“Don’t rely on others to supply what you need to know. Figure out what you want out of life and teach yourself how to get it.”

Unprepared.

That’s the emotion I’d say is governing my thoughts right now.

See – I’m pretty close to graduating at this point and find most of the stuff I’ve picked up over the years in my school to be completely and utterly useless. The last three months I’ve written 20k+ words on my thesis to meet “length” quota’s, worked 350h+ for free for my final internship and yesterday I took a two hour train drive for a required class about how to make a table in a word document.

Literally.

And really? It frustrates me.

I’m being told how to run my life by people who don’t have any fucking clue what they’re talking about (in my eyes). It makes me resent people who claim my time for their own agenda or evaluate me based on their “expertise” without a showing track record, claiming that ‘experience’ or ‘age’ made them wise.

Cool fact: It’s possible to sit around for a long-ass time and don’t learn any useful life knowledge. Heck, it’s even common.

So, I believe it’s good policy to ignore everyone who doesn’t have the results you’re looking for. People have incredibly low standards of the advice they take these days. I even encourage you to be wary of mine;

Here are my “stats” atm:

• Social: Close friends = 2, average meet-ups/week = 0.75
• Dating: Girls slept with = 9, last time sex: beginning august 2016
• Wealth: Money in bank = €650 + 300 in savings, assets/investments: none, live with my mom (financially dependent)
• Health: 78.5kg, 8% body-fat, 183cm, average workouts/week = 2.6, average energy = 5.9

I’m just saying that you should take into account the references people have, before listening to them. Wannabe’s are simply not worth the time.

I wish more people actually reflected on their achievements before giving advice on certain topics.

Or at least stating that they might not be an expert on the things they’re saying.

“If the person has what you want, listen to them. If they don’t have what you want, they should be ignored.”

— Simon Somlai (@BasicGrowth) May 10, 2016

Getting off-track here, back to the school issue..

Anyway, It’s nothing new to say schooling is dated and sucks. But it’s one thing to see the problem and bitch about how things aren’t going your way (a fools choice), it’s another to take responsibility for it and proactively steer your life in a better direction (great choice).

Always focus on solutions, never allow yourself to dwell on problems

Like Chris from good looking loser said in one of his posts on negativity;

when you’re negative, nothing changes and nobody cares.

So.

Let’s make this post really practical – shall we?

I’ve been thinking about what I’d do differently if I could start college all over again. And hence I’ve searched the most essential life skills to learn and how I would got about learning those given my current knowledge.

In this article I’m going to talk about the most essential life skills I believe anyone should master. The ones with the lowest opportunity cost and highest return on investment. This way you won’t spend a lifetime chasing useless knowledge that doesn’t impact your life quality (which many do)

Like Seneca said;

Even if you had a large part of your life remaining before you, you would have to organize it very economically to have enough for all the things that are necessary; as things are, isn’t it the height of folly to learn inessential things when time’s so desperately short?

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Why Learn These Essential Life Skills?

I believe times are going to get tougher in the future.

With the rapid-growing evolution of tech, increasing global population and shrinking fossil fuels, the means to life (water, money, food, energy, security, … ) will get scarcer and many jobs will be automated.

Don’t be fooled by people stating that tech will provide many more jobs. It will replace a lot more and the new job openings will mainly be for highly-skilled people.

The only way to (partially) defend yourself from that, is learning things that exponentially increase your life quality.

The main elephant in the room is naturally economic security. In this area you’ll outshine your competitors if you’re able to do work that’s hard to replicate (whether by deep expertise or a combination of unique skills)

Let me restate that: Being able to do something that no-one else can do will make you indispensable/irreplaceable in the future economy. Cal Newport is his most recent book “Deep Work” states that;

The people that will thrive in the future economy will be

1. Highly tech-skilled workers (people who are good at working with machines)
2. Superstars (the top percentile of every industry. It’s a ‘winner-take-all’ market out there. Especially considering digital skills where you directly compete with the whole world)
3. Owners (people with enough capital available to invest, preferably in high-level tech startups which commonly have unprecedented ROI)

 

Other trends I’ve picked up is that the middle, working class (regular jobs) is slowly loosing its footing. Companies just don’t want the hassle anymore of having employees and would rather outsource everything to freelancers on a periodical basis instead of giving full salaries. James Altucher, writer of “Choose Yourself” states in one of his podcasts with Tim Ferriss that;

the middle class is slowly being fired or demoted from their jobs – and it’s a horrible thing.

 

This idea that the corporation is going to take us from cradle to grave from the time we leave high school or college to the time we retire and “the corporation will take care of us” [is wrong]

 

[Talking about companies who outsource their work] If you look at the rise and their revenues and compare that to the rise and revenues of other companies in the stock market, there’s no comparison. These companies are going up over the past five years, 300-400% in revenues because it’s not just people outsourcing secretaries.

 

It’s companies like the major accounting firms, law firms, businesses who are outsourcing vice president level functions to agencies because they don’t want to deal anymore with having employees because it’s too much risk if the economy goes down or too much risk with changing regulations.

 

First people wanted that lifestyle [referring to the four hour work week-lifestyle], now people have to learn that lifestyle.

 

I don’t believe it’s pessimism but realism to better prepare for the future and am convinced of its urgency (happy note: the competition isn’t great for high-level places though. Your competition is watching 9gag, checking facebook or catching a magikarp right now).

It’s just overall something I’ve been thinking about, especially the current demographic growth has peeked my interest in preparing better for the future as “temperature rises”. In another podcast with Joe Rogan, Tim Ferriss stated that;

“The more I look at the reality of how people behave in situations where there are scarce resources, especially water, I don’t think it’s that crazy of an idea to have 6 months worth of canned food. I think it’s cheap ensure”

 

Further he states that;

People behave as well as their circumstances allow them to.”

 

If I understand human psychology well enough (which I believe I do), I agree with that fact. Basically; when pressure rises and resources become scarce, people freak out and switch to “survival”-mode. Lord-of-the-flies-type shit.

There are very brilliant, very wealthy people who take this very far (think underground EMP-proof bunkers) to have a contingency for this Malthusian-esque type of situation. The demographic pyramid simply won’t hold.

Maybe some of this is media-fueled lunacy backed by a confirmation bias or there’s some realistic, proven solution I’m missing (notice the emphasis before commenting) – I don’t know for sure.

And I’ll never be.

Despite all that – the following advice is something I believe you should take regardless what the future holds. It’s IMO the best course of action for any 20-something.

I hope you’re somewhat convinced by this point, since I’ll be diving in some pointers on learning these skills.

How To Learn These Essential Life Skills?

Before I start – and probably the most boring part of this whole post is stressing the importance of practice & repetition. And then I don’t mean putting effort in once or twice a week, but if you’re serious about improving anything and want to see results from it you’ll have to dedicate a focused amount of time to it over a period of time. Your neurons need time to build.

Skills sharpen slowly and dull quickly

Making new neural connections is like carving your way through an overgrown jungle – you need to regularly clean it up/traverse it (aka recalling) or the path will fade out again and become overgrown.

Skills and other complex activities break down when not actively practiced (my writing could probably be better than it is now – then again, my programming is pretty on-point)

Forming neural pathways (memorizing stuff) takes time to build. Synapses grow stronger by frequent usage and spreading in time. (Same reason why “cramming” before tests is pointless in the long-run)

 

Enough talk – let’s get into what you should learn to really excel at life;

Note: Leave suggestions for other skills/learning methods to accelerate the ones mentioned in the comments below and I’ll add them to this post!

What Essential Life Skills To Learn?

1) Emotional Intelligence

I cheated (and will be doing more of that!) – these are four skills all combined. You’ve probably heard about the fad that is “emotional intelligence” and quotes like “EQ is a more important predictor for career success than IQ” and that kind of fairy unicorn stuff, right?

Well, it’s true – It has huge implications for you overall life quality and can have more impact on your life than any other skills;

What should you learn?

EQ consists out of;

• Self knowledge (knowing your own strengths, weaknesses & personality to shift towards optimal conditions. Many people build their career on weakness which makes them resent their life later down the line. Build your life on a rock-solid foundation of who you really are.)
• Self regulation (controlling emotions/instincts for better long-term solutions – this has wide applications like food choices, money management, directing sexual energy, self-motivation, anger, forcing yourself through unpleasant circumstances, …)
• Social awareness (It’s basically the ability to see the world through the eyes of others, how does the other person feel & what does he say = empathy)
• Social regulation (these come down to your overall social skills, how good are you at making other people feel good, understood, at ease and express yourself so they understand you. These include your written and verbal communication skills.)
• Laws of reciprocity (Probably didn’t expect this one eh? You need to understand the dynamics between cooperation in humans and the psychology behind it. Great feats of societal stresses occur when reciprocity is expected yet not provided.)

How should you learn it?

• Self knowledge
  1. Find your own strenghts through self-analysis, reading Managing Oneself, Strenghtsfinder 2.0, doing personality tests like the MBTI and Big Five Test. Here’s an overview of everything I know about myself, to give you an idea for its uses and how you can learn more about yourself.
• Self management
  1. Build up constructive habits in routines (dressing well, eating healthy, reading daily, working out regularly, tracking income & expenses, morning & evening routines, …). Many are laid out in my free ebook “The Life Guide“.
  2. Learn how to effectively control your emotions. This could be a post by itself but what I do is make an IF > THEN plan to deal with the most common negative/blocking emotions I feel. Here is an example of how I routinely fix negativity. These should be as automated as possible.
  3. Find a system that allows you to plan your life, correct yourself when you’re off track through reflecting and re-set new objectives when achieved. Starting the 5 minute journal is HIGHLY recommended for this.
  4. Reading: Do The Work by Stephen Pressfield, The One Thing by Gary Keller and The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
• Social awareness
  1. Social awareness = Social experience (it comes with time). Do this by having a regular (2-3/week) social hobby/meetup with friends, chatting to strangers online, making more small talk everywhere. Analyze the words and body language of that person and try to think about how they feel and what they mean. I’ve written another (older) post on social skills. 
• Social regulation
  1. Social regulation = Social experience (it also comes with time). Same way you practice social awareness but this time you try to steer the behavior/feelings of the other person where you want them to go and influence them.
• Laws Of Reciprocity
  1. Basically this means that nothing is truly free and nothing is really unconditional. There’s an unwritten societal code you need to be aware of when it comes to giving/taking favors and it would be wise to take into account the following rules. I’m probably missing a few though;

Additional reading: Emotional Intelligence 2.0, How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie, Social Skills Guidebook by Chris MacLeod and Crucial Conversations (for diffusing/addressing difficult subjects)

2) Career Skills

Yeah – that’s also a collection of skills, but here’s what I mean by that; The skills required to financially support yourself for a lifetime. For pretty much everyone these are the most important. If you don’t make enough money, your life will suck, period.

Money allows you to eliminate all many negative aspects from your life to focus on things you really care about (rise to the top of maslows’ hierarchy of needs), increase your happiness (up to 6000 dollar log income) and allow for a wide array of diverse interests. It’s critical to acquire this and probably the most important from this blogpost to take away. People who are financially set have all the time left to pursue their other interests and spent their life on activities they actually find meaningful.

DO NOT be fooled into the “follow-your-passion/do-what-you-love” mainstream self-development crap. Follow this career advice instead.

Fuck passion and fuck fun.

What should you learn?

• Build up expertise in 1 industry & learn economically valuable skills (to generate an income. Build up a skill that’s high in demand, difficult to learn and based around your strengths. No quick-fix short-term solutions. Learn a skill that you can grow into a business later. )
• Selling (It’s not because you have the knowledge required to help people/make a product that you’ll actually succeed in your business – it doesn’t mean shit if you don’t know how to relate that to others and convince others of its value. Same thing goes for dating, soliciting, making friends. Selling yourself is always a key component of a GREAT life – whether you like it or not)
• Financial intelligence (Know how to manage your own money, keep track of expenses and be able to invest it into appreciating assets when you finally start to make some. Know where to best allocate expenses and to automatically save regularly)
• Entrepreneurship/law (Know your own bookkeeping, how taxation works, insurance, social contributions/welfare system, … – life consists out of a lot of boring-ass administration. You don’t have to know everything, but when it comes to money, this will enable you to keep more of it.)

