant. It’s the 80/20 principle. That is, 80% of results are driven by 20% of effort.

Perhaps you have three root causes, but it’s two – or even just one, that really counts. Perhaps you have five different solutions to a root cause, but two of them squarely solve it. The other three are icing on the cake and will probably distract from the two that really count.

Simplify. Strip back. Edit. You want to finally look at what you have and be proud of how simple and elegant it is – almost a work of art.

Ideally you’ll end up with four things:

problem
succinct root cause(s)
clear solution(s) to the root causes
symptoms / other considerations & notes

The first three are obvious. It’s worth giving a bit of context for why you should also have some thoughts around symptoms and other considerations. Solving a problem is never as clean as identifying the root cause and solution, and then everyone agrees. There are often a bunch of symptoms which people are convinced are the actual root cause. In some cases, there are also other root causes which are tangential. You should acknowledge these if you want others to accept your root cause analysis.

Below is a slide I actually used as part of a presentation to an Executive team:

I covered the root causes and solutions first, and then finished with symptoms and other problems to be aware of. BUT, with a clear warning that they should not fall into the trap of becoming distracted by them. If you do this right, you’ll find people will be able to compartmentalise these from the real root causes. It will also strengthen the buy in for your your root cause analysis.

How to get good at solving problems

How to solve a problem is one thing, but how do you actually get good at it?

The answer is straight forward. You have to get the reps in. Like everything in life you want to be good at – you have to repeatedly practice it. There are no short cuts or hacks.

The more you expose yourself to hard problem solving, the better you will get at it. Force yourself to go through the three phases, time and time again. Eventually, it will feel the natural way of going about things.

Something I only realised in writing this article is that my time at Jagex was a university in problem solving. I was just starting my career and was thrown entirely into the deep end. I was helping to run a game and company that was in the beginning stages of exponential growth. Everything I was doing was for the first time. I was constantly solving problems around people and processes. I made lots of mistakes, but gradually began to get very good at solving problems. Jagex forced me to get the reps in.

What if you don’t get a lot of hard problems in your life or work? Well, I don’t think that’s true for most people. Problems are all around us, in all sorts of shapes and sizes. You simply have to notice them.

Here are some examples of how to see more problem solving in your life:

Whatever you’re trying to do in your life, make an effort to explore it deeply. Don’t be lazy and stay at the surface level. For example, perhaps you’re wondering about how you can eat healthier? Make it your mission to build a real point of view. Follow lots of experts, listen to podcasts and read many articles. Drag out the common themes and put together a first version of something to try that’s built around a solid amount of research.

Do you have something you need to explain to someone? Instead of doing it on the fly, sit down and write it out. Think through how you want to say it – exactly what, in what order, what do you want to finish with?

Do you have an important email to send? Don’t just write it and send it. Write a first draft. Leave it a day. Come back to it and re-write it. Edit it down to something that you’re really proud of. Share it with some colleagues and ask for their feedback. Edit again, based on the feedback. Really make it the best it can be.

If you need to buy something, don’t make a surface level buying decision. Dig deep and research it. Look at all the options. Whittle it down into a well researched decision. My friend Barry finds it amusing how long it takes me to make a buying decision. That’s because I treat it like I’m solving a problem.

Have a side project. It’ll force you to explore and decide all types of things.

Start writing and sharing your ideas in public – it’s a brilliant way to build a point of view on something. It forces you to think, research, organise your ideas and edit them back to something which is elegant.

Invest. If you don’t think deeply around your strategy for investing, you’ll become unstuck quickly.

If you can stay aware of the three phases and force yourself through them enough times, you WILL get good at solving problems. And soon enough, it becomes the natural way of thinking about things and making decisions.

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How to expand your point of view

October 12, 2021

I recently wrote about how to build a strong point of view. I used a few examples – one of which was investing.

Here’s what I said:

A good example of this, is my own investing strategy. I used to only invest in passive index funds. Over the last year or so I’ve been listening to people who are taking more risk. I’ve experimented a bit in this space and have decided I want to take on a bit more risk.

So, I’m transitioning to investing 80% in indexes and 20% in a handful of public companies with a long-term view. The foundations of my point of view are still there (I’m still mostly investing in indexes). But, how much risk I’m willing to take has changed and this ended up shifting my point of view and strategy for how I invest.

