Mindconnection eNL, 2018-03-04

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In this issue:
Good News | Product Highlight | Brainpower | Finances | Security | Health/Fitness | Factoid | Thought 4 the Day

Item 1. Terrorism is on the run! See this short (2 and a half minutes) video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DQsaBGUUQ4. Update: This video showed rollbacks at the Institute of Reprobates and Sociopaths. It was up for only a day or so. Talk about suppression!

Item 2. Each year, I serve as a judge for the electrical industry's New Product of the Year contest. I'm usually impressed with a few entries, finding they save time or lower costs or solve some problem in an elegant way. Some are even innovative. This year, I am seeing innovation out the wazoo. It's just one amazing product after another.

The time-savings in many cases, are jaw-dropping (we can watch comparison videos of traditional method versus new method with new product); for example, one strut system cuts the installation time to one-eighth of that required by the traditional method.

Seeing so many examples of brilliant, clever thinking in the midst of this horrible stupidity epidemic makes me think there is hope for the human race yet. And that is good news indeed.

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Having facts at your fingertips (via smartphone or other device) isn't at all similar to being knowledgeable. There's no framework or context, or even a way of knowing which facts to put those fingertips on.

Many people today eschew fact memorization as inefficient and unnecessary, because "I can always look up the facts on my smartphone." I find it interesting that people use the excuse of a "smart" phone to make themselves dumb.

To boost your brainpower, spend time learning facts. And then spend time examining those facts so you get the context and develop an understanding of the subject.

Using history as an example, it's important to know names and dates so you can see events in relation to each other. History is of no value without this. But with this, history informs and instructs. Understanding the why of a subject cannot happen unless you first know the what. Learn facts.

• Use an external backup, daily. Leave it off during normal use, especially when online.
• Avoid dubious Websites, don't open suspicious-looking attachments (make sure to look), don't click a link in a spoof e-mail (be sure look at any e-mail carefully before clicking a link), look at the URL in a link (hover over it( before clicking, etc.
• Use Back Blaze or a similar cloud-based backup service. This is not optional, unless you have zero aversion to risk.
• Run Malware Bytes. No, I do not mean you're good if you've got some screwy "anti-virus" program running; those programs are  scams. I mean run Malware Bytes. The company is trying to stay on top of ransomware, and running their software (and keeping it updated) provides a good degree of protection.

Additional computer security measures for the home or small office:

• Don't use your name or address as your WiFi network name. Make up something that does not provide a key item of identification.
• Use your router's security features, even if setting them up is a chore.
• For each connected computer, use a non-administrator profile and password it.
• Turn your computer off before going to bed.

It's consistent application of the principles of success. Without the consistency, all other factors are moot.

Pick any endeavor, and greatness comes only with consistency.

So let's talk about consistency for your personal fitness program. You need to be consistent in these three areas:

• Rest. If you don't get enough sleep, you will fail. The reasons are several. Going to bed at the same time every night is key to being well-rested and energetic, rather than sleep-deprived and tired.
   
• Nutrition. You must eat five or six nutrient-dense, calorie-sparse, junk-food free meals each day at about the same time each day. Period.
   
• Training. There's only so much energy for a given training session, so if you are training correctly you need five or six days each week (to work a different muscle group each training day).

If you ask around, you'll find maybe 95% of people apply themselves inconsistently, or even not at all.

The remaining 5% seem to have no problem with consistency. They rarely "stay up late," never miss training, and always eat right. It's either very easy for you, or you fail. Why is that?

Let's look at two perspectives for each area:

• Rest. Jim answers e-mails until late into the night, not going to bed until they are all answered. Jane doesn't worry about her e-mail; she knows it will be there in the morning. She does some meditation shortly before her designated bedtime, then goes to bed at the same time every night. She has a schedule and a routine. Jim is often tired, Jane is rarely tired.
   
