I think there is this idea that when you forgive someone, part of that is letting them back in. Like forgiveness automatically means reconciliation. Like because you let go of the anger, they get their old access back. And I think that is one of the biggest misunderstandings about forgiveness. Because I can forgive you and still not trust you. I can wish you well and still not want you in my space. Those things are not contradictions. That is clarity. Forgiveness, for me, is about releasing what I no longer want to carry. The anger. The resentment. The replaying. But forgiveness does not delete the data. I still remember what you showed me. I still remember what happened. I still get to make decisions based on that information. And if nothing has changed, giving someone access again is sometimes just giving them another opportunity to do the exact same thing. So today we are talking about how to forgive without reopening doors that need to stay closed. How to release resentment without abandoning your boundaries. And I think learning the difference between forgiveness and access is one of the most important lessons there is when it comes to protecting your peace. FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS I think this is where so many people get confused. Forgiveness is internal. Reconciliation is relational. Forgiveness is something you can choose by yourself. Reconciliation requires two people. You can decide: "I am done being angry about this." "I am done letting this take up space in my mind." "I am done wishing things were different." "I am going to move forward." None of that requires you to restore the relationship. Reconciliation requires rebuilding. It requires accountability. Change. Consistency. Trust. Effort. Time. And sometimes, even after all of those things, you may still decide that the relationship is better left in the past. Forgiveness does not automatically create an obligation to reconnect. FORGIVING SOMEONE DOESN'T DELETE THE DATA I love this idea: Forgiving you doesn't delete the data. Because sometimes we treat forgiveness like we are supposed to suddenly become forgetful. But experiences give us information. If someone lied repeatedly, that is information. If someone betrayed your confidence, that is information. If someone consistently disrespected your boundaries, that is information. If being around somebody repeatedly left you anxious, depleted, insecure or confused, that is information. You don't have to be angry about the information in order to use it. That is such an important distinction. You can say: "I'm not mad anymore. But now I know." That is wisdom. You don't need to keep touching the stove just because you forgave it for burning you. You learned. And learning is supposed to change your behavior. FORGIVENESS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS TRUST This is another huge one. You can forgive somebody and still not trust them. Because forgiveness can happen in a moment. Trust is built through behavior. Trust is evidence. Trust is repetition. Trust is somebody consistently showing you: "My words and actions match." "I respect your boundaries." "I take responsibility when I hurt you." "I have actually changed." You do not owe somebody instant trust because they apologized. And you definitely don't owe them trust simply because you decided to forgive them. You can forgive freely. Trust should be earned. ACCESS SHOULD BE EARNED Not everyone deserves the same level of access to you. I think we need to normalize this. There are levels. Someone can be somebody you care about but don't confide in. Someone can be somebody you are cordial with but don't spend time alone with. Someone can be somebody you love but know you cannot have an emotionally close relationship with. Someone can be somebody you forgive from a very large distance. Access is not a punishment. Access is a boundary. Your time is access. Your home is access. Your children are access. Your private thoughts are access. Your energy is access. Your vulnerable moments are access. Those things should not be automatically available to everyone. Especially someone who has already shown you they cannot handle that access responsibly. YOU CAN WISH SOMEONE WELL FROM FAR AWAY This is where people think boundaries somehow mean hate. They don't. You can genuinely hope somebody has a beautiful life. You can hope they heal. You can hope they grow. You can pray for them. You can celebrate something good happening to them. And still say: "I do not want to participate in your life anymore." Those things are not contradictions. You do not have to hate somebody in order to leave. Sometimes you leave because you finally stopped hating them. You stopped fighting. Stopped trying to prove your point. Stopped trying to make them understand. Stopped trying to get the apology. And you simply accepted reality. THE GOAL OF FORGIVENESS ISN'T TO GET THE RELATIONSHIP BACK Sometimes the goal is just peace. That's it. Not closure from them. Not an apology. Not a reunion. Not some perfectly wrapped ending. Just peace. Peace that says: "That happened." "I didn't like it." "I learned from it." "And I am not going to keep paying for it emotionally every day." Forgiveness can simply mean that the event no longer gets to control your nervous system. You stop waking up thinking about it. You stop rehearsing imaginary conversations. You stop checking whether they finally understand what they did. You reclaim your attention. That is freedom. SOME PEOPLE DON'T WANT FORGIVENESS. THEY WANT THEIR POSITION BACK. This one is important. Sometimes somebody says: "Well, I thought you forgave me." But what they really mean is: "I thought I would get the same access again." Those are not the same thing. Some people aren't upset that you're still angry. You're not angry. They are upset that there are consequences. They want to skip accountability and go directly back to proximity. They want your forgiveness to erase the natural consequences of their choices. But forgiveness does not require you to protect somebody from consequences. If I learn that I cannot trust you with certain parts of my life, the consequence may simply be less access. Not revenge. Not punishment. Just a new boundary based on new information. PROXIMITY WITHOUT CHANGE IS JUST ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SAME PATTERN This line really matters: Proximity without change is just a second opportunity to do the same thing. Because people will sometimes rush reconciliation because the discomfort of distance feels awkward. But if nothing actually changed, what are we reconciling? Did the person become more accountable? Did the behavior stop? Did communication improve? Were boundaries respected? Was there actual repair? Or did enough time just pass that everyone feels uncomfortable talking about it anymore? Time passing is not the same thing as growth. An apology is not the same thing as transformation. Words matter. Behavior matters more. STOP PERFORMING REUNIONS YOU DON'T ACTUALLY FEEL I think sometimes people reconcile because they don't want to look mean. They don't want family members to think they're difficult. They don't want mutual friends to feel awkward. They don't want to be accused of holding a grudge. So they perform closeness. And inside they are thinking: "I don't trust this person." "I don't feel safe around this person." "I don't actually want this relationship." That kind of relationship becomes exhausting because now you're spending energy pretending. You do not have to manufacture intimacy to prove that you're healed. Sometimes healing actually looks like being able to peacefully say: "No thank you." YOU DON'T NEED ANGER TO JUSTIFY A BOUNDARY You don't have to still be mad in order to say no. You don't need a dramatic reason. You don't need another explosion. You don't need them to do something terrible one more time. You can simply decide: "This relationship no longer works for me." We have been conditioned to think boundaries need a courtroom argument. They don't. You are allowed to notice patterns. You are allowed to recognize how somebody affects you. And you are allowed to make decisions accordingly. BEING AT PEACE DOESN'T MEAN BECOMING AVAILABLE AGAIN Peace sometimes looks like silence. Peace sometimes looks like not responding. Peace sometimes looks like seeing their name and feeling nothing. Peace sometimes looks like being able to be in the same room without needing to confront them. And peace sometimes looks like never seeing them again. There is no universal picture of forgiveness. Sometimes people assume healing means everybody gets back together. Maybe healing means you no longer need everybody to get back together. YOU CAN LOVE SOMEONE AND STILL LOVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TO LEAVE This applies to friendships, family relationships, romantic relationships, work relationships and everything in between. Love by itself does not make every relationship healthy. Sometimes you can genuinely love somebody and still recognize: "We are not good together." Or: "I cannot keep exposing myself to this." Or: "I care about you, but I cannot keep participating in this dynamic." That doesn't make the love fake. It means love isn't the only factor in the decision. You also have to consider trust. Respect. Safety. Compatibility. Peace. Values. Patterns. STOP WAITING FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND YOUR BOUNDARY One of the hardest parts about boundaries is realizing the other person may never agree with yours. They may call you dramatic. Cold. Unforgiving. Sensitive. Difficult. Selfish. And if your entire goal is getting them to approve of your boundary, you're going to stay stuck. Sometimes the person who benefited most from you having no boundaries is going to hate your boundaries the most. That doesn't automatically mean the boundary is wrong. You have to be able to tolerate being misunderstood. THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF FORGIVENESS MAY BE INDIFFERENCE Sometimes we think forgiveness means having this big emotional moment where you suddenly feel warmth toward the person. Maybe. But sometimes forgiveness is much quieter. You just stop caring. Not in a cruel way. You simply stop being emotionally hooked. Their choices don't ruin your day anymore. Their name doesn't trigger a twenty-minute rant. You don't need everyone else to agree with your version of what happened. You don't need revenge. You don't need validation. You moved on. That is powerful. ASK YOURSELF: WHAT DID THIS EXPERIENCE TEACH ME? Instead of only asking: "How could they do this to me?" Ask: "What did this teach me?" Maybe it taught you to stop ignoring red flags. Maybe it taught you to speak up sooner. Maybe it taught you that chemistry does not equal compatibility. Maybe it taught you that history does not equal loyalty. Maybe it taught you that an apology without changed behavior means very little. Maybe it taught you to trust your instincts. Maybe it taught you that you can survive losing a relationship you once thought you couldn't live without. Take the lesson. Leave the bitterness. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CREATE A NEW VERSION OF THE RELATIONSHIP Sometimes the answer isn't all-in or completely gone. Maybe the relationship needs a different shape. You can move someone from your inner circle to your outer circle. You can reduce frequency. You can change what topics you discuss. You can stop sharing private information. You can stop asking them for emotional support. You can see them at family events without maintaining a close personal relationship. Boundaries don't always mean cutting someone off. Sometimes they mean creating the appropriate distance. IF RECONCILIATION DOES HAPPEN, LET BEHAVIOR LEAD If you do decide that you want to rebuild a relationship, don't rush it. Let the person show you. You don't have to immediately hand them the keys again. Start small. Pay attention. Do they respect your boundaries? Do they take ownership? Do they become defensive when the past comes up? Do their actions match their apology? Can they tolerate earning trust slowly? Real change can handle patience. Manipulation usually demands immediate access. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HATE THE OLD VERSION OF YOU WHO ALLOWED IT Sometimes after a difficult relationship, we get angry with ourselves. "How did I not see this?" "Why did I stay?" "Why did I give them another chance?" But you made choices with the information, confidence and perspective you had at the time. Now you know more. The goal isn't to shame your previous self. The goal is to become somebody who responds differently now. Growth means the lesson changes your future behavior. PROTECTING YOUR PEACE IS NOT REVENGE There is a major difference between creating distance to hurt somebody and creating distance to protect yourself. If your goal is: "I want them to suffer." That's revenge. But if your goal is: "I don't want to live in this dynamic anymore." That's a boundary. You know the difference internally. Protecting your peace does not require you to punish anybody. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is simply remove yourself. I think one of the strongest forms of emotional maturity is being able to say: I forgave you. I'm not angry. I'm not bitter. I don't spend my days thinking about what happened. I genuinely hope you have a great life. And I still don't want you close to me. There is nothing contradictory about that. You are allowed to forgive somebody without restoring their previous position in your life. You are allowed to release anger and keep the lesson. You are allowed to stop carrying resentment while still maintaining boundaries. Forgiveness doesn't delete the data. Forgiveness doesn't automatically rebuild trust. Forgiveness does not require reconciliation. And forgiveness does not come with a key. Sometimes the healthiest ending isn't everyone hugging and going back to the way things were. Sometimes the healthiest ending is simply: I learned. I released it. I wish you well. And the door stays closed. That isn't bitterness. That's clarity and some of the BEST kind of it.

