Key takeaway - Make before you manage.

Why? Because creating and making provides a sense of control and accomplishment.. it doesn't have to be big. Make your bed and tidy up for 10 minutes. Do creative writing for 5 minutes. An email to a friend who needs your help.

Find the smallest victory wherever you can push the envelope 1 mm forward.

The rich and successful have the same problems: laziness, anxiety, and procrastination. Here is how Tim Ferriss addresses it. His approach focuses on figuring out what is important, why it's important, and how to create momentum.

Tim Ferriss’s 8-step process for efficacy: doing the right thing

1. Wake up at least an hour before you have to stare at a screen, such as emails, text messages, etc., or at a place where others can delegate work to you, adding to your already overflowing plate.

2. Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, sit down with a pen and paper (analog style), and write down 2 or 3 things that are making you most anxious.

3. Figure out which one of these is the most important. This is generally the most uncomfortable thing you have to do or has highest chance of rejection or perceived failure.

4. Go back to your list of 3 things and answer the following question:

   “if this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?”

   Also, will doing this move all the other tasks forward or easier to do?

5. Focus only on tasks you answered Yes to from Step 4

6. Block out 2 hours to focus solely on tasks from Step 5

7. Repetition intended - Block out 2 consecutive hours - not 10 minutes here and there

8. If you get distracted, which will happen, DONT freak out. Gently come back to your task with an intention to focus.

Hope this helps

PM

PS: I have been rewatching The Office (US version) again, and these YouTube videos are becoming my go-to 10-minute stress break. They always make me smirk.

This one is my favorite .. Enjoy

I agree with the hustle mindset but I don’t agree with the definition.

Most of the time, hustle is defined as relentless amounts of work (16-hour days, no weekends) in the area of your expertise or an area that brings in the cash (driving Uber on the side).

There is nothing wrong with initiative and hard work. The only wrong is see if the out of balance, unsustainable mindet towards short term goals.

Instead, my definition of hustle is where you invest a considerable amount of time in something that teaches you new skills or taps you into a high-leverage network. Why? because your long-term success depends on how valuable your set of skills are and whether you are connected to the network (people) who will either pay you for them or help you sell them to someone who will.

There are other problems with the traditional definition of hustle.

It is so concentrated on your output that it effectively dismisses all the other elements. It misses on:

• Why are you picking up a side hustle in the first place? If it is to make more money then how much money is enough money? When do you stop or slow down and get back to a balanced life? When do you stop ignoring other important elements like spending time with your loved ones?

• It ignores that you are still trading your time for money and not building scalable skills.

• It ignores that you should pick something that is in line with who you wish to become. Work isn’t only a means to an end. It shapes you and molds you into the person you become. Why wouldn’t you rather build a version you will like instead of an automaton focused on short-term results?

  It is good to have initiative and take action. The only tweak I recommend is to make sure your initiative and action point in the right direction.

• Hustle culture is not sustainable. You cannot sprint forever. You will crash and burn. The initial results can be addictive and get you hooked. But, you cannot maintain that pace - it isn’t healthy and will create too much collateral damage. Don’t be the equivalent of a rich guy on his fourth wedding who is ‘working’ all the time while high-strung on coffee and nootropics. His life is no fun.

  

  ---

  What to do instead:

• Slow down and focus on how you can serve others. Make life better for enough people by adding value or solving problems and in return, you will be rewarded handsomely in money, motivation, and meaning. This will bring lasting happiness.

• Create priorities that will contribute to a balanced, happy and productive life. Include work, family, relationships and a cause bigger that you (the Divine). This isnt me saying it. These are the 4 pillars happiness expert Arthur Brooks recommend.

• Look to build skills that will enable you to solve better or bigger problems.

• Sustainability comes from a long-term outlook. Plan for the next 5 or 10 years. Set a trajectory for your life. Then as Alex Hormozi puts it, become the person who knows where they are headed and has fun while getting there.

Hope this helped you gauge what kind of hustler you wish to be ;)

Much Love,

PM

Your calibrated morning routine is the reason you are not productive. Would you be more productive if you started your day with the work that moves the needle instead of taking your morning cold plunge followed by meditation and yoga practice?

Inputs can give us an incorrect signal of productivity. You can find 'busy work' like checking emails and responding to Slack messages. If your outcome is losing weight, then the input needs to be exercising and controlling your food. Researching the best exercise equipment may feel directionally correct and even productive, but it won't result in weight loss.

2. Stress is the signal that you are alive.

Growth is stressful

Stagnation is stressful

Decline is stressful

So, in a way, stress is the signal that you are alive. It’s the most real reality check of reality. Hidden behind this veil of stress is the opportunity to stay focused and keep plowing toward a better life.

Imagine the energy, the anxiety, and the stress you will save if you understand that stress is a part of being alive. Not stress from being in a terrible, violent relationship or experiencing a tragedy. But day-to-day stress that is slowly killing us all.

If stress is a prerequisite for reality, then it’s somewhat irrelevant. Stop using stress as the default excuse for not working on things to build a better life.

This is related to the notion of inputs and outputs. Instead of giving into the daily despair of being stressed, focus on the correct inputs to achieve the desired output.

3. Perspective, context, and how you frame things bend your reality.

On your way to a job interview, you will be furious if you miss your train. But, if I told you that the same train caught on fire after leaving the station, your fury would turn into relief from a lucky escape. You experienced a reframing of the same experience.

This is not a new concept. Marketers use it all the time. Marketers know that human consumption is largely based on emotion and seldom on true need. So, they reframe the context to suit their product.

Politicians use the same concept to masterfully manipulate the masses. This is not new, either.

Frederick The Great wanted his fellow Germans to consume potatoes instead of bread so that he could have two crops to hedge against any future famines. But, the Germans hated, no despised, the potato. They won’t even feed potatoes to their dogs. So, Frederick The Great reframed the potato as a food only royals ate. He grew a patch of potatoes that was heavily guarded. This was a masterful PR campaign for the poor ol potato, and you guessed it, the potato was now more popular than the porridge.

Atatürk, the ruler of Turkey in the 1930s, wanted to ban the face veil in Turkey. Instead of dropping the hammer and banning the face veils, he made it mandatory for all street prostitutes to wear a face veil. You know what happened next.

Reframing bends the reality. 