I ended up taking this a step further and re-allocating as:

Indexes – 70%
Specific public companies – 17%
Cryptocurrency – 13%

Five months in, I’ve decided to mostly revert back to how I was before.

Why? Two main reasons..

Firstly, the specific public companies basket has significantly under-performed the market in the last five months:

S&P 500: +12.34%
Specific public companies: +5.05%

Now, it’s only five months and I should allow a longer time to compare performance. However, one of the reasons I went for passive index funds in the first place was because the data tells us that over 85% of actively managed funds underperform the S&P 500. When I look at my specific public companies basket, it’s one or two poorly performing stocks that are pulling the entire performance down. This highlights the power of diversification (i.e owning an S&P 500 index fund). It also puts into perspective the challenge of trying to beat the market.

Secondly, the specific companies basket is distracting. Ideally I would rarely look at it, but I’m finding that very hard. Now that I have a goal to beat the market, I find myself comparing against it regularly. Also, I have a gut feeling that trying to beat the market is a flawed strategy (because of the first reason). I therefore find myself worrying about my decision to try and do that. Overall, I’ve managed to bring a whole new emotional factor into play, which you don’t get with passive index investing.

The exception is cryptocurrency. I think about it differently to the specific public companies basket. I feel like there’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to get returns that far exceed the market. Therefore it feels much more speculative. It might very well lose half or even most of its value. That’s a risk I’ve come to terms with and it changes how I think about it, and how often I check it.

So, I’m switching to:

Indexes – 87%
Cryptocurrency – 13%

This makes me feel much better.

Even though I’ve gone back and forth a bit, it was a useful exercise. It reminded me that even when you have a pretty solid point of view around something, you need to stay open minded and curious. You need to experiment and evolve. Sometimes that will refine your point of view, or perhaps even take you in a different direction. And other times, you might find yourself reverting back – which is still useful as a learning experience. Importantly, if you don’t take those chances, you just get stale.

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You already know what to do

September 26, 2021

I recently had a blood test that checked for 45 biomarkers. The results were mostly in the recommended normal range – and certainly the ones that matter the most were in a good place.

I don’t want to be normal though. I want to know what my northstar biomarkers are and then what levels for optimal health.

I’ve started my research on that. As with everything, it’s complicated to wade through everyone’s opinions and find reliable sources. I started to get overwhelmed and a bit lost in it – slightly slipping into perfectionism.

And then it hit me. Sure, this is important work and I’ll nail it eventually. When I do, I’ll have the certainty about on exactly where I am and what I need to focus on. But, what am I really trying to achieve here? It’s to understand what actions I can take to improve my metabolic health the most. And in reality, I already know that.

What makes the biggest difference to being in the best metabolic health? Diet. And where do I have the most room for improvement with my health habits? Yep, diet. I don’t need to finish my work on the biomarkers to know that improvements to my diet is the most meaningful thing I can do to improve my metabolic health.

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed by something, try and take a step back. Theres a good chance you’re getting in your own way. And there’s an even better chance you already know what to do.

So, that’s my big focus next week. More paleo and stricter intermittent fasting.

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Learning from failure

September 24, 2021

I’m not a big fan of the ‘embrace failure’ movement. I’d rather get things right. But, I was reminded this morning that there are valuable lessons in failing at something. It’s how you regroup and come back stronger that counts.

Last week, I attacked this workout:

Every 3 minutes, perform:

2 wall walks
4 burpee pull ups
6 push press @ 40KG
8 front squats @ 40KG

Complete 6 rounds (18 mins total)

It was a car crash. I ran out of time on some sets. I ended up scaling the front squats back to 6 reps. I also decided to call it a day after 5 rounds, and then changed my mind and did the 6th set slowly with a full minute of rest before. My form got increasingly sloppy as the rounds went on and my times were inconsistent. I felt beat up afterwards!

Now, the programming was too ambitious for sure. But, I also under-estimated it and got my strategy wrong with pacing and transitioning between the movements.

This morning I approached it again with the weight, volume and time scaled back a bit.

Every 4 minutes, perform:

2 wall walks
4 burpee pull ups
6 push press @ 30KG
8 front squats @ 30KG

Complete 5 rounds (20 mins total)

I thought alot about why I struggled the first time around and made some changes. I completely smashed it.

