The Paul Graham essay on “How to Do Great Work” from last week’s Superset has had my wheels spinning.

I think it’s fair to say that for most of us on the ambitious side, we find ourselves in the middle of a balancing game of working our way up in careers that provide the lifestyle we want to build, while also searching for meaning in a passion project or that “what” that we would love to land on to dive even deeper into the journey of doing great work.

People always say you have to love what you do for it to feel fulfilling. I believe that to be the case. I also believe that different points of life dictate our ability and freedom to chase those pursuits.

I would love to be 100% invested in some sort of fitness & personal development pursuit. If I could replace my income by lifting weights and reading books, I would do it yesterday. The reality is though that on the other side of the token, I have put a lot of work and years to get to where I am in my professional career. A point that supports the lifestyle I like to currently live, and feel is positioning me well for my future.

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t often wonder what else is out there, or if I am chasing my tail down the wrong path. I think that’s normal. What Paul Graham’s essay helped reaffirm to me is that it can take time - years, decades - to find yourself in the right spot to chase that field that will produce your best, all-in work.

This newsletter produces no additional income for me, but it is me dipping my toe into the realm of what I am passionate about, and focusing on offering help to others - eventually, with consistency and re-upping the effort around it, it will be a reason I land in the passion project I want to work on. However long that takes, is how long it takes. What’s something you could do on the side that would build a foundation for your future passion path?

Brain - 5-4-3-2-1 Method For Curbing Anxiety

There is some interesting literature out there about anxiety, stress, and the mechanisms in our brain that both produce and combat these thoughts and feelings. As we begin to understand more where these feelings come from, we likewise begin to understand methods for curbing their effects.

The 5-4-3-2-1 Method is one I came across again in some reading this week, but is something I had been prescribed by my therapist in the past. The concept is simple - Your brain is producing and focusing on anxiety-provoking thoughts - to combat this, we need to force it to focus on something else - in this case, we employ the senses.

The 5-4-3-2-1 Method is as follows:

• Identify 5 things you can see

• Identify 4 things you can feel

• Identify 3 things you can hear

• Identify 2 things you can smell

• Identify 1 thing you can taste

The brain's limbic system (comprised of the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, and thalamus) produces these anxious feelings in thoughts. What we have found though, is that we can’t focus both on these anxious feelings and things in our external world at the same time. By running through this list, we ground ourselves in the present moment, and the here and now.

One other method I have found works really well is counting down out loud from 10 - 1 multiple times in a row. If you are anxious, the same brain power required to do this counting down is the brain power being used for your anxious thoughts. It’s actually kind of amazing how quickly you can dissolve the feelings. Give them a try.

Body - A Formula for Weight Loss & Macros

If you have found yourself lost in the shuffle of how to calculate your calories and macros to lose weight, I have found the system for you. On the surface, this seems like a complex algebra equation, but 5 minutes of time invested is going to give you a target calorie number to hit to lose the weight you would like, as well as where all of your macros should be.

With any weight loss block, I recommend giving yourself more time than you initially would plan for. If you want to lose 20 pounds in 3 months, make a plan to do it in 4. Slow, consistent efforts not only are easier to succeed at, but they also help build realistic habits that you can continue on, rather than a short blitz.

To start, this formula uses KG instead of pounds, so start by converting your weight to KG here: Pounds to KG Calculator

1. Find Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (Calories you burn just living)

   1. (10 x Weight (KG)) + (6.25 x Height (CM) - (5 x Age (Years)) +5

      1. Example: (10 × 70 KG) + (6.25 × 175 CM) - (5 × 35) + 5 = 1623 calories

2. Add Your Activity Level:

   1. Sedentary (No Training): Calories (From TDEE above) x 1.2

   2. Lightly Active (1 - 2 Sessions / Week): x 1.375

   3. Moderately Active (3 - 5 Sessions / Week): x 1.55

   4. Heavy Exercise (6 - 7 Sessions / Week): x 1.725

   5. Athlete (2 Sessions / Day): x 1.9

      1. Example: 1623 Calories (From Above) x 1.55 (3 - 5 Sessions / Week) = 2516 Maintenance Calories

3. Reduce Your Number by 15-25%

   1. 15% = Moderate

   2. 20% = Average

   3. 25% = Aggressive

      1. Example: 2516 - 20% (Average) = 2013 Calories

4. Set Protein at 1.8 - 2.6g per KG of Body weight

   1. 1.8 = Lower | 2.2 = Average | 2.6 = Higher

      1. Example: 70KG x 2.2 (Average) = 154G Protein x 4 = 616 Calories from Protein

5. Set Fats at 0.7 to 1.1g per KG of Body weight

   1. 0.7 = Lower | 0.9 = Average | 1.1 = Higher

      1. Example: 70KG x 0.7 (Lower) = 49G Fat x 9 = 441 Calories from Fats

6. Subtract Protein & Fat Calories from Step 3, Get Carbs:

   1. Example: 2013 Calories - 616 Protein Calories - 441 Fat Calories = 956 Calories from Carbs (/4 = 239g Carbs)

It can seem daunting, but some quick number plugging will have you on your way to a good plan that you can modify as you up your intensity and sessions in the gym, as your weight changes, etc. This example has 2013 Calories to stay under, with 154G Protein, 49G Fat / 259G Carbs.

My personal opinion - focus most on staying UNDER those calories, and OVER the protein. Build muscle while you burn fat, and get to hammering.

Book - The Daily Stoic - August 13th

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday is a phenomenal addition to anyone’s daily routine. Each day has a simple passage that can be read in a minute or two, that focuses on some stoic ideal. For August, the overarching principle at play is pragmatism. I’ve read through this book 3, maybe 4 times at this point. Different excerpts hit me in different ways based on the stage of life. Here’s an example from August 13th to help aid in your decision to add this one to your daily mental exercise:

Take Charge And End Your Troubles

“You’ve endured countless troubles - all from not letting your ruling reason do the work it was made for - enough already!” - Marcus Aurelius

How many things you fear have actually come to pass? How many times has anxiety driven you to behave in a way you later regret? How many times have you let jealousy or frustration or greed lead you down a bad road?

Letting our reason rule the day might seem like more work, but it saves us quite a bit of trouble. As Ben Franklin’s proverb put it: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Your brain was designed to do this work. It was meant to separate what is important from what is senseless, to keep things in perspective, to only become troubled by that which is worth becoming troubled about. You only need to put it to use”