This is my contribution to Endorsed Red Pill Weekend. At the risk of this being an annoying self-help guru hippie type post (since we don't want this subreddit to devolve into that), I do think that once in a while it helps to revisit the foundational work. Foundational work which will result in more sex and money (what more do you want in life?).
This post is meant to be a collection of a whole bunch of disparate topics condensed into a single place. They all relate to male sexual strategy in some way. More detail on each topic can be found in our community's archives. Hopefully it's practical and I'm sure you all have your own foundational shit you want to shout to the world as well. So here it goes. This is what I do:
 
**PHYSICAL:**
**Posture: (2 minutes / day)** Clinical studies have demonstrated that better posture increases testosterone and lowers cortisol. Do [this exercise](https://youtu.be/LT_dFRnmdGs) daily. Whether you're sitting in a car, walking, or socializing, dedicate some brainpower to being aware of your posture. See if you can stretch the back of your head towards the ceiling a bit and check in with your posture frequently.
**Showering:** Take cold showers daily. Alternate hot and cold water in the shower a few times. It boosts both your testosterone and your immune system.
**Exercise: (60 minutes / day)** Lift weights every other day. The days you don't lift weights, go for walks (it's not only for cardio but for your mental health, creativity, confidence, and anxiety). Do this for 12 months, and then come back. Learn about proper form, but don't debate on the pro's and con's of different routines quite yet. Only once you've been consistent for 6-12 months can you start asking questions about optimizing, or go work with /u/gaylubeoil. **Get consistent first, optimize later.**
**Diet: (constant vigilance)** Eat a lot more vegetables. Let me repeat that. **EAT MORE VEGETABLES.** Seriously. No matter how much you're eating now, eat more. Eat enough protein. Don't analyze the proper ratio of certain food items until you're on a consistent schedule. **Get consistent first, optimize later.** Others might disagree here, but so be it. This is what works for me. The ones who disagree probably already have this foundation down pat, and forget the value of taking the first few steps. This is more for people earlier in their training. There's also some early scientific evidence that meat could be linked to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease, but I'm not a staunch vegan or anything; I am just including it here for others who may wish to do their own research. You can also [consider fasting](http://www.menofmagnitude.com/time-get-hungry-age-many-western-world-question-next-meal-not-instead-wherever-whenever-feel-like-many-us-safe/).
 
**MENTAL:**
**Knowledge: (1 book / week)** Reading the right books gives you a tremendous leg up on the competition. I always ask myself: "If I were competing against someone else in my career, and that person has read this book, would I feel intimidated?" I won't go into too much detail on book selection, except to say that Robert Greene's books are mandatory. I enjoy persuasion and strategy books myself, and I think the amount of time it takes to fully internalize Nietszche's books can last me a lifetime. Use services like [Summaries.com](http://www.summaries.com/) or [KI Book Club](http://kibook.club) to learn more efficiently. /u/illimitableman explicated this better than I ever could, so I'll simply [defer to his blog post](https://illimitablemen.com/2016/10/11/what-to-learn-and-how-to-learn-it-these-are-the-questions/) on this. [wallstreetplayboys](http://wallstreetplayboys.com) recommends 100 pages / week. I prefer more, but only if the books seem to have practical value. I have no experience with podcasts (I prefer to read) but I include it here for completeness. You might enjoy [Mike Cernovich](http://www.dangerandplay.com)'s podcasts and I always learn things from /u/illacertus's [Youtube Channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmvhCWvHk3-SJqljh5cCm8A).