I think there is this idea that when you forgive someone, part of that is letting them back in. Like forgiveness automatically means reconciliation. Like because you let go of the anger, they get their old access back. And I think that is one of the biggest misunderstandings about forgiveness. Because I can forgive you and still not trust you. I can wish you well and still not want you in my space. Those things are not contradictions. That is clarity. Forgiveness, for me, is about releasing what I no longer want to carry. The anger. The resentment. The replaying. But forgiveness does not delete the data. I still remember what you showed me. I still remember what happened. I still get to make decisions based on that information. And if nothing has changed, giving someone access again is sometimes just giving them another opportunity to do the exact same thing. So today we are talking about how to forgive without reopening doors that need to stay closed. How to release resentment without abandoning your boundaries. And I think learning the difference between forgiveness and access is one of the most important lessons there is when it comes to protecting your peace. FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS I think this is where so many people get confused. Forgiveness is internal. Reconciliation is relational. Forgiveness is something you can choose by yourself. Reconciliation requires two people. You can decide: "I am done being angry about this." "I am done letting this take up space in my mind." "I am done wishing things were different." "I am going to move forward." None of that requires you to restore the relationship. Reconciliation requires rebuilding. It requires accountability. Change. Consistency. Trust. Effort. Time. And sometimes, even after all of those things, you may still decide that the relationship is better left in the past. Forgiveness does not automatically create an obligation to reconnect. FORGIVING SOMEONE DOESN'T DELETE THE DATA I love this idea: Forgiving you doesn't delete the data. Because sometimes we treat forgiveness like we are supposed to suddenly become forgetful. But experiences give us information. If someone lied repeatedly, that is information. If someone betrayed your confidence, that is information. If someone consistently disrespected your boundaries, that is information. If being around somebody repeatedly left you anxious, depleted, insecure or confused, that is information. You don't have to be angry about the information in order to use it. That is such an important distinction. You can say: "I'm not mad anymore. But now I know." That is wisdom. You don't need to keep touching the stove just because you forgave it for burning you. You learned. And learning is supposed to change your behavior. FORGIVENESS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS TRUST This is another huge one. You can forgive somebody and still not trust them. Because forgiveness can happen in a moment. Trust is built through behavior. Trust is evidence. Trust is repetition. Trust is somebody consistently showing you: "My words and actions match." "I respect your boundaries." "I take responsibility when I hurt you." "I have actually changed." You do not owe somebody instant trust because they apologized. And you definitely don't owe them trust simply because you decided to forgive them. You can forgive freely. Trust should be earned. ACCESS SHOULD BE EARNED Not everyone deserves the same level of access to you. I think we need to normalize this. There are levels. Someone can be somebody you care about but don't confide in. Someone can be somebody you are cordial with but don't spend time alone with. Someone can be somebody you love but know you cannot have an emotionally close relationship with. Someone can be somebody you forgive from a very large distance. Access is not a punishment. Access is a boundary. Your time is access. Your home is access. Your children are access. Your private thoughts are access. Your energy is access. Your vulnerable moments are access. Those things should not be automatically available to everyone. Especially someone who has already shown you they cannot handle that access responsibly. YOU CAN WISH SOMEONE WELL FROM FAR AWAY This is where people think boundaries somehow mean hate. They don't. You can genuinely hope somebody has a beautiful life. You can hope they heal. You can hope they grow. You can pray for them. You can celebrate something good happening to them. And still say: "I do not want to participate in your life anymore." Those things are not contradictions. You do not have to hate somebody in order to leave. Sometimes you leave because you finally stopped hating them. You stopped fighting. Stopped trying to prove your point. Stopped trying to make them understand. Stopped trying to get the apology. And you simply accepted reality. THE GOAL OF FORGIVENESS ISN'T TO GET THE RELATIONSHIP BACK Sometimes the goal is just peace. That's it. Not closure from them. Not an apology. Not a reunion. Not some perfectly wrapped ending. Just peace. Peace that says: "That happened." "I didn't like it." "I learned from it." "And I am not going to keep paying for it emotionally every day." Forgiveness can simply mean that the event no longer gets to control your nervous system. You stop waking up thinking about it. You stop rehearsing imaginary conversations. You stop checking whether they finally understand what they did. You reclaim your attention. That is freedom. SOME PEOPLE DON'T WANT FORGIVENESS. THEY WANT THEIR POSITION BACK. This one is important. Sometimes somebody says: "Well, I thought you forgave me." But what they really mean is: "I thought I would get the same access again." Those are not the same thing. Some people aren't upset that you're still angry. You're not angry. They are upset that there are consequences. They want to skip accountability and go directly back to proximity. They want your forgiveness to erase the natural consequences of their choices. But forgiveness does not require you to protect somebody from consequences. If I learn that I cannot trust you with certain parts of my life, the consequence may simply be less access. Not revenge. Not punishment. Just a new boundary based on new information. PROXIMITY WITHOUT CHANGE IS JUST ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SAME PATTERN This line really matters: Proximity without change is just a second opportunity to do the same thing. Because people will sometimes rush reconciliation because the discomfort of distance feels awkward. But if nothing actually changed, what are we reconciling? Did the person become more accountable? Did the behavior stop? Did communication improve? Were boundaries respected? Was there actual repair? Or did enough time just pass that everyone feels uncomfortable talking about it anymore? Time passing is not the same thing as growth. An apology is not the same thing as transformation. Words matter. Behavior matters more. STOP PERFORMING REUNIONS YOU DON'T ACTUALLY FEEL I think sometimes people reconcile because they don't want to look mean. They don't want family members to think they're difficult. They don't want mutual friends to feel awkward. They don't want to be accused of holding a grudge. So they perform closeness. And inside they are thinking: "I don't trust this person." "I don't feel safe around this person." "I don't actually want this relationship." That kind of relationship becomes exhausting because now you're spending energy pretending. You do not have to manufacture intimacy to prove that you're healed. Sometimes healing actually looks like being able to peacefully say: "No thank you." YOU DON'T NEED ANGER TO JUSTIFY A BOUNDARY You don't have to still be mad in order to say no. You don't need a dramatic reason. You don't need another explosion. You don't need them to do something terrible one more time. You can simply decide: "This relationship no longer works for me." We have been conditioned to think boundaries need a courtroom argument. They don't. You are allowed to notice patterns. You are allowed to recognize how somebody affects you. And you are allowed to make decisions accordingly. BEING AT PEACE DOESN'T MEAN BECOMING AVAILABLE AGAIN Peace sometimes looks like silence. Peace sometimes looks like not responding. Peace sometimes looks like seeing their name and feeling nothing. Peace sometimes looks like being able to be in the same room without needing to confront them. And peace sometimes looks like never seeing them again. There is no universal picture of forgiveness. Sometimes people assume healing means everybody gets back together. Maybe healing means you no longer need everybody to get back together. YOU CAN LOVE SOMEONE AND STILL LOVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TO LEAVE This applies to friendships, family relationships, romantic relationships, work relationships and everything in between. Love by itself does not make every relationship healthy. Sometimes you can genuinely love somebody and still recognize: "We are not good together." Or: "I cannot keep exposing myself to this." Or: "I care about you, but I cannot keep participating in this dynamic." That doesn't make the love fake. It means love isn't the only factor in the decision. You also have to consider trust. Respect. Safety. Compatibility. Peace. Values. Patterns. STOP WAITING FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND YOUR BOUNDARY One of the hardest parts about boundaries is realizing the other person may never agree with yours. They may call you dramatic. Cold. Unforgiving. Sensitive. Difficult. Selfish. And if your entire goal is getting them to approve of your boundary, you're going to stay stuck. Sometimes the person who benefited most from you having no boundaries is going to hate your boundaries the most. That doesn't automatically mean the boundary is wrong. You have to be able to tolerate being misunderstood. THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF FORGIVENESS MAY BE INDIFFERENCE Sometimes we think forgiveness means having this big emotional moment where you suddenly feel warmth toward the person. Maybe. But sometimes forgiveness is much quieter. You just stop caring. Not in a cruel way. You simply stop being emotionally hooked. Their choices don't ruin your day anymore. Their name doesn't trigger a twenty-minute rant. You don't need everyone else to agree with your version of what happened. You don't need revenge. You don't need validation. You moved on. That is powerful. ASK YOURSELF: WHAT DID THIS EXPERIENCE TEACH ME? Instead of only asking: "How could they do this to me?" Ask: "What did this teach me?" Maybe it taught you to stop ignoring red flags. Maybe it taught you to speak up sooner. Maybe it taught you that chemistry does not equal compatibility. Maybe it taught you that history does not equal loyalty. Maybe it taught you that an apology without changed behavior means very little. Maybe it taught you to trust your instincts. Maybe it taught you that you can survive losing a relationship you once thought you couldn't live without. Take the lesson. Leave the bitterness. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CREATE A NEW VERSION OF THE RELATIONSHIP Sometimes the answer isn't all-in or completely gone. Maybe the relationship needs a different shape. You can move someone from your inner circle to your outer circle. You can reduce frequency. You can change what topics you discuss. You can stop sharing private information. You can stop asking them for emotional support. You can see them at family events without maintaining a close personal relationship. Boundaries don't always mean cutting someone off. Sometimes they mean creating the appropriate distance. IF RECONCILIATION DOES HAPPEN, LET BEHAVIOR LEAD If you do decide that you want to rebuild a relationship, don't rush it. Let the person show you. You don't have to immediately hand them the keys again. Start small. Pay attention. Do they respect your boundaries? Do they take ownership? Do they become defensive when the past comes up? Do their actions match their apology? Can they tolerate earning trust slowly? Real change can handle patience. Manipulation usually demands immediate access. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HATE THE OLD VERSION OF YOU WHO ALLOWED IT Sometimes after a difficult relationship, we get angry with ourselves. "How did I not see this?" "Why did I stay?" "Why did I give them another chance?" But you made choices with the information, confidence and perspective you had at the time. Now you know more. The goal isn't to shame your previous self. The goal is to become somebody who responds differently now. Growth means the lesson changes your future behavior. PROTECTING YOUR PEACE IS NOT REVENGE There is a major difference between creating distance to hurt somebody and creating distance to protect yourself. If your goal is: "I want them to suffer." That's revenge. But if your goal is: "I don't want to live in this dynamic anymore." That's a boundary. You know the difference internally. Protecting your peace does not require you to punish anybody. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is simply remove yourself. I think one of the strongest forms of emotional maturity is being able to say: I forgave you. I'm not angry. I'm not bitter. I don't spend my days thinking about what happened. I genuinely hope you have a great life. And I still don't want you close to me. There is nothing contradictory about that. You are allowed to forgive somebody without restoring their previous position in your life. You are allowed to release anger and keep the lesson. You are allowed to stop carrying resentment while still maintaining boundaries. Forgiveness doesn't delete the data. Forgiveness doesn't automatically rebuild trust. Forgiveness does not require reconciliation. And forgiveness does not come with a key. Sometimes the healthiest ending isn't everyone hugging and going back to the way things were. Sometimes the healthiest ending is simply: I learned. I released it. I wish you well. And the door stays closed. That isn't bitterness. That's clarity and some of the BEST kind of it.

