2024 Optimization Reflections

At the beginning of the month, I brainstorm potential optimizations with two questions: “What should I start doing now to improve my life?” and “What should I stop doing now to improve my life?” I then focus my energy by asking a question inspired by Gary Keller’s book The ONE Thing: “What’s the ONE thing on this list that would have the biggest positive impact during this season?” This question helps me focus on what’s important now. Over the years I’ve learned that nothing gets accomplished when I try to tackle all the ideas at once. If you chase two rabbits, you usually go home hungry. Through trial and error, I’ve realized that I can accomplish much more in a year by working diligently on one new item at a time. Some ideas are tools with quick and easy integration, like a fitness tracker for exercise or sleep. Some ideas are habits and routine practices that take time to create lasting muscle memory. Other ideas are more complex skills that require extensive learning and practice to be cultivated into core competencies. I’ve taken time to reflect on the past year to identify the ideas that were most impactful to my growth. Here’s what made the cut! 

Part 1 - Tools: a doohickey that helps you effectively or efficiently accomplish something. No gadget can replace the creative vision, disciplined willpower, and diligent faithfulness of doing the hard work to become who you were created to be. With that disclaimer acknowledged, there are certainly some doohickeys we can find along the way to make it more fun and a little easier. 

Tool #1 - Fancy Floss: I’m a budget-conscious saver, so buying the cheap floss was a given. The problem was, I’d rarely use it because it was an unpleasantly inconvenient way to end a perfectly good day. When BJ Fogg shared how he overcame his flossing aversion in Tiny Habits I finally permitted myself to buy the Micro Flosser Picks and Glide Threader Flossers. Fancy Floss! Who knew what a difference a little luxury could make in creating ease and enjoyment out of a once-dreaded habit? I’m proud to share that I’m a regular flosser now. 

Key Idea: Invest in quality products to make the task easier and more enjoyable. 

Tool #2 - Fitness Trackers: Peter Attia inspired me to buy a blood pressure monitor in his phenomenal book Outlive. Regular blood pressure monitoring is a critical marker of cardiovascular health. I log my blood pressure each morning and continue to see improvement as I make the connections between inputs and results. My other fitness tracker investment this year was the Oura Ring which gives me access to a gold mine of data so I can understand how decisions like a hearty dinner or evening workout impacts my overall recovery during sleep. 

Key Idea: Identify data needed to make better decisions.

Tool #3 - Optimization Station: Working towards long-range finish line targets can be tedious and demoralizing if you don’t celebrate the little wins along the way. As I reflected on 2023, I knew I couldn’t buy what I needed, so I created a personalized monthly Optimization Station to help me see how my consistency with the boring stuff, like exercise, was improving the important stuff, like blood pressure. I use it daily to track [1] condition measurements (ex: weight, blood pressure, resting heart rate), [2] core health habits for my spirit, mind, and body (ex: reading my Bible, recommitting to my vision, 30+ minutes of exercise), [3] boosters and blockers that support or hinder my energy (ex: + getting fresh air OR - exceeding screen time limits), and [4] overall results (ex: Oura scores, qualitative analysis, antifragile score). I also log travel, events, and other items that influence my condition, connection, or contribution. I use this data to create an improvement plan for the upcoming month by identifying patterns and weak spots. 

Key Idea: Choose a curious mindset over a critical one as you measure what you want to refine, optimize, or improve. 

Part 2 - Habits: (good) repetitive practices that require reduced effort to improve our lives after installation. I worked on developing a few new habits this past year ensuring the new practice was easy to do consistently before adding anything else. I also installed these new practices during or after a habit firmly anchored in my day. Committing 100% is easier than a 70%-80% approach, so I practice most of my habits seven days a week other than my work habits on Sunday. This sabbath helps me sharpen the metaphorical saw for my work week ahead. 

