Learn Liberally
Deadman Bay basalt near Lime Kiln Point on the west side of San Juan Island. The rock hardened upon eruption through a crack in the ocean floor, probably over 200 million years ago (Late Permian or Early Triassic period)
Just as the office and our economy has been disrupted by the COVID-19, many nature lovers may be wondering how COVID has influenced the ecology of the Salish Sea in the PNW. I work as a sea kayak guide in the San Juan Islands and I have personally noticed a change in the types and abundances of marine traffic. There has undoubtedly been a surge in private boating traffic. Those with the means are hopping in their boats and hitting the water in an attempt to flee the suffocating nature of our cities. Much of this traffic has been generated from the seattle area and surrounding Marinas in the Puget Sound. Concurrently, ferry ridership has plummeted with WSDOT claiming ridership dropping by 45%. Despite the slight increase in ferry ridership in the Summer months, WSDOT has limited the total number of ferry sailing per day to comply with governor Jay Inslee’s safe start plan.
How about commercial shipping vessels?
Back in March two seattle marine cargo terminals shutdown entirely. This decision was largely attributed to ongoing volume declines. Alarmingly, this was the first time this has happened in 5 years. Cargo volumes in general had dropped by 30% compared to the same time last year likely because of the Coranavirus and the China-US tradewar. Shipping traffic took a further nosedive in April. The Northwest Seaport Alliance reported a nearly 25% decrease in April’s volume and 39 sailings were cancelled entirely.
Clearly port traffic has been affected in a major way, especially in the early stages of our ongoing pandemic. This reduction could loosen the pressure on the our local marine ecosystems as studies have shown that shipping traffic can influence the environment in a number of manners. Some even claim shipping vessels to be the most impactful out of all marine traffic (citation needed). The fuel alone is highly toxic to marine life and when burned omits more sulfur per gallon than any other transportation fuel. Sulfur rich fuel once combusted creates sulfur dioxide a contributor both to acid rain and ocean acidfication.
While many organisms can handle fluctuations of ocean acidity over millions of years, there is evidence that rapid changes in ocean acidity lead to mass extinction events. 55 million years ago during the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, decreased pH, reduced dissolved oxygen and sea level temperature increased led to a 50% extinction of all deep-sea benthic foraminifera.
Shipping vessels also pose the risk of spreading invasive species via their ballast water. Despite mandates of foreign vessels to dump ballast water 200 nautical miles offshore and to maintain proper ballast technology, there are still instances where vessels violate regulations which contributes to the risk of aggressive invasive species establishment. 2017 saw a double of such violations in the United states. Cargo ship noise can also impact marine life. Many organisms from fish to whales use sound for hunting, communication and navigating. Increased boat noise may also lead to more collisions between boats and cetaceans; however, a confounding variable is the increased number of boats themselves.
Overall it seems that the cornavirus has a least temporarily mitigated some of the adverse affects of the shipping industry on PNW wildlife; however, this hiatus will likely last only as long as the pandemic. A 2018 report from the Friends of the San Juans predicted a roughly ⅓ increase in shipping traffic for 2019. This goes hand in hand with the long term upward climb of shipping traffic in the Salish Sea which shares vessels from 22 different terminals most located in Vancouver, B.C.
An increase in pleasure boating around the San Juan’s due to the Cornavirus is likely to impact the environment; however, the question is to what degree and exactly how? Naive boaters often disturb wildlife by their physical presence alone, often flushing harbor seals or birds from their preferred shoreline habitats. Boaters share many of the previously mentioned pathways of environmental affliction as the larger cargo ships; however, the boating industry also has ancillary effects such as general pollution and material use promoted by increased numbers of people utilizing docks, shops and other marine support services. In addition, pleasure boaters have easy access to sport fisheries and increased numbers of boaters results in more harvesting from the marine ecosystem.
