30 Days To X

The days keep changing, will you?

Some drugs you should do

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“We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold.”

– Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The last time I had too much caffeine I became obsessed with the fear that I’d accidentally left my car lights running. I try and consume as little as possible since it makes me tense up.

As a non-drinker I often use L-Theanine to get into a social mood. I started using in the spring after reading a great article about it. Roughly once a month, when I’m in a bad mood, I’ll take some Theanine before going out. It takes the stress off and I always end up having a great night. Additionally, Theanine is completely legal to use, so I never have to worry about failing a drug test or being arrested for possession.

While browsing a forum about drugs I saw a user claiming that Theanine mixed with caffeine created a poor man’s molly. Possessing a scientifically inclined mind, I decided to test this hypothesis. My results weren’t quite what I was hoping for. The concoction failed to yield anything resembling this:

However, the mixture did have some unexpected benefits. I had inadvertently created something know as “The People’s Stack.” It was awesome. I felt energized yet tranquil. A sensation that allowed me to be alert and focus on tasks without constantly worrying about trivial things. After taking The People’s Stack I wrote a post, finished reading an incredibly boring book, made $36 dollars off Fiverr, and went for a brisk walk.

Since then I’ve been enjoying a daily dosage of L-Theanine and caffeine. Not being an expert on the subject I can’t really tell you if Theanine consumption has any negative aspects. Personally I haven’t experienced any ill side effects, so I’ll probably continue my usage. However, if you are interested in a more comprehensive guide to Theanine and it’s uses I recommend that you consult Pill Scout for additional information.

What I like about The People’s Stack is that it’s inexpensive, easy to mix, and (according to Google) doesn’t have any adverse effects. If you want to a clean feeling energy boost, I encourage you to try it.

Drugged out

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“Now let’s get medicated.”

– Wiz Khalifa, Medicated

Everyone is on drugs. Not the fun ones, like coke or molly. Not the inspirational ones either, no LSD and no DMT. They’re on the lame ones. The pills that get you through the day. Make your life bearable enough that you don’t wind up hanging from the rafters. That would be a disappointment, eHow articles are a pain to follow. You’re poor knotsmanship keeps you alive. Someone would find you. Then it’s back to the doctor’s office to get your dosage upped.

This Is Your Brain On Drugs
They aren’t on these.

At work there was a discussion about what medications everyone is on. As it turns out, I’m one of the only people not taking some form of prescription anti-depressant or behavior modifier. I’m not really too concerned about adults choosing to live in a state of permanent high. However, I was shocked to learn that most of their children are on similar prescriptions.

There was a lively conversation about how various substances were affecting some of the kids sleep patterns, appetites, and attention spans. At this point I was sure that one sane adult would say, “stop feeding your children narcotics.” This never occurred. Instead someone chimed in “get a prescription for [whatever], it’ll solve that too.” I couldn’t believe it.

These kids were all in grade school. Their mental afflictions, acting child like. Punching others on the playground. Not paying attention in class. Being loud and obnoxious. Arguing. Everything they suffered from could have been cured with a family discussion and stern lecture. Instead they’ve been lobotomized by mass-produced chemical concoctions, depriving them of a human experience.

When it comes to solving problems there are two paths. The easy route and the hard one. In theory they both lead to the same destination. At the end of the day sedated children and well disciplined children will both stay out of trouble. Only one will do so through free will, while the other does so because his mind has been medically suppressed.

I’d rather be miserable in my own mind than complacently living in a drug induced fantasy.

Selling out

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“You can look the other way once, and it’s no big deal, except it makes it easier for you to compromise the next time, and pretty soon that’s all you’re doing; compromising, because that’s the way you think things are done. You know those guys I busted? You think they were the bad guys? Because they weren’t, they weren’t bad guys, they were just like you and me. Except they compromised… once.”

-Jack Bauer

The greatest benefit that I got from doing 20 rep squats wasn’t the muscle mass, but the strengthening of my willpower.

After spending an entire afternoon roofing a building under the hot sun, lifting weights was the last thing I wanted to do. Despite this I still went and did my best. I’d down how much weight I’d lifted during each session, and set a goal to do five pounds more during my next work out.

There were a lot of days when I just didn’t want to lift. I thought I was “too tired.”  I’d tell myself that it was okay to take a day off, I’d craft excuses as to why I should just go home instead. While I came close to caving in, I never ended up missing a day.

I wanted to the results and I knew I needed to complete the process before I could have them.

Reddit doesn’t build muscle.

While I don’t have a lot of convictions, at last count there were about seven, I never break them. In fact, I don’t even bend them. The moment that you have to start rationalizing your behavior is the moment you’ve lost.

All those unhappy fat guys with nagging wives and bratty kids didn’t get like that overnight. They made the slow and painful descent into unhappiness, somewhere along the way they sold out. They decided that being in a band, or writing a novel, or going on a cross-country adventure was stupid; and that they should get a job at H&R Block instead. Rather than pursue their desires they choose to settle for mediocrity, a decision they have the rest of their lives to regret.

If you do choose to compromise, don’t worry. The goal wasn’t something you truly wanted anyway. Otherwise you wouldn’t have cheated yourself out of it.

Paradiso

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“Miniver scorned the gold he sought,
But sore annoyed was he without it;
Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,
And thought about it.”

– Edwin Arlington Robinson, Miniver Cheevy

I’ve noticed an epidemic Miniver Cheevy Complex going around. Dudes are unhappy and wasting their lives away because they “were born into the wrong era.” According to these guys, every thing would be awesome if they had been born in 1950.

I think this idea is completely stupid.

I don’t understand when people become nostalgic for time periods that they never actually experienced. Thinking that 1963 was the greatest year ever is only acceptable if you lived through 1963. Basing your entire worldview off an episode of Mad Men is moronic. Don Draper is a fictitious character, not an accurate representation of the average man during the 60’s.

Instead of getting upset over not living through a fictitious depiction of something you’ve never actually experienced, make the most out of now.

 

Puzzling

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“Nothing whets the intelligence more than a passionate suspicion, nothing develops all the faculties of an immature mind more than a trail running away into the dark.”

– Stefan Zweig

Every day since I started this site I’ve done a puzzle. Be it a crossword, rubik’s cube, word search, or brain teaser.

Two weeks ago I decided to do an almost-scientific experiment. I spent the first week recording my daily activities while continuing to solve puzzles and I spent the second week keeping track of my actions while not challenging my mind.

According to my shoddy recording, the results were as follows:

Week with puzzles

Overall these seven days were awesome. I accomplished everything I wanted to, I felt insanely focused, and I was on the ball with my school work.

Week without puzzles

In contrast, the time I spent not exercising my brain sucked. I procrastinated with all my work, I had trouble sleeping, I couldn’t concentrate, and I felt a lot lazier. During the previous week I had been working on a new book idea, now I was just sitting around watching Family Guy reruns.

Conclusion

I doubt figuring out that yam is a three letter word for potato is a miraculous cure-all for laziness and stupidity, but it does have some effect. If you’re interested in enhancing your cognitive abilities, I highly recommend that you start solving puzzles. You also have to be, amongst other things, great at puzzles if you ever want to work for Google.

For those wondering were they should start their brain training, I have a few suggestions. There’s a great subreddit filled with a vast array of problems to be solved. I also recommend The New York Times Light and Easy Crossword Puzzles. Lastly, if you want a really hard problem, try taking a crack at Einstein’s Intelligence Quiz.