362. How To Be Awesome At Forgiveness Without Access Back

Our dear friends invited us to an event this weekend in LA… they are partnering with Gary Brecka to build Ultimate Longevity Centers which will bring treatments and testing that just hasn't been easily accessible before now. I believe the way we look at aging is outdated and I'm going to share the biggest take aways I got from his on stage message and chatting with him one on one. We are talking about very practical starting points and Gary Brecka's actual morning health routine. Stop waiting until something is wrong to start taking care of your body. We have been taught this idea that getting older automatically means getting weaker, having less energy, gaining weight, losing muscle, sleeping worse, becoming more anxious, needing more medications and eventually developing all of the diseases that "run in our family." Gary challenges a lot of that thinking. His message is essentially… What if we became obsessed with keeping our bodies functioning incredibly well for as long as possible? What if instead of asking, "How do I treat disease once I have it?" we asked, "How do I create a body that is incredibly difficult for disease to thrive in?" And then there's the longevity piece that completely fascinates me. Gary believes we're entering a period where medicine, AI, biological data and longevity research are going to advance so rapidly that lifespan could look radically different in the future. Maybe 120. Maybe beyond. We don't know. But what we do know is that we need to keep ourselves healthy enough NOW to benefit from whatever becomes possible later. So today's episode is about doing the things that give you the strongest, healthiest, most capable body possible. I've been listening to Gary Brecka talk about health, longevity, anxiety, genetics, sleep, sunlight, oxygen, muscle, bloodwork and what he believes is coming next in longevity science. THE BIG IDEA: YOUR HEALTH IS BUILT EVERY DAY One of my biggest takeaways from Gary is that health isn't something we deal with when there's a problem. It's something we're building every single day. Your sleep last night matters. What you do when you wake up matters. Whether you move your body matters. Whether you maintain muscle matters. Your metabolic health matters. Your stress matters. Your relationships matter. Your nutrition matters. Your environment matters. And individually, none of these things feels life-changing. But repeated for years and decades… they become your life. Gary describes his routine as simple, portable and repeatable. I LOVE that. Because the best health routine isn't the $100,000 biohacking setup. It's the one you'll actually do every day. HABIT #1: HYDRATE BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE Gary starts his morning with water and minerals. One version of his routine is a large glass of room-temperature water with mineral salt and sometimes lemon. His current routine also frequently includes mineral salt, hydrogen water and essential amino acids. Wake up and hydrate. You've just spent roughly eight hours without drinking anything. Don't make coffee your first liquid of the day. Put water next to your bathroom sink. Put it next to your coffee machine. Make it automatic. Gary likes mineral salt because sodium and other minerals participate in fluid balance and normal nerve and muscle function. HABIT #2: GET OUTSIDE FIRST THING Gary says to get outside within the first part of your morning and get natural outdoor light into your eyes. His routine generally calls for about 10 minutes outside. Morning light helps tell your brain: It's daytime. Start the clock. Light is one of the strongest environmental signals for the circadian system. Properly timed morning light can shift circadian timing earlier and increase daytime alertness. And I love thinking of sleep this way: Your good night's sleep starts in the morning. We tend to think sleep health starts when we crawl into bed. But your body has been receiving signals all day telling it when to be awake and when to prepare for sleep. HABIT #3: BREATHE ON PURPOSE Gary talks about oxygen constantly. His personal morning practice has included three rounds of deep breathing followed by breath holds. And this connects to another thing we've been talking about: Anxiety. I love the idea that when you feel anxious, you shouldn't immediately decide: "I'm an anxious person." Anxiety is a state your nervous system is experiencing. Sometimes your thoughts are driving your physiology. And sometimes your physiology can amplify anxious thoughts. Either way, changing the physical state can sometimes help change the mental state. Research on structured breathwork has found modest improvements in stress and anxiety, although it isn't a cure-all and the quality of studies varies. HABIT #4: GIVE YOUR BRAIN SILENCE Gary often combines his morning breathing with quiet, gratitude and reflection. He has described sitting quietly for around 10 minutes, looking toward the horizon or closing his eyes and thinking about gratitude. (PodScripts (<a href= "https://podscripts.co/podcasts/the-ultimate-human-with-gary-brecka/246-gary-brecka-answers-googles-most-searched-questions-on-his-diet-wellness-and-lifestyle?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer">https://podscripts.co/podcasts/the-ultimate-human-with-gary-brecka/246-gary-brecka-answers-googles-most-searched-questions-on-his-diet-wellness-and-lifestyle?utm_source=chatgpt.com</a>)) Think about how different this is from what most of us do. Eyes open. Phone. Email. Instagram. News. Text messages. Stress. Other people's priorities. And we wonder why we feel overstimulated. TRY THIS: Before consuming everybody else's thoughts… Have some of your own. What am I grateful for? What matters today? Who needs me today? How do I want to feel today? What is actually important? PRACTICAL VERSION: Five minutes. That's it. No phone. No podcast. No input. Just quiet. HABIT #5: USE CONTROLLED DISCOMFORT Cold exposure is another major Brecka habit. If he has access to a cold plunge, he uses it. When traveling, he has said a cold shower works too. But I think there is a bigger lesson here than whether everybody needs to buy a cold plunge. Stop designing your entire life around comfort. Human beings are unbelievably adaptable. Exercise is stress. Heat is stress. Cold is stress. Fasting is stress. Challenging your brain is stress. The key is appropriate amounts of stress followed by recovery. HABIT #6: MOVE EARLY Gary includes movement in his morning routine. But here's what I love: It doesn't need to be a full workout. Walk. Stretch. Squat. Lift. Do yoga. Go outside. Movement tells your body: We're alive. We're using this machine today. And then keep moving after the morning is over. One exceptionally practical habit is walking after meals. Instead of finishing dinner and immediately sitting on the couch… WALK FOR 10 MINUTES. Moving skeletal muscle after eating can help the body handle glucose. You don't need workout clothes. You don't need a gym. You don't even need to sweat. Walk around your neighborhood. Walk your dog. Walk while you're on a phone call. ONE OF THE EASIEST HEALTH RULES: Eat → walk. HABIT #7: BUILD MUSCLE LIKE YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT This is where I think longevity conversations get really practical. MUSCLE IS NOT JUST ABOUT LOOKING GOOD. Maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important as we age. Resistance training is one of the most powerful non-drug strategies available for preserving and building skeletal muscle. Losing muscle eventually affects: strength balance mobility independence your ability to recover from illness your ability to do normal life You're not building your 2026 body. You're building your 2056 body. HABIT #8: PRIORITIZE PROTEIN AND REAL FOOD- avoid processed foods Gary emphasizes protein and essential amino acids because preserving lean tissue is a major part of his longevity philosophy. The research strongly supports resistance training for preserving muscle, while evidence regarding how much additional benefit comes from protein supplementation specifically is more mixed. HABIT #9: PROTECT YOUR METABOLIC HEALTH I think this deserves WAY more attention. We obsess over weight. Gary talks much more about metabolic health. There is a difference. Weight is one number. Metabolic health includes things like: blood glucose insulin sensitivity blood pressure blood lipids waist circumference fitness body composition Instead of only asking: "How much do I weigh?" Ask: "How well is my body functioning?" Someone can lose weight while losing muscle. Someone can be thin and still have poor metabolic health. PRACTICAL HABITS: Strength train. Walk. Walk after meals. Eat mostly whole foods. Get enough sleep. Maintain healthy body composition. Reduce constant