Habit #1 - Grateful Flow: Stutz and Michels present a powerful gratitude exercise in their book, The Tools. This practice helps me easily transition from my head to my heart so it doesn’t feel like a chore. I installed this habit between my prayer time and vision recommitment. Transitioning from aligning with God’s will into feeling overwhelming gratitude for the blessings in my life creates a sturdy foundation for me to dream on during my vision recommitment. It is a reminder to be gratefully content in all circumstances while ceaselessly pursuing our full potential, so we can be a conduit of abundant goodness. 

Key Idea: Gratitude practices should remind us of everything we have while inspiring us to be everything we can.

Habit #2 - Curfews: I installed a few bright-line curfews for work and caffeine/calorie/screen consumption this year to help protect my energy. Occasionally, I intentionally choose to miss these targets in favor of accelerating a meaningful project or gathering for a later dinner with loved ones. Knowing my bright lines causes me to be very deliberate when deciding when to cross them. First, I implemented a 3:00 pm work curfew to recharge at the end of my work day before switching gears into homemaker mode so I can show up as my most energized, present, and loving self for my people. Next, I eliminated caffeine intake most days and enforced a hard stop at 2:00 pm on caffeinated days so my central nervous system can recover before bed. I also decided to stop calorie consumption of food or beverage by 6:00 pm to give myself a couple of hours for digestion before my 8:30 pm bedtime. Most of what I consumed after dinner was over processed junk, so it's an easy win. The final consumption curfew is at 7:00 pm for screens and digital devices. My phone retires to the digital dock in the laundry room while I enjoy the last ninety minutes of my day without blue light, interruptions, or a sleep-hindering dopamine/cortisol cocktail. Consistency with these self-imposed curfews has helped me finetune my sleep and recovery. Optimal recovery and sleep efficiency cultivate the energy needed to build loving connections and pursue meaningful contributions.  

Key Idea: Create bright lines to optimize your condition to support your vision for connection and contribution. 

Habit #3 - Cold Showers and Sunshine: I don’t think a sunrise will ever lose its magnificence. In addition to the spirit-lifting hope it brings anew each day, early morning sunlight exposure is also a great way to regulate our circadian rhythm so that we feel energized during the day and experience better sleep latency at night (how quickly we fall asleep). Unfortunately, the sunrise is not on my schedule, so I humorously remind myself to be flexible with my routine for seasonal variations. I aim to get at least 15 minutes of morning light exposure as close to my rise time within the constraints of my morning routine flow. In the spirit of full transparency, I am not a fan of the cold. Even though I know that crisp air will energize my body and sharpen my mind I still drag my feet a little before bundling to go outside in the winter. However, I never regret catching the splendor of a new day. 

Key Idea: Our routines may need seasonal adjustments to keep us consistent, but flexible.  

Part 3 - Skills: developing an ability to the point it seems easier, but in actuality, you just got better. Skills require focused and consistent effort for a prolonged period. They are challenging to build but can have the greatest impact to our thriving growth over time. 

Skill #1 - Nutrition: Nutrition is a difficult topic to find definitive information. The basics are simple, but the rest is extremely personalized and requires regular check-ins to see what’s working and what’s not. I experienced some frustrating energy limitations this past summer, so I decided to double down on the things within my control, and nutrition was at the top of the list. I focused on creating a Meal Plan Binder that helped me save time, protect my willpower, and eliminate decision fatigue. It also helped me remove ultra-processed food, reduce food waste, and promote microbial diversity and maintenance by ensuring I incorporated 20+ different plants. I created four weeks (28 days) of unique meal plans with a weekly shopping/inventory list and printed recipes. This Meal Plan binder took about 3 hours to create, but this time investment was well worth it to have dinner planned out for the entire year. 

Key Idea: Make an initial investment today to create or implement a system that saves or multiplies future resources.

Skill #2 - Ultradian Rhythm: This past year taught me a lot about diminishing returns as I became familiar with the science of ultradian rhythm, which is a biological cycle that occurs repeatedly during our 24-hour circadian rhythm. I’ve been working in sixty to ninety-minute time blocks and taking twenty to thirty-minute screen-free breaks for the past six or so months. This shorter window allows me to deeply focus on the important work in front of me. The quick break replenishes my energy so my production capacity stays optimized through my full work day. Being mindful of and utilizing our natural ultradian rhythms during the workday can significantly improve energy, focus, and production capacity. 

