🦉Tim Ferris & Naval Ravikant's workout plan and why you should take more naps
Spend more time implementing wisdom, not collecting it.
Did you know Abraham Lincoln is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame? The 6'4" president had only one loss among his around 300 contests. He earned a reputation for this in New Salem, Illinois, as an elite fighter.
Category - Health & Wellness
Episode #783: Johann Hari - Is Ozempic a miracle weight loss drug or a secret killer?
Podcast episode length: 1 hour 17 minutes
GLP-1 agonist medications such as Ozempic function by acting on the brain to reduce appetite.
There are only two types of drugs - the ones that don’t work and the others that have side effects.
In a recent poll, 47% of Americans voted that they want to take drugs like Ozempic.
These drugs have a wider impact on the economy. Businesses such as Krispy Kreme and McDonald's have reported declining sales. Jet fuel consumption from airlines is down as it takes less fuel to fly a lighter population that weighs less. The number of hip replacements is lower.
The rising obesity in America comes down to satiety. American diet includes too much flavored, processed food filled with either sugars or high amounts of salt.
Based on rat studies, GLP1 agonist drugs can limit your propensity toward consuming alcohol consumption, cocaine, and heroin.
Some risks of taking drugs like Ozempic:
- It can increase your risk for thyroid cancer
- Severe loss of muscle mass
- Correlated risks around pregnancy
- Accelerated behavioral risks for people with eating disorders or similar tendencies
- Risk of putting the weight back on once you stop taking the drug
- Emotional or psychological (mental health) risks if someone was hoping that losing weight was going to solve all their problems and it didn’t.
Drugs like Ozempic might be a 'Magic pill'—magical in the way Aladdin had all his wishes come true, but not really in the way he expected them to. What that means exactly remains to be seen.Â
Johann Hari makes the case that if your BMI is over 35, then you should consider taking drugs like Ozempic because the risks of obesity alone are devastating. These drugs can help address obesity successfully.
Episode: Live event Q&A - Dr. Andrew Huberman at ICC Sydney theatre
Podcast episode length: 51 mins
Naps: Keep them shorter than 90 minutes. Don’t take them if they interrupt your nighttime sleep.
If naps don’t work for you, try a non-sleep deep rest protocol.
To improve a skill, do something that is familiar and introduce smaller doses of novel requirements. For Example, if you’re improving your piano skills, start by playing something familiar and then introduce a new arrangement of keys. This is the best way to accelerate neuroplasticity (your brain's ability to adapt).
MDMA, when taken under medical supervision and therapy, can induce a deep feeling of self-love and empathy, which can address a whole host of mental illnesses, such as depression and behavioral issues.
When taken in a clinical setting, psilocybin can profoundly affect the brain's recollection and association with a traumatic incident. This form of therapy allows the person to relive (re-interact) a past incident and make different choices, thus changing the story/memory the brain has created around that incident.
Regardless of the health crisis, gut microbiome seems to be directly or indirectly impactful. Invest in protecting (reduced intake of sugar and processed foods, alcohol, and antibiotics) and protecting the diversity of your gut microbiome. Consider high-quality probiotics or consume foods like sauerkraut and yogurt that have natural probiotics.
QQRT—Quantity, Quality, Regularity, and Time- the four key things you should pay attention to about your sleep. Optimize these four, and quality sleep will become your superpower.
Category - Self Improvement & Lifestyle design
Episode 142 - Power and persuasion: Insights from Stanford experts
Podcast episode length: 35 mins
Your negotiations leave a lot of value on the table. It's because you are either too competitive or too cooperative.
Be firm on your priorities and interests while accommodating the priorities and interests of the person you are negotiating with.
Use the right metaphor. Do you see negotiation as a battle or a dance? The right metaphor and language can shift your whole perspective.
Speak slowly and clearly. Pause, use the silence. Pronounce all your consonants. Mumbling and unclear speech does not convey authority.
In an online setting like Zoom, create space by not sitting too close to the camera. Have a formal setting/background. More space and distance can convey grandeur and power. Also, get good lighting so you don’t look like you are sitting in a witness protection room.
