Savage / Zen Newsletter No. 97
“Well-informed cynicism is only another mode of conformity.”
“Well-informed cynicism is only another mode of conformity.”
~ Max Horkheimer, Eclipse of Reason
2025 is 25% over. I wish quarterly check-ins were as trendy as year-end reviews or new-year resolutions. How much did you really resolve to do something if you didn’t make it 90-days? That, in itself is a problem that needs re-solving.
A couple annual goals that I set for myself were:
Compete in BJJ again, and
Reduce stress.
The first is fairly straight forward. If you’re a premium subscriber, and have seen my training sessions, you know that things are building that direction.
Some specific milestones I laid out for myself on this goal were to:
Train hard, only when I’m feeling great.
Focus on recovery.
Emphasize better, rather than more or harder.
The second and third tasks have gone pretty well so far. I started the year with a 6-week mobility program and continued into 6-weeks of endurance.
I’ve also tried to be more tactical and intentional in open mat sessions. I don’t need more practice “grinding or getting tired”, and furthermore, I don’t want that to be a habit that gets reinforced. I want a fresh and sharp mind. I want to rest between rounds and assess the previous round, and make a plan for the next one – similar to how a tournament would unfold.
Occasionally, I’ve gotten sucked into going harder than I wanted to or planned to, but fortunately the detrimental effect of this has largely been staved off by the other two points. I will add though, that about once per quarter, doing a training session that leaves you wrecked for 4 days probably isn’t a terrible interval to be testing yourself at.
Now, for the stress part. That word is complicated, and often what people refer to as “stress” is “stimulation” – lest we fall into the trap of presuming we can (or should) somehow rid ourselves of all stress (and stimulation).
What I really want is to be happier and I thought a reasonable route towards that was to reduce things that make me stressed – angry, overstimulated, etc. I further boiled that down to social media specifically, which seems silly, but also like the lowest hanging fruit.
The action steps I identified were:
Limit Instagram to 30 minutes / day.
Post content for yourself, not for others.
Don’t engage in arguments; if you can’t say something nice, move on.
Social media is supposed to be fun, right? Furthermore, no one has ever “won” an argument in a comments section, or apologized in one, or changed anyone else’s mind in one.
The first step was easy. Set up an app timer on my phone. Several times per week I do end up sneaking on on my desktop, or turn off the timer if I’m in the middle of messaging or posting something. However, the point isn’t really an arbitrary time limit, it’s to bring awareness to time wasted / invested.
In that regard I’m doing pretty well, because it definitely feels like a lot less than before – which helps with the latter points.
Posting content “for myself” also required some detoxing. “Likes and shares” (and praise) feel good. There is a dopamine response. But I’m tired of that game, and not very good at it. Spending a lot of time doing something you’re not good at and not getting much fulfillment from is a surefire way to end up un-happy and stressed.
Not engaging bullshit has also gone pretty well. Maybe once I chimed in on something, but that’s a pretty good record for the last 3 months.
This isn’t just about “not being able to tolerate other opinions”, quite the opposite. I haven’t unfollowed or blocked anyone (recently). My goal isn’t to create an insulated bubble for myself. It’s to develop temperance and civility. However, the later requires some reciprocity and the algorithmic outrage machines aren’t a very good venue for that.
In the meantime listening more and talking less isn’t a bad option.
You might ask, what’s my plan for the next quarter or the rest of the year?
ADCC Open Atlanta is in May, so that’s the biggest target for the entire year. If that goes well, who knows what the future / fall might hold. Alternatively, I have a lot of work projects that I’m excited about and will need a lot of attention.
I’ve started applying the “do not engage” tone to Substack as well. I’m basically moving towards just logging my training, rambling about topics that interest me, and sharing behind-the-scenes looks at life. If people find that content valuable or useful, great!
I don’t recall “buy me a coffee / beer” buttons working all that great in the olden days of blogging, so Patreon, Substack, etc. are certainly better options that don’t require selling your soul for ad clicks.
In the podcast below, Michael makes several great points, but a couple noteworthy ones are:
Complaining (or being cynical) takes no effort.
Being critical and correct takes only slightly more effort.
Trying to hear what someone is getting right, even / especially if you disagree with part or most of what they’re saying, takes a lot of effort.
All of that resonates greatly with me as I’ll admit to having written many whining articles, even in recent years, on this site that may be more or less “correctly critical”, but don’t really contribute anything useful.
The challenge Michael suggests is straightforward:
“If it’s worth bitching about, it’s worth fixing.”
In other words, shit or get off the pot, but stop complaining. Start listening. Start acting. Start changing. Starting with yourself.
What I’m Reading / Listening To:
What’s New?
In late April I’ll be updating my published BJJ Journal template. This will be released as a free article – talking about topics, information, and methods for tracking. The paywalled content will be the updated tempates via Google Drive.