Key Idea: Mindfully respecting our body’s biological energy peaks and valleys helps us more easily access natural flow and momentum.

Skill #3 - Work Wind Down: Cal Newport’s Shutdown Ritual discussed in his book Deep Work inspired me to develop a solid work-end routine. Creating this routine sets up for success tomorrow. At least fifteen minutes before my work curfew, I’ll check my task list, email, and calendar for any loose ends that need to be addressed or captured for tomorrow. I’ll check in with my progress for upcoming goals, update my optimization station, and clock deep work hours. Next, I’ll preplan tomorrow's work leaving instructions or breadcrumbs on where to start. Finally, I’ll audibly say, “mission complete” to let my mind know its work on this project is done… at least for today. This ritual helps me quickly shift from contribution (work time) to connection (relationship time) by assuring momentum and flow are easy to regain tomorrow. 

Key Idea: The success of tomorrow’s mission is influenced by how well we prepare before disengaging today. 

Preparing for the Stormy Days  

A few months ago, my hometown was unexpectedly devastated by a hurricane. We could not have imagined the destruction that would be revealed to us once stormy darkness gave way to dawn’s first light. Homes were lost and businesses were destroyed. Infrastructures taken for granted were decimated, like access to safe roads, working utilities, and fuel sources. Although life is back to normal for most, many in our community, myself included, are still working to repair, rebuild, and reclaim what was lost. I know it’s impossible to plan for every worst-case scenario, but I do believe that we can prepare. This preparation may look a little different than most people think. 

During the aftermath of the hurricane, there were a lot of people who chose to let negative circumstances dictate their response. I love the freedom and convenience that structure creates, but the reality is that not every day can look the same, and the circumstances on some days may seem overwhelmingly bad at the moment. When we practice refining, optimizing, and improving ourselves every single day, we develop the mindfulness required to take a breath and choose how we will respond to our circumstances. If we optimize while the lights are on, we can build the strength and confidence to carry ourselves and our neighbors through some of the darkest moments, knowing this too shall pass. We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day, while grossly underestimating what we can accomplish in a year of intentional refinements, optimizations, and improvements. As we reflect on 2024, let’s challenge ourselves to think about what we want to accomplish this next year, and more importantly, who we want to become. 

Recap of Key Ideas:

1. Invest in quality products to make it easier and more enjoyable. 
2. Identify data needed to make better decisions.
3. Choose a curious mindset over a critical one as you measure what you want to refine, optimize, or improve. 
4. Gratitude practices should remind us of everything we have while inspiring us to be everything we can.
5. Create bright lines to optimize your condition to support your vision for connection and contribution. 
6. Our routines may need seasonal adjustments to keep us consistent, but flexible.
7. Make an initial investment today to create or implement a system that saves or multiplies future resources.
8. Mindfully respecting our body’s biological energy peaks and valleys helps us more easily access natural flow and momentum.
9. The success of tomorrow’s mission is influenced by how well we prepare before disengaging today. 

Recap of Key Insights: 

1. Respect the rhythms. There are times to work and times to recover. We are meant to alternate gracefully between the natural rhythms and cycles. Not every day can look the same. Different seasons will provide different palettes on which to create. We must find the optimal blend of structure & freedom and the ideal balance of buoyancy & levity within our lives.  
2. It’s all fuel to refine, optimize, and improve. Pain is unavoidable, but even it can be used as fuel if we develop an antifragile mindset, intentionally narrate our story, and choose our response. We build the strength to carry ourselves and others through hard times when we choose to use every challenge as a catalyst for thriving growth.
3. It’s called Daily Bread for a reason. I always wince when I hear someone say that God will never give us more than we can handle. Allowing us to try (and fail) to carry burdens greater than our capacity may be how God reminds us how much we need him. God is our source for what we need, when we need it, whether it’s the self-discipline to install that new energy-multiplying habit or the courage to get through our stormiest nights.    

Faith Encouragement: 

Matthew 7:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 7:24-25: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”