Issue #302: Winning the Margins
Good morning. It’s Saturday, February 10th.
In today’s email:
Focus: Margin Planning
Inspire: A New Way to Play the Guitar
Brain Games: Pre-Algebra
Stat of the Day
The number of decisions an average American makes every day - it’s called decision fatigue. (Source)
Revisit
This week we discussed the latest science on light therapy and how to use light to improve your health.
Issue #300 - discover how light, natural and artificial, impacts your circadian rhythm and overall health and wellbeing.
Issue #301 - learn how red light can improve mitochondrial function, boosting energy, and possibly enhance/maintain your vision as you age.
Click HERE to check out the entire Thrive25 archive.
Focus
Margin Planning
Hey all - Max here again. Last week I talked about something on my mind - mental reps. Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately…
I haven’t optimized my life and I know from Four Thousand Weeks, that’s not the point of living anyway.
We make a lot of decisions - see Stat of the Day. And sure, most of these decisions don’t change our life.
But there are seemingly small decisions that make or break my day. Like getting up 45 minutes earlier for a morning workout instead of having the kids wake me up. Like doing a quick game of Wordle (or maybe a quick set of push-ups) instead of scrolling social media when I need to recharge at work. Like mentally turning off work when I’m having dinner with the fam.
So really these decisions do affect my life.
We make many of these decisions with our unconscious mind - 90% of the time we’re on autopilot.
To break this cycle - last Saturday I decided to take control of my upcoming calendar and use the cerebral part of my brain to make the best decisions away from the moment. I added activities to my calendar that you typically wouldn’t see on a calendar.
I asked myself these questions:
How can I avoid being overwhelmed with my wife out of town for 3 days?
What mornings can I work out? How can I vary up my workouts?
When should I eat to support these workouts? Which days should I fast - skipping breakfast vs. have a smoothie?
How can I be present and play with the kids more after school?
The weather will be warmer in Chicago - how can I get outside?
When can I make the time and space for meditation?
What can I focus on to help me fall asleep?
It took about 30 minutes for me to think through these questions and create a plan for the week. In one session, I eliminated a series of future decisions I would need to make, and I made them at a time I could control. Here’s what I came up with…
The Plan*
The Results
What’s the saying - “the best laid plans…”?
Well, between Saturday and Monday, I came down with a cold and struggled to sleep Sunday night. That wiped out my morning workout on Monday. So much for that plan - try again next week, right?
A funny thing happened instead. Because I had the plan written down, I said it’s ok and just rolled with it. Instead of quitting, I dug in and quickly figured out how to adjust my schedule to make it work. The plan was just a plan, but inadvertantly, I created an accountability partner within myself.
It’s why we have financial planners, it’s why we do meal planning - we create this semblance of accountability. So why not plan and include life decisions - exercise, food, family - on your calendar to make your day awesome?
And Autopilot?
I also noticed a course correction for my autopilot. At 10p, instead of:
Sure, I still went on the ESPN app, checked on the most valuable info (to me), but I got back to my evening routine, instead of scrolling through stuff I don’t care about and maybe not meditating.
I was able to influence the margins by having these activities on my calendar. So why not try it out? Your questions will undoubtedly be different than mine, but it’s a great way to increase the value of your time on the edge of your routines…
You might just find you can control time instead of it controlling you.
* Thanks to TMAC Fitness for the workouts!
Thrive25 Partner Spotlight
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Inspire
No Limits
Think there aren’t any new ways to play the guitar? We talked about limiting beliefs (Issue #50) and how our mind can hold us back - whether that’s from that last push on a run or doing something extraordinary.
Don’t ever think you’re not capable of more…and enjoy the music.
Brain Games
Pre-Algebra
There are four variables - A, B, C, D - with four possible values - 1, 2, 3, 4. None of the variables can share the same number. Based on the following equations, what do the variables equal:
2C = B
B + D > 4C
4C = D
Inspiration: Brainzilla
**For answer, scroll to the bottom of the post
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Thanks for another great week!
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** Brain Games Answer **
Yellow are the values for the variables. A=3, B=2, etc.
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