snacking if it isn't serving you. Know your basic health numbers. THE GOAL ISN'T SKINNY. The goal is metabolically capable. HABIT #10: TEST… DON'T JUST GUESS This might be one of my favorite parts of Brecka's philosophy. Stop guessing about everything. If you're exhausted all the time… investigate. If you're unusually anxious… investigate. If your sleep has suddenly changed… investigate. If your energy has disappeared… investigate. If your hormones feel completely different… investigate. If you feel awful despite doing "everything right"… investigate. Don't immediately decide: "I'm getting old." "This runs in my family." "I'm just an anxious person." "My metabolism sucks." "This is just how I am." ASK BETTER QUESTIONS. Could something modifiable be contributing? sleep nutrient deficiencies thyroid function iron status medications hormones metabolic health stress alcohol caffeine environment psychological health This does NOT mean ordering every exotic test on the internet. It means becoming curious about your own biology. HABIT #11: DON'T TURN ANXIETY INTO YOUR IDENTITY This is worth repeating because I think this is such an important mental shift. Instead of: "I AM anxious." Try: "I'm experiencing anxiety." Those are very different statements. One is an identity. One is a temporary condition worth investigating. Gary's message leans heavily toward investigating biology. He talks about things like methylation pathways and MTHFR. There are legitimate genetic influences on anxiety. But anxiety is complex. Research suggests anxiety disorders arise through a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental influences, not one single "anxiety gene." (PubMed (<a href= "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15699295/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15699295/?utm_source=chatgpt.com</a>)) So I would approach it from ALL DIRECTIONS: Calm the body. Investigate the biology. Work on the thoughts. Breathwork. Sleep. Exercise. Less overstimulation. Healthy relationships. Therapy when needed. Medical evaluation when something feels physiologically off. Nutrition. Less caffeine when appropriate. Time outdoors. Don't choose between: "It's psychological." or "It's biological." It can be both. HABIT #12: GENETICS ARE INFORMATION… NOT ALWAYS DESTINY This is another Gary Brecka concept that I think is incredibly empowering when we phrase it accurately. People say: "Diabetes runs in my family." "Anxiety runs in my family." "Heart disease runs in my family." "Autoimmune disease runs in my family." And we can start thinking: Well… I guess that's coming for me too. But genetics often represent susceptibility rather than certainty. Your genes can increase risk. Your environment can increase or decrease risk. Your behaviors matter. Your metabolic health matters. Your exposures matter. Your entire biological environment matters. So instead of thinking: "My family gets this disease." Think: "I may have inherited a vulnerability. What parts of that vulnerability can I modify?" THAT is empowering. Important distinction: Some diseases absolutely are caused by inherited genetic mutations. So we should not say: "Genetic diseases aren't real." They absolutely are. The better message is: Genes can load the gun. They don't always pull the trigger. And with many complex chronic diseases, what ultimately happens involves an interaction between genetics and environment. HABIT #13: STOP THINKING OF SLEEP AS LOST PRODUCTIVITY Sleep is when your body gets to repair. And Brecka's evening routine reflects this. He emphasizes regular sleep, reducing stimulation late at night and setting up the next morning by protecting the night before. My favorite way to think about sleep: Tomorrow starts tonight. Stop trying to squeeze another hour out of your day if it destroys tomorrow. Decide when you're going to bed BEFORE you're tired. Dim things down. Get off your phone. Stop working. Let the nervous system receive a signal that the day is ending. Pick a bedtime and protect it the same way you'd protect an important meeting. NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT LIVING TO 120 The speed of advancement is changing. AI can analyze enormous amounts of biological data. Diagnostics are improving. Scientists are studying the actual biology of aging rather than treating aging purely as an unavoidable decline. Researchers are investigating cellular senescence, epigenetics, regenerative medicine and other mechanisms associated with biological aging. Gary believes these developments could eventually change human lifespan dramatically. And his argument is essentially: Stay alive and stay healthy long enough to benefit from what's coming. That hit me HARD. Because imagine being 75 in the future… But instead of arriving at 75: metabolically sick weak frail sedentary cognitively struggling carrying multiple preventable chronic illnesses You arrive: strong metabolically healthy active engaged cognitively sharp sleeping well maintaining muscle surrounded by people you love THAT is the bridge. Not: "How do I live forever today?" But: "How healthy can I be when tomorrow's medicine arrives?" DON'T JUST CHASE LIFESPAN. CHASE HEALTHSPAN. I don't want to simply exist until I'm 120. I want to LIVE. I want to: travel walk everywhere lift my suitcase play with grandchildren hike swim think clearly learn new things have great conversations have energy be independent laugh have purpose wake up excited THAT is longevity. Not adding years at the end where you can't live. Adding life to the years. WHAT SHOULD WE ACTUALLY DO RIGHT NOW? If you took this entire episode and boiled it down into a daily longevity checklist… MORNING Hydrate. Get outside. Get natural morning light. Breathe intentionally. Spend a few minutes in quiet. Think about gratitude. Move your body. Use cold exposure if you enjoy it and it's appropriate for you. Don't immediately flood your brain with stress. DURING THE DAY Eat nutrient-dense real food. Prioritize protein. Strength train consistently. Walk. Walk after meals. Stay metabolically healthy. Maintain muscle. Build meaningful relationships. Have purpose. Keep learning. Get outside. NIGHT Stop eating mindlessly late into the evening. Reduce stimulation. Get off the phone. Give yourself a predictable bedtime. Sleep. THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE Know your numbers. Do appropriate preventive screening. Investigate symptoms rather than ignoring them. Don't automatically assume something is "just aging." Don't automatically assume family history means destiny. Continue learning as science changes. Protect your muscle. Protect your metabolism. Protect your brain. Protect your relationships. Protect your sleep. THE SIMPLEST VERSION OF EVERYTHING GARY BRECKA IS SAYING 1. Get sunlight. 2. Breathe. 3. Hydrate. 4. Move. 5. Build muscle. 6. Eat real nutrient-dense food. 7. Protect your metabolism. 8. Sleep like it matters. 9. Challenge your body sometimes. 10. Investigate problems instead of simply accepting them. 11. Don't confuse genetic risk with guaranteed destiny. 12. Don't turn anxiety into your identity. 13. Build relationships and a life that gives you purpose. 14. Stay unbelievably healthy while longevity science continues advancing. And maybe most importantly… DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE SICK TO BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR HEALTH. I learned that every single thing that gives me the best chance of being healthy at 120 also gives me a better life at 45. Getting sunlight tomorrow morning makes tomorrow better. Sleeping tonight makes tomorrow better. Building muscle makes this decade better. Eating well makes today better. Getting outside makes today better. Putting my phone down makes today better. Managing anxiety makes today better. Having people I love around me makes today better. So this isn't really an episode about trying to cheat death. It's about refusing to sleepwalk through your health. Your body is the vehicle that carries you through every single experience you're hoping to have. Every trip. Every adventure. Every business idea. Every dinner. Every workout. Every moment with your kids. Every future grandkid. Everything. So take ridiculously good care of it. And instead of looking at aging and thinking… "Well, I guess everything starts going downhill from here…" What if we thought completely differently? What if our goal was: I want to be stronger next year. Healthier next year. More metabolically healthy next year. More informed next year. More capable next year. And then do it again. And again. And again. For decades. Let's make the goal to be fully alive for as much of it as humanly possible. That's the health lesson I'm taking from Gary Brecka. Don't wait for the future of longevity medicine. Build the kind of body today that's ready for it.

