Tag: Lifestyle

Cool, Daily Life

Weekend Random Thoughts

It’s the weekend people, whoop, whoop! Actually, everyday is a weekend for me. No I take that back – I sort of have the opposite schedule. Monday through Friday is when I prefer to do things. Weekends I hibernate in the house to avoid the weekend crowds. Although with Covid and the ensuing work-from-home onslaught, weekdays are getting just as crowded as weekends. All you people need to go back to the office! Anyway, I haven’t done this in a while so here’s some random thoughts for you:

  • We went to an in-person movie last night for the first time in… four years probably. We slowly stopped going because every movie being made is/was superhero, Marvel, or remakes of something. We’d go through the listings and not be able to find anything that wasn’t going to subtract brain cells. Then Covid hit and, well, we never went back. So last night was my first experience in one of the fancy theaters with the reclining (and shaking/vibrating) seats. Pretty cool. Unfortunately every single trailer was a hard no. Why can’t Hollywood get back to original scripts?
  • The movie we chose to go see was Dune, Part 2. Since we hadn’t seen Part 1 we had to binge that at home beforehand. Both were interesting. A little hard to follow if you know nothing about Dune. long, but never dragged.
  • The ski season went from piss-poor to never ending. Our local resort got another foot overnight. Crazy for early April.
  • Speaking of snow, my new flip flops just arrived yesterday. Ready for Spring.
  • I have a probable neuroma on the bottom of my foot. It’s a little ball of scar tissue that presses on the nerve in-between the toes. Imagine a scalding hot nail pressing up through your foot. I’ve been dealing with it for several years now. I’ve tried everything – natural toe box shoes, barefoot time, toe spacers, neuroma pads, toe stretching bands. Maybe a tiny bit of relief, but not much. I finally broke down and scheduled an appointment with a doc. Unfortunately, if this is really what it is, there’s not much you can do. Cortisone shots are a first attempt. Last option is surgery to cut the nerve. Sigh. Maybe there’s a new miracle treatment out there now.
  • Going on my first overnight motorcycle camping trip of the year in two weeks. I’m actually a little nervous. A few weeks ago, I rode for the first time since winter started and it was like I’d never seen a motorcycle before. The weather needs to improve quickly so I can get some practice time in.
  • I went down a rabbit hole watching how-to videos on making videos look more cinematic. I then went back and rewatched a bunch of the videos I’ve made and realized they all look like an eighth grader got a hold of a camcorder for the first time. It’s hard to explain. You watch a well done YouTube video and it looks simple and effortless. In my head that’s what I’m doing but it never actually comes out that way. I need to practice and figure this out.
  • I’ve grown tired of my music playlist. As I’m blasting it the garage gym, I find myself skipping four or five songs for every one I let play. I probably just need to sit down and spend a day curating my music, but that seems like work. I wonder if you can pay someone to do that for you?
  • The new status symbol is to have a podcast. At this point, who doesn’t have a podcast? I’d have a podcast expect for that whole, you know, talking to people thing.
  • Is it just me, or has the quality of meat just plummeted? We subscribed for quite a few years to a meat delivery service (Butcher Box). Finally got rid of it because the quality got so bad. We just bought a quarter cow and even that is just meh. The price per pound of prime beef, even at Costco, has gotten crazy. Thanks Bidenomics. At this rate we will have to eat the WEF bugs soon.
  • I’ve gotten old enough that my first nephew is graduating college. I don’t envy him trying to enter the job market now.
  • I went on the first mountain bike ride of the season the other day with my crazy fit neighbor. My legs still hurt. He took pity on me and went running for a few hours before we rode because he knew we’d be going slower (ouch, that stung the ego a bit).
  • In running, cycling, and hiking there’s something called a Fuck You break. The stronger fastest people get to the top first and get a nice long break. As soon as the slowest person gets to the top, everyone takes off again. Those who need the break the least, get the most. I was always the one at the top first. Now, I’m the recipient of the FU break. This pisses me off. This injustice will not stand.
  • We head to Mexico in three weeks. I was planning on being in speedo shape, but oddly enough that didn’t happen. Oh well, taco and tequila tasting tours it is.

