I used to like sport for winning. I still do, but no sport compares with ultimate, which I’m too old to compete in. Or rather, I know I’ll get worse every year so investing effort for the future has less payoff. Now sport is about discipline, dedication, discovery, self-awareness, and things like that—switching to the second meaning of competition from the first. I’ve had a rowing machine for years. They[…] Keep reading →

The pattern is this: You know something will help you and you want to do it You look forward to doing it in the future Just before doing it you feel like you don’t want to do it Starting takes a lot of willpower Once you start you want to keep doing it After you finish you’re glad you did it and find yourself feeling like in step 1 Examples[…] Keep reading →

I grew up thinking a food being a staple, like bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice, meant you were supposed to make them the foundations of your meals. Like pasta was the main part of your meal and you’d put sauce on it. When I ate meat I’d put meat in the sauce. Bread was the foundation for a sandwich. Rice was the foundation for meals it was in. That’s what[…] Keep reading →

The other day I was interviewed for a podcast (I’ll link to it when they edit and post it). The interviewer asked me how I accomplished so much. I told him and his listeners to look up sidchas on my blog. Everyone who aspires to greatness knows the importance of building discipline, integrity, dedication, and other skills. I accomplish things by acting by my values. I practice with small challenges[…] Keep reading →

“I don’t have time to exercise.” Everyone has said it at some point. It’s a lie. At best, it’s ignorant. If you want to lead others, you better know how to lead yourself. Effective exercise can take a few minutes a day. The hard part about effective exercise is that you don’t feel motivation to do strenuous things. I’m not saying it’s easy. The point is that if you talk[…] Keep reading →

Healthy activities: Before, you don’t want to do them. After, you feel emotional reward that you did them. Unhealthy activities: Before, you want to do them. After, you regret doing them. For healthy, think exercise, cooking a nutritious meal, helping a friend, even reading a book. For unhealthy, think putting off exercising, eating junk or even just eating too much, staying home when you could help a friend, and watching[…] Keep reading →

I just read yet another post of someone saying eating healthy takes more time and money. I can’t believe how wrong that view is, at least by my experience. Living in New York City means I have access to some of the best restaurants in the world. I can afford to eat at them. Yet my past year’s cooking has disillusioned me in them. I find them disappointing. Their food[…] Keep reading →

If this doesn’t sound like leadership and the rest of what I usually write about, it is. It’s about awareness, perception, discovery, and living your life. Increasingly I see food and how you eat as fundamental to leading yourself. Cabbage is delicious! I grew up thinking it was supposed to taste bad. I thought maybe when I grew up I would “acquire the taste for it.” I never bought cabbage[…] Keep reading →

A lot of people still think you can lose fat from your stomach by doing sit-ups. Most people know you can’t target where you lose fat. More importantly, since you can eat calories faster than you can burn them, especially with sugary foods where the fiber has been removed, six-pack abs come from eating less more than from exercising more for most people. It depends on your eating and exercise[…] Keep reading →