Non motorized watercraft also play a role in ecological disturbance; though, to a lesser degree. The novice kayaker may inadvertently disturb wildlife in much the same way as smaller boats. Studies show that harbor seals may remain in the water for up to 1 hr after being flushed from a rock by kayakers and kayakers (not motor boaters) account for a higher % of these takes. Fortunately the majority of kayak tours in the San Juans are led by qualified companies who have environmental awareness and follow best wildlife viewing practices.
Let’s take a step back and examine some of the science that has come out about the coronavirus generally when it comes to environmental issues. The pandemic has been nicknamed the geologic period of the “anthropause” and has created a slough of positive and negative effects . Air traffic has dropped drastically which has led to vast improvements in air quality particularly in urban areas. Nitrogen Dioxide and particulate matter less than 2.5 microns dropped dramatically in many of China’s dense cities after strict social distancing efforts were instated. The reduced particulate matter likely aided respiration not only of humans but also wildlife. Additionally, air pollution reduces the solar radiation which could reduce photosynthesis (although CO2 emissions were also reduced and CO2 is necessary for photosynthesis).
Beaches without flocks of tourists experience fewer instances of littering. Beaches in Mexico, Spain and Ecuador appear cleaner. Concurrently, some US cities suspended recycling programs in fear of coronavirus transfer at recycling facilities. Likewise reusable bags, cups and other items have gone out of vogue with many grocery stores and businesses banning the use of these products opting for archaic single use plastics. This move was clearly motivated by corporations seeking to repeal single use plastic bans as single use plastics still serve as a vector for some bacteria and viruses
With more people stuck at home, water consumption should decrease as studies show that people consume less water at home than at work or while traveling
Finally, there have been increased sightings of wildlife in areas where signs of life are not commonplace. Some of the more notable sighting include: Dolphins in the Trieste, Italy Harbour; Jackals in Tel Aviv, Israel and Pumas in the core of Santiago, Chile.
City slickers like monkeys, gulls, pigeons and others are likely to suffer due to the austerity of food scraps. Certain green space in urban areas are more densely populated with humans because of decreases in availability of more commonplace activities which should have an overall negative impact on wildlife. Sadly some speculate that the coronavirus will affect environments disproportionately in the non industrialized nations particularly in countries without social safety nets. After an economy is kneecapped by the economic downfall, those left with nothing can always find something to eat or sell in their local wild area. Studies of Madagascar people suggest turning to natural resources is a common occurrence in times of climate change induced hardship so why wouldn’t coronavirus produce the same effects? Many are unskilled and so resort to harmful techniques such as slash and burn agriculture, poison fishing, deforestation/charcoal production and poaching. Meanwhile, governments of these depauperate countries will lack the resources to properly enforce environmental regulations and many shriveled ecotourism economies may turn to other means to survive. While mostly speculative. New data is being collected to better contextualize the changing relationship between humans and wildlife. It is important to note the many manners by which humans influence the environment and how these factors may vary by location and resources at the disposal of local economies.
Peregrine Falcons are some of the worlds coolest birds around.
Did you know that they can travel around 200 miles per hour in free fall? When the falcon tucks it’s wings into a stoop their is a small venturi slot that is created between the main body of the bird and the inside of their wings. This creates a fast moving jet stream of air forced through the slot. As everyone knows all velocities in physics are relative so as the air moves faster past the bird it also means the bird moves faster through the air! Venturi slots are why race cars are always so low to the ground (in addition to better handling performance).
The birds have keen eyesight and view prey at up to 2 miles away. This means that when they are 10,000 feet up they could spot a Vole on the ground. However, when Peregrines ride thermals to climb up to higher elevations before tucking into a stoop, the falcons pick other bird species out of the air. 50% of the volume of their skull is their eyeball. This is compared to humans which have eye balls that are proportionally 10 times smaller. Peregrines have an extra set of cones at the back of their retina they use one set for binocular vision for very precise near to medium distance vision. For longer distances they turn their head and use a separate set of cones through one eye only. In a similar fashion to looking through a telescope.
