Learn:  Listening for the “click”, caffeine levels, spiders on drugs

Read: 3 mins

Greetings from PDC,

Humans love a fresh start. A new year, a new quarter, a new month, etc.

One of the benefits of travel is creating fresh starts with each move. This made me realize how these fresh starts can be manufactured.

There's no need to wait.

We can create our own fresh starts by learning something new, dropping an old habit, or just using each week as a new start.

This newsletter is like your own weekly fresh start. Here are 3 goodies to think on for the (fresh) week ahead.

⛽ Click

We don’t fill up more gas in our car when the tank is full. 

But sometimes we overeat when our stomach is full. 

Or overconsume when our brain is full. 

Why? 

Unlike a gas tank, our brains don’t have a clear max capacity. We don’t hear the “click” when the tank is full and the machine stops pumping. 

Our brains seek more (another bite, another email, another dopamine hit). Which can drown out the “click” telling us we’re full or tired. 

Next time you’re eating, working, etc. Listen for the click. 

🗓️ Day 12

Today is day 12 of no caffeine. I’ll be honest the first 5 days were sorta brutal. (And by sorta I mean very)

But now it’s great. No crash, no running out of gas. It feels like switching from a gas to an electric vehicle. My real source of energy is just a good old-fashioned great night’s rest. 

Before I’d find myself going way past the “click” and slurping down an iced coffee to recalibrate. (spoiler: it never worked)

The point isn’t to stop forever. Instead, it's to take control back and help me listen better to my mind and body. 

🕸️ Spider Senses

NASA scientists studied the impact of drugs on spiders.

Takeaway? More speed, less caffeine. 

Joking. The point isn’t to stop caffeine forever or even to stop caffeine period. The point is to listen to our own bodies and brains instead of just doing things by default. Per the FDA, “Up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults.” But that is 4 cups of coffee. 🤯

Sometimes it’s worth testing what works best ourselves. 

Con mucho gusto, 

Mitchell aka “decaf”