Coach AA's Sunday Newsletter

You don’t need superfoods. You need a system.

Last week, I watched a group of brilliant developers sip sugar water laced with chia seeds—and call it healthy.

This is what happens when we outsource health to buzzwords.

“Is it good for you?” is the wrong question.

If you haven’t mastered vegetables, water, protein, sleep, and movement—you’re not ready for chia seeds.

Forget hacks. Build your Boring Edge.

Then watch how little the noise matters.

Here’s the link to the full post.

I used AI to generate the snippet. I didn’t want to edit/modify it - I just plugged my draft in and asked it for a snippet. Useful. Quick. Gets the job done.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my other Substack - where the link goes.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

I SUCK

Your glutes didn't fire properly during that deadlift.You didn’t go as heavy as you’d liked.

You were leaning back on the swing.Your hip snap was not as good as it could’ve been.

You huffed and puffed your way around the streets for 30 minutes. You barely ran 4 kilometres. You feel gassed out.You were once running 10k in under an hour and could’ve run 10k more.

That's just data.But how you relate to that data determines whether it builds you up or tears you down.

Are you going to criticise yourself?

Are you going to keep beating yourself up?

What’s your self-talk like? How do you recognise the information that’s being shared with you?

Here's how to transform any piece of information from destructive to constructive:

Step 1: Recognise the Information is Neutral

Stop treating feedback like a verdict on your character.

Your rep wasn't perfect?That's information, not identity.

Your boss wants you to improve something?That's data, not damnation.

The facts are just facts—they carry no emotional weight until you assign it.

And c’mon, AI does not own em dashes. Humans can use them too!!!!

An em dash (—) is a punctuation mark used to create a strong break in a sentence, often replacing commas, parentheses, or colons. It can emphasize information, indicate interruptions, or set off parenthetical elements without the need for additional punctuation.

Step 2: Choose Your Relationship

You get to decide what the information means.

Relationship 1 turns every piece of feedback into evidence that you're failing.

Relationship 2 turns the same feedback into intel for getting better.

Same information. Different lens. Different outcome.

Step 3: Practice the Reframe in Real Time

When you hear* "you forgot to squeeze your glutes," pause.

Don't let your mind jump to "I'm sloppy." Instead, think "cool, let's try 7/10 next set."

When someone says "your presentation needs work," don't spiral into "I'm bad at this." Try "good intel for next time."

* from your own voice inside the head or your coach (although a coach would use better cues but let’s ignore that.)

Why This Changes Everything

First, it removes the emotional sting. Information stops feeling like an attack when you stop taking it personally. The same feedback that used to ruin your day becomes neutral data you can actually use.

Second, it makes you coachable. People who relate to feedback as information improve faster than people who relate to it as judgment. You become someone who can hear hard truths without breaking.

Third, it builds resilience everywhere. The gym is just practice. When you can hear "Your hinge can be deeper. And oh, squeeze those glutes" as coaching instead of criticism, you can hear "your relationship needs work" the same way. Or "your project missed the mark." Or any other difficult truth.

Your next piece of feedback is coming whether you want it or not.

The information will be what it is.

But your relationship to it?

That's entirely up to you.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

I couldn't run 500 meters.

But someone said I'd run a half marathon in a few months.

So I showed up. Again and again. And they were right.

The First Step Is Rarely Clear

When I joined a running group, I wasn't a runner.

Not even close.

But the group didn't treat me like I was broken.

They simply said: *"Show up. Four times a week. Trust the process."*

It was the first time I saw how powerful a clear system can be.

Simple Systems WorkIf Life Lets You Use Them

Every week, I ran a little farther.

Each long run was a new personal best.

And with every new distance, I realized:

My limits weren't real. They were just thoughts.

But here's the twist: not everyone can show up four days a week.

Some have toddlers. Aging parents. Invisible battles.

Life doesn't care about your perfect plan.

A perfect plan means nothing if it doesn't fit your life.

