83 · Chemical Assistance

Just do anything it takes to get yourself to work: 3 Alpha-GPC, L-theanine, Dentyne Ice, vitamin D, zinc and magnesium supplements, Burst Bees, mint sprays, Thai yadoms, omega-3, electrolytes and creatine — ten-plus supplements a day, endless black coffee, cans of Red Bull and Monster, triple monitors, anything that keeps the thing going. It's going to be a blast in Canada: three monitors, 3am coding, Laplace transforms and Black-Scholes, trading with indicators. Work that I fucking love and will live and die for.

Everyone has their own weird thing. Mine is brain supplements — I have like ten for cognitive performance, because my thought process and decision-making are that critical to me. Bacopa monnieri and lion's mane, L-theanine, vitamin B, magnesium, double omega-3 fatty acids, double Alpha-GPC, creatine. Plus a shitload of caffeine and energy drinks.

You have a sixty percent higher chance of being a millionaire if you drink water out of a wine glass. Bro, just try it — it has no downside.

The physical engine is half the machine. HIIT is how I'm wired: every set full life-and-death mode, and the same for the rest. Kickboxing, basketball, swimming, running, lifting. Get physical, G — an hour of basketball a day is enough cardio and enough fun to keep the competitive spirit and excitement alive. Thirty minutes of lifting, one hour of basketball, 7.5 hours of deep sleep, then the deep work sessions stacked after.

My workouts are engineered for HIIT even on the endurance days. That's the oscillation mode I trust: full exertion, full rest, repeat. The same rules apply to the cognitive engine — two hours of complete focus, then the off button, then back in the lab. Push into the realm of failure daily, then recover like it's your job.

Fasting came to me in prayer as an experiment — sometimes the body needs an off signal as much as an on signal. Insomnia weeks, appetite loss, unconscious fourteen-hour fasts — the body keeps the score of the war, so feed it deliberately when you're in one.

Cut what spikes you sideways: the doomscroll before bed, the music that stirs shallow emotion, the sugar crash. Keep what points you forward: the walk, the sauna, the skipping rope, the cold shower that flips the switch.

You're not a statue, you're a river — and the river needs banks. Sleep is the bank. Default: 7.5 hours, non-negotiable in the long campaign, even when single nights get sacrificed to the crunch. The greats work ugly and recover uglier: crash fully, then rebuild. Respect the fatigue without identifying with it.

And remember the counterweight to all the chemistry and the optimisation: the strongest stimulant available is progress itself. One solved problem at 7am does more than three energy drinks. Engineer the first win of the day to arrive early, and the rest of the machine runs on it.