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20% Doug, That Rascal!

20% Doug, That Rascal!

A way to manage your different Dougs

Douglas Finkelstein
May 09, 2024

5 minutes to slow down, laugh, and share something in common. Every Thursday.

Today’s Setlist

🎩 One Theme → 20% Doug, That Rascal!

😄 Funny Business → It’s hard to tell sometimes

📊 Community Poll → We don’t trust bad drivers

Now, a word from our fake sponsor…

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20% Doug, That Rascal!

A few months ago, Bryan Johnson was all over the news.

He’s the 40-something-year-old trying to live forever by constantly testing and adjusting every single aspect of his life.

It’s truly unique and wild, and I’m interested to see how it goes for him. I’m not going to follow his lead, for I am lazy.

Lost in all the headline-catching “live forever” stuff, there’s one simple idea he shares—which he calls “your most consequential and powerful life intervention”—that drew me in like a magnet.

And it is consequential and powerful.

What’s the idea?

Firing your 20% rascal.

We tend to think of ourselves as one, consistent person. And whether I believe that or not, I know I don’t always feel like the same person. I wear many hats…

I’m not always energized. Not always worried about eating. Not always social.

If you’re familiar with IFS parts work, there’s certainly overlap in this concept (and you can explore my satire about what parts work isn’t).

So understanding there are many “me”s—many Dougs—I can now approach my self-destructive behavior differently.

The Pareto Principle is a perfect example of Nature Math in action—very real and influential.

The Pareto Principle states that for many outcomes, 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes.

By this principle, I can reason that there’s a 20% Doug being a rascal! Let’s call hat Evening Doug.

And as I know from Parts Work with my therapist, all my parts are just doing what they think is best for me.

So by communicating with Evening Doug that his decisions negatively affect all the other Dougs—who are 80% of the Dougs!—I have achieved my most consequential and powerful life intervention.

And here’s how I did it.

A way to manage your different Dougs

Step 1: Identify your 20% rascal.

Evening Doug, without question. Evening Doug chooses how late into the night to watch TV, because he reckons the day has already been completed.

Unfortunately, he is not considering the feelings of Sleep Doug (who needs 8+ hours), Rising Doug (who needs to wake up early), or Work Doug (who needs Sleep and Rising Doug to both be happy)…ALL of whom can’t be their best selves when Evening Doug gets to decide how much TV is watched.

Step 2: List what decisions they are and are not authorized to make.

Evening Doug does not get to decide how much TV is watched. The Council of Dougs, which aims to act in the best interest of all Dougs, has set an 8 pm cutoff for TV watching.

Step 3: Wait for them to appear

When it gets close to 8pm and Evening Doug is considering another episode of New Girl…

Step 4: Approve or deny their requests using the Step 2 list

I mustn’t continue on to the next episode. My desire in the moment to do so is denied.

Step 5: Celebrate!

Very quickly, Evening Doug started to prefer not watching more TV. I believe it’s because the negative cycle was broken: Evening Doug opted for more TV → Sleep Doug didn’t get to do his thing → Rising Doug didn’t get to do his thing → Evening Doug opted for more TV to put off the arrival of unhappy Sleep Doug…repeating.

_{Photos are from Bryan Johnson’s}_blueprint_{. Podcast where I learned about this is}_{What Now? w/ Trevor Noah}_{. Thank you Luke K for sharing it with me.}

Who’s your Step 1 (20% rascal)? Reply to this email, I’d love to hear who you’re working with.

If you need clarity or find yourself stuck on Steps 2, 3, or 4, consider joining my Full Moon Celebration for the Flower Moon next Friday. I’m gifting complimentary access to a few people (and a few Cherry Cobblers).

Details are below in the Halp section.

😄 Funny Business

I can almost always tell if a movie doesn't use real dinosaurs
— Bridger Winegar (@bridger_w)
8:17 PM • Jun 25, 2012

📊 Community Poll

Results for last week’s question: Whilst on long drives, when you see the same car a few times over the course of the drive, do you catch feelings?

i.e. do you "like" or "dislike" the other car/driver?

It’s how they’re driving for me, too. The simple lack of a turn signal and in my head they have no business driving a car and I have no interest in spending any personal time with them or trusting their TV recommendations.

On to this week’s question…

How often do you use curse words?

🤝 Halp.

How you can help me:

I am looking for people willing to provide feedback on my Full Moon Celebration, happening Friday, May 17, 5-7:30 pm Pacific Time.

The Flower Moon

These magical evenings include group connection, body movement, and breathwork, all from the comfort and privacy of your home. You can learn more here and see what people are saying about it here.

As a thank you for providing feedback, I am providing complimentary access to the first four people who reply to this email that they’re eager to participate!