MB #002: 4 Tips For Optimization

Hey friends,

For today's chat, I wanted to highlight 4 of my favorite easy tips for the optimization of health and other lifestyle factors. If you have any follow-up questions, drop them in the comments below.

1. The '10 more seconds' rule

Being an Army Ranger was absolutely crazy at times. The number of beatings our body took during various seasons of training, selection, combat prep, etc. was enormous. To say there weren't countless times I wanted to quit would be a bald-faced lie.

That said, I never did quit. And there's a straightforward tip that got me through 22-hour days of combat operations on 90-min of sleep/night, 25-mile ruck marches, 1,200 reps of flutter kicks, and so much more. Tell yourself "I can do 10 more seconds". Over, and over, and over again.

The reality is we're all capable of withstanding way more than we think we can. If you take discomfort in bite-sized chunks and keep telling yourself "just a tiny bit more", you can withstand a ridiculous amount and be stronger mentally and physically because of it.

Similarly, I used to tell myself "I'll quit tomorrow." And just like when you tell yourself you'll quit a bad habit tomorrow, tomorrow rarely comes around.

2. Unplug your TV

If you're like me, you love good stories, and that means you love movies and shows. The problem is that when I really boil it down, they don't add value to my life. Sure they make me laugh a bit and zone out after a tough day, but all that's really doing is masking the emotions I'm harboring in a way that results in me rarely processing them at all, when I'm watching TV often.

It also almost never gets turned off on time so I'll get my butt into bed. So my sleep suffers, and my morning routine suffers.

Tip? Unplug it. It will increase the amount of friction between you and watching something. You'll press the remote to turn it on and be like "Ah dang-it. I forgot. Alright, maybe I'll just read some of that book." As silly as it might sound, it works. Really well.

3. Wait for 90-minutes before drinking coffee

I absolutely love coffee. And I'm quite addicted to it if I'm just honest. One of my goals of 2023 is to cut my intake in half. You should join me.

That said, one of the best ways to optimize your body is to let your natural cortisol levels in the AM do what they're supposed to do, and wake you up.

If you wait for about 90 minutes and drink your coffee after waking up a bit, you'll increase your mood, and the effectiveness of the caffeine, and slightly reduce the crash from it later in the day.

4. Mouth Taping

I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy by now. Mouth taping is one of the absolute best things you can do to hack your sleep. Just make sure you don't have any sleep disorders, breathing problems, etc. first.

Believe it or not, you'll sleep better and wake up feeling more refreshed. You'll develop fewer cavities. Decreased risk of gum disease. Reduced snoring. Increased REM sleep and cognitive function. Raise your heart rate variability (HRV) - which is good. Better breath. The benefits are many.

Just get some hypoallergenic medical tape and cover your mouth from outside one edge of your mouth to the other.

Drop your favorite in the comments below and let me know what you're going to try that's brand new for you.

I hope you found this helpful! If so, please share it with someone you think might enjoy, appreciate, or need it.

Blessings,