Today’s menu
⏱️🍽️ In this week’s 7-minute issue:
Mindset action: Is the dream finally over on that thing you always wanted to do? Why this is only true as long as you think it is, and the steps you can take to get this bullshit out of your head
Health action: I was diagnosed with asthma over the phone by a so-called doctor - why what goes up your nose and into your mouth matters and how you can build optimal health by changing it
Real Life Inspiration: He set off to explore the Andes at age 56 - how one American legend ignored all the naysayers and built an unforgettable life among people with no jails and no poorhouses
The Year of Small Changes - my disaster with sleeping and how intentional breathing turned everything upside down
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. These are just my experiences. If you have any health issues, please see a registered medical professional.
Mindset Action
😨😃Whether you think it’s all behind you at 50, or you think you're just getting started, you’re right
So you’re 50, and you think you’re getting old.
Why?
Because you can feel it every day when you drag your stiff bones out of bed, when you struggle to exercise (only to injure yourself), and when you plan a vacation, even the thought of driving to the airport tries you out.
My man, there’s nothing wrong with you.
You’re just the average tired-out, overworked bloke who deserves a break.
A deep, powerfully rejuvenating, and regular break that changes your outlook on everything.
Here’s how to get in under 6 minutes a day.
Pick your spot. Quiet is best. If you don’t have one, use earplugs. I recommend the wax ball kind covered in cotton wool - nothing else works for me.
Sit comfortably. If you lie down, you’ll fall asleep and wake the house up with your honking. This is fine, but it won’t take you any closer to the calm inner self that is the kernel of who you are.
Pay attention to your breath for 5 breaths. Any more than that is self-indulgent time-wasting. When 5 easy, calm breaths are complete, you’re ready to start.
Set a timer for at least 5 minutes. 10 minutes if you’re more used to meditation.
Psychology time. There are infinite ways to go with this. Here are five of my favorites. Pick one and stick to it unless it gets weird or too boring for you to stay awake:
Tell yourself over and over that all that exists is the here and now. Remind yourself that no one is watching you and no one is evaluating how well you do this. Remember that one day everything around you will be gone, and then zoom in to the simple intensity of your presence in the here and now as though nothing else exists.
Picture yourself floating above your head, but not in a body. You are a single point of awareness with 360-degree vision. Try to see the room around you, above, and below you from all points of view at once.
Your heart contains 30,000 to 40,000 functional neurons capable of memory. Put your awareness there, and keep it there. Feel your heart beat and imagine yourself looking out from this center of awareness
Slow your breathing down. Don’t force this - let the breath choose its own pace. Then practice extending your Bahya Kumbhaka. This is the Yoga term for the pause between the exhale and the inhale. Focus on the stillness between the breaths. Again, don’t force it. No need to get out of breath. Let the inhalations happen by themselves.
Put your hands over your eyes and your fingers in your ears. Close them right off. It’s a little tiring on the arms, so rest if you need to, rather than letting the fatigue distract you. This is called Pratyahara mudra and means ‘withdrawal of the senses’. Trust me, the silence you drop into with this method… well, just try it.
The first week of this might suck.
In fact, if all you’ve ever done are passive guided meditations, this is quite likely.
Your focus is active in these, and the effect is different.
If your mind floods with creative ideas, have a way to record them.
You’re not a hilltop Yogi seeking freedom from the wheel of life (not yet), so grab onto all those juicy, creative, life-changing thoughts with both hands and use them.
Do this for two weeks like it’s your new religion, and if you don’t have a notepad full of crazy, exciting ideas that came to you while you tried to empty your mind, I’ll shave my knuckles and donate hair to the Wigs of the World society.
Disclaimer: I’m not responsible if you decide to quit your job, buy a boat, and become a global citizen after this.
Need any help with this? Reach out, and I’ll be happy to elaborate.
PS. A couple of simple tools:
My 2026 goal planner: Plan 50X Goal Setter
My 12-month plan for 2026: The Year of Small Changes
Check them out and follow along if you want to see ongoing, happy, and radical change in your life for the entire year.
PPS Some meditation wisdom to go:
“The essence of meditation practice is to let go of all your expectations about meditation”
Mingyur Rinpoche
Health Action
😤😤 The Breath: How to Achieve Life, Health, and Athletic Goals with Better Breathing
You’ve been breathing just fine since that smack on the butt you got all those years ago in the delivery ward.
Or have you?
The reality is grim when it comes to breathwork. Even worse, medical knowledge on this topic is obscure, conflicting, and often controversial.
At this point, you’ve probably not only heard of the Iceman - Wim Hoff, but you’re likely experiencing Wim-fatigue as well.
But this isn’t about him.
Although the quirky Dutchman is the breathing guru of our generation, he’s not the first one to harness ancient techniques for mass consumption.
In fact, if you read James Nestor’s incredibly well-researched book, titled very simply, ‘Breath’, you’ll find out just how many of them there have been.
My all-time favorite of these is Konstantin Buteyko.
The Soviet era Ukrainian doctor noticed distinct breathing patterns among his patients when they were nearing end of life.
He was shocked when he realized that he, exhausted and depleted at the time, was breathing exactly the same way.
He changed the pattern of his own breath to model people in excellent health and rapidly recovered his own.
Despite all kinds of controversy, including physical assaults and property damage, he spent the rest of his life researching the topic and came to the conclusion, with extremely compelling evidence, that a vast array of common illnesses can be cured with breath therapy.
As a Yoga teacher, I was skeptical when I heard a prominent Irish Buteyko practitioner proclaim that typical Yoga breath work made asthma worse rather than better.
I won’t lie, I was positively ‘miffed’.
