Key Takeaways

In October 2013, I watched a brilliant and inspiring TED talk by Matt Cutts. He posits that anything you want to add to your life, learn, do / not do can become a habit with a 30 Day Challenge. I loved this concept and decided to implement it into my life.

My monthly challenges have evolved since I began but tend to fall into one of the following camps: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, relational, personal growth / skills, or don't do.

2023

September

• I did 3 separate, short meditation sessions rather than my typical long session in the morning. I did 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes after lunch, and 10 minutes before I wrapped up my day. It was a really nice way to break up the day and transition. I'll at least keep up a 5-10 minute session at the end of the day before I shift from work to family but found myself missing a longer session to start my day.

August

• No alcohol. I felt and slept noticeably better and while it won't be a forever thing, doing it for one month every year has been a good cadence.

July

• One of the smallest but most impactful monthly challenges I've done in some time is adding an ​LMNT​ hydration packet to my routine every day. I've noticed that sluggishness and brain fog tend to be better after I drink one of these packets. I have no affiliation, but Ferriss, Huberman and others do if you want to try it and get a discount. My personal favorite are the orange and watermelon flavors.

June

• None

May

• None

April

• None

March

• Every morning I took 5-10 minutes to look over my day, think about priorities, and define my single, top goal for the day and when I would do it. This simple exercise was incredible focusing and rewarding - if I accomplished this one thing, I felt like my day was well spent and worthwhile.

February

• None

January

• None

2022

November

• Endel is one of my new favorite apps. I'm a silence and solitude person by nature, but I've found myself playing Endel in the background all day long. There are different soundscapes - ranging from morning energy rise to sleep - which are great for various occasions and moods. Also, the design is playful and endearing.

October

• The Dimensional Personality Test app is awesome. It takes about a dozen various personality tests - from values to love to work - and it helps compile a comprehensive overview of your personality. This info is typically siloed and getting a holistic view is impossible, but Dimensional makes it easy. Free and worth playing around with - whether for your relationships or for hiring.

September

• None

August

• None

July

• NuCalm - As a supplement to my meditation routine, I did 20-30 minutes every morning with NuCalm. The acoustics get you into an amazing state (from energized to relaxed) and as I get to traveling more, I've heard it helps with jet lag too. More to come... (h/t Yen L)

June

• None

May

• None

April

• None

March

• I started using nose strips while I slept. I don't typically have any congestion, but I did notice that it made it slightly easier to breathe. My Whoop didn't pick up anything significant in terms of recovery, so likely won't keep up over time.

February

• I got a Whoop recently and it's been really useful to get a deep dive into my metrics around strain, sleep, recovery, HRV, heartbeat, and more. It hasn't gotten me to change any routines or habits yet, but I'm hoping that overtime the weekly / monthly trends help uncover correlations that would be hard to get at otherwise.

January

• None

2021

December

• None

November

• None - this is getting bad... Any worthwhile monthly challenges you'd recommend?? Let me know!

October

• None

September

• None

August

• None

July

• None

June

• Mixology Masterclass - sped through a lot of it, but hearing some of the history and "philosophy" of cocktails was interesting. Always good to have a few additional cocktail recipes in the repertoire. Any other Masterclasses worth taking?

May

• None

April

• None

March

• Future Authoring - I completed this several hour program this month that helps you think about what you truly want out of life, how you're going to get there, things you want, things you don't want, etc. To know where you want to go, you have to know where you are. This relatively quick exercise (in the perspective of your life or even simply a year) is so valuable as it helps to clarify your aims. I think this should be a standard part of everybody's formal education - the opportunity cost of not doing so is simply too high.

February

• None

January

• Understand Myself - This quick online test takes less than 10 minutes and compares your answers with others in terms of the Big 5 Personality traits. I was a bit surprised at how extreme my results were - both high and low - though it's probably old news to my family :) and is helpful in terms of mitigating Galilean Relativity. My wife and family took the test as well and it was a blast comparing results. Well worthwhile.

2020

December

• In December, my wife and I did John Gottman's 30 Days to a Better Relationship. We answered one question per night that helped spur reflection, openness, gratitude, dialogue, vulnerability, and more. Really worthwhile and probably worth doing every year (thanks, Wifey, for the idea! <3 )

November

• None

October

• Magic Mind - tried this for 2 weeks and really enjoyed it. I took the first one as a shot and became extremely focused, like uncomfortably focused. The rest of them I sipped on throughout the morning and that was better for me and everyone around me (they're small, but potent!) They say to take it with your coffee, but that would have been too much for me. Don't think I'll do this every month or on any sort of routine, but definitely enjoyed them and would recommend trying it out.

September

• None

August

• None

July

• Perfect Espresso - aiming to make the perfect espresso without spending $3,000. This $65 Staresso is far superior to the DeLonghi I used to have and, while it's not coffee shop quality, it's extremely simple to use, mobile, and the value is incredible

June

• Learn how to skateboard - probably not the best skateboard to start with, but got to a point where I could speed up and cruise pretty confidently. Really fun and was the first physical skill I've learned in a while

May

• Pso-Rite (no affiliation) - This is a hard plastic mold that helps dig into stuck muscles. Definitely uncomfortable but if you're able to breathe through it, it really helps relax muscles in spasm. I used it mainly for my psoas, shoulder blades, and chest and will keep up a couple of times a week for 5-10 minutes

April

• Learn how two people work from home with a 9-month old

March

• Eight Sleep blue-light blocking glasses (no affiliation) - They only block 60% of blue light, but, according to my Apple Watch, increased my depth of sleep by about 10% for the month. Could also be due to not going out to eat as much, hardly drinking this month, or other factors but will probably keep wearing them... Andreessen's 3x5 index cards - in his guide to personal productivity, Andreessen talks about his tactics for being productive and I decided to implement this suggestion. I've always kept an extensive Wunderlist, but the physical note with my 3-5 most important things for the next day really served to focus my attention and keep me on track. I'll absolutely keep this up.

February

• No coffee - I typically only drink a cup a day and still didn't feel great the first 3-4 days. After that, though, I definitely noticed sleeping better and wasn't ever jittery. Don't think I'll cut out coffee for good, but I'm glad I did it for a month and now have a new-found respect for good tea.

January

• Daily cold showers in the morning - Had moved away from cold showers for a bit and happy they're back in my life

2019

January

• No caffeine - first couple days were tough but made me realize the impact caffeine has on me (elevated heart rate, a bit of a frantic mood, etc.). I'll go back to regular coffee soon but limit it to 1 per day and might do one week of no caffeine per month to cycle off

February

• None

March

• Apple Watch HRV every morning - nice start to the day as it helps you get into a comfortable and relaxed state through deep and rhythmic breathing. Doesn't replace meditation at all but it was helpful to see how the Apple Watch analyzes HRV and how it correlates to how I'm feeling.

April

• Fred Wilson's MBA Mondays - Fred clarified a lot about the startup world, from fundraising to exits and everything in between. Some of my favorites:
  • The Management Team Guest Posts - Matt Blumberg, Joel Spolsky, Phil Sugar, Jerry Colonna
  • Culture - Susan Loh, Scott Kurnit, Dana Ardi
  • Sustainability: How to be in Business Forever - 1, 2, 3, 4

May

• 36 Questions - an effective way to get to know someone deeply pretty quickly but, since I did it with my wife, many of the questions were a bit silly and basic. Definitely fun and worthwhile to try though - especially staring into somebody's eyes for 4 minutes

June

• Had my first child, a daughter! That'll be challenging enough for at least a month ;)

July

• Semi-Annual Pareto Spring Cleaning - an easy and very effective way to spend 20 minutes every quarter, helping to identify distractions and amplifiers
• 7-Minute Daily Hanging Challenge (Ido Portal) - not 7 consecutive minutes, but 7 minutes total in a day. Felt like it helped with my posture, grip strength, and shoulder flexibility.

August

• None

September

• None

October

• Daily energy check-in with wifey - a simple, 10-second check-in where we ask each other how each other's energy levels are from 1-10 (and can't say 7). This has made a world of difference already - we know what we can expect out of the other and if one of us is low, the other knows they need to step up. It has helped set expectations and open the lines of communication. I wish we had known and implemented this from day one.