How should you learn it?

• Industry expertise & skill
  • Choose 1 industry for the rest of your life. The longer you wait/doubt/fidget to choose this, the longer it’ll take to build deep domain expertise which is prerequisite for a good career. It takes increasingly more time for breakthroughs to happen in each respective field as the “base knowledge” required to just get by increases rapidly.
  • Choose 1 skill that’s difficult to learn, high in demand and you have a natural advantage in it (by knowing your strengths). JUST FUCKING PICK SOMETHING AND STICK WITH IT. I recommend just skimming the job boards on LinkedIn, job advertisements in your local paper, fiverr gigs which sell really well and so-forth. Then just pick one and reverse-engineer it.
  • Reading: “So good they can’t ignore you” by Cal Newport and The Recession Proof Graduate by Charlie Hoehn
• Selling
  • Watch the video of Chet Holmes on education-based marketing (he’s one of the best salesman ever)
  • Take up a part-time job where you sell a product/service you like or sell your own (invaluable life experience/part-time job!)
  • Reading: The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes (no-brainer)
• Financial intelligence
  • Managing: Manage your money on a weekly basis by keeping a log/excel file of income and expenses, allocate most of it towards investments that bring you a return over time. Here’s an excel file I use – Finance Template (if it’s unclear, I might make a video for using it). For the love of God, please don’t waste your money on useless crap when you finally are making some decent $$$.
  • Investing: I’m not an expert in investing (will be someday) but real estate rental (houses, parking lots, hotel rooms, hostels, campings), object rental (power-equipment, industrial equipment/small trucks, musical instruments, furniture), automated businesses (carwash, laundromats, tanning salons, atm’s, vending machines), content systems (ecourses, books, products, …), advertisement (billboards), portfolio (stocks, bonds, high-yield ETF’s) seem like good potential investments for almost every budget. But don’t be a fool thinking you can outsmart people who trade stocks for a living – educate yourself first before gambling away your money on the market. And then still..
  • Quick math: Be able to quickly calculate percentages, make additions, subtractions, divisions and multiplications. I recommend to even review basic arithmetic like a multiplication table and do some simple mathematical exercises regularly.
  • Reading: The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (this is quite possibe a very general and inaccurate recommendation since I haven’t even read it.)
• Law
  • This is region/country specific most of the time and therefore I can’t give clear-cut advise on this. I suggest you just buy a standard “starting guide” book for self-employed people for you local law institution and start from there. Learn how to take advantage from taxes, the different social systems, difference between llc/c-corp and so forth. Maybe even take a course with an accountant to get to know the different ins- n outs. I did that – Definitely worth your time.

Additional reading: The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (top 3 level)

3) Psychology

This is huge. By understanding the real nature of humans and more deeply understand why you/others make certain (irrational) choices you’re always one step ahead. To see the cage of our nature is to partially escape it. Here’s the crucial elements you should master;

What should you learn?

• Body language (making people feel at ease, making yourself feel better, know when girls are attracted, know when people feel upset, know how to notice tension,…)
• Conditioning, biases & learning (know how fallible your own thinking is and re-direct this in better ways, understand how humans absorb knowledge and the optimal conditions/environment for retention)
• Thinking, memory & retention (know how to improve your memory and long-term retention rate of the things you learn – Being able to learn fast (your speed) is what will separate good from GREAT people in the future.)
• Motivation & emotion (learn why humans feel certain emotions and what their uses are, how to cope with depression, anger, frustration and sadness that block you from getting what you want in life if you let them linger. Be able to bounce back (quickly) from negative emotions/situations like death from a loved one, heavy physical trauma.)
• Personality (Know the difference between temperament (inborn characteristics) and things that came from your environment. Know what factors molded who you are (and others) to make more accurate choices for the future. (ex: who to trust & under which circumstances, what career-path best suits you, what people are best suited for which tasks, …)
• Social/group psychology (know how people are essentially social animals looking to belong to a certain group. How they act in groups and how to lead/educate a group)

 

How should you learn it?

• Get a school textbook on standard psychology (the big 1000+ pages ones). Read it front to back, starting with the chapters most closely resembling the above points. Really. It’s well worth the time and will probably change your life forever.
• Check out the most commonly used human fallacies on wikipedia. It’s a GREAT resource.
• Make an IF>THEN plan for regular annoying emotions that block you from getting what you want.
• Make an audio-tape for brainwashing yourself for greatness and play this every morning and every evening.
• Get more expansive books/PDF’s on the different subsets of psychology like body language, learning faster (see next), retaining information, personality profiling and sociology/influencing.

4) Optimal Learning

Now this is a bit more interesting! Optimal learning will allow you to soak up new strategies to increase your life quality at maximum efficiency. And although the brain is incredibly inefficient at remembering let alone learning a new pattern you should definitely maximize your learning ability. This is the only skill of EVERYTHING on this list that I’d recommend to maximize instead of optimizing. Here’s the core everyone should master;

What should you learn?

• How to learn new skills optimally
• How to optimally read a book/information, summarize it & recollect the essential knowledge in it when you need it.
• How to focus, prioritize and eliminate distractions (we live in an attention economy where people are constantly bombarded with ads, things that grab you attention/entertain you without adding substantial life value. People who can capitalize on deeply focused time are the (only?) ones who’ll excel in the coming decades.) How many links have you clicked on in this article so far?

How should you learn it?

• Skill learning
  • I might write a deeper post about this in the near future, but for now I’ll just link to several good resources on skill acquisition like Tim Ferriss’s method (9:40) & Josh Kaufman (9:30). Here’s a summary of how I would approach it;

• Book/information reading (you need a sort of framework for absorbing and filtering key information and repeating the most essential on a regular basis. I’ve written a post in this in the past and Ludvig from SGM also made a great entry on this recently.
  • SMART-Learning
  • Ludvigs Framework for learning
  • Here’s another small overview of how I select, summarize and aim to retain information anno 2016. Here’s a example of a recent book summary to get a clearer picture.

• Focusing, prioritizing and eliminating distractions. Read Deep Work by Cal Newport and The One Thing by Gary Keller.

Here’s a small bonus;

5) Specific Multipliers

Now that we’ve had the biggest areas you should be tackling that will be life-critical. Here are the next ones you should be tackling on the side as quickly as possible and should NOT be underestimated in importance.

• Public speaking –> Allows you to quickly rise through the ranks as a leader when you’re able to explain your vision in accurate detail without flinching in front of a big crowd. I believe the ability to make your ideas clearly heard can mean the difference between a management position and a regular job. Use toastmasters or make YouTube video’s to practice them. No-one was born a miracle.
• Dating –> Women are NOT going to come knocking on your door. Life never gives you what you want, it just sometimes gives you what you work incredibly hard for. If you want a high quality girl or just plain sex, it’s up to you to get out there and get whatever the fuck you want. Do x number of approaches a week/evening, ask them out on dates and Read Models by Mark Manson. Become a man worthy of dating through self-development. Don’t settle for committed relationships before your 30’s, because it’s easier to get constant sex. And never get married, there’s 0 benefits in that for a man.
• Health, style & grooming –> Carve out some time in your weeks for at least 3 hours of strength training (this is a negligible amount for the health ROI), dressing well each morning with simple clothing (see my life guide for style advice) and taking care of regular hygiene. This is inexcusable.

Essence

The difference between the person you are right now and the people you admire is simply the books they’ve read. Don’t worry about all the book recommendations and the “time-pressure” I’ve outlined in this article. By the time you’re 30, you’ll have read almost every book on the planet if you’re consistent in following this path (which I believe you will).

You’ll probably be working at full capacity anyway – otherwise you wouldn’t have read this far.

There’s nothing grand or special about rising through the societal ranks, all it takes is;

1. A more accurate image of reality
2. A clarity of what needs to be done.

This post has given both.

All that’s left is action.

Realize it’s a marathon and not a sprint and that these skills will take a lifetime to master. Just do the best with what is currently available and try to strike a (difficult) balance between self-improvement and self-acceptance. I believe a regular appreciation ritual provides a nice equilibrium between the two.

What other essential life skills am I missing here?

 

Note: Here’s what Josh Kaufman considers the most important skills to know: https://joshkaufman.net/what-must-an-educated-person-know/

NoteNote: Take in mind that I’m a 22 year-old college student and my views could be highly inaccurate. Just over the years I’ve grown to trust only my own judgment by (accurately?) analyzing the world around me and making decisions based on that information. I realize some views expressed here are radical at times and I often doubt their accuracy (which is a good thing).

They are – however – still standing at the moment. I am always open to contrary evidence and better approaches to life and handle feedback really well. Despite that – I might not find it the best use of my time and energy to debate with/convince you of the accuracy of this information on this blog. I do respect your opinion and believe everyone has a right to have one and voice it.

NoteNoteNote: I’m also a fallible human being, retarded in more ways than you might think and highly-likely to be wrong on many of the things I say. I haven’t mastered all of these essential life skills yet and simply put out the best advice I can give based on current advice. Don’t ascribe superhuman abilities to random people based on what you’ve read about them on the internet.

——————————————————–

I love my blogging monologue to vent ideas without opposition. Leave your (most-likely) very witty and intelligent brain-farts in the section below and I’ll be sure to respond whenever I carve out time out of my anally regimented schedule!

3 things;

• Song recommendation: Been high writing on this
• Question: Does anyone know any community-submitted forum where accomplished people from all walks in life (health, wealth and love) give advice on which strategy one should follow to achieve similar results? One without self-advertising their spammy shitproducts like quora tends to do?
• Parting thoughts: Problems in life come one-by-one, just like only one grain of sand passes through the hourglass at a time.

Toudelou,

Simon

You are what you eat.

If you feel like shit – that’s because you eat like shit.

Lately (last 3-4 months) I’ve been running several experiments to find a diet on which I can perform optimally. I’m a big believer that health is one of the key ingredients for a better life;

1. If your nutrition is in order, you’ll have more energy.
2. If you have more energy, your brain functions better.
3. If your brain functions better, you make better choices.
4. Your life quality is the product of your choices.

Better input, better output.

Simple, right?

There’s a lot of conflicting opinions on this topic, but I’ve finally settled on a diet that seems to work great. In this article I’ll go in-depth on the ketogenic diet.

I’m convinced that a diet, high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbohydrates is optimal for (almost) anyone.

If the whole world would switch to this diet, we’d see a dramatic decline in health expenses globally (+-500B/year)

I’ll also be using a Color code in this article, like so:

• Difficult words that make me feel smart

That will be all.

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What Is A Ketogenic Diet?

A ketogenic diet is a diet that is high in fat, moderate in protein and low (or no) carbs.

It’s based on the premise that humans were never designed to eat so much damn carbs.

In the paleolithic era, carbohydrates were only available seasonally.

To supply food for a constantly growing population, we’ve turned to (cheaper) mass production of corn, wheat, soy and other modified crops (crap(s)). This hasn’t only degraded the quality of grains but also the amount it represents in our diet.

Literally turning the food pyramid upside-down since agriculture became the established norm.

Grains are cheaper to produce and maintain, compared to decent protein sources like cattle or chicken farms. Additionally, genetic modification, chemical repellents and synthetic fertilizers has made the plants low-maintenance and virtually pest-free.

…

Because there’s nothing in the plants that even the insects want – it’s devoid of nutrients

“a “food” that no other animal will touch”

People that are following the “traditional food pyramid” don’t see results. They need to do hours upon hours of cardio to get some weight off.

They also aren’t allowed to go below a 20% caloric deficit, otherwise this would act as a stressor on their body, making them hold on to their fat reserves extra-tightly.

