Week 15, 2024 - Diary of a Revenue Engineer

What I thought…

Week 15 came and went with a blur or family activity over the weekend and the resulting work that followed. What an amazing time I had - tough in many ways, but amazing.

Firstly, I have struggled with something someone said at a friend’s house recently… this person was being very open and honest about wishing they’d stayed fit and how they’re just pretty lazy about big elements of their life. I respect the candour here for sure, but it really affected and stuck with me this week.

I do not understand how you can settle for anything than the most deep and incredible experience in this life. Now, I fully understand that the interpretation of that is up to everyone and I impose no personal rigour in that judgement. I do, however, question if anyone has a good life by letting it slip past.

I want the completion award, all the badges, check all the boxes and visit all the posts on the journey. I’ll never achieve that, I know, but the desire and drive to do that is the most fulfilling and real version of myself that I’ve ever experienced it. If you do too, but you’re unsure where to start, checkout my article on four simple things you can do right now to make an impact on your life.

Our lives are miraculous, I believe that of everyone. Our lives are rare, special, unique, to be cherished and defended and incredibly fragile.

I had some time to think about this, mowing the lawn around the gravestones in the local Church the day after the words from this person stuck with me.

I am unsure about so much, but I know one thing for sure. I don’t want to regret not looking after myself and openly admit that I’m too lazy to engage with decades of life still ahead of me.

So - with that in mind… here’s how I set-out for the completion award this week.

What I learned…

A deep week of learning again, all of which can be categorised into three big streams of learning:

Longevity

Again, I dug deeper into the impact of doing hard things on will power, discipline, peer reviewed studies around will power and the discovery and impact of the AMC (Anterior Midcingulate Cortex). It’s an astounding series of discoveries and disagreements in the science and psychology fields of study which just send you down the rabbit hole of intrigue. It’s certainly not a “silver bullet” for longevity, but it beautifully unites all of the elements into a singular space - and houses that space in the brain.

Doing my best to not be so reductive that I’m offensive - the AMC may be a single part of the brain (though there are two of them, bare with me) which is directly responsible for will power. Counter to some previous areas of study, it isn’t a finite resource which is fuelled by glucose (unless you tell you brain that it is… mad right?") it does however change in size the more you use it.

It’s also been shown to be enlarged and active in the so-called “super agers” who have the highest chance, or attainment, of centenary status.

There’s much to learn about it still - but It appears to activated by doing hard things (in a nutshell). Either doing something you don’t want to, or avoiding something that you do. The more you do those things, the better. It may help us prepare and survive challenging situations, it may help us manage resources required for tough things, it could drive our ability to glean more from the rich tapestry of life and all it’s challenges.

An amazing discovery and one I’m still lost in reading and learning about.

Self

As I mentioned in other blogs, I’m doing a deep-dive into my own motivations, drive and purpose at the moment. I really feel like they’re taking me on a journey, I feel like something big is round the corner and it will be tough, but I’m ready for it… I just don’t know what it is yet. Here’s some things I’ve been engaging with to better understand the situation, myself and my motivations:

There’s more to come here - but the long and short of it is that I’ve lived at least two lives already and I’m 39 years old. I can cram at least two more into the next 20 and I’m keen to make sure that I spend that time on things I’m deeply passionate about.

Revenue Engineering and the consultation I provide really challenge me, I enjoy them, I love coaching and supporting innovative founders. However, through all of this, I don’t think that’s where my purpose lies.

There’s more to explore here, and I know that my knowledge here is valuable and viable, I’m wondering if it has more tangible or purpose-related associations… watch this space.

What I built…

I’m cutting open the flab of uncertainty and delving into the core substances of what makes me… well, me. What my drives are, what my passions are, why I kept some and left some behind on the journey thus far.

It’s deep, for sure, and it’s not easy… but I’m already being rewarded with a better understanding of myself and, by looking in the cupboards of my emotional mind and having a sort out, I’m learning a lot - albeit uncomfortably.

