I hope everyone had a great Fourth weekend with family and friends! Freedom is something that every single day we take for granted, so it’s only right that we carve out time every year to celebrate the fact and the people who contributed to its access.

I’ll never be one to discredit anyone’s life struggles. Everyone starts with a different deck of cards, it’s just a fact. I’m not naïve to think that some people are born with pocket aces while others are sitting there at the start of their life game with an unsuited 2 and 4. The odds are sometimes stacked.

But the best part about life in America is that we have a chance, maybe for some a smaller one, but we all have an opportunity to turn a pocket 2 and 4 into a winning hand. Likewise, we have seen time and time again where the one born with pocket aces loses in the end too.

I love how David Goggins talks about finding his purpose and executing in this phase of life. He hammers home how - to not attempt to reach our full potential is the personification of taking this freedom for granted. The freedom to become who we want, what we want, and to go where we want to go. To settle for anything less is disrespecting the fact that we have a choice (and opportunity), where many people in this world don’t.

Be grateful this week. Not just by thought, but by action. Let’s have a week -

Brain - Habits - A Never Ending Pursuit

I re-listened to a great episode this week from James Clear on the Rich Roll Podcast (Link Here). James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, is a frequenter of The Superset, and while most of his ideas revolve around a few, key similar topics, I always feel sharper and more focused after I read / listen to his content.

I am a creature of habit, for better or worse. I believe that is why I resonate heavily with the ideas around habit building and their never-ending pursuit. In my most dialed in waves of life, the common denominator has always been that I have had a select few habits that I have taken action on in a disciplined fashion.

Our brains are meant to help us take action. The more time spent deliberating on how / what to do, the less time spent taking action. My most dialed periods are during endurance training blocks always. I wake up at the same time. I train at the same time. I eat the same amount of meals around the same times. I am typically reading in the same windows of the day. It becomes much less about what to do, and more of when you do it.

Anyway, this episode just had a couple of quick hitters that stuck with me through the week. I’ve got another 2 months left of this 90-Day Shred - It’s the habits that will ensure success at the end. A timely reminder.

• “It’s hard to stick to a habit if it goes against the grain of the people around you. Choose your social environment carefully.”

• “Missing once is a mistake. Missing twice is the start of a new habit”

• “The best way to break a habit - make the cue invisible. If you are trying to stop eating sweets, make sure they’re not in the house”

• “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you think you are”

Body - Dieting Hacks for the Summer Shred

Today marks 4 weeks completed in this self-prescribed 90-day Summer Shred. It’s been fun to go back through a strict dieting phase, which is really the opposite of a running block where the focus is on fueling the body to perform, rather than present.

I have the benefit of experience on my side here, having done multiple cuts before, but going back through this has reminded me how daunting executing a dieting phase can be. You have to set the right metrics - you have to accurately track your calories - you have to routinely plan out your meals - and you have to work your schedule to ensure you avoid things that would challenge you to stray from the diet. If you have struggled with any of this, you are far from alone.

I have been reminded that automating as much of this journey as possible is the key to success. If you want to hit a certain protein and calorie goal but aren’t weighing food out and tracking it daily, then you really don’t have an accurate idea of what you are truly consuming. If you don’t know what you’re truly consuming, you can’t effectively make changes as you either don’t lose/gain like you desire, or that progress slows down and necessitates adjustment up or down.

I am going to share my exact meal plan and workout routine on Instagram this week, but I wanted to share a few staples I am using to be successful:

1. Egg Whites

   1. Egg whites are a foundational item of any dieting phase for me. The goal is to increase volume, increase protein, all while keeping calories as low as possible. 1 cup of egg whites is 26g of protein with only 126 calories. If you combine that with a few whole eggs, your dainty breakfast has now turned into a protein powerhouse that keeps you full through the day.

2. Low Carb Tortillas

   1. These are the exact tortillas I use: Carb Balance Tortillas. They are about 60% of the calories of normal tortillas, and allow you to turn your eggs into tacos, your chicken and veggies into burritos, have a quesadilla, etc. I have at least a couple of these 5-6 days a week.

3. Lettuce

   1. It seems simple on the surface, but again, we are playing a volume game here. Add spinach to the breakfast, romaine lettuce to your wraps, turn your chicken and rice into a salad, etc.

4. Drink Water Before & During Meals

   1. Getting 1G of water in a day is a must. Drinking a glass before your meals will help you get full faster, and drinking during your meals will help with digestion and longer meal times - again, fuller.

5. Zero Calorie Cooking Spray

   1. Stop cooking with olive oil if you are trying to lose weight. It’s 120 calories per tablespoon - you aren’t only using a tbsp. Use the low-calorie sprays instead like this: Olive Oil Spray

6. Cottage Cheese

   1. High in protein, low in calories. I used to hate cottage cheese (I am a texture person) until I tried the Good Culture version. Consistency and taste is so much better, and it can go into a million things

Book - My Top Takeaway from “Supercommunicators”

Making my way through Charles Duhigg’s “Supercommunicators” book, I found myself analyzing the way I communicate with those around me. I think early on in life we identify a personality and a communication style, and the truth is (unless you’re diving into sales training, etc.) most of us don’t think twice about how we communicate, or getting better at it at all.

Yet read any book on success and living a meaningful life and you will find communication at the root of everything. Communication is our ability to motivate and lead. Our ability to convince others of causes we are passionate about. The method by which we attract our partner and build on our relationship with. The way to express how you feel and when you need help, etc.

I think everyone should read this book at some time, if nothing more than a way to challenge yourself to think about areas where you can communicate better.

For me, one of the areas from the book I continue to come back to evaluate for myself is how I match others’ energy in a conversation so it can be a successful one. So much of conversing, as the book drills down on, is properly reading the other person’s emotional state, and then finding a way through tone, response, and bodily cues to match their energy so you can be speaking from the same sheet of music.

I am a very solutions-based thinker, positively and negatively. My first instinct when I hear a problem is to identify a solution or a path forward. It’s served me well in business and other areas of my life, but there are also times when I continue to have to learn that when the other side (Allison is laughing reading this) are presenting a problem, they might not be looking for a solution, but simply someone to listen and some compassion to be shared.

Unless you take the time to reflect on your own style in this manner, how would you ever know anything was wrong?

Personal development and life are just cool. There is always something to work on. Why wouldn’t you want to become a better communicator? You can be a better employee, better spouse, better leader - and it’s all just a couple hundred pages away. Add this one to your list -

Amazon Link

Friendly reminder of our Superset July Book Club Book - “Right Thing, Right Now” by Ryan Holiday.