November

• None

December

• None

2018

January

• Daily tweet - hardly did anything on Twitter before but it was fun to try to come up with a quick daily blurb that wasn't totally worthless
• No caffeine - I usually only drink 1-2 cups per day but this was surprisingly easy after the first 2 days. Definitely slept better but miss coffee and will go back to it

February

• Run a 6-minute mile - it had been a while since I was able to do this and it took some time to get it back but I'm happy I did it. Probably won't keep it up though...
• Read Sam Altman's blog - not quite Paul Graham-level but had some worthwhile insights

March

• Comprehensive blood test - learned a lot from these results and will be tweaking my diet, certain supplements and some behaviors on the margin

April

• Read past quarter's journal entries to see patterns and trends, where I spent my time (both positively and negatively), always looking to refine and improve where and how I spend my time
• 3-day fast
• Diet tweaks after blood work - probiotics, magnesium and no eggs for one month

May

• Tough month with a lot of travel. Will shift how to shoot a bow and arrow and learning how to ride a horse to June

June

• Write down one thing per day that you love about someone and give it to them at the end - great thing to do for anyone important in your life
• Semi-annual Pareto Spring CleaningWhat 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems?
  1. What 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes?
  2. If I had a heart attack and had to work 2 hour per day, what would I do?
  3. If I had a gun to my head and had to stop doing 3 time consuming activities, what would I remove?
  4. What are the top 2 activities that I engage in "for activity's sake"? - to feel productive?

July

• Review journal entries - helps me see where I spent my time, what was useful/useless, what brought me stress/joy, what I've learned, what I've done, etc. Broadly, this process helps me more clearly see what I should be doing more and less of
• How to shoot a bow and arrow - not a ton of progress but learned the basics

August

• HeartMath HRV - doing just 5-10 minutes in the morning and at night in order to get into coherence and measure my heart rate variability (HRV). Definitely not a replacement for meditation but it is a great, quick way to get many of the physical benefits associated with coherence and meditation. I also got HeartMath's HRV monitor for this experiment and highly recommend. Still a bit annoying to have to clip into anything (should be inbuilt with Apple Watch!) but better than others I've tried in the past
• Avoid lectin-heavy foods (tomatoes, potatoes, legumes, beans, and more) - wanted to try this after digging into Dr. Gundry's Plant Paradox. I didn't feel a huge difference and probably won't be too strict with it moving forward but I definitely didn't feel worse and I know a lot of people who have felt a huge difference on this protocol.

September

• 3 day fast - boring but surprisingly easy. A lot of energy but I tend not to sleep well on these fasts

October

• Read past quarter's journal entries to see patterns and trends, where I spent my time (both positively and negatively), always looking to refine and improve where and how I spend my time
• Read Buffett Partnership letters -  great learning how Buffett thought about investing early on in his career and how he has adapted throughout time. Same ideas of circle of competence, margin of safety, Mr. Market, humility shine through

November

• 200 mg L-Theanine with coffee in the mornings - super sharp focus but didn't sleep well and was hot all the time. Might do every once in a while when needed but not every day.

December

• Changed the routine up a bit this December. Rather than reading new books, I've reviewed what I've read this past year as well as the best things I've read over the past ~5 years or so (see links above under "Books"). My goal was to spot patterns across topics and time, making it a priority to reflect more deeply on what I've already read in order to let these great teachings sink in. Really enjoyed this practice and will likely keep up.

2017

January

• Learn how to do a bridge - with the hope of learning how to do a kip up next month...
• Continued learning the basics of drawing (You Can Draw in 30 Days, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain) - been a ton of fun learning some basics such as depth, perspective, shading and has helped me become more perceptive
• 30 Day Minimalism Challenge (inspired by a great documentary called Minimalism) - fun challenge to help you physically, mentally, emotionally, electronically declutter your life
• Don't mix alcohols - failed one time but it became abundantly clear that I feel much better when sticking to one kind

February

• Quarterly 3 day fast - boring but getting surprisingly easy the more I do it
• Psyllium Husk - 1 tablespoon with water after dinner. Has immediate results for some but I didn't notice much of a difference
• Don't eat within 2 hours of bed - failed a decent amount but definitely felt lighter the mornings after when I did follow through
• Kip up - failed miserably. No consistent place to practice and feel like I need to enlist the help of a coach

March

• Learning some basic dance moves - painful but making progress
• Lunch time meditation - didn't get to occasionally but even 10 minutes makes a world of difference

April

• Dancing - the final performance was this month and it turned out pretty much as good as I could have hoped for. Happy and honored to have helped such a great organization as The South Bend Center for the Homeless and to have challenged myself by stepping out of my comfort zone.
• Going through last quarter's entries in my BestSelf journal - the goal is to see broader patterns over longer periods of time that I might otherwise miss in the moment, to relive good experiences, to learn from difficulties or failures and to see where the most productive and useful time is spent (amazing how much time is wasted in non-useful articles, meetings, books, etc. but I think that's the price of admission to occasionally stumble upon the few gems which do have lasting impact).
• Learning how to Learn - Coursera put together a great course on the different techniques to become a better learner, covering topics such as memory, chunking, how to deal with procrastination, how to study, improving productivity, test taking skills, etc. My Summary Notes

May

• None this month as it was a planning, packing, moving, traveling and transition month

June - August

• Pareto Spring Cleaning
• 10-Day Silent Vipassana Retreat
• Learn to whistle loudly with my fingers - not quite there yet...
• Train with the STAmina App - a shorthand version of the Wim Hof training
• Review my quarterly journal entries to see where time was well spent, where it was wasted, what I learned, what surprised me, and how these things are helping or hindering me in reaching my goals

September

• 3 day fast
• Jerzy Gregorek's "Happy Body" Program - wasn't too committed to it but liked the routine when I got to it

October

• None

November

• At the end of the day, reflect on my day - what surprised me, what I could have done better, how did I feel, etc. Also, review my schedule and goals for the next day

December

• Pareto Spring Cleaning checklist
• Host Defense immune support - hard to know but didn't get sick this winter and was traveling a lot
• Clarify intentions / goals for the week first thing Monday morning - a simple 5-10 minute exercise which has helped me prioritize my focus and time spend for the week

 2016

January

1. Do
   • Wim Hof Method - a series of breathing exercises, stretching and cold exposure which leave you feeling energized, calm and focused. Can't recommend highly enough. His book, outline found here, gives a broad overview but the course you buy goes much more in depth
   • Huperzine A before bed (200-400 mcg) - read that this helps with lucid dreaming but I ended up sleeping so terribly on it that I stopped after 2 weeks
2. Don't
   • Eat red meat - no particular reason but to deprive myself of something I enjoy
3. Learn
   • More about Bruce Springsteen - documentary, albums on Spotify, Wikipedia page

February

1. Do
   • Wim Hof - continued with the yoga, meditation, exercise, cold exposure all rolled into one. Finish the exercise feeling, calm, center yet energized and focused. Do it!
2. Don't
   • N/A :(
3. Learn
   • Foodist - a recent sponsor of Ferriss' podcasts so thought I'd try it out. Great resource and learning guide for people who are nervous about cooking and want to improve

March

1. Do
   • Roast an entire chicken - had never done this and thought it would be fun to try. Surprisingly easy, delicious and fun. Also, fed me for a week
2. Don't
   • N/A - will be focusing more on my "Dos" and "Learning"
3. Learn
   • Tai chi - have been wanting to learn more about tai chi for some time now. Only got through one book and excited to learn more about it and practice over the next several months. Exciting avenue to learn more about yourself, get some good exercise and gain mental clarity/calmness

April

1. Do
   • N/A
2. Don't
   • Use social media - jumped off Facebook and Snapchat and never really use Twitter or anything else. It was really nice to disconnect for a while. Might download the Facebook messenger app on my phone but don't think I'll be using much of anything else...
3. Learn
   • Tai Chi - got through some more books which were helpful but you definitely need a teacher/class/mentor to get anywhere with

May

1. Do
   • Create a list of people I'd love to meet one day so that it is concrete in my head and I can take action (whether consciously or not) to try to make it happen
2. Don't
   • N/A
3. Learn
   • Memorize Marianne Williamson's Our Deepest Fear

June

1. Do
   • Balance on an indo-board - took me a bit to get the hang of it but by the end of the month could do it easily and am working on juggling while balancing. Great to get into flow quickly
   • Gymastics exercises - inspired by Ferriss' podcast with Chris Sommer, I looked into their website and started doing some should/hip flexibility work and other strenght/balance exercises
2. Learn
   • Top 1,000 most common words in Spanish using vis-ed flash cards - great refresher and there were more words than I would have guessed that I didn't know. Vis-ed has a ton of different languages and is a really useful tool when trying to learn languages

July

• Took a break this month and loved it

August

• Best Self Journaling -  automatic game changer. Got me to do a couple things which I've been putting off for literally months, gets me to sit down and focus on what I want to accomplish that day, what my larger goals are, what I'm grateful for and more
• Brain HQ -  brain games which help you improve your memory, reactions, recall, focus and more. Fun and supposedly help reduce dementia by up to 50%. Fun and only takes 5-10 minutes per day
• Learn about complexity and chaos theory (see Sync, Complexity, How Nature Works and Thinking in Systems)

September

• Gymnastics Strength Training - was inspired after listening to Ferriss' second podcast with Chris Sommers. Their fundamental course goes quite slowly but I'm loving it and have seen some pretty big benefits already in terms of mobility and flexibility. Highly recommend
• Complexity - continue learning about chaos theory and complexity (see Complexity, The Fifth Discipline, Investing: The Last Liberal Art, and Hidden Order). I'm putting together a "teacher's reference guide" with key concepts summarized which I'll share in the next newsletter
• Tussman quote - big fan of the quote and wanted to be able to recall it

October

• Gymnastics Strength Training is a new mainstay into my morning routine. Great mobility, flexibility and strength results in just 10-15 minutes per day
• Mini trampoline - got the inspiration after watching Tony Robbin's new documentary on Netflix. Jumping for 10 minutes per day is supposed to have great circulatory and digestive benefits - no idea if that's true but at the very least, it's fun...
• Three-day fast - third time I've done this now and it keeps surprising me how easy it is. Had a bit of a headache the first day but the second and third days I felt sharp although I missed the "process" of cooking and eating with close friends. I used ketoforce this time around (3 cap fulls in the morning with juice from half a lemon) which is supposed to help you get into ketosis faster. I didn't notice a huge difference in how I felt compared to the last couple fasts but will keep it up.
• On Complexity - finished up my teacher's reference guide on complexity. I got so much out of this deep, deliberate dive and hope you find it somewhat useful too.

