Notes to Myself at 37

I just had pizza for breakfast at L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Napoli and can confirm that it is indeed, the best pizza in the world.

1. Maxim: Comparison is the thief of contentment and joy
2. Maxim: Stop choosing unhappiness over uncertainty
3. Maxim: “New” is overvalued relative to timeless
4. Maxim: Discipline is cheaper than regret
5. Growth: Anxiety is not an answer to a problem we are worrying about rather an indication of how far we are from the place the answer lies
6. Growth: Our growth lies in accepting hard truths
7. Elimination: Every day I eliminate something, reduce my surface area of attention, or don’t buy something new is a win.
8. Books: When you read the same books as others, you get to share a secret language
9. Music: If you’re a music lover, invest in ultra high quality speakers and immerse yourself in your favorite sounds
10. Mindfulness: Cats & Dogs “watch TV” but their TV is looking out the window intently—we humans can learn from this
11. Organization: Issues with big purchases are draining–when you make a big purchase, create a separate folder in your email inbox just for that so when you need to go back and find warranty/purchase date/order #/etc., it’s instantly accessible
12. Organization: Take the time to create new email addresses and de-spam your life from gmail (ie:proton mail). Create separate emails for ______ (junk, travel, personal, etc.) and never deal with spam again.
13. Cooking: Invest in non-toxic, high quality cookware—it will make cooking more enjoyable, your food will taste better, and eliminates toxins in the process
14. Communication: The tone you use to in all communications will determine how its received and whether or not you achieve the desired response
15. Time Management: If you stop engaging with something that feels problematic and takes up a lot of energy, usually the problem goes away
16. Home Projects: Cedar > Pine (in quality, life span); staining your fence extends the life span up to 30 years but don’t “let the fence weather” as is sometimes recommended (not construction advice)
17. Home Projects: Unless you have the top 1% GC in your city, skip working with GC’s—their hefty profit margins typically come at your expense with limited value add
18. Awareness: If it’s hard to admit being wrong, try writing honestly in your journal first before admitting in real time
19. Maxim: Always cut away from yourself
20. Elimination: Leave things you are unsure if you want to sell, donate, recycle or trash next to your front door–eventually, you’ll get sick of looking at it and pass it on–we are beings conditioned to be attached to all things
21. Kindness: Never hold back your compliments, and especially not with strangers–one of the easiest ways to make someone’s day is to give a random a stranger a genuine compliment
22. Thinking Long-Term: Buy nice things–you’re more likely to take care of them and less likely to need to replace (your average cost per day per use will end up being much lower in the long run)
23. Luxury: Make little luxuries abundant and convenient in your life—that way they’re always there when you need them without having to think about it (ie: I keep my fav chapstick everywhere so it doesn’t matter if I forget it—my car, next to my bed, the living room table, my coat pocket, my travel bag, etc.)
24. Luxury: Keep fresh napkins, tissues, & wipes in your car
25. Maxim: Merge late, traffic is usually because of poor merging culture
26. Cooking: Sauce makes the pasta; great sauce can make up for bad pasta but great pasta can’t overcome bad sauce
27. Life: If you leave your trash bins in the street, your neighbors will happily fill it with bags of dog poop
28. Maxim: Humility is the King of Virtues
29. Attention: The loudest voices are the emptiest sources; those who truly possess something of value, rarely need to announce it.
30. Thinking Long-Term: Those who fear appearing foolish rarely discover anything new. The genius of tomorrow often looks like an idiot today.
31. Hosting: Design your guest rooms like your own bedroom, with all the comforts & joys that support your sleep and wellness—feeling at home outside of home is always a treasure.
32. Travel: Return home from long trips on a Thursday or Friday—having a full weekend to settle eliminates stressful & hurried homecomings.
33. Growth: Obstacles are not an inconvenience, rather an invitation to your growth party.
34. Growth: Define your “success” as clearly & concisely as possible and then start aligning your daily activities with the type of life you desire
35. Sleep: DHA helps regulate serotonin and melatonin pathways—key hormones that help you fall asleep and stay asleep; Omega-3’s also lower inflammatory cytokines that can disrupt sleep.
36. Leadership: Good leadership is about making decisions under uncertainty
37. Plants: Don’t be afraid to cut your plants down to the root and don’t underestimate their resilience. Most plants will grow back leaner, stronger, and more beautiful as you give them a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th lease on life.
38. Travel: Patriots are mostly people who’ve never left home
39. Life: Journal & document as many of your days and weeks as you can, otherwise you’ll forget most of your memories and they’ll fade away in the wind and you’ll be stuck with your revisionist history relative to the truth–the process of documentation allows you to revisit more honestly, vividly, and to relive again and again–the greatest form of time travel.
40. Health: Easiest ways to improve HRV & Resting Heart Rate: drink green tea daily + 2-3 grams of Fish Oil/DHA/EPA 2-3 hours before bed