COR Training

Know the contract
Work with your contractors; monitor and evaluate performance
Provide technical direction and guidance if delegated in the COR’s Letter of Designation
Support the mission and recommend changes
Monitor satisfactory performance and timely delivery within the financial constraints of the contract

Request for an Equitable Adjustment, commonly referred to as an “REA,”

Independent Government Estimate (IGE);

CLC222 Online Training for Contracting Officer’s Representatives

Micro-purchase (for DoD)Commodities and SuppliesServicesConstructionContingencies (CONUS) Contingencies (OCONUS) Simplified Acquisition Threshold Contingencies (CONUS) Contingencies (OCONUS) Commercial Items Commercial Items (Contingency) Large-purchase Cost or Pricing Data Subcontracting Plans space
space
$5,000 $2,500$2,000 $20,000 $30,000 $250,000 $750,000 $1,500,000 $7,000,000 $13,000,000 $150,000 + $750,000 $700,000 ($1.5M for construction)

Title 18 U.S.C. is the criminal and penal code of the federal government of the United States. It lists all federal crimes including numerous rules governing gifts between government employees, as well as between government employees and nongovernment sources, such as contractors and their employees.

Section 201(c) of Title 18 prohibits you, as a public official, from soliciting, demanding or accepting, directly or indirectly, any gift or bribe for or because of your official position.

Prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. 208 can be criminal or civil. If criminally indicted by the United States Attorney, the offender can receive up to one year of jail time and/or $10,000 fine per violation. If civilly indicted, the U.S. Attorney may recover up to $50,000 per violation.

Criminal violations require a higher burden of proof than civil violations. The burden of proof for a criminal violation is “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The burden in civil cases is “by a preponderance of evidence.”

For a COR, it is a criminal offense to seek, receive, or agree to accept anything of value in the following circumstances:

Being influenced in an official act: Never discriminate unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges, or accept for yourself or your family any favors or benefits that might be construed as influencing your governmental duties.
Committing or allowing fraud: Avoid fraudulent conduct and report fraud by others, when discovered.
Violating lawful duty: Do not engage in any business with the government or contractor that is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of your governmental duties.

SUBPART 252.2–TEXT OF PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES

(Revised September 21, 1999)

252.201-7000 Contracting Officer’s Representative.

252.201-7000 Contracting Officer’s Representative.

As prescribed in 201.602-70, use the following clause:

CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (DEC 1991)

(a) Definition. “Contracting officer’s representative” means an individual designated in accordance with subsection 201.602-2 of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and authorized in writing by the contracting officer to perform specific technical or administrative functions.

(b) If the Contracting Officer designates a contracting officer’s representative (COR), the Contractor will receive a copy of the written designation. It will specify the extent of the COR’s authority to act on behalf of the contracting officer. The COR is not authorized to make any commitments or changes that will affect price, quality, quantity, delivery, or any other term or condition of the contract.

https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfars/html/current/252201.htm

KNOW THE CONTRACT

I Love Prince George’s County

I just received an email. I love the multilingual announcement. I love the respect for non Christian holidays. I love the inclusivity of Prince George’s County.

There is no school for students Friday, Sept. 25 due to professional development. Schools and offices are also closed on Monday, Sept. 28 for The Yom Kippur holiday. No habrá clases para los estudiantes el viernes, 25 de septiembre debido a que los maestros estarán participando en desarrollo profesional. Las escuelas y las oficinas estarán cerradas el lunes, 28 de septiembre en observación del día festivo Yom Kippur. Il n’y a pas d’école pour les élèves le vendredi 25 septembre, en raison du développement professionnel. Les écoles et les bureaux sont également fermés le lundi 28 septembre pour la fête du Yom Kippour.

What Can We Do About the Information War?

I’ve been reading a lot about “fake news.” I read the Mueller Report.

I read Enemies where the FBI and JFK told MLK that his speechwriter was on the Moscow payroll.

I’m reading Information War that talks about Russian efforts to divide and conquer the US using racial tension going back as far as the 1930s.

I asked Oshawn Jefferson what else to read. This is what he added to my list:

This one, Disinformation by LtGen Pacepa which Oshawn recommended, was already in my iPhone, and I had started reading it, been shocked by it, but moved on to study disasters for my new USACE job. Looks like it’s back to information warfare.

This one, I read in grad school, but I think I could use to read it again. A companion book, I won’t need to re-read as it left an indelible mark is Dr. Cialdini.

This one looks amazing. Published by Defense Press.

This one published this year wasn’t on the list, but looks good.

Also looks interesteding.

I read this one a couple of years ago and it was really good.

I also read lies my history teacher told me which, of course, is about how we in the USA fail to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about ourselves. But there’s also this, which looks really good.

This one looks a lot like Buzz which I read for grad school and it was quite insightful.

Here’s the Anatomy of Buzz, which I highly recommend.

This one from the Oshawn Jefferson list:

I do wonder how much of our current problem is due to Facebook and Google ads which killed the ad revenue of newspapers and news rooms and depleted bone fide journalists who have been replaced by the citizen journalist. While I love the rise of the citizen journalist, I bemoan the loss of the Dan Rathers of the world.

Homeschooling Ann

Today, while Ann and I walked around the neighborhood and she sat in the beachwagon, watching her iPad, I asked her questions from time to time. Que color es este carro? Yo no se, she responded. Negro? Yes! Negro. Que color es este casa? Que color es este flor?
She did single digit math with Grandma and the discussed it in Chinese.