November

• Silent retreat - it was really nice to get some space and feel like it was alright to do nothing, to walk slowly, to eat slowly, to meditate, to think deeply and escape technology and time for just two days. Would highly recommend and will definitely do it again at some point
• On Disney - finished compiling my learnings and takeaways from reading up on Disney and Pixar which has been an awesome project

December

• 3 day fast - last one of the year and each time seems to get a little easier, although still challenging. You start feeling really sharp towards the end of the second day and it has been a great experience learning that I can go days without eating if need be
• Decaf tea with apple cider vinegar and honey before bed - definitely helped me sleep a bit deeper but not to the point where I'll be doing this every day
• Bruce Lee - learning about his life and philosophy has been fascinating and look forward to digging in more next month
• Learn the basics of drawing - this has been one of my favorite challenges this year. I have zero artistic talent but this book walks you through fundamentals in a fun and engaging way. Will definitely keep up moving forward
• Get creative and experiment with Joule, a sous vide made by ChefSteps
• Year-End Challenges:
  • Napoleon Hill's 28 questions - personal check to see where I stand on things important to me. I have done this the last couple years and find it an easy yet powerful way to reflect on the past year
  • Revisit my 1, 5 and 10 year goals - I put no pressure on myself to live and die by these goals but I find it helpful to have some 'roadmap' in mind. Helps me see how I stack up to what I set out to do this year vs. what I actually did and see how the game plan for longer term goals are playing out.
  • Pareto Spring Cleaning - something I do every 6 months or so and it helps me think about what has caused the majority of my problems, successes, joys and stresses. Weeding out the bad and doing more of the good.
  • Read BestSelf journal entries to see how I spent my time these past 3 months, what I've been grateful for and possibly pick up any patterns or themes that were lost on me while in the moment. I have loved this quarterly practice as it helps extend your time horizon and in some ways become an observer of your own life

2015

December

1. Do
   • Ido Portal hanging protocol - wasn't too serious about it but hung from my pull up bar a couple minutes per day. Like it enough to keep doing it but didn't find any huge benefits
   • Wim Hof Method - started mid-month but am loving it. It is a 10 week breathing and cold exposure protocol which I'm really excited about
2. Don't
   • N/A this month
3. Learn
   • Determine 2016 goals - a lot of it is keeping up with good habits and routines I've set up but always looking for more. Any recommendations would be much appreciated

November

1. Do
   • Ask family and close friends for areas of improvement - definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone but I got some really valuable feedback from people who know me very well and I trust. Highly recommend
2. Don't
   • Don't crack my knuckles - made some progress but still a bad habit
3. Learn
   • More about wine - got some books on what influences the smell and taste of wine and how to better describe it. Interesting and pretty useful

September

1. Do
   • Keep a decision journal - no major decisions this month but a good practice I got into and will keep up
2. Don't
   • Have more than 3 drinks any given night - failed a couple times but not too often.
3. Learn
   • Memorize the 10 Commandments

October

1. Do
   • Ice on neck before bed / cold showers - amazing how deeply I slept after this (Tim Ferriss hack)
2. Don't
   • Get impatient with my family. Hate to think I treat complete strangers better than family
3. Learn
   • US State capitals

August

1. Do
   • Ask for 1-3 areas of improvement - really difficult but interesting to ask close friends / family for this input
   • 30 Day Pull up Challenge - I am pretty terrible at pull ups but was amazed at the progress over 30 days. Managed to get to 30 pull ups in a row, from a base of 10
2. Don't
   • Text while around other people - not very difficult but made me aware how much people in general do this
3. Learn
   • How to tie a bow tie

July

1. Took a break with moving and traveling to Sweden / Istanbul

June

1. Do
   • Archery class - fun to do something I've never done before
2. Don't
   • Watch more than 60 minutes of TV any given day
3. Learn
   • About Turkey in order to prepare for trip (Udemy Turkish language course)
   • TeeSpring T-Shirt ideas and classes

May

1. Do
   • Be grateful before every meal - not a prayer but just recognizing how lucky I am to have a meal in front of me is very humbling
   • Big History Project - glad I took these courses. Maybe not too much new information but it was interesting to see the progression from our universe forming billions of years ago to the future of humanity
2. Don't
   • Eat meat for two days per week - wasn't too difficult and think I could continue if need be
3. Learn
   • Godin Freelancing Workshop - really good workshop and glad I took it
   • Bitcoin Basics - really good, free course on Udemy and a bit goofy but gave me a good understanding about the basics of Bitcoin

April

1. Do
   • Ask people to describe you in 3 words - bit of a difficult challenge in the sense that you open yourself up in a new way to people. I really enjoyed this challenge and would recommend giving it a try. It was interesting to see what different groups (friends, family, teammates, colleagues) came up with.
2. Don't
   • Say "yes" unless it's a "hell yes!" - got this idea from McKeown's Essentialism and while I wasn't able to put it into practice too often, I did say no a couple times to certain requests because I was overloaded. It was somewhat difficult but my colleagues understood and respected me being open about my inability to do quality work if I took on their requests.
3. Learn
   • How to tie a Windsor knot and four in hand tie knot

March

1. Do
   • Day of silence once per week - was only able to get 2 "Silent Sundays" in out of 4 but really enjoyed this practice. I didn't listen to any music, watch TV, or talk at all - just read a lot and tried to be aware of the noises around me. Definitely out there but it was fun to try
   • Give away 30 things in 30 days - this was fantastic and while I struggled deciding on exaclty what to give away, it felt great doing so. Mostly clothes but also some accessories and random stuff
2. Don't
   • Swear - quickly and repeatedly failed but I started catching myself towards the end of the month and being mindful of when I did
3. Learn
   • Location of all countries - Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America
   • Languages (Italian, Portuguese, Danish, German) with Duolingo and Vis-Ed  - great progress and feel like I'm learning a lot. This is a yearly goal and will need to keep working diligently.
   • Memorize William Blake's Auguries of Innocence - "To see the World in a grain of sand/And a Heaven in a Wild Flower/To hold Infinity in the palm of your hand/And Eternity in an hour"

February

1. Do
   • Reach out to one new person every day - this was a challenge I really enjoyed doing and will incorporate it into my daily habits. People often want to hear from you and keep in touch, it is just difficult to find the time and keep on top of it. I got in touch with 30 people in 30 days - often people I haven't spoken to in years. Creating a reason, even a silly reason like a monthly challenge, to reach out to someone makes it easier
2. Don't
   • No white lies - I failed at this but it was a great exercise to notice what I would want to avoid telling the truth about. For me, it was often trying to get out of social events I didn't want to attend.
3. Learn
   • Memorize the Gettysburg Address - not sure how useful this will ever be but it was a fun challenge
   • Main streets and general layout of Chicago - I'm pretty awful with directions and thought this challenge would help me. It's hard to put the time into memorizing something like this when Google Maps is so great...
   • Languages - keep working on German, Italian, Portuguese and Danish on Duolingo and Vis-Ed. Think I'm able to keep the languages separate and there is a lot of overlap

January

1. Do
   • Pay everything in cash - this challenge wasn't that effective as most of my bills are automated and paid directly through my bank but it did make spending money on small ticket items like coffee and nights out more difficult. Moving forward, I'll keep more cash on hand to pay for these types of items and hopefully make it that much harder to spend frivolously
2. Don't
   • Drink alcohol - I did a sober January and absolutely loved it. Super productive and great energy that only increased as the month went on. Not going to say it wasn't difficult, but it made me aware how much alcohol brings me down and will definitely reduce my intake moving forward. I missed the social aspect  at times and people were very understanding, and often jealous, that I was doing this challenge. People won't judge you as much as you think.
3. Learn
   • Finish memorizing German Vis-Ed flashcards - These flashcards are great if you haven't heard of them before. For a good number of languages they offer flashcards of the 1,000 most commonly used words. I have slowly been making my way through the German words and have memorized the vast majority.
   • Start Italian, Portuguese and Danish on Duolingo and Vis-Ed - Already speaking Spanish and Swedish, I decided Italian, Portuguese and Danish would be my next languages to focus on. Again, my approach is to do one lesson on Duolingo and make my way through the Vis-Ed flashcards. Good progress and we'll see if I'm able to keep the often similar words in these various languages distinct.

