Things I learnt this week:

1. Journaling 2.1 – I wrote a piece recently on journaling after spending several months observing the journaling habits of highly successful people. However, I learnt a lot more yesterday from this wonderful podcast, which is essentially an audio tutorial, from Chip Franks on 10 techniques for effective journaling. I’d come across all of the techniques before, but it was the wonderful warmth with which Chip spoke about the benefits of these techniques that really made it a must-listen for me. This morning I used his Active Appreciation technique for my journaling session and ended up flooded with love and gratitude – what a great way to start the day! You can read my own pretty thorough notes on the podcast on my blog here.

2. Hyper-local urban farming – an incredible concept that gives me hope the future of our planet. Square Roots, a Brooklyn-based vertical farming company, is tackling the 3 headaches of space, water and energy by growing fresh produce (eg herbs and leafy greens) up the walls of converted shipping containers. The containers don’t use soil (I haven’t yet worked out how this works!) so there’s no water run-off. The estimates of water-savings vs traditional farms are up to 90%. The containers do use artificial light but use the exact light spectrum that each plant needs at each point in its growth (the founder, Tobias Pegg, has a PhD in AI). Moreover, the conditions mimic the optimal conditions for growing each plant for the ultimate taste (eg basil grown in Italy). All the stores that stock their produce are <4 miles away from the container that produces it. And finally, they are training up the next generation of farmers – young people who use AI to help them farm and harvest optimally. Insanely clever. Have a listen to Dr Mark Hyman interviewing Tobias Pegg on The Doctor’s Farmacy podcast here.

3. How to age backwards – I’m devouring Dave Asprey’s latest book, Super Human, which tackles how not to die, how to age backwards, and how to become superhuman, in that order. I’m a huge fan of Dave and his books. He’s insanely bright and intellectually curious and he is also very funny. I highly recommend Head Strong and Game Changers too if you haven’t read them. I’m halfway through Superhuman and learning so much. I’m sitting on my hands trying not to buy everything he recommends. List is currently running at a SPECT scan for my brain, an Oura ring to track my sleep quality and heart rate variability (HRV) levels, lots of neurofeedback machines and many, many nootropics (drugs that boost cognitive function). If you are keen to avoid Alzheimers, cancer, Type II diabetes and heart disease at the very least, his books are a must-read.

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