Our dear friends invited us to an event this weekend in LA… they are partnering with Gary Brecka to build Ultimate Longevity Centers which will bring treatments and testing that just hasn't been easily accessible before now. I believe the way we look at aging is outdated and I'm going to share the biggest take aways I got from his on stage message and chatting with him one on one. We are talking about very practical starting points and Gary Brecka's actual morning health routine. Stop waiting until something is wrong to start taking care of your body. We have been taught this idea that getting older automatically means getting weaker, having less energy, gaining weight, losing muscle, sleeping worse, becoming more anxious, needing more medications and eventually developing all of the diseases that "run in our family." Gary challenges a lot of that thinking. His message is essentially… What if we became obsessed with keeping our bodies functioning incredibly well for as long as possible? What if instead of asking, "How do I treat disease once I have it?" we asked, "How do I create a body that is incredibly difficult for disease to thrive in?" And then there's the longevity piece that completely fascinates me. Gary believes we're entering a period where medicine, AI, biological data and longevity research are going to advance so rapidly that lifespan could look radically different in the future. Maybe 120. Maybe beyond. We don't know. But what we do know is that we need to keep ourselves healthy enough NOW to benefit from whatever becomes possible later. So today's episode is about doing the things that give you the strongest, healthiest, most capable body possible. I've been listening to Gary Brecka talk about health, longevity, anxiety, genetics, sleep, sunlight, oxygen, muscle, bloodwork and what he believes is coming next in longevity science. THE BIG IDEA: YOUR HEALTH IS BUILT EVERY DAY One of my biggest takeaways from Gary is that health isn't something we deal with when there's a problem. It's something we're building every single day. Your sleep last night matters. What you do when you wake up matters. Whether you move your body matters. Whether you maintain muscle matters. Your metabolic health matters. Your stress matters. Your relationships matter. Your nutrition matters. Your environment matters. And individually, none of these things feels life-changing. But repeated for years and decades… they become your life. Gary describes his routine as simple, portable and repeatable. I LOVE that. Because the best health routine isn't the $100,000 biohacking setup. It's the one you'll actually do every day. HABIT #1: HYDRATE BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE Gary starts his morning with water and minerals. One version of his routine is a large glass of room-temperature water with mineral salt and sometimes lemon. His current routine also frequently includes mineral salt, hydrogen water and essential amino acids. Wake up and hydrate. You've just spent roughly eight hours without drinking anything. Don't make coffee your first liquid of the day. Put water next to your bathroom sink. Put it next to your coffee machine. Make it automatic. Gary likes mineral salt because sodium and other minerals participate in fluid balance and normal nerve and muscle function. HABIT #2: GET OUTSIDE FIRST THING Gary says to get outside within the first part of your morning and get natural outdoor light into your eyes. His routine generally calls for about 10 minutes outside. Morning light helps tell your brain: It's daytime. Start the clock. Light is one of the strongest environmental signals for the circadian system. Properly timed morning light can shift circadian timing earlier and increase daytime alertness. And I love thinking of sleep this way: Your good night's sleep starts in the morning. We tend to think sleep health starts when we crawl into bed. But your body has been receiving signals all day telling it when to be awake and when to prepare for sleep. HABIT #3: BREATHE ON PURPOSE Gary talks about oxygen constantly. His personal morning practice has included three rounds of deep breathing followed by breath holds. And this connects to another thing we've been talking about: Anxiety. I love the idea that when you feel anxious, you shouldn't immediately decide: "I'm an anxious person." Anxiety is a state your nervous system is experiencing. Sometimes your thoughts are driving your physiology. And sometimes your physiology can amplify anxious thoughts. Either way, changing the physical state can sometimes help change the mental state. Research on structured breathwork has found modest improvements in stress and anxiety, although it isn't a cure-all and the quality of studies varies. HABIT #4: GIVE YOUR BRAIN SILENCE Gary often combines his morning breathing with quiet, gratitude and reflection. He has described sitting quietly for around 10 minutes, looking toward the horizon or closing his eyes and thinking about gratitude. (PodScripts (https://podscripts.co/podcasts/the-ultimate-human-with-gary-brecka/246-gary-brecka-answers-googles-most-searched-questions-on-his-diet-wellness-and-lifestyle?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) Think about how different this is from what most of us do. Eyes open. Phone. Email. Instagram. News. Text messages. Stress. Other people's priorities. And we wonder why we feel overstimulated. TRY THIS: Before consuming everybody else's thoughts… Have some of your own. What am I grateful for? What matters today? Who needs me today? How do I want to feel today? What is actually important? PRACTICAL VERSION: Five minutes. That's it. No phone. No podcast. No input. Just quiet. HABIT #5: USE CONTROLLED DISCOMFORT Cold exposure is another major Brecka habit. If he has access to a cold plunge, he uses it. When traveling, he has said a cold shower works too. But I think there is a bigger lesson here than whether everybody needs to buy a cold plunge. Stop designing your entire life around comfort. Human beings are unbelievably adaptable. Exercise is stress. Heat is stress. Cold is stress. Fasting is stress. Challenging your brain is stress. The key is appropriate amounts of stress followed by recovery. HABIT #6: MOVE EARLY Gary includes movement in his morning routine. But here's what I love: It doesn't need to be a full workout. Walk. Stretch. Squat. Lift. Do yoga. Go outside. Movement tells your body: We're alive. We're using this machine today. And then keep moving after the morning is over. One exceptionally practical habit is walking after meals. Instead of finishing dinner and immediately sitting on the couch… WALK FOR 10 MINUTES. Moving skeletal muscle after eating can help the body handle glucose. You don't need workout clothes. You don't need a gym. You don't even need to sweat. Walk around your neighborhood. Walk your dog. Walk while you're on a phone call. ONE OF THE EASIEST HEALTH RULES: Eat → walk. HABIT #7: BUILD MUSCLE LIKE YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT This is where I think longevity conversations get really practical. MUSCLE IS NOT JUST ABOUT LOOKING GOOD. Maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important as we age. Resistance training is one of the most powerful non-drug strategies available for preserving and building skeletal muscle. Losing muscle eventually affects: strength balance mobility independence your ability to recover from illness your ability to do normal life You're not building your 2026 body. You're building your 2056 body. HABIT #8: PRIORITIZE PROTEIN AND REAL FOOD- avoid processed foods Gary emphasizes protein and essential amino acids because preserving lean tissue is a major part of his longevity philosophy. The research strongly supports resistance training for preserving muscle, while evidence regarding how much additional benefit comes from protein supplementation specifically is more mixed. HABIT #9: PROTECT YOUR METABOLIC HEALTH I think this deserves WAY more attention. We obsess over weight. Gary talks much more about metabolic health. There is a difference. Weight is one number. Metabolic health includes things like: blood glucose insulin sensitivity blood pressure blood lipids waist circumference fitness body composition Instead of only asking: "How much do I weigh?" Ask: "How well is my body functioning?" Someone can lose weight while losing muscle. Someone can be thin and still have poor metabolic health. PRACTICAL HABITS: Strength train. Walk. Walk after meals. Eat mostly whole foods. Get enough sleep. Maintain healthy body composition. Reduce constant snacking if it isn't serving you. Know your basic health numbers. THE GOAL ISN'T SKINNY. The goal is metabolically capable. HABIT #10: TEST… DON'T JUST GUESS This might be one of my favorite parts of Brecka's philosophy. Stop guessing about everything. If you're exhausted all the time… investigate. If you're unusually anxious… investigate. If your sleep has suddenly changed… investigate. If your energy has disappeared… investigate. If your hormones feel completely different… investigate. If you feel awful despite doing "everything right"… investigate. Don't immediately decide: "I'm getting old." "This runs in my family." "I'm just an anxious person." "My metabolism sucks." "This is just how I am." ASK BETTER QUESTIONS. Could something modifiable be contributing? sleep nutrient deficiencies thyroid function iron status medications hormones metabolic health stress alcohol caffeine environment psychological health This does NOT mean ordering every exotic test on the internet. It means becoming curious about your own biology. HABIT #11: DON'T TURN ANXIETY INTO YOUR IDENTITY This is worth repeating because I think this is such an important mental shift. Instead of: "I AM anxious." Try: "I'm experiencing anxiety." Those are very different statements. One is an identity. One is a temporary condition worth investigating. Gary's message leans heavily toward investigating biology. He talks about things like methylation pathways and MTHFR. There are legitimate genetic influences on anxiety. But anxiety is complex. Research suggests anxiety disorders arise through a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental influences, not one single "anxiety gene." (PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15699295/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) So I would approach it from ALL DIRECTIONS: Calm the body. Investigate the biology. Work on the thoughts. Breathwork. Sleep. Exercise. Less overstimulation. Healthy relationships. Therapy when needed. Medical evaluation when something feels physiologically off. Nutrition. Less caffeine when appropriate. Time outdoors. Don't choose between: "It's psychological." or "It's biological." It can be both. HABIT #12: GENETICS ARE INFORMATION… NOT ALWAYS DESTINY This is another Gary Brecka concept that I think is incredibly empowering when we phrase it accurately. People say: "Diabetes runs in my family." "Anxiety runs in my family." "Heart disease runs in my family." "Autoimmune disease runs in my family." And we can start thinking: Well… I guess that's coming for me too. But genetics often represent susceptibility rather than certainty. Your genes can increase risk. Your environment can increase or decrease risk. Your behaviors matter. Your metabolic health matters. Your exposures matter. Your entire biological environment matters. So instead of thinking: "My family gets this disease." Think: "I may have inherited a vulnerability. What parts of that vulnerability can I modify?" THAT is empowering. Important distinction: Some diseases absolutely are caused by inherited genetic mutations. So we should not say: "Genetic diseases aren't real." They absolutely are. The better message is: Genes can load the gun. They don't always pull the trigger. And with many complex chronic diseases, what ultimately happens involves an interaction between genetics and environment. HABIT #13: STOP THINKING OF SLEEP AS LOST PRODUCTIVITY Sleep is when your body gets to repair. And Brecka's evening routine reflects this. He emphasizes regular sleep, reducing stimulation late at night and setting up the next morning by protecting the night before. My favorite way to think about sleep: Tomorrow starts tonight. Stop trying to squeeze another hour out of your day if it destroys tomorrow. Decide when you're going to bed BEFORE you're tired. Dim things down. Get off your phone. Stop working. Let the nervous system receive a signal that the day is ending. Pick a bedtime and protect it the same way you'd protect an important meeting. NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT LIVING TO 120 The speed of advancement is changing. AI can analyze enormous amounts of biological data. Diagnostics are improving. Scientists are studying the actual biology of aging rather than treating aging purely as an unavoidable decline. Researchers are investigating cellular senescence, epigenetics, regenerative medicine and other mechanisms associated with biological aging. Gary believes these developments could eventually change human lifespan dramatically. And his argument is essentially: Stay alive and stay healthy long enough to benefit from what's coming. That hit me HARD. Because imagine being 75 in the future… But instead of arriving at 75: metabolically sick weak frail sedentary cognitively struggling carrying multiple preventable chronic illnesses You arrive: strong metabolically healthy active engaged cognitively sharp sleeping well maintaining muscle surrounded by people you love THAT is the bridge. Not: "How do I live forever today?" But: "How healthy can I be when tomorrow's medicine arrives?" DON'T JUST CHASE LIFESPAN. CHASE HEALTHSPAN. I don't want to simply exist until I'm 120. I want to LIVE. I want to: travel walk everywhere lift my suitcase play with grandchildren hike swim think clearly learn new things have great conversations have energy be independent laugh have purpose wake up excited THAT is longevity. Not adding years at the end where you can't live. Adding life to the years. WHAT SHOULD WE ACTUALLY DO RIGHT NOW? If you took this entire episode and boiled it down into a daily longevity checklist… MORNING Hydrate. Get outside. Get natural morning light. Breathe intentionally. Spend a few minutes in quiet. Think about gratitude. Move your body. Use cold exposure if you enjoy it and it's appropriate for you. Don't immediately flood your brain with stress. DURING THE DAY Eat nutrient-dense real food. Prioritize protein. Strength train consistently. Walk. Walk after meals. Stay metabolically healthy. Maintain muscle. Build meaningful relationships. Have purpose. Keep learning. Get outside. NIGHT Stop eating mindlessly late into the evening. Reduce stimulation. Get off the phone. Give yourself a predictable bedtime. Sleep. THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE Know your numbers. Do appropriate preventive screening. Investigate symptoms rather than ignoring them. Don't automatically assume something is "just aging." Don't automatically assume family history means destiny. Continue learning as science changes. Protect your muscle. Protect your metabolism. Protect your brain. Protect your relationships. Protect your sleep. THE SIMPLEST VERSION OF EVERYTHING GARY BRECKA IS SAYING 1. Get sunlight. 2. Breathe. 3. Hydrate. 4. Move. 5. Build muscle. 6. Eat real nutrient-dense food. 7. Protect your metabolism. 8. Sleep like it matters. 9. Challenge your body sometimes. 10. Investigate problems instead of simply accepting them. 11. Don't confuse genetic risk with guaranteed destiny. 12. Don't turn anxiety into your identity. 13. Build relationships and a life that gives you purpose. 14. Stay unbelievably healthy while longevity science continues advancing. And maybe most importantly… DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE SICK TO BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR HEALTH. I learned that every single thing that gives me the best chance of being healthy at 120 also gives me a better life at 45. Getting sunlight tomorrow morning makes tomorrow better. Sleeping tonight makes tomorrow better. Building muscle makes this decade better. Eating well makes today better. Getting outside makes today better. Putting my phone down makes today better. Managing anxiety makes today better. Having people I love around me makes today better. So this isn't really an episode about trying to cheat death. It's about refusing to sleepwalk through your health. Your body is the vehicle that carries you through every single experience you're hoping to have. Every trip. Every adventure. Every business idea. Every dinner. Every workout. Every moment with your kids. Every future grandkid. Everything. So take ridiculously good care of it. And instead of looking at aging and thinking… "Well, I guess everything starts going downhill from here…" What if we thought completely differently? What if our goal was: I want to be stronger next year. Healthier next year. More metabolically healthy next year. More informed next year. More capable next year. And then do it again. And again. And again. For decades. Let's make the goal to be fully alive for as much of it as humanly possible. That's the health lesson I'm taking from Gary Brecka. Don't wait for the future of longevity medicine. Build the kind of body today that's ready for it.

