I launched the FitToTeach Substack on January 29, 2023. I had just finished reading “Atomic Habits” by James Clear and I had an itch to put what the man had written into practice. I also desperately wanted to give my commute some meaning. Performing the simple math of adding up all the time I had spent on a train going to and from my teaching job had given me a bad scare. This is my life after all.
I decided I would try to form a very simple habit. There were two rules. Rule #1: No matter what, the moment your butt touches a train seat on the Metro North you have to open your laptop to a word document. Rule #2: No matter what, you are obligated to write at least two shitty sentences. Rule #1 came from James Clear’s concept of habit stacking, and Rule #2 came from his concept of making a new habit as easily accessible as possible. Since then I have published exactly 52 articles and will have written a page count that amounts to a decent sized paperback book. Thank you Mr. Clear.
What’s far more surprising to me is how many of you turned out to read it. (Or at least click it.) The stats on my dashboard tell me I get about 1000 views a month. My lowest view count for an article is 133, and my highest is over a 1000, and my mean is somewhere around 230. In the world of one million plus subscribers for different social media accounts this doesn’t seem like much…but to me it absolutely is.
It means once a week around 200 of your guys show up to read what I have written. You guys take time out of your day to crawl around the thoughts in my head. Even better, some of you take the time to comment and ask questions, other folk have conversations with me in person about it.
I am humbled. Thank you.
Top 5 Most Viewed Articles Vs. Top 5 Articles I Enjoyed Writing
I’m a huge believer in reflection, and there’s no time like the end of the year to consider the course you’re on and whether or not it needs any adjustments. Perhaps the most surprising discovery about my Substack is that the articles I enjoyed writing didn’t have all that much correlation with what you guys wanted to read. Some of the articles I wrote that appear in the top 5 most viewed I wrote rather flippantly, almost as filler. (What can I say, sometimes inspiration strikes, and other times I just post on Wednesday and hope for the best.)
I thought a fun way to wrap up 2023 was a simple review of the top 5 most viewed articles vs. the top 5 articles I had the most fun writing. Each underlined article is hyperlinked, so if the description tickles your fancy, give it a read. Without further ado - enjoy!
TOP FIVE MOST VIEWED ARTICLES
#5: Cheap Dopamine and Your Depression - 272 views
I’m honestly glad this article made the top 5. At the time I was neck deep in examining Anna Lembke’s work about dopamine through podcasts, her book, “Dopamine Nation”, and an excellent afterskool youtube video. I had spent several lessons in health class explaining to kids the effects of dopamine and how we can manipulate pain and pleasure in order to feel better. The plague of social media is the main point I address in the article, and it caught your guy’s eye.
I even had one guy approach me in the gym and say, “You know Gilbert, you make a lot of good points…but I’m not going to stop watching porn.”
#4: Olympic Weightlifting is For the Birds - 287 Views
The article is a story about how I fell in love with the olympic lifts…and how that time could have been spent more wisely. It’s a celebration of my time with the olympic lifts and also a massive critique of them. Many of you vibed with the concept and enjoyed the pictures of my earlier training years.
#3: A Simple Strength Program to Properly Supplement Your Crossfit Addiction - 292 views
This is one of the articles I wrote rather flippantly. I have long observed that people who are new Crossfit often fall in love with it…but also get frustrated by their lack of barbell strength. Strength training is one of those things that just takes time to develop - and you need a plan regardless of how much effort put forth. In this article I provided a simple barbell strength template that could find you results relatively fast, and still do a moderate amount of Crossfit.
It is also the absolute bedrock of how I train high school kids.
#2: What I Eat - 349 Views
That this is my second most viewed article gave me all the laughs. It was the kind of week where I had run out of ideas and I threw something out there just because I wanted to stay true to my self-imposed deadline of writing every Wednesday. I thought this article was going to be one of my least viewed of all time. How wrong I was. I supposed I should congratulate the success of all of the half naked selfies I have running around on the web.
#1: To Mr. Smith - 1,090 Views
I can’t really take any credit for the success of the article. The massive view count (at least in my world) is due to the greatness of the man himself, and his passing. The memorial service left a hole in every NHS Band kid’s heart. It was a reflection of the emotions and memories that defined my high school years.
TOP 5 ARTICLES I ENJOYED WRITING THE MOST
#5: FUCK OFF AND DON’T TRUST THIS BLOG
If you’ve never drafted an autobiography of how you became the person you are, I highly recommend it. The three part series of posts was a journey of self reflection over my past three decades on this earth, and I was cracking up with laughter the vast majority of the time I was writing it. It also paints an argument for why you should consider reading the blog in general.
#4: Consider the Cheeto
Ahhhhhh, where it all began. Is it my best writing? No. But it was the first ever post I created for the FitToTeach Substack and when I go back to read it it still gives me giggles. It laid the foundation for the type of writing I knew I wanted to dabble in - irreverent advice about nutrition and teaching. Most importantly, my commute finally felt like it wasn’t a waste of time.
#3: Flipping an Age Old Question
While I’m learning to enjoy writing for an audience, let me be quite frank, the writing exercise that is this Substack is mostly meant for my own growth. While I believe that what I write can help others, most of the time the writing is to remind myself of my own beliefs. This post in particular is one I frequently remind myself of. It keeps my ship going in the direction it should.
I also think it’s a damn good take how to address the questions, “what the fuck do I do with my life?”
#2: To Mr. Smith
This is the only article that matched up with how I felt when I wrote it, and the amount of interest it generated. The walk down memory lane for a great teacher was something relatable to everyone.
#1: Never Let the Kids Win
Hands down I’ve never had more fun writing. This monster of a post flowed from my brain into the keyboard with zero second thoughts. It’s a celebration of the sports culture I have helped build in a place where I had once thought any such culture was impossible. It’s got action, drama, suspense, and joy. Every once in a while teaching has moments of greatness. I feel this story is a reflection of one of those moments.
Awesome. So glad you did this. I get a lot out of your writing. And this is only the beginning!