Lessons from a Whisky Distillery Tour. Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the [English] Cotswolds Whisky Distillery (website). In my opinion, the most consistently good English Whisky. I don’t think I’ve ever had one I didn’t like on some level. First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who organised the trip that allowed me to go on my first distillery tour.

This is all about time. I just finished reading The Dip by Seth Godin and watching an Alex Horomozi video on time management. This happened unplanned one right after the other. Serendipity? Anyway, I came to the conclusion that the one thing I don’t actually want to do every week is work at the bar, but right now this is something that I need to do

I think we’ve all been online long enough to have seen, “No one thinks about you, they’re all too busy thinking about themselves.” Or something to that effect. Or “Never be a minion, always be an owner.” — Cornelius Vanderbilt. The 50th Law has to be the best self-help book I’ve read (not finished yet) and it cuts to the heart of the matter. The self—You have to do it yourself, no one is coming to save you…

Frankly the only thing on my mind this morning wasn’t a something at all, but a someone. A young woman I met many years ago. I would see her regularly. In that, we were both in the same place at the same time. I had feelings for her, but they seemed to diminish with time, and I stopped being in that place and she moved away.

The abundance of food nowadays is just too much, we don’t NEED to eat 4 times a day (Based on breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack). Some of you might disagree with that, which is cool, leave a comment below with your thoughts on that. But the fact remains…

Who am I? This is a question we all ask ourselves at some point. When we’re lost and looking for purpose, the answer to “Who am I?” might give us what we seek. But who we are is based on our experiences up to this point, and a lot of that is based on our childhood, and how we were raised (treated) by our parents. And that has impacted our choices.

“You and I are not born as Tubula Rosa-Blank Slates. We are not free to become anyone we want to be. Rather, our task is to become who we already are.” - Steven Pressfield. So the above quote hit me today. He was referring to a line from his book The Legend of Bagger Vance and a golf swing. Saying that the swing is in there, like the statue of David, you just need to chip away the rough parts.

So, I usually read a quote and use that as my basis for these Journal posts. But today I haven’t come across anything. I could talk about my sexual proclivities, but I wouldn’t want to bore you all. So instead I’m just going to grab a book and read the first thing that I see, then see where that takes us.

“People are always impressed by the superficial appearance of things.” - Niccolò Machiavelli. I read this this morning in The Daily Laws by Robert Greene and couldn’t help but think about TikTok and how it’s taken over people's minds of late. Last night, as I was making my last cuppa tea I saw a half-full cup on the dining room table.

Up early, 04:30. Felt good to be awake and reading before most people have roused. It’s quiet, except for the odd car driving on a road 100 yards away. The wind is gentle the ground is wet the birds are singing. What better time to be awake. I feel of late that I let my emotions out for a walk too often. I have become complacent. They are starting to run amok. like an unruly pet. Time I think to reign them in. I must meditate on this. That door must now be closed.

Now think about the state of the influencer, whether that be Instagram, TikTok or one of the many live streaming platforms (Twitch, Kick). We are seeing of late a lot of news about these people and their inability to understand how humans work.

You must learn to better understand their thoughts and understanding of how their world works. Or at the least how their world works according to them, whether it makes sense to you or not.

I extended my walk today. What would normally be a 1.89-mile walk turned into a 2.37-mile walk—30 minutes turned into 40 minutes. For about 90% of this walk, I breathed through my nose. Making sure that on the harder, uphill, parts I was breathing slow and steady. Not once did I pant or suffer from lack of oxygen.

First off, what do we mean when we say biohacking? A quick Google search through this up. “Biohacking is a term used to describe do-it-yourself biology. It involves people making incremental changes to their bodies, diet, and lifestyle to improve their health and well-being. Also known as human enhancement, biohacking ranges from efforts to improve brain function to faster weight loss. And I think most of us can relate to this;

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be, be one.” Make two lists. If you’re a man, you’ll be used to this kind of exercise, if you’re a woman, ask a man. If you’re something else (I mean this is 2024 and we have about a bazillion genders), ask a man.