How to Reach Consistent 'Blue Zone Sleep'

 A great way to sleep well consistently is to follow the 1% improvement rule nightly.  Top performers do this regularly to maximize their performance in their daily endeavors.  I'm striving to improve my own sleep quality using this method and it appears to be going in the right direction.  Last night I achieved my second highest sleep score ever at 93.  Below is a breakdown of the two top scores for your review.  My hope is that you feel inspired to make sleep improvement a priority in your life.

Here's my two cents on my reports.  I don't use alarms to wake up as I'm doing this naturally unless there is a priority to wake up early to catch a flight or attend an early morning meeting.  I also strive to go to bed at the same time every night.  There are allowances for special activities that keep me up later than normal.  I'm always working on  'go-to-sleep' rituals to help me prepare for falling asleep such as dimming the lights an hour before bedtime.

The sleep records help me determine how introducing new variables influences the actual fall asleep time.  My fall asleep time has been trending in a good direction and I'm gradually falling asleep faster over time.  

I mentioned my interest in acquiring a Samsung smart ring that was released recently.  The $400 price tag is a fair one as they do not charge monthly subscription fees that add to the overall costs.  I'm waiting on the sidelines for a special price before I jump in.  My smart watch does what I need although there are times when the report is inaccurate because it doesn't always record a second sleep period.  The smart ring would eliminate abnormal recordings.  The good news about smart rings is they can be counted as health purchases so I will get a reimbursement via my health savings account.  It looks like a smart ring will be in my future soon, maybe Black Friday, the one year anniversary of my smart watch purchase.  

Thank you for reading my stories.  I would love to hear what you are doing to improve the quality of your sleep.  Please keep me informed.  Have a great day.   

Biometric Health Screening Results Are In

I visited OnSite Wellness on my lunch break yesterday at my day job.  In my opinion, this is one of the best ways you can measure what is going on inside your body.  Sure, there are obvious external signs, like the size of your waistline, however, blood analysis reveals a more accurate picture of your health.  I wanted to see how my revised eating habits are influenced and I could not be happier about the results.

It is rare to see people in my age group who are 100% free of prescription medicine.  I believe these pills are often used as permission slips for unhealthy foods.  Ask your doctor if pills are the ideal choice or if there are food alternatives that can achieve successful outcomes without the need for pharmacy solutions.  The following results are to show that it's possible to reach optimum levels simply by eating the same way your ancestors did long before processed foods and artificial ingredients were introduced into our food supply.

Blood pressure... 110/72

HbA1c... 5.7%

TC/HDL Ratio... 3.9

HDL Cholesterol... 57

I already know the objections about skipping out on processed foods.  Time is a big one.  For those who say they don't have time to prepare food without visiting fast food establishments, I ask, "What is it you are doing during the day that is depriving you of the time you could use to prepare your own food at home?"

Another big objection is about food addiction, specifically sugar.  I know all about this one.  It doesn't help that food companies hire scientists who do their best to figure out exactly how to process foods so that you become addicted.  If you are hungry every two hours, you are addicted.  

Do yourself a favor and visit your physician if you are overdue for a physical.  Ask for a lipid panel test so you can see for yourself what is going on inside your body.  If you are able to get a biometric health screening, get one.  There is nothing more important in this world than your health.  Have a great day.

 

Biometric Screening Today

 According to The Integrated Benefits Institute, the US workforce loses $27 billion a year due to lost productivity from employee illness.  In my opinion, many of us have no idea we are sick inside our bodies.  That's why I believe biometric screening is a useful tool to measure what you cannot see.   Your blood tells the real story about your health.  Today I'm going to find out if my food program is on target to help me reach my longevity goals.  

There has been great debate in our country about what a healthy food program looks like.  I heard there was a new study about how eating processed foods can lead to improved health.  These folks are probably capable of selling land above toxic land dumps.  I don't trust processed foods or artificial ingredients.  The test results from today will give me proof about my food choices.  I'm no longer concerned about diseases like diabetes because my body is no longer suffering from poor eating habits.  If you get an opportunity to have a biometric screening, get one.  If this is not available, ask your physician for a comprehensive blood panel test.  The best way to handle a problem with your health is to prevent it from becoming a problem.  Your family will thank you for taking the time to monitor your health.  Have a great day.

Late Blog Message Today

 Sorry for the late story today.  My sleep cycle was interrupted in the middle of the night and I never recovered.  The morning was rushed.  Just checking in now on my first break of the day.