“Grains, a food group that we didn’t eat for 97% of our human existence, are now at the base of the USDA food pyramid with 6-11 servings a day recommended.” – PaleoLeap

How Does The Ketogenic Diet Work?

Like this;

Your body can mainly use carbohydrates (pasta, rice, sugars, … ) AND/OR fats (butter, fatty meats, oils, …) for energy.

If carbs are available, your body will use those first. If carbs are not available, your body will to start to break down the ingested and stored fats to provide energy.

This is called beta-oxidization.

It’s basically another way to fuel our cells with the necessary ATP (adenosine triphosphate a.k.a. energy). Here’s a fancy multi-colored flowchart that explains how it works;

When these fatty-acids get burned off in your liver, you will start to produce ketones (most notably; beta-hydroxybutyrate). Your body and brain can use these for fuel.

Jet-fuel.

When your level of ketones is high enough, your brain will start using these for energy. It’s actually a preferred energy source for your brain AND we function better on it.

Which makes perfect sense as it is our more “natural” diet.

Our ancestors didn’t always have access to food, and they certainly didn’t always have access to glucose. Their body was feasting on the fat from the last woolly mammoth or saber-toothed tiger. – Craig, Ruled.me

Why Is It Better?

Here’s some bullets to consider if you’re looking into making the leap;

• By switching over to a ketogenic (high fat & low carb) diet, you improve your bodies ability to use fat for fuel dramatically. Which means more (and more efficient!) fat-burning
• You eat less calories overall because fat and protein (which is the bulk of your diet) makes you feel satiated for extended periods of time
• Your triglycerides drop to the floor and HDL (“good” cholesterol) increases. This reduces heart-disease risk and blood pressure dramatically
• Your blood sugar & insulin levels drop to the floor, reducing risk for type-2 diabetes and risk of heart disease
• Your fat-transport is up-regulated and mitochondrial function increases. This means you’ll burn more calories in your resting state.
• Your LDL pattern improves; Your LDL particles change from small (bad) LDL to large LDL – which is harmless.
• Ketones (compared to glucose) leave fewer “junk” (free radicals) in the mitochondria. This means better neural repair and recovery
• No blood sugar spikes meaning you’ll have more constant energy instead of “crashes” after meals and “sugar highs”

Also: my stool has become very firm.

VERY firm.

(but that could also be contributed to the massive amount of veggies & wheatgrass I’m devouring at the moment)

Conclusion?

The ketogenic diet is very efficient for fat-loss & increased cognitive function.

So…

What Can You Eat?

So if I can’t eat carbs like pasta, sugars, grains, breads, oatmeal and all that stuff. What’s left?

Get most of your calories from fat & moderate protein. Things like

• Bacon, fatty steak, ground beef/pork, eggs, bacon, salmon, turkey, chicken avocado, olive oil, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, bacon, mct oil,  …
• Low glycemic vegetables are infinite 

And remember;

• AVOID CARBS (or at least not in the first two weeks). Try to stay under 20-30g/day of net carbs (= total carbs – fiber))

Be sure to keep your protein requirements around the recommended amount by using the keto-calculator. IF you eat too much protein your body will convert the excess back to glucose, kicking you out of ketosis and making you tired once again.

As a rule of thumb: stay around 1.3/1.5 g of protein/kg bodyweight (or 1g/pound of bodyweight)

Try to limit carbohydrates as best as possible (especially in the beginning). After you’ve made the switch and your body gets used to burning fat as fuel, you can gradually re-introduce these.

The Catch?

keto/low-carb flu

The initial “switching period” will be the worst – meaning your body (enzymes) will need to adapt to this completely new type of diet. Your body will need to switch gears to run on fat instead of carbs. This will need a “switching period” in which you’ll feel tired and lethargic.

We call this “the keto-flu”

It’s analogous to a factory that has been producing laptops whole their life and one day they decide to switch over to the booming yogurt business.

Confusion and chaos in the workplace

.. making you feel like crap.

This faze might last from 1 day to a week, depending on the glucose/glycogen levels remaining in your body. Here are some tips to speed it up;

• Eat only animal protein, such as meat and eggs.
• Use medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil.
• Increase the fat in your diet so you eat more than 65 percent of your calories from fat.
• Use coconut oil as a supplement.
• Combine a very low-carbohydrate diet (and 24h+ fasting) with long periods of high intensity training. For example: Sprints & weightlifting

Electrolytes

During this period your body will also start shedding a lot of water, containing vital electrolytes (since carbs retain a lot of water). These will need replenishing (DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THIS!) or else you might become foggy/light-headed and fatigued. Electrolytes are vital for cellular function – if your cells don’t function decently, you’re pretty much a miserable wreck.

Aim daily for;

• 5000 mg of sodium (normal or sea salt) (= +-1 teaspoon)
• 1000 mg of potassium, in the form of potassium chloride or potassium sulfate (lo salt in most groceries)
• 300 mg of magnesium (Effervescent tablets – they are really cheap)

I recommend making “ketorade” which will refuel your electrolytes on a daily basis. Fill a 1.5l bottle of water with 2/3tsp of sea salt, 1/2 tsp of lo-salt & 1 tablet of +-200mg magnesium and drink that throughout the day. It tastes like salty lemonade.

How To Start?

My recommendation would be to start with a 1-day fast and on the second day you go for a hour long run (or as long as you can manage) to deplete all your remaining glycogen stores. Drink a full bottle of “ketorade” after/during the training. This should speed up ketosis significantly.

I realize this is an extreme diet. If you slip back into bad habits I’d recommend switching over to a Paleolithic diet first, in gradual steps.

Here’s an overview of a basic ketogenic diet I’ve followed in the past when trying to lose some weight. It’s a big-ass salad for lunch, a protein shake as snack and some steamed veggies & eggs in the evening. Extremely simple & tasty.

Essence

I was very skeptical in the beginning and even a bit frightened, meaning I’d have to eat a ridiculous quantity of eggs and fat (12-15 whole eggs/day & 65%+ calories from fat). Pretty much the direct opposite of everything I’ve ever learned in school (and I’m doing a personal-trainer oriented education atm)

• “Saturated fat is bad for you!”
• “Your body needs sugars for energy”
• …

Now, I’m 3 months in and don’t consider EVER switching back (nor craving sugary stuff). I can eat as much bacon and eggs as I want. What’s not to love?

So, remember;

• Less than 20/30g of net carbs/day
• 1.3/1.5g of protein/kg of bodyweight
• Replenish electrolytes with “ketorade”
• Recommendation to speed up ketosis: 1 full day of fasting + 1h run on second day & ketorade

It’s not a difficult diet once you’ve switched to the “dark-side”.

My blood levels have changed as expected (good) and has puzzled my (conservative) doctor.

Other ambassadors of a low-carb diet are Peter attia, Tim Ferriss & Dave Asprey (#SocialProof). I’d definitely recommend to look into this further.

Here’s a great talk, done by Peter Attia on the Ketogenic diet (definitely worth watching fully – this might change your life)

Note: Not everyone does great on a low carb diet. If you don’t feel better after two weeks of low-carb, try slightly increasing the amount of carbs (by 20g/day) and go by feel to get the most benefits for your body. Everybody is a unique little snowflake! 

————————————————————————-

Disclaimer: Simon is a 20 year-old college student. Although much of his “life-advice” is (very) interesting and equally tempting, it would be unwise to take everything he says literally. Therefore, Simon (yes – that’s 3rd person) believes it’s a good idea to consult with your local doctor/shaman/health-person before dramatically changing your lifestyle.

He will also not be held accountable when protruding sexual organs get stuck in printing devices.

That will be all,

Take care & stay strong

– S

Sources

• http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305736499910946
• http://eebweb.arizona.edu/faculty/saleska/Ecol596L/Readings/Newell02_seasonal.TNC.tropics_Oecologia.pdf
• http://brighterbrains.org/articles/entry/ketosis-makes-your-brain-work-better-its-why-dave-asprey-puts-butter-in-his
• https://psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201104/your-brain-ketones
• http://authoritynutrition.com/10-benefits-of-low-carb-ketogenic-diets/
• http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182351
• My head

 

“Our brain are battlefields between our nature and our nurture.”

 

Life = struggle.

Life was never meant to be happy, life was meant to be effective.

We live in a lovy-dovy fairy-tale world where we try to twist our animalistic nature with sugar-coated social narratives.

Sorry to be so dramatic – but it’s quite true.

• “Every boy can find the right girl”
• “Sugar isn’t bad in moderation”
• “Marriage can work easily if there’s just enough love”
• “Follow your passion and everything will fall into place”

It doesn’t really work out that way, you know.

Accept for.. fairy tales maybe..

The world is controlled by natural laws, not cultural make-belief; gravity, evolution, climate change, aging, sexual selection and also; instinct. These are unavoidable no matter how hard you try.

And we’ve tried.. – believe me.

In our society the evolutionary agenda always seems to peek trough the surface layer of the social narrative we’re given – conflict soon followed.

For every drift we’ve made from our “natural way of living” we’ve suffered its respective consequences;

• Over-consumption of trans-fats and sugar (mainly) leading to obesity, diabetes, heart-disease, … . Overindulged nature leads to self-destruction
• Suppression of sexual instinct by cultural “morals” corrupt our behavior leading to stoning (in Arabic culture), mutilation of genitals, child abuse in the catholic church, porn addictions, … . Suppressed nature manifests itself in darker ways.
• Advent of agriculture made private property possible and we shifted from a egalitarian society to a more capitalistic one.

What parts of culture are actually against human nature and how can we return to our origin? And more importantly; how can we thrive in this world and make ourselves future proof?

You are still an animal – stop pretending you’re not.

—————————————————————————

The Origin Of All Problems

“Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills” – Arthur Shopenhauer

 

The way we are is the result of evolution; ALL the things we want have been planted in our DNA. Whether we like it or not. It’s there for a damn good reason.

Although we can choose what we want to do with our time – our options are limited to fulfilling our basic needs.

And what does every human want?

Survival & procreation.

Access to sex and resources is what everyone is after. It’s what drives most of our behavior and is of primary importance.

Not happiness, not passion, not meaning, not education, not love …

Sex & money

It’s only until these needs become suppressed or overindulged that we get a real problem.

So..

How are we doing?

By becoming the most dominant species on this planet years ago we’ve practically guaranteed indefinite survival. At least in the more developed countries it’s like this.

• You don’t have to go out hunting for your food daily
• You don’t have to sleep on the streets anymore
• Sex is something different – although we’ve found other ways to satisfy those needs (masturbation to free porn mainly)

Fact: Porn statistics are trough the roof.

Life purpose completed, right?

Our instincts no longer have a clue what we’re supposed to do and therefore we’re just making up our own direction by filling up our time and finding our own meaning.

Most can’t handle this and fall into a black hole without direction. A situation Viktor Frankl coined “The Existential Depression“. 

E.g. The Human Plant-Zombie

The main cause for this existential depression is that we’re going trough the fastest period of progression growth in human history ever.

EVER

Technology is going crazy, population is expanding at an enormous rate whilst fossil fuels can barely keep up our throwaway society.

Times are changing fast.

The main cause?

The start of agriculture

Since the agricultural revolution has arisen we’ve shifted from a egalitarian system of culturally imposed sharing to one of private property.

Everything changed.

Land could now be possessed, owned, and passed down the generations. Food that had been hunted and gathered now had to be sowed, tended, harvested, stored, defended, bought, and sold. Fences, walls, and irrigation systems had to be built and reinforced; armies to defend it all had to be raised, fed, and controlled. Because of private property, for the first time in the history of our species, paternity became a crucial concern

 

With agriculture, virtually everything changed: the nature of status and power, social and family structures, how humans interacted with the natural world, the gods they worshiped, the likelihood and nature of warfare between groups, quality of life, longevity and the rules governing sexuality – Christopher Ryan & Cacilda Jetha

The term “prehistoric communism” definitely applies.