Ok, that’s enough for now. Any longer and I’ll bust into discussions of politics or religion. I’m staring out at the snow and puddles of mud wondering what to do today. Maybe I’ll go experiment with video. Or a picture walkabout. Hmm. Maybe today will be the music playlist day. Or maybe a nap. Anything to avoid cleaning out the basement.

Peace out, and go practice your Contrarianism (TM).

Daily Life, Health

How Old Are You?

Age is one of those things you can’t escape. Like the slow drift of the continental plates, it’s going to happen whether you want it to or not. It was one of the things that fascinated me as an RN. To see a consistent population of people, usually in their 60’s-70’s, who manifested their apparent age wildly different. A 70 year old who still rides bikes would be in the room next to a 60 year old who looked 90. Why such a difference? Why do people age at such different rates? I got to thinking about this because I’m currently reading a book on evolutionary anthropology (don’t ask) and was very intrigued when I ran across this quote:

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?”

Leroy Satchel Paige

Unless you were born into the Hadza tribe in Africa or maybe grew up in some weird religious cult that didn’t celebrate birthdays – you know how old you are. But what if you didn’t? What if all you could go on was how you “felt”. I don’t think I look like my actual age. Sure, I’m starting to sport a little bit of gray here and there but not much. I have friends who are younger than me who are almost entirely gray. I probably don’t dress appropriately for my actual age. Plenty of shorts and flip flops. I had to break down and go buy a sport coat a few months ago for an event because I didn’t have one. Without knowing what people really think, I’d guess that on appearance alone I look maybe five years younger than I really am (maybe that’s wishful thinking).

How I feel is much different. The impedance scale I use calculates out my metabolic age based upon weight, body fat, BMI, etc… It thinks I’m four years older than I really am. Probably correct given my current conditioning. I’ve also reached an age where I have a never ending series of aches and pains. A rotating litany of things that hurt. An old shoulder injury. Legs and knees that ache from five straight days of skiing and mountain biking. A weird foot pain that won’t go away. My body certainly knows it’s not twenty any more.

Mental age… that’s hard to say. Somewhere in my late thirties maybe (again, maybe wishful thinking). I still think I can do all the physical things I used to. Perhaps most important, I still want to do all those things. I’m not quite ready to give it all up, head to back porch and just watch sunsets. Slightly contradictory, I’m also starting to feel a maturity of thought that I don’t think I had before. It’s hard to explain. While I’m not very good at expressing it, my brain seems to explore thoughts on multiple different levels unlike what it did when I was ten or more years younger (that could also be the nightly bourbon making me feel wise). I’m not as quick to jump on whatever the conventional wisdom of the day is, like when I was younger. If someone makes a claim about something, I’m much more inclined to wait and see before believing it. At the same time, I find myself having a much stronger sense of right and wrong in the things I do believe. I suspect with age comes a decreasing need to care what others think.

I don’t know. It’s an interesting thought experiment. I hope I’m one of those guys who’s still riding bikes when I’m 75. Not just for the physical component, but to still have the desire to be out there enjoying life at that age. I hope I’m still able to make a cognizant argument about some world event when I’m an old geezer and not just be a grumpy old “get off my lawn” guy.

I wonder what makes people age. Is it diet? Exercise? Mental stimulation? Are some people just born with a zest and curiosity for life that others aren’t, or is it something that you cultivate on your own? Excluding disease, is there there something I can do to hold off aging or is it just luck of the cards I was dealt?

How about you – how old do you feel if you didn’t know when you were born?

