The 80/20 Rule…

Aka the Pareto principle..

It suggests that 80% of your success comes from 20% of your inputs. Do less, better. Focus on the basics.

If you apply this to your health and every day habits it emphasises the importance of focusing on habits and routine to achieve what we want.

With fitness: aiming to move more, not worrying about your % of REM sleep your app tells you…

With nutrition: aiming to eat more whole sources of food and getting in more fibre, no signing up to a fad weight loss diet plan.

Don’t major in the minors: if you’re eating organic food, if your zero cal drink has artificial sweetener, what supplement you need to buy…

Focus on the majors first: get 30g of fibre a day, keep a regular sleep & wake time, move more, focus on sleep by limiting phone use before bed, start weight training…

3 Harsh Truths:

1. Pseudo-intelligence:

If someone uses complexity and jargon unnecessarily, it’s likely to mask a lack of deep understanding. If you can’t explain it to a 5 year old, you don’t understand it.

2. Choosing the lucky path:

When choosing between two paths in life, pick the one with the largest “surface area” for luck. Your actions will put you in a position where “luck” or opportune is more likely to strike. It’s hard to get lucky sitting on your sofa watching TV, but it’s easier to strike luck if you push yourself to learn and engage in your surroundings.

3. Be more dumb:

Try to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, so you spend more time listening and less time talking. It’s bad for your ego, but great for your growth. Life is for learning.

Japanese Tools For Being Less Lazy!

1. Kaizen:

Don’t aim just for the big wins. The low hanging fruits are just as juicy. Small improvements.. even 0.1% is still progress. Big goals can seem daunting, divide them into smaller, more manageable ones.

2. “Shinrin yoku”:

“Shinrin” is Japanese for rest, “Yoku” is bath. Surround yourself with nature more. If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, go for a walk - preferably somewhere with trees.

3. “Gaman”: 

Show patience and perseverance when things get hard. Not every step of the journey will be pleasant. There will be failures. Accept this but forge forwards.

Medical Breakthroughs Of 2023:

1. Cancer vaccines: 

Scientists created personalised mRNA vaccines using specific cancer proteins from pancreatic cancer patients. Those who responded to the vaccine showed no evidence of pancreatic cancer recurrence 18 months after surgery!

2. Gene therapy for sickle cell:

Using CRISPR gene editing technology we can edit the DNA of sickle cell patients so the updated cells no longer produce abnormal Haemoglobin and produce less mutated sickled cells!

3. Slowing Alzheimer’s: Lecanemab - 

The first drug to show clinically significant cognitive changes in Alzheimer’s. This drug helps remove toxic amyloid beta plaques associated with neuro generation and helps to “reverse” Alzheimer’s to some degree early on in the disease!

What You Should Read:

“This Book May Save Your Life” - Dr Karan Rajan

A project that took me over 2 years to complete.

My magnum opus.

Everything I wish people knew about their health but don’t. A piece of my soul in print, a reverse horcrux that does hopefully some good in people’s lives.

Even if this book has one thing which makes a difference for you, it’ll be worth it for me.

As we come towards the end of the first week of the book launch, I just want to say a huge thank you to YOU.

I’d love for this book to make it onto the best seller lists, so grab a copy if you haven’t already and recommend it to any friends, family or enemies you have!

Life Updates:

JOMO.

The joy of missing out.

New Year’s Eve has always been anti-climactic for me. The last few years, I’ve gone to bed before midnight, as a result, I’ve not regretted it one bit! I love my quiet, boring, countryside life!

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a few days off over Christmas and over the new year period.

I’ve also taken annual leave in the beginning of January for book related press.. Then, I’m on study leave after that, so I’m only really back to operating properly in the 3rd week of January! But surgery is like riding a bike - you never forget ;)