Intentions and Motivation Behind Longevity Protocols

In the previous lesson, I mentioned that this portal does not sell any supplements, therapies, or other products that are the subject of objective evaluation regarding the effectiveness of any health-related activity.

So what is the motivation behind its creation?

This is a valid question, and to answer it I need to write a few words about the creator of Longevity Protocols.

Building a company is an exciting experience, but you pay a high price for it. Years of fighting in business come with dangerously high levels of stress, sleep problems, anxiety, a constant sense of threat and instability, and disrupted life priorities.

I was proud of my professional achievements, but I couldn't hide from myself that year after year I felt worse and worse, and I wasn't sure why.

I had financial stability, fantastic people around me, a happy family, lots of travel, and a job I loved—so why did I feel bad?

I'm a rational person, and looking at my life situation, I simply had no right to be in such poor mental condition.

And yet, that's how it was. An increasing sense of constant fatigue, growing anxiety, a persistent feeling of running out of time and transience, and increasing irritability. The slightest thing could ruin my mood for the entire day.

Like an executioner's axe, the thought was hanging over me—what was the point of all those years of struggle, all that effort, all that striving, if I simply couldn't feel good about myself?

I felt an increasing meaninglessness in all my actions and had a sense that the axe was gradually getting closer to my neck.

While searching for an explanation for my condition, I came across Bryan Johnson—an American entrepreneur who, despite enormous success, struggled with depression and eventually managed to overcome it.

My state certainly couldn't be called depression, but the similarities between his story and mine were significant enough that I couldn't ignore it.

Bryan's diagnosis was simple—it was simply the gradual degradation of health that was leading the body and mind to a worsening condition, and they were signaling this by begging for action.

It comes down to a simple truth that humans have known for centuries—when health is lacking, it's hard to enjoy anything else in life.

This thought hit the heart of my situation, because it gave me the answer to the riddle—how can you have everything needed for happiness, and still not feel happy?

The answer was a blunt slap in the face: If you haven't taken care of your health, your body, and your mind, no money, no professional success, no travels, achievements, or even a happy family will let you enjoy yourself.

Bryan Johnson's approach inspired me to change, but a few things about his methods raised my doubts.

Bryan consumes over 100 supplements every day and conducts a huge number of various interventions and therapies on himself. There are significant problems with this:

• Conflict of interest: His company sells supplements and longevity-related products. There is a very clear conflict of interest, as it is in his best interest to promote the highest possible consumption of these supplements.
• Lack of scientific method: Bryan emphasizes that the scientific method is crucial for longevity, but he doesn't always apply it to himself. By applying so many variables to one person, we cannot isolate their effects. Therefore, we cannot determine from what Bryan does what really works and what effect it has.
• No published methodology: Bryan writes that at the beginning of his journey, he and his team chose from among numerous interventions those that had the best-proven evidence and the lowest risk of side effects. However, he never published this methodology, so we don't know exactly what he based his longevity protocol on.
• No gradual implementation: Bryan published his protocol, but the number of actions he takes goes far beyond what an average person can do—either due to required time or cost. For people who want to take their first steps on this path, it's hard to follow in his footsteps, as the entry threshold seems impossibly high.

Bearing in mind the above shortcomings, I decided to do two things:

• Conduct my own year-long experiment: Like Bryan, I decided to choose only those actions with the strongest evidence for their effectiveness and those within my reach. I committed to rigorously applying them for a year.
• Publish the results of my experiment: And do it in a form that addresses the flaws of Bryan's approach and lets others benefit as much as possible.

A year has passed, and the Longevity Protocols project is the result of my year-long experiment, together with the knowledge base and tools that will help you also achieve similar or even better results.

Let me clarify right away that during this year I only engaged in actions that are unambiguously positive for health and do not carry high risks of side effects (so, no steroids or invasive therapies of any kind).

---

The first conclusion is that I am shocked at how much regeneration the human body is capable of and what surprising results you can achieve within a year by leveraging the latest advances in science and technology for your benefit.

I’m deliberately posting unretouched photos from daily life instead of from some special photo shoot—I want everything to look natural, just as it is in reality.

Just two years ago, my condition barely allowed me to walk up the stairs to my apartment without getting winded. Today, according to the Whoop fitness band (Whoop has millions of users worldwide and compares their data), I am in the top 7% of results.

Secondly, apart from the results I most expected, such as a changed physique or improved mood, I noticed a number of other unexpected changes.

Hair repigmentation

I started going gray before I turned thirty, so I had long accepted this as one of the most characteristic signs of passing time.

Honestly, as a big Witcher fan, I had a soft spot for white hair ;)

Now, to my surprise, I’m watching my hair gradually regain its natural color.

Reversal of balding

20 years of "headspins" effectively thinned my hair on the top of my head. The professional term is mechanical alopecia, and I developed it before the age of 20, so I stopped paying attention to it long ago.

(Me and my signature "headspin" that cost me the hair on the top of my head)

So I didn’t expect any changes here, yet my bald spot has visibly decreased.

Dental health

I was never able to boast the kind of dental condition I’d like. My mother used to say that everyone in our family unfortunately has weak teeth and it’s genetically determined.

I had accepted this too and didn’t tear my hair out when, at every six-month dental check-up (and I really put a lot of effort into my oral hygiene), I always had at least 3 teeth to fix (a record of 7).

So when I went for a check-up after 12 months this year (skipping the usual half-year one), I expected a record number of teeth to fix (I was betting on 8).