Our dear friends invited us to an event this weekend in LA… they are partnering with Gary Brecka to build Ultimate Longevity Centers which will bring treatments and testing that just hasn't been easily accessible before now. I believe the way we look at aging is outdated and I'm going to share the biggest take aways I got from his on stage message and chatting with him one on one. We are talking about very practical starting points and Gary Brecka's actual morning health routine. Stop waiting until something is wrong to start taking care of your body. We have been taught this idea that getting older automatically means getting weaker, having less energy, gaining weight, losing muscle, sleeping worse, becoming more anxious, needing more medications and eventually developing all of the diseases that "run in our family." Gary challenges a lot of that thinking. His message is essentially… What if we became obsessed with keeping our bodies functioning incredibly well for as long as possible? What if instead of asking, "How do I treat disease once I have it?" we asked, "How do I create a body that is incredibly difficult for disease to thrive in?" And then there's the longevity piece that completely fascinates me. Gary believes we're entering a period where medicine, AI, biological data and longevity research are going to advance so rapidly that lifespan could look radically different in the future. Maybe 120. Maybe beyond. We don't know. But what we do know is that we need to keep ourselves healthy enough NOW to benefit from whatever becomes possible later. So today's episode is about doing the things that give you the strongest, healthiest, most capable body possible. I've been listening to Gary Brecka talk about health, longevity, anxiety, genetics, sleep, sunlight, oxygen, muscle, bloodwork and what he believes is coming next in longevity science. THE BIG IDEA: YOUR HEALTH IS BUILT EVERY DAY One of my biggest takeaways from Gary is that health isn't something we deal with when there's a problem. It's something we're building every single day. Your sleep last night matters. What you do when you wake up matters. Whether you move your body matters. Whether you maintain muscle matters. Your metabolic health matters. Your stress matters. Your relationships matter. Your nutrition matters. Your environment matters. And individually, none of these things feels life-changing. But repeated for years and decades… they become your life. Gary describes his routine as simple, portable and repeatable. I LOVE that. Because the best health routine isn't the $100,000 biohacking setup. It's the one you'll actually do every day. HABIT #1: HYDRATE BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE Gary starts his morning with water and minerals. One version of his routine is a large glass of room-temperature water with mineral salt and sometimes lemon. His current routine also frequently includes mineral salt, hydrogen water and essential amino acids. Wake up and hydrate. You've just spent roughly eight hours without drinking anything. Don't make coffee your first liquid of the day. Put water next to your bathroom sink. Put it next to your coffee machine. Make it automatic. Gary likes mineral salt because sodium and other minerals participate in fluid balance and normal nerve and muscle function. HABIT #2: GET OUTSIDE FIRST THING Gary says to get outside within the first part of your morning and get natural outdoor light into your eyes. His routine generally calls for about 10 minutes outside. Morning light helps tell your brain: It's daytime. Start the clock. Light is one of the strongest environmental signals for the circadian system. Properly timed morning light can shift circadian timing earlier and increase daytime alertness. And I love thinking of sleep this way: Your good night's sleep starts in the morning. We tend to think sleep health starts when we crawl into bed. But your body has been receiving signals all day telling it when to be awake and when to prepare for sleep. HABIT #3: BREATHE ON PURPOSE Gary talks about oxygen constantly. His personal morning practice has included three rounds of deep breathing followed by breath holds. And this connects to another thing we've been talking about: Anxiety. I love the idea that when you feel anxious, you shouldn't immediately decide: "I'm an anxious person." Anxiety is a state your nervous system is experiencing. Sometimes your thoughts are driving your physiology. And sometimes your physiology can amplify anxious thoughts. Either way, changing the physical state can sometimes help change the mental state. Research on structured breathwork has found modest improvements in stress and anxiety, although it isn't a cure-all and the quality of studies varies. HABIT #4: GIVE YOUR BRAIN SILENCE Gary often combines his morning breathing with quiet, gratitude and reflection. He has described sitting quietly for around 10 minutes, looking toward the horizon or closing his eyes and thinking about gratitude. (PodScripts (<a href="https://podscripts.co/podcasts/the-ultimate-human-with-gary-brecka/246-gary-brecka-answers-googles-most-searched-questions-on-his-diet-wellness-and-lifestyle?utm_source=chatgpt.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://podscripts.co/podcasts/the-ultimate-human-with-gary-brecka/246-gary-brecka-answers-googles-most-searched-questions-on-his-diet-wellness-and-lifestyle?utm_source=chatgpt.com</a>)) Think about how different this is from what most of us do. Eyes open. Phone. Email. Instagram. News. Text messages. Stress. Other people's priorities. And we wonder why we feel overstimulated. TRY THIS: Before consuming everybody else's thoughts… Have some of your own. What am I grateful for? What matters today? Who needs me today? How do I want to feel today? What is actually important? PRACTICAL VERSION: Five minutes. That's it. No phone. No podcast. No input. Just quiet. HABIT #5: USE CONTROLLED DISCOMFORT Cold exposure is another major Brecka habit. If he has access to a cold plunge, he uses it. When traveling, he has said a cold shower works too. But I think there is a bigger lesson here than whether everybody needs to buy a cold plunge. Stop designing your entire life around comfort. Human beings are unbelievably adaptable. Exercise is stress. Heat is stress. Cold is stress. Fasting is stress. Challenging your brain is stress. The key is appropriate amounts of stress followed by recovery. HABIT #6: MOVE EARLY Gary includes movement in his morning routine. But here's what I love: It doesn't need to be a full workout. Walk. Stretch. Squat. Lift. Do yoga. Go outside. Movement tells your body: We're alive. We're using this machine today. And then keep moving after the morning is over. One exceptionally practical habit is walking after meals. Instead of finishing dinner and immediately sitting on the couch… WALK FOR 10 MINUTES. Moving skeletal muscle after eating can help the body handle glucose. You don't need workout clothes. You don't need a gym. You don't even need to sweat. Walk around your neighborhood. Walk your dog. Walk while you're on a phone call. ONE OF THE EASIEST HEALTH RULES: Eat → walk. HABIT #7: BUILD MUSCLE LIKE YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT This is where I think longevity conversations get really practical. MUSCLE IS NOT JUST ABOUT LOOKING GOOD. Maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important as we age. Resistance training is one of the most powerful non-drug strategies available for preserving and building skeletal muscle. Losing muscle eventually affects: strength balance mobility independence your ability to recover from illness your ability to do normal life You're not building your 2026 body. You're building your 2056 body. HABIT #8: PRIORITIZE PROTEIN AND REAL FOOD- avoid processed foods Gary emphasizes protein and essential amino acids because preserving lean tissue is a major part of his longevity philosophy. The research strongly supports resistance training for preserving muscle, while evidence regarding how much additional benefit comes from protein supplementation specifically is more mixed. HABIT #9: PROTECT YOUR METABOLIC HEALTH I think this deserves WAY more attention. We obsess over weight. Gary talks much more about metabolic health. There is a difference. Weight is one number. Metabolic health includes things like: blood glucose insulin sensitivity blood pressure blood lipids waist circumference fitness body composition Instead of only asking: "How much do I weigh?" Ask: "How well is my body functioning?" Someone can lose weight while losing muscle. Someone can be thin and still have poor metabolic health. PRACTICAL HABITS: Strength train. Walk. Walk after meals. Eat mostly whole foods. Get enough sleep. Maintain healthy body composition. Reduce constant snacking if it isn't