Austin's Analects

Austin's Analects is a Substack dedicated to providing actionable insights on optimizing personal performance and living well. It covers a wide range of topics including personal finance, fitness, career advice, investments, and lifestyle choices aimed at enhancing overall well-being and financial independence.

Personal Finance Fitness and Health Career Growth and Goals Investment Strategies Lifestyle and Well-being Real Estate Investing Technology and Social Media Nutrition and Diet Retirement Planning Entrepreneurship and Side Hustles

The hottest Substack posts of Austin's Analects

And their main takeaways

3 Lessons Learned From My Broken Washing Machine

0 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
  1. Diagnose the problem before investing time and money in repairs.
  2. Consult experts when making costly decisions to save time and frustration.
  3. DIY may not always be the cheaper option, considering time, stress, and total costs.

Ask these 3 questions at the end of your interview

0 implied HN points • 01 Aug 20
💼 Business Career Advice Interview Tips
  1. It's crucial to ask questions at the end of an interview to show interest in the company and make the interviewer like you.
  2. Ask open-ended questions that genuinely interest you and can help build a relationship with the interviewer.
  3. Consider asking bold questions like what could prevent you from getting the job to receive immediate feedback and gauge your performance.

Stop tracking your macros

0 implied HN points • 01 Aug 20
🏥 Health & Wellness Nutrition Fitness
  1. Counting macros can be unsustainable for most people, requiring a lot of time and effort to track accurately.
  2. Nutrition labels can have a margin of error of up to 20%, making it challenging to track macros effectively.
  3. Obsessively tracking macros can negatively impact social life by limiting spontaneous social interactions involving food.

Decision Making 101

0 implied HN points • 12 Nov 18
🏥 Health & Wellness Decision-making
  1. When making decisions, there isn't always a clear right answer. The 'right' decision can bring both comfort and discomfort, prevent and provoke conflict, and make you happy and sad.
  2. To make decisions effectively, analyze your options, consider the pros and cons of each solution, and then decide. Trust your intuition, make your choice, and move forward.
  3. After making a decision, write it down and justify your choice to yourself. Avoid dwelling on the decision and focus on dealing with the outcomes as they arise.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Sample LinkedIn messages that will guarantee you a response

0 implied HN points • 23 Nov 20
💼 Business Networking Recruitment Career development Messaging
  1. When reaching out to someone on LinkedIn, mention shared interests like working at the same company or having common experiences.
  2. Keep your LinkedIn messages concise and direct, focused on introducing yourself and stating your purpose.
  3. Aim to quickly move from messaging to a phone call to build trust and increase chances of success in job applications.

Stuff you absolutley need to do before your next interview

0 implied HN points • 05 Aug 20
🚌 Education Preparation Interviewing Questions Research
  1. Research about the company thoroughly before your interview, including its industry, mission, culture, and competitors.
  2. Prepare answers to common interview questions on your strengths, weaknesses, job interest, and why you're the right fit for the role.
  3. Create a list of thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer, like their reasons for joining the company and the daily work culture.

3 steps to choosing your next travel destination

0 implied HN points • 01 Aug 20
🏝 Travel Travel planning
  1. Ask yourself what you like to do and what your perfect day looks like to help define what makes you happy when traveling.
  2. Think about what you dream of doing in a destination to find motivation to travel; unexpected outcomes can be positive.
  3. Choose a destination where you can live your dream activities and do things that make you happy, creating a clear plan for travel decision-making.

Get better grades in any class

0 implied HN points • 31 Jul 20
🚌 Education Relationships
  1. Building a good relationship with your professor can significantly impact your grade.
  2. Introduce yourself to your professor early on and show interest in their class and teachings.
  3. Attending office hours and thanking your professors can help create a positive relationship.

Working Out While Sick: Should You Do It?

0 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Fitness Illness Exercise Symptoms Workout
  1. Define your symptoms when deciding whether to work out while sick, by separating symptoms into above-neck and below-neck categories.
  2. Based on your symptoms, adjust your workout plan accordingly. For above-neck symptoms, it's okay to exercise at a moderate intensity, while for below-neck symptoms, resting or gentle exercises like walking or yoga are recommended.
  3. Execute your adapted workout plan and don't feel bad about not going full throttle. Take care of yourself by following a plan that supports your fitness despite being ill.