The Peregrines are a cosmopolitan species and can be found on every continent except for Antarctica. They really only need two things. A high perch and plenty of food. Incidentally they have adapted to many of the world’s cities living off of pigeons.
Once the Peregrine latch onto their prey they sink their .8inch talons into the flesh. The talons stay attached to their prey through a ratcheting system similar to a zip tie!
When the next generation of baby peregrines are born they break through their shells with a special part of their beak called an egg tooth. Born partially feathered, the peregrine fledgling will likely be flying in 6-8 weeks. Parents entice their offspring to fly by gradually encouraging them to fly away from their nests to recieve their food gathered from their parents. 50% of offspring make it to adulthood.
Cuttlefish are one of the most extraordinary creatures on the face of the planet. Infamous for their brain to body weight ratio which is the highest of any invertebrate including the octopus. Their outstanding intelligence allows them to outwit each other in curious manners.
Cuttlefish have short life spans which range about 1-2yrs. At the end of this time period the males duke it out over a very lucky female. A specialized male tentical is used to impregnate the female through an orifice called the buccal on the ventral side close to the cuttlefish beak. The sperm is transported in packages called spermatophores. Because many males may mate with one females the males cuttlefish will often flush the females buccal with a jet stream of water from their siphon before doing the deed. Cuttlefish are in determinant growers; as such, they grow until they have a chance to mate or until they are eaten by their prey – sharks, seals, other cuttlefish, etc. The smaller males are often not strong enough to battle against the heavyweights and require another year of growth before mating with a females. Alternatively, some eager youngsters use deception to thwart off the attacks of their fellow hermanos.
The cuttlefish have a plethora of chromatophore cells across the body which can be used in over 30 different color schemes. In addition to color cuttlefish can change shape, size and texture in mind bending manners. The young guns are savy and can deceive a rival male by cloaking themselves as a non sexually receptive female. Once past the bigger badder boy, the game is off and the eager beaver has his chance. But wait, what happens if the bigger male comes back around to check in on the female? In that case the young males works to jobs at once. The side of his body facing the mega male looks female while the side closest to the female is male.
Cuttlefish have the ability to expand their bodies to 500% of their smallest size in a fraction of a second. They can dust their predators in a cloud of ink which acts as a both a smoke screen and a decoy for the predators palate. The ink is densely packed with amino acids which to the predator taste just like the cuttlefish. Some can even change the shape of the ink cloud as a psuedomorph of their bodies.
The eyes of the cuttlefish are shaped as a W which they used to be able to process different gradients of light, although they cannot see color, they do have the ability to see polarization. Their eyes are believed to be the product of convergent evolution and are quite similar to mammalian eyes; however, their eyes differ drastically in their mechanism of focus. Cuttlefish eyes focus by moving the lens in an out relative to the retina while mammalian eyes alter the shape of the lens itself.
All in all cuttlefish are one of the grooviest members of the Mollusca phylum!
First off we need to define what the “right mindset” really is. To me its pretty simple. I want my mindset to exhibit the following features:
Each of these features is important and somewhat interdependent; as such, the order listed is arbitrary.
