Improving your vocabulary is a key strategy for being strategically rational.

I never wrote things down to remember; I always wrote things down so I could forget. ~ Matthew McCona [View online]( [Coach Tony]( Coach Tony [@tonystubblebine]( I never wrote things down to remember; I always wrote things down so I could forget. ~ Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights - - - - - #1. Vocabulary, the Rider, the Elephant. A reader sent in the below, short and excellent case study on the value of having a vocabulary for your emotions. It’s based on her having reviewed Brené Brown’s [87 Emotions from Atlas of the Heart](: I am usually very apprehensive when I struggle with deadlines. I have read many self-improvement books but the PDF of the book shared by you in your [recent email]( is new to me. That email gave way to name the emotions I usually feel. In the Rational Rider & Emotional Elephant metaphor, a key way to wake up your rider to override your elephant is to simply start using words. Your elephant feels but doesn’t speak. This is the mechanism, if you will, underlying why it is often good to name your feelings. Naming them lets you speak them, which then gives your rational mind access to them. - - - - - #2. Good news: 7,000 steps is enough. [This study]( was making the rounds on my Twitter and [Jessica Stillman]( [published a clear summary of it](: The researchers determined, as expected, that getting more exercise is good. Six thousand steps beats 5,000 and 5,000 beats 4,000 for health outcomes. But they didn’t find anything particularly special about 10,000 steps (except going much beyond it brought no additional health benefits at all). Instead 7,000 steps seemed to be an important inflection point. Taking that many steps reduced participants’ chances of premature death by 50 to 70 percent. - - - - - #3. The new version of 750words.com is available to us with a 20% discount. Freewriting is very powerful. For some people, it’s even more powerful than meditation. The app [750words.com]( is the most powerful tool for developing the habit of freewriting. So if you want to be a freewriter, explore your thoughts, know yourself better, etc., then this is the app to use. It’s worth paying for. 750 Words is a [Buster Benson]( product. You may recognize his name from many mentions in this newsletter: Cat Mode, [the Codex Vitae concept](, and the [cognitive bias cheat sheet](. Buster helped me create a group for us Better Humans and if you [join through our group](, then you get 30 days free plus 20% off of membership. - - - - - Meta: Is the above #3 section a paid advertisement? Transparency is important in this industry because there is so much fraud. Sometimes it’s hard, though, to exactly explain my own financial biases. My main bias is that if I help you all achieve more in life, then there will be ways for me to make a living (I currently make a living). Sometimes I link to things here in the newsletter where I make money directly. That’s true when I link to a coach or a Better Humans article. I never do that unless I honestly believe it’s a good value for you. But you should be aware that I may have some self-serving blind spot there (please tell me if you think I do). Some other times, I have future plans. This newsletter is free, for instance, and it doesn’t drive any significant money for me, even with the occasional link to one of my businesses. But I do think having this newsletter opens up the option of writing a book. My own Codex project is along the same lines. With 750 Words, I was going to link to it no matter what because it’s a great product. I believe in the value of freewriting and it will transform many of your lives. But then later Buster did offer to give me a referral bonus and, of course, I’ll take him up on that (stay tuned). And then right after that, we started talking about some sort of habit-coach/750words collaboration that could turn into a thing. So… TLDR: this isn’t a paid ad and, despite some conflict of interest, I don’t think you should consider it as anything other than an honest recommendation. - - - - - Tips or feedback? [Send me a response on Twitter.]( Open Opportunities: * Habit Coach Certification: Early bird pricing for the next class of Habit Coach Certification is live until the end of April. ( * 20% off at 750words.com if you sign up through our Better Humans group. ( Don’t miss out on the other issues by Coach Tony [Become a member for $5 per month]( Did you enjoy this issue? [Yes]( [No]( [Coach Tony]( Coach Tony [@tonystubblebine]( Tips, inspirations, and knowledge on productivity, happiness, health, and making an impact on our world. Official email of the Better Humans publication on Medium. (@bttrhumans) You can manage your subscription [here](. In order to unsubscribe, click [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Created with [Revue by Twitter](.