How can you use it in your life?

As mentioned above, successful people see opportunity in every failure.

Spend some time reframing your current challenges to create a positive perspective around them.

Rather than choosing a default version of reality, reframe it to a better one.

Source: Alex Hormozi, an entrepreneur and educator who reached 100 million + in net worth by the age of 32, shared some controversial truths on Modern Wisdom Podcast

Hope you found this useful,

PM

What's holding you back from implementing the life-changing ideas you already

know?

Is it fear of what others may think?

Is it a lack of motivation?

Do you think you are not good enough?

This one idea changed the game for me.

Now, I don't wait for motivation to strike. I show up and do the work.

What is holding you back? Share below.

Tim Ferris Show Podcast

Episode #741: Jim Collins and Ed Zschau

Podcast episode length: 2 hours 31mins

• The biggest metric Jim Collins cares about is his “creative hours spent in a year.'’ He must exceed 1,000 hours of creative work/per year. Why? Creative work is meaningful work that helps you create the impact you wish to create. If you are not intentionally allocating time for creative work, you are not maximizing your full potential.

• Three things create a rich, well-lived life: 1. increased simplicity, 2. time spent in a flow state, and 3. time spent with loved ones.

• Simplicity allows for deep, meaningful work. Complexity doesn’t always mean better.

• The only way to paint a masterpiece is to start with a blank canvas.

• Not sure where to put your energy or what to do with your life? First, make sure you have the right mindset. Don’t get sucked into external success metrics.

Now, to find out what you should do with your life - 🦔 The Hedgehog concept 🦔 : 

Write down your answers to these three questions. What can you be the best at? This is a broad question. I think of it this way: What comes easy to me that is hard for others? Is it valuable to others? If I worked hard at it, could I sell it as a service or product?

To me, the economic engine question means, what are my financial goals? What are your financial goals? Do you want 100 million, or can you live your best life making 100k/year? Define what version of financial freedom you want. That will decide which profession or lane you should choose.

Back to this episode’s notes……

• Entrepreneurs don’t necessarily have to start companies. Good entrepreneurs take valuable ideas and implement them. The ability to implement and act on an idea qualifies one as an entrepreneur. Take the ‘actionable’ wisdom and apply it.

• An optimist is one when others are saying - this is going to be hard; they are saying - this is going to be fun.

• If you can make the world a better place, even in a small way, that’s how good it gets. That’s the human pinnacle. Leave this world a little better than you found it. If you want purpose in life, lead with this.

• Did you know that Ed Zschau was pivotal in lowering the federal tax on capital gains from 50 percent to 28 percent? Thank you, good sir!

• The best way to help someone find their way and nurture them is through encouragement.

• If you need inspiration, read biographies. Pick any written by Walter Isaacson or this book on Sam Walton, Disney, and other great entrepreneurs.

  ---

  

A Bit of Optimism

Episode: The Ultimate infinite minded CEO with Trek Bicycle's CEO John Burke

Podcast episode length: 32 minutes

• Enabling others to succeed will bring you success in both personal and professional life.

• Your performance follows your expectations. Learn how to set clear expectations by watching this inspiring documentary - Guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns.

• Stop emphasizing the effect (the end result) without understanding the cause (what will lead you to success). Example: While sales targets are important, tactically reaching out to prospects and honing your closing skills is way more important. Spend a disproportionate time on understanding and skillfully addressing the cause. It’s the recipe for short-term and long-term success.

• If the focus should be on running the next play to perfection, how do you know the right play? Simon Sinek, the author of 'Start with Why'’ frames this as the Infinite Game. The framework helps you choose the right game and rules and teaches you how to play. Watch Simon briefly explain the 5 pillars of his framework here.

• Steve Jobs believed people confined themselves to a box and limited their full potential. What box are you in, and what will it take to break that open?

• If you run a business, how well do you understand what your customers go through to do business with you (customer experience)? Spell out the steps: They go to your website, click this, talk to this person, etc. Chances are you will find gaps and ways to improve your customer experiences.

• Good companies care about customers; great ones obsess over them. Which one are you?

• Failure is only crippling for the mentally paralyzed.

The thought of failure is often far worse than the failure itself. Take the plunge already.

The Productivity Show

Episode: Focus like a Pro - Your focus roadmap for optimal output

Podcast episode length: 44 minutes

• Key productivity philosophies: 1. Happy people are productive people. 2. One tweak can lead to massive productivity gains. 3. Your systems should be simple and actionable.

• The book that was handed out at Steve Jobs 'memorial service - Zen Mind, Beginners Mind

To be more productive, optimize your TEA - Time, Energy, and Attention.

• Focus is not the ability to do just one thing. It’s the ability to say No to all the other things.

• Good decision-making comes down to two things: 1. knowing how to get what you want, and 2. knowing what's worth wanting.

Your 60-day roadmap to being more productive:

1. Week 1-2: - Eliminate distractions (Declutter your desk, turn off your notifications/limit your screen time). Focus on doing deep work.

2. Week 3-4: - Schedule the important task and stick to that schedule. Apply the Pomodoro technique. Have a mindfulness practice.

3. Week 5-6: - Upgrade your brain by exercising regularly and optimizing your sleep. Hydrate. 

4. Always review weekly to determine what is working and what needs to be refined.

   By 60 days, you should have a framework unique to your life. This framework will help you get more done and do the right things without running around like a headless chicken.

Beyond the To-Do List

Episode: Memorial Day Mailbox Q&A

Podcast episode length: 44 minutes

• Differentiate between urgent and important tasks. Do the tasks that are both urgent and important first. It's an oldie but a goodie.

• Create the right environment (both in your head and outside). I used to put a flag on my desk to signal my co-workers that I would be doing deep work and unavailable for questions or social calls. In the world of remote work, mark yourself ‘away’ on Zoom or shut down your Slack while you are doing deep work.

• Bedtime (the exact time you go to bed) is the single habit that has a ripple effect on your productivity and energy. Make it consistent. Use devices like Amazon Alexa to call out reminders for bedtime.

Think Fast, Talk Smart

Episode 144: Communicating through Conflict with Amy Gallo

Podcast episode length: 22 mins

• You should stop avoiding conflict. Learn to handle it objectively and professionally instead.