The Result?

Life became a struggle for resources & sex.

A struggle for the right to procreate and survive. As our population density grows and resources grow scarcer the world gets more competitive by the day.

In small groups egalitarianism is the best way to reduce risk by equally distributing resources and building strong social bonds.

Yet – in larger groups selfishness is harder to control and leads to a “free-rider”-effect

Meaning they take resources from the communal pile  – but don’t provide any back.

“What allows these chain-linked tragedies is the absence of local, personal shame. We ignore the fine-grain contours of life in small-scale communities where nobody “could have escaped public scrutiny and judgment,” in Rousseau’s words.

 

These tragedies become inevitable only when the group size exceeds our species’ capacity for keeping track of one another, a point that’s come to be known as Dunbar’s number“

We become more selfish/corrupted as group-size increases and resources get scarcer as there aren’t social consequences for free-riding.

With rising competition we’ve tried our best to use, suppress, indulge and control these needs throughout history – leading to all kinds of modern problems.

Human desire is not to be suppressed nor indulged but controlled

The Symptoms

We’ve suffered consequences that can be seen in all areas of our life.

Relationships

Relationships shifted from an egalitarian perspective where sex was mutually shared (Bonobo model) to one of private property. Women shifted from a high-status role in the tribe to another “possession” for the man to own besides his livestock and lands.

Unequal access to resources lead to a reproductive trade-off. The unspoken contract of status & wealth provided by the men for sexual fidelity by the women arose.

Power-struggles, income inequality and confused gender roles galore

The “paradox” of traditional gender roles is, in this sense, a product of the opposition between what our genes and past culture dispose us to do and what our present culture now prescribes.
The same traditional gender roles that facilitate men’s and
women’s attraction to each other may also, in the context of egalitarian social ideals, impede their ability to communicate and lead to dissatisfaction in their relationships. – William Ickes

Additionally; monogamy started to become the cultural norm – imposed by religion.

Religious extremism infected behavior to control our sexual instincts  throughout history- resulting (still up to this day) in divorce, mutilation, oppression, child abuse, corruption, adultery and whatnot.

“About 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher.” – American Psychological Association

Not to say how many couples stay together for financial security, children, convenience and whatnot. How many are actually “happy”?

• Happily-ever-after?
• You just need enough “love”?
• …

Against our nature is what I’d say.

Here’s another mess;

Health

With agriculture came more carbohydrates; wheat, cane, squash & mainly sugar.

Probably the worst thing you can eat these days. Especially in the form of high fructose corn syrop.

Yes – It’s a cost-effective way to feed a lot of people but humans were not designed for such a diet. Our bodies can’t operate on such abundance of carbs.

Multinationals (who stopped caring about your health a looooong time ago) play into your natural desire for high-fat and high-sugary foods. So they manufacture and modify the desired ingredients to get the most dopamine-inducing foods possible.

Irresistible treats for our biological nature – addictive to a great extent.

Which destroys your brain and makes other, healthier foods taste like cardboard.

And off course;

Money

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

Private property meant we now had resources to protect. Off-course you couldn’t keep everything to yourself (environment, theft, decay, …) and therefore we made houses where our resources were “safely” kept in the form of money.

Banks.

Leading to a concentration of power without real social control/scrutiny in large groups.

What did I say about overindulged nature again?

Oh yes..

Moral corruption;

Solution?

I can’t really criticize the world without providing an alternative – can I?

Yes.

Yes I can – But I’ll try anyway;

I believe a more capitalistic system is necessary as population has simply grown too large. Greater groups leads to an uncontrolled “free-rider” effect where people take resources at the expense of others – leading to an immoral downward spiral of power struggles.

Here’s some more questions that need answering;

• Are there enough resources for everyone? I don’t know
• Can we get more social control to monitor free-riding? Maybe
• Do we need global population control & resource management? Definitely

Now, for the best part;  How can you – considering these trends – make yourself future proof ?

Health

Difficulty Level: Simple

• Gradually switch to paleo-diet/ketogenic diet. Here’s what you can eat
• Do some weight-training 3/4 times per week

Social

Difficulty Level: Might Hurt/Be Uncomfortable 

Friends

• Become a more confident, high-status man trough self-development
• Look your best & have a sorted out lifestyle (money, hobbies, friends, ..)
• Get better social skills (Read; How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie)
• Make small circles of reciprocal kindness with close friends (practice egalitarianism in your own “select group”

Dating

• Don’t get married, ever– lifelong monogamy is against human nature and will come back later to bite you in the ass. Coolidge-effect
• Read “Models” by Mark Manson – Seriously. Best book on dating EVER
• Don’t watch porn – it screws up your brain. Use the building arousal to “hunt” for real women. Approach.
• Masturbation (dry orgasms preferably) and prostitution are still better than porn.

Note; I’m wondering what indefinite access to sex would do for our society in regards to conflict, rape, theft, adultery, violence & murder. I’d think we’d be a lot more relaxed if people weren’t so sexually deprived.

Money

Difficulty Level: Dragging-your-balls-trough-a-desert-of-broken-glass-difficult

This might be the trickiest part.. . But from what I’ve learned so far, this is my best guess;

Being able to do what others cannot is what makes you valuable.

Anyone can sell shoes, anyone can run behind a dumpster truck, anyone can sell fast-food. But not everyone knows how to build a house, lay electrical wiring or perform an open-heart-surgery.

The more difficult and in-demand your skills are – the higher your pay-grade will rise.

For illustrative purposes I’ve made this fancy info-graphic; 

This means that the barrier of entry for competitors will be high (less competition) and you work in a field where your skills are highly valued.

So;

• Learn difficult, high-in demand skills
• Additionally, building on strength gives you an “edge” on others. 
• Combine these in an entrepreneurial venture. (Everyone will need to be an entrepreneur soon)

Essence

The world isn’t always sunshine and rainbows like our culture wants to make you believe.

Although humans are by nature altruistic, the world is getting more and more competitive. Overpopulation caused by agriculture makes humanity go head-forth towards an Malthusian catastrophe.

Don’t be the sucker who’s getting ill-treated because he’s unaware of the disguised interests of people around you. No human can completely resist their nature for sex and resources.

It doesn’t mean you have to become distrustful towards everybody just know to stay alert when it comes to money, relationships and health. Not everyone has your best interests at heart. 

Life has become a competitive game – learn to play it to your best abilities. 

So make good long-term choices in each area.

Passion is spewed around as being the holy grail of life (especially in self development circles) meaning we”ll slide across the rainbow happily ever after. But the point is simply this: If you aren’t highly skilled at a in-demand task there’s chances you won’t EVER be able to make a lot of money from it.

Marriage is supposed to be effortless and the “ideal” model for love – yet it goes against your polygamous nature. Lifelong monogamy is a culturally imposed hoax.

Carb are bad – Eat more fats.

———————————————————————-

Thanks for reading my post and congrats on getting this far! If you have any more thoughts or questions on this post feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

Take care & Stay Strong

– Simon

PS: This post might be a bit controversial – keep feedback constructive ;)
PPS: Cool quora discussion 

What is The “67 Steps” Program?

The last couple of months I’ve stumbled upon something I’ve never come across before on the internet..

It’s a video course where Tai Lopez (An investor, entrepreneur and author) talks about 67 important lessons he learned throughout his life.

By balancing your health, your wealth and your social life you’ll reach a state of eudaimonia. Which is a fancy word for “excellent life quality” – or as Tai calls it; “The Good Life”

Tai illustrates each topic with personal stories from his life or insights he picked up from reading books.

And he has read quite a few… (5000+ )

The course is was completely free and you even got a additional copy of “Managing Oneself” by Peter Drucker to discover your personal strengths.

This course is gold

It this review I’m going to share the most important lessons I’ve learned from the course and how I plan to implement those steps into my life (the ones I’ve found relevant at least)

At the moment I’m at 16 19 21 different key lessons.

Note: These are my personal interpretations of what his 67 steps mean. Different conclusions are always possible.

Let’s go.

————————————————————-

1) Be Worth A Damn

To deserve the life you want, you’ll have to do the actions that are necessary.

He says most people are delusional. We somehow think we’re entitled to “the good life” without putting in the effort required to actually get there.

When you look at your life today, would you objectively say you deserve a higher life quality than others – according to the work you’ve put in? Are you better than your competition?

Look around in your life, who would you bet on to make a million dollars? Would you bet on yourself? If not – what needs to change?

Application & Thoughts

Take on an attitude of full responsibility for your own life. If you want a higher life quality there will be things you’ll have to do and things you’ll have to give up. This way you’ll increase your chances of attaining the life you desire (duh).

How?

This made me look at my life and compile a list of essential habits that are required to build a great life. Then I proceeded to break these down into actionable steps to implement gradually.

2) Be Adaptable

This step is based on the theory of evolution which states that the person who’s best-adapted to his environment is the one that’ll survive. “The good life” doesn’t go to people who don’t notice the “change of seasons.”

The person with static skills will never thrive in an dynamic environment. Look for changes & trends and use those to your advantage. Make choices on a long-term basis.

Application & Thoughts

Be aware of your current actions and surroundings. Check up on your habits and see if the way you’re living is an ESS (evolutionary stable strategy) meaning you quantify your decisions based on long-term thinking.

Devise a survival strategy for your life.

• Is eating at McDonalds a maintainable strategy?
• Is spending money on clothes and dinners a maintainable strategy?
• Is working a 9-5 job without added entrepreneurship a maintainable strategy?

The way I do this is by staying aware of political, social, economic and technological trends. I wouldn’t watch the news (solely) since they are heavily biased towards ratings.

Subscribe to different websites who keep you updated of occurring events that may impact your life.

3) Be Humble

Everyone has a piece of gold that we can extract from them. We find humility in what we learn from others, even the ones we think can’t provide us any value.

Be teachable by people who achieved far greater results than you have. Look for deep domain expertise (does he/she actually have the knowledge?) and references (does he/she have the results you desire?)

Many people are unhumble know-it-alls, unable to listen to people who know more than they do.

Application & Thoughts

Spend more time learning from the ones that came before you and less from your own mistakes. Spend your money on books & seminars. Spend more time tracking down and networking with mentors.

This will enable you to avoid a lot of mistakes by “standing on the shoulders of giants”. It allows you to tap into the collective wisdom of great minds that have come before you.

4) Get A Mentor

Mentors will shave years of your learning curve and I recommend you to get one. Whether this is in books, seminars or real-life.

Mentor others too. Tai talks about the law of 33%, which states that you should spend;

• 1/3 of your time with people below you (the ones you mentor)
• 1/3 of your time with people on your level (close friends, brothers in arms)
• 1/3 of your time with people above you (your mentors)

Find people who aren’t full time teachers but are actually making money with the things they’re preaching about. Keep in mind that;

• Good mentors are busy (He mentions a story in which a man tried 17 times before he got mentored)
• Some are burned up
• Build the relationship slowly (Establish contact over a 18 month period)
• Don’t be a leech, provide value by using the concept of reciprocal kindness.
• Interview people you admire on a self-created platform
• Buy and read their books

Application & Thoughts

Make a list of 10 mentors and contact all of them. A great way to create a networking spreadsheet is by using the free ebook from John Corcoran – I’ve found it to be invaluable.

I don’t necessarily believe the law of 33% is that relevant/practical. Learn from the great and teach it to others (to improve your memory)

5) Ignore The 99%

Most people’s opinions are simply reflections of social bias. Look for references and signs of expertise before taking advice.

• Don’t trust health advice from a personal trainer that’s overweight.
• Don’t take money advice from someone’s who’s constantly struggling financially.
• Don’t listen to relationship advice from someone who doesn’t have a (girl)friend(s)

All (sustainable) success comes from “the grind”. Process over events.

You have less chance of winning the lottery than you have of;

• Getting hit by lightning
• Being eaten by a shark
• Being hit by a piece of scrap metal from a plane

Yet how many people buy lottery tickets each day?