Positivity
Many may claim that negativity is the best path forward. After all, how can you progress without proper criticism? I contend that a positive attitude and a critical attitude are not mutually exclusive. Positive thinking is associated with a host of benefits including increased lifespan, decreased rates of depression, increased immunity, overall better well being, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and increased stress tolerance.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950
Ideas to increase positive thinking in your life: Surround yourself with positive people – we are social animals and for many this may be the most impactful thing you do Identify Negative thoughts and reverse them – remember negatively and objective truth are separate things. eg. “I don’t have the time money to do x/y/z” the inverse of which is “I am motivated by necessity” Exercise – a tried and true manner to think more positively. exercise may be difficult in the moment but the result is an increase in mood from the release of endorphins and drop in cortisol levels post exercise session.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469
Gratitude
Who wants to live life feelings resentful, greedy, jealous or like they got the short end of the stick? I certainty do not. Gratitude is a mindset that influences a variety of areas in your life. For example, those who are grateful are more likely to exercise and report overall more positive thinking and well being. Additionally, when managers were promoted to be grateful to their employees, the employees actually worked harder! Subjectively I have found that my day runs more smoothly with less negative emotion and more of a feeling of purpose after I have implemented one of the following practices.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier
Gratitude writing – shortly after waking record a few things you are grateful for. It works best if you try to be consistent with this practice. Depending on your starting mindset you may find it almost impossible to find anything you are grateful for; however, with time you will find the practice easier/more automatic. Thank someone in person – Tell someone who has really influenced your life how grateful your are. Thank a stranger for an everyday nicety. Gratitude meditation – clear your mind or focus on your breath. once settled mentally focus on feelings of gratitude. you may focus on specific people, objects, places or situations. you may flip between subjects or stay on one subject.
Clear Thought
You are only as effective as the state of your tool. Would a knight go into battle without sharpening their sword? Nope. Does a high performance runner compete without a warming up and stretching out? Hell no. So why do we go about our day without conditioning or preparing our minds? Say no to clouded judgement, impulsive decisions and muddled musing. Say yes to preparing yourself to think clearly. The critical change for me was when I transitioned from allowing my thoughts to control me to harnessing the power of my brain to control my thoughts or at the bear minimum, to realize I was in an irrational frame of mind and to do something about. Clear thinking is advantageous in almost any domain of life. It usually leads to higher performance, productivity, better outcomes and more holistic decision making.
This is how you can think more clearly: Meditation – There is plenty of evidence for the benefits of meditation. The cool thing is that you are not limited to any particular form. You can sit, stand, walk, do yoga, eye open, eyes closed, etc. If your brain is in constant disarray it will definitely be helpful to schedule meditation sessions throughout your day so that you can get the reps in. as with any activity you can improve with time. after you have familiarize yourself with the process of meditation you may find that you don’t need to meditate as often to achieve the level of performance you desire. you may also be able to recognize yourself starting to think irrationally before you have dropped into full blown neuronal chaos. in this way you can adjust your thinking throughout the day without needing to stick to a rigid schedule. personally find schedules limiting so I choose to fit the meditation in wherever I can or it makes sense. that being said many highly successful people meditated relgiously once or more per day. Most people achieve max benefits from 1-2 sessions of 20 mins per day; however, 5 mins per day still results in changes. Interestingly Monks who mediate frequently have brain activiation while meditating similar to a nonmeditator on a dose of LSD. Mindfulness/situational awareness – the western bastardization of meditation. I like to use mindfulness when I am cruising throughout my day without much break between activities. Examples of mindfulness include. Monitoring your pulse, respiration rate, breathing patterns, hydration and energy levels, etc. Mindfulness can also pertain to acting with purpose. With every step you take are you thinking about what you are doing or are you just going through the motions with your body on autopilot. If you often find yourself forgetting to do certain things, repeating certain behaviors reflexively or feeling as though you are on autopilot you may want to try to be more mindful about your actions. I start by constantly questions what I am doing and why I am doing it. Once I have identified these