My sleep score was 59, an all-time low.  The last time I had a score in the "needs improvement" range was last November.  The challenge I have now is a full to do list.  Waking up after only 3 hours of sleep and not being able to go back to sleep is no Bueno.  The good news is I believe I can get back on track.  Have a great day.

Show Me the Money

The vision board I created for Lucy shows pictures of all the necessary tools I need to build my dream vacation home on wheels.  What's lacking on the vision board is the plan to fund the tools.  That plan is spelled out on my 'Timeline for Lucy' which sets up specific time targets for raising the funds for the van build and tool acquisition.   It's vital more my wife and me to do this van build without taking on personal debt.  So, maybe you're asking, "Where is the money?"  This is where my credit union is playing a role.  You've heard it said, "It takes money to make money."  That's what we're doing.

Our credit union is currently paying 5.5% for 7 month CD's.  This rate of return may not be as high as the stock market but it serves a short-term purpose.  The two biggest tool purchases I need to make to build Lucy are a table saw and a miter saw.  I want the table saw to be portable so our one car garage will be able to accommodate a vehicle when I'm not in van building mode.  The mitre saw will be placed on a yet -to-be-built fold up wall mounted work table.  Both of these tools can be purchased for about $500.  That means I need to buy enough CD's by January 8 to have the money available seven months later on August 8, the time target for buying Lucy on the resale market.  If my math is correct, I will have $500 from the interest earned on the CD's.  This is critical because without the tools, Lucy cannot be built.

Some of you reading today's story may be thinking that this van build idea is a lot of work.  It is.  In my opinion, the relentless pursuit of any goal requires much sacrifice.  Goal achievement requires making changes to your daily routine.  I've decided to have fun achieving my goal of adopting 'Five Star Lucy.'  For me, the journey is where the magic happens.  There is much learning ahead.  When Amazon says, "Show me the money," on 8/8/25, I will.  When the seller of our dream van says, "Show me the money," I will do that as well.  Stay tuned.  Have a great day.

The Best Investment You Can Make

There are no guarantees in life.  You may have heard that the greater the risk, the greater the reward.  What if you could invest in something that provides a high rate of return without too much risk?  That investment is in yourself.  It's all about learning something new every day.  The more you learn, the more your investment multiplies.  Apply what you learn to your dreams and that's when the magic happens.  You add value to yourself, your community and the world.

I'm a big believer in daily learning.  If you happen to be one of those people who believes you don't have enough time to invest in yourself,  you can benefit the most by today's story.  There is a daily struggle to invest in yourself.  To succeed, you must be willing to cut out the time wasters in order to free up time for learning.  A great place to start is learning about how your brain works.  Figure this out and ideas like goal setting and time management become easier to understand and implement.  The better you become at time management the more time you have for more learning.  

Imagine where you will be in five years.  If you don't spend time learning, the time will pass and you will be in the same place you are today and five years older.  Acquire wisdom from daily learning and the sky is your limit.  Start building a new brain today.  Never allow one day to pass where you missed an opportunity to learn something new.  Your future self will be grateful.  Have a great day.

Close Encounters

We are all connected.  Some of you reading these stories know what I'm talking about.  These are not random chance encounters.  These are close encounters that could only be found in sci-fi movie scripts.  I have proof.  Last week I met a man who is headed to a wedding in California.  The bride and groom will be wearing Star Trek outfits.  The entire wedding party will also be dressed in Star Fleet attire.  The man I met will officiate the ceremony while dressed as "Q," also from Star Trek.   Imagine the shock on his face when I pulled out a copy of my latest book, "Live Long and Prosper."  He plans to order copies for the wedding party.  

Here's another close encounter for your consideration.  The same week I met "Q" I met a man from Kihie, the place where I asked my wife to marry me on the island of Maui.  His spirit name is Saha which means "one who creates energy to open the heart like a lotus blossom with unbridled and unconditional love leading to ecstatic pleasure."  Our stories of moving to Iowa are eerily familiar.  We both found true love from people rooted in Iowa.  

Happiness does not come from where one lives, it comes from how one lives.   Happiness is derived from finding someone who shares your hopes and dreams.  Thank you, "Q" and "Saha," for beaming into my life and sharing time with me.  And for those of you who remember Kevin Costner asking, "Is this Heaven?"  No, it's Iowa – a place where close encounters happen regularly at my day job.  This is not science fiction although the veil of separation may appear thin at times.  Have a great day.

