You've heard of Route 66?

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Some of you may know about Route 66, also known as the "Mother Road," is a legendary highway that has become an icon of American culture and history. Officially established on November 11, 1926, Route 66 originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles.

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It was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System and quickly gained fame as the primary route for those migrating west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The road passed through small towns and rural communities, providing economic opportunities and linking the urban centers of Chicago and Los Angeles.

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With its quirky roadside attractions, diners, motels, and gas stations, Route 66 came to symbolize the freedom and mobility of the open road. It played a significant role in popular culture, immortalized in songs, literature, and television, most notably in the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the 1960s TV series "Route 66."

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A life turning point? Make a right onto Route 28 on February 19th, 2024

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I love my "Status Quo Highway." It's a great highway. I've come a long way. It actually keeps changing along the way, but it's been a while since I created to real turning-point in my life.

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I cannot know for sure if Route 28 will be that turning-point. However, I think there's a good chance it will. 

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Route 28 is a 28-day experiment (feasibility study)

 

Here's the game plan overview.

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• Just before February 19th I will take a battery of tests (especially blood tests) to assess my current level of health and risk of disease.

• For 28 days I will follow a rigorous program of eating, supplementation, and exercises, following to the letter what I believe to be the best possible longevity-support regimen (taking making recommendations from the book "How Not to Age" by Dr. Joel Greger).

• During these 28 days I will make note of several measurable vitals as well as some qualitative assessments of my body and energy levels.

• On March 18th, I will retake the tests to assess what changes I was able to effect as a result of my 28-day longevity-support regimen.

• From what I discover, I will then determine to what extent I am able and willing to continue in the same direction as Route 28 (creating a major turning point of my life) or to decide that it may be best to return more to the Status Quo Highway.

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How I made the "difficult" decision to turn onto Route 28

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From Dwight-Next's assessment, doing the 28-day experiment was the obvious thing to do. Except for the fact that he knew he would need to have some good reasons to believe that Dwight-Now could be okay during the process of rigorously following the program for the full 28 days. Otherwise, starting the program without knowing this would be foolhardy.

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Dwight-Next knows enough about Dwight-Now to project that if Dwight-Now got into one of his "I don't care about what you planned" mood, he would have the power to ignore any of Dwight-Next's argument by digging in his heels by refusing to continue with the regimen. He would declare, "I don't care what you planned. I'm not going to do it any more."

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One way to create Now-Next Integrity: comparing two for-the-rest-of-my-life futures

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In 1996, as my good friend Jeff Newman and I were climbing Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona together, we were talking about my relationship with my wife Yuko (Jeff had been best man at our wedding).

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Yuko and I had both tried our best. We had gone to counselors together. She had changed some. Maybe I had changed some. But neither one of us was really happy and I didn't have much reason to believe it could get much better into our future. 

 

But I still felt indecisive as to what to do. With Jeff as my listener, I was able to make the decision with a simple question.

 

Compare two possible futures. One future is to continue a life with my wife until I die. The other future is going separate ways for the rest of my life. Which of these these two for-the-rest-of-my-life futures occurs as the better one?

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With these two projections, the decision was a a no brainer. Even if I never had another woman in my life, living a life separate from Yuko's, was easily the more compelling future. And, although Yuko's happiness was not my #1 business (mine was), I believed that Yuko would most likely have a better life too, at least in the long run.

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With that action-provoking insight, I declared to Jeff that I would be leaving Yuko. I had to work out the details and I took on the intention of creating a great separation and great divorce. It turned out even better than I thought it would.

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Using the for-the-rest-of-my-life decision-making approach regarding the Route 28 idea

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I cannot know before I do it, what lifelong direction decisions may fall out of that 28-day feasibility experiment. Regardless, I know that it has a good chance of becoming permanently life altering (in an exciting way)!

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Option #1: Continue, in general, as I have been. Certainly, I will make changes in what I do for my health and longevity. They are likely to be small adjustments, not predictably long-range life changing.

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Option #2: Take on the 28-day "everything you know to do" experiment and see what comes out of it that has the chance of becoming permanently life-changing in terms of my health, vitality, and longevity.

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