It's Not One System vs Another

We've built something at The Quad. It works for many people.

But not everyone.

And that's okay.

A good system + the right timing + a little guidance = momentum.

But take away any one of those, and even the best plan can fail.

That's not your fault.

That's not the system's fault.

That's just a sign that you need a different entry point.

Your Job: Do. Reflect. Adapt.

Try something.

Notice what sticks.

Notice what you resist.

Adapt.

Stop looking for the final answer. Take the next step.

You're the expert on you.

And I'm the coach who helps you explore the map.

That's what I love most.

Not handing you a blueprint-but walking with you while you test, tweak, and make it your own.

Don't Quit the Tool. Change the Timing.

Maybe you tried something and it didn't work.

That doesn't mean the tool is broken.

It means: not right now.

When you're ready, pick it up again.

Tools don't judge.

You got this.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

Imagine you're about to buy a house. You put down a down payment, and the bank loans you the rest. You agree to repay this loan over the next 20 years. When you total up the repayment, it's a lot more than the original loan amount, but that's how loans and interest work. You're okay with it because you get the house today, which you couldn't afford to pay for in full. This is instant gratification: for a small percentage of the price, you get the house immediately. From then on, you're committed to making monthly payments for many years—a clear, non-negotiable agreement.

The Daily Grind: Working to Pay Off Your Home

To make these monthly payments, you go to work, clocking in 40-hour (or sometimes 70-hour) weeks, and dedicate a portion of your earnings to your home loan. For the next 20 years, this is the drill. You can't skip work or miss a monthly payment. It's a daily, weekly, and monthly effort with no shortcuts.

Parallel Paths: Investing in Your Health

Now, let's contrast this with your health.

To stay healthy and have a youthful body and mind 20 years from now, there are many similarities. You need to make a consistent effort daily, weekly, and monthly. Unlike the house, you don't need to make a full payment upfront or even a down payment. If you invest in your health consistently over the next 20 years, you'll have the body of your dreams.

The Key Difference: Instant vs. Delayed Gratification

Here's where the difference lies: With the house, you get instant gratification. You get the house immediately.

With your body, gratification is delayed. You see the results as you do the work, building your health brick by brick.

Consistent Effort: The Path to Success

In both scenarios, you commit to a long-term effort. For the home, you pay interest. For the body, there's no interest—in fact, it gets easier. As you put in the effort early on, your body works better, and it costs less to maintain and improve it. As your habits change, it becomes easier to continue the effort.

The Power of Small, Consistent Actions: An Anecdote

Yet, the home scenario makes sense to us, while the body scenario often does not.

Let's illustrate this with an anecdote:

Morgan Housel, in his book "The Psychology of Money," shares a story about a janitor named Ronald Read. Ronald lived a simple life, driving an old car and wearing flannel shirts. He worked diligently, saved consistently, and invested wisely. By the time he passed away, he had amassed an $8 million fortune, which he left to his local library and hospital. Ronald's wealth wasn't built on a single big investment but through decades of small, consistent efforts. Just like Ronald’s financial habits, your health can be built up through small, consistent actions over time.

The Truth About Aging: It's Up to You

Don’t buy into the lie that ageing means living in a deteriorating body. Ageing is inevitable; having an unhealthy, incapacitated body is not.

Taking Action: Start Today

Do the work. Brick by brick. Daily. Weekly. Monthly. Put in the effort.

Just as a part of your monthly income goes towards your home loan, a part of your day should go towards your long-term health. Go to the gym, eat vegetables and protein, and sleep 7+ hours.

Your True Home

Your true home is your mind and body. Invest in it.

Start today.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

Empathy

the ability to take on another's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience

Is it possible to be empathetic? To understand and feel what they are feeling? In any field of play, empathy is touted as a master quality. If you can put yourself into another's shoes, then you will be able to write about their conditions better. Design a product that is tailored for them. Connect with them better and so on. Makes sense.