things I question whether I should be doing the actions and either stop, proceed or augment said action to be more inline with my long term goals. Another fun exercise to do to be more aware of your environment is to try to notice subtle changes which others may not have noticed. Did x person get a new hair cut? is there a picture missing from the wall? How many telephone poles did you pass while on the way to pick up groceries at the supermarket? What time did you leave the gas station? Was the teller wearing a blue or orange shirt? You get the idea. Details are important. Here is another great activity. Sit down and focus on each sense individually blocking out all other senses. Try to be aware of as much of the diversity sensed by that sense as possible. eg. just focus on your eye sight. How many types of blue do you see. This activity is particualrly useful if you are feeling extremely overwhelmed. mindfullness can also make everyday tasks way more interesting. Breathing – Activate your PNS (parasympathetic nervous system – rest/digest) by utilizing different forms of breathing. In general it is best to breath out of your nose at a rate of 5-6 seconds inhale followed by 5-6 seconds of exhalation (based on analzyse of opera singers and mediating monks); however, when you noticed tachardia (increased heart rate) and bradychardia (increased respiration rate) both signs of SNS (sympathetic nervous system activation – fight/freeze/flight) its best to switch to a different systle of breathing. Box breathing is performed by breathing 4 secs in, 4 secs hold, 4 secs out and 4 secs hold. repeat until heart rate and subjective stress levels lower. Some people have the oppisate problem and are so relaxed that they need to activate their SNS to kick their brains in gear. In this cased hyperventatlation can be helpful. Just be careful to perform in a control environment as hyperventalation can lead to feeling light headed and loss of conciousness. Sleep – Making decision on a night lacking sleep is like driving your car on empty or attempting to gauge distance with one eye closed. Its a recipe for disaster. Although many people are critizied for being a sleep princess and sleeping longer than average the running scientific concensus is that 7-9 hours is necessary for the average person. Less sleep than this can impact long term memory formation, reaction time, stress levels, SNS activation, cardiovascular health and overall fitness. You can carve out more time for sleeping by unapologetically eliminating all but the necessities from your life. Eg. Stop watching tv, movies or any other content that does not bring value to your life. You can also sleep better without spending any more time sleeping by abstaing from food for about 3 hrs before bedtime, dimming the lights before bed, meditating or stretching before bed, taking a hot then cold shower before bed. If you wake up hot in the night, how back into the shower briefly. the evaporative cooling loss from the water will help cool your body down and lull you back to sleep. writing down cyclic thoughts in a journal rather than ruminating all night. exercise. However, avoid high intensity exercise 1-2 hours before bed as exercise can promote wakefulness. eliminate lights from the room.
Growth
The growth mindset is one that can 100% be cultivated. I know this because I went from a depressed and anxious young man to one motivated and hungry for challenge. This mindset can be cultivated by: Having goals – without goals you are kind of like a horse without reigns, you might be doing a lot but are you really getting anywhere or are you just letting the flow of life drift you around. Evidence suggests that clearly writing down goals leads to XYZ, In addition
focusing on improvement no matter how small – 1 % improvement every day compounded is someth8ing like 37 times better over the course of a year.
emphasis on process not attachment to outcome
Curiosity
Personally I have found that I am my own loudest critic, yet at the end of the day I don’t feel worn down y criticism, rather, it is a reminder of my ability to improve
There are a lot of different strategies you can use to train your mind I will start with the simple ones and move to the more complex/costly strategie
1. Meditation
2. Exercise
This site is intended as a guide in navigating the complexities of modern living and a fun exploration into idiosyncratic concepts. In many cases health, fitness and lifestyle improvement information can be confusing or contradictory. Learning for fun is also stifled in our society. To have fun you must CONSUME. My goal is to cut through the noise and offer science based and field tested advice for what does and doesn’t work and to give those with curious minds a platform to explore. Take the innovation of science and use it to transform yourself like a phoenix or inspire yourself intellectually.
I came up for the idea for putting this site together when I realized that I was spending a sizeable portion of my free time trying to understand the best techniques to improve my health and fitness and reading random disparate info on the web. Instead of just doing the research and only benefiting myself, I decided that I would like to share my efforts so that anyone interested in – getting streamlined scientific information, dipping their toes in their own scientific exploration or just wanted to get more academic – can have a hub to start.