Cool, Daily Life

Random Things And Observations

Very often I can’t remember my phone number or why I walked into the kitchen. Yet, I’ll always know how many feet in a mile, a quote from a movie I saw in high school, and the quadratic equation. (just kidding on that last one) Needless to say, there’s a lot of useless crap and random thoughts that float around in my head much of the day. From time to time I need to purge. Enjoy.

  • How did men in the 40’s and 50’s walk around with fedoras all day and not have hat hair? Watch any old movie. They walk inside, take off the hat, perfect hair. For me the morning decision of hat/no hat is an all-day commitment.
  • We may have our first big winter storm inbound. Thank god because this is the worst start to a ski season I can remember. The flip side is that next weekend is forecast to be in the negative temps. I’ll accept that if it means snow.
  • Speaking of weather – do you notice that the mainstream news only covers weather if it hits the East coast? We’re going to get hammered by a series of storms this week here in the mountain West. Not a peep. The East coast gets an inch of snow and it’s wall-to-wall coverage. The exception is tornadoes in the mid West or mudslides in Los Angeles.
  • You do know that asylum is coming, right? I don’t care what party is in charge. At some point they’ll decide that the numbers are too great to attempt deportation and that the humane thing to do is grant some sort of asylum.
  • I have no idea what’s going to happen with the first few primaries. I do remember that Trump lost Iowa to Ted Cruz in ’16. The future is not set.
  • I ordered a casual wool vest from Amazon in an effort to stop dressing like a homeless teenager. When I walked out to show my wife, her look of horror and puzzlement was priceless. I’m returning it today.
  • My dog hates carrots. He will dig through his food and make a point of spitting them out on the floor. He’s not messing around with that orange bullshit under any circumstances.
  • In the last six months I’ve started wearing Crocs, drinking tea, siting in front of a UV lamp in the morning, (ordering vests) and have had no alcohol in the last six weeks. I’m not entirely sure why, and don’t think it’s helped or improved me as a human in any way. So I’ve got all that going for me.
  • Don’t ask why, but one of my random resolutions was that I need to add more heat (spice) to my food. There is now a bottle of sriracha in my fridge. I’ve used it once. This may take some willpower.
  • Speaking of resolutions, I also decided that music needs to be more of priority in my life. I’d also like another tattoo, but older saggy skin is not ideal. I’ll probably have to let that one go.
  • I got it in my head the other day that we needed chopsticks. I’m not sure why. Anyway, we’re all set in case we decide to have a large asian-themed dinner party.
  • A non-flattering video snippet of Madonna dressed in some head-to-toe sliver outfit and gyrating wildly showed up on Twitter/X the other day. Someone commented that it reminded him of forgetting to remove the aluminum foil from his burrito and putting it in the microwave. I’m still laughing. I showed it to Mrs Troutdog. She was not amused. Some pop icons you don’t mess with I guess.
  • I didn’t get asked to appear on a single podcast last year and I’m crushed.
  • I’ve earned .79 cents from this blog thing. (no, not kidding) Clearly this is the year I’m going to crush it – I can feel the momentum.
  • I learned that there are people out there who stand in the shower facing the water. What’s wrong with them?
  • I stood outside the other day and chatted with a friend about a particular model of car. He said that night his YouTube feed was nothing but videos about that car. They’re always listening.
  • Did you know you can buy a battle axe on Amazon? Not saying I would, but it’s good to know.
  • I guess we forgot about Ukraine.
  • How many modern day navy SEALs would it have taken to win the Revolutionary war? Also, who would win in a head to head battle – Samurai or Vikings?
  • Everyone knew EXACTLY what Epstein was. Yet they interacted with him anyway. Power, influence, money, corruption, blackmail, perversion… been going on since the beginning of time.
  • The Norse gods are starting to grow on me.
  • Just finished a book on the history of the Israel six-day war in ’67. The parallels to what’s happening today are frighteningly similar. Israel is the only country that’s constantly expected to lose a war and then beg for international approval.
  • Does anyone know if you can play a harmonica if it gets wet? The acoustics in the shower would be amazing. I haven’t pulled the trigger on a harmonica yet, but I’m considering…

And that’s a wrap. A successful purge of randomness in the brain. Until the mental hard drive fills up again, thanks for reading along!