But is this true? What are the limits of it?

An Immense World

I recently read Ed Yong's brilliant book, An Immense World. In it, Yong explores various senses and stimuli that are not ours. And powered by the lens of not being biased by our own senses. Or to quote the American philosopher Thomas Nagel

I want to know what it is like for a bat to be a bat. Yet if I try to imagine this, I am restricted to the resources of my own mind, and those resources are inadequate to the task.

What he means is our lens and point of view is ours. We will look at what it feels like to be a bat by fitting in a bat's echolocation skills on top of being a human. See Daredevil, for example. But that's not how it feels to be a bat. That's echolocation extrapolated on top of human-ness.

And what does this have to do with empathy?!

Well. While humans all share the same sense stimuli i.e. listening to music and what it does to you, I can understand it because I go through something similar. Or when we see a rainbow - sure, my blue might be subtly different from your blue. Or if you are colour-blind, you are seeing something different. But we are both seeing a fascinating phenomenon of colour.

And on to the thought that spurred. This is not about your blue being different from my blue.

Certain aspects are seen/felt at a different level, based on your skills. For example, my wife is a talented musician. This means how she hears and understands music, what's going on in a song - not what I hear. She groks the why behind certain decisions, the skills, the subtleties and thus her appreciation for it is different from mine. I either like it or I don't and I am hard-pressed to explain or elaborate.

To complicate things further, depending on your mood, a rainbow might look beautiful and leave you with a sense of awe. Or you might be preoccupied with something else and not even be aware that there's a rainbow.

So, for me to empathise with you in a situation is pretty complicated. There's the larger sphere of things that is your world, your filters, your lenses. Where you grew up, what your parents and peers believed in and influenced you into thinking, what events shaped you and all that. And then there are the more immediate ones. Did you get a warning from your doctor about your blood work? This means you are going to be a lot more serious about finding a solution for your health and fitness. Or did you have a fight with your partner, which means you are not going to be receptive to an amazing idea that might be passing in front of you?

Grad School

It is possible and necessary to take on another's perspective. That is the only way one can stop designing for themselves and actually design for the other person. But this is a tool, an abstraction. It is important not to take it as fact. This is why interviewing people, and talking to diverse sets of individuals and groups to build up one's knowledge and abstractions of the world is very useful. The more models we have, the better.

Combining your domain expertise with the other person's perspective - that's what we do when we say we empathise. And it is a much harder exercise than I previously believed.

Now, of course, there's a significant amount of overthinking happening on my part. In grad school, one of my projects in my second semester was to design an experience for a visitor to a park. Please note a park in the USA refers to a national park - acres and acres of natural habitat. Think Yellowstone and not your neighbourhood park with slides and swings.

Our group explored this question differently. We wanted to understand how any differently-abled person would go see the park. We simulated a few different experiences - what does it feel like for a visually impaired person? What does a person in a wheelchair experience? And what about someone who is not able to relax and immerse themselves in the experience because of whatever reasons?

One of us was blindfolded and we spent the rest of the afternoon going through our routine. We discussed the project. We went to Yogi's for lunch - the wait staff were used to weird experiments on a college campus. We took a crude snapshot of what the world feels like to a visually impaired person. One of us was taken to the top of a tall tower with a beautiful view. With an irrational fear of heights, what does the serenity and beauty of the situation feel like to this person versus someone who is not impaired by that? Essentially, can we put ourselves in another person's lens to understand the distortion of what we think is normal.

It was an interesting exploration and expanded how I thought about the world. And our line of thinking and exploration of the question impressed our professor quite a bit. Not only were we awarded the best project that year, but we were informed by him that it was the best thinking he had seen exhibited in his class in all his years as a teacher. It felt wonderful to hear, even though in later years, I thought it was a bit of hyperbole. Fast forward to 12 years later, in 2019, when I visited my school and I dropped into this professor's office without warning. Not only did he recognise me in 10 seconds, but he said me and my group were impossible to forget because of the aforementioned project - something he still references in his classes to this day.

