Neil Martin · Beats, Business & Life

Health

James Allen said we want better circumstances but won’t improve ourselves. On habits, discipline, the delayed consequence and why nothing changes until you do.

Nothing Changes Until You Do: James Allen and the Little Things

Nothing changes until you do. James Allen on improving yourself before your circumstances, the little things done over and over, and why be plus have makes behave.

Abstract constellation of nine stars around a gold centre on midnight blue

The people who shaped me before I’d ever met them

In 2016 I made a list of people who’d changed my life without ever meeting me. Who was on it, what each one gave me, and a question that might help you find your own list.

Abstract dotted path out and back to a gold circle on off-white

What Joe Cross told me about his biggest achievement

In 2014 I interviewed Joe Cross from Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on his day off. What he said about his biggest achievement, an ice cream in Harrods and the routine nobody sees, and what it says about what really counts.

Illustration of a pair of running trainers and a scattered pile of photo prints at the edge of an empty conference stage under a warm spotlight

The photos I wanted to delete

Five months, a different room and smaller clothes. Why we act on what we feel more than what we know, and how to close the gap.

The cover of Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken, centred in a thin gold frame on a midnight blue background under the words From my bookshelf, with the line “It’s not food. It’s an industrially produced edible substance.” beneath it

Ultra-Processed People will change the way you eat

What ultra-processed food really is, why it’s so hard to stop eating, and how one doctor’s book can quietly change what ends up on your plate.

The cover of In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, centred in a thin gold frame on a midnight blue background under the words From my bookshelf, with the line “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” beneath it

What In Defense of Food taught me about real food

Michael Pollan’s seven-word answer to what to eat, the simple rules that come with it, and why real food beats the products pretending to be it.

Two photos of Neil Martin taken about 12 years apart, both wearing Adidas Superstar trainers, heavier on the left and slimmer on the right

Same Adidas Superstars, two different men

Two photos, about 12 years apart, the same trainers. What changed in between, and why your own story can help someone else.

The cover of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, centred in a thin gold frame on a midnight blue background under the words From my bookshelf, with the line “You don’t stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running.” beneath it

Born to Run is one of the books I blame for 107 miles

How a book about a hidden tribe of runners helped a non-runner reach 107 miles, and what it might show you about your body.

The cover of Finding Ultra by Rich Roll, centred in a thin gold frame on a midnight blue background under the words From my bookshelf, with the line “When the mind is controlled and spirit aligned with purpose, the body is capable of so much more than we realize.” beneath it

How Finding Ultra changed the way I see my limits

What Rich Roll’s story can show you about where your limits really are, from a former non-runner still eyeing an Ironman.

Illustration of a sunny kitchen counter covered in fresh vegetables, fruit and lentils, with a pair of running trainers by the back door

Reclaiming my health, one more time

Over a decade ago I got my health back. Then an injury knocked me off track. In July 2020 I set out to reclaim it again.

Illustration of a cosy window seat on a rainy day with a folded knitted blanket, a hot water bottle and a steaming mug of tea, raindrops on the glass and a small golden light outside

And then I got sick

In the summer of 2018 I ended up in hospital having tests. Why I shared it, and what getting sick taught a man who wrote about healthy living.

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Neil Martin

About

Hi, I’m Neil

DJing since 1987, three decades in business, and the author of Done Beats Perfect. This is where I write it all down.

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