In this solo episode, the host reflects on whether to add meditation as an eighth foundational health habit to his existing seven. He explains his strict criteria for a habit to become a non‑negotiable, requiring at least 80% consistency and the ability to fundamentally rewire his behavior. He outlines several personal motivations for meditation: achieving a calmer, more still mind; gaining clearer thinking; acting more consciously rather than impulsively; reducing constant sensory input; developing emotional agility; and deepening presence and identity. The host cites a roster of high‑performing individuals—Tony Robbins, Chris Williamson, Naval Ravikant, Ray Dalio, Sam Altman, Kevin Rose, Lex Fridman, Ryan Holiday, and Nate Green—who publicly credit meditation with enhancing their clarity, stoic discipline, and rationality. While acknowledging the possibility of a halo effect and the trendiness of practices like journaling or cold plunges, he concludes that even a modest boost from meditation would be valuable. He signals an imminent decision to adopt meditation, promises a follow‑up episode detailing his implementation plan and first‑month goals, and invites listeners who have successfully integrated meditation to share their experiences.
Chapters
Alright, I've had an idea for an 8th foundational health habit for a long time now, but I've been quietly sitting on it. It's not because I'm lazy, it's because I've been genuinely torn. Now, you should know I have a really high bar for what makes the cut into my foundational health habits list, and at this point I'm not 100% sure that it meets my standard for being foundational. And it should go without saying that any habit I add to the list, it becomes a non-negotiable in my life. Something I commit to hitting 80% of the time, probably for the rest of my life. And habits like alcohol, sleep, steps, they clearly make the cut. But this one, I've been on the fence. Now, the other thing as well is I don't want to water things down with so-so habits, and I don't want a bloated list of 20. I want a small gold standard set of habits that actually rewire me as a human. And that's what foundational means to me. There is also another reason I've been hesitating to add another habit into the mix. I'm still on the journey with the 7 habits I already have. I'm just not at the level where I can hit 80% consistency on all of them yet. So part of me thought, why add another habit in whilst I'm still trying to nail the 7 that I have? But here's what's changed lately. I've realised that the journey will never be done. I'll never reach this magical moment where all 7 habits are dialled in perfectly. And I'm ready for the next one. That's not really how this works. It's much more of a messy, nonlinear journey, and I'll go deeper on that in next week's episode. So at this point, I think I'm almost ready to go for it. I think this 8th habit might actually be foundational, and there's really only one way to find out. Commit to it. So let me walk you through what this 8th habit is and why I want to add it. So the 8th foundational health habit I've been sitting on is Drum roll. Meditation. And here's why meditation has been quietly tugging at me in the background for a while now. I think first of all, I want a stiller, more peaceful mind. I'm someone who tends to ruminate and overthink, and when that ramps up, it can spiral into overwhelm and negativity. And honestly, it could just be exhausting. I'd love to quieten all of that down. Not just during meditation itself, but across my whole day. I want more calm and I want more stillness and more peace. The other reason is I want to think more clearly. So I'm actually quite drawn to people who think clearly and have this kind of superhuman ability to cut through the noise and make really good decisions. They seem to have this crystal clear clarity and they seem to do it all with ease and consistently. And I do have moments like that where I can sometimes see things other people miss or make a decision that turns out really well. But those moments also kind of feel too fleeting for me at the moment, and I want more of them. And I think that meditation might help me clear the fog and live more in that zone. The other thing is I want to act more consciously. Now, I consider myself a pretty self-aware type of person. I spend a lot of time reflecting and going inward and spending time in solitude, etc. But still, I act on impulse more I would like. And that's where I think meditation can come in. It should start to build more awareness of the inner dialogue that's constantly running in my head. And with that awareness, hopefully I'll be able to choose my response instead of reacting automatically. Another thing, I want more input-free experiences. And I've been thinking a lot about this lately. There's a lot of noise in our lives today. Phones, music, podcasts, all types of screens. And it's kind of like this constant stream of stimulation. And I've noticed something. I really want less inputs. I want more kind of space and silence. And meditation is sort of the purest form of that. It would just be me, no inputs and no noise. And honestly, I kind of look forward to that. I want more of that kind of peace and stillness in my day. And honestly, I'm struggling to make improvements in that area of my life at the moment. And it's not without trying. I want more emotional agility. Now, what do I mean by emotional agility? Well, I want to notice my emotions without being hijacked by them. I want to be able to respond to