X-1 Mark’s 7 Favourites
Yo yo here we go!! I really appreciate you for being interested and hope you're doing well. Here goes X-1 of My 7 Favourites, packed with a lot of gems!
30 OKT 2023
If you haven’t seen my first post yet; I’m sharing My 7 Favourites*. Inspirations I enjoyed in a specific time of my life, also to express my gratitude! I hope it can be of value to you too.
Enjoy reading.
*Nothing is sponsored, everything I write is what I fully support and use(d) myself.1. Music: Arin Ray - Phases III - EP
To kick things off: Arin Ray’s new EP ‘Phases III’! This one wasn’t easy for me to choose with a very broad music taste. But last week I’ve been vibing to his music so this is the winner.
Arin Ray is not too well-known but luckily I’ve been following him for a while now and he always hits with his vibey RnB! Perfect for some late night moments. Go check him out!
2. Inspiration: Modern Wisdom
For my inspiration, I’m picking a podcast that’s proven to be a gem. Last couple of months I started listening to Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom. A highly recommended one to listen to business, fun, controversial and interesting life lessons in a wide range of topics and speakers. A go-to for those with a growth mindset.
The one I find the most inspiring was with Alex Hormozi. Loads of valuable tips about mindset, business and much more. It’s a long listen, but worth it.
"The heaviest things in life aren't iron and gold, but unmade decisions. The reason you are stressed is that you have decisions to make and you're not making them."
- Alex Hormozi
3. Wellbeing Practice: Lower Body Strength Session
I have many wellbeing practices! For the first pick, I’m choosing one of my favourite workouts out of my gym routine; a smashing lower body session. I will definitely share my whole split in later editions.
This workout is structured to work on more parts than your ordinary gym session, with a focus on strengthening full hip flexion. Very good for runners or football players.
Go and shake up your legs and let me know how your legs felt after! Prepare for some serious DOMS..
Estimated duration: 1 hour and 20 mins
4. Tech: Whoop
If you’re a health and sports enthousiast, Whoop is 100% the wearable that you want to level up your performance. I’m digging more into biohacking lately and Whoop provides great insight in unlocking your full potential. Also, as a physical therapist and personal trainer, I highly recommend it to a lot of people to get an insight in their own lifestyle and recovery.
Whoop 4.0 Strap
This strap is meant to be worn 24/7 and tracks your recovery, sleep, exercise, strain, HRV and much more. Through this it gives you amazing insight in your body’s signals and performance.
Whoop also gives you advice, even through an AI coach, but this is more a gimmick than useful (for now). If they would improve the quality of personalised advice, this device will be absolutely next level.
This is for you if you want to optimize your performance, check the effects of your own habits and see if you can go harder or if you’re burning out, but know that it comes with a price of €30,- per month.
You can get one month for free for 30 days and you can cancel any time.
5. Cultural: The Creative Act: A Way of Being - Rick Rubin
This choice will definitely not be for everyone, but my favourite of this edition is a book called ‘‘The Creative Act: A Way of Being’’ from Rick Rubin, a well known music producer (and much more).
Rick Rubin writes about creativity and how (not) engaging with it impacts oneself. Through a style of short passages, it really made me think and reflect on my own tendencies in creativity. Funny enough, this book is one of the main reasons I started picking up and sharing more creative endeavours such as this project!
‘‘All art is a work in progress. It’s helpful to see the piece we’re working on as an experiment… Perfectionism gets in the way of fun. A more skillful goal might be to find comfort in the process.’’
I personally really liked the style as I’m very familiar with creativity, spirituality and zen-buddhism and this perfectly fits that energy. But I know that’s not for everyone.
This book is for you if you’re open to deep thoughts, spirituality and wisdoms on embracing and understanding your creativity. I don’t think this one be for the people that identify themselves as very logical.
6. Art: Aquarel by Safaa (@sketchesbysafsaf)
For this one I picked an aquarel gifted to me by the talented Safaa (@sketchesbysafsaf). One of the kindest and most colourful souls I’ve met in Amsterdam through my work! I’ve got the blessing to help her and she became a true friend!
Pictured on the aquarel is my hometown Nijmegen and shows the entrance from the river Waal, ‘de Waalbrug’, the ‘Sint Stevenskerk’ and the ‘Waalkade’ in crazy details!
Shokran Safsaf!
7. Nutrition: Athletic Greens
Also contributing to my new biohacking journey is my latest addition to my morning routine: AG1 from Athletic Greens. If you’re keen on biohacking, health and fitness, you’ve probably already seen it in various podcasts such as Huberman’s, Instagram or on Youtube. And now, once more.
To explain AG1 in a short, it’s a green drink containing pre- and probiotics, minerals, vitamins and more. These contribute to improved gut health, immunity, energy, recovery, focus, aging, and more. The drink is meant to be taken on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. This has helped me a lot in my morning routine and I feel good since taking it, but I also prioritised my sleep, no alcohol and better routines in general. So can’t tell the pure effect of it.
At first I found the price too hefty but since I’m putting my priority on my health after some health problems, and I find it a worthy investment now. But I do know that it’s definitely not for everyone’s budget with €87 per month.
If you want to know more about my supplement stack, let me know!
That wraps up the first edition of My 7 Favourites!
Much appreciated for reading this and subscribing.
I hope it can provide value to you as it has done to me. Please feel free to leave a comment and to share to the people you think will like this!
What topics would you like to see?
See you soon with the second edition of Mark’s 7 Favourites.
Ciao for now!
Mark Wilbrink
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