How to dress for a job interview

0 implied HN points • 23 Sep 20
🪞 Fashion & Beauty
  1. Preparing for common interview questions is crucial for a successful job interview.
  2. Research the company's dress code through a Google search, your recruiter, or a contact at the company.
  3. Dress codes generally fall into business professional and business casual categories, but always lean towards dressing up when in doubt.

Keys to college conversation

0 implied HN points • 12 Nov 18
🎭️ Culture Conversation Social Skills
  1. Keep conversations simple by asking basic questions like 'how are you?'
  2. Control conversations by talking about what you want and asking engaging questions.
  3. Find common ground with others by discussing shared interests like hobbies or music.

5 steps to test validate your app idea in the cheapest way possible

0 implied HN points • 28 Aug 17
💼 Business
  1. Create a video to describe your app idea and highlight how it adds value to potential customers.
  2. Generate hype about your idea by sharing a post on social media and inviting people to watch the video and provide feedback.
  3. Develop a Google form to collect names and emails of those interested in providing feedback on your app idea, and make sure to share your idea with everyone who signs up.

WOData: CrossFit Open 24.3

0 implied HN points • 26 Mar 24
🎾 Sports Fitness Analysis Strategy Performance Workout
  1. Austin shares his strategy and analysis for CrossFit Open Workout 24.3, revealing his overly ambitious plan and the consequences of it on his performance.
  2. The workout consisted of thrusters, chest-to-bar pull-ups, bar muscle-ups, and strict time caps per round, showing Austin's struggle with pacing and transitions.
  3. Austin reflects on his execution, acknowledging his mistakes, overestimations, and areas for improvement in future attempts at the workout.

How to Avoid Jet Lag

0 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Prevention
  1. Jet lag occurs when your body's internal clock doesn't align with the local time, causing sleep issues and physical exhaustion.
  2. To prevent jet lag, rapidly adjust your internal clock before reaching your destination by creating a phase shift in your circadian rhythm.
  3. When traveling east, advance your clock by viewing bright light before your temperature minimum time; when traveling west, delay your clock by viewing light after your temperature minimum.

5 Questions to Ask Before Investing in a Fixer-Upper

0 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
💰 Finance Real Estate Investing Time management
  1. Assess the extent of work needed on the fixer-upper to avoid unexpected challenges and costs.
  2. Consider if the investment in a fixer-upper is truly worth your time, effort, and money compared to alternative options.
  3. Evaluate if you have the necessary time, skills, and determination to manage the renovation process effectively before committing to a fixer-upper.

What to Know Before Buying a Fixer-Upper

0 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
  1. Balancing work and renovating a fixer-upper is challenging and might lead to unexpected laziness or delays.
  2. Renovations often take longer and cost more than planned, so be prepared for potential unforeseen expenses.
  3. Accurately listing all the tasks for a fixer-upper can be difficult, similar to trying to count M&Ms in a closed bag.

Why Your Grandma Should Be Doing CrossFit

0 implied HN points • 09 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Fitness Community Longevity Accountability
  1. CrossFit can help seniors improve longevity by focusing on strength training, high-intensity interval training, balance, mobility, healthy eating, and quality sleep.
  2. CrossFit is modifiable and scalable, making it accessible for people of different fitness levels, including seniors.
  3. CrossFit offers a high-quality community that provides motivation, accountability, and consistency, contributing to happier and healthier lives for seniors.

How to answer what is your greatest weakness?

0 implied HN points • 06 Aug 20
💼 Business Interviews Skills Career development
  1. Don't avoid the question 'What is your greatest weakness?' - Be honest about your weaknesses and show a willingness to improve
  2. Connect your weakness to the job description - Choose a weakness that doesn't conflict with the critical skills required for the job
  3. Outline a plan for improvement - After stating your weakness, explain how you are actively working to get better

The ultimate guide to choosing your

0 implied HN points • 06 Aug 20
🚌 Education Career Advice Networking Decision-making
  1. Networking is the best way to learn about specific careers, companies, or jobs.
  2. Struggles with career paths usually involve either deciding between options or finding options that match skill sets and interests.
  3. When deciding between career paths, talk to people in those fields, ask questions, make pros-cons lists, and then choose a path.

