Things I Learned

August 20, 2025

This is a living document of random things I’ve learned over the years.

Some are obvious, some are controversial, some are just reminders.

Health

  • To get out of your head and reset your mood/mental state:
    • Go for a swim in the cold ocean water
    • Do a hard interval run/sprint
    • Talk to people
  • Your gut health is your health report card. If it’s not good, fix it ASAP.
  • If you get sun through a window, you’ll tan and burn but won’t get any vitamin D

Life

  • Take more risks. We’re all a bunch of pussies nowadays. What’s the worst that can happen?
  • A steady paycheck is the world’s greatest addiction. Beware the golden handcuffs.
  • Freedom and time to do what you want is the ultimate goal. Money is just a means to an end.
  • Learn how to live with less. The more shit you buy, the less satisfaction you’ll get from things and the more they become a prison.
  • Philosophy is not just for the nerds and elites. It’s how you learn how to think and live.
  • Storytelling and communication is the biggest ROI skill you can learn.
  • Writing is the best way to process the mess that’s on your mind.
  • If you’re not reading books, you’re missing out

Food

  • Most supermarket yoghurts have their probiotics removed (pausterized). Add some kefir in your mix.
  • You shouldn’t eat or drink 90% of things sold in supermarkets.
  • If your gut isn’t perfect, you’re probably not eating enough fiber. (Oatmeal for breakfast isn’t enough)
  • You’re probably not eating enough veggies. You don’t need multivitamin pills, you need veggies (Crucifereus, leafy greens, etc, All types).
  • The only supplement worth taking is creatine. Unless you’re training hard, then you need more protein than you think.
  • Vegan protein is easier on the gut than whey protein.
  • Intermittent fasting is fat loss magic. Just skip breakfast. But make sure to fuel before and after workouts.

Mobility & Training

  • Make health & training your #1 priority. The rest will follow.
  • You can be fast, strong and flexible at the same time. You’ll never reach elite levels, but you can still be excellent at all of them. And that’s good enough for me.
  • If you don’t like training, you probably just haven’t found the right sport or training style for you. Try more stuff instead of torturing yourself in a gym.
  • If you have tight muscles for a long time, you won’t fix them with stretching alone. First you need to find the root cause. And then you need Fascia Release + stretching + strengthening the right muscles
  • Your feet need training. Zero Drop or Barefoot shoes are the way to go
  • If you have chronic neck, trapezius or shoulder pain, your pillow is probably too tall
  • Walking in havainas will mess up your feet
  • Daily yoga is much better than one heavy session per week
  • Going for massages is great, but your wallet and body will thank you if you learn how to do it yourself.
  • Run slower. Keep your easy runs easy. No one cares about your strava pace.
  • Get rid of your office chair. They trick us into thinking sitting all day is ok. It’s not. Get a standing desk, sit on the floor, a stool or pilates ball. Move around.
  • If you can’t sit comfortably in a squat, fix that. It should be one of your top priorities

Work & Entrepreneurship

  • Stop caring so much about code. What matters is what you ship, and how much you market.

  • The reason why you don’t launch things is because you’re unconciously afraid of criticism and failure. Publish things before they’re ready, just so that you learn that nobody cares.

  • Post on reddit to develop thick skin against haters. You’ll become immune to it.

  • 99% of meetings are completely useless or could’ve been a slack message. People that love meetings are just too lazy to write a clear message.

  • Daily scheduled meetings are 100% useless, and a form of micro management.

  • Focus only on the highest ROI activities, especially if you’re a solo founder.

  • There’s no point in making long term plans. Just go with the flow.

Travel

  • European capitals are boring, go to the countryside.
  • The best trips are always the ones where you make the least amount of plans.
  • Take S. boulardii probiotics before your trip. They’ll police your gut and block most of the bad stuff you’ll get from street food.
  • Airpods Pro noise cancelling is decent enough, and better than lugging around a big pair of headphones.
  • Sometimes all you need is a change of environment, book that flight.
  • Packing cubes, you need them.
  • One 30-40L Backpack is enough.
  • Go travel and meet as much people as possible, from all cultures and backgrounds. It’ll make you a better person.
  • Take the best out of other cultures and apply them to yourself. Do business like americans, be friendly like brazilians, do hospitality like the middle east, work like a german, chill like a southern european.

Portugal Specific

  • Portuguese people love to complain about everything, but never do anything about it. Don’t be like that.
  • Your portuguese grandma’s diet was probably much better than yours. Take it as a reference.
  • Underrated portuguese super foods:
    • Tremoços (high protein, low calorie). Perfect snack.
    • Great quality Olive oil
    • percebes (tons of great micro nutrients)
    • Sardines
    • Bacalhau

Tech

  • Having a clipboard history manager is essential (I use raycast for this). It should be built into every OS.
  • A screenshot tool like cleanShot X is not as useful, but still super good to have
  • A 49"" monitor is much better than 2x 27"" monitors.