Design your own Protocol (Part 3/3)

This is part three of the healthy aging Protocol Design series. Part one was about self-reflecting on the future lives we want to live. Part two was all about the data strategy aspect of a healthy aging protocol.

This final part three of the Protocol Design series is about applying the protocol.

All the mental hard mental work of imagining and ideating a desired future, and creating an inventory of data to track and measure progress of these goals has been done in part one and part two. Now it’s time to apply the protocol to real life. The goal of the third part of the workshop is to map out how the healthy aging protocol will be implemented, create a schedule and a system for making your healthy aging protocol a part of your life.

“If it’s not on the calendar it doesn’t happen.”

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the application of any new routine. Let’s start with the low hanging fruit of the protocol and circle back to part one of the protocol design series where you identified the things you’d (1) need to do,  (1) want to do and are (3) excited to do with your life to get you on the path towards your healthy aging protocol.

1. Starting with the low hanging fruit - the things you are excited to start working on:

Followed by the things you need to start working on:

2. Given the items above, the next step is to ideate on what items can be bundled together and white items can form a habit stack. For example: you could (1) habit stack washing your face, brushing your teeth and flossing in one bundle, (2) exercise and listen to audio books outdoors.

3. What methods will you use to track progress and keep up with the parts of your protocol that matter the most to you? For example: you could use apps, a physical journal, or anything that feels right.

4. What types of accountability work best for you? Do you work best with an accountability partner? Or when you publicly post things on social media? Or if you tell a friend? Or if you do some of the items with a friend? Figure out what types of accountability for your protocol would be best to try out so that you can show up and do what you want to do and so that you can inch toward the person you want to become.

5. Draft what your applied schedule could look like in a day-to-day schedule Taking a daily schedule planner like the one below, ideate on the ideal morning routine, meal timings etc.

6. Draft what your applied schedule could look like in a weekly schedule? What are the weekly aspects of your protocol that you would like to do once or a few times a week? Using a weekly planner like the one below ideate on the what a weekly schedule could look like that would be compatible with the desired life you are looking to lead and grow into.

7. Draft what your applied schedule could look like in a monthly schedule? What are the monthly aspects of your protocol that you would like to do once or a few times a month?

8. Draft what your applied schedule could look like in a quarterly format? What are the quarterly aspects of your protocol that you would like to do once or a few times a quarter? For example: it could be checkups, or experiments, or supplement and medicine related, activity related, measurements you'd like to track quarterly etc

This concludes the Protocol Design Series.

Ultimately, a healthy aging protocol is the expression of our values, hopes and dreams. It is how we choose to live our life. If this kind of futures thinking inspires you, sign up for the  Protocol Club waitlist here to join a community dedicated to all things Protocol with conversations inspiration and workshops to help you design and pursue your own healthy aging protocol.

The Project Nof1 interview series captures stories of different people’s healthy aging protocols. You can find them on the Project Nof1 Youtube channel, or on spotify.