I finished the first two rounds in 2.30 mins, giving me 90 secs to regroup between rounds. I finished the third and fourth rounds in 2.15 mins and the last round in 2.05 mins. That’s exactly what you want – consistent rounds to start with and then a strong finish. I had a much better mindset from the first second. My form was also really good throughout and my strategy for pacing and transitioning between movements was spot on.

Whilst last week’s failure felt crappy, it felt great to put things right a second time around. And the things I learned will definitely carry through to future workouts. I’ve emerged stronger. So, I guess it all worked out well in the end.

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A little (real) Solitude every day

September 23, 2021

I would class myself as an introvert, so I get my fair share of solitude every day. Well, at least I used to think so. Now, I’m not so sure.

Here is the definition of solitude:

Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e. lack of contact with people.

Let’s look at what I consider to be my own solitude. It’s usually early mornings, walking, running, biking, exercising, my day off (I work a four day week), a planned activity by myself etc. As I think about those more, there’s usually a main activity going on with something else in the background – some type of distraction (podcast, music, phone etc.)

Is that really solitude? I guess it depends on how you think about solitude. If it’s just being by myself with a lack of contact with people, I guess it ticks the box. But, I also like to think about solitude as a time to rest and think. When I’m doing at least one thing, there’s not alot of resting and thinking going on.

So, I’m going to change how I think about solitude. Yes, it’s about being alone with myself. But, it’s also about creating space to think, rest and be alone with my own thoughts. Facing the discomfort that comes with being with yourself – even bored. It makes me think of one of my favourite books, Daily Rituals. It’s not a coincidence that some of the most successful artists had a daily routine that created space for thinking and resting.

I’m going to make a big effort to get some (real) solitude every day. Earlier, I went on a long dog walk and left my phone at home. I felt good. I had feelings of freedom, simple and uncluttered, which was nice. I look forward to more of that.

P.S Again, I’m reminded about the power of writing. This post was mostly going to be about how important solitude was and that I get a fair amount of it. But then I started to think more deeply about what solitude was. That’s when ‘resting and thinking’ came to me. And I realised, wow, I’m spending a lot of time alone, but it’s not really solitude. If I hadn’t decided to sit down and write about it, I probably wouldn’t have had that shift.

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Why I write

September 22, 2021

I’ve been writing more recently and I was quickly reminded how important it is.

Writing forces you to properly organise your thoughts around a topic. You have to think more deeply and broadly about things – and that often results in new ideas and more clarity.

I absolutely love this quote from Paul Graham which sums it up perfectly:

Expect 80% of the ideas in an essay to happen after you start writing it, and 50% of those you start with to be wrong

Take my last post on risk as an example. I started off just trying to explain how I was going to take more risk with my investments and re-allocate some funds. As I got into it, I became more comfortable with the idea – especially when I thought about it as a percentage of net worth. And then, as I started to think more about actually doing it, I realised dollar averaging was a good way to do it. These ideas came to me as part of the process of writing it out.

Being able to communicate your ideas well in writing is more important than most people think. And like anything, practice makes perfect – and that’s why I am writing more.

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What I’m looking forward to reading

September 17, 2021

I’ve fallen out of love with non-fiction reading over the last couple of years. Most of the new books that come out tend to have too much repetition and examples in them. It’s almost as if they are perfect for a long form essay, but the author has really dragged it out so it can be a book.

Take Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice as an example. I love the concept. Being the best at something is a combination of talent, circumstance and effort – and actually the latter two play a bigger part and are in our control. It was useful to have further context, evidence and examples. But, I reached a point where I was like ‘I get it – just give me practical advice and I’m out of here’. I couldn’t finish the book.

Podcasts have also taken a much larger share of my time. I probably listen to 5-10 hours a week. We have free access to some of the smartest people on the planet and podcasts are an amazing way to tap into that – whatever you’re interested in.

That said, for the first time in a while, I’m reading a book that I’m really into, and have quite a few lined up on my kindle I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into.

I’m currently reading The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. Super easy to read and insightful.

