Sometimes I looked at my expenses and felt a sort of disorganization anxiety — I knew there were inefficiencies, but I didn’t know where to begin. It seems like addressing one issue creates a domino effect, and before I know it, I’m down the rabbit hole of online chats and tiresome hold music while I wait to speak with a representative.

They’re counting on you losing steam. Don’t.

Triaging your finances is a lot like Marie Kondo’ing your belongings (or Swedish Death Cleaning — have you heard of it?) When was the last time you shopped your car insurance rates? How many subscriptions are you auto paying? …

I’ve been on a high-protein-low-carb diet for years now (alternating between nuanced versions of slow-carb, low-carb, & ketogenic) and most of the high protein recipes associated with these diets (lifestyles) focus on chicken, beef, and pork proteins.

After working with over 400 people as a diet and health coach, I have learned a ton from both research and hands-on experience with a wide variety of clients. While most “diets” work for weight loss if they involve a decrease in calories, not all of them benefit health.

Fish can be substituted for a protein source for low-carb and slow-carb, but it is a little more problematic with keto, as keto favors proteins higher in fat. …

After starting chess, my rating immediately settled in the 800s. This is considered low novice territory; 2889 is the highest all-time rating, held by Magnus Carlsen. I wasn’t getting better regardless of the time spent.

This Bloomberg article put a name to something I’ve been curious about for awhile:

Call it FONO, or fear of a negative outlook. Also known as “dismissive positivity,” it’s expressed as an overbearing cheerfulness no matter how bad things are, a pep that denies emotional oxygen to anything but a rictus grin.

I’d like to hear from you because I’d like to get smarter about our coverage in Better Humans. Would you respond or drop a private note if you have any examples of practicing toxic positivity or having toxic positivity inflicted on you?

The Bloomberg article is full of excellent quotes, but the one that hit me in the gut was the phrase describing the self-improvement industry as “peddlers of perkiness.” On the one hand, I recognize the power of positivity, but on the other, it’s very important to me that Better Humans is first and foremost a peddler of results. …

“Inzlicht says exerting self-control requires that the brain shift out of “autopilot,” and this shift demands attention and effort. Anything that distracts the brain — whether that distraction is an emotion, a need, a choice, a belief, or a new piece of information — is going to limit the brain’s ability to abandon its autopilot setting.”

—From Don’t Worry, You Can’t Deplete Your Willpower.

Scientists are now looking at self control in the context of mindfulness and distraction—rather than the flawed model of ego depletion.

This…

Wildfires, allergies, pollution, COVID-19… With so much to worry about in the air lately, it’s no wonder that many of us have turned our homes into hermetically sealed safety bubbles. But if you’ve succeeded at keeping the bad things out, you may have also succeeded at keeping some bad things in — trapped with you and growing worse every day.

Although carbon dioxide ranks pretty low on the list of “dangerous” things in the air (at least in sub-toxic amounts), few of us realize how quickly it can build up indoors. I only recently discovered this when I was having trouble concentrating at home and bought a few air quality monitors on a hunch. …

I started with the premise that no amount of exercise or food eating plan would help with long-term fitness or weight goals unless you first had a mental plan and…