What next?

It is impossible to put ourselves in our pet's head. It is impossible to put ourselves in our friend's head too but it is possible to get a lot closer. In both scenarios.

On a walk, my dog wants to explore smells. There are fascinating (disgusting to me) stories that she's smelling. Just because her way of doing things (smelling pee all over, sniffing her friends' butts) is weird does not mean it is wrong.

Likewise, my customer's framing might be weird. My wife's reaction to an event might be different than mine. Taking the time to explore the why, to get into their shoes - as limited as it might be - is a wonderful and powerful tool.

Yes, it is limited. But not doing that is so much more limited.

You want to know what it feels like for them to be them. And in this situation.

Not what it feels like for you if you were in their shoes.

Going back to my grad school project, whenever I feel I've lost touch in connecting with someone in a situation, has been a powerful trigger for me. Spending the time pondering this "What does it feel like for you to be you in this situation" is the best way to spend time understanding a problem better.

Empathy is important. It is vital to communicate. To connect. To sell. To create.

Your turn

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this topic. What methods do you use to empathise? What do you get wrong? What do you get right?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

Addictions

From Wikipedia,

A state characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli despite adverse consequences

and

characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behaviour that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences

... perpetuating cravings. weakens self-control.

I don't know about you but I have a few addictions. And I'd like to discuss a couple of them.

Football

In my teens, when I was looking for a tribe to belong to, I discovered football. I used to watch every sport on TV, including golf and curling (sober cornhole, played on ice. What's not to like?)

And I got hooked one day after watching a wondergoal.

I started watching ManUtd obsessively. I've always enjoyed sports and there was something deep that following this team filled me. For the better part of 20 years, they've been a cornerstone of my life.

I'd decline dinner invitations and dates if there was a game on. I'd wake up at midnight to watch the Champions League midweek. While living in California, I'd drive to an English pub at 4 am to watch the games. It was fun. It was the best.

But over the pandemic, I had the time to re-assess quite a lot. And one addiction that I detested was being hooked on to football news. Every time I was stuck on something, I'd find myself opening 5 new browser tabs and rapidly typing 5 different football websites.

And I would do this every 30 minutes. All day. Every day. And I'd been doing this for years and years. I realised that this was an addiction that I needed to work on.

Watching football is one thing (and there's a much longer post related to that) but checking football news is silly. Every time there was a new article, I'd get a reward. Distracting myself, losing focus on work or the task at hand, being out of control, and having itchy fingers any time I had a few minutes to spare.

This is one addiction I've overcome. It's taken the better part of 3 years. But from checking football sites (five) multiple times a day, I've brought it down to two sites for a maximum of once a day. And there are days when I don't check it too.

Books

The amount of books on my shelves keeps increasing. Quite a bit of them are books that I want to read but have not yet. The only thing faster than the "unread" on my shelves is my wishlist on GoodReads.

I am privileged to spend a substantial amount on books. And I exercise that privilege every month. Sometimes multiple times a month. I approximate 5-8 new books a month (this does not include fiction). I don't read anywhere that fast. In fact, only of late, I've realised my note-taking and re-reading skills need work and so I've slowed down even further.

But I am addicted to books.

I cannot stop buying them. The only social network I spend time on, by choice, is GoodReads.

And guess what - it is a new month and it is time to buy a few more books on my wishlist.

I see two potential issues with this addiction of mine. One is money i.e. this can add up. But as I said, I am privileged enough to be able to buy a bunch of books every month and it does not hurt my wallet. The second is "Oh my god, there's so much to read. there's so much you don't know. and you haven't read this and this and this and this and this. and yet you are buying more..." - well, mental. Self-criticism was the harmful part of this addiction and something I am working to remove, and successful at that. Without it, this addiction of mine seems positive.

