minimum viable execution marching towards the singularity

Minimum Viable Execution

Below I want to outline the list of Diet, Exercise, Mental Health and Personal Automation tactics I’m implementing until at least January 5 2024.

This post is meant to be an addendum to my previous post “Firing Myself” where I zone in specifically on Personal Automation tactics. That post, in a nutshell, talked about how to use AI tools like GPT4 to make better regular decisions with less energy.

My objective outlining this protocol is:

  1. Creating a blueprint for strict adherence and being clear around my goals
  2. Creating a valuable company while maintaining world class health

The last time I made a start-up - I want to say it destroyed my physical and mental health. But the closer-to-truth statement is that I destroyed my physical and mental health because I did not have a process in place.

I believe it’s important to execute professionally (with a constraint of health) in the near term because:

  1. I believe we’re at an epochal moment in terms of bringing consciousness into the world via Artificial Intelligence
  2. Extremely valuable companies can be built in this time with strong network effects because of compounding effects of training, data collection, and other factors
  3. There are likely going to be breakthroughs regarding human biology that will be accessible to early adopters who show they’re capable of executing in the AI era while respecting /building their biological capability

To be clear these are my personal views, and the plan below is my personalized/ adapted roadmap to achieving my goals. Logistically, I believe it is critical to outline / implement a blueprint like this prior to starting a company rather than after the fact which is why I’m doing this now. Please consult relevant professionals before copying any of this. I cover ideal diet, exercise, mental health/wellness, personal automation and compliance tactics.

Wellness

Below is my blueprint for top physical/emotional performance.

Diet

I am ripping off and modifying Bryan Johnson’s diet with the inclusion of dairy and ramping caffeine a bit via matcha powder. Why? It works. It’s been in production for 3 months now and I’m happy with the results - body fat is moving down, strength and speed are at highs, and I’m not hungry despite calorie restriction (I do 2050 daily) and cutting my caffeine from 800+ mg / day to below 100.

Morning shake:

  • 8 oz water
  • 1 tablespoon spirulina
  • 2 scoops Vital Protein Collagen Peptides
  • 2 teaspoons ceylon cinnamon
  • 1 scoop whey protein
  • 1 tablespoon raw cacao
  • 2 tsp matcha powder
  • vitamix/ shaker bottle

Super Veggie

  • 1 cup lentils
  • 2 cups broccoli
  • 1 cup cauliflower
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ oz raw almonds
  • prepared in bulk. Lentils cooked via Instant Pot. Pureed with bulk cooked vegetables via Vitamix.

Protein Assortment

  • High protein tofu or Quorn (mycoprotein)
  • Air fried green banana + fresh root vegetables
  • Kimchi
  • Seasonal vegetable / fruit additions – ideally in season/ rotating
  • Prepared in air fryer

Berry/ Nut Shake

  • 1 cup Mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries) - frozen
  • .75 cups Almonds, walnuts
  • 1 cup Kefir or greek yogurt (prefer Kefir)
  • Matcha powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder
  • Blended in Vitamix

Supplements (in progress)

Morning Pill Pack:

  • turmeric curcumin 500 mg
  • ginger 1.1g
  • creatine 5g
  • b complex
  • garlic 350 mg
  • taurine 500 mg
  • flaxseed oil 1300 mg
  • ashwaganda 400 mg

Evening Pill Pack

  • Taurine (500mg)
  • flaxseed oil (1.3g)
  • creatine (2.5g)
  • ginger (1.15g)

Meals with friends:

  • Always order salad, veggies, or the healthiest thing on the menu (will eat meat if that’s what it means)
  • If eating with a friend that day do not consume berry/ nut shake as that’s close to 700 calories. Instead consume 2 scoop of protein w water

Feeding Window

  • Feeding window (6:30 AM - 1 PM)
  • unless meal with friends (kept to minimum) - try to schedule early

Workouts

The agreements here -

  1. Periodically consult a personal trainer for advice (every 2 months) to ensure all forms are correct.
  2. Train strength, HRV and V02 max higher.
  3. Listen to The Economist, Financial Times, or industry (AI) podcasts during my workouts to avoid dead time which is usually over 1 hour daily.