• Don't ignore conflict because conflict can serve as a delivery mechanism for the truth.

• Set up psychological safeties (trust and mutual respect) to make disagreements comfortable.

• Focus on the problems, not the people - don’t make it personal.

Conflict can be productive if you do the following:

1. Ask what you are really disagreeing about. Take the emotion out of it.

2. Change perspective and think about what could be a strategic and rational reason for the other person to have a different opinion. Don’t judge before you understand someone’s motivation and intention. 

3. Revisit your goals. Which opinion gets you closer to the goals? Care about the truth and not about being right or getting your way. 

• Turn the conflict into collaboration by inviting people to share their opinions/beliefs. This will make them less defensive.

• Empathy, assertiveness, and curiosity - 3 good ingredients to an effective communication recipe.

Huberman Lab Podcast

Episode: Dr. Gary Steinberg - How to improve brain health and offset neurodegeneration

Podcast episode length: 2 hour 42 mins

• Enteroendocrine cells (EECs), such as neuropads, are sensory cells of the gastrointestinal tract. Most EECs reside in the mucosal lining of the stomach or intestine and sense food in the gut. These cells release hormones based on what you eat, your external environment (hot or cold), your PH levels, emotional state and communicate with other neural cells inside the body in your organs and brain. It’s a vast, interconnected network of information.

• Common gut surgeries like gastric bypass can remove these neuro cells and completely change a person’s natural cravings towards foods. These surgeries cause changes in gut tissue and cells and have been clinically shown to increase the risk of alcoholism in patients post-surgery. Removal of certain stomach tissue and cells can cause a newly found affection towards the taste of alcohol and increased emotional satisfaction from alcohol.

• Humans are amino acid forging machines. Your microbiome needs and craves protein. If you get a meal with a decent amount of protein, your microbiome will signal for more protein-rich foods. If you are a Vegan and eat lower amounts of protein, ensure you eat plenty of fiber to feed your microbiome. Fiber helps synthesize the amino acid production necessary for many bodily processes.

• Eating sufficient protein will help reduce your cravings for sugary foods.

• Many older civilizations balanced fiber, carbs, and protein in every meal. This combination naturally provides amino acids, sugars, and fiber to feed the microbiome.

• The Vagus nerve pathway is one of the most important, as it can accelerate or halt the production of necessary hormones.

• Modern humans may have it backward; we live in our heads. We need to go back to listening to our gut feelings and instincts.

• Learn to listen to the body's signals if you want to be healthier. We are trained to ignore pain or other sensations, which is detrimental, especially long-term.

Modern Wisdom

Episode #790: Vienna Pharaon - How to overcome a difficult childhood

Podcast episode length: 1 hour 24 minutes

• ‘Trauma’ needs a rebrand. Don’t simply attach yourself to the prevalent dialog of a ‘tough’ childhood or an alcoholic father, for instance. Look for people, beliefs, and incidents that truly impacted you negatively. What are the stories and beliefs stopping you from moving forward in life? It could be a girl in 5th grade refusing to date you because you were too short. If that small incident shaped how you relate to women years ago, it needs addressing.

• Excellence is birthed through hardship. Make sure you remind yourself of the hardships you have endured. Here you are, still grinding, still thriving despite those hardships.

• Good therapy provides better language to reframe incidents, experiences, and people. For instance, your entire relationship with your mother can change (for the better) if you think of her as the daughter of your grandmother. This reframing calls for empathy and a deeper familial lineage and connection.

• Therapy rooted in ‘family systems’ can help you uncover how your closest relationships impacted and continue to impact you behaviorally and emotionally. It can uncover deeper causes and impact of your family dynamics.

• Don’t expect the world to love you for who you are and what you do until you love yourself for who you are and what you do.

• Human survival is the dance between authenticity and attachment. Watch Gabor Maté explain why it is so critical. This is why telling your children you love them for who they are is important as a parent. It is equally important to tell yourself that you love yourself for who you are. This doesn’t mean you ignore your shortcomings. You can continue to develop yourself without shame and punishing yourself or feeling less than.

• Spend time analyzing your roles—for example, the protector, the provider, the doormat, or the easy target. You may use your own labels. This exercise will help uncover which relationships and situations impact you negatively (remove these) and which are positive (grow these).

• Ask yourself these uncomfortable questions:

  • What was something you wanted as a child but didn’t get? Don’t rationalize your answers. Just pay attention to what comes up. For example, you felt neglected by your father. Don’t rationalize by saying he had to work and was busy. Sit with the emotion of being de-prioritized.

  • Where are you the most reactive, or with whom?

• Origin healing - witnessing and grieving your past trauma creates healing.

• Understand what kind of communicator you are. Are you passive-aggressive or a straight shooter? Knowing this can help you and those around you calibrate, especially when there is conflict.

Relationship Advice

459: Using polarity to improve your relationships with Magda Kay

Podcast duration: 46 minutes

• Polarity keeps a relationship 'spicy'. A constant give-and-take, like the difference in temperatures, creates the current in the ocean; a balanced give-and-take creates a healthy rhythm in a relationship.

• Sex is what makes a relationship romantic. Otherwise, it’s just a friendship. Zeesh.. I thought it was PG13 over here..guess not.

  Anyhow, agree or disagree?

• Passivity kills the sex life. Give your partner the attention and energy they deserve. Set aside one evening every week where it’s just you and your partner - nothing else matters. Give them your undivided attention.

• If there is an issue in a relationship, focus on the woman first. Happy wife, Happy life as proverbial advice has lasted long for a good reason. Women are like the sun; when the sun is shining, everything thrives.

• Check out Magda's book here.

I hope this was useful.

What is the one idea you will implement this week?

Knowledge is only power if acted upon. Get after it.

Please share with someone who might find this useful.

Much Love,

PM

Disclaimers: I have no affiliation with any of the sources linked above. This information should not be used for medical diagnosis or treatment and is not financial advice. Please use your discretion before applying this information. Please refer to the original source for references. I use AI-generated images.

It is simple and my guess is that you already know it.

The secret is: Be insanely useful to others.

Hear me out.

Charlie Munger was worth 2.4 Billion. His friend Mohnish Pabrai summarized his superpower as his ability to be useful. Charlie gave his time, energy, and money. He was a giver. He intentionally gave partners better deals.