**Meditation: (5-20 minutes / day)**: The book Peak discusses the value of both consistently being outside your comfort zone, and yet doing things extremely gradually so that your brain barely notices that you *are* actually outside your comfort zone. I applied that principle to meditation. When I used to try to meditate for 20-30 minutes per day, I'd skip days, I'd barely get into a rhythm, and it was a challenge. I now am at 10 minutes and 21 seconds, and every day I only add 1 second to my meditation time. By the end of 2017 I'll be at 15 minutes. This helps me stay consistent, and meditation is a long game anyway. Start at 5 minutes (300 seconds), and simply add 1 second each day. Before you know it, you're both on a regular schedule and picking up speed. Secondly, a trick I do to stay present when I'm not meditating is to say these words to myself (preferably outloud but in your head works): "What am I doing right now? I'm asking msyelf what I'm doing. I'm focusing on the present situation and my concrete senses." You can adapt that mantra to whatever you want. For example, you may want to give yourself some motivational positive self-talk after saying that (e.g. "I'm hunting/grinding.").
**Fear Bootstrapping: (2 minutes / day)** Write down your fears with your *non-dominant* hand. It looks like a child wrote it. *"I'm scared I won't have the discipline to go to the gym consistently enough to actually have as much sex as I want."* This is most important to do when you're feeling especially down about yourself. When you're in a better mood, *answer* the child-like handwriting with your *dominant* hand. *"Whether or not I was disciplined enough in the past doesn't matter. The past is set in stone and I can always choose to start being more disciplined today. When I weight 190 lbs and have 9% body fat, it's going to be much easier to get sex, so it's worth the difficulty now."* Your fears are your own. They may center around fitness, around girls, approach anxiety, money, whatever. This method is one form of self-therapy I developed for myself. It trains your subconscious to see your fears coming from a ridiculously stupid inner-child, and your confident answers coming from a powerful adult man.
**Scheming: (10 minutes / day)** You're a smart person, right? You have things planned out pretty well? You see how to get to your future financial goals? No matter how smart you are, keeping your plans in your subsconsious hides how sloppy your thinking truly is. Have you fleshed out the details? Do you actually internally believe it will occur? Write it down. Read it over. Rewrite it. Read it over. Repeat. Once you have step Z written down you realize you're at step A today. Have you filled in B through Y? Write down the lifestyle you want, write down the career path you want, whatever. By writing it down, you realize how sloppy your thinking is. Also don't spend too much time on this in one big spurt, only to ignore it for the next few months. Write down a paragraph on week 1. Add another paragraph on week 2. Get consistent with this first, and do it gradually. Before you know it, your confidence grows because (1) you start to internalize that you will actually hit your goals, and (2) you see the next action items more clearly. Do this from the first person perspective (from your own future self's eyes). Keep it simple in a single Word document. Don't try to optimize the method before you become consistent. **Get consistent first, optimize later.**
**Fiction: (as a vice to relax)** TV may be pink slime for your brain, but I find certain fiction shows (like Peaky Blinders) wonderful for seeing which personality traits I value and which I don't. Which character do I identify with, and why? (Hint: It's usually the villains). I enjoy TV and fiction books at the end of a busy day. When reading fiction books, in the past I used to visualize the story from the third person perspective. "Gandalf looked at Frodo and the ring." Instead of visualizing this from the third party perspective, as a "floating body" above the scene, I actually make it an exercise to visualize it from the first person perspective. I envision it from Gandalf's or Frodo's eyes. I go back and forth between the two. I practice envisioning details. If this seems useless, I promise you it's not. Many highly successful athletes, authors, and business coaches discuss the value of visualizing your future from the *first person perspective* using all your senses. When I read, it becomes an actual *exercise* to *practice* my visualization skills. It improves my memory, and when I plan out my future, using this skill helps me fill in details.
