Thanks! Re Social strategy: I came up with the idea of a regular block-wide ‘meeting’ (aka Party) and called it a Social Club. We gather quarterly (making & distributing fliers has become my Superpower) and we’ve made it thru 2025. Four meetings. And my neighbors really love 💕 and appreciate the opportunity to connect & deepen ties. 😇
My only concern now is that no one is stepping up to host. They love to attend but…🤔
And thanks for the info on weighted vests! I’ve been curious.
Jean, that is a really creative and excellent example of executing a social strategy that works for you. It's no secret that almost everyone is seeking more opportunities to meet in person, tied as we are to so much screen time. That said, you may be the perpetual host, the cost of your creativity.
What a wonderful post to wake up to Paul- thank you! By the way, I have my Dad’s first edition of Think and Grow Rich… i guess I should finally read it!
Lauren, i'm glad you enjoyed this post. You were the one who had originally asked me to write about creatine, over the summer, so I'm always looking for topics of interest among readers, so keep them coming when they occur, please. I believe I started that book, but didn't finish it. it's a good read.
Good stuff. I am an introvert as well. I take 3 fitness classes a week where interact with other people. Wouldn’t call them friends but it does charge my social battery.
Mike, this is a great point you're making. I find the same thing being around people who aren't those I would call friends but provide me some social interaction. Even a quick conversation at the gym with someone I'm sharing the squat rack with or whatever – those count, and they add up, like quarters in your savings account. Who doesn't love finding a few quarters on the street every week?
„Government as a longevity influencer” 🤔 - it reminds me of how mother of a friend of mine (she was 85 at that time) explained to him why she has to live a few years longer. She said, she had to live long enough to see the shitty government (as she described the one we had for 8 years), was over, and some of its politicians went to jail. Now, two years past, we have a new government, and unfortunately none of these fraudsters and thieves have been brought to justice yet, although many have been charged by the prosecutor's office. And here we have another factor that works in favor of my friend's mother's longevity. She is waiting for the moment when they finally end up behind bars 😉. Thank you Paul for another great piece of thoughts and advice - I’m going to look for and then buy a weighted vest 🙂. Enjoy your meditation on Sunday morning 🙂 (we have it beautiful here in Warsaw)
The U.S. faces higher rates of chronic disease, gun violence, drug overdoses, and healthcare access disparities than Denmark. I’m not sure that we can attribute all of that to socialism versus capitalism. Our food industrial complex is set up to poisonous. Our medical industrial complex is set up to keep us chronically, ill and pursuit of the all-American dollar. That’s not necessarily capitalism, that’s just evil. If the United States were to enact policies that protected us instead of poisoning us, that would be a good thing. we rely heavily on SSI, which contribute to gun violence. Again, that goes back to the medical industrial complex. If we can attack the food industrial complex, and the medical industrial complex, we can solve the issues of chronic disease, and therefore, we will be a healthier society and won’t need as much healthcare as we do now. Socialized medicine isn’t necessarily the answer. A responsible food industry and medical industry is.
I'm not an expert on Denmark, but I'm not sure it qualifies as straight up socialism. What it's doing, is a lot of what you're talking about: blocking the pathways that make its citizens less healthy, whether through food, environment, and a very real stress of inequality, which social science is only starting to recognize and quantitatively measure. You may be interested in the link in my piece about deathfoods, which will connect you to a Q&A I did with a DePaul University economics professor about his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing that GLP-1s and other biotechnologies will save Americans from their incredibly poor nutrition regimes. My argument to him is similar to the one you have above, which is that if federal policies allow companies to sell toxic food to the public, and label it as good for them, what do you expect to happen to your population?
Jeff, absolutely right that more is sometimes more, and sometimes more is less. I think I spent $300 on my 20 pound, adjustable-weight weighted vest, and I'm good with that expense because it fits well and it makes me want to keep using it. Which may be the ultimate test of any piece of equipment, for fitness or for making lattes, for that matter.