Daily Life, Health

Death To Coffee

I was asked last night by someone who does not drink coffee – what does coffee do for you in the morning? Despite the urge to say, “uhm everything”, it did make me think. But first, some context. Starting about a month ago I began to make some changes. No, we won’t call them changes but experiments. One of them was to start drinking non-caffeinated tea at night before bed. I’m trying to avoid reaching for a snack, desert, or nightcap in the evening. Turns out a hot cup of tea fills the belly and keeps me from foraging in the kitchen.

Next, I started reading about Dr Huberman’s morning routine. Of the things he suggests doing, one of them was to delay caffeine intake for 90-120 minutes upon waking to let the residual adenosine clear from your system. At that point his caffeine choice is a strong tea.

It got me thinking. I’ve lost the taste for coffee lately. It’s very acidic and not helped by the fact that I make crappy Keurig coffee because I’m too lazy to do the pour-over or French press thing. Although I’ve never in my life been a tea drinker, I was already drinking it at night so why not try it in the morning?

So a few weeks ago I substituted some old caffeinated tea I found in the pantry for my morning coffee. Shockingly, I didn’t die or lapse into convulsions. I won’t say I was in love with the taste, but it was certainly more mellow on my stomach than the coffee.

So here we are. I’m keeping up with the tea instead of coffee thing. I ordered some fancy loose leaf tea and a proper tea strainer thingy.

Let me be clear about how momentous a change this is. Way back in the day when I was a software developer, I drank an absolute frightening amount of coffee. As in, multiple full pots a day. In later years as an RN, the only way to survive 12-13 hour shifts was large amounts of caffeine. Nowadays I’m back to a normal 2-3 cups a day, but the ingrained habit is strong. It’s a big thing that I’m not drinking coffee.

Is it going to be a continuing habit? That brings me back to the original question I was asked – what does coffee do for me in the morning? I honestly didn’t have an answer. In reality I’m probably not getting a decent nights sleep and therefore I’m super groggy in the morning. It feels like coffee/caffeine is the only way to “wake up”. A logical person would conclude that the right answer is to work on getting a better nights sleep, rather than caffeinate to compensate. I’ve never been accused of being the sharpest crayon in the box.

The routine I’d like to work towards is two-fold. First, work on getting a better nights sleep. Second, continue to incorporate Dr. Hubermans ideas. Wake up, sunlight, two large glasses of water with salt, and delay the caffeine for 90 minutes. For extra bonus points, use that 90 minutes to get my workout in.

At that point, take my time and make a proper cup of tea or a decent cup of coffee. Probably alternate. Maybe 70/30 tea/coffee.

Once I’ve reached that level of superhuman performance, I shall be in a perfect state of zen.

So that’s more than you wanted to know about one of my 2024 resolutions. We’ll cover the conquest and take over of some foreign country and running a 100 mile ultramarathon in another post. How about you? Are you a coffee or tea drinker? Pour-over or French press? Best high caffeine morning tea? Inquiring minds want to know.

Cool, Daily Life, Health, Lists, Motivation

I’m A Little Lost

I am not a planner. I have a little routine I follow on work days, otherwise I wake up and see what the day brings. That’s it. The sum total of how I manage my life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about it. It’s a pretty blessed, idyllic existence. I have lots of hobbies that I cycle through depending on the mood of the moment, never excelling or mastering any of them. I get the basic home maintenance/repairs done, but usually because something broke. It never dawns on me to be proactive for that sort of thing. I like the idea of travel, but get overwhelmed at the idea of planning something so I usually don’t get beyond the random surfing of the internet for two hours stage. I’m kind of a Labrador retriever. A bit goofy, dumb, and happy to do whatever happens in the moment. While it’s worked for all these years, it leaves me with a continual, nagging, feeling of unrest. I have the time and means. I have no excuses for not accomplishing more with my life.