**Sex: (3 approaches / week)** Read the top red pill posts weekly, because there are always new gems, but don't spend all your time here. Don't watch porn. If you're single, log your number of approaches / week. After each approach, analyze the good and bad based on your own behavior. Write it down when it's fresh. Then don't harp on it; throw it away after looking it over a week later. Always ask yourself: *"Would she have treated someone stronger, richer, more confident, or more aloof this way?"* (It used to be called "The Brad Pitt Test" if that term is still floating around the manosphere). Take a good hard look at yourself. You're probably too fat, too scrawny, or care what people think (male and female) too much to be successful with sex. Here's a simple test: are you actually happy with your current amount of sex per month? **If not, you're probably mentally or physically weak, and you can change that by working harder using the above advice. It will take a long time, but so what?**
 
Add those all up, and you get: 588 minutes/week, 1 book/week, and 3 approaches/week. It really isn't that much time for foundational work (the majority of which is allocated for exercise), compared to the 7000 minutes/week you're awake. And the results are tremendously exponential for your fitness, finance, and sex. *If* you're consistent.
This is what works for me. Adapt it to your life.
 
[deleted] 7y ago
While relatively true, this is a severely limiting belief. You can get those numbers and still have problems because, in reality, that bad attitude was the problem all along.
Goals are essential - but be careful what you believe and how you believe it.
cesarfd 7y ago
Goldest of the golden gold. Thanks.
[deleted] 7y ago
I just tried the posture exercises. I recently hired a personal trainer to fix my computer hunchback and I feel these exercises in the same places but more so. Sweet.
Marcus1138 7y ago
Solid post, thanks for sharing.
To add to the part about reading fiction, the benefits are not only from visualization. More than non-fiction, fiction improves your communications skills. The more you read the faster you read, the better your vocabulary becomes (allowing you to understand more and communicate with more precision), and the better you get at telling stories (very important, both socially and for business).
GuruDev1000 7y ago
Beautiful. The first tip is something I totally forgot about is is very important for me. Thank you.
Get consistent, optimise later is an excellent and powerful idea to live by.
greatslyfer 7y ago
This feels like a game where I have to complete the quests now haha
Very nice way to improve yourself, structured and simple.
[deleted] 7y ago
Yes and notes:
Reading: Many of the books i think are worth reading should not be read in 1 week. No more mr nice guy, Laws of power, 7 habits etc. are far too deep to read in 1 week, and you'll miss the growth that comes with it. My suggestion: Read 2-3 books at a time and cycle through them daily, take notes in a note book as you read.
BlackJ1 7y ago
Magnesium all the way. Melatonin doesn't do it for me.
It's always good to do something relaxing an hour before bed, meditation or reading a book always helps me.
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[deleted] 7y ago
1g of protein per lb, you wanted to say? May want to edit..
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[deleted] 7y ago
Ivysaur is a great program. I'd still recommend doing SL 5x5 for 6 weeks first, though, because it's so simple and has its own app. Perfect for beginners.
deepthrill 7y ago
Good points on the specifics. Regarding sleep, good additions. I personally consume ZMA before bed. Also one addition to add: for those who are on their laptops before bed, the program "f.lux" decreases the amount of blue light coming from your screen after sunset since modern technology can fuck with our circadian rhythms when our eyes detect bright blue light.
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newls 7y ago
As a professional athlete I endorse this advice. Don't sweat the minutiae when you're starting out. You'll get 90% there with simple principles. Worry about the rest when you actually get there.
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Simply_Sherlock 7y ago
One great piece of advice I got from 'How to talk to anyone' was to use every doorway you pass through as an opportunity to correct your posture. Not only does it keep you from developing bad posture throughout the day, but it also means that you walk into every room like a king.
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Officer_Dick_Johnson 7y ago
Do Alphas Dream Of Red Sheep?
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absolucion 7y ago
Thank you for this post. Trying to use this to better structure my weekly schedule and get into a better rhythm.
FieldLine 7y ago
Great post.
What this all boils down to is simply thinking, being aware of your surroundings, deciding what you want, and going out to get it yourself. One thing I learned from TRP is that nothing's coming to me because I deserve it - if I want it, I have to get it myself.
I used to often find I had an idea in the abstract, but when I sat down to consciously flesh it out I was unable to. How did I get better at this? Well, OP said it himself - meditate, ten minutes a day is all it takes. If you have some disposable income then the Headspace app is a great investment, especially when you're getting started.