Can you have both financial stability and a fulfilling career?

0 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Career Work-life balance Personal Growth
  1. Pursue work you enjoy for intrinsic validation, as it's more sustainable than chasing external rewards like salary or job titles.
  2. Prioritize time over money - it's the most valuable resource, more critical than endless wealth, as even money can't buy more time.
  3. Define your 'good enough' instead of chasing an elusive 'dream job' - true career happiness comes from aligning work with what truly matters to you.

WOData: CrossFit Open 24.1

0 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
🎾 Sports Fitness Analysis Strategy Performance Workout
  1. This post gives insight into optimizing performance for the 2024 CrossFit Open workout 24.1, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning and understanding workout tests.
  2. The author shared their workout strategy, performance analysis, and a tool to help others analyze their own performance in the CrossFit workout.
  3. Determining whether to retest a workout depends on factors like consistency in performance across rounds and feeling of leftover energy, offering specific ways to improve scores.

Choosing Your Word of the Year: A Key Component of Your Personal Annual Review

0 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Self-Improvement Mindfulness Goal setting Personal Growth Productivity
  1. Selecting a Word of the Year simplifies your goals and provides focus to your daily life, acting as a theme for your journey.
  2. To choose your Word of the Year, list your goals, identify traits needed for each goal, and then select the word that appears most frequently as your guide.
  3. Commitment can be a powerful Word of the Year, encapsulating dedication to goals, relationships, and personal growth, providing a clear direction and focus for the year.

How To Improve Your Sleep Without Sleeping More Hours

0 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Sleep Nutrition Mind-Body Connection Self-care
  1. Creating a consistent sleep schedule helps stabilize your body's natural rhythm and improves sleep.
  2. Getting early-morning sun exposure triggers your body to wake up naturally and reduces the need for excessive caffeine.
  3. Avoiding caffeine after 12 PM, alcohol 4 hours before bedtime, and food 3 hours before bed can significantly improve the quality of your sleep.

3 Cuisines To Prioritize When Traveling For Business To Stay Healthy and Sharp On The Go

0 implied HN points • 28 Apr 23
🍲 Food & Drink Healthy Eating Cuisine
  1. Avoid highly processed fast food when traveling for business to stay healthy and sharp.
  2. Japanese cuisine, with its focus on rice and fish, is a good option. Opt for sashimi and white rice, and skip fried or sugary dishes.
  3. Mexican and Peruvian cuisines offer protein-rich options like chicken, steak, and fish. Be mindful of avoiding fried items made with seed oils.

3 Travel Hacks for Business Folks Travelling Across Time Zones (To Stay Healthy and Avoid Getting…

0 implied HN points • 25 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Travel Diet Sleep Exercise
  1. Eating real food is crucial when traveling for business to avoid digestive issues and ensure a pleasant trip.
  2. Prioritizing sleep, morning sunlight, avoiding alcohol, and consistent sleep schedules help the body adjust to time zone changes during business travels.
  3. Moving your body, even with a 20-minute HIIT session or a simple walk, is essential to maintaining fitness while on a business trip.

7 Simple Tips To Generate Unlimited Content Ideas While Working Full Time

0 implied HN points • 24 Apr 23
💼 Business Creativity Productivity Content creation
  1. Lack of sleep can harm your creativity, mood, and thinking abilities, so prioritize sleep for better content ideas.
  2. Long walks can spark creativity and generate new ideas, just like Morgan Housel from Psychology of Money suggests.
  3. Eating healthy, curating content, and discussing ideas with others can all improve your ability to come up with engaging content ideas.

2 Science-Backed Insights to Help Remote Workers Lose Weight

0 implied HN points • 20 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Weight Loss Metabolism Nutrition
  1. Not all calories are equal: Fats and proteins keep you full longer than carbs. Choose high-quality, satiating foods like fats and proteins for weight loss.
  2. Metabolism matters: High-fat, high-protein diets help maintain a higher metabolism. Weight loss involves both calorie restriction and choosing the right types of calories.
  3. Quality over quantity: While calorie restriction is key to weight loss, the type of calories consumed also matters. Opting for high-quality foods makes it easier to stick to a calorie limit and lose weight.