Happy Birthday to Dr. John Mulligan

 If you were to make a list of the top ten reasons why you are grateful, what people would you list?  I have a feeling most of us would list our parents and our spouses.  What about other names?  If I could list every one of my first cousins on both sides of my family, that list would be far greater than most people could even comprehend.  That's what happens when you are blessed beyond measure.  Most of my relatives prefer anonymity so their names will remain confidential.  Thankfully, there is a first cousin who has given me permission to share his name and today happens to be his birthday.    We are separated chronologically by a mere two months and four days which allowed us to be on a similar path for our elementary school years and beyond.  

There is a Bible story about ten lepers who met Jesus and asked to be healed.  All ten were healed.  Only one came back to say thank you.  The other nine forgot about the miracle they received.  Well, I got a special intervention at a time in my life when I had two strikes against me and it appeared I was headed to an early grave.  Thanks to my cousin John, I am here to today to wish him a happy birthday and to say thanks for being a special inspiration in my life.  Thanks for offering me the 'Caveman Food Experiment' which confirmed your theory my health issues were likely attributed to poor food choices.  Thanks for caring enough to help me improve my ways.  Happy birthday.  May you live long and prosper.  Have a great day.

DIY Dust Collector in Place

Good things come in small packages.  The 2.5 gallon shop vac is the smallest on the market and it's now powering up my DIY garage dust collection system.  I set up a connection point to the dryer vent which inspired this project as I was seeking a way to stop the spread of lint.  Success!  The bonus is the 6ft PVC pipe that can connect to the shop vac for cleaning hard to reach cob webs in high places.  I purchased two of these pipes to serve as a way to transport dust from future tools.  The diameter is one inch to coincide with the small shop vac.  This will work fine as long as I don't have too many connection points open at the same time.  The contraption I made yesterday is rather crude in design but highly effective and great for not breaking the bank. 

I'm thankful for all the YouTubers out there who share videos about projects like the one I completed yesterday.  Perhaps one day I will be able to pay it forward by sharing my own videos.  I will be building my own work tables once I acquire the proper tools to work with extruded aluminum.  These projects will help me learn the skills necessary for the van build next year.  Have a great day.

Tennis Drills and Dust Collection Today

It's an early morning on the tennis courts today followed by a trip to Lowe's to buy supplies for my DIY dust collection project.  It took twelve years to solve a nagging problem in our garage.  Today is the day that problem will be in the rear view mirror.  Imagine your dryer vents into your garage and spills lint all over the place.  You get annoyed every time you clean up the mess but not annoyed enough to do something about it.  This is a problem for me I'm attempting to fix – procrastination.  I think what I realized is the problem is only going to get worse when I start my van build next August.  That's all I need – sawdust mixed with lint.  Yikes!  

The plan is to connect our shop vac to some hoses and set up a cyclone dust collector for under $20.  I'm going to start small by solving the dryer vent issue first and then expand the dust collector tubing as I add more tools for the future van build.  Happy Saturday.  Have a great day.

30 Days to Reach 'Five Star Lucy' Checkpoint #1

 If you know where you are going and you set goals regarding how to get there and when you will arrive, the odds of success increase exponentially.  That's what I'm doing with my van build.  Although the acquisition date is eleven months away, the written plan along with specific checkpoints was set up once I decided this was going to be my top priority for 2025.  'Five Star Lucy' checkpoint #1 is 10/4.  Reaching the goal on time means this goal will be 30% funded.  

There is a part of me that wants to jump ahead and build the van now.  The practical side of my brain knows I'm not ready.  I realize I need every free moment of the next eleven months to learn the necessary skills to build Lucy.  My one car garage needs a transformation.  Now that all the clutter has been removed, it's time to learn how to do dust collection in preparation for my tools to build our second home on wheels.  One of the flaws of the garage has to do with the vent from our dryer which spills all the lint into the garage right next to the garage entry door to the kitchen.  I'm going to solve this problem by connecting that vent to a dust collection system I'm going to install inspired by some creative YouTubers.  This system won't break the bank as I will be using a shop vac I already own in the design.  The key is to build the dust collection system now while I have time rather than later when it's time to build the van.  

Checkpoint #1 is rather aggressive.  Checkpoint #2 is even more challenging.  Reaching that milestone on 11/29 means 'Five Star Lucy' will be 50% funded.  Stay tuned.  It's getting interesting.  Have a great day.