If you’ve been following along at home, I mentioned yesterday that Mrs Troutdog and I made the decision to begin what she calls “divesting from work”. I changed to a part time status at my job. The purpose is to start laying the groundwork for what retirement will eventually look like for us. I sat down this morning and tried to think about what I want to accomplish with this additional time. And I got paralyzed. I literally don’t know what to do. Should I make a master list of house projects? Maybe I should review all my hobbies and set some goals and plans for just a few of them, rather than sucking at a lot of things? I should probably get a meal planning and shopping routine going and tie that to a regular exercise regime. Perhaps I should set some travel agendas, both weekends and longer trips and start figuring out the cost and logistics?

I want to make a change. Not because I’m unhappy, but because time keeps marching on. And that scares me. Left to my current habits, two years will go by and nothing much will be different other than I’ll have more time for random hobbies and no travel will have occurred unless someone else plans it. I’m not satisfied with that, but struggle because I don’t know how to change – but also because I’ve never seriously tried.

I did quite a bit of reading of ‘self help’ type of blogs this morning and the consensus seems to be that you have to create a routine and you have to write down plans. The routine is both the simplest and hardest to get done. If it was that easy I’d be working out every day. But it’s clearly the foundation for everything else, so I will create a routine (this sounds suspiciously like a New Years resolution). The planning seems harder to me. I’ve tried the Bullet Journal in the past. I really enjoyed the process of setting it up… but after a few weeks I get tired of updating it and it fades away. I need a way to put down on paper (figuratively, I’m an electronic kinda guy) what I want to accomplish. Maybe I’ll just resurrect the Bullet Journal. I’m open to ideas if someone has something else that works for them. I need a way to see broad categories of things we want to do. Motorcycle trips, weekend sightseeing trips, big overseas trips. Do I want to investigate photography classes or work on my pitiful YouTube channel? Are there training goals for running or golf or skiing? I need to have a way of looking at that big list of things and then map that to a calendar. If I don’t put it on a calendar it likely isn’t going to happen.

This is a good problem to have. But it’s ridiculous that I’m so paralyzed by it. It’s also why I’m not a fabulously successful CEO. One of the problems with aging is that it suddenly dawns on you how little time you really have left. What do I want to do with that remaining time? I do know I don’t want to feel like I’ve wasted it. Interestingly, all of this started with a text message from Mrs Troutdog with a link to a travel video of Wyoming and saying she thinks she wants to travel the US by motorcycle. I’m truly blessed to have a partner in life who’s willing to think out of the box and take risks. She got the ball rolling, but I feel it’s on me to keep the momentum going. It’s an exciting time and also a bit scary. Changing how you’ve lived your life the last twenty years feels… challenging. In a good way.

I will now probably spend the rest of the day making lists and watching YouTube videos about living off the grid in Belize in a Sprinter van.

Cool, Daily Life, Lists, Motivation

Notions Of Cool V.018

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old Gen X dude finds cool or worth pondering.

