Ain’t nothin better than the snow-covered ground / Where the rain never lets to the snow in this town

Castle

I wasn’t supposed to tour this house because it was out of my budget, let alone buy it. But something mysterious happened when I stood in front of it for the first time on a rainy winter day in 2013 (actually my second day ever in Portland, OR).

I got out of my realtor’s car, looked up at that maple tree in the front yard, noticed the width of the streets, and this very modest house with an almost unreasonable setback from the sidewalk.

Then suddenly, a flash of an out-of-body experience hit me. It felt like a thousand good memories from my future found me in that moment, reassuring me that the choice had already been made.

I knew then that this would be my home for many years to come.

Now almost a decade later, with arguably more time spent away from my house than me being in it, Portland has become my preferred place for creativity and personal development.

Here on this sleepy street in this quiet neighborhood, I’ve built an environment where I control almost all the variables, which makes it very easy to run n=1 experiments (that’s the personal development) and relax all the guarded layers (that’s the creativity).

The energy is great here and I can count on a good night’s sleep.

Music

Stories of journeys and places, stories of personal growth, stories of poetic love, and stories told from the outside perspective. These are my stories.

I’m an unlikely singer/songwriter and producer who writes primarily as an autobiographer, hoping not to miss the beauty in my own life. As such, my music is deeply personal and introspective.

I blend elements of pop, indie, folk, rock, electronica, hip-hop, and spoken word to create a sound as varied as my perspective, cultivated through an upbringing that spans four countries, cultures, and languages.

I write everywhere I go (it’s a big part of my process), but I am happiest when I’m putting it all together in my home studio in Portland, OR.

Stories

You can find my work on Spotify and Apple Music. The early stuff is raw, but everything released in the 2020s is actually kind of ok.

I used to maintain a dedicated subsite for all my music-related stuff, but honestly, my goal is to produce music that stands on its own, so I don’t need anyone to read about it. Just listen to it and decide if you like it or not. And if it speaks to you on some level, I’d love if you could follow me on Spotify.

Personal Development

I run a lot of experiments on myself and my environment. It started initially as I was trying to diagnose a skin issue (2022: likely a chloramines allergy, with 95% confidence), but then kind of became a lifestyle.

If you want to see my eyes light up, just ask about any of the things on this list. Not all of this was in Portland, nor are all of these things purely about physiological effects, but this section lives here because my house is kind of my lab at this point and the place where I am most likely to try or explore something new just for kicks.