Look at your life as one big piece of marble and everyday you grind away one small piece of imperfection. Tai calls this “the sculpture approach”. Choose the general direction you want to go and adjust accordingly. Most people are looking for “events” as opposed to “grinds”.

Health, wealth and love don’t come in events but by carefully selected actions every single day. Don’t think others have it easier than you – they don’t.

You often come to the conclusion that other peoples’ good fortune is derived from a factor outside of their control, that their favorable achievements can be attributed to circumstances. This is because you’ve never seen the hard work, doubts and pain involved that gave birth to those successes.

We don’t observe the inner workings of another and are therefore more inclined to ascribe their successes to outside forces.

Tai compares this to observing the passing seasons.

“We only observe people who are in the fall (harvest) of their life. Forgetting about the longs months of planting in the spring and cultivating during the summer that preceded”

Most are delusional as to how much time it’ll take to get the results they’re looking for. They’ve never planted nor cultivated their crops – yet hope to harvest in the fall.

Application & Thoughts?

Set a realistic time-frame it’ll take to achieve expertise. Focus on planting and cultivating good actions instead of hoping for events.

A mind shift from events towards processes.

…

And don’t ever buy lottery tickets, that makes you a fool – seriously.

7) Escape The Salary Mentality

We have been conditioned all our lives to feel helpless and dependent on others. By being constantly provided by our school, our parents and later our jobs with secure income we have become “learned helpless” meaning we have hardwired our brain to need a steady/regular income.

Get away from this. Stop getting paid for the time you spend in a certain place but start wiring your brain to get paid for performance.

It will make you responsible for your own financial support by actively searching new opportunities you can turn into a profit. If you’ve hardwired your brain in this salary-slave-mentality you become blind to new opportunities.

Application & Thoughts

Ask your employer to get paid according to your performance instead of your time. Tell him your reasoning and ask him how you can improve your performance. This is a win-win.

Secondly analyze your strengths (see step 12) and skills you can combine to create value for others.

• Are you good at repairing? Repair some stuff from people you know
• Do you know about health & fitness? Make a training program and sell it to your friends
• …

Initially it’s not about the profit you make but about the re-wiring of your brain to avoid downward spirals of bad habits.

8) Life Long Learning

“Survival machines that can simulate the future are one jump ahead of survival machines that can only learn based on trial and error”

Tai recommends to learn from the failures of others instead of only relying on your own. Trial and error takes times and energy – frequent errors can even be fatal. Simulations (derived from books) are both safer and faster.

How?

Learn from books! 

This is invaluable. We’ve been conditioned by school that learning is boring and unrewarding but this is simply not true.

It’s not enough anymore in our current information-society to be a mere expert – let alone a generalist.

Tai recommends everyone to become a so-called “renaissance-man” or polymath. Become highly specialized in one particular field and develop conversational level depth in all other subjects. Become so good at one particular field they can’t ignore you.

“Be impressive beyond belief in one thing”

This will allow you to stir & combine more ideas in your mind which will blend to form great opportunities. Tai recommends learning about science, music, language, history & culture (literature, art & poetry)

Application & Thoughts

Life-long continuous learning. I recommend to master health, social and your area of expertise first before spreading out since those are most practical. Learn from others’ mistakes first.

Here’s how to read a book;

1. Read non-fiction books that help improve your life quality.
2. Ask yourself; How will I use this information to improve my life quality/move me closer to my goals?
3. What questions will this material answer?
4. Don’t read everything! (20%ofthebookyou’re reading has 80% of the content; It’s you job to find it/filter it out. See yourself as a gold-miner)
   • Read cover, back, contents, introduction and conclusion first then select chapters that help you answer the question you had in step 3

My Guide To Optimal Learning

9) Be Tough

Tai recommends everyone to take on a more stoic view on life. Meaning you should “sacrifice today for a better tomorrow”. We – as a society – have become too soft. Too YOLO.

“Adversity makes men and prosperity creates monsters.”

Spartans used to go through the agoge learning stealth, cunning, fighting skills and mental resilience from the ages of 7(!) till 21.

Nowadays? There’s nothing like that.

We suffer from a lack of role models, an estrogen inducing diet, media propaganda, too much comfort and more stuff that is making us a shade of our former selves.

Application & Thoughts

Here’s some I do;

• Take a cold shower every morning
• Eat a ketogenic or paleolithic diet high in fat to increase testosterone
• Wake up early (between 5-7 AM) every day
• Do deadlifts, squats and bench presses
• DO NOT watch porn nor masturbate
• Monitor your body language and self-talk

It’s not about what you do that really matters but about the the mental resilience that discomfort builds.

Read My Post On Being A Man

10) Master Your Mind

Our brain is mal-adapted to the times we live in. It is human tendency to move away from pain and into pleasure. Our limbic system is still geared towards instant gratification based on instinct whilst our “newer” neocortex makes more intelligent long-term decisions

“Your neuroprogramming doesn’t understand the complexities of the modern world.”

For Example;

• Fast Food
• Drugs
• Alcohol
• Narcotics
• Sugar
• Frivolous spending
• …

They all create dopamine highs (pleasure hormone) you become addicted to.

But as many studies have proven time and time again these habits are not good for us in the long-term. Over-indulgence has led to many of the recent problems in our modern world.

Application & Thoughts

Don’t trust your own brain

See your brain as a divided entity: one being your instinctual craving for instant gratification – the part that’s holding you back. The other being the “real you” (e.g. your neocortex) which makes intelligent decisions.

GREAT quote I’ve stumbled upon recently;

“Our brains are battlefields between our nature and our nurture” – Carlo

11) Build On Strength

People leave school without knowing the things they excel at nor in which industry they can thrive. This skipping from job to job disables them to really develop deep domain expertise which is a requisite for making it big.

“A person can only perform from strengths, and cannot build performance on weakness.

 

“Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values.”

 

“It takes far less energy to move from first-rate performance to excellence than it does to move from incompetence to mediocrity.” – Peter Drucker

Application & Thoughts

Read Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker or Download The Summary. Find answers to the underlying questions, they are indicators of strengths.

• In what did you grow up around?
• What do strangers compliment you on?
• What did you want to become as a child (what were the underlying trends?)
• What have you been doing the last 10 years?
• What can you effortlessly talk about without losing drive?
• What are the things you effortlessly excel at? What comes easy for you?
• What are the things that make you feel energetic when you do them?
• In what areas do you learning quickly?
• Who do you envy? Who are your mentors?

Build up an array of intangible and tangible skills that are highly desired and difficult to learn suited to your strengths.

If you’re more of an introvert and dislike unstructured/chaotic environments, don’t place yourself in those. If you find you thrive in stimulating environments or need to work with people, go for that.

Read My Post On Finding Your Strengths

12) Find Something You Like – Not “Passion”

Look for work you can sustain for a long time. Your work is going to fill a large part of your adult life therefore it’s imperative you put yourself in a position you can excel at (by knowing your strengths).

Tai states that if you have a job where you need vacation from, you should never go back to it.

A life you need vacation from is a pathetic life.

He goes on to say you shouldn’t look for your passion either, looking for that illusive pot of gold that “feels just right”. It will send you on a wild-goose chase blocking you from building up deep domain expertise in one area.

Find something you like instead.

“Never do something you love, once you do it for work you won’t love it anymore. Do what you like” – Allan Nation

It’s ok to have an eb and flow of work and play  but your end-game shouldn’t be vacation. It should be – as he calls it – “tapdancing” out of bed. Meaning you’re excited and motivated to start your day and feel competent at what you’re doing.

Application & Thoughts

Don’t look for passion but build on strength. We’re often told to “follow our passion” but that’s rarely adequate. Position yourself in areas you like and are good at and after a while you’ll learn to love it.

Find work you have an natural advantage in and use that to your own benefit. It’ll become your passion after a while.

Again, read managing oneself.

13) Be Prepared

Our life is the combined result of our knowledge and our ignorance. We achieve what we understand deeply but lose that what we’re ignorant about.

Ask yourself how many “tools” you have in your tool-belt to deal with your problems. Are you well-rounded enough?

If you don’t have it in your head, you’ll have it in your heel.

(meaning ignorance is costly)

Application & Thoughts

Ask yourself the worst case scenarios that can happen in each area of your life; what is necessary to prepare yourself  for the future? Do you know;

• Basic physiology & nutrition to eat well?
• Psychology to improve your mindset?
• Accounting to maintain the money you’re having?
• Investing to grow it?
• Social skills to build strong relationships?
• How to build attraction with the opposite gender for intimate relationships?
• …

14) Adopt The Investor Mentality

It’s not enough to merely make money, it has to be maintained and grown into larger quantities. Adopt the “investor mentality” and start spending money on things that bring you a return in profit over time.

Most people buy things that rust, rot or depreciate as Tai says; New furniture, latest technological gadgets, fancy cars they can’t afford and so-on. These are consumption’s – not investments.

See you dollars as little seeds you plant to generate and grow a better future.

Many people are frivolous in spending. Not only money but also time, energy and health. He recommends calculating the real cost involved of something instead of just taking into account the price.

• How many hours do you have to work to pay for this item?
• How much of your health are you sacrificing by eating “cheap” food?
• How much energy will this purchase cost you?

Application & Thoughts

Information is your most valuable asset.

• Invest in books, seminars & mentors
• Invest in good food for a clear mind (I recommend paleo/ketogenic type diet)
• Study investing before trusting-off your money to others!
• Spend money on events over material possessions to create what Daniel Kahnemann calls ‘memory happiness”
• Sell all the stuff you don’t use

15) Be A “Social Chameleon”

There are different types of people with different sets of personalities. Tai Lopez recommends becoming a “social chameleon” and shifting to a communication style suited to the person you’re talking to.

He has developed his own “personality system” to categorize 4 different people. (A bit like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.) He calls it the P.A.S.E.-system: Practical, Action, Social & Emotional. Representing 4 “styles” people embody.

• Practical people are slower. They like to plan their work and need a lot of structure. They are unmalleable.
• Action-takers burn through stuff. They’re more hands-on kind of types. They start a lot of stuff but don’t really finish it.
• Social people are more go-with-the-flow kind of people. They are more gregarious and people oriented. They can be flaky at times.
• Emotional people are comparable to deep oceans. They’re sensitive and intuitive.

Application & Thoughts

I don’t like his system but I like the purpose it serves. I’m convinced some personalty traits are inborn and it’s important to “speak other peoples’ language” and adapt to their way of thinking. Being  a social chameleon like Tai says.

I personally like the MBTI test for categorizing people.

• Talk quieter and more deeply with introverts
• Be more sensitive/caring around emotional people and more rational/to-the-point around logical ones.
• Read How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie (GREAT book)

16) Be A Truthseeker

Life is never black or white. It’s not enough to see through your own eyes but you should see the world through “truths eyes”.

What does this mean?

Never become adamant in any set of beliefs before heavy experimentation. 

Don’t be blinded by others. Much “common knowledge” is simply a reflection of social bias. Document YOUR reality by reading the “obvious signs”.

• Health: Take of your shirt and look at your body in the mirror. Is it healthy? Do you exercise? Do you eat right?
• Wealth: Open up your bank account next or check your financial template. Is your balance going down? Do you know you strengths? Are you taking initiative?
• Social: Lastly, check the relationships on your phone. Do you want more friends and/or more meaning in your relationships (breadth/depth?)

The closer we get to the truth the better we’ll do in each area.

Be a constant experimenter on yourself and track progress on the things you’re doing. Here’s the process one should go through to adopt the experimenter mentality;

1. Ask a research question
2. Research & Form a hypothesis (Ask opinions of experts)
3. Test it (1-3 months) – stick to it
4. Observe & record the process and the result
5. Make a conclusion
6. Implement/Discard

Application & Thoughts

The best way I’ve found is to experiment by keeping a journal. I’ve been writing one since late 2013. I’ve accumulated a lot of data and knowledge about my life. It allows me to see recurring trends and the results of my experiments. This way I can adjust my life to whats necessary.