Thanks! Re Social strategy: I came up with the idea of a regular block-wide ‘meeting’ (aka Party) and called it a Social Club. We gather quarterly (making & distributing fliers has become my Superpower) and we’ve made it thru 2025. Four meetings. And my neighbors really love 💕 and appreciate the opportunity to connect & deepen ties. 😇
My only concern now is that no one is stepping up to host. They love to attend but…🤔
And thanks for the info on weighted vests! I’ve been curious.
Jean, that is a really creative and excellent example of executing a social strategy that works for you. It's no secret that almost everyone is seeking more opportunities to meet in person, tied as we are to so much screen time. That said, you may be the perpetual host, the cost of your creativity.
Keep going.
What a wonderful post to wake up to Paul- thank you! By the way, I have my Dad’s first edition of Think and Grow Rich… i guess I should finally read it!
Lauren, i'm glad you enjoyed this post. You were the one who had originally asked me to write about creatine, over the summer, so I'm always looking for topics of interest among readers, so keep them coming when they occur, please. I believe I started that book, but didn't finish it. it's a good read.
Good stuff. I am an introvert as well. I take 3 fitness classes a week where interact with other people. Wouldn’t call them friends but it does charge my social battery.
Mike, this is a great point you're making. I find the same thing being around people who aren't those I would call friends but provide me some social interaction. Even a quick conversation at the gym with someone I'm sharing the squat rack with or whatever – those count, and they add up, like quarters in your savings account. Who doesn't love finding a few quarters on the street every week?
„Government as a longevity influencer” 🤔 - it reminds me of how mother of a friend of mine (she was 85 at that time) explained to him why she has to live a few years longer. She said, she had to live long enough to see the shitty government (as she described the one we had for 8 years), was over, and some of its politicians went to jail. Now, two years past, we have a new government, and unfortunately none of these fraudsters and thieves have been brought to justice yet, although many have been charged by the prosecutor's office. And here we have another factor that works in favor of my friend's mother's longevity. She is waiting for the moment when they finally end up behind bars 😉. Thank you Paul for another great piece of thoughts and advice - I’m going to look for and then buy a weighted vest 🙂. Enjoy your meditation on Sunday morning 🙂 (we have it beautiful here in Warsaw)
The U.S. faces higher rates of chronic disease, gun violence, drug overdoses, and healthcare access disparities than Denmark. I’m not sure that we can attribute all of that to socialism versus capitalism. Our food industrial complex is set up to poisonous. Our medical industrial complex is set up to keep us chronically, ill and pursuit of the all-American dollar. That’s not necessarily capitalism, that’s just evil. If the United States were to enact policies that protected us instead of poisoning us, that would be a good thing. we rely heavily on SSI, which contribute to gun violence. Again, that goes back to the medical industrial complex. If we can attack the food industrial complex, and the medical industrial complex, we can solve the issues of chronic disease, and therefore, we will be a healthier society and won’t need as much healthcare as we do now. Socialized medicine isn’t necessarily the answer. A responsible food industry and medical industry is.
I'm not an expert on Denmark, but I'm not sure it qualifies as straight up socialism. What it's doing, is a lot of what you're talking about: blocking the pathways that make its citizens less healthy, whether through food, environment, and a very real stress of inequality, which social science is only starting to recognize and quantitatively measure. You may be interested in the link in my piece about deathfoods, which will connect you to a Q&A I did with a DePaul University economics professor about his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing that GLP-1s and other biotechnologies will save Americans from their incredibly poor nutrition regimes. My argument to him is similar to the one you have above, which is that if federal policies allow companies to sell toxic food to the public, and label it as good for them, what do you expect to happen to your population?
Thank you for sharing the caveats and not just the cool sound bites about weighted vests.
In the search for strength and longevity, many still believe that more is better. It can be, but usually comes at a cost.
Jeff, absolutely right that more is sometimes more, and sometimes more is less. I think I spent $300 on my 20 pound, adjustable-weight weighted vest, and I'm good with that expense because it fits well and it makes me want to keep using it. Which may be the ultimate test of any piece of equipment, for fitness or for making lattes, for that matter.
It makes you want to keep using it—mic drop.
Great Saturday morning advice!
Sara, I am very happy to know you find this useful. Keep going.