It is taking quite a bit of energy to stop editing this and head over to GoodReads and then wander off to buy 5 books. But that would be a negative consequence that I'd not want to be a part of this addiction. Stay strong!

This is an addiction I have reduced the negative consequences of and embraced the addiction.

Sugar

Most of you might think this is the only legitimate addiction. It is not true - the above two examples (not my only addictions, mind) are and can be pretty debilitating.

From when I was young, if I didn't eat a particular food, adding sugar was the only way to make me eat it. Dosai with sambar was not enough - I'd add sugar to the sambar. I'd add sugar to the molaga podi. Suffice it to say, I'd add sugar to everything.

Fast forward to today, and I have crafted quite a few rules to keep a handle on my sugar addiction. For example, don't start the day with sugar. Particularly hard if you are surrounded by great bakeries and pastries. Or when your colleague brings in amazing home-baked chocolate cake. Another rule I have is to keep my sugar intake to the weekends.

These have helped curtail a rather severe obsession with sugar.

There was this time when my wife and I returned from Calcutta. I was armed with baked rasagullas made with nolengur. There are about 15 of these in a box and we were supposed to take the box to share with our colleagues at work. Unfortunately, that day, we forgot. Come evening, I had a face-off with the rasagullas. And over the next 2 hours, I proceeded to eat the entire box. My wife, who's seen me pull off substantial feats of sugar consumption, was shellshocked. She said I had hit a new level that day. An unwanted PR :)

Which is why I have my rules about my sugar consumption. Because there are a few times when I am eating it even though I don't want it. That's the next step for me. I am okay if I eat an entire box of sweets, as long as I want it. But if my cravings are over, I need to stop the addictive tendency to keep stuffing my face.

This is an addiction that I am 51% in control of, and have a long way to go.

Your turn

What behaviour(s) are you addicted to?

Where are they causing you serious negative harm?

What rules and guidelines do you need to put guard rails around them?

What addictions do you want to keep?

What addictions do you want to remove?

I'd love it if you'd like to share.

Okay, and now, I am off to buy some books.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

Vaccines

The road to robustification starts with a modicum of harm– Nassim Taleb

You are innately familiar with this concept. You got vaccinated as a kid against a bunch of diseases. What goes in a vaccine? Well, a bit of the infection which the body can overwhelm. And thus build an immune response.

You stress the body. The body responds by getting stronger. The body responds by owning that stress.

You fall sick when the infection overwhelms you. When the dose is too high.

But a small dose, the right dosage, of a harmful substance is beneficial for the organism.

Goldilocks

Too small a dose and nothing happens.

Too big a dose and bad things happen.

The same principle applies, amongst other things, to how physical exercise works on the body (and mind.)

You provide your body with a modicum of harm. You provide an external stressor that the body is not used to.

For example, you squat 10 kilos. You do, throughout your workout, 50 squats. The next day, your body is quite sore. You might find it hard to walk upstairs. Your quadriceps (the front of your thigh) are screaming.

Fast forward a few months of regular physical training. You are squatting 50 kilos for 50 reps in your workouts. And your soreness is less than what it was after the first day. Isn't that crazy?!

By regularly dosing a modicum of harm, by adding a bit more stress than what your body was used to, your body gets stronger.

This is the overarching principle behind physical fitness.

To get stronger, lift more weights.

To increase your endurance, do more work.

To increase your flexibility, stretch.

But beyond the obvious and ultimately useless statements above, you add the principle you learned. The same principle of vaccination.

Find the right dose. Get stronger. Repeat.

Complication

A couple of complications arise.

The dosage is a combination of intensity, repetition, and frequency. Do too much or too little, and you have a problem.

Too much is harmful.

Too little is useless.

Walking, for example, is the most accessible form of physical activity for most people. Unfortunately, most people have too low a dosage for it to create a physiological impact. That is, it doesn't produce positive adaptations in your body and physical health.

