This has been a year that has tested the grit of humanity like nothing in recent memory. What I set out to do with this newsletter was to deliver content that would help improve your wellbeing and enhance your daily performance.
In a year so challenging, I knew this was even more important and looked for projects and topics that would not only get us through, but also illuminate the resilience in all of us.
Below are my top 10 most visited posts from this year.
1. Improve Performance with Heart Rate Variability and the Oura Ring
After five months of wearing the Oura Ring, a wellness tracking device, which is the best consumer wearable to track sleep, I posted this story back in January. The Oura Ring is still one of the most useful tools I use to managed my performance and wellbeing, and continue to recommend it.
This post is about how to use one of its key metrics, Heart Rate Variability (HRV), to manage your energy and performance.
2. Continuous Glucose Monitoring with Levels Metabolic Fitness
McDonald's food is a disaster for my metabolic fitness, spiking my blood glucose like nothing else. That was one of the many insights I learned wearing a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) on my arm for 30 days.
The reality is your body’s personal response to foods does not always equal anyone else’s response. We can only take the recommended guidelines as just that, recommendations. We have to experiment to learn what works for us individually and pursue personalized nutrition.
This post about my experience doing a beta test for Levels Health has been the most popular the second half of the year since it was posted and has had a significant impact on my diet.
With the impact it has on overall health and longevity, glucose monitoring is more than a “nice to have,” it will be a necessary solution for all.
3. Fitness Tracker to Sickness Tracker: How to Use the Oura Ring to Detect Coronavirus
As we started to come out of spring quarantine and businesses began to figure out how to operate, I was intrigued how wearables might play a part, especially after the NBA and several other sports leagues began using the Oura Ring to help with early detection of the Coronavirus.
Now with 10 months of Oura Ring data, I looked back at how the metrics tracked with this device can be used to signal that your body is getting sick. To this day, I still use what I learned writing this post to keep my sanity when I start to get worried about having Covid and infecting someone else.
4. Tiny Habits for Sleep and Recovery During the Pandemic
As we went into lockdown in March, Stanford's B.J. Fogg, PhD wanted to help and put the word out to all the Tiny Habits coaches to lend our expertise. What we created was a library of 20-30 minute video workshops to help with Coronavirus challenges. I contributed a total of six with this one being my most popular.
During this talk I gave, I unpacked the habits you need to optimize your day for a rejuvenating night of sleep.
5. Time to Take A Breath
The next several articles are all about the same in popularity, but I wanted to highlight this one for a few reasons.
First the importance of the message. How we breathe is crucial to our moment to moment wellbeing and our overall longevity. Mouth breathing is horrible for nearly every aspect of your existence.
The second is that since reading the book Breath, which was the foundation of this post, I've continued to build a habit of breathing exercises, and most importantly I've been using what I learned about breathing to help control my autonomic nervous system. It's a powerful tool to manage stress and anxiety. You should read this post, and I highly recommend the book.
Finally, writing this post was the foundation for a live case study I demonstrated on how to use a Second Brain information management system to create an original work. I did this during my 5-week stint as an Alumni Mentor for the Building A Second Brain program (see next article). The process also garnered my most popular Tweetstorm of the year summarizing the Breath book.
The next five posts below are for you to explore. All good content on how you can improve your performance and wellbeing:
6. How Building A Second Brain Triggers Flow and Enhances Wellbeing
7. Personalized Nutrition and the Microbiome
8. Kickstart Program: A Science-Backed Approach to Success
9. Becoming A Habit Crusher: How to Break Bad Habits and Crush It Every Day
10. Tiny Habits When You're in the Grip of Uncertainty and Fear