one hundred!

On Growing, Giving, and Future Selves

Yesterday I got the following email from the good folks over at Substack:

Woo hoo! I mean, I’m not a numbers guy, but it’s so exciting to see this little community growing and expanding. And even more fun, all new members this week were email addresses that I didn’t recognize. That means that word is getting out to beyond my circle of friends, family and supporters, into the health and low-carb community at large. I love it!

future selves

This morning, while mowing the lawn (and simultaneously watering it with buckets of sweat, thanks to a fun little heat wave we have here), I was listening to the audiobook of Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s Be Your Future Self Now.

It’s a great read, and I recommend it highly for anyone who’s working on a weight-loss goal, a lifestyle shift, an entrepreneurial venture, or anything else that requires you to daily choose proverbial the high road over the low road. Here’s a sample:

Research now shows that a person’s past does not drive or dictate their actions and behaviors [in the present]. Rather, we are pulled forward by our future…

In all instances, humans act as we do based on the future we see for ourselves. That may be a future we’re trying to avoid, or a future we’re trying to create. That future may be decades or seconds away.

The key to goal fulfillment, success, purpose and happiness today, Hardy says, is a good, clear vision of who we want to be tomorrow. There are many potential “Future Selves,” based on what we do today, each of which is somehow different from who we are now. But we can be intentional about how we want to be different one year — or five or ten years — from now. We can then frame each day-to-day decision (side salad or cheesy mac?) (write a blog post or binge-watch Stranger Things?) as either bringing us closer to or further from that person. Doing so will help us finish each day stronger, prouder, and more fulfilled than we began.

10X

Honestly, the thing that really struck me on the first reading of this book was some of the examples Hardy gives. In the introduction, he uses Jimmy Donaldson, a kid who started out making silly YouTube videos in his parents’ house, and now has 82 million followers and earns annual revenue of more than $100 million. Whaaat? People seriously make that kind of money on YouTube? Suddenly, my 100 subscribers doesn’t look so impressive after all. (And maybe my friend Brian and I shouldn’t have stopped making “Oops” skits with my parents’ camcorder back in middle school).

Hardy frequently invokes the entrepreneur-y buzzword, “10X” (pronounced ten-ex). Although he never defines it, seems to be a verb meaning, “to increase tenfold.” As in, “You can 10X your one dollar investment and turn it into ten dollars.” Seems a bit contrived (although, full disclosure, I was thrilled to be a guest on my friends James and Cindy’s Dream 10X Podcast last year), but what the hell, here goes:

My initial 2022 goal for this newsletter was to hit 100 subscribers. Having gotten there today, I now want to 10x that goal: 1000 subscribers by this time next year.

How do I plan to go about this? Well, I’m always a fan of Vinnie Tortorich’s simple, direct, and plainspoken advice. On his podcast, he talks about how new trainers are always coming to him asking how to get more clients. His answer: do good work. If you know what you’re doing, and you do it well, word-of-mouth will take it from there.

So that’s my strategy for this year: good writing, consistently delivered, that makes you folks’ lives just a tiny bit better. In The Power of Purpose (another excellent book) Richard J. Leider says that the purpose of all life on earth — whether peach tree or parent or artist or educator —is to grow and to give. I love that. If I can give the world something worthwhile in these pages, the community will grow on its own.

So if you find some value here, please do me the favor of sharing it, either with friends and family directly, or on the social medias. Here’s a shiny red button for you:

Thank you again, everyone, for signing up and for continuing to support me in my work. I’m still not sure what my Future Self looks like (guess I should get back to reading that book) but I am sure he appreciates you as much as I do!

Live large,

Big Dave

Note: The ramblings published on this blog are the opinions of the author alone and shared for entertainment purposes only.  The author is an English major with no medical or scientific background; thus, his words should never be taken as medical advice.  Consult with your doctor or medical professional before undertaking any diet or exercise program.