I actually subscribed to the Ki Book Club a few months ago, after someone on the //books subreddit recommended it, I've found it to be very helpful when looking for literature in the context of becoming a better man. And when I don't have time to read the whole book, the summaries allow me to pick out specific chapters of interest. I haven't yet looked at this month's list, but I haven't been disappointed so far.
/u/deepthrill, can you elaborate on your journey in figuring out what you really want, long-term? It's something I still struggle with, despite the immense amount of time I have spent consciously thinking about it. I remember we talked about it once before, in the context of Indulgence Goals.
How much do you rely on the advice of others when making a major decision, assuming you already have all the facts? And let's take this a step further (because the experience of others in the business setting is often your most valuable asset) - when making a decision in regards to your overall happiness, whether in the context of TRP or not, how much do the experiences of others weigh into your decision? Do you use a purely rational approach?
deepthrill 7y ago
Years ago, I had some rough ideas about what I wanted, and kept it in my subconscious. Certain loose impressions about lifestyles I think I might enjoy, and ones I wouldn't.
I started to really think about what a "day in the life of" would look like ideally.
When I started meditating more frequently, I became more aware of what emotions I enjoyed best. For example, I realized I enjoyed the excitement of progress towards the future more than the peace of a comfortable today. But both are better than insecure doubt. I enjoy the feeling of dominance over humble floaty peace. I enjoy freedom over family. Obviously you can have both but at some point it helps to know which you prefer more in certain situations.
I started writing it down. The more I wrote down my desires (both emotional as well as lifestyle), the more I realized how much they were changing as I saw them. I saw how my old general impressions needed to be tweaked. Details needed to be fleshed out.
This is a challenging situation. For major career decisions, I like to ask a variety of people, preferably those with more experience than me. What I like to do is say "John, what do you think I should do in this situation?" "Bob, John says I should do X. Do you agree? What would you do?" It gets them to debate the pro's and con's about each other's decisions from various perspectives. Then, at the end, I'll probably take an amalgam of all their pieces of advice, filtered through my own desires I described above.
Happiness relates to the raw desires above. That's a personal exercise. When it comes to how to achieve that happiness (if that's your deepest desire, make sure you flesh out what would make you happy), then I give myself a dose of round-robin style of advice.
To summarize my response:
(a) Flesh out your deep desires. (b) Think about what would make your desires fulfilled. (c) Ask various people about how to achieve certain steps along the way, (d) Decide yourself which advice to take and which decision helps you get closest to (a).
[deleted] 7y ago
As regards reading, I have some invites to myanonamouse. PM
[deleted] 7y ago
One invite left. Any takers?
Kite_Blight 7y ago
Awareness of your posture has also been shown to improve volition (willpower) and consequently lowers procrastination as well.
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deepthrill 7y ago
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/defer-to-someone
This nitpicking on this sub is getting exhausting to respond to.
prinzklaus 7y ago
This is a pretty good starter guide, imo. And you got the priorities straight too. Physical to mental to relationships. Good job.
[deleted] 7y ago
Why vegetables, there is no explanation for why we should eat lots of vegetables. I eat meat and potatoes, I take multivitamin pills, and I am perfectly healthy and feel great.
[deleted] 7y ago
The scientific literature is inconclusive about the benefits of vitamins, but supportive of the benefits of vegetables. One possible reason for the difference is because vitamins tend to be synthetic and don't get absorbed into the body as efficiently.
Vitamins work best when combined in certain ways, but they are not replicated by popping pills. For example, vitamin C and iron act synergistically, whereas iron and zinc compete for uptake in the body. So you should ideally consume certain vitamins and minerals at the same time and avoid others, but supplements don't account for this. However, foods always have the right balance.
You are a sample size of one and have not taken into account other lifestyle factors, age, genetics, etc.
Ovadox 7y ago
Fiber, phytonutrients, encourages healthy enterotype within your gut microbiology.
InscrutablePUA 7y ago
/u/kruxofthemimed has written some great posts on the benefits of vegetables and plant-based diets (esp as it related to ED)
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2comment 7y ago
Actually, the trimmest populations lived off starches - China/Japan rice. Central Americans - corn. Etc.
Pototo comes from Central America, and in Peru if the mother can't breastfeed for whatever reason, they traditionally mashed a potato and diluted it with water and that was the baby forumula.
I guess it's the nightshade scare...
Soy is healthy, in moderation, it just got a bad rap for some reason.
http://nutritionfacts.org/?fwp_search=soy&fwp_content_type=video
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prinzklaus 7y ago
Basically because it's healthy for you. I know a power lifter who swears about broccoli. Says he eats about 2 stalks a day (it's high in vitamins such as calcium, c, b's, k, etc.) . I'm in a cutting phase at the moment, so I'm eating a very heavy protein and fat diet. But I still make sure to get my fiber from broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach, etc. Good source of vitamins and it fills you up. So I'm eating meat, but no potatoes. But to each their own.
[deleted] 7y ago
For sure it is healthy for you because of the vitamins, but I don't see how taking a multivitamin pill doesn't supply you with the same vitamins and minerals.
For the record I do like broccoli
PaulAJK 7y ago
Multi vits don't work properly, because they cut across each other's biological and hormonal pathways. Google it up, I'm pretty sure that's the scientific consensus.
newName543456 7y ago
It doesn't supply you with fiber and some specific antioxidants (depending on a plant).
OD_GOD 7y ago
Broccoli is rich in sulforaphane. Which to my understanding there is new evidence that shows it helps you stay young and also does many other things. I listened to a 3 hour podcast with a nutritionist, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, who talks about the studies and benefits of sulforaphane alone. She also talks about how extremely difficult it is to make into a supplement. It's worth a listen - the Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Rhonda Patrick.
soccerbum312 7y ago
Since the pill isn't natural it doesn't break down in the body as easily other effectively
[deleted] 7y ago
My pills are liquid caps, I can't imagine they go through unscathed.
prinzklaus 7y ago
I'm not sure either. I'm no doctor. I take Animal Pak for my multi-vitamin. But I do sometimes worry I'm just making expensive urine, as I have to piss literally an hour after I take it. I'm sure it's working in some form though. I think in some way eating more vegetables is a natural way of making one eat less.
Think about it this way, if you chug 16 oz. of water before dinner, and then fill up your plate with broccoli and other veggies, you only have so much room left on your plate (and in your stomach). Most likely you'll fill it with protein of some kind. Take away the vegetables and one might be more tempted to scarf down some bread or sweats because you're still hungry. It's a nice placebo effect.
deepthrill 7y ago
Yes to the above about it filling you up. Your stomach's stretch receptors will get triggered faster; their mass per calorie ratio is fairly high.
There is still a lot of debate about this, but in general the vitamins you get from a multivitamin are rarely absorbed properly. I take a multivitamin so I don't knock it, but vegetables have a huge amount of vitamins.
VickVaseline 7y ago
Don't forget phytonutrients and other micronutrients that are not even possible to put into a pill.
rogicar 7y ago
Has anyone tried the posture exercise video on the regular and gotten results?
menial_optimist 7y ago
Calling Broscience on "Taking cold showers increases T". Searching for studies to prove it came up with nothing, and there are some studies like https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1890772 that point to the opposite, actually.
AFPJ 7y ago
Don't be a "no studies = broscience" google champion without a medical background. Self-education is perfectly fine, but saying that something is broscience because there is no study is like saying that since nobody wrote the explicit proof for "300+150=450", it is somehow debatable or unproven. Cold showers are beneficial for digestive, hormonal & immune profiles - which adds up to up-regulation of T since the immune system is one of its biggest control vectors.
menial_optimist 7y ago
The only "cold shower increases T" "study" I couldn't find was done by some thing called the "Thrombosis Institute of Research". I couldn't find the actual study they claimed they did. The only mention of it I found was that it was published in a smaller european newspaper once.