I thought I’d misheard when the dentist, after carefully checking my teeth, looked at me in surprise and said: "Mr. Szymanski, you have nothing to treat—all your teeth are healthy. Congratulations."

Sleep

Unfortunately, I’ve always been someone with very restless and delicate sleep. The slightest noise would wake me up, I tossed and turned a lot, got up several times a night to use the bathroom, and sometimes it would take me over an hour to fall asleep. I often found myself waking up in the middle of the night, unable to get back to sleep because of anxious thoughts.

Because of poor sleep, every day it was inevitable for me to hit a slump at noon and have to take a nap. This was extremely frustrating, as I felt like I was losing valuable daytime hours.

In short – I didn’t like sleeping. Nights were usually a torment, and I always longed for morning.

All of that is now in the past. The best illustration is a chart of my sleep quality from the first 6 months of my experiment (data from the Whoop band).

How is it now?

• I fall asleep within minutes of laying my head on the pillow
• I sleep like a log – I don’t wake up at night, don’t get up for the bathroom
• When I wake up in the morning, I’m so full of energy and excitement that I jump out of bed like a rocket
• I no longer feel the afternoon energy slumps, and naps are a thing of the past
• I started to love sleep – now I can’t believe how enjoyable and relaxing it can be. It may sound strange, but for me, this is a completely new experience

Acne

I never understood it – how could a man in his thirties have acne? As a teenager, I accepted it, but to be worried about pimples on my face at 35? Unbelievable.

But it seems this is also a thing of the past, and the breakouts that I’ve lived with my whole life have finally retired and stopped bothering me.

Decrease in stress levels

Objectively, the amount of stress in my life hasn’t decreased, but subjectively, I feel it much less. My anxiety has diminished, the number of things that can throw me off balance has dropped drastically, and problems at work are less overwhelming.

Mental condition

I always enjoyed clarity and quick thinking, but in recent years, I had begun to notice my mind slowing down and more frequent “mental fog” – the feeling of cognitive cloudiness.

Nothing has made me happier than feeling like I’m back to the best mental shape I can remember – I now feel my mind working at full speed, and at the same time with a great sense of joy and excitement.

Summary

I’ve noticed a number of other changes, which I won’t elaborate on further here. To sum up briefly – while among my peers there is often a mournful song about lost youth and the relentless signs of passing time, I feel like I’ve never been in better shape, never felt better, or younger.

At the same time, I feel like I’m only at the beginning of my journey towards longevity. There is still so much more I can do, and every month brings another breakthrough in medicine. It’s an exciting time to be alive and to take care of yourself and your loved ones.

The Longevity Protocols project is now part of my journey, and I would like to invite you to join me. I hope it will bring you great benefit.

Creating and maintaining the Longevity Protocols project takes a lot of my time, effort, and money. At this moment, I do not get any financial benefit from it, but my motivation to develop it is still immense. Why?

Having a life purpose is important for longevity

The topic of longevity is fascinating to me, and by helping others take care of their health, I feel that I am doing something right and meaningful.

To put it bluntly – it simply makes me feel better, and I’m adding another brick to my own well-being by doing it.

Minimizing egocentrism

I am fulfilled professionally and family-wise. However, when you take care of your business or your loved ones, in reality, you are always taking care of yourself, reinforcing your sense of egocentrism.

Functioning with too strong a sense of egocentrism (that is, with the feeling that everything you do is for yourself/your closest ones) is ultimately harmful in the long run. A stable sense of well-being and happiness requires doing things for others from which you derive no tangible benefit.

I want to have activities in my life that pull me out of my egocentrism, and Longevity Protocols is one of them.

I want to be surrounded by people with a similar mindset and values

I hope that the Longevity Protocols project will attract many people who share a similar mindset and values to mine, creating a mutually motivating community.

Like anyone else, I also need motivation, and nothing is more motivating than a group of people who support and uplift each other.

My own development

Here’s an example from my industry – in learning programming, one of the most important rules is to start working on a real project as soon as possible, because that's when you develop fastest.

By working on Longevity Protocols, a real project aimed at bringing real benefits to real people, I’m also developing my own knowledge in health and longevity. This is exciting work for me, and I’m happy to do it for free.

Caring for my loved ones

I believe that the most valuable thing loved ones can give each other is health.

I think that anyone who has had a seriously ill person in the family will agree with me that the amount of suffering that illness brings not only to the patient but also to their loved ones is overwhelming.

That’s why whenever someone close to me asks what gift I’d like for my birthday, for example, I answer – take care of yourself, give me your health so I can enjoy your presence for as long as possible.

Over the past year, I managed to get a group of my closest people into a healthy lifestyle – including my 60-year-old mother and 72-year-old mother-in-law, who both visited the gym for the first time in their lives and since then have been working out like true fitness enthusiasts ;)

My mom, age 60

My mother-in-law, age 72

Even my wife, at 8 months pregnant, doesn’t skip the gym, which makes me very happy.

So I’m also creating this project for them, wanting to take care of the health of those I care about most.

---

I hope that now my motivation is clear and convincing for you, and that this somewhat long story gives you confidence that the Longevity Protocols project is founded on noble goals.

If you want to contact me, use the communication channels below:

• E-mail: m.szymanski@mdbootstrap.com
• WhatsApp: Join our WA community
• LinkedIn: My LinkedIn profile
• Social media: