You rise daily with stable and ever-growing energy. 

Your body feels light, mobile, and pain-free. 

Your only vices are water and fresh air. 

To be energetic, strong and relaxed is our natural way of being. 

“LOOK A PLAYGROUND AHHHHHH MOM CAN I GOOOOOO” 

-Imaginary 5-year old

That kid is dying to do what many would scowl at and call a “workout”.

They call it “play”. 

Look at a wild gorilla or horse. 

Pure, uninhibited, overflowing energy and physical prowess. 

Humans are enthusiastic, curious, adventurous, active, playful. 

These are not things we have to cultivate. We do not have to struggle to become them. 

“Self improvement is just a dressed-up form of self-conflict.”

Every young child does this instinctively.

They don’t complain about how many laps they had to run around the playground today to meet their step goal. 

They don’t count their calories and then berate themselves for eating a cookie.

In order to be truly vital and energetic: 

• You don’t need supplements (i.e., drugs or “biohacks”)

• You don’t need a personal trainer

• You don’t even need a gym

You just need to remove whatever in your mind and lifestyle is blocking your natural vitality from being expressed effortlessly. 

“You already have a six pack. You don’t have to work for it. You just have to STOP doing the things that are blocking it from being seen.”

Health isn’t learned. Your inhibitors are un-learned. 

Let the river flow. 

Trying to block or redirect it by force just creates a dam. 

I can’t judge. I was this way too. 

• I was the fat kid who got teased in school. 

• Later, I was a skinny kid who struggled to put on muscle. 

• Much later still, I was spending hundreds of dollars a month on supplements, massages, and gym memberships trying to counteract joint pain and injuries from training too much. 

I had to experience the whole spectrum until eventually I realized it was all B.S.

It didn’t matter how low my body fat percentage got —

Or how high my deadlift numbers were —

Or what flashy parkour tricks I learned —

Or how many certifications I earned —

It didn’t change my fundamental discontent with the world. With myself. 

This gnawing feeling inside that things weren’t the way they should be.

That I wasn’t as far along as I was supposed to be. 

That I should have done more.  

I was trying to force myself to be more, do more, have more. 

Infinitely trading one neurosis for another. 

Never truly dissolving the root cause. 

“I just want to grow.”

- The logic of cancer cells

The dam is the tension in your mind that is draining your natural energy.

A shredded physique, a charismatic smile, confident posture, and an overflow of creative energy will all come to you naturally — almost effortlessly. Not because you trained or practiced, but because that is your natural state. 

All of this unfolding naturally relies on one thing. 

Awareness. 

You can’t speak a language you’ve never heard of before. 

You can’t change a behavior you don’t realize you’re doing. 

This applies to actions, as well as feelings and thoughts. 

You probably didn’t wake up this morning and powerfully declare: 

“I would love to feel like garbage, hate myself, and put on a few pounds today!” 

No. These things are unconscious. Which means we cannot assign blame, shame, or guilt. 

We can, however, start taking responsibility.

We can realize our freedom to choose. 

“Where focus goes, energy flows.”

Where do your thoughts, feelings, and actions tend to go? 

Observe yourself. 

Reflect. 

Take interest in what triggers you. 

Be curious about the words you use;

They reveal the lens through which you view the world. 

They reveal the stories you’re telling yourself. 

These stories (lies) are the only thing holding you back. 

The only force powerful enough to hold you back is you. 

Try not doing that.

Here’s where to start:

If you want. This isn’t a prescription. 

Take what resonates. Discard what doesn’t. 

1. Make space (physically)

2. Balance

3. Begin

Make Space

Start with the physical world. 

Chances are, your closet isn’t pristine. 

Or your kitchen drawers. 

Or your inbox. 

You also probably didn’t choose for them to be that way. Not consciously at least. 

Unconsciousness accumulates junk. 

Mental junk. 

Which is reflected in the physical junk you allow to fill your space. 

Seeing this physical clutter reinforces the part of you that generated that clutter. 

Being careless perpetuates carelessness.

To be free requires that you be conscious.

The painting begins with a blank canvas. 

The athlete starts with a deep inhale.

The song is birthed from silence. 

All work, all change, all action begins with SPACE. With POTENTIAL. 

You can’t “get things done” all the time, just like you can’t perpetually exhale.

Clear your physical space. 

Donate. Gift. Recycle. Sell. 

Empty out your closet, your drawers, your fridge. 

Get rid of anything that doesn’t actively add value to your life.

Anything you haven’t used recently and don’t intend to use soon. 

Creating space in our environment opens up space in our mind. 

