The Craig Van Cast

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I have made an effort to get up to speed with Bitcoin over the past few weeks. I quickly discovered that Robert Breedlove and Michael Saylor should be listened to when it comes to money dynamics and Bitcoin.

Robert Breedlove hosts a podcast called 'The "What is Money?" Show', and it started with a series featuring Michael Saylor - double-barrel brains. They aimed to deconstruct the question 'What is Money?' and build up to describing Bitcoin and its implications. Building up from first-principles, and they mean it. We spend the first episode in the ancient worlds and a good chunk of the second episode trying to make it through the dark ages. This goes way back. I have decided it is quite an essential conversation for me to understand, so I'm making notes, and I'm sharing them with you if you dont get around to the 11 hours of conversation. 😉

I have made an effort to get up to speed with Bitcoin over the past few weeks. I quickly discovered that Robert Breedlove and Michael Saylor should be listened to when it comes to money dynamics and Bitcoin.

Robert Breedlove hosts a podcast called 'The "What is Money?" Show', and it started with a series featuring Michael Saylor - double-barrel brains. They aimed to deconstruct the question 'What is Money?' and build up to describing Bitcoin and its implications. Building up from first-principles, and they mean it. We spend the first episode in the ancient worlds and a good chunk of the second episode trying to make it through the dark ages. This goes way back. I have decided it is quite an essential conversation for me to understand, so I'm making notes, and I'm sharing them with you if you dont get around to the 11 hours of conversation. 😉

Send me a message!

ELEVEN Reasons why I don't eat gluten-containing products...

[1] It interacts with a gut protein called Zonulin which increases the permeability of our intestinal wall - this wall is THE barrier between the inside and outside of our bodies. Many molecules not yet completely broken down can then come in.

As a result of permeability, linked to:
- IBS, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis
- Systemic inflammation and auto-immunity, even psychoses from neurological auto-inflammation

(these conditions are at pandemic proportions, gotta be coming from somewhere right?)

[2] Compared to other whole foods it ranks lower in nutrient density - when I drop the gluten I’m forced to get these calories from other more dense sources.

[3] It cannot be eaten in its natural form, it has to be processed through a number of steps, into bread or pasta mostly - at least rice just needs to be cooked slightly to soften it.

[4] Gluten-containing grains have typically been the largest commercial crops - the epitome of factory farming. From high levels of chemical fertiliser and pesticide to soil degradation and environmental damage. Local is lekker.

[5] Grains were popularized through the food pyramid, which was promoted by the people that profit from these large crops (USDA). Conflict of interests.

[7] The reported benefits compared to other whole foods just are not convincing enough for me. A few vitamins and minerals (all plants have these) and fibre (much richer sources of fibre out there).

[8] If I’m strict with this one nutrient, the quality of my entire diet improves significantly - so many products pretending to be real food contain it.

[9] Inflammation is an accumulative insult, just because I'm fine at 30 doesn't mean I'll be fine at 50 - I don't want to wait to find out I've done irreversible damage.

[10] Any food we land up consuming on most days needs to earn its spot properly, gluten grains just don't IMO.

[11] I get gas and bloatedness, and my energy drops, when I eat gluten-containing products, doesn’t feel as light and as comfortable as when I don’t. 

The first pillar of Functional Medicine: Biological Individuality, what's good for me is not necessarily what's good for you. Only you can know, through trial and error, lots of self-awareness, and self honesty, know what is best for your body.

If this interests you, please let me know - I will do a more formalised and referenced version of this soon.

ELEVEN Reasons why I don't eat gluten-containing products...

[1] It interacts with a gut protein called Zonulin which increases the permeability of our intestinal wall - this wall is THE barrier between the inside and outside of our bodies. Many molecules not yet completely broken down can then come in.

As a result of permeability, linked to:
- IBS, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis
- Systemic inflammation and auto-immunity, even psychoses from neurological auto-inflammation

(these conditions are at pandemic proportions, gotta be coming from somewhere right?)

[2] Compared to other whole foods it ranks lower in nutrient density - when I drop the gluten I’m forced to get these calories from other more dense sources.

[3] It cannot be eaten in its natural form, it has to be processed through a number of steps, into bread or pasta mostly - at least rice just needs to be cooked slightly to soften it.

[4] Gluten-containing grains have typically been the largest commercial crops - the epitome of factory farming. From high levels of chemical fertiliser and pesticide to soil degradation and environmental damage. Local is lekker.

[5] Grains were popularized through the food pyramid, which was promoted by the people that profit from these large crops (USDA). Conflict of interests.

[7] The reported benefits compared to other whole foods just are not convincing enough for me. A few vitamins and minerals (all plants have these) and fibre (much richer sources of fibre out there).

[8] If I’m strict with this one nutrient, the quality of my entire diet improves significantly - so many products pretending to be real food contain it.

[9] Inflammation is an accumulative insult, just because I'm fine at 30 doesn't mean I'll be fine at 50 - I don't want to wait to find out I've done irreversible damage.

[10] Any food we land up consuming on most days needs to earn its spot properly, gluten grains just don't IMO.

[11] I get gas and bloatedness, and my energy drops, when I eat gluten-containing products, doesn’t feel as light and as comfortable as when I don’t. 

The first pillar of Functional Medicine: Biological Individuality, what's good for me is not necessarily what's good for you. Only you can know, through trial and error, lots of self-awareness, and self honesty, know what is best for your body.

If this interests you, please let me know - I will do a more formalised and referenced version of this soon.

Send me a message!

Hi, I'm Craig, and I am an information junkie. I’m hooked and it's wrecking my mind while I believe it's good for me. Imagine being an info junkie swimming in an ocean of info 🤯 Finding information is easy, filtering it has now become key.

Here are 6 symptoms I observed: 

(find my solutions afterward)

1. Constantly multitasking

I always have a video or podcast running if it's possible for me to focus (enough) on what I’m doing AND listen at the same time.

(This is in opposition to presence, what I believe to be most important)

2. Difficulty focusing on one task or project for a set timeframe without allowing or seeking extra streams of information:

• Unmanaged notifications
• Compulsive checking phone
• Resisting putting phone out of sight and silenced (when possible)
• Random googles mid-task

3. Difficulty in committing to one mission

• Instead, I'm searching for that next piece of information that will change everything.
• Repeatedly thinking I need to be doing something other than what I am because I keep listening to too many different amazing things happening.

4. A form of paralysis by analysis - too much consumption not enough production.

5. My general Craving for sensation (cause of suffering) has increased because of this perpetual hyperstimulation.

My 3 strategies to Change this follow

[inspired by Tiago’s work @fortelabs in Building a Second Brain (BASB)]

1. Does this support any of my current projects?

Is it actionable and relevant, connecting my consumption to my actual present reality feels like a step closer to living rather than escaping

2. Does this help me solve one of the twelve favourite problems I care about?

“You have to keep a dozen of your favourite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state...” ~ Richard Feynman

3. Does it resonate with me intuitively?

We discussed this at length in the most recent BASB, I’m trusting my gut, my intuition, subconscious mind and the wisdom of my entire body. I’m feeling it. This is a skill many of us haven’t honed and will need practice.

Hi, I'm Craig, and I am an information junkie. I’m hooked and it's wrecking my mind while I believe it's good for me. Imagine being an info junkie swimming in an ocean of info 🤯 Finding information is easy, filtering it has now become key.

Here are 6 symptoms I observed: 

(find my solutions afterward)

1. Constantly multitasking

I always have a video or podcast running if it's possible for me to focus (enough) on what I’m doing AND listen at the same time.

(This is in opposition to presence, what I believe to be most important)

2. Difficulty focusing on one task or project for a set timeframe without allowing or seeking extra streams of information:

• Unmanaged notifications
• Compulsive checking phone
• Resisting putting phone out of sight and silenced (when possible)
• Random googles mid-task

3. Difficulty in committing to one mission

• Instead, I'm searching for that next piece of information that will change everything.
• Repeatedly thinking I need to be doing something other than what I am because I keep listening to too many different amazing things happening.

4. A form of paralysis by analysis - too much consumption not enough production.

5. My general Craving for sensation (cause of suffering) has increased because of this perpetual hyperstimulation.

My 3 strategies to Change this follow

[inspired by Tiago’s work @fortelabs in Building a Second Brain (BASB)]

1. Does this support any of my current projects?

Is it actionable and relevant, connecting my consumption to my actual present reality feels like a step closer to living rather than escaping

2. Does this help me solve one of the twelve favourite problems I care about?

“You have to keep a dozen of your favourite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state...” ~ Richard Feynman

3. Does it resonate with me intuitively?

We discussed this at length in the most recent BASB, I’m trusting my gut, my intuition, subconscious mind and the wisdom of my entire body. I’m feeling it. This is a skill many of us haven’t honed and will need practice.

Send me a message!

At 20 years old, I had a realisation that changed everything for me. I’ve summarised what happened, and what you can learn from it too.

I have never known what triggered me to do it, but as an atheist second-year engineering student, I read a book called ‘Buddha, A story of Enlightenment’, by Deepak Chopra.

My eyes were opened to meditation. And as a fitness junkie, my mind was open enough to imagine that it is possible to train our minds too.

As a scientist, I went straight to the literature and found the benefits - and that was the start of me sitting every day. A few months later, I found the Vipassana 10-day silent meditation course. As they say, the rest is history.

At the core of what shook my reality was the insight that my state of mind is more important than anything else I can master in this life if I want to have a happy life.

It is up to me to make a heaven or a hell out of every moment. All events outside of me are beyond my control, all responses within me are in my control.

It is scary, to admit that we cause our own suffering by reacting the way we do, that only we can be held accountable for the way we feel. If we accept this, we become completely capable of becoming happier people. Taking responsibility gives us our power back.

We have a self-serving bias, we take credit when things go well, but blame when they don’t. We can't admit that we cause our own pain, so we externalise the blame. It makes it easy to feel good about ourselves in the short term but it makes our suffering worse in the long run.

The next time you think your unhappiness has been caused by something outside of you, notice, and don’t trust that thought. Start investigating how to choose a different response - a response that gives you your power back.

Take this a step further, next time you get injured, sick, depressed, or stressed - don't blame some bacteria or virus, your genetics, fate, boss or job, step back and practice taking responsibility. How can you change things? A paradox, by accepting that WE are responsible we get control back.

If you find it difficult to manage your reactions, a stillness meditation practice is the most effective way I’ve learnt how to build my conscious willpower - doing more of that would be my advice.

At 20 years old, I had a realisation that changed everything for me. I’ve summarised what happened, and what you can learn from it too.

I have never known what triggered me to do it, but as an atheist second-year engineering student, I read a book called ‘Buddha, A story of Enlightenment’, by Deepak Chopra.

My eyes were opened to meditation. And as a fitness junkie, my mind was open enough to imagine that it is possible to train our minds too.

As a scientist, I went straight to the literature and found the benefits - and that was the start of me sitting every day. A few months later, I found the Vipassana 10-day silent meditation course. As they say, the rest is history.

At the core of what shook my reality was the insight that my state of mind is more important than anything else I can master in this life if I want to have a happy life.

It is up to me to make a heaven or a hell out of every moment. All events outside of me are beyond my control, all responses within me are in my control.

It is scary, to admit that we cause our own suffering by reacting the way we do, that only we can be held accountable for the way we feel. If we accept this, we become completely capable of becoming happier people. Taking responsibility gives us our power back.

We have a self-serving bias, we take credit when things go well, but blame when they don’t. We can't admit that we cause our own pain, so we externalise the blame. It makes it easy to feel good about ourselves in the short term but it makes our suffering worse in the long run.

The next time you think your unhappiness has been caused by something outside of you, notice, and don’t trust that thought. Start investigating how to choose a different response - a response that gives you your power back.

Take this a step further, next time you get injured, sick, depressed, or stressed - don't blame some bacteria or virus, your genetics, fate, boss or job, step back and practice taking responsibility. How can you change things? A paradox, by accepting that WE are responsible we get control back.

If you find it difficult to manage your reactions, a stillness meditation practice is the most effective way I’ve learnt how to build my conscious willpower - doing more of that would be my advice.

Send me a message!

One of my greatest teachers in this life has been physical injury, here are a few lessons that I’ve learnt from her:

Patience
There is no quick. Your body heals as it does - perfectly. Concern yourself with creating the best conditions for healing.
Besides trauma, most injuries come from moving badly for too long or doing too much too quickly. Or both. Remove 50% of the risk by being patient.

Listen. 
Pay attention - you’re receiving instructions, not giving them. Your body guides you with signals and signs at every step, pay attention, and give her what she is asking for - stop demanding.

Persist.
Never stop. With patience and a plan, you can achieve more than you dreamed possible.
'Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.' - Bill Gates

There's always a lesson.
Take responsibility. Your body can only become what you do with it. If it's sore or broken, you've caused that - nothing else can.

Move
Most injuries need more movement than rest. But not many of us are sensitive enough to navigate how - back to the second point, Listen.

Give more than you take.
In some way or another, you’ve been asking more of your body than you’ve been giving - that's how injury happens.

The gift is in the injury.
Like every other obstacle in life, our greatest growth can come from these trials, with the right perspective.
There is always hope, and if you go deep enough you'll see that injuries happen FOR us - not TO us.

Pain is speaking to us, not punishing us. 
We have demonised all things uncomfortable. Pain is not bad, it is information to be used. It is sophisticated signalling that can guide us when we understand.

One of my greatest teachers in this life has been physical injury, here are a few lessons that I’ve learnt from her:

Patience
There is no quick. Your body heals as it does - perfectly. Concern yourself with creating the best conditions for healing.
Besides trauma, most injuries come from moving badly for too long or doing too much too quickly. Or both. Remove 50% of the risk by being patient.

Listen. 
Pay attention - you’re receiving instructions, not giving them. Your body guides you with signals and signs at every step, pay attention, and give her what she is asking for - stop demanding.

Persist.
Never stop. With patience and a plan, you can achieve more than you dreamed possible.
'Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.' - Bill Gates

There's always a lesson.
Take responsibility. Your body can only become what you do with it. If it's sore or broken, you've caused that - nothing else can.

Move
Most injuries need more movement than rest. But not many of us are sensitive enough to navigate how - back to the second point, Listen.

Give more than you take.
In some way or another, you’ve been asking more of your body than you’ve been giving - that's how injury happens.

The gift is in the injury.
Like every other obstacle in life, our greatest growth can come from these trials, with the right perspective.
There is always hope, and if you go deep enough you'll see that injuries happen FOR us - not TO us.

Pain is speaking to us, not punishing us. 
We have demonised all things uncomfortable. Pain is not bad, it is information to be used. It is sophisticated signalling that can guide us when we understand.