I’ve tried;

• Eating 15 eggs a day
• Doing frequent morning runs at 5am
• Going out to nightclubs and approaching x amount of women in a night
• Doing sleeping experiments
• Keeping a dream diary for lucid dreaming
• 2-day fasting
• …

Discard useless experiments and implement what’s beneficial.

17) Define Your End-Game

Tai recommend doing “the funeral test” to see what you really want out of life. Envision your funeral and ask yourself what you would want other to say about you and your life. What will you have left behind? How will others remember you?

In your mind’s eye, see yourself going to the funeral of a loved one. Picture yourself driving to the funeral parlor or chapel, parking the car, and getting out. As you walk inside the building, you notice the flowers, the soft organ music. You see the faces of friends and family you pass along the way. You feel the shared sorrow of losing, the joy of having known, that radiates from the hearts of the people there.

 

As you walk down to the front of the room and look inside the casket, you suddenly come face to face with yourself. This is your funeral, three years from today. All these people have come to honor you, to express feelings of love and appreciation for your life.

 

As you take a seat and wait for the services to begin, you look at the program in your hand. There are to be four speakers. The first is from your family, immediate and also extended —children, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who have come from all over the country to attend. The second speaker is one of your friends, someone who can give a sense of what you were as a person. The third speaker is from your work or profession. And the fourth is from your church or some community organization where you’ve been involved in service.

 

Now think deeply. What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What kind of husband, wife, father, or mother would like their words to reflect? What kind of son or daughter or cousin? What kind of friend? What kind of working associate?

 

What character would you like them to have seen in you? What contributions, what achievements would you want them to remember? Look carefully at the people around you. What difference would you like to have made in their lives? – 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Look at your role models and the life they’ve build for themselves and ask whether you want to be In their shoes. Most people drift aimlessly because they’ve never really analyzed the results they’re looking for.

Without this it’s far too easy to become trapped in the plans of someone else.

Application & Thoughts

Define for each area of your life what you exactly want. I personally use the 7 areas of life approach to solve this problem but the visualization does help to figure out what you truly value.

Off course you’ll want the nice car, off course you’ll want the wild sexual adventures, off-course you’ll want to master your favorite instrument. But all that’s inessential simply burns away in contrast with death.

Read My Post On Setting Goals

18) Choose Relationships Wisely

The world is a competitive place where not everyone has you best interest at heart. The only person who does is yourself (and maybe some of your family). We’re selfish animals by instinct, programmed for survival. Not everyone adheres to the same moral laws you abide by.

Don’t be a sucker by not understanding human nature.

Irresistible forces are always at work. So don’t be fooled by outward appearances, people aren’t always what they project to be.

Morality is the cognitive victory on our animalistic nature. An unwritten code for effective living that can inspire trust and security. Yet it doesn’t always win on our instinctual war for scarce resources.

“Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills”

the animal nature of man is a product of genetic evolution; the urges of man are therefore basal at best. Money, reproduction, happiness, sex, … .

Overall: be careful who you trust, especially when it comes to money.

Application & Thoughts

Set high criteria for the people you allow in your life. Stay away from the unfortunate, unlucky, emotional unstable or otherwise untrustable.

Interview & judge people through recommendations and background checking. It takes a while to completely trust someone, so let people be around you for a long time to see “all their sides”

19) Spend Time Wisely

Life is long if you know how to use it, most people waste their time on useless trivia. We’re not given a short life, but we’re wasteful of it.

Seneca describes 8 ways in which people waste their life;

1. Greedy activities
2. Dedication to useless tasks
3. Drinking & drugs
4. Laziness
5. Worrying what others think of you
6. Self-imposed servitude to thankless people
7. Pursuing others people money (making others rich)
8. Having no clear direction

Here’s another cool quote I’ve compiled from several different sources;

Poor is the man never able to unshackle the chains of his instinctual conditioning.

Predestined for waste, indulgence and decay is he who’s incapable to recollect yesterdays events, utilize today and anticipate the wonders of tomorrow.

Blind of time we waste much of it.

Merely existing, not living.

Don’t be without true pleasure or improvements of the mind – to avoid weeping over the days that will never come again.

Application & Thoughts

I think it’s best to divide your time between 80% stoicism and 20% epicureanism. I call it the 80/20 YOLO-Rule.

Read My Post On Time-Management

20) Prioritize

Not everything is equally important. In your effort to juggle around all things everything gets shortsighted.

There are six BIG lies when it comes to productivity (One Thing by Gary Keller)

• All things matter equally. Not everything is equally as important. There’s really only one thing that truly matters.
• Multitasking is good & efficient. Multitasking is a myth it’s simply switching back and forth between different tasks rapidly. Don’t let you workflow be interrupted by distractions (re-engaging in a project consumes considerably more time and energy)
• Discipline in everything is necessary.  You have to be selectively discipline. Success is about doing the right things right, not everything right. Become selectively disciplined until habits are formed.
• Willpower is always on will-call. Willpower is like a battery, it depletes over time. This concept is called willpower depletion. Think of it like the power bar on your cell-phone, it drains over time. Do your most important work first.
• Balance is important. To achieve an extraordinary result, you must choose what matters most and give it all the time it demands. This requires getting extremely out of balance related to other life areas.
• Big is bad. How big you think becomes the launching pad for how high you achieve. Our results are directly related to the magnitude of our thinking. Think big. Now double it.

Application & Thoughts

• Do your most important activities first
• Plan your “3-4 big rocks” the day before
• Don’t multitask
• Make habits 
• Read “The One Thing” by Gary Keller

Read my post on How To Focus On What Really Matters.

21) Shut The Fuck Up And Do Something

There’s so much lost potential of woulda, shoulda, coulda’s. It’s often not the ideas nor capacity that holds someone back in life as much as his own mind.

Who needs enemies when you got yourself, right?

When in doubt just do something. Action will always lead to a result. Whether a bad one or a good one. At least you’re learning. Doing nothing gets you nowhere.

Be courageous enough to do things other people shy away from. Be bold. There’s actually less competition for higher spots because nobody truly believes he is that valuable.

Be a bit delusional about yourself and just throw enough shit against the wall until something finally sticks.

“If you lose at least you tried man. “I failed” is 10x more of a man than someone who said “What if?” because “What if?” never went to the arena” – Greg Plitt

The doubt, insecurity and fear is a temporary price you pay for not being a spectator in life. Not sitting on the sidelines watching your life ooze by – no recollection of current events.

That might be some motivational rambling without real content but in the end there’s only two options you can take after reading this post;

• Action that might give you a chance for something better
• Fear until death & suffering takes you

Take your pick.

Conclusion

I think the content provided is legit although Tai talks a bit (too?) much and therefore doesn’t always stick to the topic. He elaborates a lot about his personal life and repeats different lessons throughout his program.

Another (maybe biased) reason I like this guy is because he’s friends with Elliot Hulse and Owen Cook. Two other men I’ve learned a lot from.

I believe the advice I’ve summarized in this post is the most essential to take away from the 67 steps course.

Thanks for reading my review of the 67 steps. If you liked the 67 steps by Tai Lopez – Let me know in the comments below!

What Did You Learn From The 67 Steps?

– Simon

Update 15/04/2016

Should You Get This Course?

There’s been quite some people now who’ve asked me if there’s going to be more steps or if the 67 steps is really worth its money – So I’m going to try to answer this as honestly as possible (although bias is inevitable if I’m having an affiliate link in the bottom of this article);

I’d say If you haven’t done many self-improvement courses you’ll definitely learn a lot of new insights and it’ll also enable you to deeply reflect on your own actions/life and become more conscious of the actions you need to take for a better life. Especially for mainstream/non self-dev people this can be a real eye-opener.

The biggest take-away for me personally, was the part of “building my career on strengths” and how to discover these. It allowed me to direct my career (web-developing) into a more favorable direction.

My aim was to get wealth (money, cash, ba-bling, $$) when picking up this course, it hasn’t made me rich (yet) but has put me in the right direction from my understanding.

However – I believe that if you understand & integrate the lessons I’ve outlined in this article into your life, then I don’t think you should get the full course though. I’ve found a lot of it to be common knowledge.

Yet – Common knowledge isn’t always common practice and it can often be good to be reminded of essential truths that we forget over time. + I’ve spent 67 bucks on more stupid shit, like video-games & other illegible self-improvement “guru’s”.

Yeah he has a lot of marketing, yeah he’s a smooth talker. But he has the knaawledge to back it up.

So – if you do decide to get the 67 step course after reading  this article, consider purchasing it through this link. It’s an affiliate link, meaning I’ll get a small % of your purchase – the price stays the same though :).

I’d suggest to cancel the future payments immediately though – it’s in the fine print. The VIP coaching calls & book summaries are not that great. That money is IMO better spent on buying & reading the books he recommends. Which overall have the highest ROI.

Then again I’m a cheapass.

Take care,

<3

“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls who live under tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson

 

There are many things wrong with our current diet;

High fructose corn syrup, additives, trans-fat, over-consumption of genetically modified grains and so-on..

It all has lead to a downward spiral of affluence diseases like obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes , depressions & inflammation.

#SadFace :(

In our attempts to supply more food in a cheaper and faster way, we’ve deteriorated the quality of our products.

In addition; the food industry doesn’t exactly care much about your health but mainly about their own pockets.

And salt, sugar & fat is what sells. BIG-time

Since we’re instinctively drawn towards that diet

Yet health is everything. 

What we put into our bodies is ultimately what we will become since the cells of our bodies are in a continuous process of renewal.

Crap in –> Crap out

So guess what’s going to happen when you’re (un)consciously stuffing KFC, Mc Donalds and Ben & Jerries Cookies & Cream?

You’ll feel less energized, less focused and notice a performance drop over time, additionally you’ll become more likely to attract a whole array of diseases and even premature death.

You DO NOT want a life like that.

No energy leads to no willpower, no willpower leads to lack of focus, lack of focus leads to nonperformance. Nonperformance leads to a low-quality life.

It’s the foundation that’s necessary to build a GREAT life upon.

Although many people already know this, I find it disturbing how many people neglect this information.,

In this post I’ve included my 6 tips that will make you healthier than 99% of people on this planet (personal guesstimate)

——————————————————————

But let’s start with some..

Alarming Facts

Nutrition is a incredibly delicate topic since a lot of people struggle with weight issues. It’s actually directly related to the leading cause of death globally (30% of all deaths). Which are cardiovascular diseases.

Which is insane! 

“At least 80% of premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases could be prevented through a healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoiding the use of tobacco.” – World Health Organization

80% is preventable!

0,3 x 0,8 = 24% of all deaths globally are preventable by diet, training and some good health habits.

It baffles me how little people actually know/do this.

But if you’ve watched some documentaries like Food Inc. (HIGHLY recommended) & Supersize Me you’ll know exactly that there are many things wrong with the stuff we’re being served these days and the choices we make continuously.

• Modified crops
• High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• Feeding corn to animals (not natural diet) which affects quality of the meat
• Cost of calorie dense food < Cost of healthy food
• …

It has lead to obesity, alarming rise in diabetes amongst all age groups, depressions, degrading performance and all that other stuff related to bad eating habits.

Not to mention the immense cost of “medical support” that’s required to get us “healthy” again.

How so?

As response to these “affluence-diseases” we jump on pills/treatments that can lower cholesterol, remove depression, get us re-focused and so-on. But these are all temporary fixes, mainly aimed at resolving the symptoms.

Doctors care increasingly less (IMO) about the causes of your diseases but are mainly interested in fixing these symptoms. So they can sell you things that don’t resolve the problem in the long-term.

“Do you mean doctors aren’t overly concerned with our health anymore? That’s ridiculous man!”

Yup, pretty much. But business is business eh?

Let’s not forget the pharmaceutical industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year. 

This has led too;

“an inherent conflict of interest between the legitimate business goals of pharmaceutical manufacturers and the social, medical and economic needs of providers and the public to select and use drugs in the most rational way” – WHO

Money vs. health

Heck they’re even spending twice as much on simply marketing their “products” than on researching.

Twice. as. much.

Anyway.. we already know that this is getting out of hand but since our brain is wired for failure by default we don’t really give much attention to it.

If you want: Here’s some more facts

Sure you can get by trough popping pills & quick-fix schemes that cure you temporary. They might even keep you alive in average health so you’ll be able to continue your mind-numbing job.

But see, here’s the problem with that;

I want myself to function optimally. I DO NOT want “average health’ like is preached in health magazines and schools.

I want laser-focus, endless energy levels and – as a result – mind bending performance.

Optimal Health 101

“Yeah all fancy words and such Simon, but what does it mean?”

I’ve made a compilation of 6 standard rules for myself that allow me to make the best decisions regarding my health at any time.

In my eyes it’s ridiculous not to follow any of these.

Without any further blabbering, here they are;

1. Whole Foods
2. Water
3. Exercise
4. Sleep
5. Essential Supplements
6. Stress management

As a bonus I’ve also included three components to avoid at all costs.

Let’s go;

#1) Eat Whole Foods

If you only take away one tip from this post it should be this one (hence why I put it in the beginning).

We constantly indulge into processed crap like cookies, bakeries, soda, chips, … . But we weren’t designed to eat any of that. Marketers and mutinationals basically cater to our instinctual craving for salt, sugar and fat and then we try to create products that contain all of those.

They create feelings of over-stimulation which release copious amounts of endorphin’s in our mind (feel-good)

We manipulate food to excite our taste buds and neural receptors in the brain to the degree that we’ve become addicted to them. Hereby we forget the taste of “real food” (since it’s pretty stale in comparison)

We’re not motivated enough for choosing taste over nutritional value unless we’re able to rewire our standard brain.

What are whole foods?

Here’s the rule;

If it contains more than one ingredient – don’t eat it.

unprocessed, unrefined & uncomplicated,,

If it doesn’t grow or has lived, it should not go into your body. Twinkies don’t live, Pizza’s don’t grow on trees (last time I checked).

They are a compilation of different ingredients.

Chickens live, rice grows, apples sprout from trees,… .

You get the picture.

This is probably the 1% of health changes which will make up about 50% of your results

#2) Drink Water

Our body is composed out of 65% water. It’s responsible for a gazillion (yeah, I counted them all) important processes in your body.

Instead of drinking high-sugar beverages it is better (understatement of the year) to supply your body with all the water it needs.

During the day and whilst you’re sleeping, you lose a lot of water. So it essential to keep yourself hydrated if you want to avoid fatigue, constipation or headaches. The RDA (recommended daily amount) for water is about 3 liters for men and 2,2 liters for women.  (And it’s recommended to drink even more if you exercise intensively)

Personally I drink about four liters every day to ensure I replenish my lost water reserves – and that’s what I’d recommend to all men.

A great way to check if you need to drink more water is by looking at your urine. If it is yellow (or anything besides see-trough) you are (in my opinion) dehydrated and need to drink more until your urine is crystal clear.

#3) Exercise

Our bodies were made to move but we’re hardly moving at all since everything has become so ridiculously automated.

We don’t need to hunt anymore since we can just go to the supermarket, we don’t need to go out to buy stuff anymore since amazon drops it all off in front of our door, We don’t need to exercise anymore since the Abtronic 5000 can do that for us!

It’s getting ridiculous.

In our current society all our basic needs are pretty much being fulfilled constantly and we simply don’t have any reason anymore to get out of our comfortable chairs and do stuff.

“Fulfill basic needs, preserve energy”- your brain

It’s disturbing and frightening for the future.

The long-term consequences are detrimental. Think obesity, depression, coronary heart disease, diabetes (do I really need to sum up the benefits of exercise?)

I KNOW we’re instinctively programmed to be lazy

But get the RDA at least – at the very least (this is 2,5 hours of moderate intensity exercise a week). It’s astounding how many people don’t even reach this!

The long-term benefits are undeniable.

My recommendation would be to do about 60-90 minutes of intense weightlifting, 4 times a week. Mainly aimed at compound movements that train your whole body. These are;

• Squats
• Dead-lifts
• Bench Presses
• Standing Barbell Shoulder Presses
• Dips & Pull-ups

That’s basically all you’ll need for a boatload of health benefits. Think; bone density, good cholesterol, weight loss, hormonal balance and so-on.

Here’s my most commonly used training regimen. The sets and reps vary although the exercises largely remain the same.

#4) Sleep

Sleep is another necessary ingredient that helps us recover from our training, workloads and whatnot. Repairing cells, improving memory, weight-loss, stress reduction and so-on..

Again, the health benefits are phenomenal. Yet people rarely get a good nights’ sleep! Too much stress, caffeine, distractions, overeating, overexposure to blue light and all that other stuff.

Here’s an article I wrote (a while back) on How To Sleep Better. It’s still useful today!

Another good tip is to sleep in periods of 90 minutes. Humans – on average – sleep in cycles of 90 minutes. Which basically means that whenever you wake up during a cycle you’l feel groggy. So whenever your alarm clock doesn’t synchronize with the ending of a cycle you won’t feel refreshed as you’re pulled out of your deep REM-sleep.

Irecommend sleeping about 6 to 7,5 hours each night. These are respectively 4 and 5 full sleep cycles. This is more than enough (from what I’ve experienced to keep you focused during the day)

If you do get fatigued – take a 20-25 minute power-nap 

#5) Essential Supplements

The manipulation of our foods to grow it faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper like Joel Salatin would say has left it devoid of nutrients. Unless it’s organic (which is the best choice – but also most expensive)

Be sure to take an all-encompassing multivitamin and omega 3 supplement. These are basic and essential for everyone to take.

A good multivitamin should supply at least 100% (I recommend you to take more for optimal health) of the RDA of the 13 major vitamins and useful doses (25 – 100%) of trace minerals.

A good omega 3 supplement contains about a total of 2000mg of the two fatty acids EPA and DHA combined.

Additional antioxidants are optional like Vitamin C (200 – 500mg/day) and Vitamin E (400IU/day)

#6) Stress Management

We live in an extremely stressed-out world. Everything in our environment is agitating us constantly.

Advertisements, lights, video games, work pressures, …

Like James Clear already stated clearly on his blog; Stress is cumulative (meaning it builds up over time).

We just keep piling up physical, mental and emotional stress in our body without giving it the chance  to release this tension. This can lead eventually to over stressing which results in burnouts, depression and chronic fatigue.

How to relax? Here and here are some of my older tips

My favorites at the moment?

• A scented hot-bath with deep-house music for about 25 minutes. (+ candles)
• Meditating and drinking mint tea
• Listening to music or an audio book whilst going for a walk

I recommend relaxing daily as a reward – but only when you’ve completed all your daily tasks.

BONUS: Avoid these 3

Food is being manipulated in such ways that we can raise, grow, harvest it faster and cheaper without taking into account the negative effects it has on our health.

These are the three most important components you should always avoid. Go to your cabin/fridge and scan the labels & ingredients – I recommend to literally throw out anything containing these ingredients. Chances are there won’t be much left.

1. Trans-fats
2. Soy
3. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)

Trans-fats raise you bad cholesterol levels and lower good cholesterol. Making you more prone to artery-clogging and cardiac arrest.

Soy can lead to reduced functioning of the thyroid (results in low energy, slow metabolism, cold all the time, …). High doses in men can also lead to decreased testosterone (resulting in low libido, low stamina, weight gain,…)

It has some studies that moderate portions have some health benefits but these are minimal compared to other (better) food choices.

HFCS is the predominant sweetener used in processed food and soda. It’s derived as a byproduct from our enormous corn-production which has made it cheaper to use than sugar. It’s highly concentrated and devoid of nutrients. Basically it is a synonym for obesity, diabetes and heap of other diseases.

Other components you should test in your diet are lactose & gluten. Many people are sensitive to these without even knowing it. Try to eliminate them out of your diet for 4 weeks and then re-introduce them to see the differences.

Essence

There’s a lot been said on diets and health and it’s still unclear what will make you perform optimally. Different people have varying reactions to certain types of diet. Therefore I’d say you should keep experimenting and see what suits you best.

(note: I’ve been experimenting between paleo and ketogenic diets the last two weeks which has messed up my energy levels & focus – experimenting gradually is recommended)

But by following these 6 essential health tips you’ll shoot far above the masses in regards to your health – which in turn exponentially increases the quality of your life.

Who doesn’t want that eh?

If you let your food choices be decided by people who couldn’t care less about your health nor the quality of your life you’ll fall victim to a whole array of diseases and even become susceptible to premature death.

Eating right will allow you to have greater focus, greater energy and an all-round greater life.

Get your diet in check and your mind will follow.

Short re-cap;

• Whole foods, preferably organic
• 3 -4l water/day
• 60-90 mins compound weightlifting – 4x/week
• 6-7,5 hours sleep/night
• Relax 25 minutes/day
• Essential supplements: HIGH quality Multivitamin & Omega 3

Extra action points;

• Read “The Ultramind Solution” by Mark Hyman
• Watch Food INC. & Supersize Me

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If you feel like this post can help anyone out that you know, feel free to share it with your friends or send it in a mail to your mom! It helps me out a lot! If you’re having any thoughts or questions on this topic, feel free to share those with me in the comment section below.

Take care,

Simon

Plateaus

Ever have the feeling in the gym where you’re giving all you got, but still can’t see any results? Well that might be because you’ve hit a training plateau!  Your body has become used to your regular routine and isn’t “forced” to grow anymore because it has already perfectly adapted itself. Well in this post I’m going to give you 10 new training methods that can help you get more out of your training by giving your body a workout it has never done before. Your muscles won’t have any other choice but to grow!

Also check out a previous post I made about the 16 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Weight Training.

If you don’t feel like listening to all my rambling, feel free to skip to the bottom of the post where I’ve recapped the essentials ;) Happy reading.

#1) Super sets, Tri-sets & Giant sets

Normally you would be doing one excersise at a time but with supersets, tri-sets or giant sets you’re doing multiple excersises in a row! When you’re done with the first excersise, just drop the weights and starts pumping out the other one(s). No rest for the weary!

#2) Drop sets

When you are on the last set of your exercise and you have gone to failure with that weight. Quickly drop in weight a bit and (try to) do the same amount of reps. Drop the weight again and repeat. Keep repeating until you reach ultimate failure. This makes the muscle work to its maximum potential and will make you feel sore untill weeks after your workout ;) You can thank me later.

#3) Rest pause

Pick up a weight you can handle for a few sets but not for the full exercise (so go pretty heavy on this one). When you are pushing out the last reps and feel like you can’t do any more, put the weight down for 5 seconds (pause). And then finish your set. This will force your body to get stronger since it has to deal with a resistance which is greater than it can handle.

#4) Pyramid Training

Normally you would do x amount of sets with x amount of reps. When you train in pyramid form your reps variate throughout the exercise. So instead of doing 4 sets of 10 repetitions for example you’re going to do 15 reps the first set, 12 reps the second, then 10 and on the last set you’re going to do 8 repetitions. To ensure you’re not making the exercise easier (that won’t get you stronger ;)) you increase the weight every working set.

#5) Eccentric training/negatives

Every exercise you do in the gym consists out of two parts; The contraction (squeezing the muscle tight) and the extension (stretching of the muscle). During your training you’ll mostly be using them both in each excersise. But with negative training you’re going to limit yourself to only doing the extension (eccentric). A muscle has the ability to handle more resistance during the negative part of the exercise, so make sure you overload on this one ;)

#6) Consistent hold

With this training method, you’re going to do a three second hold at both extremes of the exercise. So for example when you’re curling the weight up, you’re going to hold it for three seconds in the top position and that slowly lower it down again until you reach your lowest position where you’re going to hold it again for three seconds.

