Clean daily energy, Mindfulness, Best Mac Monitor?
Welcome to The Elevator. Every week I’m in conversation with dozens of entrepreneurs building early-stage companies. My intent with this letter is to curate the trends, opportunities, products, and services that will help you grow personally and professionally.
Cafe:
Hey Hey!
Pardon my brief hiatus. I completed my move to Austin. It’s a lot of work to move! But this change has really paid off.
Austin's Vibes are Immaculate (as the kids say) So far it has been EVEN BETTER than I expected. I’m within walking distance to the lake, bars/restaurants coffee shops, and to downtown. So much happening in this city.
A blank slate for identity – Moving is a chance to start over and have a bit of a mental clean slate. I’m amazed at how much fresher my thinking has been from simply moving somewhere where everything is new. Daily walks at ladybird have been fantastic.
Having 25 Coffees in Austin – My goal was to meet ~25 people in the first quarter of being here. I already have 25 people who I’ll potentially meet for coffee through that in the first week! I credit that all to the welcoming nature of this city. I put out this tweet and website and the rest happened fast.
By the way, do you know that I help independent business owners (Typically in the $1-$25M range.) with the mental blocks keeping them from leveling up their business?
Are you in Austin? Let’s connect.
Ok let’s jump into some things you might be interested in:
I. A more consistent clean energy routine.
I had this problem where my morning fast lead to great energy until 11 or 12 and then I’d dip, get hungry, and still stay in a bit of a dip until around 3PM. I’ve been looking into how to fix this and I learned something interesting as well as adjusted my daily flow. Rian Doris from flow collective has a great solve for this.
Counterintuitvely I learned that I should eat right as I have maximum energy. Rather than waiting until I feel the hunger, I can eat to fuel before it runs out. This moved my lunch up ~1-2 hours from 11 or 12 to 10:30 or so.
I’ve also upped my water intake drastically for the morning, to 2-3 liters and I’ve added L-Theanine supplements in with my caffeine.
Here are the basics
100-200MG Caffeine
400 MG L-Theanine
2-3 Liters of Water
Break the fast around 10:30-11 with protein only (starting with steak).
Finally, I was doing fruit for awhile for breakfast (an apple) but I don’t think it was enough calories, and it didn’t have fat or protein. So now I’m doing steak or other proteins for lunch. So far so good! Last thing I’ll say is the consistency of timing is key. Caffeine is at ~7am and food is at ~10:30am.
II. Become More Mindful & Question Assumptions
I’ve been deep diving into Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer’s book and podcasts. There are very, very few people whose lives I would trade places with. I mean think about it, do you want to be Elon Musk, or president, or name xyz influencer? It’s kind of funny because for me that’s always been a hard NO. I don’t want to switch places with Ellen Langer but I do find her attitude and perspective to be one that if I’m more like than when I’m her age, I would find that to be a positive thing.
Book: The Mindful Body
III. Donating crypto & stocks to good causes
A few years back I realized that crypto (BTC & ETH) could become perpetual investment opportunities for non-profits and giving. By holding BTC (network growth) and ETH (Staking yield) you could hypothetically hold these assets and spit off donations over decades to your favorite causes as the investments grew. I never had an easy way to really make this thesis happen, until I found Daffy Giving. Particularly their donor managed fund for crypto.
Here is their feature thesis:
Set a goal for your annual giving.
Automate your contributions to put money aside regularly for giving.
Automate your recurring donations to support your favorite organizations.
Consolidate all your receipts in one place for tax season.
IV. What is the best monitor for a Mac?
Finally picked up an Ergonofis standing desk. But with that, I need a good screen for my mac.
So, question for you… I’m looking to get a 27’-32’ monitor for my desk. I’ve been researching a variety of monitors that aren’t the Apple product and my concern is that the scaling won’t look great. I want it to be super easy to use, sharp quality, and look aesthetically nice. So far I’ve landed on the Samsung Viewfinity S9… any other thoughts or ideas?
V. Stanley’s are out, Owallas are in.
If I’m going to be drinking 3 liters of water every day, I need a great water bottle. Time Magazine just gave this brand a “Best Invention” award. The sippy top is both a straw and works to drink out of like a cup. Hard to explain but it works great.
If you want to buy a great new water bottle for that habit I’d recommend the Owalla. Plus they have a variety of fun flavors. Owalla FreeSip.
Rooftop: Out for Pizza to Celebrate the Bitcoin Halving
For Happy hour today, I’m heading to Bufalina for Pizza to celebrate the Bitcoin halving. What is top of mind for you? What are you excited about?
Be back with more links and ideas in the future.
xx David
I’m David Sherry, founder of Death to Stock. I partner with founders & entrepreneurs with growing companies. Helping them define their vision and grow personally and professionally to capture their biggest opportunities.