serving you. Know your basic health numbers. THE GOAL ISN'T SKINNY. The goal is metabolically capable. HABIT #10: TEST… DON'T JUST GUESS This might be one of my favorite parts of Brecka's philosophy. Stop guessing about everything. If you're exhausted all the time… investigate. If you're unusually anxious… investigate. If your sleep has suddenly changed… investigate. If your energy has disappeared… investigate. If your hormones feel completely different… investigate. If you feel awful despite doing "everything right"… investigate. Don't immediately decide: "I'm getting old." "This runs in my family." "I'm just an anxious person." "My metabolism sucks." "This is just how I am." ASK BETTER QUESTIONS. Could something modifiable be contributing? sleep nutrient deficiencies thyroid function iron status medications hormones metabolic health stress alcohol caffeine environment psychological health This does NOT mean ordering every exotic test on the internet. It means becoming curious about your own biology. HABIT #11: DON'T TURN ANXIETY INTO YOUR IDENTITY This is worth repeating because I think this is such an important mental shift. Instead of: "I AM anxious." Try: "I'm experiencing anxiety." Those are very different statements. One is an identity. One is a temporary condition worth investigating. Gary's message leans heavily toward investigating biology. He talks about things like methylation pathways and MTHFR. There are legitimate genetic influences on anxiety. But anxiety is complex. Research suggests anxiety disorders arise through a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental influences, not one single "anxiety gene." (PubMed (<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15699295/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15699295/?utm_source=chatgpt.com</a>)) So I would approach it from ALL DIRECTIONS: Calm the body. Investigate the biology. Work on the thoughts. Breathwork. Sleep. Exercise. Less overstimulation. Healthy relationships. Therapy when needed. Medical evaluation when something feels physiologically off. Nutrition. Less caffeine when appropriate. Time outdoors. Don't choose between: "It's psychological." or "It's biological." It can be both. HABIT #12: GENETICS ARE INFORMATION… NOT ALWAYS DESTINY This is another Gary Brecka concept that I think is incredibly empowering when we phrase it accurately. People say: "Diabetes runs in my family." "Anxiety runs in my family." "Heart disease runs in my family." "Autoimmune disease runs in my family." And we can start thinking: Well… I guess that's coming for me too. But genetics often represent susceptibility rather than certainty. Your genes can increase risk. Your environment can increase or decrease risk. Your behaviors matter. Your metabolic health matters. Your exposures matter. Your entire biological environment matters. So instead of thinking: "My family gets this disease." Think: "I may have inherited a vulnerability. What parts of that vulnerability can I modify?" THAT is empowering. Important distinction: Some diseases absolutely are caused by inherited genetic mutations. So we should not say: "Genetic diseases aren't real." They absolutely are. The better message is: Genes can load the gun. They don't always pull the trigger. And with many complex chronic diseases, what ultimately happens involves an interaction between genetics and environment. HABIT #13: STOP THINKING OF SLEEP AS LOST PRODUCTIVITY Sleep is when your body gets to repair. And Brecka's evening routine reflects this. He emphasizes regular sleep, reducing stimulation late at night and setting up the next morning by protecting the night before. My favorite way to think about sleep: Tomorrow starts tonight. Stop trying to squeeze another hour out of your day if it destroys tomorrow. Decide when you're going to bed BEFORE you're tired. Dim things down. Get off your phone. Stop working. Let the nervous system receive a signal that the day is ending. Pick a bedtime and protect it the same way you'd protect an important meeting. NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT LIVING TO 120 The speed of advancement is changing. AI can analyze enormous amounts of biological data. Diagnostics are improving. Scientists are studying the actual biology of aging rather than treating aging purely as an unavoidable decline. Researchers are investigating cellular senescence, epigenetics, regenerative medicine and other mechanisms associated with biological aging. Gary believes these developments could eventually change human lifespan dramatically. And his argument is essentially: Stay alive and stay healthy long enough to benefit from what's coming. That hit me HARD. Because imagine being 75 in the future… But instead of arriving at 75: metabolically sick weak frail sedentary cognitively struggling carrying multiple preventable chronic illnesses You arrive: strong metabolically healthy active engaged cognitively sharp sleeping well maintaining muscle surrounded by people you love THAT is the bridge. Not: "How do I live forever today?" But: "How healthy can I be when tomorrow's medicine arrives?" DON'T JUST CHASE LIFESPAN. CHASE HEALTHSPAN. I don't want to simply exist until I'm 120. I want to LIVE. I want to: travel walk everywhere lift my suitcase play with grandchildren hike swim think clearly learn new things have great conversations have energy be independent laugh have purpose wake up excited THAT is longevity. Not adding years at the end where you can't live. Adding life to the years. WHAT SHOULD WE ACTUALLY DO RIGHT NOW? If you took this entire episode and boiled it down into a daily longevity checklist… MORNING Hydrate. Get outside. Get natural morning light. Breathe intentionally. Spend a few minutes in quiet. Think about gratitude. Move your body. Use cold exposure if you enjoy it and it's appropriate for you. Don't immediately flood your brain with stress. DURING THE DAY Eat nutrient-dense real food. Prioritize protein. Strength train consistently. Walk. Walk after meals. Stay metabolically healthy. Maintain muscle. Build meaningful relationships. Have purpose. Keep learning. Get outside. NIGHT Stop eating mindlessly late into the evening. Reduce stimulation. Get off the phone. Give yourself a predictable bedtime. Sleep. THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE Know your numbers. Do appropriate preventive screening. Investigate symptoms rather than ignoring them. Don't automatically assume something is "just aging." Don't automatically assume family history means destiny. Continue learning as science changes. Protect your muscle. Protect your metabolism. Protect your brain. Protect your relationships. Protect your sleep. THE SIMPLEST VERSION OF EVERYTHING GARY BRECKA IS SAYING 1. Get sunlight. 2. Breathe. 3. Hydrate. 4. Move. 5. Build muscle. 6. Eat real nutrient-dense food. 7. Protect your metabolism. 8. Sleep like it matters. 9. Challenge your body sometimes. 10. Investigate problems instead of simply accepting them. 11. Don't confuse genetic risk with guaranteed destiny. 12. Don't turn anxiety into your identity. 13. Build relationships and a life that gives you purpose. 14. Stay unbelievably healthy while longevity science continues advancing. And maybe most importantly… DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE SICK TO BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR HEALTH. I learned that every single thing that gives me the best chance of being healthy at 120 also gives me a better life at 45. Getting sunlight tomorrow morning makes tomorrow better. Sleeping tonight makes tomorrow better. Building muscle makes this decade better. Eating well makes today better. Getting outside makes today better. Putting my phone down makes today better. Managing anxiety makes today better. Having people I love around me makes today better. So this isn't really an episode about trying to cheat death. It's about refusing to sleepwalk through your health. Your body is the vehicle that carries you through every single experience you're hoping to have. Every trip. Every adventure. Every business idea. Every dinner. Every workout. Every moment with your kids. Every future grandkid. Everything. So take ridiculously good care of it. And instead of looking at aging and thinking… "Well, I guess everything starts going downhill from here…" What if we thought completely differently? What if our goal was: I want to be stronger next year. Healthier next year. More metabolically healthy next year. More informed next year. More capable next year. And then do it again. And again. And again. For decades. Let's make the goal to be fully alive for as much of it as humanly possible. That's the health lesson I'm taking from Gary Brecka. Don't wait for the future of longevity medicine. Build the kind of body today that's ready for it.