But as my own breathing became seriously compromised during the infamous lockdown years, I changed my mind.
I was diagnosed with asthma over the phone by a doctor who prescribed lifelong use of an inhaler.
I barely ever used that thing, and I hated it when I did.
Also, it didn’t help.
It became a crutch that I was afraid to leave the house without.
As the prescription didn’t include an actual medical visit, I lost confidence in the diagnosis.
Buteyko breathing, on the other hand, helped me instantly.
The principle of breathing less to increase levels of CO₂ in the blood, and the ‘Maximum Pause technique (holding the outbreath) to generate nitric oxide (NO) in the nasal cavity, worked for me on the first try.
Counter-intuitive?
Sure. Until it’s explained.
The sustained pause after an exhalation causes a slight increase in alveolar CO₂ and thus more of the good stuff in your haemoglobin - the delivery mechanism in the blood for oxygen to the cell.
More CO₂ there makes it easier for your haemoglobin to deliver oxygen into the cells of the body, with all the positives that implies.
Breath less, gain more energy, endurance, better recovery time, and effectively treat asthma (endorsed by the health services in the UK, New Zealand, and many ex-Soviet countries).
Meanwhile, increased NO helps to unblock a chronically blocked nose - among other incredible benefits.
But enough theory.
If you’ve got a blocked nose right now, try this.
Barring deviated septums, large nasal polyps, and the like, this works like crazy, although, having said that, my own large nasal polyps vanished, which I did not think physically possible.
PS Don’t be fooled by Patrick’s low-key vibe - the guy is a guru in this field and has been helping people with respiratory problems for a very long time ✊🏻
Need any tips or help with this? Get in touch and let me know 👍🏻
Inspiration
🪶🦬 This man risked it all at 34 to leave a stunning legacy, lost it all, and started again at 56
I’ve been obsessed with Native American culture since I saw Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man back in the early 70s.
I’ve read dozens of books on the culture and history of the Plains Indians, but in decades of reading and documentary watching, I never heard of the remarkable George Catlin.
His portraits of Native American life from the 1830s are stunning, but George’s personal story is quite incredible as well.
He qualified as a lawyer, but after just a couple of years, at age 25, quit the job to become a portrait artist.
After a few years of painting the local rich folk, he got tired of that too, and, inspired by a meeting with a tribal delegation from the Western frontier.
True to character, he immediately began preparing to quit his portrait grind and travel to ‘Indian Country’.
Clearly, this was a man who craved meaning in his life.
So he hitched a ride on a riverboat and headed up the Mississippi River to document the lives of the legendary American Plains Indians.
It’s after this that things get really interesting.
When he returned from his expeditions, his plan to sell the collection to the US government didn’t work out, and he struggled financially.
By 1852, at age 56, he was flat broke in London and spent time there in the infamous debtors’ prison. A wealthy American bought his entire collection and paid all his debts.
It was just enough to get him out of jail and back to net zero.
I’m 57 this year, and I feel this one.
Did George give up? Go back to law or painting the feckless upper crust?
Of course not.
He packed his bags and headed to South America to record the lives of indigenous peoples there.
He did that for 7 years. Then, in 1860, at age 63, he moved to Europe and lived there for the next decade.
His work is stunning and unique, but sadly, it never gained recognition in his lifetime.
George died pretty much penniless at age 74 shortly after his final return to the United States.
If he was starting his adventure today, there’s hardly a doubt that his dream and vision would spread like wildfire with today’s access to huge audiences on social media.
Should we all live like George? Was it worth it for him after all he went through and what he ended up with?
He was driven by an unstoppable sense of purpose that went far beyond financial outcomes.
Do you have that sense of deep purpose in your life?
Still got something more to give?
Maybe, just maybe…
PS. By some remarkable coincidence I was unaware of, George also wrote a single non-fiction work called The Breath of Life, later retitled Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life, based on his experiences with tribal people who abhorred mouth-breathing and seemed impervious to the common illnesses at the time.
The Year of Small Changes
🤔 How’s it going so far - Better Sleeping
It hasn’t been easy… but it has been good.
The good:
I knew it would be hard, planned for it, and the plans worked
Despite poor sleep quality, I stuck to my intention of going to bed at a set time, a full 2 hours earlier than my normal bedtime
I stuck to my zero blue light rule and read ‘analog’ instead
Despite the quality of sleep being very sub-optimal because of breathing problems, my energy and mood levels STILL improved
The bad:
My sinus condition has been a massive challenge
The go-to-bed-early ‘jetlag’ effect was severe for the first night, not much better the second
I absolutely put the cart before the horse on this one
How this helps you:
When planning your one big thing habit change that will positively affect your entire life - make sure it’s something that doesn’t require prior work
If sleep improvement is your thing, make sure you deal with any other issues first before just going for it - in my case, I should have put my better breathing week before the sleep week - too late now though
If you’re a night owl and plan to go to bed earlier, plan for the jet lag effect - waking up in the middle of the night, wide awake, and stressing. Have a plan, stick to it, and above all, don’t stress out
When you go to bed makes a difference. I’m convinced that getting even an hour of sleep before midnight counts for several hours sleep after the witching hour
If you’re following along with The Year of Small Changes, then you’ll know that next week is all about establishing a solid meditation practice.
Make sure not to miss it 💪🏻
🙏🏻 That’s it for this week.
Let me know how it was for you all.
Seriously. Engagement is the lifeblood of newsletters, so hit me up with anything you’d like to get off your chest, improve, stress test, or sarcastically remark on.
And please 🙏🏻 if you’ve got a buddy you think could benefit from any of these, I’d be so grateful if you passed it on.
Liam KB.
PS Watch out for posts on social media if you’re that way inclined.