Two years of weekly Superset deliveries today!

Thanks for following along for the ride so far. I have had this bug in my ear the last couple of months on where I want to take this, and I wanted to give some clarity to that here quickly today.

The number one goal I have for this newsletter this year is to make the content more digestible and an easier read. I know for some, especially new subscribers who lack some of the personal context to myself and my personal journey, that 2000ish words can be a lot to consume in a morning read.

The idea of the Superset has always been a holistic approach to growth through 3 pillars - Brain, Body, and Books. That will remain the same.

Moving forward, my goal is to provide some standardized structure to the 3 pillars - something that you can come to expect for lets say, 80% of the volumes, sans my occasional long-form spin offs. In my head, that will look like this:

With this structure, the ideal reader experience will be a steady drip of new, actionable ideas that can realistically be implemented, that also point to longer forms of content to provide more background - good podcasts, articles, books, and other long-form content from myself (more to come).

In today’s newsletter you will walk away with a new perspective on fear, why you should consider occasionally training with no music, and an introduction to Darren Hardy’s “The Compound Effect”, and how you can apply its premise today.

Today’s Idea: Fear is feedback about how your brain is interpreting uncertainty—not a verdict on what you’re capable of.

If you don’t live under a rock, then chances are last week you saw Alex Honnold casually do what feels impossible to most of us - he climbed a skyscraper for a recent Netflix feature with the same calm presence most people bring to a morning walk. No ropes. No theatrics. Just precision, focus, and an almost unsettling lack of fear (my hands were SWEATING).

While the event was held for entertainment purposes, there’s a good life lesson in there for us all - Honnold isn’t fearless because he’s tougher or braver. He’s fearless because his brain processes fear differently. And while that is something he was genetically born with, it’s a pursuit we can all work on with some new framing of mind.

When neuroscientists scanned Honnold’s brain, they found something remarkable. When exposed to frightening images, his amygdala (the brain’s threat detection center) showed a dramatically muted response. The stimulus registered, but it didn’t get amplified. His brain didn’t sound the internal alarm most of ours would.

Which teaches us this - Fear isn’t about the event itself. It’s about how your brain interprets and weights that event.

A 3,000-foot wall. A keynote speech. A job interview. A tough conversation.
Objectively different situations - neurologically processed in the same way.

Your brain asks one question: “Is this a threat to my survival or identity?”
If the answer feels like “yes,” fear shows up.

That’s why fear looks different for everyone. One person panics at heights. Another dreads public speaking. Someone else fears sending a bold email or asking for a raise.

Same brain circuitry. Different inputs.

From a neuroscience standpoint, fear exists to keep you alive. The amygdala works with memory centers and stress hormones to prepare you for danger, real or perceived. The problem is that in modern life, the brain often overgeneralizes. It treats social rejection, embarrassment, or failure as physical threats.

Honnold trained his brain, slowly and intentionally, to stop mislabeling risk.

You can do the same.

1. Shrink the signal through exposure
Repeated, controlled exposure teaches the brain that the threat isn’t lethal. Start small. Consistency matters more than intensity. If you hate public speaking, there’s no real way around that other than to do it. Start with speaking in small groups and build up.

2. Re-label the sensation
Instead of “I’m anxious,” try “My nervous system is activated” or “I’m excited” (even if it’s excited to be done). Studies show reframing reduces amygdala activation and improves performance.

3. Shift focus to process, not outcome
Fear spikes when the brain predicts consequences. Anchoring attention to controllable actions quiets the threat response. This is why over-preparing for a speech or presentation works so well.

Fear doesn’t mean stop. It means your brain is trying to protect you, often a little too aggressively.

Your action item for the week is to pick something that spurns a little fear inside of you, and find one small way to work against it this week.

Action of the Week: One day this week, leave the headphones at home.

No music.
No podcasts.
Just you, your breath, and the work.

If that sounds uncomfortable - that’s the point.

We’ve all shown up to the gym only to realize our headphones are dead. Oh, the initial dread. What’s interesting is how often we feel even better after completing that very workout.

Music and podcasts blunt discomfort by lowering perceived effort. You’re not working less, you’re just feeling less. That’s great for performance, but when stimulation is always present, the brain never learns how to stay focused inside discomfort. We also simply have so few windows throughout the day where our ear drums aren’t being stimulated.

Training without audio flips that.

Without distraction, you’re forced to:

This builds interoception - your ability to sense effort, fatigue, and tension. Athletes with strong interoception pace better, recover faster, and stay calmer under stress. This isn’t just fitness. It’s nervous system training.

At first, the workout will feel longer. The hard parts harder. You’ll notice exactly when you usually reach for distraction. That’s not failure. That’s awareness.

By the end, most people (myself included) feel something unexpected: calmer, more intentional, more in control.

How to try it:
Pick one moderate session (steady run, zone-2 bike, long walk, or lift). Focus on breath or cadence. Make mental notes of where your mind wanders during the hard and the easy process. Allow yourself to process these thoughts without distraction. Do it once per week.

One workout.
No noise.
More control.

Try it - and see what shows up when nothing distracts you.

The Main Idea: If I offered you a choice between $1 million today or a penny that doubles every day for 30 days, most people would take the million.

It feels obvious.

But the penny becomes over $5 million by day 30.

That’s the entire premise of The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy.

We’re wired to overvalue immediate, visible rewards and dramatically undervalue small actions that compound quietly over time. The danger isn’t making terrible decisions - it’s making slightly bad ones, consistently, and assuming they don’t matter.

The same principle that grows money grows:

One extra workout doesn’t change your body. One skipped workout doesn’t ruin it either.

But repeat either long enough, and the outcome becomes inevitable.

The Compound Effect isn’t about motivation or hacks. It’s about understanding that success is rarely the result of big breakthroughs. It’s built from daily choices so small they’re easy to dismiss, and easy to repeat. It’s a foundational read for habit forming.

A few of my favorite quotes:

Your version of the penny a day this week: Pick one small action to do for 30 days. Walk 10 minutes after every meal. Read 5 pages before bed. Eat a high-protein breakfast. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier.