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How literate are you?
Because of this digital illiteracy (that we are not fully aware of) we find ourselves in a world of confusion and tribalism today. This is true in the world of politics, and it is true in the world of fitness, nutrition, and mindset. My objective with this post is to give you an overview of two common mistakes the digital reader makes, as well as a tool you can use to evaluate the quality of the information you are reading. Let’s start with the suck.
How to do alcohol
Sometimes I like to complicate easy things. The answer to "How to do alcohol?" is simple: like the nice human in the picture below, on a horse at the beach and with style. Done!
Okay, okay, alcohol is complicated, and I wish the answer were that simple. In today's video, I try to embrace its full complexity. I present some ideas I consider valuable when thinking what's the role that alcohol should play in your lifestyle. If you like this video or this topic, make sure to check the references below.Functional Fixedness
However, because we humans clearly cannot have nice things, the term has been bastardized, oversimplified, and not problematized enough. When Henrick laughs at my suggestion of doing curls, he is just repeating a learned behavior. It is common in the functional world to look at other forms of training and think they are poor, vain, or irrelevant. On the one side, this is how every culture is created, by creating an other to separate from. That’s how we define our existence as a thing. On the other hand, this attitude is the representation of a very bad case of functional fixedness (FF). Think of this as a bad habit of the mind, a way of thinking that hinders more than helps, and that in the case of Henrick will limit his performance and his movement capacity. The purpose of this post is to explain to you what FF is so that you can catch yourself in this trap, and do something about it.
Some Things I Learned from my Son's Birth
When you don’t know how to start writing, stop thinking and just start. I learned that after 5 years of dissertation writing. The funny thing is that I used to always refer to my dissertation as my “parto” (the labor, the moment of childbirth). This is a common Spanish phrase to refer to something that is long and gruesome. Two days ago, my son Elías was born. After 48 hours of difficult and painful work from my wife together with a great team of medical specialists he is here in the world cute as fuck, healthy and ready to kick ass. I must say I will never call again something a parto, unless it really it is. A dissertation, challenging as it is, not a parto my friends. And my dissertation is not a baby.
Fitness and Money
Last week I had a fantastic opportunity. I was invited to talk to a bunch of 8th graders about fitness and lifestyle habits. It is COVID times so I did not get to speak to them directly as I would have preferred, but I still loved every minute of it. I always thought they taught us a lot of good stuff in school, but very little of the most basic: money, fitness, nutrition, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal relationships. The fact I had the chance to change that for a bunch of kids, even if in a tiny way, felt great!
Two great things came out of that talk. One of them is the post today. I usually feel ambivalent about my writings. I feel confident about this one. So much in fact that if you don't like it a lot and get something out of it, I will buy you a six-pack of your drink of choice. I am that bold!
The second thing is I got a new nickname. The 8th graders call me Dr. Muscles. I worked hard for my Ph.D. I worked hard for my muscles. I liked Obi Juan, but this one is not magic. I e
The 3:00 PM Chocolate: the Basics of Mindset
Let’s be mathematical today and start by defining what we are talking about: mindset. A mindset is a set of ideas or assumptions that mediate our behaviors. This mediation is bi-directional: mindset can determine our behaviors, just as much as our behaviors can determine our mindset. Long-held mindsets become our core beliefs and define how we see ourselves in the world. So if you think you are bad at math, that conditions your behaviors around numbers and mathematical problems. Which means you don’t even try to do the tip on your bill at a restaurant. On the other hand if you consistently and intentionally practice German each day with the help of a good program and a good teacher, you will end up learning German. In turn you will end up creating a mindset in which you think of yourself as a smart person who can learn new languages. That's it. The mindset model is simple and useful. The great thing about it is that it allows change to happen. Your mindsets and core beliefs can be modified and re-wired.
