On Health... part 2

My first article this year was already titled "On Health" and it included 21 ideas on how to increase your health. I had divided those ideas up in three categories (7 ideas each) being diet, exercise, and recovery. Here is the full article: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/health-sohrab-salimi-kzxqe/

As I have been asked a lot by clients, colleagues, partners, followers, and friends how my routine looks like, I will share today my very personal approach to staying healthy... This does not have the intention to make anyone feel bad or make myself look superior. Also, it does not imply that I believe everyone should live like I do. I have chosen to follow these routines and I am only sharing them to inspire...

Take whatever is helpful to you and leave whatever you do not like. For me, developing these routines has helped me succeed (so far) in the three areas that count most to me:

• Health
• Relationships
• Career

Let's dive in...

Getting started | 04:40 to 06:30

I wake up every day (with few exceptions on the weekend - more on that later) at 04:40 am. Why that time? Because I want to be ready to start my day at 05:00 am and because I am a nerd... 04:40 has the ":" act as a mirror ;-)

First thing I do, is to drink 0.5 litres of water... regular tap water, nothing special. Then I spend my time in the restroom and while I am sitting on the toilet, I read a book - no screen as I aim for the first and last hour of my day to not look at any device - unless I want to set music or select my podcast.

On most days (unless I want to work out later with my wife), I hit the gym at 05:00 am. I workout for about an hour starting out with stretching and activating of my problematic areas: shoulders, lower and upper back, and knees. I work out with a 3:1 ratio of back vs chest muscles as I otherwise develop a posture that is not good for my shoulders. I end the workout with a lot of stretching and 2-3 minutes of breathing exercise. During the workout I mostly listen to podcasts - more on them later.

After the workout, I drink another 0.5 litres of water, then I shave, brush my teeth, take a shower, and have my protein shake (with almond milk) at about 06:30. I also take two L-Lysin (amino acid) pills as that helps me not get Herpes Labialis.

Starting to work | 06:30 - 09:00

If I am delivering a workshop at clients I hit the road at 06:30 to avoid traffic. During my commute I continue listening to a podcast. I listen to the following podcasts:

• Acquired
• Lanz & Precht (German)
• Lex Fridman
• The Pioneer (German)
• occasionally other podcasts too e.g. A16Z depending on the episode

If I am working from my own office, I hit my desk at 06:30 and start working. I start with email, slack, and teams messages first and respond to most asks that came in the previous day. Then, I create my to do list of the day - each item has a dedicated sticky note - and I prioritize them.

Every morning at 08:00, I call my dad... We joke about Immanuel Kant (the German philosopher) who would always run the same routine and people would say that one could set the clock accordingly. Depending on how much time either of us have we speak between 5 and sometimes 50 minutes. I also call my mom daily... more on that later.

Core business hours | 09:00 - 17:00

This is the time during which I deliver workshops, participate in meetings, work on conceptual things, do admin work... whatever needs to be done that day. On most days, I do not check email, slack, teams constantly - instead I have dedicated time slots for that. I actually have all notifications turned off - other than my phone which I put on "do not disturb" so that only a few people i.e. my wife, parents, and kids can call me.

During these core working hours, I try to maintain a low carb, high protein diet. I eat a bit of fruit, as much veggies as I can get (I am currently working on developing the routine to prep my meals upfront), and protein. Ideally I try to eat plant based throughout the day. Further, I drink about 2-3 litres of water.

End of working day | 17:00 - 18:00

At the end of my work day, I make a few calls. The first one goes to my colleague Philip who runs sales to get an update and see whether he needs something from me. Then I call one of the other colleagues that might have had some questions throughout the day. My last call of the day goes to my mom. We speak between 5 - 30 minutes... depending on how much time either of us have.

Family time | 18:00 - 21:00

On Mondays, I coach my daughter's basketball team and after that share dinner with my family. On all other working days, I cook (sometimes just warm up food) and we eat together. Again, I aim for low carb, high protein, and lots of veggies.

I try to spend dedicated time with each of the kids, listening to how their school day has been etc. I read with my youngest daughter for about 10-15 minutes... we take turns, so that she hears how fluent reading sounds like and then can practice herself.

The kids start their bedtime routine at 20:00 by taking a shower, brushing their teeth, etc. My wife and I use that time to take a walk around the block. Every evening we walk for about 45 minutes... this is time well spent as we move, breathe fresh air, and have a chance to talk to each other after each of us having a busy day.

We get back at about 20:45 and say "Good night" to each of the kids...

Sleeping routine | 21:00 - 04:40

Once the kids are in their beds, I start my bedtime routine. I do a few more breathing exercises, brush my teeth, drink water, and hit the bed at about 21:15. On most days, I read to my wife... within a few minutes of reading (maximum 30) I get so tired, that I put the book away and start sleeping at the latest at 22:00. This also why I can wake up that early.

