Brainjour

Justin Kerby

Create More, Consume Less

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create more consume less

I first stumbled across some life-changing advice back in 2015.

I had just moved to a new country, started a business, and altogether was biting off a lot. Stress, anxiety, and burnout were all creeping into my life.

It was around the new year, and I’d set the lofty goal of reading 40 books for the year. I’m a voracious reader and on top of loving a good book, I was also facing a lot of alone time – making friends when you move 3,000 miles across North America takes time. On top of reading 40 books, I also felt like it was time to become more informed about current events in my new home country. My second goal for the year was to read three New York Times articles every day. Finally, I’d just discovered the joy of watching TED talks, especially on topics I knew nothing about – and decided to make watching one talk a day goal number three.

Those goals added up to a lot of consuming.

6 months into my goal, I was really enjoying it. I felt like I was preparing for a test that was never coming, but in a strange way, it felt like the right thing to be doing with my spare time.

Then I came across an article that changed my life. The life-changing advice was right there in the title.

Create more, consume less.

The article, from The Minimalists, highlights the void that consuming leaves us with.

Being The Minimalists, the article was mostly about consuming products, material possessions, food, and other traditional things that come to mind when the word “consumption” comes up. But the article struck a different chord with me.

What if, instead of consuming so much information – I decided to fill my own creative void?

I’d written many travel blogs and a few articles for my business, but I really hadn’t taken the plunge into daily creating. I had no time – I was too busy consuming.

That day, I decided to create more and consume less.

Instead of reading three New York Times articles a day, I started writing for my personal and company blog every day. Instead of watching a TED Talk, I put myself in front of the camera. Instead of reading 40 books a year, I cut the number in half and invested more time into drawing, cooking, journaling, podcasting, coding, photography, and even starting a book club to share ideas about the books I was reading.

Making this switch has changed my life. It’s reopened a creative bug in me that has helped me flourish in both my personal life and in my career. There’s nothing more gratifying than expressing your ideas – consuming information doesn’t come close.

If you’re in a rut or feel like you’re experiencing a creative void, take this advice.

Create more, consume less.

The Benefits of Using a Sauna

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6 months ago, I got really sick.

I was sweating profusely, sneezing, had serious ear pain, could hardly breathe and was congested to the max. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

I’d tried taking medications prescribed by my doctor, was taking it easy, took time off work and altered my diet. Nothing was easing my pain.

It was in the middle of battling a round of chills that I thought to myself, how could I get myself warmer? Blankets? A bath? Crank up the heat and make my bedroom a sweat lodge?

That’s when it hit me. My gym, conveniently located across the street, had a sauna. Perfect. I would just run in there for 10 minutes and take care of the shivering.

After doubling my time (because it felt so good) and spending 20 minutes in the sauna, I was shocked at my results. I could breathe again, my congestion was gone, my ears unplugged, and I wasn’t shivering anymore. Was this a cure-all?

No, it turns out. My symptoms came back in a couple of hours. But the impression was left on me and it stuck – the sauna has some serious benefits, and even if they’re just for the short term, I should explore this more.

So, I started doing some research. I found out that regular sauna use (three times per week) can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by over 20%. Upping your sauna use to 4-7 times per week can reduce your risk even further. On top of that, it’s also been proven to:

  • Reduce depression and stress while releasing endorphins in the brain
  • Reduce blood pressure
  • Reduce your risk of all-cause mortality by 40% (dying of anything non-accidental)
  • Increase growth hormone production by 200%-300% after a little as one session)
  • Reduce muscle atrophy (which is why it’s great to use the sauna after a workout)
  • Reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and other degenerative diseases

The benefits of sauna have yet to be fully understood – but one thing is for sure: they’re far-reaching and significant. I think that as more studies are conducted, sauna use in North America is going to explode, similar to how meditation and yoga have gone mainstream.

From a personal standpoint, I can vouch that the endorphin rush is absolutely real. It’s what keeps me coming back to the sauna 3-4 times per week. I even dragged my fiancé to the thermal baths in Budapest, Hungary to learn from the masters of the sauna. I’d highly recommend a visit to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths for anyone looking to test out the Taj Mahal of saunas. It’s mind-bogglingly beautiful. The photo below isn’t mine (our phones were locked up while we explored the baths)

, but it gives you an idea.

Morning dip 💭✨ #beautiful #budapest #3degrees

A post shared by Nicole Jayne White (@njwhite) on


One of my goals for 2018 is to use the sauna ever three days, or 122 times total. As for how, when, and for how long, here’s what matters:

  1. Stay in the sauna for a minimum of 19 minutes. The full benefits of using the sauna are achieved after this time period.
  2. Use a dry sauna, which has been proven to extend the greatest amount of the benefits listed above.
  3. Go 3-7 times per week.
  4. Use the sauna after working out to slow muscle atrophy.
  5. Make sure the temperature is around 80 degrees Celsius for full benefits.

If you follow these five steps, you’ll be on your way to using the sauna like a Hungarian. Twenty minutes a day initially felt like a lot to me, so I started meditating in the sauna to kill two birds with one stone and save a bit of time every day. Let me know on Twitter if you’re giving the sauna a try, and how it makes you feel overall. I figure even if all the studies are wrong and it simply makes me feel good while bringing me to the gym more, it’s a win.

 

 

If you want to learn more about the benefits of sauna, listen to Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s podcast below, or read her report – Hyperthermic Conditioning’s Role in Increasing Endurance, Muscle Mass, Neurogenesis. She’s one of my favorite listens/reads when it comes to the health field. More sources are below.