Space to feel refreshed. 

To feel a new beginning. 

To be intentional. 

It initiates the virtuous cycle of conscious choice

Rather than the vicious cycle of unconscious habit. 

You’ll find yourself finishing up with a deep exhale and release of tension. 

You’ll be glad you did it.

Balance

Energy does not come from food or sleep directly.

Have you ever overeaten?

Or overslept? 

Getting more doesn’t mean more energy.

Energy (your state) comes from balance. 

The areas that must be balanced in human life are:

• Movement

• Rejuvenation

• Nutrition

• Joy

This is just a model. 

All models are false, some are useful.

This one is useful. 

Pick one or two things to try and start there.

Movement

Move in ways that your body is designed to move. 

It isn’t designed to sit all day.

REMOVE that unnatural behavior and find what fills the space. 

Don’t limit yourself to one discipline. 

Cross training benefits mind and body. 

New ways of moving create new ways of thinking. 

Skills, balance, endurance, strength, speed, flexibility … 

Try them all. Find a few things you enjoy. 

In any given week I do some combination of parkour, weightlifting, calisthenics, yoga, running, basketball, pickleball, swimming, and climbing. 

I haven’t planned a single workout years, and I’m in fantastic shape. 

I never even consider them “workouts.”

It’s so fun it wouldn’t make sense NOT to do it. 

I’m not saying this to brag.

I’m telling you this is possible. 

“Remove the story that generates resistance and all that’s left is play.”

Rejuvenation

We cannot exhale forever. We need to inhale. 

Don’t expect constant output from yourself. 

Recognize that watching YouTube is not relaxation. It’s distraction. 

Remove low-level “relaxation” and listen to the ways your mind and body are craving true recovery, true rejuvenation. 

Work IN, not just out;

Bring energy into the body. 

Touch the ground.

Breathe deep. 

Get sunlight. 

Sleep in complete darkness.

Only use the bedroom for sleep.

Consider a sunrise alarm (or the real thing).

Put the screens away. 

Find quiet time. 

Be alone daily. 

Read books.

Introspect. 

Meditate. 

“With a sustainable daily rhythm you will never worry about burnout.” 

Nutrition

You don’t need to force yourself to eat anything you don’t love. 

Just don’t eat poison and pretend it's food.

Seeing a pattern here? 

REMOVE whatever is blocking your natural state. 

Then let your mind and body rebalance.

“Drink your food, eat your smoothies” (actually CHEW your food)

Give your body plenty of time to digest between meals.

Consider fasting to reset. 

Read the ingredients.

Don’t consume what you don’t understand. 

Drink clean water.

Filter it if necessary. 

Breathe clean air. 

Purify it if necessary. 

Eat a diet of mostly fresh whole foods.

Don’t sweat the numbers. 

Whole food is naturally filling and satiating. 

Fake food makes you more hungry.

Anything that you have to take regularly is not medicine, it's a drug.

Drugs are symptom suppressors; Medicine is curative. 

If it hasn’t cured you, it isn’t medicine. 

You aren’t broken. Consider holistic alternatives that address the root cause.

No need to make dramatic and sudden changes. 

Gradual, natural, slow change works wonders. 

“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”

Joy

You know how songs get stuck in your head? 

Everything you consume does that in your subconscious. 

Be conscious of what you listen to and watch.

Most news and music are not the kind of script you want running on repeat in your mind all day. 

In fact, cut out most media consumption generally. 

The less time spent watching, the more you can spend creating. 

Or connecting with others. 

Or learning the skills that are necessary for your dream. 

Prioritize the activities that make you laugh. 

Cancel what you don’t need. 

Create a home environment you find beautiful. 

Something calming and open. 

Reflect on your commitments. 

Investigate your core values. 

If you have no idea what these are, your life probably reflects that. 

Make decisions based on what you love, not what you’re avoiding.

Avoidance creates stress, which will seek release by pressuring you into doing the thing you’re avoiding.  

Remove the self-pressure, the thing you’re avoiding fades away.

Begin

Life is always new. 

This moment has never happened before. 

Just because you have a history

Does not mean your future has to look just like it. 

You don’t have to “change yourself.”

Or self-improve

Or self-develop

You are not “stuck”

You are not “getting there”

You are not “not doing enough”

Your natural state is inherently vital. 

Naturally free and joyful.

Begin to remove the layers of stories and conditioning that are blocking that.

And all the habits and behaviors that you’ve been struggling to attain

Will start to reveal themselves as your natural way of being. 

Continue the Foundations with part two, Wealth.