Weekends

Weekends are not that different from regular work days.. at least not with regards to the timings and routines. Instead of working, I spend more time with the kids e.g. drive them around and watch their games, I do grocery shopping, I organize stuff around the house, and I take care of other things than regular work e.g. taxes. I also use the time to read/listen to books. My son and I also watch a Liverpool FC match every week and play some EA FC on the Playstation.

Occasionally, I take a nap... especially if on one of the previous days I stayed up a bit longer e.g. as we meet friends for dinner or watch a movie. But mostly, I try to stick to my routine... which is why I have started inviting friends over for breakfast/brunch rather than dinner.

The one thing I don't do on weekends is set an alarm... so I wake up based on my inner clock... which still in most cases is between 04:30 and 05:00.

Exceptions

Are there exceptions to this routine? Of course there are. But I try to keep those things as exceptions.

The one thing I am focused on the most is to not build up any sleep debt as I have identified a lack of sleep being the worst thing for me. I used to take pride in not needing a lot of sleep. But guess what, every now and then, I would get sick. I would push through those days... but still, I did not feel well.

What helped me identify my sleep debt was my Whoop band, which I wore for about 4 years. Once I could predict my recovery rates and adopted the routines mentioned above, I decided to not wear the band any longer and trust my inner voice.

Energy

My whole routine is developed around things that give me energy... Obviously sleep gives me energy. But the other things I have mentioned, are also energy-givers rather than energy-takers. Let me give you a few examples:

• Working out gives me energy
• Listening to podcasts gives me energy
• Eating well (low on carbs and mostly plant based) gives me energy
• Time with my kids gives me energy
• Taking the end-of-day-walk with my wife gives me energy
• Calling my parents gives me energy
• And yes... the work I do also gives me energy

I will not lie... after some weeks - especially when I teach workshops back to back - I am sometimes exhausted. This exhaustion is mostly driven by longer commutes. This is when I also know that I have to take it a bit slower on the weekend e.g. move more, sleep more, and work less. I adjust accordingly. But in general, my work gives me energy.

Is my life boring? I don't think so... but it might be boring to others. I get to do the things that I love most every day. My routines also contribute to continuously developing the things I care about most:

• Health
• Relationships
• Career

Why wake up so early?

I noticed that after a long working day, I could not hit the gym and if I did, I could not sleep well. If I did not sleep well, I did not have the energy to deliver my best work and also be consistent on my diet.

So I flipped things around... I decided to workout first thing in the morning. And as I did not want to sacrifice on sleep, I realized I had to sleep earlier... much earlier than most adults. What would I be giving up? I observed myself and others on what most spend their time on after 21:00. Nothing important... endlessly scrolling through some social media app, watching Netflix shows, or moving from one YouTube video to the next.

I thought to myself: I will not measure the success of my life by the number of shows I have watched... I measure it by health, relationships, and career. So create a routine that helps me maximize those three things which also means sacrificing on other things.

This is the personal choice I referred to earlier. Nobody can judge on how others should spend their time.

For me, waking up early has helped me a lot... especially in terms of developing a regular exercising routine again.

Could I have always done it this way?

I am not sure... When my kids (they are now 12, 10, and 8 years old) were younger they would disturb our sleep a lot. For many years it was really tough... Maybe if I had had the awareness back then, I could have done it better, maybe not.

Also, if I had to travel like I used to travel back in the days, things would be more difficult as I would be sleeping in different beds every week... and I really love sleeping in my own bed. Maybe this is a sign of me getting older ;-)

I am sure there is always a way to make a routine work... but at least in my case, it would have taken me a lot more energy. Today, things are pretty easy given I go to bed early. This is the one thing that I have to consistently focus on... go to bed early! As long as I do that, I am fine. The moment I break that cycle on multiple days in a row, I develop sleep debt which immediately results in less energy for working out, less will power to follow a good diet, and less mental clarity to do my best work.

Your next steps

As mentioned at the very beginning... I am not sharing this to brag, not sharing this to make you feel bad, and not sharing this to tell you what you need to do. I am just sharing what works for me, in my circumstance, and with my goals.

If you ask my advice, I can only recommend early to bed and early to rise... I believe everything else will fall into place. I believe missing out on social media, Netflix shows, and YouTube videos is not something one will regret in the future. I believe working out daily and eating well will give you energy to deal with everything else. And of course I believe that we should continuously invest in our own growth e.g. through podcasts, books, and conference talks.

If you decide to try this... give it a shot for at least 3 months. You will see early results after a few days/weeks... but to change your energy level it takes a bit longer.

#FromNothingComesNothing