  • This is a perfect example of what’s wrong with news today. I like to think I’m reasonably plugged in… and I had absolutely no idea this happened last week. 1000+ people dead and 1.5 million at risk of water-borne disease or starvation. Meanwhile, Bob in Ohio was outraged at something someone said. We have a fantastic panel to discuss…
  • A neat video about cycling. I couldn’t do it, but a great reminder that we’re only here once. If you get hit by a bus tomorrow, are you happy with what you’ve seen and done?
  • Speaking of bikes, my town is installing this in one of the downtown parking garages. Yay for bicycle friendly!
  • Jim Acosta is the very definition of douchebag. I get it, he generates equal love and hate traffic. And yes, there are Acostas on all sides of the political spectrum. Sad that this has become the new norm for “news”.
  • I did not hit my weight target this week. It’s mostly meaningless… just a goal. Next week for sure.
  • Bullet Journal update: it went strong for a month, then faded. I still like the idea. I resolve to resurrect the habit.
  • A patient was unhappy with his diabetic menu choices, so his wife brought him Burger King and a supersize chocolate shake. When his blood sugar was 320 he was shocked. He was actually angry and accused us of giving him some “pill” that was making his blood sugar go up. It was a battle to convince him I had to give him insulin.
  • “This will be your favorite patient. Super nice and rarely calls for anything”. Sadly as a nurse, I hear that in report maybe once every three or four weeks. The vast majority of the hospital population are grumpy, sour, demanding people. They’re also in the worst possible health – much of which is due to lifestyle choices. I see a clear correlation between your upbringing, mental attitude, emotional stability, and overall health outcomes. It’s not rocket science, but it’s striking when you see it in front of you every day.
  • My internet went down for approximately 7 minutes today. It was a terrifying vision of the pending zombie apocalypse.

Song of the day: Charlie Feathers, “That certain female”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.014

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old Gen X dude finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Why in the world didn’t I come up with the idea for a blog entirely about Bloody Marys? I’m not big on research, but that I could get into.
  • I bought new stall mats for my home garage gym. It hasn’t helped my workouts any, but I’m happier doing them. I can get very obsessed with thinking that if I just had this piece of equipment it would make all the difference… (it doesn’t).
  • I thought it was a cute rural saying the first time I heard it. I’ve now had multiple patients ask me how they ‘caught’ the diabetes. How is it possible that in this era there are still people who think you catch diabetes?
  • I finally watched Free Solo. As a novice, sometimes climber, it was hard to watch. I have just enough experience to truly appreciate what he did. Also, to realize what a nutjob you have to be to do it. I do not understand that level of risk taking.
  • The interesting result of my carb blowout on vacation was how bad I actually felt. It was a bloated, sluggish feeling. My stomach was definitely not right. If I find the right plate of nachos I’ll drop keto in a heartbeat… until then I’m back to a more restrictive eating pattern.
  • I don’t think the younger generations can really appreciate the marvel that is modern technology today. While on vacation I noticed the hotel we were at had three three flags flying on their flagpole. I’m not good with state and country flags and didn’t know two of them, so I took out the device of all knowledge and searched. In about 30 seconds I knew that one was a state flag and the other turned out to be the flag of a country that purchased the hotel a few years ago. It wasn’t that long ago you would have had to go to the library and check out books to find that info. Who would have bothered? Amazing.
  • Today’s the day I have my first dermatologist appointment. Sunburned and peeling badly. He’s going to love me.
  • I’m becoming obsessed with finding services that can make life easier. Blue Apron and HelloDinner, Instacart, Bird and Lime scooters, Uber and Lyft. What other services are worth looking at?
  • I posted my first Instagram story. Exactly one person viewed it. This may or may not continue.

Song of the day: Dannic “Doster”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.007

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Continuing… The earth has warmed – this is not debatable. The warming has been roughly eight tenths of a degree Celsius. And shockingly, this is more or less what greenhouse gases demonstrate in laboratory conditions. What has not happened is the model predictions of runaway exponential temperature increase. So, change my mind – where is the crisis?
  • The new skis are the bomb. Very happy with my choice. Volkl M5 Mantras. Of course, calf deep powder didn’t hurt. The ski is a touch beyond my skill level, which is a good thing.
  • To the best that I can tell I have been in ketosis. Yesterday’s test was after two fried eggs with cream cheese and avocado, followed by four hours of hard skiing. Ketones were 1.5 mmol/l. (suggested range is 0.5 to 3)
  • As an RN, time management is everything. I’m not good at it and it drives me nuts. I’m going to make a full press effort to tame this beast. The conventional wisdom says to implement hourly rounding. The theory is that if you’ve addressed pain and toileting, you’re less likely to be interrupted by call lights. Hmmm. We’ll see.
  • I can’t find anything I agree with AOC on, but she gets social media. Politicians on both sides need to figure this shit out or she’s going to clean their clocks.
  • For the tech dorks, a great blog on security. In my mind I’m still a tech guy, but most teenagers have surpassed me at this point.
  • It’s shocking to me how primitive vehicles are in terms of software, connectivity and interacting with mobile devices.
  • Hard not to laugh at this meme of Senator Klobuchar emerging from a team meeting.