Use the word 'you' cautiously. It can seem adversarial. Instead, use more inclusive words such as we, us, ours, etc.
Achievement or success doesn't always add meaning or purpose to life. You will always feel empty and unsatisfied if you chase success without meaning. Meaning comes from helping others or being of service and value to others.
Episode #737: Naval Ravikant & Nick Kokonas
Podcast episode length: 3 hours 16 mins
You must never fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard Feynman
The source of all happiness is to live in the present moment. One of the core tenets of being present is to be completely true to yourself and others.
High intelligence, high energy, and integrity are the three core values the Naval looks for in a founder.
Investment is highly emotional. You will be a better investor if you learn how to manage your emotions and develop the ability to make unbiased, objective decisions.
Self-development is not a single eureka moment. It is a process, an iteration of the self.
Marcus Aurelius's Meditations prove that success and power don’t improve one’s personal, internal state. One still needs to work on it.
Your school trained you that books are a part of your mandatory curriculum and you must finish them. Books weren't introduced as a source of knowledge. Read books to further your understanding. You are hereby free of any obligation to finish a book. Read it from the middle chapters, skip the ending, or whatever else. No rules. Just read.
Society labels a person as successful once they have won the said game. For an athlete, that game is the pinnacle of their sport. For an entrepreneur, it’s a revenue number. Truly successful are those who have completely exited the game. Their happiness and fulfillment are not dependent on an external source. They are content with themselves.
Test it for yourself - Sit in a quiet room by yourself for an hour, and you will know how happy and successful you really are.
You should consider this workout plan endorsed by both Tim Ferriss & Naval Ravikant.
You are miserable because your desires are untamed. You are chasing desires, but do you know the deeper meaning of why you are in this chase?
You only have three options in any given situation. 1. Change it. 2. Leave it. 3. Accept it.
You can either build something novel or create a novel application for something already existing.
You will come up with the best ideas, scratching your own itch.
Category - Productivity & Business
Jorge Arango on extending your mind through better note-taking
Podcast episode length: 51 mins
Don’t take notes only to make to-do lists; create a storage system to free up your memory so it can be used for having ideas instead of keeping them.
Don’t use too many tech solutions for the same problem. Use one tech solution and optimize it around your needs. For example, don’t have Apple Notes, Evernote, Notion, or One Note. Stick with one and optimize it based on your needs.
Poor knowledge management practices cripple businesses. Not having the right place for the right information can create chaos, poor communication, and a lack of clarity.
Episode 299: From problem-solving to problem finding
Podcast episode length: 44 mins
Pause before you jump into solution mode; otherwise, you will suffer the problem of addressing the wrong problem.
The formulation of the problem is more important than the solution - Einstein
3 key elements can help you find the right problem.
1. Sensitization: Evaluate the problem through multiple (often creative) perspectives, actively seek new opinions, and question existing assumptions
2. Restructuring:Â Looking beyond the obvious. Ask if the same problem exists in other unrelated industries.Â
3. Evaluation: Questioning the current definition of the problem. Factor in constraints such as resource restrictions or funding. Prioritize the problems so you can focus on the most impactful areas first.
Category - Relationships & LoveÂ
457: Hard relationship truths you need to hear
Podcast duration: 46 minutes
You are annoying, disappointing, and hard to live with at times. So is your partner. Humans aren’t perfect. See your partner’s shortcomings through this lens.
 All your relationships are conditional. Unconditional love is a myth.
You give your partner your undivided attention. You overlook their ‘quirky’ behavior and know nothing about their past traumas. All these things contribute to the ‘honeymoon’ phase. The antidote to this is gathering more information in the early phase of the relationship—communication about things that matter early on.
Your desire for your partner declines over time because of deeper issues of shame or guilt around sex. The newness and novelty wears off. To resolve this, work through these issues with your partner. Respark the intimacy by creating an environment for intimacy. Go for a drive-through movie night or a walk in nature.
Relationships are work but they are worth it.
I hope this was helpful.
If it was, please share it with someone you love. If not, share with someone you hate ;)
Much Love
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