2014

My Do/Don't/Learn breakdown didn't start until 2015 but still took on a number of challenges throughout 2014

December

November

1. Do
   • Movember – Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for those who actually had to look at me…) I had to keep looking somewhat professional so I kept the beard until the last day when I rocked the mustache. I took a picture every day to see the progress…
   • Read all Berkshire shareholder letters – For anybody even remotely interested in finance and investing this is a no-brainer. Buffett does such a great job of laying out his investment principles in layman’s terms that anybody can grasp it. The difficult part is keeping emotionally stable enough to weather the good times and the bad. Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful
   • Know all 1,000 German Vis-ed flashcards – Made huge progress and knew the vast majority of the words but still need to get through those last 20 or so words which are giving me trouble. If you don’t know Vis-ed, check them out. They have a large array of flashcards from languages to mathematics and I have found them to be extremely helpful when trying to learn some new topics (especially using spaced repetition)
   • Set up game plan for SportsReplay – I won a non-profit challenge on 99Designs and a couple weeks later had a beautiful webpage design. The designers were very responsive and awesome to work with and I would definitely recommend using them for any webpage, logo or other design you might need help with. (LPT – Tim Ferriss partners with them and you can get $99 off by clicking here.)
2. Learn
   1. The 27 Amendments and American Presidents in order

October

August

1. Do
   • Get CPR Certified – I got certified in CPR and in situations where people are choking. It was all pretty straight forward and did it in an afternoon. It wasn’t difficult at all but I am very happy I did it.
   • Vegetarian – After doing a raw/meatless day per week I wanted to try being a vegetarian full time for a month. I didn’t crave meat nearly as much as I thought I would but I definitely ate less healthy as I had less options (especially since I’m lactose intolerant, I was essentially vegan this month) and felt tired and more irritable than normal
   • Apple Cider Vinegar – Every morning, instead of hot water with lemon, I drank one TBS of raw, organic ACV with water in the morning. I didn’t feel different from this and lemon but it was easier than lemon juice so I think I’ll keep this up moving forward. Positive Health Welnness has a great, in depth article on the benefits of lemon water if you're interested in learning more

July

1. Do
   • Raw one day per week – On Meatless Mondays, I added the raw aspect which wasn’t all that difficult considering it’s not too big of a step from vegetarian to raw. I definitely felt good doing this and will keep this up.
   • Incorporate fermented foods as much as possible – This is supposed to help with digestion so I ate a lot of sauerkraut and kombucha tea. I didn’t feel any noticeable effects but will keep up as I don’t think there are any down falls and long term it might help with gut health.
   • Bikram Yoga – Did this twice per week for 6 weeks. I absolutely love how calm, relaxed, and refreshed I felt. I will work this into my weekly workout routine – maybe one time per week or so.
   • Spike Mat – This was a completely foreign concept to me but a challenge I really enjoyed and will keep up. Essentially, it is a yoga mat with plastic spikes sticking up and the idea is that you lie on it for as long as you want – I did between 15-20 minutes before bed. While the first 2-3 minutes are pretty painful, soon after you enter a state of extreme relaxation and as a consequence sleep deeper than ever before.  I ended up combining my time on the spike mat with meditation and listening to binaurals.
2. Learn
   • How to Salsa – I learned the basics through the Pocket Salsa app. It made me want to take a real class and truly learn how to dance salsa and anything else.

June

1. Do
   • Meatless Mondays – Essentially protein cycling once per week which is shown to have good health benefits. Again, could be completely in my head but I felt lighter and cleaner after a month of this and I plan on keeping this up moving forward
2.  Learn
   • How to do a handstand – I made huge improvements with the handstand but still can’t do it confidently without a wall or something to support me. I will keep working on this moving forward until I can confidently balance every time.
   • High quality cocktails – It was fun learning what some of the main cocktail recipes entail and got hooked on the bourbon old-fashioned

May

1. Do
   • Shuffle cards and holding them properly – Pretty basic skills that I simply had never learned and am happy I now have these in my repertoire
2. Don't
   • Crack my knuckles – I definitely failed on not cracking my knuckles but I was at least conscious of when I was doing it and think I cracked them less. This is a habit I absolutely want to break and is something I will keep working on.
3. Learn
   • How to juggle – I learned how to juggle after only a couple days. it was something I had always wanted to do had a really good time learning it. I want to incorporate more physical skills into my monthly challenges.

April

1. Do
   • Wake up at 4:30 three times per week – I kept getting up early and either working out, reading or meditating. I love this routine as I feel it sets up the rest of the day. Was feeling pretty tired by the end of the month though
   • Take a 1 second video every day- I came across an inspiring TED talk by Cesar Kuriyama which describes his ambitious goal of taking a 1 second video every day for the rest of his life. I instantly fell in love with this concept and really enjoyed the 30 second video compilation at the end of the month. I would love to keep this going as much as possible moving forward.
2. Don't
   • Watch TV – I failed this challenge after only a couple days. I tend to watch TV while I’m eating dinner and is part of my winding down routine at nights. I usually watch some sort of documentary so don’t feel too bad about it but found out that I am more reliant on TV than I realized. This will be something I want to try again.
3. Learn
   • How to speed read – I learned the basic principles, techniques and some of the different schools of thought. I improved my average reading speed from around 300 WPM to over 600 WPM by just incorporating a couple simple techniques. A couple websites and apps that I recommend are spreeder, readsy, spritz, and the spritz speed reading app bundle. These are all Incredibly powerful programs that are very easy to use. The spritzlet bookmark is an absolute game changer – it takes 30 seconds to install and will instantly set up any page or highlighted material to be sped read (?). Give it a try – it can do up to 1,000 WPM which I hope to be able to achieve and comprehend one day! Note – I definitely don’t, and wouldn’t want to speed read everything. It is simply something useful to have in your repertoire whenever you need it.

March

1. Do
   1. Sleep 6 hours per night – I ended up going to bed around 10:30 and waking up around 4:30. This was one of the more difficult challenges I have done so far but one that I really liked. The second week was definitely a struggle but it got easier after that. I ended up having several hours to myself in the morning before work even started. I used this time to read, study, workout, and meditate. It set up great things for the rest of the day and although I do not plan on being as strict with myself moving forward, it will definitely be something I incorporate from time to time.

February

1. Do
   • High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – I didn’t achieve my goal of doing this 2-3 times per week but I got at least 1 to 2 sessions in per week. I was using the treadmill and the free version of the Tabata Stopwatch app to sprint at 12 MPH for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. Did this for 1 set of 4 reps – for a 12 minute workout including a quick warm-up. I definitely felt alert for the rest of the day and will make this part of my weekly workout routine (maybe only 1 time per week though).
   • Hot water with lemon – Immediately upon waking I drank a cup of hot water with the juice of half a lemon. It might be completely in my head but I felt like it cleared my head and helped with digestion. Check out these posts by The Way U Think and Positive Health Wellness which have some great detail on the benefits of lemon water
   • Cold showers – After my workouts I’d end my showers with 2-5 minutes of freezing water. This will really get you going in the morning and the drastic change in temperatures is supposed to have great health benefits too.

January

1. Do
   • Extra push-up every day – I wanted to test out the concept that you should be able to do one extra push-up everyday. This was a difficult challenge as it pushed me to my breaking point every single morning. However, I’m happy to say that I accomplished my goal of getting one extra push-up everyday and ended up being able to do 66 consecutive push-ups on January 31.
   • Meditate – I was meditating at nights for about 20 minutes and found it to be very calming and something I looked forward to doing before sleeping. Definitely difficult to quiet your mind and it gets frustrating at times but I feel like I am beginning to reap some benefits such as being mindful that “I am not my mind nor my body” as Deepak Chopra explains. This has helped me see things from a more unbiased perspective and created a sense of calm since I am beginning to realize that my thoughts and body do not constitute who “I” am.

2013

I began my monthly challenges in October of 2013 and have been hooked ever since.

December

November

1. Do
   • 7 minutes of exercise daily – strange exercising so little compared to what I was used to but it was intense and effective. I used the (very macho…) Lolo 7 Minute Workout App. Very simple to use and it guides you through the quick, whole body workout.
   • Meditate – I didn’t meditate as much as I had hoped to but I learned the basics around mindfulness meditation and will continue practicing. Sam Harris, who has a multitude of incredible and often controversial talks, offers an excellent guided meditation that I found helpful.

