Issue #107: Pay Attention to What You Do
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, January 17th. What a day of birthdays - Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, Golden Girl Betty White, James Earl Jones, Muhammad Ali, Jim Carrey, and Michelle Obama all born on this date.
In a world of there's a holiday for everything - apparently today is "Rid the World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day."
“When time is money, idle hours are a waste of money. This is the philosophical underpinning of all our modern stress: that time is too valuable to waste.”
From the Lab: Pay Attention to What You Do
Take Action: Schedule Time for What You WANT
Speed Read: The ChatGPT Take Over
Tuesday QR: PB/Chocolate Bars for Post-Workout
Bucket List: Sleeping in a Bubble
The total percentage of our day we spend socializing, relaxing, thinking, working out, reading or other leisure activities. That's right less than eight percent of our day is spent doing things for ourselves (Bureau of Labor Statistics). *Excludes TV/phone time.
From the Lab
What did you do yesterday?
Maybe you had the day off, maybe you didn’t. Either way - was it memorable? Did you have any fun? Did you do something just for you?
I get it - we gotta take care of things at work, with the family, and at home - seems impossible to find the time to start actually playing the piano (which has been on my list for years) or to start growing our own veggies (our small gardens never make it past a few peppers).
But that’s bullsh*t on my end. I do have the time, but have allowed the spread of “feeling productive” to expand beyond the time I need to actually get something done.
There is no bigger value you can give to anything in life than our attention (i.e. “pay” attention) - so how do we typically spend our day:
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (link, link, link); Sleepcycle.com
So wait a minute - we've got over five hours of leisure time per day!
Well yes, but...in this fast-paced world, even when we're not working, we're still thinking about what we "should" be doing. Phones at the dinner table or when playing with the kids anyone?
Then, at the end of the day we’re so tired, we rely on TV or phones to take up the leisure time we have left.
Want to know how many of those 5.5 hours go to TV/phone time? 3.7 hours.
That's right - two-thirds of our free time is in front of the screen watching other people live their life.
Nothing wrong with catching some Aussie Open or figuring out if Glass Onion was smart or boring - but it can become our default and take up too much of our valuable time.
Take Action
Let’s break this cycle - create a schedule that prioritizes time for you and doing stuff you WANT to do, not just what you “need” to do.
I promise, there’s a lot more time in the week than you think!
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Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
Holding Court: The Australian Open kicked off Monday in Melbourne (Sunday in New York). The men’s and women’s singles draws are holding pretty true to form - with only 2 seeds knocked out in each. The biggest news Monday was Australia’s Nick Kyrgios withdrawing 24 hours before his first match with a knee injury. (AO)
They Call Me Mellow Yellow: A recent study showed that stress tends to reduce in our 40s and 50s - in direct opposition to the “midlife crisis.” The study tracked 3,000 randomly selected participants across the US aged 22-77. Researchers conducted short interview-bursts about life and stress with participants in 1996, 2005 and 2017. (WSJ)
Generative AI: Why is AI suddenly everywhere? Mostly because ChatGPT will apparently soon be writing this newsletter (and everything else you read). “Generative” just means this type of AI can generate something new based on what it has “learned.” Microsoft just increased its investment in OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, valuing the company at $29B. For that money - it should be a better writer than me or we should start charging for this. (Vox)
Tuesday QR (Quick Recipe)
Look - I'm addicted to peanut butter. It's the food I missed the most during my fast - just the perfect combination of protein and fat. We'll here's an easy way to make a PB/chocolate bar for that post-workout snack!
Bucket List
Martinique
We've been all about cold plunges and northern lights lately - how about something completely different. Fresh off Max's trip to Québec, we're still thinking French and landed on the beautiful island of Martinique. In the fall of 2021, the entire island was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, recognizing the destination's commitment to sustainable economic and social development - there are 150 miles of hiking trails.
White sand beaches, mountain ranges, rainforests - the island has a lot to offer. Oh and you can feel like you're really sleeping in the outdoors, without actually being crushed by bugs and any other local wildlife in these "Bubbles". Just bring your French dictionary!
Thanks for joining us today!
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Why Thrive25
We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 3-5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.
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To health!
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25 Labs LLC does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.