So if you are interested in joining me on a mission of knowledge discovery and want to jump into the trenches with me – all aboard!
tags : zero to hero, practical science, self improvment, wellbeing, knowledge
I and what you could call a flexivert. I can adapt to intense amounts of socialization, but yet I would also perfectly be content hanging out in the woods with myself for a long while. The longest solo excursion I ever did was 17 days, within that trip the longest stretch where I didn’t set ice on another person was 9 days. Throughout this kayaking trip in desolation sound British Columbia, I had an epiphany or series of epiphanies that have really stuck with me. Up until that point in my life I had always been a rugged individualist. Although in high school I floated between social groups, I never really felt the need to abide by that group’s rules all the time for to hang out with them. In addition I had extreme social anxiety and was quite introverted to begin with. In college I hit my stride and learned how to be extroverted I even started guiding kayak tours, and spent some time working as a more peppy version of a resident advisor. I learned how to be social but it’s still stressed me out. Well out on this trip I experienced the pangs of loneliness like I had never experienced before. I longed to have a simple stupid conversation with someone and it was overwhelming. But this loneliness fluctuated with periods of absolute ecstasy, wherein I recognized how mentally free I was to just think or not think and to explore at will. Hence this post is dedicated in tribute to that experience where I realize there were distinct trade-offs to operating in a group and operating alone. Additionally there’s no need to choose one path or the other but simply to realize which situations weren’t going it alone and which situations weren’t collaboration
Should I get married and have a family?
Many millennials are wondering whether it’s even worth the trouble to have children. Undoubtedly the cost her child has risen in Realtors astronomically. P ultimately the decision whether to have kids or not should be based off a number of factors and should depend on your ultimate goals in life. Here’s some stats to throw your way. 50% of marriages and then divorce. Legal fees or those divorces constituted x billion dollars per year. Many parents consider themselves to be happier than childless adults despite their higher stress levels horror health and diet, and the cost of raising children. Solo riders enjoy the freedom of being able to travel, move and lack of stress associated with only supporting themselves.
Kids aside is it worth is to associate with people at all? This question may not have an obvious answer if you are an introvert by nature. Extroverts make more money than introverts likely not because they are better at their jobs but simply because more opportunity comes their way as a result of their voracious social appetite. People who are religious are more likely to live longer, wealthier and happier lives and the size and quality of your friend network is a better predictor of your health than how much you exercise. According to these stats extroverts win! I personally choose to interact with a few meaningful people in my life. I think it is partly because I like to have meaningful conversations and conversations with strangers can be repetitive ( I know from my experience as a tour guide which trained me to be a social animal!)
If you feel like you’re spinning your wheels just trying to keep up yourself, you may benefit from an ego destroying experience. Why ego destroying experiences are good for you. What’s the benefit of being humbled, realizing you’re wrong or your mental framework of the world is not congruent with reality? You go destroying experiences allow you for a brief moment to see reality without the veil you have placed on it. This can be beneficial for putting your life into a greater context of the universe. Despite waking up everyday with a drive to improve my life, I always like to take time to reflect on just what a small hog I am in a much larger machine. If it helps you relax just remember that you are renting Adams for the duration of your life. Or consider that human beings are one of trillions of different life forms living on a single planet in a universe where there are probably zillions of planets. So don’t get too caught up in pursuing your own life to realize the bigger picture
I like to get out of my own life and into reality quotes through a variety of means. Number one is going into nature and observing how many things are going on that are almost completely irrelevant to my day-to-day existence an exist aside from this existence. This may not be nature for you but it undoubtedly it undoubtedly should involve something beautiful and mysterious.
Another you go to spring activity is learning about science. When you study science you may learn that you’re not as in control as you thought you were that there are a variety of factors that influence why you behave in certain ways and how this impacts the trajectory of your life. For a lengthy ego destroying book read behave by Robert sapolsky. He is one of the best scientific disseminators I have ever witnessed
Listening/ empathy
Next time you are in a conversation with someone try your best to intently listen on exactly what the person is saying. Try not to exert your thoughts beliefs or desires into the conversation. Instead listen to the person and see what you can learn about them or their situation. You might end up learning something useful. We’re at the very least the old get to take a vacation from thinking about your own life which can be very soothing.
