An Excellent Wknd [26.07]
Some thoughts dominating the fundamentals
Hello, hi, 👋
I missed you last weekend. The fam got walloped last week with the flu, and let me tell ya - when you sleep for three straight days, the house gets messy, the cat gets confused, and your perfectly time-blocked calendar gets thrown out into the snow. I’ll probably be caught up by Spring.
So, just in case ya missed anything last week, I’m letting this edition do double-duty - highlighting everything we put out over the last few weeks.
Let’s get into it.
PHYSIOLOGY DRIVES PSYCHOLOGY
When we struggle mentally, too often we go straight to the mind. We journal, we talk about it, we try to think our way out of it. And while those tools have their place, we’re skipping the foundation.
As our friend Brian Johnson astutely points out, your physiology drives your psychology.
His advice: Before you try to solve complex psychological challenges, ask a simpler question: How did you sleep last night? What did you eat today? When did you last move your body in a way that mattered?
This isn’t pseudoscience. This is the science we’ve ignored. Your gut produces ninety percent of your body’s serotonin. Sleep deprivation impacts your brain the same way alcohol does. Movement has been shown in study after study to outperform medication for mild to moderate depression.
And yet many skip straight to the hard stuff - trying to find meaning, overcome trauma, heal relationships - all while running on five hours of sleep, eating food that makes them sick, and sitting still for twelve hours a day.
The greatest failing of modern mental health care is ignoring the underlying physiology. We’re trying to build skyscrapers on broken foundations.
This doesn’t mean your psychological work doesn’t matter. It means you’re making it infinitely harder than it needs to be by refusing to do the basic work first.
Dominate the fundamentals. Eat real food. Move your body. Prioritize sleep. Do that for thirty days and then reassess where you are. You might be shocked at how many of your problems were actually rooted in how you were treating your body, not your mind.
Sourced for purity, not cost-cutting: Grass-fed whey from European dairy farms, the purest creatine monohydrate available, and clinically validated nutrients across every product. Zero artificial flavors or sweeteners, ever.
🎧 Wim Hof’s Three-Pillar System for Stress Resilience: Breath, Cold, and Mindset (w/ Brandon Powell)
Exploring how cold exposure triggers a 500% dopamine boost, why five breaths can shift you from panic to calm, and the science-backed protocols you can start today with nothing more than a cold shower and your breath.
🎧 Chase Club Q&A: How can I navigate growing apart from my gym community?
Talking about why growing apart from a community doesn’t mean you failed, how to honor what that place gave you without clinging to it, and what it means to trust yourself enough to move toward what’s next - even when it’s uncomfortable.
🎧 Surplus Value Mindset: Become the Person Everyone Wants on Their Crew (w/ Chris Irwin & Mark England)
Exploring the concept of being an asset versus a burden in every area of your life - and how this simple framework can transform the way you show up for yourself and others.
🎧 Where Do You Feel Most Alive? Why Growing Together Beats Going Alone (w/ Daniel Coyle)
Exploring Daniel Coyle’s new book on flourishing (aka, the experience of shared, joyful, meaningful growth) and why community might be the most underrated ingredient in building a life that feels fully alive.
❤️🔥 The Daily Chase
Brief, focused essays delivered each weekday morning to Chase Club members.
#197: The Old Scorecard
#198: The Worse You Feel
#203: How We Do Things Here
On Monday, we’ve got a new compilation episode of one of my favorite series from last year, all about the key distractions that are keeping us from living a life of health, happiness, and passion. (This would be a great ep. to share with a friend who isn’t chasing with us yet.)
The episode will lead into our newest essay, dropping on Thursday, where we’re exploring the two lies we’ve been sold about living a life of excellence, the cost of those lies, and what we can do about freeing ourselves from them.
Excited to get you this one.
Until then, keep on chasing.
🤙🏼 Patrick
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Glad you guys are doing better ❤️🩹