Why?

His belief was that ones who give and care for others are always taken care of.

The universe favors the givers.

Want another example? Your boy Arnie, who excelled in many fields, even wrote a book on the topic titled - Be Useful.

Be useful. That’s it. That is the philosophy by which you must live your life. Day in, day out.

But why is this philosophy so hard to implement?

Instinctively, you get it, don’t you?

I get it, I am sure.

But, when I live my life, it’s all about me.

Am I winning? Am I getting ahead or hitting my success metrics?

Those are my primary thoughts.

I even present myself as a God-fearing person who wishes to serve others. Yet, I fool myself every day because me and my wants remain the center of my world.

Implement the idea - Three things I am doing to be more useful:

• Schedule time to think of other’s needs. Every day, I write down the names of a few key people in my life, both personal and professional, and think of how I can help them. Are they experiencing any challenges or problems I can help with? To my surprise, sometimes I have no clue what is really going on in their lives. Yes, I am a self-centered douchebag sometimes. This is when I implement the next step.

• Check on people: Every Saturday I call someone or text someone to check in with them. This is an open invitation to listen. I prompt a chat with one single objective: listen intently to what is going on in their life and look for opportunities to help. Sometimes, intentionally asking how someone really is and patiently listening to them is all the help they need that day.

• Be giving. Give your time, money, and attention to a good cause or charity. Tip the waiter more than 20%. Volunteer your time for a cause that matters or helps others. When you are in a work meeting, genuinely listen to the presenter. Give your attention to your children when they want to tell you something. 

Doing this has removed a lot of anxiety, and I feel slightly better about myself as a person. That alone is worth it for me.

Read more

But, once he survived, what did he pledge to do?

Spend more time with the people who really matter.

But, it’s the way he implemented this idea that was a game changer for me.

It was his emphasis on scheduling the ‘personal’ time.

You know that life is fleeting, and your relationships and family are invaluable. Yet, when did you last schedule a recurring meeting on your calendar to spend quality time with your loved ones?

As working professionals, you probably apply more discipline to your work schedule than your personal.

It's not your fault, though. It’s your social training.

We are all trained to approach work-life differently, and we don't often think of transferring successful work processes to our personal lives.

But here is the solution. Starting now, set up a recurring daily one-hour block to spend technology-free with your family or loved ones—no cell phones.

Get in nature or watch a movie together. Go for that spontaneous drive and eat ice cream.

Make memories that will make your day and make for a better life.

Learn more lessons from Eric Here - Not an affiliated link - I simply find his story inspiring.

Much Love

PM

I have had health issues for the past four years, which included debilitating pain and environmental sensitivities. The biggest thing I have learned is the value of Surrender.

Accept where your life is and persistently move towards a solution. Nothing in life is permanent, not even your problems. Trust that you will find the right solution at the right time. Allow your life to unfold, and never quit on yourself, even if others have.

Relationship Advice

Episode - Moving through challenges

Duration - 52 minutes

How to handle challenges

• Stop fighting your challenges. Stop thinking that it shouldn’t be happening to you. Release the resistance. Ask for help from the Universe, God, or your guardian angel (whatever your spiritual disposition is)

• Surrender to how your life unfolds instead of being rigid about what you want. Be open to what life brings your way.

• Maintain the right outlook and mindset. Accept things the way they are. Nothing is permanent. Challenges won’t last either. Accept where you are and craft a plan towards betterment.

• Pay attention to signs from the Universe, i.e., seeing a special bird or coincidences. These can be a source of encouragement or confirmation that you are on the right track.

• Manage your negativity bias. Look for what is going right, not what is going wrong.

• Every night, tell your partner three things you are grateful for about them. It will be hard to find these initially. But, over time, you will train your brain to look for everything your partner does to show you that they love you. It could be 'small' things like taking the garbage out, making you a coffee, etc.

Modern Wisdom

Episode: #780 Tim Ferriss - The lessons, hacks  and books that changed my life

Duration - 3 hours 13 minutes

• Choose the right projects by asking this question - How can I succeed even if I fail? Ask which project will help you deepen your skills and relationships and not focus solely on external success metrics such as revenue. This way, success will accumulate over time.

• Don't frame outcomes in binary terms - success or failure. 

• State—Story—Strategy: Feeling depressed or negative? First, change your physical state (go for a walk, run, take a cold shower). This change in your physical state will provide a better perspective (story) on your given situation, resulting in a better strategy for handling it.

• Your exact routine or sequence doesn’t matter as long as you set aside 3-4 hours for the most impactful tasks (business and personal).

• People will always tell you that you are too late. Start your podcast or newsletter anyway. You will be ok if your product is different and provides value.

• Be grateful for the boring and the mundane, as those tasks allow you to do the fun things.

• When I was poor and miserable, I was full of hope. When I was rich and miserable, I was despondent.

• If you only value fame, likes, and followers, you’re living a life dependent on algorithm changes.

• Cold exposure was prescribed for melancholy, aka depression, 100-200 years ago.

• Block out and schedule 2-3 events with your family and close friends in advance. By booking in advance and looking forward to the events, you will get way more out of these trips.

• Have multiple metrics for a successful week. For example, work out three times a week, cook at home, or have a date night with your partner instead of only focusing on how well you did at work—single success metric vs. multiple success metrics.

• TMS can be an excellent intervention for treating anxiety and depression when done with medically certified and experienced practitioners. DO NOT DIY this at home - you can seriously injure or alter your brain.

• Ketamine as an anti-depressant can be detrimental and can increase susceptibility to depression. It can also be very addictive.

• Optimize for the process, the journey, and not the outcome.

• It's the best fiction book Tim recommends.

• Exercises Tim Ferriss recommends - Acro Yoga, overhead squat, gymnastics training (coach Christopher Sommer)

• Defend your personal time as much as you do your professional time. Think in systems. Where can you insert automation, batching, and delegation?

• Don’t oversell your Heroes. They most likely got good at one thing by sacrificing everything else.

• If you only need one full-body workout plan - try this.

Think Fast, Talk Smart

Episode: An invitation to innovation - why creativity is found not forced

Podcast duration - 22 minutes

• Innovation, at its core, is problem-solving.

• As a leader, your job is to create an environment where people collaborate easily to solve key problems and foster innovation.

