• Review: The Dip by Seth Godin

    by Alexander Becker

    The best in the world.

    Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can't deal with the stress of the moment. (The Dip)

    Seth Godin of Purple Cow and Squidoo and Seth Godin fame once again adds some required reading to your list (and mine). The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick).

    A book mentioning its typefaces in the imprint has my full attention, Janson Text with Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk, not just as a designer. A small, perfect bound book with nice paper and Hugh's drawings. That alone makes it the best book in the world -- at this exact time, at this very place, between and among the laser-printed, spiral-bound manuals and ebooks -- one of the few real books of the moment.

    Seth says being the best in the world is seriously underrated. Being the best in the world is hip again.

    The best in the world. I wonder how many people actually do quit -- recognizing and quitting their personal cul-de-sacs (or culs-de-sac?). I'm sure there are many who follow the recognizing part and even some who consider the quitting itself. Case in point, it's the Dip in action: scarcity and the value created by scarcity.

    I wonder how many people actually do quit, the question proves Seth's every point, the best in the world is not exactly about doing what everybody else is doing. Common sense is counterproductive here.

    The Dip sets up the best in the world vs. moderation --

    ... take a look at extreme moderation which seems to be a contradiction in terms. You can exaggerate everything, just apply the concept of excess to the idea of moderation.

    I still feel the urge to take moderation to the extreme... (WOW)

    Moderation is common sense, where common determines the exact amount of moderation -- average. Everything else is extraordinary -- and therefore worth pursuing.

    The best in the world goes against the Pareto principle --

    80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes. It is usually implied and recommended to focus on the 20% since this is where the return on investment originates. In our eternal quest for optimization, let's take a look at the dark side, the apparently unnecessary, the 80% of causes as determined by the Pareto principle. What about those non-vital many? (WOW)

    The Dip is the remaining 20% of consequences. The Pareto principle boosts productivity and works like magic in average settings, but, to conquer the Dip, you have to go all the way. 100%.

    Here is the Dip in the context of Zero-based thinking --

    Apply reversed zero-based thinking: Knowing what you know now, would you again get out of that situation? What could have changed your decision? (WOW)

    Obviously, realizing that the cul-de-sac was actually a Dip should have changed your decision.

    To sum it up, the idea of leaning into the Dip and coming out the best in the world is taking us beyond moderation, certainly beyond the 80/20 principle, and in a way beyond zero-based thinking -- dip or dead-end is a rather binary decision. Yet, I can relate to that best in the world thing a lot. It instills a certain hunger, and hunger doesn't know about cul-de-sacs.

    The concept of sticking with strategies and abandoning tactics is particularly useful. It takes the guesswork out of motivation issues, shortcomings, and temporary failures.

    The one missing ingredient is talent. The problem is that talent doesn't play any role. Maybe it's a lack of talent when quitting is the best you can do. Maybe -- in the end -- talent is what makes you the best in the world and prevents you from quitting when it just starts to hurt a little.

    The Dip is a definite recommendation, stuff to read, live and quit through.

    Now, get your name on that list already.

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  • Eat as Much as You Want: Experiences with the Warrior Diet

    by Alexander Becker

    One of the advantages of the Warrior Diet is the clear and simple distinction between what is allowed and when: Undereat for 20 hours and indulge in overeating the remaining four hours -- each and every day. It is easy to adhere to the principles and to defeat potential attempts to cheat -- refined sugars, for example just aren't allowed.

    Certain other diets prescribe exact times for exceptions or specific amounts that basically invite you to eat some more or some stuff that would be off, but... seems to be... with some stretching of the rules... and so on.

    After eating according to the rules of the Warrior Diet for more than five weeks now, here are some impressions, in no particular order:

    • Weight: Although I don't follow the Warrior Diet to actually lose weight, it definitely works to get rid of some bodyfat (Hofmekler calls it "stubborn fat" in the book) if you combine the diet with physical training.
    • Undereating: Absolute undereating; only water, coffee, and fruit juices seem to work best for me in terms of alertness, energy, and overall well-being throughout the day.
    • Overeating: I eat as much food as I ate during the first half of the year all in one month and I still lost some weight; in excess of four pounds over the first three weeks. Overeating, and especially the included compensation feels very real and converges with my take on moderation.
    • Coffee: I stopped drinking coffee, the compulsive, repetitive, hourly coffee, half a year ago. Since then, I only drank a cup or so once a week. Now, on the Warrior Diet, I drink coffee again daily, one small cup in the morning and another one in the afternoon. Drinking that black bitter dervish on an empty stomach feels great, in contrast to what you and I expected. It really supports the undereating phase.
    • Food groups: I am still eating vegan, no meat, no dairy -- all warrior... My eating vegan is an ongoing experiment and I am happy with the results so far. As of now, I experience no deprivations or deficiencies. (Note: The Warrior Diet is not about eating vegan.)
    • Diet composition: A week on all veggies and almonds feels great. Extraordinarily great. I ate an average of 200g almonds each day and I even lost weight. (I even felt great after eating more than 400g on one single day -- don't try this on any other diet, you probably don't want to try this at all...)
    • Exercises: An intense workout on an empty stomach, right after work, in the evening just before preparing the big meal feels amazing and leaves me with even more energy than I brought home. I don't even feel hungry after exercising.
    • Cravings: The body seems to crave exactly what is nutritionally necessary. It's always amazing to see the vegetative functions working so well.
    • Instincts: Eating vegan, my instincts aren't too bloody... but I am taking care of the almonds and the fat intake and I believe that all instincts respond and react the way they should.

    Conclusion: I still and highly recommend the Warrior Diet for everyone, for physically active people as well as for the 24/7-in-front-of-the-screen crowd.

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  • Review: The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler

    by Alexander Becker

    Based on undereating during the day and eating that one big meal at night, the Warrior Diet is appealing in many ways and modeled after the ancient hunter's schedule of hunting and collecting during the day and resting and eating in safety at night.

    No calorie counting, no restrictions, the cyclic nature of the program and the sequence of salad, veggies, and carbohydrates at the end over the course of the night time meal is important and makes this diet -- work. Even killing an occasional pizza is allowed.

    The starvation vs. compensation cycle is intriguing in that it is obviously triggering something that Ori calls the warrior instinct.

    Heightened levels of energy and alertness in reminiscence of the old warriors on the hunt for their meal are a reality in the undereating phase and a means to counterbalance our lazy, civilized habits. The body isn't preoccupied with digestion during the waking hours and even more, almost starving -- you are allowed to eat, as long as you chose low glycemic index fruits and veggies in order to keep the insulin output low to regulate the balance of the most important hormones.

    The fascinating opposite is the overeating period. The day is divided into 20 hours of undereating and 4 hours of overeating in which you can basically eat what you want -- sans sugar and refined starch of course, but this should be common sense by now.

    Try this diet as a lifestyle and you will be amazed by the newly found energy and vigor and the sheer amount of food that you will eat during the hour-long eating sessions at night without gaining weight. In fact, you will even lose the last pounds of fat that are on top of your chiseled six-pack abs.

    Wild and raw, instinctive eating, and living... who doesn't want to feel like a predator in an otherwise sterile, domesticated world?

    Conclusion: Highly recommended, both the book and the diet.

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