October

1. 1. Do
      • No red meat – while at the time I was not a huge red meat eater, I remember how much I enjoyed my big first steak at training table

August

• No alcohol. I felt and slept noticeably better and while it won't be a forever thing, doing it for one month every year has been a good cadence.

July

• One of the smallest but most impactful monthly challenges I've done in some time is adding an ​LMNT​ hydration packet to my routine every day. I've noticed that sluggishness and brain fog tend to be better after I drink one of these packets. I have no affiliation, but Ferriss, Huberman and others do if you want to try it and get a discount. My personal favorite are the orange and watermelon flavors.

June

• None

May

• None

April

• None

March

• Every morning I took 5-10 minutes to look over my day, think about priorities, and define my single, top goal for the day and when I would do it. This simple exercise was incredible focusing and rewarding - if I accomplished this one thing, I felt like my day was well spent and worthwhile.

February

• None

January

• None

2022

November

• Endel is one of my new favorite apps. I'm a silence and solitude person by nature, but I've found myself playing Endel in the background all day long. There are different soundscapes - ranging from morning energy rise to sleep - which are great for various occasions and moods. Also, the design is playful and endearing.

October

• The Dimensional Personality Test app is awesome. It takes about a dozen various personality tests - from values to love to work - and it helps compile a comprehensive overview of your personality. This info is typically siloed and getting a holistic view is impossible, but Dimensional makes it easy. Free and worth playing around with - whether for your relationships or for hiring.

September

• None

August

• None

July

• NuCalm - As a supplement to my meditation routine, I did 20-30 minutes every morning with NuCalm. The acoustics get you into an amazing state (from energized to relaxed) and as I get to traveling more, I've heard it helps with jet lag too. More to come... (h/t Yen L)

June

• None

May

• None

April

• None

March

• I started using nose strips while I slept. I don't typically have any congestion, but I did notice that it made it slightly easier to breathe. My Whoop didn't pick up anything significant in terms of recovery, so likely won't keep up over time.

February

• I got a Whoop recently and it's been really useful to get a deep dive into my metrics around strain, sleep, recovery, HRV, heartbeat, and more. It hasn't gotten me to change any routines or habits yet, but I'm hoping that overtime the weekly / monthly trends help uncover correlations that would be hard to get at otherwise.

January

• None

2021

December

• None

November

• None - this is getting bad... Any worthwhile monthly challenges you'd recommend?? Let me know!

October

• None

September

• None

August

• None

July

• None

June

• Mixology Masterclass - sped through a lot of it, but hearing some of the history and "philosophy" of cocktails was interesting. Always good to have a few additional cocktail recipes in the repertoire. Any other Masterclasses worth taking?

May

• None

April

• None

March

• Future Authoring - I completed this several hour program this month that helps you think about what you truly want out of life, how you're going to get there, things you want, things you don't want, etc. To know where you want to go, you have to know where you are. This relatively quick exercise (in the perspective of your life or even simply a year) is so valuable as it helps to clarify your aims. I think this should be a standard part of everybody's formal education - the opportunity cost of not doing so is simply too high.

February

• None

January

• Understand Myself - This quick online test takes less than 10 minutes and compares your answers with others in terms of the Big 5 Personality traits. I was a bit surprised at how extreme my results were - both high and low - though it's probably old news to my family :) and is helpful in terms of mitigating Galilean Relativity. My wife and family took the test as well and it was a blast comparing results. Well worthwhile.

2020

December

• In December, my wife and I did John Gottman's 30 Days to a Better Relationship. We answered one question per night that helped spur reflection, openness, gratitude, dialogue, vulnerability, and more. Really worthwhile and probably worth doing every year (thanks, Wifey, for the idea! <3 )

November

• None

October

• Magic Mind - tried this for 2 weeks and really enjoyed it. I took the first one as a shot and became extremely focused, like uncomfortably focused. The rest of them I sipped on throughout the morning and that was better for me and everyone around me (they're small, but potent!) They say to take it with your coffee, but that would have been too much for me. Don't think I'll do this every month or on any sort of routine, but definitely enjoyed them and would recommend trying it out.

September

• None

August

• None

July

• Perfect Espresso - aiming to make the perfect espresso without spending $3,000. This $65 Staresso is far superior to the DeLonghi I used to have and, while it's not coffee shop quality, it's extremely simple to use, mobile, and the value is incredible

June

• Learn how to skateboard - probably not the best skateboard to start with, but got to a point where I could speed up and cruise pretty confidently. Really fun and was the first physical skill I've learned in a while

May

• Pso-Rite (no affiliation) - This is a hard plastic mold that helps dig into stuck muscles. Definitely uncomfortable but if you're able to breathe through it, it really helps relax muscles in spasm. I used it mainly for my psoas, shoulder blades, and chest and will keep up a couple of times a week for 5-10 minutes

April

• Learn how two people work from home with a 9-month old

March

• Eight Sleep blue-light blocking glasses (no affiliation) - They only block 60% of blue light, but, according to my Apple Watch, increased my depth of sleep by about 10% for the month. Could also be due to not going out to eat as much, hardly drinking this month, or other factors but will probably keep wearing them...
  Andreessen's 3x5 index cards - in his guide to personal productivity, Andreessen talks about his tactics for being productive and I decided to implement this suggestion. I've always kept an extensive Wunderlist, but the physical note with my 3-5 most important things for the next day really served to focus my attention and keep me on track. I'll absolutely keep this up.

February

• No coffee - I typically only drink a cup a day and still didn't feel great the first 3-4 days. After that, though, I definitely noticed sleeping better and wasn't ever jittery. Don't think I'll cut out coffee for good, but I'm glad I did it for a month and now have a new-found respect for good tea.

January

• Daily cold showers in the morning - Had moved away from cold showers for a bit and happy they're back in my life

2019

January

• No caffeine - first couple days were tough but made me realize the impact caffeine has on me (elevated heart rate, a bit of a frantic mood, etc.). I'll go back to regular coffee soon but limit it to 1 per day and might do one week of no caffeine per month to cycle off

February

• None

March

• Apple Watch HRV every morning - nice start to the day as it helps you get into a comfortable and relaxed state through deep and rhythmic breathing. Doesn't replace meditation at all but it was helpful to see how the Apple Watch analyzes HRV and how it correlates to how I'm feeling.

April

• Fred Wilson's MBA Mondays - Fred clarified a lot about the startup world, from fundraising to exits and everything in between. Some of my favorites:
  • The Management Team Guest Posts - Matt Blumberg, Joel Spolsky, Phil Sugar, Jerry Colonna
  • Culture - Susan Loh, Scott Kurnit, Dana Ardi
  • Sustainability: How to be in Business Forever - 1, 2, 3, 4

May

• 36 Questions - an effective way to get to know someone deeply pretty quickly but, since I did it with my wife, many of the questions were a bit silly and basic. Definitely fun and worthwhile to try though - especially staring into somebody's eyes for 4 minutes

June

• Had my first child, a daughter! That'll be challenging enough for at least a month ;)

July

• Semi-Annual Pareto Spring Cleaning - an easy and very effective way to spend 20 minutes every quarter, helping to identify distractions and amplifiers
• 7-Minute Daily Hanging Challenge (Ido Portal) - not 7 consecutive minutes, but 7 minutes total in a day. Felt like it helped with my posture, grip strength, and shoulder flexibility.

August

• None

September

• None

October

• Daily energy check-in with wifey - a simple, 10-second check-in where we ask each other how each other's energy levels are from 1-10 (and can't say 7). This has made a world of difference already - we know what we can expect out of the other and if one of us is low, the other knows they need to step up. It has helped set expectations and open the lines of communication. I wish we had known and implemented this from day one.

November

• None

December

• None

2018

January

• Daily tweet - hardly did anything on Twitter before but it was fun to try to come up with a quick daily blurb that wasn't totally worthless
• No caffeine - I usually only drink 1-2 cups per day but this was surprisingly easy after the first 2 days. Definitely slept better but miss coffee and will go back to it

February

• Run a 6-minute mile - it had been a while since I was able to do this and it took some time to get it back but I'm happy I did it. Probably won't keep it up though...
• Read Sam Altman's blog - not quite Paul Graham-level but had some worthwhile insights

March

• Comprehensive blood test - learned a lot from these results and will be tweaking my diet, certain supplements and some behaviors on the margin

April

• Read past quarter's journal entries to see patterns and trends, where I spent my time (both positively and negatively), always looking to refine and improve where and how I spend my time
• 3-day fast
• Diet tweaks after blood work - probiotics, magnesium and no eggs for one month

May

• Tough month with a lot of travel. Will shift how to shoot a bow and arrow and learning how to ride a horse to June

June

• Write down one thing per day that you love about someone and give it to them at the end - great thing to do for anyone important in your life
• Semi-annual Pareto Spring CleaningWhat 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems?
  1. What 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes?
  2. If I had a heart attack and had to work 2 hour per day, what would I do?
  3. If I had a gun to my head and had to stop doing 3 time consuming activities, what would I remove?
  4. What are the top 2 activities that I engage in "for activity's sake"? - to feel productive?

