My girlfriend calls this “starting a new life”. Whenever I go vegetarian for a month, or weeks without screens, or I start running every morning.
But I think you really nailed it. The cost of trying out theses “new lives” is pretty minor. But it has this huge upside potential of revealing to you that you’ve been living in a fog for years.
Holy moly this was a great post. Read it right after (re)listening to the Made You Think episode on Antifragile, which indeed made me think I have become somewhat soft with myself. I have not been taking on new stimulations or challenges, not been growing through healthy stressors. And I see that in multiple areas of my life, where I am plateau-ing. I have signed up and started training for a marathon, and I have started a thorough review of statistics and probability to change my career path to data science. It will be uncomfortable for my older routines. And that is perfect. Have a great day Nat!
Yeah I’ve been wondering if that’s part of it, I’m also chronically low in Zinc which apparently causes your body to absorb more Cadmium so that’s not helping either
Really had to laugh because, I did this the affirmations thing from Tony Robbins' hour of power and my neighbours did call the cops. I wrote about it here: https://findfocus.net/tony-robbins/
"The challenge is how to root out these problems and live a healthier life without becoming a completely orthorexic butthole-sunning loon about it." This is my favorite sentence I've read in a long time. Lol. And it's true.
Great post! I stumbled onto a self-improvement and it opened my eyes... In my mid-twenties I became lactose intolerant. Then came IBS-like gut issues that slowly worsened into my 30s. Finally over the last few years I started losing weight. Various medical tests found no problems: I had excellent blood test results, a good diet, I was supplementing and exercising, no signs of common disease. In theory I was healthy. This left me and my doctor perplexed. I felt "fine" for the most part though, having gotten used to these changes. But I had memories of better days... Perhaps this was just a consequence of aging? Life went on and I didn't worry about it much. Then last year my dentist advised me to stop chewing gum because it was contributing to enamel wear. I had been chewing nicotine gum every day for about 9 years, a habit I didn't even think to tell my doctor about (face-palm). I heeded her warning and quit. Over the next few months I regained the ability to consume dairy, my gut issues vanished and I regained 15 lbs with no diet or exercise change. It's been almost a year and nothing has regressed. I feel a lot better too, which has me really wondering what else impacting me.
This experience also shifted the way I view my gut and the variety of bacteria that depend on me and keep me functioning. I'm now focusing on their wellbeing because I believe mine is intricately tied to theirs, and I suspect their is more to yield here.
Don’t get your blood tested any more than your primary care doctor tells you to. Don’t pay for special tests. They are more likely than not to lead to unnecessary, costly, and often harmful care. Medical care, drugs, and supplements are very often harmful. Signing up for more aggressive care can and does harm millions of people per year. I’m all for lifestyle modifications, but aggressive testing and treatment is a recipe for disaster.
Yes. This isn’t precisely on topic, but what worked for me was quitting my consulting job in NYC, selling my house, car and furniture, and moving my family of four + dog to Sweden. Now, six years later, I am 34% happier and 126% less stressed! Seriously, life is a lot easier outside the meat grinder of American capitalism.
When I saw the title, I immediately thought of my personal experience letting go of alcohol over the last 18 months. I honestly didn’t realize how terrible it made me feel (and in many ways, look) until I stopped consuming.
I became lactose intolerant in my 30s, and the onset coincided unhelpfully with moving to a new country and a concomitant change in the things I was consuming. I spent a YEAR feeling a bit sick, every day. I just assumed that was what it would be like for me to live in America 🤷.
I came home for the holidays, went a week without eating cereal, and noticed the difference. But I got lucky. Who knows how long I would have gone feeling that way, otherwise...
I'm extremely lucky, because I live in England, and because of my age, I get a free health check every year.
I've got my second ex-wife to thank for bringing me to the south coast, where the air comes clean off the Atlantic, and every day involves walking, steep hills, lots of steps, even to get to my car.
I meet friends every day, because the village is small, and so are the roads, so it's quicker to walk.
I found that every broken dream leads to a new adventure and a happier outcome.
My girlfriend calls this “starting a new life”. Whenever I go vegetarian for a month, or weeks without screens, or I start running every morning.
But I think you really nailed it. The cost of trying out theses “new lives” is pretty minor. But it has this huge upside potential of revealing to you that you’ve been living in a fog for years.