And here are the books I have in my kindle queue:

C onscious Parenting: A Guide to Raising Resilient, Wholehearted & Empowered Kids by Nick Polizzi & Pedram Shojai

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Ravenous: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection by Sam Apple

The Science and Technology of Growing Young by Sergey Young

The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds – Not Crushes – Your Soul by Brad Stulberg

A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life by Heather Heying & Bret Weinstein

Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favours the Brave by Ryan Holiday (released 28th Sep, 2021)

Will by Will Smith & Mark Manson (released 9th Nov, 2021)

The Cold Start Problem: Using Network Effects to Scale Your Product by Andrew Chen (released 7th Dec, 2022)

Hard Work Pays Off: Transform Your Body and Mind with CrossFit’s Five-Time Fittest Man on Earth by Mat Fraser (released 4th Jan, 2022)

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How to build a strong point of view

April 9, 2021

If you want to live a fulfilled life, you need to be able to build strong points of view around topics that matter to your life. It leads to clear thinking and decision making. It also gives you actionable principles that help guide your life.

Naval Ravikant is a great example of someone who is good at this. Everything I listen to, or read by him is impressive. There’s an elegance and simplicity in how he thinks and makes decisions. He’s able to simplify his ideas down to the things that make a difference. They easily translate to actionable principles that he lives his life by.

So, what’s the best way to go about building a point of view around a particular topic?

I think the first step is to jump in with two feet. I appreciate that’s not particularly elegant, but you have to get started somewhere. Start to get a sense of the main types of ideas and approaches around the topic. Read books, listen to podcasts and watch videos. Follow people online and listen to their ideas.

This is where most people get overwhelmed and stuck. Because, for every topic, there’s a lot of different ideas. One way of not getting too stuck is to simply notice that you’re starting to. This becomes a trigger for the next step, which can help you narrow things down – look for smart people.

Why do you need to look for smart people? Because, at some point you need to go from having a shallow understanding of a large number of ideas, to a smaller set of the best ideas. And not just the best ideas – the ones which are right for you. Leveraging the knowledge of others will help narrow things down quickly.

Finding the smartest people around the topic that you’re interested in is the most difficult part. The good news is that we’ve never had more (and free) access to the smartest people and their ideas.

Look for people who aren’t primarily trying to sell you something. You want to find people who have strong points of view, and then their product or service just happens to help you get results. Avoid people who are building a point of view around what they are trying to sell.

Look for people who tend to stick to the basics and explain things in straight forward language. This is a good sign they actually know what they’re talking about.

Lastly, notice people who come highly recommended – preferably from a diverse group of people.

For example, when it comes to health and nutrition, I rely on Dr Rhonda Patrick’s opinion. She ticks all the boxes above. She sticks to the basics and explains things simply. She isn’t shaping what she recommends around products or services she offers. And she’s held in very high regard by her peers, and people outside of her peer group.

The goal is to settle on a handful of the brightest and most knowledgeable people whose point of view you trust. From there, the next step is to try and sort them into a point of view of your own.

If you’ve found the right people, you’ll notice there will be an overlap in their ideas. Their ideas will easily translate into core principles that you can apply to your life. Soon you’ll start to see a strong point of view of your own around the topic.

And just as things seem to click – there’s something that can trip you up. It will appear simpler than you expected. You’ll start to think, it can’t be this simple – I must have missed something?

But, most things ARE that simple. You have to fight against making things more complicated than they need to be. The rest is mostly noise that won’t make much difference. In fact, if it feels too simple, that’s a good sign that you’ve reached a solid point of view.

And then comes the last step. You have to implement these things into your life and try them for yourself. Notice your results and tweak however you need to. If you struggle to see results, you might need to go back to some of the earlier stages outlined above. Look for better people, and different ideas.

So, let’s recap. Jump in with two feet and get a sense of all the ideas around the topic. Don’t fall into the trap of getting overwhelmed. Then, start finding the smartest people in that area and sort out a point of view from their ideas. Implement them in your life and try them for yourself. Optimise from there.

There’s two more aspects of building a point of view I wanted to cover.

The first is that your point of view will become refined over time. This is good. Taking action and continuing to educate yourself will help you develop a more sophisticated point of view. Your goals might even change, which will further shift your point of view.

A good example of this, is my own investing strategy. I used to only invest in passive index funds. Over the last year or so I’ve been listening to people who are taking more risk. I’ve experimented a bit in this space and have decided I want to take on a bit more risk.

So, I’m transitioning to investing 80% in indexes and 20% in a handful of public companies with a long-term view. The foundations of my point of view are still there (I’m still mostly investing in indexes). But, how much risk I’m willing to take has changed and this ended up shifting my point of view and strategy for how I invest.