July

• Review journal entries - helps me see where I spent my time, what was useful/useless, what brought me stress/joy, what I've learned, what I've done, etc. Broadly, this process helps me more clearly see what I should be doing more and less of
• How to shoot a bow and arrow - not a ton of progress but learned the basics

August

• HeartMath HRV - doing just 5-10 minutes in the morning and at night in order to get into coherence and measure my heart rate variability (HRV). Definitely not a replacement for meditation but it is a great, quick way to get many of the physical benefits associated with coherence and meditation. I also got HeartMath's HRV monitor for this experiment and highly recommend. Still a bit annoying to have to clip into anything (should be inbuilt with Apple Watch!) but better than others I've tried in the past
• Avoid lectin-heavy foods (tomatoes, potatoes, legumes, beans, and more) - wanted to try this after digging into Dr. Gundry's Plant Paradox. I didn't feel a huge difference and probably won't be too strict with it moving forward but I definitely didn't feel worse and I know a lot of people who have felt a huge difference on this protocol.

September

• 3 day fast - boring but surprisingly easy. A lot of energy but I tend not to sleep well on these fasts

October

• Read past quarter's journal entries to see patterns and trends, where I spent my time (both positively and negatively), always looking to refine and improve where and how I spend my time
• Read Buffett Partnership letters -  great learning how Buffett thought about investing early on in his career and how he has adapted throughout time. Same ideas of circle of competence, margin of safety, Mr. Market, humility shine through

November

• 200 mg L-Theanine with coffee in the mornings - super sharp focus but didn't sleep well and was hot all the time. Might do every once in a while when needed but not every day.

December

• Changed the routine up a bit this December. Rather than reading new books, I've reviewed what I've read this past year as well as the best things I've read over the past ~5 years or so (see links above under "Books"). My goal was to spot patterns across topics and time, making it a priority to reflect more deeply on what I've already read in order to let these great teachings sink in. Really enjoyed this practice and will likely keep up.

2017

January

• Learn how to do a bridge - with the hope of learning how to do a kip up next month...
• Continued learning the basics of drawing (You Can Draw in 30 Days, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain) - been a ton of fun learning some basics such as depth, perspective, shading and has helped me become more perceptive
• 30 Day Minimalism Challenge (inspired by a great documentary called Minimalism) - fun challenge to help you physically, mentally, emotionally, electronically declutter your life
• Don't mix alcohols - failed one time but it became abundantly clear that I feel much better when sticking to one kind

February

• Quarterly 3 day fast - boring but getting surprisingly easy the more I do it
• Psyllium Husk - 1 tablespoon with water after dinner. Has immediate results for some but I didn't notice much of a difference
• Don't eat within 2 hours of bed - failed a decent amount but definitely felt lighter the mornings after when I did follow through
• Kip up - failed miserably. No consistent place to practice and feel like I need to enlist the help of a coach

March

• Learning some basic dance moves - painful but making progress
• Lunch time meditation - didn't get to occasionally but even 10 minutes makes a world of difference

April

• Dancing - the final performance was this month and it turned out pretty much as good as I could have hoped for. Happy and honored to have helped such a great organization as The South Bend Center for the Homeless and to have challenged myself by stepping out of my comfort zone.
• Going through last quarter's entries in my BestSelf journal - the goal is to see broader patterns over longer periods of time that I might otherwise miss in the moment, to relive good experiences, to learn from difficulties or failures and to see where the most productive and useful time is spent (amazing how much time is wasted in non-useful articles, meetings, books, etc. but I think that's the price of admission to occasionally stumble upon the few gems which do have lasting impact).
• Learning how to Learn - Coursera put together a great course on the different techniques to become a better learner, covering topics such as memory, chunking, how to deal with procrastination, how to study, improving productivity, test taking skills, etc. My Summary Notes

May

• None this month as it was a planning, packing, moving, traveling and transition month

June - August

• Pareto Spring Cleaning
• 10-Day Silent Vipassana Retreat
• Learn to whistle loudly with my fingers - not quite there yet...
• Train with the STAmina App - a shorthand version of the Wim Hof training
• Review my quarterly journal entries to see where time was well spent, where it was wasted, what I learned, what surprised me, and how these things are helping or hindering me in reaching my goals

September

• 3 day fast
• Jerzy Gregorek's "Happy Body" Program - wasn't too committed to it but liked the routine when I got to it

October

• None

November

• At the end of the day, reflect on my day - what surprised me, what I could have done better, how did I feel, etc. Also, review my schedule and goals for the next day

December

• Pareto Spring Cleaning checklist
• Host Defense immune support - hard to know but didn't get sick this winter and was traveling a lot
• Clarify intentions / goals for the week first thing Monday morning - a simple 5-10 minute exercise which has helped me prioritize my focus and time spend for the week

 2016

January

1. Do
   • Wim Hof Method - a series of breathing exercises, stretching and cold exposure which leave you feeling energized, calm and focused. Can't recommend highly enough. His book, outline found here, gives a broad overview but the course you buy goes much more in depth
   • Huperzine A before bed (200-400 mcg) - read that this helps with lucid dreaming but I ended up sleeping so terribly on it that I stopped after 2 weeks
2. Don't
   • Eat red meat - no particular reason but to deprive myself of something I enjoy
3. Learn
   • More about Bruce Springsteen - documentary, albums on Spotify, Wikipedia page

February

1. Do
   • Wim Hof - continued with the yoga, meditation, exercise, cold exposure all rolled into one. Finish the exercise feeling, calm, center yet energized and focused. Do it!
2. Don't
   • N/A :(
3. Learn
   • Foodist - a recent sponsor of Ferriss' podcasts so thought I'd try it out. Great resource and learning guide for people who are nervous about cooking and want to improve

March

1. Do
   • Roast an entire chicken - had never done this and thought it would be fun to try. Surprisingly easy, delicious and fun. Also, fed me for a week
2. Don't
   • N/A - will be focusing more on my "Dos" and "Learning"
3. Learn
   • Tai chi - have been wanting to learn more about tai chi for some time now. Only got through one book and excited to learn more about it and practice over the next several months. Exciting avenue to learn more about yourself, get some good exercise and gain mental clarity/calmness

April

1. Do
   • N/A
2. Don't
   • Use social media - jumped off Facebook and Snapchat and never really use Twitter or anything else. It was really nice to disconnect for a while. Might download the Facebook messenger app on my phone but don't think I'll be using much of anything else...
3. Learn
   • Tai Chi - got through some more books which were helpful but you definitely need a teacher/class/mentor to get anywhere with

May

1. Do
   • Create a list of people I'd love to meet one day so that it is concrete in my head and I can take action (whether consciously or not) to try to make it happen
2. Don't
   • N/A
3. Learn
   • Memorize Marianne Williamson's Our Deepest Fear

June

1. Do
   • Balance on an indo-board - took me a bit to get the hang of it but by the end of the month could do it easily and am working on juggling while balancing. Great to get into flow quickly
   • Gymastics exercises - inspired by Ferriss' podcast with Chris Sommer, I looked into their website and started doing some should/hip flexibility work and other strenght/balance exercises
2. Learn
   • Top 1,000 most common words in Spanish using vis-ed flash cards - great refresher and there were more words than I would have guessed that I didn't know. Vis-ed has a ton of different languages and is a really useful tool when trying to learn languages

July

• Took a break this month and loved it

August

• Best Self Journaling -  automatic game changer. Got me to do a couple things which I've been putting off for literally months, gets me to sit down and focus on what I want to accomplish that day, what my larger goals are, what I'm grateful for and more
• Brain HQ -  brain games which help you improve your memory, reactions, recall, focus and more. Fun and supposedly help reduce dementia by up to 50%. Fun and only takes 5-10 minutes per day
• Learn about complexity and chaos theory (see Sync, Complexity, How Nature Works and Thinking in Systems)

September

• Gymnastics Strength Training - was inspired after listening to Ferriss' second podcast with Chris Sommers. Their fundamental course goes quite slowly but I'm loving it and have seen some pretty big benefits already in terms of mobility and flexibility. Highly recommend
• Complexity - continue learning about chaos theory and complexity (see Complexity, The Fifth Discipline, Investing: The Last Liberal Art, and Hidden Order). I'm putting together a "teacher's reference guide" with key concepts summarized which I'll share in the next newsletter
• Tussman quote - big fan of the quote and wanted to be able to recall it

October

• Gymnastics Strength Training is a new mainstay into my morning routine. Great mobility, flexibility and strength results in just 10-15 minutes per day
• Mini trampoline - got the inspiration after watching Tony Robbin's new documentary on Netflix. Jumping for 10 minutes per day is supposed to have great circulatory and digestive benefits - no idea if that's true but at the very least, it's fun...
• Three-day fast - third time I've done this now and it keeps surprising me how easy it is. Had a bit of a headache the first day but the second and third days I felt sharp although I missed the "process" of cooking and eating with close friends. I used ketoforce this time around (3 cap fulls in the morning with juice from half a lemon) which is supposed to help you get into ketosis faster. I didn't notice a huge difference in how I felt compared to the last couple fasts but will keep it up.
• On Complexity - finished up my teacher's reference guide on complexity. I got so much out of this deep, deliberate dive and hope you find it somewhat useful too.