Meditation
Meditation is one of the more profound tools you can use to pay attention to your ego. It can help you to take a small amount of control back into you your life after a meditation session. I usually feel more relaxed, more aware of reality and willing to fix it. And also more at ease with the sometimes chaotic world around me you can really take things and stride when you just chill the f*** out.
Psychedelics can be one of the most profound eagle altering experiences you will encounter. Be cautious with their use and it’s really best to do them under the supervision of a trained guide or practitioner. If you don’t have the resources for this type of experience. Do your due diligence check your sources, remember set and setting and if you really want to take a deeper dive read Michael Collins book how to change your mind.
Take care of another living thing.
Whether it’d be a child, a dying parent, a friend in need, a pet, or a garden. The ACT of taking care of another living thing has profound changes for your psyche. It trains you not just to think of yourself but also of the larger life on Earth.
Read some fiction. Study show that people who read fiction are more likely to be empathetic than people who don’t read fiction. This is because the act of reading a novel requires you to one be creative and two step into anothers life. I’ll be honest I don’t read a lot of fiction, but I will say that it’s far easier to scroll through Netflix than it is to read a novel but reading a novel is at the end of the day more thought-provoking
Travel. I realize that traveling is a luxury that most people cannot afford. But if you have the means to, it is well worth the experience. Traveling gets you out of your comfort zone and teaches you a lot about how you react to changes in your environment, stress, and openness to you new experiences. If you’re balling on a budget, you can look up tourists activities to do in your home or adjacent towns. More than likely half of the activities you’ve never heard of because you always assumed your home was boring.
One is for sure. Habits can make or break your success in life. As much as we all would not like to admit it much of our time is spent in automatic behavior mode. This is otherwise known as reflexive behavior. Very few aspects of our lives are actually intentional. For the most part we are operating on autopilot and simply responding to our environment. That’s why it is imperative to modify our environments to suit our goals. Into incorporate beneficial habits into our day-to-day lives so that even during our reflexive habits, we are moving toward where we want to go.
These are the habits I have attempted to incorporate into my day-to-day as much as possible.
Number one gratitude gratitude is an interesting one as many look on the world in a somewhat negative manner. I myself have historically had a fairly negative view on the world which was its derivative of my rational mindset. I like it myself to a pessimistic scientist. Indeed it is pretty easy to take a pessimistic worldview when you just look at the numbers in the science. That being said the studies on gratitude don’t lie and so despite keeping a level head when it comes to the generally f***** up nature of our society plight of the environment etc. I try to start everyday with a few minutes writing down things I’m grateful for. If I can I also try to express gratitude throughout the day especially verbalized to another person.
Writing down your good ideas. Most ideas are repetitive. They have either been thought before by someone else or they’re the same idea you had yesterday. When you do have an idea you think is original make sure to write it down. Alternatively you can set aside some time every day to be creative and write ideas down. I personally don’t find this strategy to be very useful as many ideas come at random times so I always keep my phone or a pad close at hand where I can jot down my evil genius plans.