A quick word of warning about refining your point of view – it’s not just about exploring new ideas. There’s a huge amount of value to revisiting first principles once you understand the complexity of a topic. Regularly go back back to the foundations that your point of view is built around. Attempt to understand them more deeply. Often this can lead to unexpected breakthroughs.

The second aspect is that there’s a way to fast track the majority of the above steps. I hate the work ‘hack’ but this feels as good a use for the word as any. You can outsource the whole process and put your faith in one person and their ideas. Hire them to help you and just do what they say.

I did this recently for my physical training. Over the last few years, I’ve been finding myself increasingly getting injured. I reached the point where I knew something had to change. I had to find the root cause of why I was getting injured and work on it as my number one priority. I knew I didn’t have the knowledge to identify the root cause, or how to fix it. Yet, I wanted to work on fixing it ASAP.

Instead of following the steps above, I started to work with 1-2-1 with a coach. I put my full trust in him. He took the time to understand my goals, my issues and then set out a customised training program for me.

We’re on week four, and things are going great. I’m training four times a week and have had no niggles. In fact, my body feels great for it. What a difference!

You might be wondering, isn’t this against the case I made at the beginning? Didn’t I just skip building a point of view of my own entirely?

Not quite. Instead, I fast tracked the whole process. As I’ve been working with my coach, my point of view has been building. In just four weeks I better understand why I was getting injured and how to address my weaknesses. My view around the best way to train is changing.

Of course, the risk of doing this is that you’re putting your faith and trust in one person. So, take the time to make this decision a good one. Look for people with strong reputations and a proven track-record. Try and find people who come highly recommended by people you trust. Be prepared to pay well for it.

You might be thinking, this whole building a point of view thing is alot of effort! But, I guarantee it’s worth the effort.

It’s worth being good at building a strong point of view of your own around topics that matter to your life. It’s how you become wise and it helps you live a fulfilled life. So, how can you afford not to?

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Return to work anxiety

January 6, 2021

I’ve felt anxious and low for the latter part of last week. It intensified at the weekend. It sort of came out of nowhere and completely zapped my energy. I found it really hard to be optimistic about the year ahead.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on why. I’m putting it down to three things:

anticipating the mode switch (back to work) I was about to go into
straying from self care fundamentals.
the absence of a positive feedback loop

Being able to separate work and personal life is something I’ve worked really hard at. I’ve had a three week break over the holidays. I didn’t check an email or think much about work at all. I allowed myself to wake later, and didn’t try to structure my days and time much at all.

One of the challenges of switching off like this is moving between the modes can be harsh – especially when you take a decent amount of time off.

My mind started racing with all types of unreasonable expectations for work. I have to make the perfect start to the year. I have a responsibility to kick meetings off in a perfect way. I need to nail down a mid term plan for myself by the end of the week. I have to make progress on key projects. I’ve got to quickly set expectations on a bunch of things. etc. etc.

When, actually all I need to do is have more realistic expectations, and some compassion for myself. How about just let myself ease into the week? Talk to people, get some decent thoughts in place for my mid term priorities, and simply make the transition? And then build from there? How about having some trust in myself that I’ll be in a great place with everything at the end of January.

Straying from my self care fundamentals is also massive. For me they are minimising alcohol, getting enough sleep, being active, and eating real food. Three of them were pretty off over the holiday period, so it’s no wonder I was feeling the early signs of a low period. These got addressed from the beginning of this week.

And lastly, the absence of a positive feedback loop. I thrive when I have momentum and I’m able to see the results from my actions. If I go for too long without that, self doubt creeps in. I’m only three days back in, and I can feel it cranking back up again, and I’ll be fine.

What can I learn from this?

Well, the self care fundamentals are entirely in my control. I need to have a better plan for managing them when I go off a schedule. I can’t afford to neglect a few of them over a reasonable period of time. That’s an easy one.

As for the mode transition and positive feedback loop, I think it’s more of a mindset / mindfulness issue. There will always be times when I will take time away from work. I have to get better at being able to manage these transitions.

Simply being aware I’m having these feelings is the first step. Allowing myself to sit with the feelings and to see them for what they are – for the most part, stories in my head that never materialise. And then letting them go. That’s definitely something I can practice.

If you’ve felt anxious or low about returning to work – know that it’s completely reasonable and OK. Have some self compression and give yourself a break. Notice and question unrealistic expectations. And lean into the year – take it one step at a time.

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