I can categorise what I built into three things this week:

Revenue Engineering - I’m working with a truly brilliant client who has built, quite quietly I may add, an incredible coaching business. I’ve known her and worked with her for years and had no idea that she had this feather in her cap and yet, there it was, brilliant and bursting with potential. Her specific problem is almost the exact opposite of what so many tech companies I work with have on a daily basis. Hers is about how to create a flow and a process and a structure to the organisation to help it scale. It’s already monumentally successful if you look at her clientele and impact, so I’m hugely excited to work alongside her on building out the steps I believe will help her grow to the next level. Namely, how stucture, strategy and scale as a plan will help unlock a potentially huge revenue stream for her.
Nutrition - I ate cottage cheese for the first time in my life (would anyone find that strange? I don’t know) and I found it to be a strange but not entirely unpleasant experience. Dairy has found it’s way back into my nutrition plan, mainly as a way to get low carb, low fat protein back into my diet and it’s been good so far. I’m feeling the effects of this effo.t over the past couple of weeks so fingers crossed that continues.
Purpose - As mentioned above and before in my writings… I’m building a framework and a process by which I can take the momentum I have in my personal life and align it to passions. Passions and drives I fear I left behind for myriad reasons. Recounting those reasons has been hard in many circumstances… I’m unpacking my own emotional knot of neural pathways, decoding and re-writing a lot of my core code, and re-evaluating what makes me me. I really hope I have more to share here in due course.

How I lived longer…

I’m deep in a whole number of books at the moment, but the one which really caught me is Ikigai - the foundations and columns here of longevity are really exciting and intriguing.

Beyond that, I dove more into some big podcasts whilst doing a lot of other work, namely the Tim Ferris Podcast, The Huberman Lab and Peter Attia’s Drive podcast.

Here are some takeaways:

Nutrition - Start small, don’t fret the only disagreements, find repeatable habits, work within your own likes and dislikes
AMC - The Anterior Midcingulate Cortex helps you build, prepare and manage hard things in your life and may drive important developments in the physique and the psyche that help you live longer and better.
Purpose - Hence my obsession with this at the moment in my own learnings - having a purpose that extends beyond your “retirement” makes a massive impact to the quality and quantity of years you have.
Community - Having a safe, trusted and aligned community is a really important thing.

How I stayed happier…

I had some tough conversations and a tough therapy session this week. I did, however, find that delving deeper into longevity and nutrition has helped here a lot.

Eating more of the right stuff has made me feel good (turns out macadamia nuts boost mood too), but so has the progression I’m feeling in my fitness and learning spaces.

I’ve nearly finished the great house clearance as per the methods in Marie Kondos KonMari method, with only the downstairs hall left to go. Loads for sale, loads gifted to charity… a sad amount taken to landfill and recycling centres (more on this in future posts I’m sure, it affected me too much).

Between this, journaling, making plans with friends and my own milestones, I’ve kept up all the habits I’ve formed over the last two years and they are holding me together really very well.

Final Thoughts…

This year I turn 40… which, by all my attempts and estimations, is about 5 years from being what I’m expecting to be middle aged. This, coupled with longevity research, which lead me to purpose and deeper understanding of myself and my life, all whilst mowing the lawn around gravestones has taken me to new places of self-exploration I never thought I’d go on.

I started all this with a desire and a goal about two years ago - “to be the fittest I’ve ever been by 40” and I had no idea it would take me in this direction.

However - I couldn’t be happier to be doing it and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

So, this weeks quote from Maya Angelou (who’s quotes seem to just keep on giving to me) really struck home once more. She once wrote:

""You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it."

Life can sometimes feel like a long road of interspersed defeats. Each one can seem harder than the last. But we’re built to thrive in these environments, to get stronger through hardship and exposure to tough situations.

When someone asks me “Why are you doing all this” I’ll look them in the eye and say “Because I want to know myself better today than I did yesterday”.

Good luck on your journey and thanks for stopping by.