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Would you rather read to learn something new or exercise first thing in the morning?

Discover the perfect morning routine: exercise and learn!

Would you rather read to learn something new or exercise first thing in the morning? You know, I actually do both. For example, this morning, I went on a run, ran over to the MIT pool, and while I was running, I listened to a book on Audible. I'm currently listening to a book called The Precipice, which talks about all the different ways human civilization might go extinct. It's kind of an interesting read. Then I went for a swim and then ran back, and on my run back, I listened to more of it. So I like to run and listen to books while running.

I like to do both, and this morning I combined them by listening to a book while running.

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Would I rather read to learn something new or exercise first thing in the morning? Actually, I do both. This morning, for example, I went on a run to the MIT pool. While running, I listened to a book on Audible called The Precipice, which explores various scenarios that could lead to the extinction of human civilization. It's quite an interesting read. Afterward, I went for a swim and then ran back home, continuing to listen to the book. I enjoy combining running with audiobooks.

Adult swimmer's trick for mastering swimming timing

For me as someone who's learned to swim as an adult, the hardest parts have been one, keeping the high elbow during the catch and to just getting the timing right with the the catch, the the kick and the hips and driving everything from the hips. So I'm still trying to figure all of that out. I found personally that when I put on some fins I tend to it's easier to get the timing right? If I swim for a while with fins on and then take the fins off, I find that I swim much better with better timing than and if I don't do that, so that's been one trick. I've learned as an adult swimmer.

As an adult swimmer, the hardest parts have been keeping the high elbow during the catch and getting the timing right with the catch, kick, and hips. Using fins has helped me improve my timing and overall swimming skills.

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As an adult learner, I've found that the hardest parts of swimming are maintaining a high elbow during the catch and getting the timing right with the catch, kick, and hip movement. It's a challenge to coordinate all these elements and drive the movement from the hips. Personally, I've discovered that using fins can help improve my timing. If I swim with fins for a while and then remove them, I find that my timing is much better. This has been a helpful trick for me as an adult swimmer.

Do you think it's better to reinforce your strengths or improve your weaknesses?  

Enhancing Weaknesses: A Path to Overall Improvement

I know some people say, stick with what you're good at and just do that. That said I do like to focus on improving my weaknesses. I know it's more painful and takes more time, but I believe that's how I can ultimately be better overall. For example, in Triathlon. I'm spending more time swimming than anything else because that's by far my biggest weakness.

I like to focus on improving my weaknesses even though it takes more time and can be difficult.

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Some people suggest sticking with your strengths and focusing on what you're already good at. However, personally, I prefer to focus on improving my weaknesses. I understand that it can be more challenging and time-consuming, but I believe it is the path to becoming better overall. 

For instance, in my Triathlon training, I dedicate more time to swimming because it is my biggest weakness compared to other disciplines. By addressing and working on my weaknesses, I aim to enhance my overall performance.

Competition: the catalyst for growth and innovation

Have you competition in business? The same way? I view competition in sport, which is that it makes everyone better makes everyone move more quickly and I think you can get great ideas learning from your competition. So back when I was working at Facebook, I think well, in the early days you had social networks, like, Myspace and later on, you had some competition from Google with Google Plus. And I just saw a Facebook doing their best work when they had that. Competition with Uber, we had Uber and Lyft having a rivalry. And I think that made both companies move faster and grow more quickly than they would have if there wasn't competition. So overall, I'd say it's a positive thing.

I view competition in business as a positive thing because it can make everyone better and move more quickly, by learning from each other.

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I view competition in business in a similar way to competition in sports. It has the power to drive improvement and push everyone to move faster. I believe that competition can inspire great ideas and provide valuable learning opportunities.

During my time at Facebook, we faced competition from social networks like Myspace and later Google Plus. This competition motivated us to do our best work and continuously innovate. Similarly, in the ride-sharing industry, the rivalry between Uber and Lyft pushed both companies to grow rapidly and move at a faster pace.

Overall, I see competition as a positive force that can benefit businesses by fostering innovation and driving growth.

How did you improve your swimming in the last 6 months?

Diverse training techniques and valuable feedback transformed my swimming.

There are two things I did over the last six months to improve my swimming. The first thing is, I started using the Vasa trainer with a friend of mine in Russian named Vitaly. He's been on FaceTime showing me proper technique and helping me do some strength endurance stuff on the Vasa. And the second thing is, I've been swimming with a friend out here, in Maine named, John Stevens, and he's really given me a lot of good feedback on my technique and the pool and open. Water, which is has really helped as well. So I'm not sure how it is all going to translate on race day, but I think I'm definitely better now than I was a couple of years ago.

Over the last six months, I've been using the Vasa Trainer with Vitaly and swimming with John Stevens for feedback on my technique in both pool and open water, which has improved my swimming.

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Over the past six months, I focused on two key areas to improve my swimming. Firstly, I started using the Vasa trainer, a training device, with my friend Vitaly from Russia. He guided me through proper technique and helped me with strength endurance exercises on the Vasa trainer. Secondly, I've been swimming with my friend John Stevens here in Maine. He has provided valuable feedback on my technique in both pool and open water swimming, which has been incredibly beneficial. While I'm not sure how these improvements will translate on race day, I can confidently say that I am better now than I was a couple of years ago.

What’s your favorite power breakfast option? 

The Power of Fasting: My Go-To Breakfast is Just Coffee!

My go-to breakfast is usually a black coffee and an English muffin. I tend to not eat much in the morning because I find that I can work out better on an empty stomach and so many mornings. I'll actually just have the coffee and nothing else and not eat until lunchtime because apparently there are benefits to fasting even for 18 hours. So I have dinner at 5:00 p.m. With my family and if I don't have another meal until lunch the next day, that's 18 hours. Of fasting. Most of which is pretty easy to do because I'm sleeping.

I usually have a black coffee and an English muffin for breakfast, but sometimes I don't eat anything at all and just have coffee.

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My favorite power breakfast option is a black coffee and an English muffin. I typically prefer not to eat much in the morning as I find that working out on an empty stomach works better for me. Many mornings, I'll only have coffee and nothing else until lunchtime. I also practice intermittent fasting, aiming for an 18-hour fasting window. This means that if I have dinner at 5:00 p.m. with my family, I won't eat again until lunchtime the next day. Most of the fasting period is during my sleep, so it's relatively easy to follow.

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Ed Baker is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive, currently serving as the CEO and Founder of AnyQuestion, an AI powered knowledge sharing platform. Prior to this, he played an instrumental role as the Vice President of Product & Growth at Uber and prior to that he sold a company to Facebook where he joined the team as the Head of International Growth. Ed currently sits on the boards of both WHOOP and Form, and his extensive experience in product management, growth strategies, and consumer technology has made him a sought-after thought leader in the tech industry.