What Might You Be Missing?
Read on kevferrell.com
Welcome to REWIRE | REBOOT, a weekly newsletter where I share reflections from my ongoing personal growth journey and provide tested ideas, frameworks, tools and practices to help you create the life you want.
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In this issue:
- Rewire - Look at It Differently
- Reboot - On My Radar: A New Role for Creatine?
- Toolkit - Creatine Monohydrate
- One Action - What Might You Be Missing?
Rewire - Idea I'm Exploring
Look at It Differently
I recently rewatched Dead Poets Society with my wife and son.
It had been on my list for a while, and fortunately it was one they were both interested in watching. Like many movies you revisit years later, I found myself noticing things I probably missed the first time around.
My family would probably tell you I was a little too eager to point out the lessons hidden throughout the film. When the credits rolled, they were treated to my unsolicited recap of the themes I took from the movie.
One scene has stayed with me all week.
Mr. Keating, the teacher played by Robin Williams, climbs onto his desk and encourages his students to do so as well as a reminder that we must constantly look at things in a different way.
His point wasn't that standing on a desk changes the world around you. It changes the way you see it.
It's a simple lesson, but one I've found applies to almost every part of life.
Sometimes you need to zoom in and pay attention to the details.
Other times you need to zoom out and see the bigger picture.
Sometimes the answer comes from challenging the way things have always been done in search of a better way.
Or it comes from asking someone who sees the problem completely differently than you do.
Seeing things through someone else's eyes is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.
When you completely disagree with someone, it's easy to become attached to proving you're right. But something interesting happens when you can set your emotions aside and genuinely ask yourself:
Why does this make sense to them?
It doesn’t mean they’re right. But they may be seeing something you’re not.
You don't have to agree. But you often begin to understand.
That understanding creates room for better conversations, stronger relationships, and better solutions.
Occasionally, you'll discover something even more valuable.
You'll realize you were wrong.
Many people see changing their mind as a weakness.
I see it as strength. Evidence that you're still learning.
The same principle applies beyond people.
Every industry has accepted ways of doing things. Every family has traditions. Every company has processes that eventually become "the way we've always done it."
Some ways of doing things to be protected. Others deserve to be questioned.
Progress often begins when someone is willing to step back, challenge an assumption, and ask whether there's a better way.
New information should change our thinking.
Better evidence should change our opinions.
Experience should refine our beliefs.
Sometimes that means standing on your own desk, figuratively speaking, and looking at the same situation from a completely different angle.
You may not change what you're looking at.
But you might completely change what you see.
Reboot - Health & Longevity
On My Radar: A New Role for Creatine?
This week I came across research that made me look at creatine a little differently.
Research suggesting it may have yet another role: helping the immune system fight cancer. Thanks to Cyrus for passing this along.
Researchers at UCLA recently published findings showing that creatine may enhance the activity of dendritic cells—specialized immune cells that identify threats and activate "killer" T cells, which are responsible for recognizing and destroying cancer cells.
By helping these immune cells maintain their energy stores, creatine appeared to strengthen the body's anti-tumour immune response in both animal models and laboratory studies using human immune cells.
The work builds on earlier research from the same group showing that creatine can also improve the function of cancer-fighting T cells themselves.
Before we get too excited, it's important to understand what these studies do and do not show.
The current evidence comes from laboratory experiments, studies using human immune cells outside the body, and animal models. There have been no clinical trials demonstrating that creatine prevents cancer or improves cancer outcomes in humans. That's a critical distinction. Promising early research often doesn't translate into successful treatments once studied in people.
Still, this is research worth continuing to follow.
If I could choose only one supplement to take it would still be creatine. And it's top of the list of what I recommend for almost everyone.
Not because of this research. Because creatine is already one of the most extensively studied supplements available. The evidence supporting its benefits for strength, muscle mass, exercise performance, recovery, healthy ageing, preserving lean muscle, and cognitive function is remarkably robust.
If you'd like a deeper dive into creatine including what it is, how it works, benefits, risks, dosing, common myths, safety, who should consider taking it, and my personal protocol, you can find it in my Foundational Health Series: Supplement Spotlight – Creatine.
Toolkit - What I'm Using
Creatine Monohydrate
For my own creatine supplementation, I use Momentous brand because I trust the quality and purity more than any other. It's NSF Certified for Sport and the new Signature Spec Standard has a 6-stage testing & certification process. No other brand comes close.
If you're interested in trying it, you can use my discount code for additional savings at checkout.
One Action
What Might You Be Missing?
The next time you find yourself frustrated, stuck, or convinced you're right, pause before reacting and ask yourself one simple question:
What am I missing?
That question invites curiosity instead of certainty, and understanding instead of defensiveness.
You may realize you're focused too closely on one detail and need to zoom out.
You may discover there's information you don't have that changes things.
Or you may begin to understand why someone else sees the same situation so differently.
You don't have to change your opinion.
You simply have to become willing to examine it.
Inspirational Quote
"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows"
– Epictetus
Readers Corner
Ask Me Anything
Have a question about something in this issue? An experience you'd like to share? A topic you'd like me to cover or dive deeper into in a future newsletter or article?
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Until next week,
Kevin
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