• Communication is key if you want to create a culture of innovation. Do these three things right.

  1. Create an environment where people feel comfortable experimenting and failing together.

  2. Ensure that All the skill sets and knowledge base are fully leveraged.

  3. Create a community with shared purpose and values. This will motivate the team to do all the hard things needed for successful innovation (problem-solving).

• Vision is where we are going. The purpose is WHY we are going there.

• Enable people so they can explore their personal best, their personal genius as Pixar refers to it.

• Seek out people with different opinions.

• Linda Hill's favorite communicator and his best-selling book.

• There are three keys to effective communication:

  • Create curiosity by being provocative,

  • Know your audience and

  • Aim to engage the audience's head and heart.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Keep your nose to the grindstone'?

There are two rival explanations as to the origin of this phrase. One is that it comes from the supposed habit of millers who checked that the stones used for grinding cereal weren’t overheating by putting their nose to the stone to smell any burning. The other is that it comes from the practice of knife grinders when sharpening blades to bend over the stone or even to lie flat on their fronts, with their faces near the grindstone when holding the blades against the stone.

Huberman Lab Podcast

Episode: Dr. Casey Means - Transform your health by improving your metabolism, hormones and blood sugar

Duration -- 2 hours 56 minutes

• Metabolism is the cornerstone of good health. It is the process of turning energy from food into cellular (your body's) energy.

• 9 out of 10 all-cause mortality diseases are caused by metabolic dysfunction.

• To optimize your metabolism, focus on the big 3 -

  • Mitochondria (cellular energy),

  • Inflammation, and

  • Oxidative stress

•  Walking for 20 minutes before and after your meals or 2-3 minutes every 30 minutes can decrease all-cause mortality by 60-70%. If you work at a desk, get an under-the-desk treadmill to make walking easier.

• To get healthier, do resistance training 3 times a week (hitting all major body parts) and get your heart rate up for 30-60 minutes in total per week. This will help create more mitochondria and stabilize glucose.

• Basic Lab tests you should do and their optimal range: Fasting glucose (less than 100), fasting triglycerides (less than 150), HDL cholesterol (above 40 for men or 50 for women), Hemoglobin A1C (less than 5.7%), Total Cholesterol/HGL Ratio (less than 3.5:1), Waist circumference (less than 35 inches for women or 40 inches for men) and blood pressure less than 120/80. Consider services like This for blood work.

• Food, sleep, emotional health, toxins, and light are key focus areas that optimize your health.

• Compress your eating window between 6 and 8 hours. This reduces glucose and insulin spikes and regulates metabolism. The average American eats over a 15-hour window and has 11 eating events.

• Eat most of your allocated carbs in the first half of the day. Eating carbs later in the day can be detrimental to your metabolism.

• Adding fat and fiber to your meals can slow down the insulin spike.

• Dr. Casey recommends continuously measuring your glucose spikes to determine which foods are good or bad for you. Try This glucose monitor.

• A healthy mindset is critical to being healthy. Manage your fear and desire to control things. Get outside and spend time in nature. Disconnect.

Beyond The To-Do List

Episode: Dr. Barry Kudrowitz on how play and humor fuel innovation

Podcast duration - 47 minutes

• Great book on creativity and humor.

• Everyone can be creative by encouraging play (make it enjoyable). Make the act of doing something the reward, not its outcome.

• To make something playful, make sure it’s challenging enough. If it's too challenging, it can be off-putting and create resistance. If it's not easy, it will not be stimulating enough.

• Apples to Apples: Creative board games directly train your brain to generate different ideas or make different connections. This skill is transferable from your living room to a corporate board room.

• To be funnier, learn how to uncover non-obvious connections. For example, who decided how apart men's bathroom stalls should be? When did we decide on that distance as a socially acceptable distance for men to pee next to each other?

The Tim Ferriss Show

Episode: #736 A strategic deep dive on TikTok, the boiling moat of Taiwan & China's next-gen Statecraft - Matt Pottinger

Podcast duration - 1 hour 45 minutes

• Want to learn a foreign language? Start with sounds much like a child does. Record yourself saying sentences flawlessly first. Then, start to deconstruct those sentences, grammar, vocabulary, etc. Comic books with translations in your target language can also help you learn conversational dialog much faster than traditional methods.

• Chinese Communist Party intends to weaponize TikTok for ideological persuasion and destruction of ideas such as democracy. It promotes anti-American or antisemitic content.

• It doesn’t matter what the truth is; it only matters who controls the platform because they control the narrative.

• TikTok is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and is not run/controlled by Singapore.

• China is playing a very long game to gain global control, including control of resources in South America and Africa.

• As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vandenberg asserted that "politics stops at the water's edge." Despite our differences, we must never lose our national unity and pride. We must maintain a nationally unified front, or this divisive partisanship will become an opportunity for our adversaries or potentially the cause of our downfall as a nation.

• What is the significance of Taiwan, and why does it matter? - Geography: It’s geographically positioned to support China's vision of Beijing controlling Asia and Asians. Taiwan provides a safe passage for China to set up air bases, enforce a blockade on Japan, and plan invasions to neighboring nations (most of them are US allies). Democracy: Taiwan is a thriving democracy with two female presidents already. Ideologically, China sees Taiwan as a challenge to Chinese policies and doesn't like that the Chinese public can look to Taiwan as an alternative way of life. Economy: Taiwan produces 92% of the world's semiconductors. Any blockade or trade embargo can demolish Taiwan's technological infrastructure and economy.

• Taiwan has a favorable geography that can be used defensively when combined with advanced military firepower and technology. This is a deterrent for China. However, Taiwanial depth’ and should train its civilian population in military skills, logistics, and emergency medical capabilities, needs more ‘soc much like Israel or Estonia.

• 3 things the US needs to do to slow China’s plan for global takeover: 1) Impose massive costs on the Chinese economy 2) Pay attention to China’s plan to create allies or partnerships in South America (China is supporting Guyana’s dictator) whilst strengthening US’s democracy and national unity 3) Much like China, have the long term, patient vision, and plan.

• Corporate America focuses on promoting the best of the best. Marine Corps does the opposite. They find the weakest person on the team and push them to grow. This way, your worst player will still be very good, improving the overall baseline.