This applies to any physical activity. Even if it is hard. Running a 5k might sound hard. But if you run 5k multiple times a week, your body has adapted to it and doesn't get too much from it. Not as much as you'd like to keep improving it, let me clarify.

Methods to Increase Dosage

So, what do you do?

You have a few options.

Increase the volume of work done. If you are walking, increase the distance every week. Your body adapts. And then you increase the dose. So, the benefits will continue to flow.

Soon enough though, you will run into a problem of time. So, walk faster. Aim to cover more distance in the same amount of time. If you start by walking 3 km in an hour, over many weeks, you can get rather fast and aim for up to 7k (!!!).

But there will be a ceiling for this as well. We've increased the time to an hour. Let's say that's the maximum time we have. We've increased speed in that hour. So, that leaves increasing the difficulty level. If you are walking on a treadmill, you can add an incline to it. If you are walking outside (much better than walking on a treadmill), you can wear a weighted vest.

This will keep your body challenged for many many weeks. Producing improvements consistently.

This principle applies in strength training - which is why we increase the load, or change the levers, or change the movement and make it harder. Think wall pushups to floor pushups to handstand pushups.

Likewise, it applies to endurance training as well. Especially because a linear increase in training time is not compatible with everyone's life.

What next?

So, where do you go from here?

Where are you stalling?

Weight loss or weight gain not happening? Strength not improving?

Or let's expand to life. Where in life are you stalling? Where have you stopped growing?

In what aspects of your life have you stopped increasing the dosage?

Where have you kept on doing the same dose? You've stopped learning. You've stopped growing there.

To improve, to get better, to continue on your awesome journey, increase the dose.

Remember, not too much. But not too little.

And then, change it up. Do something else.

And then come back to the original.

I'd love to know what aspect of your life you are going to work on.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

Obviously harmful

We all kinda sorta know of the obviously harmful. For example, we know smoking cigarettes is terrible for health. Right? No one is smoking under the impression that it is a net positive.

We also have a few things that are harmful but not immediately. And (my opinion) the effects are filtered down invisibly, the tentacles reaching out into the physical, mental, and psychological that it is hard to know their effects. For example, eating processed foods and sugar. Let's caveat that with "beyond a certain amount and frequency" to make that fact palatable.

And then we have things that are deemed not harmful. Or are harmful but we don't know that they are. As Nassim Taleb reminded me multiple times recently (while reading AntiFragile), absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. For example, the amount of time we spend with a mobile phone next to us or 5G or being bombarded by some form of Wi-Fi.

Naive / Cynical

Earlier in the week, I was chatting with a friend of mine. We were debating the "harmful" effects of products and things in our world. My friend's opinion was if something is harmful, especially something pervasive, it would be reported and removed.

This is not about a specific product. But for the sake of argument, let's say it was about toothpaste. But it can be extended to a lot of things - the stock market crash of 2008, freeing Iraq, or lead in pipes.

Toothpaste

The complication is we "need" toothpaste. We use it daily. How can toothpaste be harmful? How can that harm go undetected? It's not possible.

Let's rewind.

100 years ago, smoking was promoted as something healthy. The famous Camels ad promoted the cigarette as something doctors smoked. Today, it is known that cigarettes are the worst health hazard there is. If cigarettes did not exist, more lives would've been saved than any other man-made disaster put together. Imagine that - all our wars combined!

Or lead in paint.

It takes years, nay decades, to put a stop to these things. People get silenced, money at the higher levels pushes messaging and products, and short-termism on the part of stakeholders ensures that these are not resolved. Heard of climate change?

Control the controllable

What's the point? Are we doomed? Well, cynicism does not help here. So, what do we do? How does one approach this? If Wi-Fi is harmful, if 5G is harmful - are we going to retreat to a remote hillside, away from civilisation?

Or are we going to put our hands up and say it is too big to fight? We need our toothpaste, we need our Wi-Fi.