Holy moly this was a great post. Read it right after (re)listening to the Made You Think episode on Antifragile, which indeed made me think I have become somewhat soft with myself. I have not been taking on new stimulations or challenges, not been growing through healthy stressors. And I see that in multiple areas of my life, where I am plateau-ing. I have signed up and started training for a marathon, and I have started a thorough review of statistics and probability to change my career path to data science. It will be uncomfortable for my older routines. And that is perfect. Have a great day Nat!
Hi Nat….cadmium is associated with dark chocolate lovers.
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/
Yeah I’ve been wondering if that’s part of it, I’m also chronically low in Zinc which apparently causes your body to absorb more Cadmium so that’s not helping either
Thanks this was oddly beautiful
Thanks Leon!
Really had to laugh because, I did this the affirmations thing from Tony Robbins' hour of power and my neighbours did call the cops. I wrote about it here: https://findfocus.net/tony-robbins/
(even took a photo of the police car).
Incredible 😂😂😂
Good post, I’ll be saving
"The challenge is how to root out these problems and live a healthier life without becoming a completely orthorexic butthole-sunning loon about it." This is my favorite sentence I've read in a long time. Lol. And it's true.
Great post! I stumbled onto a self-improvement and it opened my eyes... In my mid-twenties I became lactose intolerant. Then came IBS-like gut issues that slowly worsened into my 30s. Finally over the last few years I started losing weight. Various medical tests found no problems: I had excellent blood test results, a good diet, I was supplementing and exercising, no signs of common disease. In theory I was healthy. This left me and my doctor perplexed. I felt "fine" for the most part though, having gotten used to these changes. But I had memories of better days... Perhaps this was just a consequence of aging? Life went on and I didn't worry about it much. Then last year my dentist advised me to stop chewing gum because it was contributing to enamel wear. I had been chewing nicotine gum every day for about 9 years, a habit I didn't even think to tell my doctor about (face-palm). I heeded her warning and quit. Over the next few months I regained the ability to consume dairy, my gut issues vanished and I regained 15 lbs with no diet or exercise change. It's been almost a year and nothing has regressed. I feel a lot better too, which has me really wondering what else impacting me.
This experience also shifted the way I view my gut and the variety of bacteria that depend on me and keep me functioning. I'm now focusing on their wellbeing because I believe mine is intricately tied to theirs, and I suspect their is more to yield here.
There's the other side to this, as well. Realizing that all the other people can, and do, have factors limiting them, and viewing them accordingly.
It can do wonders for you, too, just by itself, not mentioning the second order effects.
Don’t get your blood tested any more than your primary care doctor tells you to. Don’t pay for special tests. They are more likely than not to lead to unnecessary, costly, and often harmful care. Medical care, drugs, and supplements are very often harmful. Signing up for more aggressive care can and does harm millions of people per year. I’m all for lifestyle modifications, but aggressive testing and treatment is a recipe for disaster.
Yes. This isn’t precisely on topic, but what worked for me was quitting my consulting job in NYC, selling my house, car and furniture, and moving my family of four + dog to Sweden. Now, six years later, I am 34% happier and 126% less stressed! Seriously, life is a lot easier outside the meat grinder of American capitalism.
When I saw the title, I immediately thought of my personal experience letting go of alcohol over the last 18 months. I honestly didn’t realize how terrible it made me feel (and in many ways, look) until I stopped consuming.
Fasting.
I became lactose intolerant in my 30s, and the onset coincided unhelpfully with moving to a new country and a concomitant change in the things I was consuming. I spent a YEAR feeling a bit sick, every day. I just assumed that was what it would be like for me to live in America 🤷.
I came home for the holidays, went a week without eating cereal, and noticed the difference. But I got lucky. Who knows how long I would have gone feeling that way, otherwise...
I think that is very sensible advice.
I'm extremely lucky, because I live in England, and because of my age, I get a free health check every year.
I've got my second ex-wife to thank for bringing me to the south coast, where the air comes clean off the Atlantic, and every day involves walking, steep hills, lots of steps, even to get to my car.
I meet friends every day, because the village is small, and so are the roads, so it's quicker to walk.
I found that every broken dream leads to a new adventure and a happier outcome.
That's how it is for me anyway.
Mr. T.
We underestimate the collective mental and physical unlock if we can overcome the smartphone and short video / reels pandemic