Topic	Category	Year(s)	Personal ROI
Cognitive personality theory	Social	2023-	Exceptional
Bioptimizers P3-OM probiotics	Health	2023-	High
MCT Oil	Health	2023-	High
Homemade ginger tea	Health	2023-	Medium
Acai	Health	2023-	Medium
Manuka honey	Health	2023-	Medium
Bioptimizers magnesium breakthough	Health	2022-	Exceptional
Whole-house water filtration	Health	2022-	Exceptional
Iron Neck	Health	2022-	High
Professional photography	Expression	2022-	High
Sauna + cold plunge	Health	2022-	High
Gravity boots	Health	2022-	Low
Airfryer	Time	2022-	Exceptional
Bidet	Health	2022-	High
BPC 157	Health	2022	Exceptional
Personal chef	Time	2022	Medium
NADH	Time, Health	2022	Low
Kneesovertoesguy	Health	2021-	Exceptional
Skincare	Health	2021-	High
Multi-city living	Expression	2021-	Exceptional
Airline status (Oneworld Sapphire)	Time	2021-	High
ErgoLab chairs	Health	2021-	Medium
Talk therapy	Health	2021-	Exceptional
Non-alcoholic beer	Social	2021-	Medium
Olympic weightlifting	Health	2021	High
PRK Lasik	Health	2021	High, but be careful
Magnesium L-Threonate	Health	2021	High
Virtual assistant	Time	2021	Medium
Red light therapy	Health	2020-	High
Value investing	Money	2020-	High
Austin Air airfilters	Health	2020-	High
Float therapy	Health	2019-	High
Self-pay blood work	Health	2019-	High
Stretching before bed	Health	2019-	High
Enneagram	Expression	2019	Exceptional
Reading a book a week	Expression	2019	High
Backpod	Health	2019	Medium
Inclined sleep	Health	2018-2019	Low
CBD	Health	2018-2019	Low
Infrared saunas	Health	2018-2019	High
Temperature-controlled mattress	Health	2018-	High
Structural Integration	Health	2018-	Exceptional
Systems and intentions > goals	Expression	2018-	Exceptional
Ayurveda	Health	2018	High
Neem toothpaste	Health	2018	High
Activated charcoal	Health	2018	Low
Muse meditation headband	Health	2018	Low
Onewheel	Time	2017-2019	Low
Rock climbing	Health, Social	2017-2019	High
Vitamin D	Health	2017-	Exceptional
Waterflossing	Health	2017-	Exceptional
Instant Pot	Time	2017-	Medium
Far-infrared heating pads	Health	2016-	High
Krill oil	Health	2015-	High
SAD lights	Health	2015-	High
Technical clothing	Time	2015-	High
Squatty potty	Health	2015-	High
Pranayama	Health	2015	High
Training mask	Health	2015	Low
Brute-force trying contact lens brands	Health	2015	High
SIBO/FODMAPs	Health	2015	Low
Weston A Price Foundation	Health	2014-2016	Medium
Growing own food	Health	2014-2015, 2020	Low
Homemade yogurt	Health	2014-2015	Low
Rolfing	Health	2014-2015	Medium
Glassware (no plastics)	Health	2014-2015	Medium
Backyard eggs	Health	2014-2015	Low
Daily smoothies	Health	2014	Low
Deep tissue massage	Health	2014	Low
Surfing	Expression	2013-	High
Raw vegan	Health	2013	Negative
Vegetarian	Health	2013	Negative
WWOOFing	Social, Expression	2013	Exceptional
No microwave	Health	2012-2020	Low
Fermented cod liver oil	Health	2012-2015	Low
Galvanic skin response biofeedback	Health	2012-2014	High
Gluten-free	Health	2012-2013	Negative
Acupuncture	Health	2012-2013	Low
Traditional Chinese Medicine	Health	2012-2013	Low
Meditation	Health, Expression	2012-	Exceptional
Intermittent fasting	Health, Time	2012-	High
Big Berkey water filter	Health	2012-	High
No social media	Health	2012-	Exceptional
Binaural beats (Holosync meditation)	Health	2012-	Exceptional
Drink after eating	Health	2012-	Medium, not strict
Nose-breathing	Health	2012-	Exceptional
No restaurants	Health	2012	Low
BJJ	Health, Expression	2012	High
No soap	Health	2011-2021	Low
No shampoo	Health	2011-2019	Low
Earthing	Health	2011-2013	Low
Yoga	Health, Expression	2011-	Exceptional
Fermented foods	Health	2011-	High
Restricting blue light at night	Health	2011-	Exceptional
Only drinking water	Health	2010-2020	Medium
Cast iron cooking	Health	2010-2015	Low
Eating only organic	Health	2010-2015	Low
Paleo Diet	Health	2010-2013	Medium
Barefoot/minimalist shoes	Health	2010-	Exceptional
Toesocks	Health	2010-	High
Stainless steel waterbottles	Health	2010-	Medium
No alcohol	Health	2010-	Exceptional
Confidence calibration	Expression	2009-2010	Exceptional
No caffeine	Health	2009-	Exceptional
Study of the world’s wines	Social	2009	Medium
Windsurfing	Expression	2008-	Exceptional
Electronic toothbrush	Health	2007-2012, 2015-	High
Protein powders	Health	2006-2010	Low
Bodybuilding	Health, Expression	2005-2010	High
Caffeine	Health	2005-2009	High
Flossing	Health	2000-2018, 2022-	High

A natural reaction to this list is overwhelm. In fact, I was surprised myself at how many rows this table had when I started cataloguing all of my personal development experiments over the years. There’s a good chance I’ve forgotten another 30% or more of stuff I’ve tried over the years that has cycled out of my memory from being such low ROI.

I think of these types of experiments like compound interest, but for my mind and body. Each experiment or habit may only cause a little improvement by itself, but as you can see, this stuff adds up over time. Give it a couple of decades, and I am simply more consistent in my mind and body than probably 99% of people. It’s possible only pro athletes run themselves like this, but that’s not far from how I see myself in my 20s and 30s.

It works like this: the consistency makes me exceptionally good at being an executive and gives me the endurance to persist as an entrepreneur. These career decisions are how I turn my lifestyle into money in pursuit of a 99th percentile outcome. Incidentally, this is why you see so few experiments in the “Money” category above. I’m betting the proverbial farm on this particular strategy, but it seems to be playing out according to plan thus far.