Well, I don't have an answer.

These are the kinds of things that keep me up. For now, I retain my sanity by looking at "what can I control." And I extend it to "what can I teach my community, in terms of their health and fitness."

But there's always a gnawing feeling that it is not enough.

Powerless?

Assuming that people in charge - of the government, of the economy, of the stock market, of pharma etc - have our best interests in mind is, as a general rule, untrue.

But if individually we are unable to make a change, do we continue to remain pawns? Are we powerless?

All of us can fight the good fight in our own way. What that means is up to each of us. Our vote (not the literal vote in the election) on each action is still up to us. Maybe we won't start with toothpaste and Wi-Fi. Or maybe we will.

Discussion

What do you think?

What "harmless" product/service/behaviour do you know to be anything but?

What second and third-order consequences are we missing - that we can start working on?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

In the day-to-day, you often find yourself tangled in a labyrinth of complexity. It's like trying to traverse a maze, where every twist and turn holds a new secret or challenge or a dead end. The amount of information you hold in your hand is at once too much and too little. You cannot see too much ahead. And you also have guidelines and rules and advice and books and how-to's and well, an overload of information.

That's why abstractions are powerful. They provide us with a valuable tool to simplify complex matters. In fact, it is not possible to absorb an event without abstraction. Even what you are seeing now, the eye (and optic nerve and the entire visual cortex) chooses to show you only a part of it. Because it'd be overwhelming and too much.

That's what abstraction entails. How can we compact a large, complicated picture into something simpler and understandable?

It is crucial to remember that the abstraction is and can never be the whole picture.

That's the advantage and the disadvantage.

Let me elaborate with a couple of examples, and then dive a bit more into it in my professional life.

Calories: More than Meets the Eye

Calories in. Calories out. Is weight loss that simple?

Yes. No. Hmm, maybe.

It is a perfect abstraction to begin with. And to use as a North Star. Whenever you see unwanted weight gain, before you overcomplicate stuff, you can start with "Maybe I am eating more calories than is needed."

But beneath the surface, it is complicated. Because the human body is complicated and one we have not fully understood.

There's a macronutrient split, based on what works for you. Some people do well on a low-fat diet, while others do better on a low-carb diet. Should you do moderate protein or high protein?

And then there's the micronutrients we need to get - vitamins and minerals.

This complex stuff gets abstracted into a "diet" - the paleo diet, the keto diet and so on.

But in the end, the magic lies in the balance – eating a tad less than what your body craves. And figuring out how to control your cravings without feeling like you are missing out.

Strength Training: The Enchantment of Overcompensation

Second example.

Your body needs acute (short-term) stress, followed by a period of recovery. When you do that, it responds by overcompensating i.e. it gets ready to handle a wee bit more stress than what you put.

And that's how you get stronger. That's how all physical adaptations - whether it is power or endurance or flexibility or whatever work.

Lift a bit more load than what you did in the previous training session. Repeat. And you get stronger. A simple abstraction for strength training.

Or to generalise, do a bit more "work" than you did last time around. Run a bit more. Run a bit faster.

As you specialise, as you get better, you need to zoom in more. You dive into more complicated abstractions. For example, do a 400m repeat at a specific pace and rest for 2 minutes. Do 8 reps of this. And next week, do 9. Then, 10. Then, switch to 800m repeats.

Again, what's happening is an understanding of the complex machinery, processes, and adaptations into a protocol.

And it all comes down to the basic principle of "the right amount of stress" followed by recovery.

Do too much and/or too often, and you get injured.

Do too little and/or not often enough, and you don't see progress.

Data and using it to run an organisation

At The Quad, we collect and analyse a lot of our student data. How often do they come to class? How and when do they miss class? What results do they see? What weights and progress do they make?

And zooming out - what's the Lifetime Customer Value? What's the Length of Engagement? What's the retention rate?