 

Sources:

New Study Shows Infrared Sauna Benefits Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Are Saunas the Next Big Performance-Enhancing "Drug"?

Sauna use associated with reduced risk of cardiac, all-cause mortality

 

 

 

 

Onward

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onward book review

Onward is not what I thought it would be. I assumed it would be the story of Howard Schultz, from childhood to present day, which we commonly see in books from successful business personalities. In this book, Howard Schultz gave some background on his life story but really chose to focus on a short period of time at Starbucks – really focusing in on 2007-2010. In this short period, Schultz oversaw a multitude of problems at Starbucks – responding in ways aimed at keeping Starbucks’ core values intact. He ultimately was extremely successful, but there were many doubters and naysayers along the way.

He paints Starbucks in an interesting light. He views it as a people company that serves coffee, not a coffee company with people – a really great viewpoint. It’s very similar to how Tony Hsieh viewed Zappos – as a customer service company that happens to sell shoes. I love this attitude as it can permeate from the top down and give large organizations a shared vision. Treat the customer right and you’ll give yourself a chance to succeed, no matter what you’re selling. Schultz reminds his employees that each interaction they have with a customer may be the only interaction that customer has with another human being all day – so making it count can help the world be a much better place while representing Starbucks in a good way as well.

As a marketer, I found their marketing approach interesting. “Brand Sparks” aims to capitalize on subtle, surprising and rare marketing events that are linked to cultural or humanitarian issues. Offering free coffee to anyone who voted in 2008 was an example of this. Starbucks aims to avoid any self-serving messages – something that really defined their strategy during this three year period, and beyond to an extent. They were an early brand to deploy a listen-first approach on social media, as opposed to simply shouting offers and promotions on Twitter. “As long as we engaged in conversations and didn’t offer coupons, we were winning.” I love this quote.

One last thing I really enjoyed was his outlook on pursuing goals. Schultz states that pursuing short-term goals is always short-sighted when talking about declining a deal with Blizzard Entertainment to capture a young, male audience. Sticking to your principals and focusing on the long-term is what helped Starbucks dig itself out of a challenging period, and it’s a good thing to remember when you’ve been offered a lucrative short-term opportunity.

Favorite quotes:

“Emotional connection is our true value proposition, not coffee.”

“Boards don’t exist to manage companies, they exist to make sure companies are well managed.”

Goodreads Rating: 3/5

Join my book club! The Entrepreneur Book Club on Goodreads is open to anyone.

50 Days Without Alcohol

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I’m in unchartered territory, here.

50 days without alcohol is something I never thought I’d do. Not because of the difficulty, or length of time – just because I’ve never felt the need to give up alcohol. In social settings, I like drinking. It’s never been a habit I’ve wanted to give up.

However, roughly 50 days ago, I was forced to do just that.

I was diagnosed with a stomach issue in October, and along with giving up coffee (which I’m much more unhappy about), I’ve had to give up alcohol. No beer, no wine, no whiskey, no scotch – I’m as dry as a London newspaper.

This wasn’t a test of will or really difficult at all. If a doctor tells you that you can’t do something, you take a cue from Nike and just do it. Or in my case, you just don’t do it. While I haven’t learned much about my own discipline or strength, I’ve have learned a few things that I thought I’d share on the blog today.

1. Being the one person not drinking is still fun

I was always worried that not drinking in social settings because of a diet or having to drive would suck. I really painted it that way in my head. I’ve found that to be very far from the truth. Going out as a sober person with a group of people drinking the night away is still a good time. You’ll see your friends in a new light, in many cases. Inebriated people say a lot of ridiculous things in hilarious ways that you might not pick up on if you’ve been drinking too. This has added an awesome new dimension to my nights out.

2. People drink a lot 

When you’re in the mix, cheers-ing and tipping drinks back, you don’t really realize how much alcohol is flowing. I think I assumed that alcohol makes people need to use the restroom a lot, but after the past 50 days I can definitely say it’s not the booze – it’s just the total amount of liquids being consumed. It would be hard for me to drink as much water in a night as I’ve witnessed people drinking glasses of wine. I never noticed this before I went totally sober.

3. Drinking is expensive

Seriously – and not just at the club or bar. Even at restaurants, I’m shocked at how much cheaper my bills are than my friends when we go out now. I don’t mind picking up the most expensive meal on the menu now that I’m not drinking – a $30 steak is still going to be way less than a $20 burger and three drinks, plus the drinks at the next bar.

4. My weekend mornings are awesome

This has to be the best part. I’ve never been an early riser on weekends. I always sleep in until 10AM at the earliest. Now, I’m up and at ’em as soon as the suns up. There is an awesome feeling associated with getting out of the gym on a Saturday morning 9AM – before I would’ve even been awake in the past. In a weird way, I kind of feel like I’m living a lot more without the alcohol.

That’s about it. I’m sure once I can I’ll go back to drinking moderately – but I’m going to try to limit it for a few reasons, related to the points above. I like saving money, so I’m going to try to eliminate booze at restaurants. I definitely don’t need a beer or a whiskey with my dinner. My weekend mornings are now my favorite time of the week, so I’m also going to protect these. Being the odd person out who isn’t drinking isn’t so bad, especially if it leads me to a better sleep and better morning the day after. One or two drinks on a night out is definitely in my future.

Until then, I’ll remain on the wagon – and surprisingly, I’m not itching to get off.

 

 

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