Login

☝️ UPWARDING #34: INFINITE ENERGY, BOX BREATHING, AND THE HEART’S FIRST BLOOD


Welcome to this week's Upwarding newsletter. My blog, with more in-depth content, can be found here.



Picture


This grainy image taken only last year is the first ever picture of a black hole.



Black holes are pretty cool – for example they can be one atom large or 1 million times the size of the sun.  More facts here.


Also, black holes can theoretically be harvested to provide an infinite amount of energy, because, strangely, objects in black holes “lose” a negative amount of energy – and a negative times a negative is a plus.


Mindfulness/Spirituality/Chill


The simplest breathing exercise I know of is box breathing, which in my experience is more effective at relaxing people than meditation/mindfulness.


You simply break breathing down into four steps:

  1. The inhale
  2. The hold after the inhale
  3. The exhale
  4. The hold after the exhale

Do each step four seconds.  Continue for four minutes.  More here.


Health/Wellness


By now most of you know how much I’ve enjoyed wearing the Whoop strap.  In this short blog post, I discuss the surprising conclusions of my health experiments with the Whoop, including:

  • How binging on sugar is the single most damaging behavior I engage in
  • The massive recovery boost I get from extended release Tylenol
  • Why I now swim in really cold water as often as I can

Investing/Money


My experience with investing in single family rental homes has been very, very bad.  As I explained in my blog articles here and here.


However, I’ve become a little more intrigued recently with a service that seems to remove all of the hassles with this asset class.  It goes well beyond turnkey rental homes into full-service management – creating a totally passive asset that rivals options like Fundrise.  You can almost set it and forget it.


That service is Roofstock One.  You can get started for very little ($5,000) and diversify across a variety of markets.


Random Thoughts


“Put your own oxygen mask on first” – from airline safety literature.


I was surprised to learn that blood from the heart first goes to the coronary arteries, which pump blood back to the heart itself.


This design is not by accident.  We need to make sure we take care of ourselves first.  When you are exhausted, spent, and not emotionally ready you simply cannot be a good parent, friend, leader, or really - anything.  Taking care of yourself is not selfish – it’s the least selfish thing you can do.


Reflection/Quote


“He forgave my failures and laughed, assuming them as his own shortcomings” – Source Unknown


I wrote this quote down some time ago and haven’t tracked down where it’s from.  Don’t you want to meet and spend time with the person described?


Remember to forward this to a friend who will enjoy it.



Stay well,
Chris