Enter the digital guru
A digital guru is as hard to find as that mystical guru atop the mountain who imparts years of wisdom in a fortune cookie sized sentence. Finding a real guru takes a lot of time and and vetting. Just when you think you've found a guru who can curate the vast collection of information available today, you get blindsided with "paid-for" calls to action and personal agendas. I loath the “commercial break” style of some podcasts where real thoughts are derailed by sponsor products being weaved into real content. A good podcaster should just get the marketing done up front and the bring the info. If you want to talk about upcoming projects, fine. Just do it before or after the meat of the podcast is done.
Sidebar: I don’t hate those who monetize. Everyone deserves to make money and most of the quality podcasters offer a lot of valuable information for free. On the flip side, we consumers and recipients of guru-ness should reward those who do it professionally and with good ethics by sharing word-of-mouth praise. If you get great value from the gurus work then buy their damn book.
The research and time spent trying to find a worthy guru will absolutely pay off in the end. Finding a like-minded professional with online content who is sharing well curated information freely is worth its weight in gold. Sure, you still have to decided if everything the guru says is legit and something you can hang your hat on, but getting their boiled-down perspectives of large amounts of information combined with the gurus knowledge makes the time you spend that much more powerful. In the case of my chosen gurus, they will have collected and consumed massive health studies and used their professional knowledge and skills to decide if it meets their standards, which are often way more stringent standards than my own standards. Many of these gurus that I am speaking of have paid their dues and vetted their wisdom for years before stumbling into the world of internet sharing. Most of my top gurus have podcasts, books, youtube videos and even action-plans for achieving a given task. So, the 12 months spent finding a set of gurus is now paying off like a good financial investment. I've done my homework on my gurus so that they can do the rest of my homework for me and present it to me in precise and entertaining ways. Brilliant!
When you find a gold, tap the vein
That's gold miner speak for "when you hit a vein of gold you drill until you find the end, only then will you have the full spectrum of resources and be able to set a plan. When it comes to digital gurus you’ll have to do the surveying and digging up-front but believe me, there is gold in them thar hills. When you find that vein of golden gurus, keep digging. Find out who the gurus value and who their gurus are. Chances are they are a part of a group of like-minded people too, and those other like-minded people are going to be in the same vein of gold. Follow your gurus on twitter, subscribe to their podcasts, watch their presentations on Youtube and above all, be critical of your time and their thoughts. Remember, this is an abundance of information regardless of where it comes from and you have to make the best use of your own time. Do you really need to spend an hour on a show with a guest that you find to be quacky? NO! Just switch gears and move on. Don't waste your time on the filler material and the fluff marketing/information if it doesn't apply to you specifically. This whole guru things is about maximizing your time and information-gained not sitting through the dry spots with some strange obligation.
The unlikely gateway to by current batch of gurus
Like minded people are what a social network is all about. I'd much prefer to have a group of guys that I go to the local bar with, who are experts in everything I’m interested in but it doesn't exist in my life. I spend my days in corporate America and my nights in family land. No complaints whatsoever. But, this does put a dent in the "hanging with the guys" and "locker room chat" that you just can't have with executives and five-year olds. Through my own techno-lust and a morbid desire to see what I thought was the car-wreck in front of me I dialed-up the Joe Rogan Experience. This is not a slam on Rogan or me trying to say that silly comedy, UFC fighting and herbal inspired rants are beneath me. Just the opposite. This is the stuff I long for after reading a white paper on human resources and reciting Green Eggs and Ham for the 182nd time. Give me some weed smoking comedians who are skeptical of politics, religion and love to see a good UFC fight. I'm in! Rogan has some of the coolest guests on his show including a few that would later become my gurus (more on them later). Like I said before, these gurus can be hit and miss. For example, I love when Joe has a scientist on the show or a best selling author. Even better is when Joe has managed to get these people inebriated with substance and surroundings and ready to talk about anything and everything. This is my kind of show. I don't want to hear a scientist speak "sciencey" I want to hear a scientist talk like one of the guys and say with everyday words, what they really think about their field and whatever else comes to mind. Give me cuss-words and side-stories. I want rants and silly asides. Real people talking in real words about real subjects.
Guru #1 Joe Rogan
You don't know Joe. NO, trust me, you don't no Joe. If you think he's a testosterone-jacked, weed smoking, fight loving manly man, your right. But Joe also has a humble, respectful and insightful approach to life. He explores possibilities of the universe, studies human behavior and marvels at things you wouldn't expect a guy of his celebrity and wealth to even scratch the surface of. Joe brings big name guests and buddies from the local comedy clubs with no regard for how it will impact the show. It's not about getting more listeners and finding bigger sponsors. It's real dudes, saying the things we all think with no regard for being politically correct. All of these things make Joe Rogan my first guru and the beginning of the gold vein. if you need a laugh and some realness at the end of the day, dial joe up.
Guru #2 Robb Wolf
If you don't know the name Robb Wolf, how about the Paleo guy or the Paleo Dude? Sorry Robb. I had never heard of Robb Wolf either but when Joe Rogan had Robb Wolf on his show I had my earbuds glued to my head. "Robb Wolf knows his shit" was the first thing that came to mind and even better, he wasn't just there to give a pitch for his book. Sure, he brought it up and the conversation circled around the book, but never once did he say "buy my book and find out." Robb laid his knowledge out on the table and showed you each and every little piece of his specialty–paleolithic diet and and cross-fit like workouts. I say cross-fit like because Robb isn't like the IT guy upstairs that couldn't whisper to save his life and works-out to the point of exhaustion every day of his life only to take a handful of supplements and do it all again the very next day. Robb breaks his method down into four basic areas. Diet, Sleep, Hormone control and activity. Put simply, it starts with the diet that our ancestors ate in the not so distant past when there were no fast-food joints or grocery stores to shop at.
Diet
On the Paleo diet, you eat mostly meat, veggies along with limited fruits and nuts.
Sleep
9 hours of sleep a night. GASP, right? Actually it's very doable if you try. Turn the TV off and put the iPad down for a little while at night and start to experience the feeling of being tired. Remember that? For me this was profound. I thought I was supposed to stay up to the point of exhaustion and then get just enough sleep to get me through the next day. We're talking 4-5 hours a night and it made me fat, sick and miserable.
Hormones
As it turns-out this crap diet and minimal sleep thing I was so good at doing had a lot to do with my bodies hormones – cortisol and insulin. You've probably heard of them. Cortisol is the "stress hormone" and Insulin is the energy hormone. (Consult the gurus pages for further explanation) These two hormones need to exist in a balanced way or the inner workings of your body will begin to mis-fire and break your body down into a fat slob with no energy and an amazing tolerance for coffee and beer.
Activity
The last bit of the Robb Wolf way (better know by his book titled The Paleo Solution) is exercise. This is where Robb has made his living for years and he from what I gather Robb was a key player in what we know today as Cross-fit. Robb has been added and removed form the Christmas card list of many cross-fitters over the years for not being "cross-fit enough" at times. But this is the beauty of the man and exactly why he is guru #2. Robb is still actively searching, learning and sharing. When Robb gets wind of something that calls into question one of his previous theories or methods, he is the first to tell you and and explain why. No sticking to his guns to keep sales up and maintain his rep.
Guru #3 Chris Kresser
Chris is the kind of dude you'd imagine being a guest on the Joe Rogan at first listen. He speaks well, but slow and always with a little giggle in his voice. He can sound like a stoned philosopher–crazy smart with little worries ‘mon. While Chris and Robb are not clones of each other they do share many of the same views on overall wellness . Chis is practicing doctor with a specialty in GI, hormones and helping those with tough issues that haven't been solved yet. He’s a "healthy skeptic" in his own words and has his own stock of materials you can buy from his website. But like Joe and Robb he doesn't shove it down your throat and when it's time to talk health, he's on his game. Chris usually answers a few listener questions and does so in-depth with long winded answers and some really good analogies. Listeners send in questions ranging from high cholesterol worries to fecal transplants, and just about everything in-between. Like Robb, Chris is the first to tell you about a new study that came out or some case-studies that most of us can relate to. All the while, willing to adjust his stance on nutrition and refine the approach as new studies become available.
Guru #4 WellnessFX
This is the first guru that isn't just one person. Those of us who love what WellnessFX is all about surely have Jim Kean to thank for this amazing tool but it's clearly a team effort and everyone at WellnessFX has been awesome to me. I've certainly provided a lot of feedback to them and they've accepted it and used it to improve their product. So what is so amazing about WellnessFX? Well, here is my scenario. I went in for a physical and got my standard blood work done. For the first time in my life a few of my health markers were outside the "norm" levels. It’s a bit of a wakeup call and suddenly I was looking for information that was hard to get out of my doctor. I’ve had similar blood work done in the past and I'd get a call from my family doctor's nurse saying "hey we got your blood work, everything looks good" and that was it. Really that was all I cared about (stupid) but now something was off and I got a call from my family doctors nurse saying "the doctor would like to see you, please make an appointment. My first reaction was "What? What the hell is wrong with me? How soon do I need to be seen. What exactly is the problem? Sadly, my doctor wasn’t much help at all. This is when I was bitch-slapped by something I’ve heard many others utter but never really absorbed. “The health care system isn’t set up for preventative health care, it’s set up for crisis health care.” That is to say, just keep making yourself unhealthy and when you're good and sick, we’ll give you some pills for that. F-That!
This is exactly the niche that WellnessFX fills. WellnessFX offers a blood draw that covers twice as much information about my health as my family doctor was able/willing to give and then digests it into a form that I can easily read, understand and research. I am not looking for a Pass/Fail test when it comes to my health. I want to know exactly what is going on, even if the numbers aren't elevated yet. Tell me what is trending before it becomes a problem and give me a chance to address these things with diet before STATINS. It's moments like this when the Joe Rogan podcast really fits the bill. Give me a few moments of silly fun and then I can get back to trying to understand why I should wait until I am sick… to try not to be sick. What a pathetic idea that is. Should you not change your oil in your car until the engine starts to break down and smoke is billowing out of your hood? GASP! Okay, so I think you get it. WellnessFX is a guru and a wizard of sorts. They help me to see in great detail and clarity what others can not. My health, my wellness and my future. I'm the kind of guy who uses data to make changes. If I can see and learn about my lipids you damn-well bet I can set some goals and improve my cholesterol. With the knowledge of my aforementioned wizards and the insight of wellnessFX, I am starting to get a special-oops team of gurus built around me to help me be a better me. All of this while working a full day and making dinner for the family. Behold the value of the gurus!
Future Gurus
I've left out a lot of almost gurus including Tim Ferriss, Dave Asprey, Dr. Mercola, Figher_Diet and some others. They are all awesome but still earning my guru level trust. Lets be honest, it's easy to get that "impulse buy" feeling when you've struck a vein of gold and with a good stable of trusted gurus already in the mix there's no reason to rush another into the game. But I've certainly got my eye on a few others who seem to really know what they are talking about and that are sufficiently challenging the norms.
Chris Masterjon - http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/
If there is a training program to become a digital guru, Chris is about to finish it. He's still learning the balance of monitoring and offering good and valuable information but he's nailing the kind of research I want to see. He's taken a personal quest to bring lipid knowledge into the modern age and to a large degree this means fighting the man. The man being big Pharma and fighting being that his thoughts don't jive with theirs and he calls into questions the money they're making from $cience.
23andme.com
Like WellnessFX this group is giving me something I've never had reasonable access to before in my life. My DNA! I first heard about 23andme.com from a TED talk (the shopping mall of gurus) and then again from Dave Asprey while talking to Jim Kean. When I fist looked into the 23andme.com services it was going to cost me $300 to get my DNA genotyped. That's a lot of money for a dude like me but just in the last month or so the price dropped to from $300 to $99 and that was all the motivation I needed. I ordered kits for my wife and I and our spit-kits are in the mail. I don't know exactly what to expect from the DNA genotyping just yet but if the results are anything like I'm hoping for, this should be as powerful as the blood test from WellnessFX.
Ashley Tudor - http://sweetpotatopower.com/
Ashley has a lot of things going for her. A Design Strategist with ties to IDEO who has a passion for self-quantification and wellness. My ears perked! Ashley is the author of the book Sweet Potato Power and it wasn't just the first full book I've read in a decade, it was also my first digital book I've purchased. Ashley echoes the thoughts of Robb Wolf and Chris Kresser while adding her own Tim Ferris like self-test recipes for getting gathering data on your body. With good data, you can begin to understand what your body does with the food you shove down your throat and make adjustments. The same four principles apply to her methodology: Activity, diet, hormones and sleep. If you can find peace and balance with these four things, you're going to be healthy. Ashley has been making the rounds on the guru podcast network (the podcasts of the aforementioned) and even did the first WellnessFX webinar with Dean. It was a horrible display of technology but Ashley kept her composure and made the webinar worth the lag-time issues and awkward interruptions.
To be continued
Find the current and always changing Guru List here: http://weareallhumanshere.tumblr.com/gurus
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