I do not agree with the overall principle Bryan Johnson advocates of training the same muscles every day as that seems to contradict most peer reviewed literature / resting time so have had to do this custom.

MONDAY: CHEST/TRICEPS + (at full gym)

  • BENCH PRESS (BARBELL): 4 SETS X 6-8 REPS
  • INCLINE BENCH PRESS (DUMBELL): 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • DECLINE PRESS (DUMBELL): 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • CABLE FLYS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • SKULL CRUSHERS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • TRICEP PUSHDOWN: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • 3 mile run

TUESDAY: BACK/BICEPS (at full gym)

  • DEADLIFT: 4 SETS X 6-8 REPS
  • PULLUPS: 4 SETS X TO FAILURE
  • SEATED ROWS 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • FACE PULLS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • STANDING BARBELL CURLS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • HAMMER CURLS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • CONCENTRATION CURLS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • 3 mile run

WEDNESDAY: LEGS (at full gym)

  • SQUATS: 4 SETS X 6-8 REPS
  • ROMANIAN DEADLIFTS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • WALKING LUNGES (DUMBBELLS) 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS (EACH LEG)
  • CALF RAISES: 4 SETS X 15-20 REPS
  • LEG PRESS: 3 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • LEG EXTENSIONS: 3 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • Rowing machine (21 minutes)

THURSDAY: SHOULDERS (at full gym)

  • STANDING OVERHEAD PRESS (BARBELL): 4 SETS X 6-8 REPS
  • DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISES: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • ARNOLD PRESS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • REAR DELT FLYS (DUMBBELLS) 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • 3 mile run

FRIDAY: ARMS (home gym)

  • Swim immediately on wake up (20 mins)
  • ALTERNATING DUMBBELL CURLS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • OVERHEAD TRICEP EXT (DUMBBELL): 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • LYING TRICEP EXTENSION: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • HAMMER CURLS: 3 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • CLOSE GRIP BENCH PRESS: 3 SETS X 10-12 REPS

SATURDAY: CORE AND GRIP (home gym)

  • Swim immediately on wake up (20 mins)
  • DUMBBELL DEADLIFTS: 4 SETS X 6-8 REPS
  • PLANK WITH DUMBBELL DRAG: 3 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • DUMBBELL V SITS: 4 SETS X 15-20 REPS
  • DUMBBELL PLANK ROWS: 3 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • DUMBBELL PINCH HOLD: 3 SETS X 30 SEC - 1 MIN

SUNDAY: FULL BODY (home gym)

  • DUMBBELL GOBLET SQUAT: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUATS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS EACH LEG
  • RENEGADE ROWS: 4 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • STANDING DUMBBELL PRESS: 3 SETS X 10-12 REPS
  • RUSSIAN TWISTS: 3 SETS X 15-20 REPS EACH SIDE
  • GLUTE BRIDGES: 3 SETS X 12-15 REPS
  • SIDE PLANKS: 3 SETS X 30-45 SEC HOLD EACH SIDE
  • 1 full hour of medium intensity elliptical training
  • 1 hour of sauna + stretching

Sleep and morning routine

  • 9:50 bedtime, no alarm wake up
  • 8 hour sleep goal – if I need more, so be it
  • 1 hour wind down prior to bed with no blue light (ideally I use this for language practice or if I am cooked, listen to an audiobook)
  • If I wake up at 5:50 or earlier then do the beach walk 1rst thing in the morning.

Mental / Wellness

  • 15 mins mindfulness a day (5 mins at end of 25 min pomodoros, 3 times) - logged on apple watch
  • Daily phone screen time sub 2 hours
  • Should be practicing Spanish daily to integrate into local community. Best time for this is 1 hour before bed via physical book

Stress Zero: Adjusted CBT Protocol

Once a day, I run a process called Stress Zero in order to directly bump my HRV and try and get my stress to zero. The best times to do this are on morning walks or on the way back from work