Really squeeze the muscle until you can’t contract it any further and make sure you keep constant tension on the muscle during the whole range of motion.

#7) Time under tension

With this method you keep your muscles actively under tension during your rest periods but without any resistance. So when you are resting between sets, you just flex the muscle you’re training and hold that contraction for a while. The more time your muscle is under tension, the more blood and nutrition you’ll pump into that area. It hasn’t really been proven that this method works but I contribute a lot of my muscle soreness and mass to this neat technique.

#8) Dominator sets

This is a similar principle as the drop set but this time you are going to halve the weight each following set but you’re going to do them much slower. Think 6-10 seconds for one rep. An example could be; four counts for the positive and 4 counts for the negative. But you can use any amount that works for you. Play around with this a little bit.

#9) Unilateral/concentration training

The body is build symmetrical. Which means that you have (most of the time) two pieces of each muscle (two biceps, two triceps, two traps, two pectorals,…) With unilateral training you focus on one muscle at a time instead of using them both at the same time.

Essence

I hope this has helped you to spice up your training regimen. With these quick methods you’ll be on your way to maximize your gains and blast trough those plateaus! Now go on and kick some ass in the gym! And as always, thanks for reading.

If you’re having any thoughts or questions on this topic, feel free to share those with me in the comment section below.
Take care!

Love

Simon

 

 

Full Body Workout

Are you looking to add some muscle mass to your frame and gain some serious strength but aren’t exactly sure what kind of exercises are good for you? Well you’re in luck today! I’ve put together this great full body workout that works all of the major muscle groups in one workout. It consists predominantly out of compound exercises so by doing them it will recruit a larger amount of muscle fibers when compared to isolation exercises. You can probably do this workout in any gym since the exercises I’ve used are pretty standard! It is short, intense and works your full body. (I’ve also included some general tips that have benefited me). Press any of the exercise links to watch an easy demonstration of the exercise. The full body workout I’ve put together contains the following exercises;

Barbell Back Squat (4 sets x 10 repetitions)

• Don’t let your knees pass in front of your toe
• Just go a little bit deeper than parallel
• Feet should be a little bit further apart than shoulder-width

Deadlift (4 sets x 10 repetitions)

• Be sure you don’t arch your back! Keep it hollow!
• Chest up
• Look forward
• Lock out all the way at the top and put it back down in a controlled fashion (touch ‘n go)

Incline Dumbbell Press (4 sets x 10 repetitions)

• Don’t let your elbows flare out to much to the side. They should be pointing a little bit forward
• Don’t lock out your joints on the positive part of  the exercise (the pressing motion). This takes the tension of the chest and that’s not what we want.

Standing Barbell Neck Press (4 sets x 10 repetitions)

• Lower the bar to your clavicle while tilting your head back
• When pressing the bar over your head, lower your head back down. Don’t lock your your elbows when doing this!

Dips (4 sets x 10 repetitions)

• Go a little bit past a 90° angle with your elbows!
• Fully lock out your elbow joints at the top

Pull-ups (4 sets x max repetitions)

• Grab the bar, your palms facing away from you.
• Pull the bar to chest level and do as much repetitions as you can

Essence

Note that this is a advanced workout routine for people who are looking for a challenge. You shouldn’t attempt this when you are not familiar with any of the exercises. Ask your trainer about this workout and see what aspects you can use in your training. This is definitely one of the most engaging and challenging workouts ‘ve tried the last couple of months. This will really stimulate your body into growing!I If you are finding any difficulty with this training or experience joint pain you should stop immediately. If you’ve tried my workout, let me know how it went! :D Or If you have any thoughts or suggestions on this topic, feel free to share them in the comment section below. Take care! Love Simon

Sleep Zzz

I can honestly say that my sleeping pattern has improved dramatically over the last couple of months. I’ve found some great tips and tricks in books and on the internet I wanted to try out. So I’ve made some key changes in my sleeping habits and have noticed a great impact on my energy levels, focus, sleep quality and the time it actually takes to fall asleep (When I’m tired I fall asleep in under 5 minutes!)

So I decided to bundle these awesome tips in one post on how to sleep better! If you don’t want to hear me rambling about all that you can just skip to end where I’ve captured the essence and you can like it already! (and pretend you actually read it and how amazed you are by my exquisite writing skills ;))

So without further ado, here is how I ensure a deep, rejuvenating sleep cycle every night;

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Limit Caffeine!

You’ve probably heard this one a million times before. But it’s still the truth. Caffeine staysMmm… coffeein your system a lot longer than you probably realize. I’ve heard plenty of people say “I just drink one or two cups of coffee a  day, so that can’t be the cause of my sleeping problems.”

Well I believe you’re wrong. Caffeine is shown to stay in your body for quite some time and hereby disturb your beauty sleep profoundly (insert sad-face). So it’s best to avoid caffeine in the late afternoon and during nighttime.

“The results showed that consuming caffeine 3 and even 6 hours before bedtime significantly disrupts sleep – even when consumed 6 hours before bedtime, it reduced objectively measured total sleep time by more than 1 hour.” – Catharine Paddock PhD

Monitor Madness

Televisions, pc, cell-phones. Basically any monitor that radiates “blue” light will suppress the production of melatonin in your brain (which is more commonly known as the sleep hormone). This “blue” light has the same effect on our brains as the sun does. It tells our body that it’s still day-time and therefore blocks the production of melatonin. Because of this I’d recommend to remove tv’s and alarm clocks from your bedroom (make it completely dark or use a sleeping mask)

The bedroom should only be used to relax, sleep and have sex.

On your laptop there’s also a great way to convert this blue light into more soothing, melatonin friendly red light with a program called flux (free). This software will optimize the light emitted by your laptop. I definitely recommend you take a look at it!

Wash your Sheets!

Maybe you can’t fall asleep because you can’t breathe right (or the odor of your bed is to intoxicating ;).) Washing your sheets regularly removes all the dead skin cells and odors that have accumulated over your 8-hour battle with the firebreathing dragonlord in dreamland! If you’re still not convinced, just give it a try and I assure you’ll notice the difference. It’s recommended to wash your sheets at least once a week

(Ow and keep you pets of the bed unless you want to choke on a hairball while you are sleeping – true story)

Dinner Dash

Yeah, don’t eat that much before going to bed!  Your body can’t come to rest if it still needs to process those triple cheesburgers with peanutbutter jelly cream you just devoured :/ Avoid eating 2 to 3 hours before bed or at least (try to) keep it light ;)

You should do the same for drinking water unless you want to be woken in the middle of the night for a bathroom break.

Eat To Improve Your Sleep

Yellow mustard contains a good dose of melatonin which makes falling asleep  a whole lot easier!  It’s highly concentrated and therefore one of the best things you can eat to induce sleep (Great with salmon and spinach or you can just gobble down a spoonful at once if you’re up to the challenge.)

Some other foods that are high in melatonin are walnuts, corn, rice and peanuts. 

Blocked Nose

I have a blocked nose that constantly irritates me. You can’t fall asleep if you can’t breathe right? So I’ve found some really sweet tricks to clear my blocked nose so I can breathe clearly once again!

There is this cool method (which I use most of the time) which involved pinching your nose whilst exhaling and rocking your head back and forth. As demonstrated in this video;

Besides looking like a mentally handicapped this does work! So next time you have a blocked nose, do the retarded, nose pinching head shake and you’ll be good to go! This is probably the easiest and fastest way to clear out a blocked nose!

You can also use a lot of different methods like a neti pot, putting onions next to your bed, inhaling steam or putting a hot compress on your nose. But those aren’t as easy and convenient as the method demonstrated in the video.

Improve Sleep Pattern

Another reason you might have sleeping problems is because your body has no sleeping pattern (or it is far from ideal). There’s much been said upon sleeping patterns but the most ideal way to fall asleep faster is by forcing your body to wake up at the same time every day (yes, that includes holidays and weekends) your body will then adjust its sleeping pattern. It will realize that you only give it x amount of time to recover and it’ll adjust your bio-rhythm by becoming tired, sooner. (= sweet). This way you don’t have to toss and turn for half an hour before you actually start to drift away. When I’m tired I usually fall asleep in five minutes or less!

Also note that you should only go to bed when you are actually tired! There’s no point in lying in bed when you aren’t actually tired (just because you feel that you “should” be sleeping at a certain time.) A great test to check if you’re tired is by reading a book. If you can’t focus anymore on reading two pages in a row then it’s time to turn off the lights (and no sooner).

The “best” sleeping pattern would be the one of “free running sleep”

“There is only one formula for healthy and refreshing sleep: Go to sleep only when you are very tired. Not earlier. Not later. Wake up naturally without an alarm clock.”

Increase Temperature

By raising your body temperature you can dilate your arteries and thereby lowering your heart rate. Baths, showers and drinking warm beverages like warm milk or tea are great to induce sleep!

It is also recommended to keep you room between 65 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit (18 – 24° Celsius). But I would recommend to pick a room temperature that feels comfortable for you. So nice and warm in the winter and cool in the summertime. Whatever you like.

No Alcohol

Skip on alcohol altogether since it can cause sleep apnea and suppress breathing during the night. You might think that drinking a “night cap” helps you sleep better but this is only true in the short term (as sleep inducer.) In the long term it is rather disruptive to your sleeping pattern because you tend to sleep longer and your body isn’t really “resting” since it still has to process the alcohol.

Listen To Music

Listening to some music can help you to relax your mind. It helps clear out all those thoughts and decrease brain activity (if you have any ;)). I mostly listen to some piano music and other tunes like;
Dj Shah – Mellomaniac, Airstream – Electra or pretty much any Deep House Playlist!

I’m also going to mention Marconi Union – Weightless , since it’s proven to be the “most relaxing” song ever. But I tend to like harmonic music over ambient music and that’s why I personally don’t really like it.

Listening to music is also a great way to block out annoying noises that keep you up at night (cars passing by, dripping faucets, crying babies or snoring husbands.) You could also sleep with ear plugs but personally I’ve found those ineffective.

Excercise

Pretty self-explantory

Physical exertion will make sure that your energy reserves for the day are depleted and your body will want to recover.

Clean your room!

I always say that a cluttered environment creates a cluttered mind. When you have to much stuff to worry about, your brain can’t possibly come to a rest. So make sure you don’t create any extra problems and handle those small details like cleaning your room. It’s also a great idea to vacuum regularly since dust and allergens can build up over time and mess with your breathing.

And last but not least…

Sex (Lots Of It!)

Yeah, a great way to totally relax your body is by having an orgasm (or more) and overloading your brain with Oxytocin! Find yourself a good girl/man to satisfy your needs (Note that it is best to not overdo this since it might drain your energy for the next day)

Essence

So those were all my tips for improving your sleep. If you find yourself to be sleepy during the day because you still need to get used to the new sleeping pattern, you can always resort to power-naps! These will give you a quick burst of energy so you can make it through the day (but don’t go over 25 minutes) I’ve included some more tips on staying awake in an earlier post, titled “How to stay awake” (+10 originality points!) Anyway, here’s a quick re-cap of all my tips;

• Limit caffeine,
• Optimize lighting,
• Eat small meals,
• Limit water
• Wash sheets
• No pets on the bed
• Eat smart
• Clear nose
• Establish better sleeping pattern
• Increase body temperature
• Cut alcohol
• Listen to music
• Exercise
• Clean Room!
• Orgasms!

All right that’s quite some tips on how to sleep better! Go apply them TODAY!
If you still experience sleeping problems after you’ve applied all these tips, you are pretty much doomed to stay awake forever.

No night-night for you :/

Anyways, if you are having any thoughts or questions on this topic, feel free to share those with me in the comment section below. Let me know if it worked!
Take care & Sweet dreams

Simon

Sources

• http://www.social-consciousness.com/2012/09/lucid-dreaming-7-tricks-you-didnt-know.html
• http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm
• http://supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm