The archive
Field Notes
Thirty years of coaching men over forty, written down. Some of this first appeared on LinkedIn between 2015 and 2024 and is republished here with its original date. Where I got something wrong, I have said so on the page rather than quietly deleting it.
September 2026
Why you're tired all the time
Most men over forty who feel exhausted are not sleep deprived. What is actually going on.
September 2026
What do you actually want?
A coach asked me what I wanted for my life and I had no answer.
September 2026
You do not need an hour
The least exercise that actually does something, and the part everyone leaves out.
September 2026
Eating fat does not make you fat
What held up from my 2016 column, and the part I oversold.
September 2026
Why starting over keeps failing
You have done it five times. It is not discipline, and the fix is unglamorous.
September 2026
The DadBody project: what it is, who it is for, and why it works
Seven years ago I went looking for four dads over 40 to test an idea. What it became, and what it refuses to promise.
Field notes
How long it really takes to get back in shape
The real timeline, and every number from a sixty-day cohort of twenty-three men.
Since 2016
The Whole Life Fitness Manifesto
Thirty minutes a day. Fifteen of movement, five of stillness, ten of reading. The framework everything here runs on.
From the archive
Earlier pieces, republished with their original dates and light editing only. Where something was wrong or has aged badly, it is corrected on the page rather than removed.
December 2023
Four simple phrases for thriving relationships
I am wrong. You are right. I am sorry. I love you. Saying them first is the hard part.
October 2023
Dancing with Mom
My mother, a VHS tape, and the reason I think fitness is allowed to be fun.
October 2023
Five life lessons from Ted Lasso
Five things worth keeping, including the Walt Whitman line the show made famous.
July 2022
One year of putting my mental health first
The origin of MERGE60, republished from LinkedIn.
October 2020
Someone is knocking at the door. Open it.
Two things to notice if you know you are in the wrong place.
March 2020
Do we hate the words, we need to talk?
Half of men have two or fewer close friends they can talk to about something serious.
October 2019
I was scared, but I did it anyway
My coach suggested Toastmasters on a Friday. I joined on the Monday.
June 2019
Are you over 40 and a father? Then the #DadBodyProject is for you
The post that started all of this. Republished unedited.
April 2017
The Monday morning challenge
A conditioned belief about one day sets the tone for the whole week.
February 2017
Quality of life far outweighs quantity of life
Losing basic functional movement means losing the ability to care for yourself.
November 2015
No longer fat, sick and nearly dead
The earliest written record of the two percent framework.
More coming. I am working through a decade of writing and only republishing the parts I actually wrote.
The Warm Up
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