Original post from December 29, 2020

1. cold showers (Wim, Ferriss, Robbins, Rubin, Naval, Laird).
2. Pinch of salt in water, (Rogan, Marcus, Ferriss, Starret, Wolf)
3. Taking naps to improve creativity, (Dali, Edison).
4. Stillness, (Da Vinci, Milton).
5. Index Cards, Napkins, fascicles, (Dickinson, H. MacLeod, Holiday, Lynch, Kleon).

Thank you, for

1. This blog, even though I know I have a staggering 0% of readers right now, it’s still I privelege that I get to use my own name to write my own opinions down on the Internet. For free no less. And how creative I can be with it. I started with just doing image posts which I copied from jjjjound.com but I’ve started writing again and now I’m going to see where this goes. But ultimately I can do whatever I want which makes me feel good.
2. Making gratitude lists. I don’t do it enough and this is a future reminder to myself to do them more often.
3. My high school physics teacher. His last year before he left the school was my senior year and I hadn’t been in touch. But yesterday I sent him an email. He wrote me back.
4. A cup of english breakfast which I make in my bedroom everymorning, using a little keurig one cup machine. Then a large pot of black tea in the afternoon. Brand doesn’t matter much to me.
5. The Ksafe. (Kitchen Safe) For giving me a sense of control. I can stick my phone in there - which despite what I tell myself I pick up every unlock incessantly to check messages. When I put my phone in the box I feel the temptation lift from my shoulders. Same thing for Freedom, to disable the wifi on my mac.
6. Books. They give me purpose. I like to find tiny habits that I can experiment with. From the Power Bible, what Beteet mentioned about listening to Jocko’s Discpline Field Manual is just my speed. Now every morning (most) I put it on Spotify, And I’ve also adapted by reading the same essays over and over from Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charlie Munger. Practicing both makes me stronger.
7. Solitude. I’ve acted on something that I didn’t understand for a long time. That’s the bad feeling I get when I leave a friends house, or after staying up late to go on backyard with friends. Although it’s “nice” to be around people, I can only stand anyone for so long, and ultimately I leave just feeling guilty for wasting my time. That’s the bad feeling I get in my gut. Don’t ignore those feelings. There’s a mind body connection, if you’d listen. I wish I hadsooner…
8. Phone Calls. On the other hand, I hate eating alone. This is something I wasted most of high school and college doing. Calling my brother or best friend while eating lunch makes all the difference for me.
9. Books Pt 2 which for large part, I read “self-improvement” but to what I’ve “improved” I haven’t the slightest idea (joke). I’ve improved. But I also am aware of how much I could still improve. Because of reading and books. Some books make me feel really stupid. Nassim Taleb, thank you for calling me out on my bt. Thank you to a bunch of other people and their books to.
10. the bright side of COVID-19. Staying home for my internship which lets me do work with my feet up on the couch, and not have to stuff myself into a suit and tie to then stuff myself onto a sweaty commute. no thank you. If you have had a bad experience with COVID, sorry.

So, in a sense, whenever I listen to Jocko, I lessen the power that the mainstream media has over my decision-making faculties and I strengthen my own. The most terrifying and awesome part of auto-suggestion is the degree to which it will control your actions. Listening to Jocko for a couple of hours a day for several months, it’s now impossible for me to hit the snooze button. I feel the compulsion to strive to become the strongest version of myself, to go to the gym multiple times a day, to reach out to the people I love, to assert control over the mind.

From The Power Bible by Brendon Lemon and William Beteet III

This book is full of actionable advice. This is one takeaway I got from reading it today. This is powerful. Good books need to be read slowly, over and over again. And it makes me think of the quote attributed to Bruce Lee,

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.