• Leadership lesson from the Marine Corps: Moral courage is more important than physical courage. Moral courage is doing the right thing when no one is looking.

The Greg McKeown Podcast

Episode: The power of persistence with Ryan Kugler

Podcast duration - 36 minutes

• Ideas alone are nothing without execution.

• Watch Steve Jobs's metaphor on how teamwork creates refined products.

Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal

Episode: Does money buy happiness? A conversation with Deca-millionaires

Podcast duration - 50 minutes

• Wealth is not a replacement for purpose.

• Intentionally create a number (income/profits per month) that provides freedom to live stress-free (you are not worried about covering basic needs). Avoid lusting for higher numbers. Your happiness won’t materially increase with a higher number.

• Surround yourself with people who can balance ambition with peace and joy.

• Create and define your identity and purpose, and then publish it. Tell your family and friends what your purpose is or what you value. This will keep you socially accountable.

• The study showing that an increase in income over 75k per year does not increase happiness is flawed because it didn’t factor in location, inflation, and cash in savings or investments.

• Happiness comes from living in line with your core values. So, if you value freedom, then optimize it. More money will bring freedom, but it is on you to decide how much. After a certain point, more money will not bring more freedom. Ali Abdaal's North Star value is to have enough money so he can have enough money to live, learn, and teach freely. Any decision that takes him away from that reduces his happiness. What is your core North Star value?

• Wealthy people don’t spend as much money as you think.

• Decisions made from obligation lead to unhappiness.

• Prioritize spending money on experiences over things. Make more money to make more memories.

• Kids pay attention to your actions, not words.

• Top tip - Pick a target and work backward. Want your income to be 250k/year? Pick which industries and positions pay that salary or what business can be scaled to that number. Then, gain the necessary skills and lifestyle discipline to create a balanced life.

I hope this was helpful.

What is one thing you will implement this week? Share in the comments.

Also, please share this with a friend who might get value out of this.

PS: I am excited to get my blood work done next month and see where my metabolic health is. Listening to that episode of Huberman really helped me understand the value of optimizing our metabolism. Plus, I am a carb-ingesting machine and now intend on going low-carb later in the day. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading.

Much Love,

PM

Disclaimers: I have no affiliation with any of the sources linked above. The information mentioned should not be used for medical diagnosis or treatment purposes, and it is not financial advice.

Category - Productivity

Modern Wisdom

#772 - Oliver Burkeman - Why our obsession with productivity is all wrong

Podcast duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

• Your obsession with productivity is about control, not purpose.

• Yet your thinking of control is delusional. Medieval people had a healthy sense of control because, at any time, a famine, a plague, or a war could end their lives. Today, your sense of control is misguided because of the technological advancements. It is unrealistic because you do not have absolute control over the environment.

• How much of your personal development was caused simply by age? How much can be attributed simply to life experience?

• Rigidity is not discipline. Discipline is consistency. Rigidity means doing something at a certain time, and if you don’t, you fail. Rigidity creates unwanted suffering. Allow yourself the freedom to do things at your own pace.

• If you are interrupted, give the interruption your full attention momentarily. This way, you are done with that interruption.

• Keep your dedication to the outcome, not the process. Don’t obsess over batching emails. Obsess over getting emails done/read efficiently.

• Loneliness is the tax you pay to atone for a certain complexity of mind.

• Don't search for your niche. Become the niche. Your unique combination of interests, hobbies, and curiosities will appeal to people. Scratch your own itch. Create to fulfill your own curiosities.

The Productivity Show: Asian Efficiency

Episode - Revitalise your weekend: Finding balance and flexibility

Podcast duration: 23 minutes

• A book about digital minimalism

• Want to have a good weekend? Start by asking what will make a good weekend. This will help you focus on the things that matter, instead of reacting to life.

• Make leisure plans—not just Netflix and chill, but intentionally plan things that might feed your soul. For example, Book the dance class with your partner and the pottery class.

• Schedule your social time. Intentionally invest in building relationships. Use the weekends to schedule time with family and friends that matter.

• Leave room for spontaneity and flexibility. Leave a few hours during the weekends where you can spontaneously say yes. Example: Don’t schedule anything on Saturday mornings. 

Category - Self Improvement & Lifestyle design

Tim Ferris Show Podcast

Episode #773 - Live 10th Anniversary Random show with Kevin Rose

Podcast episode length: 1 hour 10 mins

• What are the things that are easier for you than others? Lean into that.

• You can become the caricature of your most extreme thoughts and behaviors. If not managed intentionally, you will become the mask you wear.

• You can switch your retirement funds to crypto ETFs with Fidelity or Franklin Templeton for tax-free gains. This is not financial advice.

• TMS: Transcranial Magnetic stimulation is finally making headway in addressing mental health issues. Look for clinically experienced clinics.

Be a Super Connector: Be naturally curious during conversations. To overcome social anxiety, write down 5 topics you could talk about or questions you might want to ask at a given event or party. You will never end up using these questions, but it removes the anxiety. Your brain will feel safer because you have those topics as a fallback. This will allow for more natural conversations.

• Ever find yourself in an awkward conversation that you can’t leave? Next time, use this script:  “I have to catch up with a few other people at the party, but before I leave, tell me a little more about something you were just mentioning (insert topic).” This way, you will leave with the other person, thinking you are interested in what they say. It’s a softer landing.

• Drugs like Ozempic were initially created to regulate glucose levels. These drugs have some cardio-protective benefits. The downside is the loss of muscle mass.

• If you're dating and looking for a serious relationship, look for someone who challenges you and whom you naturally admire.

• Outlive by Peter Attia is a good book on longevity.

• To improve your quality of life, try experiencing different climates and seasons. Aim to create as many moments of awe as possible.

• If you feel rushed, your time will feel compressed, and it will appear that life is passing you by quickly. Slow down. To feel more energized and get more done, take a 10-minute break every two hours. Unplug.Category - Productivity

Beyond the To-Do List

Michael Easter on how comfort and over abundance are stifling our progress and productivity

Podcast episode length: 44 minutes

• Luxuries become necessities over time. Label them correctly. Otherwise, your new necessities can create unwanted stress.

• How do you know you have a drinking problem? Answer: All your problems stem from drinking.

• Clear Space is an app that inserts a pause on the scrolling function on your social media apps, reducing unnecessary scrolling.