November

• Silent retreat - it was really nice to get some space and feel like it was alright to do nothing, to walk slowly, to eat slowly, to meditate, to think deeply and escape technology and time for just two days. Would highly recommend and will definitely do it again at some point
• On Disney - finished compiling my learnings and takeaways from reading up on Disney and Pixar which has been an awesome project

December

• 3 day fast - last one of the year and each time seems to get a little easier, although still challenging. You start feeling really sharp towards the end of the second day and it has been a great experience learning that I can go days without eating if need be
• Decaf tea with apple cider vinegar and honey before bed - definitely helped me sleep a bit deeper but not to the point where I'll be doing this every day
• Bruce Lee - learning about his life and philosophy has been fascinating and look forward to digging in more next month
• Learn the basics of drawing - this has been one of my favorite challenges this year. I have zero artistic talent but this book walks you through fundamentals in a fun and engaging way. Will definitely keep up moving forward
• Get creative and experiment with Joule, a sous vide made by ChefSteps
• Year-End Challenges:
  • Napoleon Hill's 28 questions - personal check to see where I stand on things important to me. I have done this the last couple years and find it an easy yet powerful way to reflect on the past year
  • Revisit my 1, 5 and 10 year goals - I put no pressure on myself to live and die by these goals but I find it helpful to have some 'roadmap' in mind. Helps me see how I stack up to what I set out to do this year vs. what I actually did and see how the game plan for longer term goals are playing out.
  • Pareto Spring Cleaning - something I do every 6 months or so and it helps me think about what has caused the majority of my problems, successes, joys and stresses. Weeding out the bad and doing more of the good.
  • Read BestSelf journal entries to see how I spent my time these past 3 months, what I've been grateful for and possibly pick up any patterns or themes that were lost on me while in the moment. I have loved this quarterly practice as it helps extend your time horizon and in some ways become an observer of your own life

2015

December

1. Do
   • Ido Portal hanging protocol - wasn't too serious about it but hung from my pull up bar a couple minutes per day. Like it enough to keep doing it but didn't find any huge benefits
   • Wim Hof Method - started mid-month but am loving it. It is a 10 week breathing and cold exposure protocol which I'm really excited about
2. Don't
   • N/A this month
3. Learn
   • Determine 2016 goals - a lot of it is keeping up with good habits and routines I've set up but always looking for more. Any recommendations would be much appreciated

November

1. Do
   • Ask family and close friends for areas of improvement - definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone but I got some really valuable feedback from people who know me very well and I trust. Highly recommend
2. Don't
   • Don't crack my knuckles - made some progress but still a bad habit
3. Learn
   • More about wine - got some books on what influences the smell and taste of wine and how to better describe it. Interesting and pretty useful

September

1. Do
   • Keep a decision journal - no major decisions this month but a good practice I got into and will keep up
2. Don't
   • Have more than 3 drinks any given night - failed a couple times but not too often.
3. Learn
   • Memorize the 10 Commandments

October

1. Do
   • Ice on neck before bed / cold showers - amazing how deeply I slept after this (Tim Ferriss hack)
2. Don't
   • Get impatient with my family. Hate to think I treat complete strangers better than family
3. Learn
   • US State capitals

August

1. Do
   • Ask for 1-3 areas of improvement - really difficult but interesting to ask close friends / family for this input
   • 30 Day Pull up Challenge - I am pretty terrible at pull ups but was amazed at the progress over 30 days. Managed to get to 30 pull ups in a row, from a base of 10
2. Don't
   • Text while around other people - not very difficult but made me aware how much people in general do this
3. Learn
   • How to tie a bow tie

July

1. Took a break with moving and traveling to Sweden / Istanbul

June

1. Do
   • Archery class - fun to do something I've never done before
2. Don't
   • Watch more than 60 minutes of TV any given day
3. Learn
   • About Turkey in order to prepare for trip (Udemy Turkish language course)
   • TeeSpring T-Shirt ideas and classes

May

1. Do
   • Be grateful before every meal - not a prayer but just recognizing how lucky I am to have a meal in front of me is very humbling
   • Big History Project - glad I took these courses. Maybe not too much new information but it was interesting to see the progression from our universe forming billions of years ago to the future of humanity
2. Don't
   • Eat meat for two days per week - wasn't too difficult and think I could continue if need be
3. Learn
   • Godin Freelancing Workshop - really good workshop and glad I took it
   • Bitcoin Basics - really good, free course on Udemy and a bit goofy but gave me a good understanding about the basics of Bitcoin

April

1. Do
   • Ask people to describe you in 3 words - bit of a difficult challenge in the sense that you open yourself up in a new way to people. I really enjoyed this challenge and would recommend giving it a try. It was interesting to see what different groups (friends, family, teammates, colleagues) came up with.
2. Don't
   • Say "yes" unless it's a "hell yes!" - got this idea from McKeown's Essentialism and while I wasn't able to put it into practice too often, I did say no a couple times to certain requests because I was overloaded. It was somewhat difficult but my colleagues understood and respected me being open about my inability to do quality work if I took on their requests.
3. Learn
   • How to tie a Windsor knot and four in hand tie knot

March

1. Do
   • Day of silence once per week - was only able to get 2 "Silent Sundays" in out of 4 but really enjoyed this practice. I didn't listen to any music, watch TV, or talk at all - just read a lot and tried to be aware of the noises around me. Definitely out there but it was fun to try
   • Give away 30 things in 30 days - this was fantastic and while I struggled deciding on exaclty what to give away, it felt great doing so. Mostly clothes but also some accessories and random stuff
2. Don't
   • Swear - quickly and repeatedly failed but I started catching myself towards the end of the month and being mindful of when I did
3. Learn
   • Location of all countries - Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America
   • Languages (Italian, Portuguese, Danish, German) with Duolingo and Vis-Ed  - great progress and feel like I'm learning a lot. This is a yearly goal and will need to keep working diligently.
   • Memorize William Blake's Auguries of Innocence - "To see the World in a grain of sand/And a Heaven in a Wild Flower/To hold Infinity in the palm of your hand/And Eternity in an hour"

February

1. Do
   • Reach out to one new person every day - this was a challenge I really enjoyed doing and will incorporate it into my daily habits. People often want to hear from you and keep in touch, it is just difficult to find the time and keep on top of it. I got in touch with 30 people in 30 days - often people I haven't spoken to in years. Creating a reason, even a silly reason like a monthly challenge, to reach out to someone makes it easier
2. Don't
   • No white lies - I failed at this but it was a great exercise to notice what I would want to avoid telling the truth about. For me, it was often trying to get out of social events I didn't want to attend.
3. Learn
   • Memorize the Gettysburg Address - not sure how useful this will ever be but it was a fun challenge
   • Main streets and general layout of Chicago - I'm pretty awful with directions and thought this challenge would help me. It's hard to put the time into memorizing something like this when Google Maps is so great...
   • Languages - keep working on German, Italian, Portuguese and Danish on Duolingo and Vis-Ed. Think I'm able to keep the languages separate and there is a lot of overlap

January

1. Do
   • Pay everything in cash - this challenge wasn't that effective as most of my bills are automated and paid directly through my bank but it did make spending money on small ticket items like coffee and nights out more difficult. Moving forward, I'll keep more cash on hand to pay for these types of items and hopefully make it that much harder to spend frivolously
2. Don't
   • Drink alcohol - I did a sober January and absolutely loved it. Super productive and great energy that only increased as the month went on. Not going to say it wasn't difficult, but it made me aware how much alcohol brings me down and will definitely reduce my intake moving forward. I missed the social aspect  at times and people were very understanding, and often jealous, that I was doing this challenge. People won't judge you as much as you think.
3. Learn
   • Finish memorizing German Vis-Ed flashcards - These flashcards are great if you haven't heard of them before. For a good number of languages they offer flashcards of the 1,000 most commonly used words. I have slowly been making my way through the German words and have memorized the vast majority.
   • Start Italian, Portuguese and Danish on Duolingo and Vis-Ed - Already speaking Spanish and Swedish, I decided Italian, Portuguese and Danish would be my next languages to focus on. Again, my approach is to do one lesson on Duolingo and make my way through the Vis-Ed flashcards. Good progress and we'll see if I'm able to keep the often similar words in these various languages distinct.