Why You Should Never Stop Chasing This Person

 There is one person in your life you will never be able to catch – your future self.  It doesn't matter what you do.  That future version of you will always be elusive.  For example, you think about what you will be like in ten years.  You go through the visualization steps.  You set goals.  You chase that future version of you.  Ten years pass.  Did you catch yourself?  The answer is no.  That future you is now ten more years away.  Some may ask, why try?  

Although I admit it's impossible to catch the future you, that person you are in the future is hoping you never give up on self improvement.  Every choice you make today affects what the future you will become.   What that means is that if you make the best possible choice based on the information you have at your fingertips, you are helping the future version of yourself be someone who makes the world better.  If you stop chasing that person and give up on personal development, the future you ends up deprived of being a valuable contributor.  

Set a goal today to chase the future you.  Decide which version you want to pursue.  Is it you one year from today?  Five years?  Ten years?  This is your daily assignment.  You are on the 'Impossible Missions' team.  You may not be able to catch the person you are in the future but your future you will thank you for accepting the challenge.  Have a great day.

It's All About Connecting

 Something happened last week that I overlooked.  8/29 was my 15th anniversary of blogging.  I'm a few days shy of 5,500 blog stories.  What's more important to me than anything is that a couple of you have actually read every story I've written.  This is not about my writing ability as I fully understand I'm not qualified to do what I do.  It's all about connecting with you in spite of my own flaws and weaknesses.  Sharing my life with you like this means I'm fully exposed.  Thank you for that.  Thank you for accepting me.  

I crossed paths with a gentleman yesterday who lived in Kihei on the island of Maui before relocating to his new home in Iowa.  I shared the story about proposing to my bride of thirty-five years on a secluded beach in Kihei.  Our time together was too short.  Before my new friend departed, I pulled out a copy of "Live Long and Prosper," autographed it and wished him well on his journey.  He promised he would share it with others.  That's what this blog is about – sharing.  Each of us has a story.  I'm going to keep doing this all the days of my life.  Stop by and visit any time.  My promise to you is continuous improvement.  I promise to keep showing up every day in good times and in bad.  Thank you for connecting.  Have a great day.

Why Your Goals Need Specificity

How do you handle days when you're driving in the fog?  Not easy, is it?  The same is true when your goals lack specificity.  Vagueness will put you in the fog every time.  The only way out of the fog is to make your intentions crystal clear.

The best example I can offer about making your goals specific is my 'Five Star Lucy' story, a story about building our dream vacation home on wheels.  Although this story is in the early stages of development, the plot is well-defined.  A couple of days ago I decided to add a journal to the budget outline.  There is no doubt I'm dotting the I's and crossing the T's.   I'm documenting my feelings as the Lucy story unfolds.

Fine tune your goals.  Put them under a microscope and examine the details of your plans.  Document the visions as they materialize when you visualize what the finish line looks like.  Artists do this.  Songwriters do this.  Writers do this.  The difference between winning and losing is in the specificity.  The Lucy adoption will take place on 8/08/25.  Her reveal will happen on Thanksgiving Day, 2025.  Stay tuned.  Have a great day.

Labor Day Marks End of Summer

 Many families will be closing out summer with their last barbecues today on Labor Day.  I will be barbecuing as well although it certainly won't be the last one of the year.  I plan to keep barbecuing year round no matter what the outside conditions may be.  Thinking back to the time period our ancestors lived in caves, I wonder if their food preparation habits were similar to mine.  Why should barbecue season end on Labor Day?  Why not keep the fun going?  I have a feeling our ancestors may have appreciated barbecuing as a way to keep warm on a snowy day.  

While you're enjoying time with your family today, think about what you can do after Labor Day to enhance your lifestyle.  I plan to use this time to fine tune our household budget.  As much as we enjoy eating out, we will be preparing more meals at home in order to reach our budget goals.  Have a great day.

New Fiscal Year at Day Job Begins Today

 Since I'm not authorized to speak about my day job this story is limited to my personal goals for the new fiscal year which begins today.  My boss is giving me the opportunity to have days off that are in alignment with tennis team practices and match play.  I'm realizing it's necessary for me to raise the bar on my play in order for the team to advance.  The first matches of the season are two weeks away.  It's crunch time.

My teammates at my day job are also stepping up.  We are doing our best to help one another improve on the quality of our presentations.  I'm volunteering to share more about lessons I'm learning regarding health and wellness.  My personal goal is to expand my efforts to raise funds for the University of Iowa Stead Family Hospital.  That means more time dedicated to writing and publishing books while reducing time wasted on frivolous activities.  Please keep my team in your thoughts.  It's going to be a busy year for all of us.  Have a great day.