• People who eat junk food eat approximately 500 more calories a day.

• You use your phone most when you feel some internal discomfort or boredom. Write down your triggers before you pick up your phone next time. Within 2 or 3 days, it will build awareness to address the root cause and not merely distract yourself with your phone. For example, you get an email from your boss that stresses you, and you open social media on your phone. Address why your boss's email stress you.

• People who climbed stairs three times a week for 3 minutes had a 30% lower risk in all-cause of mortality.

• Check out Michael's work here

Category - Self Improvement & Lifestyle design

The Greg McKeown Podcast

Episode 293: Mastering personal productivity - Lessons from an executive advisor at Google

Podcast length - 42 mins

• Can’t make a decision? Ask what your future self would wish you had done in this moment.

• Make your current self help your future self. Example: Set the coffee machine to brew the next morning.

• What can you do in the next 10 minutes that you will be grateful for 10 years from now?

• Your ultimate future self is you on your deathbed. What would that future self wish you chose in life?

• Pick your three BIG priorities for this quarter. Your to-do list must align with these three priorities. Your calendar is the reflection of where you are choosing to spend your time.

• Intentionally and honestly update your calendar to reflect where you actually spent your time during the day. You can use Google Calendar to color code and run a weekly report of this allocation.

• Have the courage to be rubbish. Pick the areas where you must shine. Areas you must work on. These are things that are essential and that only you can work on. Examples: Building a relationship with your partner, exercise.

Category - Productivity

Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal

Episode: How to build an online community

Podcast episode length: 1 hour 24 minutes

• Content is important, but community is equally important. Humans are social creatures. A community provides connection and witnessing of your transformation and identity.

• If you are a content creator, focus on how your content facilitates a transformation for your viewers.

• A source of recurring revenue needs to provide recurring value; otherwise, the client will be left unsatisfied.

• Be less specific about how you will deliver value to your clients. Because once you launch your product, you may discover that the delivery method you chose was inefficient. Now, you may have to go back on your word publicly. This can cause reputational damage.

• Use ‘private opening - public launch.’ Allow a small group of dedicated fans to try out your new product for free. Gather their feedback, refine the product, and then launch it publicly.

• Client onboarding is key. When a new consumer enters your ecosystem, make them feel seen and welcomed.

• Would you rather have a small number of clients buying your most expensive product or lots of clients buying your cheapest product?

Stuff You Should Know - Mariko Aiko Phenomenon (People who want to poop in bookstores)

• 10% of people in Japan get the urge to poop in a bookstore.

• This urge to poop is attributed to the bookstore's calming nature, coffee consumption, and up-down movement in the aisles.

Category - Productivity

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Ep: 297 - The Deep Life Hardware

Podcast episode length: 1 hour 26 minutes

• Your goals are a metaphor for software, and your habits, routines, discipline, and focus are the hardware. The software cannot run without capable hardware.

• Get repetition in the skill you want to master, not a precursor to it. Want to improve your ability to focus? Do hard things that demand focus instead of taking a meditation course.

• If your partner is not interested in productivity, don’t expect them to grasp your complicated productivity routine and systems. Start small to bring them on board. Start with the basics, like meeting twice a week to review what needs to be on your calendars.

• AstroChimps - A book about the exciting, specialized history of the Space Race."

Category - Relationships & Love 

Relationship Advice

454: Shifting from default monogamous relating

Podcast duration: 49 minutes

• Non-monogamy is not designed to save a troubled relationship.

• If you are switching to non-monogamy, allow your monogamous partner the time to digest the change.

• Deep psychological interrogation is a must as you decide on monogamy or non-monogamy.

• Jealousy is a fear of interruption to your current relationship.

• Regardless of the flavor of your relationship, it hinges on how well you communicate with your partner. 

• Jealousy reveals your deeper insecurities.

• Personally, I think non-monogamy leads to psychological and emotional scarring. It can deeply wound your soul.

I hope you found this helpful.

Much Love,

PM

Disclaimers: I have no affiliation with any of the sources linked above. The information mentioned should not be used for medical diagnosis or treatment purposes, and it is not financial advice.

Ep.292: Single Purpose Notebooks

• Assign 1 notebook to 1 idea. It helps your brain focus on that topic (cognitive context) and do deep work, faster. The Notes App on your phone represents all topics and contexts. Your brain has a harder time focusing when there are multiple potential cognitive contexts.

• Single notebooks help create a ritual that can accelerate your creative exploration of an idea.

• Productivity Principles:

  1. Do fewer things.

  2. Work at a natural pace

  3. Obsess over quality.

What daily goals/tasks should you focus on? Use this sequence.

1. Mission: Decide your overall vision. Example: I want to speak French

2. Projects: Figure out the best, most engaging method of learning French for you. Is it podcasts, a course, etc?

3. Daily Task/Goals: Study this course or listen to the podcast for 15 mins every day. Ignore tasks that do not contribute to your mission.

• Spend money on tools that make your deep work easier, more efficient, and more meaningful. It’s a signal to yourself that you take this seriously. Investment in the tools should be proportionate to the value you are creating. Don’t spend 100k gear on recording your podcast that no one listens to.

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The Greg McKeown Podcast

Episode: The Art of Subtraction with Leidy Klotz

• Solve by addition’ is not the only option. To make things better, instead of adding things/doing more, think about what you can subtract/do less of. ‘

• Aim for building a system that makes the execution effortless.

GTD - Getting Things Done

Episode: Projects and Someday Maybe Lists

• GTD definition of a project: A multi-step outcome achievable within a timeframe of a year.

• What is a projects list: inventory of all your currently active projects

• Identify potential new projects by zooming in on current issues or problems. If it’s demanding attention then potentially turn it into a project. This will ensure you take consistent action.

• Review your projects weekly.

_____________________________________________

Beyond the To-Do List

Episode: Francesco D’alessio pm finding the right productivity tools for you

• The best productivity tool is the one you will use.

• 3 Steps to finding the best productivity tool (RTO): 1) Research the product to ensure it’s a fit for your specific needs 2) Try the product diligently for 90 days 3) Optimise for accelerated productivity.

• Put Rules first, not Tools. If you have a problem sticking to a To-Do list, it won’t matter what tool you use to make the To-Do list.

The Productivity Show: Asian Efficiency

Episode - The TPS Era show

• To become more productive, implement one new tactic each week - no big, dramatic changes are necessary.

• 3 top resources:1) Get rid of your hiccups. 2) Batteries 3) Organise your hats

• Thinking Time Questions: You are all doing too much and not strategizing enough. So, make specific time to pause and think about strategic ways to get where you want to and accomplish the things you want to.  (Bonus point - Use a journal for this exercise). You can also use ChatGPT to brainstorm specific questions to solve your current problems.

• Kaizen: Aim to make small improvements every day. Over time, this will pay huge dividends.

• Productivity routines and tools are more important when you are not feeling your best (feeling sick or low energy). You must stick to your batching, scheduling, or Pomodoro technique during low-energy times so you still have a sense of accomplishment and control.

• Do a weekly review to access your current productivity routine and look for gaps. This will be difficult in the beginning but over time it will become easy and an essential feedback loop for refinement.

• Knowing what music to play while you work can unlock your most productive version.

• Be intentional with your day.

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Tim Ferris Show Podcast

Episode#728: Seth Godin- Coaching Tim on overcoming resistance, Lessons from Isaac Asimov, Writing secrets

• Blog posts are like comic books. The reader is asked to figure out how the subject moved from one panel to another. The reader is asked to be a participating voice.

• Seth writes to provoke the reader’s attention on a subject or a problem.

• Declare the genre of your post upfront. Tell what readers can expect to learn about upfront.

• How to know when you ship your writing - Tell people something they already sort of know in a way that they will be grateful to share and forward to other people.

• Better Ai tool for writers - better than ChatGPT

• Improve writing cadence by creating a character version of you whose job is to notice things and write about them daily.

• What is good writing? Assertion at the beginning of a sentence creates tension (curiosity) followed by a release that lands the idea. Example: You don’t need more time, you just need to decide.

• Stop and think if you should continue doing what you have been doing. Create a vacuum, a space to contemplate your next move, or a pivot.

• To ship high-quality work, be prepared to produce a lot of mediocre work. It’s a game of output.

• Decide your genre and stick with it. Tell the readers that this is your lane and they can count on you to keep showing up.

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Deep dive with Ali Abdaal

Episode: High-Performance Psychologist - The Secret to Happiness is Vulnerability

• How to compliment someone: Complement the person, their behavior, or their choices, not their looks.

• Your judgment comes from your past experiences. Your brain creates filters. These filters are based on the past through which you will see the future. If you don’t like what your brain is projecting, question the filter you're using.

• Use stillness to quiet the brain. Pay attention to your intuitions about the situation you are in.

• Your mind is governed by fear and other survival-based emotions. If you know who you are deep down, the mind cannot paralyze you with its fear tactics.  “Our only task in life is to know our truth and live from that truth.”

• Fear will always exist. It’s what we do in the face of it that matters.

• All misery comes from the clash between reality and your expectations.

• Remove the words or phrases that don’t serve you i.e. I can’t.

• There is no ‘should this happen’ in nature. It just happens. A tiger is eating a gazelle. From the tiger’s perspective, it should happen. From gazelle’s, it shouldn’t.

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I hope you found this useful.

Much Love

PM

1. Start with emotion.

Do you want the reader to feel happy, sad, outraged, scared, etc. after reading?

What is the action you want the reader to take i.e. share the post, comment, etc?

What is the one sentence you want them to remember?

2. Spend 90% of the time on the headline, the hook, and the promise.

The first line is the most important.

The first line’s purpose is to create curiosity for the reader to read the 2nd line. So on and so forth. Once the reader is around the 7th or 8th line they are hooked.

Reminder - it’s only clickbait if it doesn’t deliver on its promise.

3. Write at 4th - 8th grade level.

No fancy words or jargon. Simple is better. Always.

Warren Buffet’s notorious letters to shareholders have gotten simpler as his business has gotten more complex.

Mr. Buffett isn’t about a free ‘buffet’ of words.

4. Write like you speak with your friends.

For example, do you use the word ‘preposterous’ while talking to your friends?

Chances are you don’t. So, don’t use it in your writing either. If you do, well, that is quite preposterous.

5. Copy good work - AKA swipe.

Create a folder where you save headlines that made you open a post or an article. Store cool, interesting sentences you come across. Use these as inspiration while writing.

Copy your favorite writers (preferably by hand). Copy word for word for 10 minutes to get into a writing flow. This isn’t unusual. Singers sing covers before making originals.

6. Incubate and edit - Get the 1st draft out of your head as fast as you can. Then walk away for a few hours, days, or weeks.

Let the idea marinate. Then edit like an angry medieval warrior and chop unnecessary words mercilessly.

Editing is ‘killing your darlings.’ Keep the main thing the main thing. No fluff. If a word doesn’t help convey the point - FINISH HIM (Mortal Kombat).

7. Confused about what to write?

Create a voice memo for a friend telling him/her about all the cool, interesting things you have recently come across.

Then transfer it to words. If it isn’t something your friends would care about, chances are strangers on the internet won’t either.

8. Storytelling is Intention vs. Obstacle.

What does the character want and what’s in their way.

The story becomes about how this character overcomes the challenges. Create high stakes to make the story better. As in what goes wrong if the character doesn’t win.

High stakes but low stake environment is a great combo. Example: You are meeting your in-laws for the first time and you are cooking dinner. Intention - you want to wow them. Obstacle - you’re a terrible cook. Low-stakes environment but high stakes for you.

9. Tools: on writing by Stephen King (book).

Listen to crime thriller podcasts as they are excellent at building tension and storytelling.

Comedians are a treasure trove of catchy, attention-grabbing sentences and stories. Study Dave Chapelle’s masterpiece on how Netflix streamed Chapelle's show without paying him. Impressive how he sets the story and gets the crowd on his side.

10. Write about your thing.

What do you like to nerd about?

Create your personal monopoly about that.

PS: I have never met Shaan Puri but he is one of my favorite peeps on the interwebs. I appreciate his ‘honey I am home’ energy as he puts it.

Sam Parr's knowledge base and his ability to deconstruct complex things blows me away.

Hat tip to you gents! #legends.

Shaan has a writing course at https://maven.com/generalist/writing

and, Sam Parr has a writing course at https://copythat.com/