things and not react to things. And this ties a lot into what I've already said— the overthinking, the impulsivity, the fog, the rumination. I just want to feel more steady no matter what is happening. And then lastly, I want to deepen my presence and identity. I know that sounds kind of like super fluffy and super deep, but here's what I mean. You know those people who just seem stoic as hell? They're kind of— sorry, they're calm, they're clear, and they just appear super in control, and they don't seem to flinch at anything at all. And I do have my moments like that, but I want more of them. I want to live in that mode more often. I want a life where I am calm, I am consistent and where I'm fully in control of what I can control. And meditation feels like it could be a path to that, a way to bring more presence in my everyday life for myself, my work, and the people I care about. And look, this isn't about being all Zen for the sake of being Zen. Everything I've talked about so far feel like real gaps I've noticed in how I think, how I feel, and how I act day to day. And I'm starting to actually feel pretty excited about how I can level up by filling in those gaps. So that's a strong bunch of reasons why I'm leaning into building meditation as an 8th foundational health habit. But there's another really big reason why I felt the pull to bring meditation into my life, and it's this: there seem to be just so many smart, successful people that I respect who absolutely swear by it. And at this point, it's getting hard to ignore. Here's just a short list of people that I follow and people that I admire who have spoken openly about how meditation has helped them become better humans. Tony Robbins, Chris Williamson from the Modern Wisdom Podcast, Naval Ravikant, Ray Dalio, Sam Altman, Kevin Rose, Lex Fridman, Ryan Holiday, Nate Green. Most of you won't know who Nate Green is, but he's a good friend of mine, and he'll kind of laugh at being on this list alongside the likes of the Sam Altmans and the the Ray Dalios, but I really, really deeply respect how switched on and clear he is about his life. And he is a super, super big meditator. Um, so yeah, all of these people have talked a lot about how meditation has helped them become better, smarter thinkers. And look, even just going a little bit deeper into why these people think so highly of meditation Naval, for example, calls it a practice that helped him decouple from his ego and find a more lasting peace. Ryan Holiday ties it directly to Stoic discipline and self-mastery, both essential to his writing and success in general. Lex Fridman talks about stillness and reflection being key to handling complex conversations and ideas on air, which of course he's one of the best at, world class. And Chris Williamson from the Modern Wisdom Podcast says it helps him think more clearly and stay calm in a world overloaded with noise. Something that I've talked a lot about feeling myself already on this episode. And lastly, Ray Dalio, super big investor, very, very successful, credits meditation with helping him stay grounded and rational, rational through volatile financial markets. And all of this is becoming too consistent and loud to dismiss. Now, I will admit, though, I've been skeptical at times. A lot of these people describe meditation as a first principles habit, something that made them more capable and not just something they picked up after becoming successful. And honestly, I don't necessarily think they're lying or exaggerating, but I have wondered if there's a bit of a halo effect at play here where once meditation becomes a trend in high-performing circles, it sort of sticks around as a badge of intentionality and discipline. And we've seen this before with things like journaling, cold plunges, breathwork, all of those types of things. They're great practices, probably, but they've also taken on this almost cult-like status. So yeah, I've questioned whether meditation actually just sits in that same sort of bucket. But even if that was true, even if it wasn't some breakthrough habit for all of them, it almost certainly was a force multiplier. And I think that's enough for me. So here is where I've landed. I don't think meditation is why these people became who they are, but when some of the clearest, calmest, most effective thinkers in the world point to it as a key part of their life, I think I need to pay attention. And actually this episode, I think it's kind of convinced me meditation is probably gonna make the cut and it's probably gonna become my 8th foundational health habit. But I'll make that official call over the next couple of days. Now, if I do lock it in, expect an episode where I'll break down exactly how I'm gonna start building meditation into my life and what my goals will be for the first month. And by the way, I don't think it's gonna be straightforward. I have failed dozens of times in the past to build meditation into my life. And look, I don't think I was as capable and as disciplined as I am now, so arguably it might be a little bit easier now that I have that base, but I still think it's going to be a struggle. And on that note, if you've built meditation into your life, I would love to hear from you. I'd love to learn what's worked for you and what hasn't, how long it took, etc. So please do get in touch. I'm genuinely curious.. And yeah, I guess in a week or so you'll find out whether there'll be an episode around me bringing it in as an 8th habit and how I plan to do that. Cool. See you in the next episode.