Walking walking is one of the best forms of exercise you can possibly do. Not only can it be a form cardiovascular exercise. It helps develop balance and can promote good spinal alignment. There is evidence that hunter gatherer groups walk between 5:00 and 10 miles everyday therefore it is highly likely that most human ancestors walked a good bit throughout the day. Unless I am incredibly active and some other capacity. I try to set aside some time for a walk. Anytime that works for you is great. You can pick the morning before a breakfast if you’re having trouble sleeping or losing weight. Or if you have a hard time digesting your food in the evenings you can go for a light walk post dinner. Many famous intellectuals were known to be walkers. You can also do many things while walking if you feel like the time is unproductive. You can practice some form of moving meditation such as paying attention to surroundings, you can bird watch and study plant ecology, you can listen to an audiobook, or podcast, or you can even call a friend. For an added challenge you can integrate other forms of exercise into your walk. For example anytime you encounter an object in your environment that you could potentially do some form of exercise off of you can get creative and do that. Example when you encounter a pull-up bar like tree do some pull-ups off of it. When you encounter a chain write it like a slackline, you see a park bench do some one-legged squats off of it or dips or practice your parkour. If you see a large Rock on the trail see if you can lift it overhead or throw it like a discus if it’s a smaller rock
Getting into nature
This can obviously be combined into your walk. Studies show that being in green or blue space if you’re on the water is incredibly beneficial to your health. One of my favorite studies is where hospital patients were assigned two separate rooms one of which was facing a courtyard which had green shrubs in the window. The other was looking into a concrete jungle. The patients looking into the greenery had a much faster recovery time. I’m addition getting out into nature is proven to strengthen your immune system, improve mental health, lower stress levels, and improve subjective happiness. I also often like to get out into nature simply to you get away from it all and reflect a little bit on what I’ve been up to and if I’m on the right path. It’s often easier to do this without all of the modern day cycle distractions that lead to mental overload.
Setting goals
Setting goals is a useful thing to do. It’s important not to overstretch your goals and to just focus on things you know you can bite into you for that particular day. Also recognize that it is okay if you deviate from the plan. Life is random and often I will find myself doing something completely irrelevant to the goals I had stated at the start of the day, yet if they still integrate into you my overarching long-term goals, I will jump on the opportunity and strike while the irons hot. It really pays to be flexible. I like to have a tiered system of goals whereby the goals are categorized temporally but also by subject matter. For example I have a tab of my OneNote organization software for my daily weekly monthly and yearly goals. I also have an individual tab for health, finances, career, family, friends, etc. Be careful when using goals, don’t beat yourself up too hard if you set your goal is too high. Cool thing about goals is they can always be changed but it’s important to have a motivating factor. I tried living for a month without goals once and it turned into a random and anxiety ridden experience which I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. For help setting clear goals I recommend checking out the self-awareness program by Jordan Peterson. Another important thing to note is that sometimes it can be hard to determine whether a goal is a valuable pursuit or not. If it’s a bigger more important goal or a goal that requires more time I would always fall back on your values. If you don’t have a set of values or principles. Check out Ray dalio’s book principles for help and establishing these. It’s pretty simple is this goal in line with my values as much as possible? If yes then pursue it. What if you have multiple goals that are bouncing around in your head, is there a way to organize these goals in a structured manner for prioritization? I like to use the Eisenhower matrix and the triage or 80/20 principle. The Eisenhower matrix is more useful for things that you have to do. it’s a pretty simple matrix a 2×2 square on one axis you have important and not important and on the other axis you have urgent and non-urgent. Thus there are four categories for items to be placed into the important and urgent tasks should be dealt with right away the important but non-urgent tasks should be scheduled, the non-important and urgent tasks should be delegated and the non-important and non-urgent tasks should be eliminated.
The triage approach is pretty simple. Do you the most important thing first or the minimum effective dose. Otherwise known as get her done. Often the triage approach involves lateral thinking. Maybe you’ve been looking at a problem all wrong and there’s an easier and faster solution. The tree eyes approach is to do this and use your limited resources to solve as many problems as quickly as possible.
Write down things you could improve on tomorrow
Self criticism is a very important part of everyday. It keeps you humble and leaves you something to strive for tomorrow the thing to know or keep in mind is where you stand naturally in terms of self-critical mindset. If you tend to be we anxious or neurotic type. You may not need to employ this strategy everyday. As you may have more of a natural propensity for self-criticism. If on the other hand you are bloated with hubris and generally a confident person was maybe a good strategy for you. If you can’t think of anything that could be improved upon you’re probably not thinking hard enough. Start from your room and extend gradually out to other areas of your life and if everything in your own life is perfect try to help someone else’s. You will quickly realize there’s no shortage of work that needs to be done in the world
Generalism 