“Each week is a new chapter in my life. These are my unfiltered experiences, experiments, and revelations – shared in hopes that my journey might shine light on possibilities in yours.”
Week 51, 2024: Finding Balance in Personal Systems
🔄 System Separation
This week brought an important insight about my productivity approach – I went back to separating comfort challenges from Ivy Lee tasks. It’s funny how experiments often teach us unexpected lessons. After trying to merge these systems into what I called a “task-challenge method,” I discovered something crucial about the nature of growth.
The combined system seemed brilliant at first – less friction, better focus, smoother transitions. But over time, I watched as the predictable, linear-return tasks slowly crowded out vital comfort challenges. It’s like having a garden where the easy-to-grow vegetables slowly take over the space for those rare, extraordinary blooms that might just change everything.
Some comfort challenges might “fail,” but when they succeed, they yield 10x or 100x returns that change our trajectory.
🧠 The Parasympathetic Sandwich
I’ve found a new rhythm for my days – what I’m calling a “parasympathetic sandwich.” Think of it like a day structured in layers: beginning and ending in that calm, restorative state (the bread), with focused, energetic activity as the filling.
The transformation came from really understanding how our nervous system works. Now, my evening winds down with two hours of gentle activities, flowing into sleep, then emerging into two hours of mindfulness practice. The middle of my day pulses with cold showers, exercise, comfort challenges, and focused work – all those activities that push us to grow.
📊 Faster Feedback Loops
Sometimes the most important insights come from adjusting how we listen to our own data. This week, I realized my 32-day moving averages were too slow – like trying to steer a ship by watching its wake rather than its bow. Emerging issues showed in data almost a week before I consciously felt them.
So I’ve shifted to 16-day moving averages for tracking key metrics. It’s about finding that sweet spot. In the dance between data and intuition, sometimes the tempo needs adjusting to keep us moving forward effectively.
The journey of refining these systems reminds me that growth isn’t about finding perfect solutions – it’s about being willing to adapt and evolve as we learn more about ourselves and our patterns.
How you structure your days, measure progress and make sure that you leave enough room for “crazy” experiments?
Week 50, 2024: Sustainable Growth Through Small Steps
🏃♂️ My Marathon Model
I’ve been wrestling with sharing my journey publicly. Social media and I have a complicated history (that’s a story for another time). But this week, I stumbled upon what I’m calling my “Marathon Model.”
Instead of forcing myself into full public sharing, I’m taking baby steps. Week 1 was simply adding one question to my weekly review: “What was shareable?” Week 2, I recorded a video just for myself. Now in Week 3, I’m creating these text summaries.
It’s funny – my younger self would have seen this as moving too slowly. But I’m learning that strategic slowness might actually be the fastest way forward. It’s like running a marathon – you don’t start by running 26.2 miles. You start by walking around the block.
💡 A Personal Rule for Non-Consensus Decisions
I learned an expensive lesson recently about making non-consensus bets. Not through catastrophic failure, but through opportunity cost – those silent losses that hurt just as much. It led me to create what I’m calling my “participation rule”: I only make non-consensus bets when I’m actively involved in making them come true.
Being “more informed than average” isn’t enough anymore. I needed this framework to protect myself from my own overconfidence.
🎮 Finding Different Forms of Escape
I’ve been trying to break free from my YouTube habit. It’s not that YouTube is terrible – it’s actually incredibly useful for work. But those “just 30 minutes” sessions that turn into 3-hour marathons? Yeah, those need to go.
So I’ve been experimenting with alternatives. One might sound a bit childish, but I’ve fallen in love with pebble stacking. There’s something meditative about finding balance points between uniquely shaped rocks. I even collected some from Peru. Chess puzzles have become another goto, helping me build mental endurance in a way that feels productive.
🧠 My Trauma Metabolization Framework
It started during a therapy session with the Rosebud app. I was stuck in one of those circular thought patterns we all know too well, when something clicked. You know that quote about anger being a lack of understanding? It hit differently this time.
I found myself developing what began as a five-step framework, eventually growing to six steps. It’s helping me process past experiences in a way that finally makes sense to me. Here’s how it unfolds:
First, I dig deep into understanding the fundamentals. Often, I work with AI on this because, honestly, if I fully understood the situation, I probably wouldn’t be struggling with it in the first place. Then comes the crucial part – really sitting with that understanding before moving forward. I used to skip this step, rushing to solutions before truly processing the insights.
The framework then moves through workshopping responses, running thought experiments, and testing in real life. There’s even an optional sixth step for the brave – accelerated exposure. But here’s the thing I’ve learned: you don’t have to take that step until you’re ready.
🌿 Wellness Experiments and Observations
My supplement journey continues to evolve. Turmeric helps my breathing, fish oil seems to boost my mental clarity, and black maca gives me clean energy. But I’m having an interesting experience with Vitamin D – at 4,000 IUs daily, I’m noticing some ADD-like effects. It’s teaching me to pay closer attention to how my body responds to these interventions.
⚖️ The Homeostasis Insight
Perhaps the biggest realization this week was about self-sabotage. I’m starting to see it differently – not as failure, but as my system trying to maintain balance. When changes happen too quickly, even positive ones, there’s this natural pull back to the familiar.
This understanding has been transformative. It’s helping me design change in a way that works with my nature, not against it.
What’s your experience with supplements, self-sabotage or strategic slowness?