Quotes, Friendship, Supplements, and Consistency (For web)

Here are some Brain Bits from the past couple weeks.

Quote that has stuck with me

We want to be masters of the future only for the power to change the past - Milan Kundera

The quote above, comes from The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera. I started reading this book recently, and I have to say, it beautifully encapsulates how individual human emotions and false perceptions influence relationship dynamics (both platonic & romantic).

This quote in particular stopped my eyes dead in their tracks. It inspired a little moment of pondering, about how my own aspirations are really just me trying to control my own past experiences. For me, I’m quite fortunate, these are mostly limited to certain feelings of inadequacy, lack of connection, and some struggles associated with chronic health issues. But still, this gave me a moment to consider why I’m undertaking certain pursuits: university studies, dedicating time to my website & writing, pursuing exercise goals, and attending certain social clubs.

In my opinion, this is a great check-in quote. To re-evaluate your intentions. To prevent your insecurities from misleading you. To become aware of your why, and to have some agency over it.

My new favourite definition of friendship

The pursuit of friendship is finding someone who is willing to grow with you. - Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek landed this absolute beauty of a line on the Modern Wisdom podcast. In the past, I’ve subconsciously alluded this to myself, that a real friendship consists of a relationship that fosters growth between two people, but this line just nailed it into my brain.

For me, this perfectly lasers in on why I’m unfulfilled in most of my “friendships”. It’s because I don’t feel like we’re growing together. Most of these platonic relationships consist of occasional meetups, where we talk about life. They can be quite pleasant, but they’re sparse, and lack much of the consistency necessary to “grow with someone”. And it’s OKAY to have these types of relationships, but if they’re your only relationships, things become quite lonely. Because, the truth is, we need people to grow with. We need solid friendships.

This line is now a reminder, for me, of what a true, close, and healthy friendship consists of. In the future, I’m curious to see how keeping this in-mind might help me develop closer friendships. There are two main take-aways here:

• Keep growing in as many ways as you can
• Find people who are willing to join you for the ride

A supplement awakening

A recent Diary of A CEO podcast episode with Dr. Ronda Patrick blew me away as well. It explored a variety of key nutrients and supplements that we should all be taking more seriously. In it, she discussed the importance of vitamin D and why you should supplement, since we spend most of our time indoors. She discussed a variety of studies showing how multi-vitamins actually increase cognitive performance (even the generic brands). The next 3 topics listed below really opened my eyes, and convinced me to run to Healthy Planet and buy some supplements:

1. Creatine

• She discussed the new research of how creatine dramatically improves cognitive performance, alongside many other things: cognitive performance under sleep deprivation, muscle recovery, dementia prevention, etc.
• She talks about how 5g/day (the usual dose), gets mostly used up by your muscle if you’re an athlete. Therefore, the cognitive benefits of creatine are only available at doses starting around 10g/day. She partially uses it as a nootropic on particularly cognitively challenging or stressful days, where she ups her dosage to 20g/day.
• I learned from a nutritionist at Healthy Planet that you want “Micronized Creatine Monohydrate” in order to have the most bio-available form.

2. Fish oil (DHA & EPA)

It was discussed how:

• It’s essential for dealing with inflammation (which is music to my ears)
• A Harvard study identified not eating sea-food as the 6th most preventable cause of death
• Another study showed that smoking is as bad for you, in terms of mortality, as having a low Omega 3 index
• All you have to do is eat more Salmon and/or supplement with above 2 g of fish oil per day
  • She believes that omega 3 supplements are better overall because they’re purified. Meaning no risk of consuming excess mercury (and other heavy metals), or micro-plastics, which are quite concentrated in marine life.

3. Magnesium

It was discussed how:

• Over 300 enzymes in your body need it to function properly
• It’s also needed to use and make energy
• Dark leafy greens contain lots of magnesium (magnesium is at the center of chlorophyll molecules, hence the dark leafy green part)
• It’s required to turn vitamin D into a necessary steroid hormone
• Athletes need 10-20 % more magnesium than the general population
• If you’re “getting enough of it” it’s probably being used up by energy creation pathways, and is fully depleted before it can be used in repair pathways. Therefore, taking a magnesium supplement, gives our bodies the extra amount needed for repair processes. Which aids in sustaining our health as we get older.

Developing consistency as a life standard

Developing and growing as a human being requires consistently engaging in a deliberate practice.

Consistency is the skill that builds skills. It allows us to take advantage of compounding returns.

Yet, it’s a skill that many of us struggle with, because it’s simple, yet difficult. Out of laziness, we distract ourselves trying to find a more complicated way of doing things, which we sometimes perceive as being easier. If we just did the simple act, of consistently engaging in whatever activity, hobby, or project we wish to develop, we’d be better off.

I’m trying to embody consistency more and more in my life. For me, this includes

On a daily:

• Waking up & sleeping within a regular time window (currently 9:30/10:00 PM → 6:30/7:00 AM)
• Exercising (endurance and/or resistance training)
  • 10-30 minutes of morning yoga
  • Physio & pelvic exercises
  • Endurance: Running, Biking, Swimming, or Top-rope climbing
  • Resistance Training: Push, Pull, Shoulders, and Legs workouts (weights + calisthenics) OR Bouldering
• Tracking & eating necessary nutrients (mainly focusing on protein intake & micronutrient dense foods)
  • I use the app chronometer to track my macro & micro nutrients
  • This also includes taking daily supplements & vitamins
• Writing minimum 500 words or revising/editing for 1 hour every-day (sometimes a combo of both)
  • Been quite lazy on this one the last 1-2 weeks. I really want it to be my first cognitive task of the day, so I can get through it while I have the most cognitive energy.

4x/week:

• Reading 20 pages of a book (outside of university or studies)
• 25 pull-ups a day (attempting to overcome some muscle imbalances fueling an injury)
• 15 minutes of french
• Breathwork session (breath-hold tables or Wim Hof method).

I’ve been pretty bad at sticking to the latter 3. Currently trying to be more consistent.

I track most of these daily practices on an app called Streaks (which has a really pleasant UI).

I’m currently really trying to live by this motto:

To the best of your ability, consistently do the things you know you should do

Through this, I hope to build a purposeful career, creative outlets (such as writing & music), athletic capability, overall good health, and flourishing relationships with great people.

That wraps up my second newsletter for August. Hope you enjoyed.