All of this data (and then some) is one part of the picture. Where humans are involved, emotions and feelings are involved. One cannot encapsulate each individual's life and what's happening there (which causes them to miss a class) into attendance data. One cannot understand motivation and community in this data.

And yet, the data plays an important role.

One of the other parts is speaking with the student. The data provides an abstraction for the entire group or cohorts. Zooming into the individual, listening to them, understanding their stories and emotions and feelings helps us at The Quad break out of the abstraction and to fill in the gaps.

If we went by one (either one), we'd make big mistakes.

If a few of our vocal students felt the workouts were boring, a knee-jerk reaction would be to say "A lot of students find the sessions boring." But the data will tell us better.

Likewise, if attendance drops we assume something's wrong. But it is just the school term ending and a lot of folks are on vacation this week with their families.

The map is not the territory.

The Power of Abstraction

Abstractions are like the guiding stars in our journey through the forest of life. They offer us a simplified map, but the maze (nay, forest) remains vast and mysterious. Remember, it's like being a brave explorer, using the map but forging your own path.

In the world of data, acknowledge that it's one part of the puzzle. You must seek other clues, like conversing with your customers and watching for market trends.

And in the realm of fitness and nutrition, be a scientist in the forest, experimenting, observing, and iterating. Abstractions are your compass, but the adventure is uniquely yours. Life's labyrinth is full of wonders and challenges, and it's through the lens of abstraction that we can find our way, like a map leading us through a mystical forest.

Discussion: What abstractions do you find central in your life? What advantages do they offer? What disadvantages do you know and prepare for?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com

In a world where humour can often mask many underlying negativity, we sometimes need to shift focus. But how can we alter ingrained tendencies and embrace positivity?

I've found three incredibly effective habits to make positivity my second nature. This road to self-improvement may not always be smooth, but it’s a journey which promises personal growth and mindful existence - far beyond the fleeting comfort of a well-timed joke.

While these guidelines/habits might not be relevant for you, I hope that this will spark something in you. Not immediately but when it happens. Write it down immediately.

#1: Stop trying to be funny.

If you are not one of those warm and funny people, stop trying to be funny.

I am not warm and funny. I have a dry and sarcastic bent which humours me more than the other person.

What I've learned is while it is fine to indulge in my sense of humour, I (used to) attempt to be funny too often in social conversations. And given a poor hit/miss ratio, I'd end up saying stupid things more often than I'd like.

Instead of brushing up on jokes, I've instead stopped trying to be funny, to have a quip. I think people like me better now :)

#2: If you cannot say anything positive, don't say anything.

Absolute cliche but true.

Do you need to point out if someone's looking haggard? Or if they've put on weight? Nope. You can shut it.

I (used to) not find anything positive as I was busy telling myself about #1 and #2. But this one's simpler except if you are an over-thinker like I am.

Most often, I am pleased to see the other person. Telling them that is positive enough.

#3: Check in with yourself.

This is the most recent learning and one I have the least number of practices with.

Are you feeling stressed? Are you feeling grumpy? Tired? Hungry? Thirsty?

Especially in social settings, I tend to shrink if I am low on energy. But it happens even when I am alone, to be honest. I find myself being a bigger dick to myself when I am feeling low.

Being aware by checking in with myself is simple. Just by paying attention and asking the question, I realise I am being kind to myself. And I might not be able to do much about it (although there are things that can be done.)

But checking in, and acknowledging that I am feeling grumpy is quite often enough to get out of my grumpy zone.

This list keeps growing. And there's a lot of contradictory stuff as I pen them down. But that's okay.

More than anything, I realise that guidelines and heuristics help me navigate the world better. Like you, I have a lot of these. Penning them down and elaborating on them has been useful. Too many unsaid things leave me on autopilot and without a clear idea of why something happened.

Name it. Write it down. It solidifies.

The thing with self-help is you have to figure out what works for you and what applies to you. That sounds rough but it is a lot of fun.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit coachaasunday.substack.com