• Nutrition. Sam is always on the run, so catches meals when he can. He often eats out or grabs something "quick" to take with him. Tara plans every meal, and eats them at consistent times. Mealtime for Sam is an interruption. Mealtime for Tara is an appointment.
   
• Training. Jennifer tries to stop at the gym after all of her things are done during the day. She arrives frayed and exhausted, and can rarely focus mentally. Mitch rises 30 minutes "early" to train before work; his workouts are energetic and intense. Mitch never misses a session.

Top photo taken 16SEP2016, just days before 56th birthday; bottom photo taken 3 days after 56th birthday

Yes, there is peer pressure to "just this one time" give up your discipline and forget you priorities. This year is my high school's 40th reunion, so I'm an old man. Yet, look at the shape I am in. It's not because I am lucky, but because I have made a priority out of rest, nutrition, and training. And so should you.

• Rest. Contrary to the peer pressure that demands staying up late every Friday night (and being in a diminished condition for the next four days), I make a point of going to bed on time consistently. So can you. Just do this for 30 days, and you will never go back to the dysfunctional mode of inconsistent bedtimes.
  
  And I do not drop this standard for the asinine twice yearly clock change. Lying about what time it is supposedly gives us an extra hour of daylight, but really it gives us weeks of jet lag. It's stupid. I've written in previous editions of this column simple ways to accommodate that stupidity without changing when you actually go to bed.
   
• Nutrition. This is perhaps the toughest area for people to remain consistent in. The reason is "everyone else" makes horrible eating choices and expects you to do the same. Don't. Why should you care if someone criticizes you for taking care of your body? It's their problem if they act that way, not yours. Ignore them.
  
  Plan your meals and stick to them. Don't apologize for this. Don't proselytize, either. If you're getting this right, how you look says it all. No need for you to restate the obvious. I've been off junk-food for over half a century, now. When I was seven, my mother asked me what kind of birthday cake I wanted and I said I didn't want one because cakes are junk-food.
  
  You are what you eat. If you eat mostly super-foods what kind of body do you have? Think about that if your consistency is wavering. Don't think of "occasional" junk-food as a "treat." Your health and fitness are the treats you want.
   
• Training. Make it the most important appointment of your day. I am amazed at how many people will sit down to watch an hour of television (e.g., "news") every night but can't set aside half an hour five or six days a week to be physically fit.
  
  "Not having enough time" is a poor excuse. There's always enough time for training. Always. I have not missed a workout in over 40 years. I've worked 12 hour shifts, traveled, and had plenty of potential excuses for missing. But I have made that training an unmovable priority.
  
  For me, the time of day hasn't mattered; I've had different schedules over the years. But for a long time now, I have trained in the mornings maybe half an hour after a nutritious breakfast.

Consistency is key to success in most worthwhile endeavors. Physical fitness is a worthwhile endeavor. Achieving a high state of physical fitness requires consistent application of the principles. That consistency doesn't just happen, it's the result of deciding what is important and then conducting yourself accordingly.

If your workouts are a priority, you will never miss a workout. You can choose something else to miss; don't choose to miss your workouts. You are going to eat something. Choose to eat something good, rather than something that degrades your health. You don't need more hours in a day so that you can sleep. You need to sleep certain hours and fit everything else around those hours.

An argument against prioritizing rest, nutrition, and training is they take time and you don't always have time for them. That position ignores the observable outcome of the prioritization. If you invest the time for rest, nutrition, and training, you will reap the dividends of being far more effective in the remaining hours of each day. You make far fewer mistakes, are able to think better, and can maintain a high output level for a considerable time.

Be consistent with rest, nutrition, and training and you will not only meet your health and fitness goals, but you'll have a foundation for outsized performance in many areas of your life.

• The best workouts are short and intense.
• A good diet contains far more flavors and satisfaction than the typical American diet.

Over half of the prisoners in the world are in USA prisons. The vast majority of them did nothing wrong; they are incarcerated for breaking illegal drug bans. Meanwhile, not one of the criminal psychopaths behind the 2008 financial crime spree was even indicted.