359. Awesome Health Lessons I Learned From Gary Brecka

In episode one, Lindsay explains the concept of "How To Be Awesome At Everything" and how it all got started. She takes a very honest approach to the idea of actually being awesome and everything and breaks down what we're going to get out of this podcast. Links to awesome things referenced in this episode: Lindsay's Company Million Dollar Tan: <a style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;" href= "https://milliondollartan.com/">https://milliondollartan.com/</a> The Million Dollar Tan Podcast: <a style= "font-family: HelveticaNeue;" href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E"> https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E</a>

In episode one, Lindsay explains the concept of "How To Be Awesome At Everything" and how it all got started. She takes a very honest approach to the idea of actually being awesome and everything and breaks down what we're going to get out of this podcast. Links to awesome things referenced in this episode: Lindsay's Company Million Dollar Tan: https://milliondollartan.com/ The Million Dollar Tan Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E

In episode one, Lindsay explains the concept of "How To Be Awesome At Everything" and how it all got started. She takes a very honest approach to the idea of actually being awesome and everything and breaks down what we're going to get out of this podcast. Links to awesome things referenced in this episode: Lindsay's Company Million Dollar Tan: <a href="https://milliondollartan.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://milliondollartan.com/</a> The Million Dollar Tan Podcast: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E" rel="noopener noreferrer"> https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E</a>

How To Be Awesome At Everything The Podcast!

<div class=""> <div class=""> <div class="" style="text-align: left;"> In episode one, Lindsay explains the concept of "How To Be Awesome At Everything" and how it all got started. She takes a very honest approach to the idea of actually being awesome and everything and breaks down what we're going to get out of this podcast. Links to awesome things referenced in this episode:  Lindsay’s Company Million Dollar Tan:  <a style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;" href= "https://milliondollartan.com/">https://milliondollartan.com/</a> <div class="" style="text-align: left;">The Million Dollar Tan Podcast:</div> <div class="" style="text-align: left;"><a style= "font-family: HelveticaNeue;" href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E"> https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E</a></div> </div> <div class="" style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> </div>

In episode one, Lindsay explains the concept of "How To Be Awesome At Everything" and how it all got started. She takes a very honest approach to the idea of actually being awesome and everything and breaks down what we're going to get out of this podcast. Links to awesome things referenced in this episode: Lindsay’s Company Million Dollar Tan: https://milliondollartan.com/ The Million Dollar Tan Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E

In episode one, Lindsay explains the concept of "How To Be Awesome At Everything" and how it all got started. She takes a very honest approach to the idea of actually being awesome and everything and breaks down what we're going to get out of this podcast. Links to awesome things referenced in this episode:&nbsp; Lindsay’s Company Million Dollar Tan:&nbsp; <a href="https://milliondollartan.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://milliondollartan.com/</a> The Million Dollar Tan Podcast: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E" rel="noopener noreferrer"> https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/million-dollar-tan-podcast/id1482777565%20%3C/a%3E</a> &nbsp;

The How To Be Awesome At Everything is a podcast about our journey to be the best that we can in everything we do.  To be intentional about how we spend our time and how we treat our bodies and how the thoughts that we think and words that we say create the world that we live in. What started as a folder of life lessons to share with her kids one day has become a podcast with over one million downloads. Always with a growth mindset, Lindsay presents topics that she thinks are worth hitting pause on life to focus on. She shares her successes (and failures!) in business and in life and her journey to be awesome at everything.

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The How To Be Awesome At Everything is a podcast about our journey to be the best that we can in everything we do. To be intentional about how we spend our time and how we treat our bodies and how the thoughts that we think and words that we say create the world that we live in. What started as a folder of life lessons to share with her kids one day has become a podcast with over one million downloads. Always with a growth mindset, Lindsay presents topics that she thinks are worth hitting pause on life to focus on. She shares her successes (and failures!) in business and in life and her journey to be awesome at everything.

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