  1. I record these exercises in the OtterAI app so that I have logs of stressors and intentions over time for analysis
  2. Every exercise starts out with an Intention - i.e. a spiritual goal, that flows from my perception of a higher power. I try and keep the Intention something profound and meaningful to me and link it to the tactical space
  3. Next there is gratitude - I explicitly talk about something I’m grateful for and why
  4. Next are stressors. I identify a stressor, and then I “debunk” the stressor. The way I do this is typically A] Acknowledging the positive underlying intent of the Stressor B] Identifying irrational threads in the stressor so that the stressor falls in on itself C] Identify the self defeating nature of the stressor - i.e. typically if you’re super stressed about something you’re not taking action towards the positive intention
  5. When possible, try and link defeating the stressors to the Gratitude, or Intention functions to maximize repetition

Firing Myself / Autonomous Self

I’ve made the decision to let AI systems augmented with context and KPIs fully supplant most of my personal and professional choices. I wrote about this in my last post “Firing Myself” but here I want to delve into the minimum viable execution for this system.

Autonomous Self / Corporation Agreements

  1. Continually upload as much context as possible to internal tracking software
  2. Always update KPIs so that this context is framed in terms of objective performance
  3. Constantly use the best AI models to parse this context and help me apply it to moving towards KPIs
  4. Whenever possible automated collection of context, and KPIs to minimize mental overhead
  5. Clearly define and be bought into my Objective Function (what I’m working towards), my Constraints (what I’m willing to give up) and my Values (the things underpinning my objective function/ constraints). I call the Objective Function, Constraints and Values my ‘Default Setting’
  6. Reference the Default Setting when definining personal and corporate milestones or making large strategic decisions
  7. Periodically improve and refine systems to make 1-6 better

Daily Professional Processes:

  • 9:40 AM - review morning trading execution, ensure risk systems have worked
  • 9:45-10 AM: Prepare for stand up via taking yesterday’s tasks/ pomodoros/ etc as well as Milestone document and running through GPT4
  • 10 AM: morning stand up notes uploaded to Database. Morning stand up should always state what milestones are being worked
  • 11 AM is the workout / target finish eating by 1 PM
  • 8 PM: notes uploaded to database summarizing days work. KPI sheets updated (qualitative assessment script is run - which is a GPT4 powered questionnaire).
  • 8-8:30 PM Actively do leisure activities (could be calling friends randomly, reading online garbage, watching funny videos, watching TV, playing video games)
  • All work done via Pomodoros (25 min blocks w 5 min breaks) where content of Pomodoros is logged to the database

Weekly Processes (Sunday)

  • 1-2 hours spent writing weekly reviewing past week and
  • Updating Sprint Plan / Milestone Document
  • Grocery shopping / meal prep (lentil dish is bulk preparation)
  • 2-3 hours of feature implementation of software features to improve overall systems architecture
  • Maid every other week

Flexibility and Acknowledging Limitations

Though the system above is challening to implement, my goal is 100% compliance.

I want to outline actively what happens if

  1. KPIs don’t get updated
  2. stand ups are missed
  3. workouts / diet adherence drops
  4. Pomodoros don’t get updated / done
  5. Other MVEs not reached

If I dip below 80% compliance my plan is to hire a personal coach or compliance expert to get me back up to 100%. I am agreeing here to implement this protocol at least until Jan 5, 2024

It’s very likely that implementing this plan will have substantial costs to my current personal life and relationships that I’m willing to bear in the near term. Over the medium term I hope that I can build a community of individuals with similar interests and goals, which is part of my motivation sharing this piece publicly. I’ve seen early signs that loneliness will be a short term phenomenon but want to be self-aware that most people will view this post as crazy.

Acceptance Criteria and Discussion

There is really no point implementing a process without a set of desired outcomes.

Value: on a macro level, extend consciousness through the universe and on a personal level gain access to technology to extend my own consciousness

Criterion: Creating a valuable company in the AI space (ie top 2% founder financial outcome in AI start-up sector)

Health constraints:

  • HRV (heart rate variability, as measured by Apple Watch) above 80
  • 47 VO2 Max (measure of lung capacity)
  • Deep sleep (as measured by Apple watch) consistently > 1 hr
  • 3 mile treadmill run < 17 mins
  • 6 rep bench press > 225
  • 20+ pull ups

I’ve built both professional and personal KPI tracking sheets to ensure that I am moving towards my goals on a daily/weekly cadence. In a future post I’ll likely share these tools and other systems architecture. I want to emphasize again that this is my journey. Thank you if you’ve read this far.