3 Minute Monday
Hi friend,
I’ve had this thought in my head for months and haven’t had chance to bring it up on an episode yet.
So you’re going to get it instead. Like some sort of conceptual pressure-release valve. Directly in the face.
How fortunate for you.
Imagine that you only had one breath left to live.
You can take as long as you want for the breath, you can do whatever you want during it, think about whatever you want.
But one breath, that’s all you’ve got left.
Actually do it.
Take a minute now and put yourself in the place where you imagine what having one breath left would be like.
Then breathe it in.
And out.
How present would you be for that one breath.
How focussed on the moment.
How immersed in the sensation of doing something you’ve done a million times before.
The reality of life is that although this next breath may not be your last, it is your last chance to have THAT breath.
Only in the light of imagining what no more opportunities to breathe would feel like do you actually appreciate how wasted every breath is.
I’m not saying that you should decide to just focus on your breath for the rest of your days.
But I am saying that there is a massive amount of headroom for you to immerse yourself in the experience of your daily existence.
Here’s another example.
Focus on the sensations of your body.
Intently.
Now notice the sensation of the clothes up against your skin.
The gentle pressure and touch they exert.
They’ve been their all your life, right at the forefront of your experience.
And yet it’s only with intense effort that you even notice they’re there.
How crazy is that?
You’ve had this sensation there for your entire existence and almost never are aware of it.
Again, it wouldn’t do for us to be so focussed on the sensation of our clothes that we lose our focus on the road whilst driving.
But you have things which are immediately present and available to you, if only you pay attention.
There is a richer, deeper version of your life which you can tap into.
I don’t have the formula for human flourishing, but if there is one, it definitely contains this level of awareness.
MODERN WISDOM
I do a podcast which has had 18 million+ downloads. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
This week’s upcoming episodes:
Monday.
Steven Dudley – the world expert on America’s most notorious gang MS-13 discusses the grisly & gruesome details of what President Trump called “a domestic terror threat”.
Thursday.
Cal Newport – big daddy Cal, a Sage of the modern productivity movement teaches you how to overcome your email overload and why it’s destroying your life, happiness and output.
Saturday.
Steven Laureys – what happens when you combine a Neuroscientist, a Neurologist and a meditation expert in the same body? Find out the science behind “the world’s happiest man”.
THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1.
Men think women fancy them.
The Over-Perception Bias is an asymmetry in how much a man believes that a woman is attracted to him vs how much the woman believes the man is attracted to her.
Men almost always over-perceive this attraction.
Women almost always under-perceive this attraction.
It makes evolutionary sense for a man to constantly be over-vigilant to the potential affections of females.
Erroneously believing that he’s out of the friendzone is evolutionarily far less costly than not noticing her subtle signal and missing the opportunity to mate.
But it causes huge problems.
Women consistently report male “friends” being inappropriate toward them.
Even when she “hadn’t given any signals”.
What neither side understand is that the opposing partner does not see the same world as them.
This explains SO much.
From husbands being (rightly) concerned about their wife’s male work colleagues to women feeling like men are always hitting on them for no reason.
(h/t David Buss – episode out next Monday)
2.
The length of an electromagnetic wave is roughly the size of the antenna that receives it.
This is how bees can see ultraviolet light.
If we had retinal cells the size of a house we’d be able to see radio and microwaves.
3.
“One of the biggest predictors of wealth is age. Do you want to be young & poor or old & rich? I’d pick young & poor, because you can’t buy youth.” – Jordan B. Peterson
LIFE HACK
Read The Name of the Wind.
After I addicted everyone’s lives to Red Rising, here’s another one.
Awesome fantasy series with a compelling, lovable protagonist, crazy rich story development and a beautiful world to immerse yourself in.
Perfect bedtime reading with 18,000+ 5* reviews on Amazon.
Be aware – it does take a few chapters to get going.
Get it here.
Big love,
Chris x
Listen to me on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Say hi on Twitter or Instagram.
PS
Last week I posted a broken link to MyProtein’s Clear Whey. Whoops. Thank you to the tsunami of replies which told me I’m a pillock. Working link here. You need it in your life.