2014

My Do/Don't/Learn breakdown didn't start until 2015 but still took on a number of challenges throughout 2014

December

November

1. Do
   • Movember – Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for those who actually had to look at me…) I had to keep looking somewhat professional so I kept the beard until the last day when I rocked the mustache. I took a picture every day to see the progress…
   • Read all Berkshire shareholder letters – For anybody even remotely interested in finance and investing this is a no-brainer. Buffett does such a great job of laying out his investment principles in layman’s terms that anybody can grasp it. The difficult part is keeping emotionally stable enough to weather the good times and the bad. Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful
   • Know all 1,000 German Vis-ed flashcards – Made huge progress and knew the vast majority of the words but still need to get through those last 20 or so words which are giving me trouble. If you don’t know Vis-ed, check them out. They have a large array of flashcards from languages to mathematics and I have found them to be extremely helpful when trying to learn some new topics (especially using spaced repetition)
   • Set up game plan for SportsReplay – I won a non-profit challenge on 99Designs and a couple weeks later had a beautiful webpage design. The designers were very responsive and awesome to work with and I would definitely recommend using them for any webpage, logo or other design you might need help with. (LPT – Tim Ferriss partners with them and you can get $99 off by clicking here.)
2. Learn
   1. The 27 Amendments and American Presidents in order

October

August

1. Do
   • Get CPR Certified – I got certified in CPR and in situations where people are choking. It was all pretty straight forward and did it in an afternoon. It wasn’t difficult at all but I am very happy I did it.
   • Vegetarian – After doing a raw/meatless day per week I wanted to try being a vegetarian full time for a month. I didn’t crave meat nearly as much as I thought I would but I definitely ate less healthy as I had less options (especially since I’m lactose intolerant, I was essentially vegan this month) and felt tired and more irritable than normal
   • Apple Cider Vinegar – Every morning, instead of hot water with lemon, I drank one TBS of raw, organic ACV with water in the morning. I didn’t feel different from this and lemon but it was easier than lemon juice so I think I’ll keep this up moving forward. Positive Health Welnness has a great, in depth article on the benefits of lemon water if you're interested in learning more

July

1. Do
   • Raw one day per week – On Meatless Mondays, I added the raw aspect which wasn’t all that difficult considering it’s not too big of a step from vegetarian to raw. I definitely felt good doing this and will keep this up.
   • Incorporate fermented foods as much as possible – This is supposed to help with digestion so I ate a lot of sauerkraut and kombucha tea. I didn’t feel any noticeable effects but will keep up as I don’t think there are any down falls and long term it might help with gut health.
   • Bikram Yoga – Did this twice per week for 6 weeks. I absolutely love how calm, relaxed, and refreshed I felt. I will work this into my weekly workout routine – maybe one time per week or so.
   • Spike Mat – This was a completely foreign concept to me but a challenge I really enjoyed and will keep up. Essentially, it is a yoga mat with plastic spikes sticking up and the idea is that you lie on it for as long as you want – I did between 15-20 minutes before bed. While the first 2-3 minutes are pretty painful, soon after you enter a state of extreme relaxation and as a consequence sleep deeper than ever before.  I ended up combining my time on the spike mat with meditation and listening to binaurals.
2. Learn
   • How to Salsa – I learned the basics through the Pocket Salsa app. It made me want to take a real class and truly learn how to dance salsa and anything else.

June

1. Do
   • Meatless Mondays – Essentially protein cycling once per week which is shown to have good health benefits. Again, could be completely in my head but I felt lighter and cleaner after a month of this and I plan on keeping this up moving forward
2.  Learn
   • How to do a handstand – I made huge improvements with the handstand but still can’t do it confidently without a wall or something to support me. I will keep working on this moving forward until I can confidently balance every time.
   • High quality cocktails – It was fun learning what some of the main cocktail recipes entail and got hooked on the bourbon old-fashioned

May

1. Do
   • Shuffle cards and holding them properly – Pretty basic skills that I simply had never learned and am happy I now have these in my repertoire
2. Don't
   • Crack my knuckles – I definitely failed on not cracking my knuckles but I was at least conscious of when I was doing it and think I cracked them less. This is a habit I absolutely want to break and is something I will keep working on.
3. Learn
   • How to juggle – I learned how to juggle after only a couple days. it was something I had always wanted to do had a really good time learning it. I want to incorporate more physical skills into my monthly challenges.

April

1. Do
   • Wake up at 4:30 three times per week – I kept getting up early and either working out, reading or meditating. I love this routine as I feel it sets up the rest of the day. Was feeling pretty tired by the end of the month though
   • Take a 1 second video every day- I came across an inspiring TED talk by Cesar Kuriyama which describes his ambitious goal of taking a 1 second video every day for the rest of his life. I instantly fell in love with this concept and really enjoyed the 30 second video compilation at the end of the month. I would love to keep this going as much as possible moving forward.
2. Don't
   • Watch TV – I failed this challenge after only a couple days. I tend to watch TV while I’m eating dinner and is part of my winding down routine at nights. I usually watch some sort of documentary so don’t feel too bad about it but found out that I am more reliant on TV than I realized. This will be something I want to try again.
3. Learn
   • How to speed read – I learned the basic principles, techniques and some of the different schools of thought. I improved my average reading speed from around 300 WPM to over 600 WPM by just incorporating a couple simple techniques. A couple websites and apps that I recommend are spreeder, readsy, spritz, and the spritz speed reading app bundle. These are all Incredibly powerful programs that are very easy to use. The spritzlet bookmark is an absolute game changer – it takes 30 seconds to install and will instantly set up any page or highlighted material to be sped read (?). Give it a try – it can do up to 1,000 WPM which I hope to be able to achieve and comprehend one day! Note – I definitely don’t, and wouldn’t want to speed read everything. It is simply something useful to have in your repertoire whenever you need it.

March

1. Do
   1. Sleep 6 hours per night – I ended up going to bed around 10:30 and waking up around 4:30. This was one of the more difficult challenges I have done so far but one that I really liked. The second week was definitely a struggle but it got easier after that. I ended up having several hours to myself in the morning before work even started. I used this time to read, study, workout, and meditate. It set up great things for the rest of the day and although I do not plan on being as strict with myself moving forward, it will definitely be something I incorporate from time to time.

February

1. Do
   • High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – I didn’t achieve my goal of doing this 2-3 times per week but I got at least 1 to 2 sessions in per week. I was using the treadmill and the free version of the Tabata Stopwatch app to sprint at 12 MPH for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. Did this for 1 set of 4 reps – for a 12 minute workout including a quick warm-up. I definitely felt alert for the rest of the day and will make this part of my weekly workout routine (maybe only 1 time per week though).
   • Hot water with lemon – Immediately upon waking I drank a cup of hot water with the juice of half a lemon. It might be completely in my head but I felt like it cleared my head and helped with digestion. Check out these posts by The Way U Think and Positive Health Wellness which have some great detail on the benefits of lemon water
   • Cold showers – After my workouts I’d end my showers with 2-5 minutes of freezing water. This will really get you going in the morning and the drastic change in temperatures is supposed to have great health benefits too.

January

1. Do
   • Extra push-up every day – I wanted to test out the concept that you should be able to do one extra push-up everyday. This was a difficult challenge as it pushed me to my breaking point every single morning. However, I’m happy to say that I accomplished my goal of getting one extra push-up everyday and ended up being able to do 66 consecutive push-ups on January 31.
   • Meditate – I was meditating at nights for about 20 minutes and found it to be very calming and something I looked forward to doing before sleeping. Definitely difficult to quiet your mind and it gets frustrating at times but I feel like I am beginning to reap some benefits such as being mindful that “I am not my mind nor my body” as Deepak Chopra explains. This has helped me see things from a more unbiased perspective and created a sense of calm since I am beginning to realize that my thoughts and body do not constitute who “I” am.

2013

I began my monthly challenges in October of 2013 and have been hooked ever since.

December

November

1. Do
   • 7 minutes of exercise daily – strange exercising so little compared to what I was used to but it was intense and effective. I used the (very macho…) Lolo 7 Minute Workout App. Very simple to use and it guides you through the quick, whole body workout.
   • Meditate – I didn’t meditate as much as I had hoped to but I learned the basics around mindfulness meditation and will continue practicing. Sam Harris, who has a multitude of incredible and often controversial talks, offers an excellent guided meditation that I found helpful.

October

1. Do
   • No red meat – while at the time I was not a huge red meat eater, I remember how much I enjoyed my big first steak at training table