AFPJ 7y ago
Man, you need to read because we are not having the same conversation. Your statement:
My response, followed by an explanation of why you're spreading misinformation about it:
And then you go back to "muh studies, couldn't find some." What the actual fuck?
menial_optimist 7y ago
Your argument states that lack of findable proof of something is no reason to discredit it. OP clearly states as fact cold showering increases T which from the outset I found ridiculous, so I did some digging and could find no study, only ArtofManliness type sites claiming the Thrombosis Institute of Research proved it.
There are no miracle 10 second secrets that increase your overall T amount in your body.
Simply_Sherlock 7y ago
Even if it IS broscience, taking cold showers is an incredibly simple way to boost your self-discipline, and should be included even if just for that reason.
[deleted] 7y ago
You have a point, although that study doesn't really address the issue fully. For one thing, they only measured T during the cold immersion. To test more thoroughly they should have also measured it afterwards. Better yet, they could have tested it over the course of several days of intermittent cold exposure to see how the body responded over time.
Also, I'd like to see how long the guys were immersed for and what the temperature was. It could be that there was too much cold and it resulted in a stress response. There can be a fine line between beneficial exposure to something and too much of a good thing. Even exercise is detrimental if you cross that line.
Without better scientific data, guys here should just judge for themselves over a couple of weeks whether taking brief cold showers invigorates them or makes them feel bad.
refusewool 7y ago
These are all good habits to get into but it can be hard or daunting at first. I recommend daily use of a habit tracking app.
[deleted] 7y ago
Garbage advice. You should be training optimally from day 1. Start with starting strength or a StrongLifts program and then once you learn the lifts you can transition to a PPL if aesthetics are your goal or stay on a powerlifting program. Don't fuckaround or work against what your eventual goals are.
MaxWyght 7y ago
SS is the best program for beginners by far.
Though you have to really mind your intakes if you don't want to have to cut for half a year.
My diet $0.02: IF combined with a LCHF diet as the other side of the fitness equation.
IF (Intermittent fasting) accelerates recovery and focus, though hard to maintain at first (because fasting for 16-18 hours each day (drinking water is required) isn't something modern 21st century humans are used to), however, that's where LCHF comes in:
IF has pretty much no upper caloric restriction, and LCHF encourages you to eat more.
Thing is, just like veggies cause your stomach to stretch to make you feel full, fat sates your hunger as well.
When I was adhering more strictly, I used to eat at least 100 grams of butter a day, along with fat from meat and vegetable sources(coconut/avocado/small amounts of nuts), and after hitting 80 kilograms at 14% bfp, the scale just... stalled.
And the blood work wasn't too bad either, considering the males on both sides of my family suffer from chronic high cholesterol.
klethra 7y ago
SS is a peaking program written to get football players back in the gym after offseason. It's a terrible beginner program. How much do you even lift?
MaxWyght 7y ago
DL 220 Squat 185
Bench 145
Military press 110
That was about 9 months ago, when I first started lifting.
Had to stop due to some stuff going with my life, but will be going back starting March 1st, now that I've got my life back in order.
klethra 7y ago
If you do SS, you're going to make some progress then bash your head against a plateau over and over because it has no volume. Just remember that there's always a reason to stop, and the people who get results do good programs that consistently build strength for a long time.
MaxWyght 7y ago
I'm well aware of that fact.
Will do SS for 2 months max before switching to a more extensive program
klethra 7y ago
Why even waste your time on SS then?
[deleted] 7y ago
IF is only useful if you're cutting. When your bulking you're going to have a hard time eating 2400+ calories in an 8 hour window unless you're eating shit.
MaxWyght 7y ago
Hence why I said to go LCHF.