Song of the day: Rebelution “Inhale Exhale”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.003

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Socialism and open borders vs build the wall. It’s going to be an interesting 2020. Who can scare their base enough to turn out?
  • I fucking hate drama. Don’t have time for that. I deal with real drama every day at work – new paraplegics, brain tumors, spinal surgeries, etc… if you don’t fall into one of those type of categories, then your drama is bullshit. Life shouldn’t be that complicated. Pet your dog, work hard, go for a run, eat more salads, try to be a good person. If someone or something is causing things to be difficult – cut it out of your life.
  • I’ve been wanting to post to Instagram stories for several weeks now, but have been too chicken. As the saying goes, I have a face for radio. Tomorrow. Definitely going to do it tomorrow.
  • I love watching the media flail around and eat their own. It’s still shocking to me that so many of them can’t see the bias. Every day you need to be exposing yourself to different opinions or you’ll be stuck in an echo chamber.
  • I ordered a ketone monitor today. Need to decide if I should be worried about my blood lipids.
  • If you haven’t seen it, watch Idiocracy. We’re moving closer and closer to it every day.

Song of the day: Alice Merton, Funny Business

Daily Life, Motivation

Which Path Is Right?

I’ve been on a bit of a health transformation. I finally hit a point where I said to myself, enough is enough. So I’ve been focused, made some good changes, and feel better. It started by following some inspiring people. I had literally spent a week of watching motivational videos (while eating chips) and I thought, stop being such a poser and get your ass up and start doing something.

There are a number of influencers that got me going, but the two main ones are Jocko Willink and David Goggins. Jocko is famous for “Discipline equals freedom”. He gets up at 0430 every day and works out, posting it on Instagram. The more discipline you have in getting all the everyday mundane things done, the more freedom you’ll earn in the rest of your day and life.

David Goggins is a great story. Unmotivated. 300 lbs. Decided he wanted to be a navy seal, lost 100 lbs. in 3 months. Went on to have a great career and do some ridiculously challenging stuff. He’s got lots of good pep talks around things like staring at his shoes for 30 minutes trying to get motivated enough to go for a run. I can relate. Anything is achievable if you want it bad enough.

I love that stuff. Lately I’ve been up at 0400 most mornings getting my workout in. Posting it on the IG for accountability. Strict with my diet. Feeling like life is too short to waste it sleeping in and not getting shit done.

And then I saw a quote the other day that stopped me in my tracks. Paraphrasing – “None of us are getting out of here alive… eat the delicious food, walk in the sunshine, jump in the ocean… there’s no time for anything else”.

It’s true. All this may end tomorrow. Laying on my deathbed what will I relish more – that I was disciplined and got my tired ass up at 0400 every day, or that I enjoyed good food, a cigar, and a some adult beverages? I know it’s silly but that simple quote made me wonder what, at my age, am I doing skipping meals, eating strictly, and being so sore from workouts I can barely walk? Will I really be happier five years from now?

Which path is the right path?

Like anything, balance is probably the right choice. I recognize that if I swing too far to the indulgent side it carries consequences. I won’t be able to enjoy the outdoor activities I like. I’ll probably throw a clot and become a vegetable, cutting years off my life. On the other hand, I don’t want to miss out on nachos. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow am I really going to care that I was ten or twenty pounds too heavy?

I don’t know the answer. At the moment, I have a goal and I’m going to work my ass off to get there. Once there… I think I’ll make a point of ensuring I indulge from time to time. Because it’s true – none of us are getting out of here alive.