Commandment One
What is Commandment One?
Welcome to Commandment One.
Commandment One is a derivative of The Guardian Academy, a principle-based program exploring extraordinary people doing extraordinary things - and the toolboxes they carry with them.
The very first Guardian Academy Commandment is:
Commandment 1: “The Healthy Man Has 1000 Wants, The Sick Man Only Has One”
- Confucius
If you’re filthy rich but your body doesn’t work, your mind is a prison, and the only people around you are paid to be there… are you really wealthy?
Health is a top priority. And we mean both physical and psychological.
Your health will help you get rich, and it will help you stay wealthy. So carve out the time to focus on your health and wellness. It might seem like "now is the time to grind" - and it might be. But if you neglect your health and well-being for too long, you will blow yourself up and take yourself out of the game.
Why We’re Building Commandment One
The internet needs a place for people to find practical health information - “a useful middle-ground between the dumbed-down clickbait from major media outlets and the 17-hour-long podcasts from health influencers.” - Michael Easter
Commandment One is dedicated to the helping preserve the first commandment of The Guardian Academy; your health. We also know that what most people really want is to look good naked, they’re just afraid to say it. Don’t be. We’re here to help with that, too.
This page will be updated periodically to keep you oriented. Feel free to bookmark it and check back often. If you feel lost, uncertain, confused, or worried you might be missing something…just navigate back to this page.
THE THING ABOUT HEALTH, WELLNESS AND FITNESS…
Is that they are different things.
There are different variations of each. What is health? It depends on who you ask. What is fitness? It depends on who you ask. When you walk into a gym, it’s easy to assume that everyone is there for the same reason you are and using the same language as you.
They probably aren’t.
And this is important to understand, because if we don’t know why someone is doing something, we can’t responsibly offer or take suggestions or advice.
For example:
“How often should I work out?”
It depends. If you you’re trying to build muscle, often enough to build muscle. If the gym is a form of catharsis to you, how ever often you need for it to be cathartic. There is no right answer, there is only an answer that is best for you, given your priorities and preferences.
“Is my form correct?”
It depends. If you’re training for a powerlifting competition, you want as much leverage as possible. If you’re training for a sport, you want to train through the range appropriate for that sport. If you’re training as a bodybuilder, you want as little leverage as possible.
Three people can do the same base exercise, look very different doing it and all be doing it correctly…for what they’re training for.
The Adaptive Dilemma can crush you pursuits if you’re not intentional about the language you use and attentive to the language other people use.
People will often use “healthy”, “athletic”, “lean”, and “skinny” interchangeably. Since they are very different things, it becomes really difficult to have a productive conversation. I believe this explains much of the confusion on the internet.
There aren’t as many conflicting ideas in the fitness world as people think there are. It’s just a bunch of people having a bunch of different conversations mistakenly thinking they are having the same conversation.
What sounds a lot like hundreds of different opinions on one subject is often hundreds of different subjects being discussed - being mistaken for one. It can get confusing, quickly. We’re building Commandment One to bring to view these things from different lenses, bring experience and wisdom into the conversation and explore the commonalities and differences amongst disciplines.
The goal is simple - play a small part if your pursuit of becoming a little better every day.
The Main Players
The contributor list will grow over time, we’re slow to bring people on because we want to make sure they are actively applying principles we are aligned with. The strategies, tactics and tools will look different for everyone, it’s the principles on which we want to align.
Nic Peterson: Revisiting A Past Life
Nic is the founder of the Guardian Academy. His past life was focused on fitness. You can read a little about that here. *Important: Nic is sharing his experience and his reasoning. He is NOT a fitness or medical professional. Look at the logic, reasoning, and evidence he shares and come to your own conclusions.**
Dan John: One Of The True OG’s
Dan John is a Guardian. He is also one of the OG’s in the online fitness world and one of the most respected coaches out there. You can read a full piece on Dan here. We asked John to contribute as a voice of reason and experience. He is also a great writer.
Dr. Lynn Wagner - “Doc Wagz”
Dr. Wagner believes that everyone deserves to live a life at their maximum energy and vitality. Through the application of customized and integrative therapies, she guides her patients towards achieving their optimal health, with a strong emphasis on wellness, longevity and disease prevention. Dr. Wagner firmly believes that true wealth lies in one’s health, making it the utmost priority in living a fulfilling life.
Dr. Wagner is a disruptor in the healthcare industry. She thinks outside of the box and provides her patients with a different type of health care that is individualized, optimized and positioned to give them their best possible vitality. As an emergency medicine turned integrative medicine physician - she truly understands the best of both worlds and brings this to her patients.
Learn More About Dr. Lynn Wagner and her reason for Joining Commandment One here.
How To Join Commandment One
I couldn’t ask our contributors to dedicate the time to releasing the information we think is most valuable in real time without support. There’e always a tradeoff, we’re giving up other projects to take on this project,, and happy to do so. That’s because we think Commandment One can be the most powerful way to reach and help more people. It will be fun and informative for us all.
Commandment One will be offering three versions of this publication: free, paid and Founders version. Here’s the deets:
Free Subscription
This is a great place to start. It will also be a great place to hang for a while.
Free posts at minimum once a month
Access to the last three weeks of free posts
Commandment One +
Life-enhancing information that saves you far more time and money than its cost
Every Commandment post and access to the full archive
Answers to your personal questions
Cost: $9.87/month or $69/year
(If health is a priority, you’ll save more time and money in the long run than the cost.)
Founding Member
Everything from Commandment One+
Other really cool stuff (to be determined)
Cost: 247/year
Other Guardians and collaborators that have proven competence apply Guardian Principles:
**Note: there are a TON of great professional out there. These are just the ones we have spent time with and have worked with over a long period of time. If you’re a Guardian or in the Guardian Academy world and want to get on this list, it’s simple: show up and engage the field.
Pre-Req And Self Study Guide
These are the principles that are the most commonly applied to health, wellness and fitness successfully.
Bumpers. It’s a short read and it was written largely in the context of biology/fitness.
The Adaptive Dilemma: Specifically, Part 1: Language. Get clear on what you’re trying to ask when seeking help
Frequency Of Exposure: Stepping on the scale every day can do more harm than good if you’re not aware of the consequences of frequency of exposure.
Raising The Floor applied in any ways. Focus on the rolling average of your weight or performance. If you’re on a diet, rising the floor is having fewer bad days and, when you do, make them less bad.
“Enough” is the single most important concept in fitness, in our opinion. Understand it and build from there.
Engage The Field. If you do not engage the field, you will not learn anything. Get your own data, it’s always better than someone else’s theory.
Welcome to Commandment One. Looking forward to “next”!
Most Popular Posts can be seen by clicking here.
Social Media: Check our our new Instagram for aesthetically pleasing stuff and exclusive video clips. Twitter (Or X) for more frequent updates and insights.
Forthcoming Event and Experience Dates can be found by clicking here. Nothing compares to being in the right room with the right people. It doesn’t have to be our room with us - just get yourself in proximity to the right people, places and things for you.