On a proper paleo diet you get over the 2.5k calorie mark per day.
lqtys 7y ago
I'd like to add one:
Listen to audiobooks: Do it while you are doing things like washing the dishes, cleaning the house, driving or public transport, training, etc..
Pro-tip: if you have a MacOS computer, just select a text, right-click and choose "Add to iTunes as a spoken track". You can convert any ebook or internet article/reddit post/whatever to audiobook.
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lqtys 7y ago
No, I'm not saying you must stop reading and only listen to audiobooks. What I meant is to use those times where you are doing tasks you usually do in automatic mode where your brain is in idle state and exploit them.
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ACE-JHN 7y ago
Thanks for this. Love the formatting, and the cut throat no bullshit advice.
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Scroph 7y ago
If you're into horror then I can't recommend the nosleep podcast enough. There's a free 1 to 1.5 hour version where they narrate two to three stories, I listen to it at night in the comfort of my bed while cozily tucked in. It's a weird mixture but the atmosphere is great to the point where I look forward to it during the day. Great way to relieve stress.
FerociousOreos 7y ago
It's good to see a solid starting guide when most newcomers are thrown into a shit ton of information and no real basis on how to start applying it in a correct order.
Great post.
Iannovative1 7y ago
I think reading is severely overrated here. Reading a book each week would take something like 2+ hours a day. That plus my ~2 hours/day of lifting would leave me with no time to work on hobby projects.
For example, in my current routine, I work on improving my coding skills for about 2 hours each weekday. Reading a book a week means I would have to completely forego coding.
Imo, damn near any hobby/skill improvement is better time spent than reading books. I usually read for 20-30 minutes each weekday after lunch. It takes me about a month to read a book. I think anymore time than that spent on reading is just an ineffective use of time.
On some other points: I don't see the point in meditating. Honestly, I think it's probably a waste of time. You could be doing something productive instead.
The fear bootstrapping thing just sounds like one of those silly things you'd read in a self-help book for middle aged housewives. I just don't think there is any merit to something like that. Again - waste of time.
deepthrill 7y ago
Difference of opinions. And probably difference of what your career requires. At the highest levels of many careers, it's critical you stay up to date on the latest thoughts and trends, whether or not you agree with them. If it takes away from skills like coding, sure, I can see it being useless. However, if you balance increasing coding and hands-on skills, with learning things like 48 Laws of Power (which changes how you interact with people) there are indirect benefits to reading in the long run. When you can have a conversation with one of your higher-ups on strategy, it makes you seem informed and able to handle more responsibility. Those are just a few examples off the top of my head.
I think we may have different ideas of the word "productive". If you say "I think it's probably a waste of time" have you tried it consistently before knocking it? And if you don't have 10 minutes per day of "unproductive" downtime, I suppose you're way more of a beast of a workhorse than me.
Meditation: In Depth
Mindfulness Meditation May Easy Anxiety and Mental Stress
Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training
You can keep googling yourself, those are just the top few results.
WhitePhillip 7y ago
Reading a book doesn't always mean reading a 1k+ page Stephen King novel. There are plenty of easily digestible books in the realm of a few hundred pages and once you get into something interesting it's easy to tear through.
Andrew54321 7y ago
Comment for future reference
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WhitePhillip 7y ago
Here's a link from the American Cancer Institute on the relation between red meat and cancer.
http://www.aicr.org/reduce-your-cancer-risk/recommendations-for-cancer-prevention/recommendations_05_red_meat.html?referrer=http://www.google.com/
This isn't a exactly a secret. It's been common knowledge for years. Next time you're unsure about the validity of a claim you could take 3 seconds and Google it. Might save you looking like a cunt.
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MaxWyght 7y ago
You might want to take your own advice:
Everyone knows processed food is shit.
However, good quality natural meat cooked or even smoked at home doesn't cause as much risk.
I dunno, probably because when you buy a chunk of meat without any preservatives in it, there aren't enough chemicals there that can cause cancer.