I played piano when she was in the bath and predictably as soon as she got out, she threw me off the piano and insisted that she play the piano. Smirk. She never plays the piano if I ask her. Only if I start playing myself and she can bully me off the keyboard.
Dad and grandma took her to a nearby open park today. No playground. Just wide open spaces for exercise and running and jumping.

Haven’t been doing much Tae Kwon Do. We have been doing some writing on the computer keyboard as she doesn’t see much point in writing words on paper.

What are we doing with our daughter?

Of course, the truth is, we have no idea what we’re doing with our daughter. What we’ve done up to this point is swimming classes beginning at 10 months old, soccer classes beginning at 18 months old, as well as piano and Chinese language classes beginning at age 2. At age 3, she did a 6-week class in archery, several sessions of basketball, two 6-week sessions of ice skating, two 4-week sessions of pre-ballet, one 4-week session of creative movement dance, 6 months of gymnastics and 6 months of tae kwon do. She continued Chinese classes during age 3. We had several months of violin classes, although it was mostly sawing on the violin with the bow.

Just on the cusp of age 4, she has started Spanish classes. Right now, I think her Saturdays are perfect. Toddlerhood is a kinetic experience, so academics are difficult to focus on. Saturday morning starts out with soccer class, then Spanish class, which includes singing and dancing and energy, then a gymnastic-like creative movement dance class, finally a relatively low movement, but remarkably engaging Chinese class and at least the first week, followed by an hour in the local park playing soccer with dad. This mix of movement and theory seems to fit her now.

Why?
Some decisions are rudimentary. Drowning is a top cause of death for children ages 5 to 8, so we want our daughter to be able to save herself if she falls into water. Swimming is really a survival skill.
The Tae Kwon Do was added per her preschool principal’s recommendation because Ann was remarkably abusive to adults and peers around age 2. The principal rightly assessed that martial arts would reduce her violence toward people nearby her. Now, even when she wants to kick and punch things at home, she asks me to hold a pillow the way they hold padded targets in her school. Why does she like to kick and punch things? I have no idea.
Other activities like basketball, dance, soccer, gymnastics are just to keep her moving because she has a surprising amount of energy, and we feel exhausted.

Overscheduled?
Experts say, which I’m not actually sure, that unstructured play is critical. I’m not entirely certain what that means, but what I have observed is that when she had a 6-session series of ice skating, the Wells rink gave us a plastic punch card with 6 free sessions at their various open skating days. I managed to get Ann to the rink 9 times during the 6 weeks. In addition to her classes. She seems to make better skill gains on non-class days. This isn’t to say that classes are bad or a waste of time and money. When she has a class, like swimming once per week, she often replicates some of the movements from her class during her free swim time. I usually managed to get her to the pool twice per week in addition to her class.
I have discussed this principle with her piano instructor to no avail. Ann is a completely different person on her home keyboard in her playroom than in the exalted hall of her music school. At home she literally stomps on the keyboard. At school when we arrived early, she carefully explored the keyboard, often making short compositions herself of 3 keys. One sounded a bit like the classic iconic notes from the theme song for the movie Jaws. Once she finishes exploring the keyboard, she often tried to play whichever music I had put in front of her. She never tried to play music from a book at home. I wish they had an open piano time like they have open swim, open skate and open gym at the gymnastics center. But the best I managed was before class. It’s a pity because it’s too dense, too concentrated.
In any case, in addition to all her classes, dad usually gets her out to a park almost every afternoon. They play soccer, basketball, she rides her bike, they run through the forest trails. Unstructured play is unquestionably engaging for her, it’s just exhausting for us, so the classes help reduce some of the energy burden.

Why AFPIMS?

Why publish an official website on AFPIMS?

All official government public websites should be hosted on AFPIMS because it provides automatic legal and regulatory compliance, world class security, and it’s remarkably simple to use. AFPIMS, which stands for American Forces Public Information Management System is a website content management and website hosting service open to all DOD entities. Some examples of AFPIMS websites are http://www.Defense.gov, the website for the Office of the Secretary of Defense; http://www.ndu.edu, the website for the National Defense University and http://www.af.mil the main official website of the U.S. Air Force. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard main websites are also on AFPIMS. AFPIMS is built on an open source Dot Net Nuke kernel and compiles more than a dozen contracts to add a suite of capabilities from Akamai cloud servers to Granicus email list serve functions. Together this suite of technologies offers one-stop shopping for USAF organizations that need a public website.

AFPIMS provides automatic compliance with a host of laws and regulations in addition to world class security against hackers. A host of U.S. laws govern communications between government agencies and the public. Failure to comply with these laws can result in lawsuits against government agencies. The most common lawsuit against government agencies regarding public websites in recent years relates to the Rehabilitation Act, Section 508 detailing requirements for accessibility for people with sight and hearing disabilities. Interestingly, a significant number of those lawsuits were initiated by the Department of Justice. Another government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office routinely cites legal failures of government agencies, as in this 2015 finding, “EPA engaged in covert propaganda when the agency did not identify EPA’s role as the creator of the Thunderclap message to the target audience.” Finally, a surprising number of official U.S. government websites have been hacked or defaced by adversaries. Most website managers want to focus on content and with AFPIMS, the risks of running afoul of compliance or security issues is minimized.

AFPIMS is so simple, anyone can post content after a couple hours of online training, so no web design programmers are necessary. AFPIMS is a template-based system similar to WordPress or other standard blogging websites. Users choose a template, like news, add a headline, body, tags and categories, bylines and submit. When Air University migrated to AFPIMS, the program manager was pleasantly surprised explaining that many of the people posting content were brilliant, often with PhD-level education, but they were not IT professionals. The AFPIMS and Air Force Public Affairs Agency from Texas sent instructors to Air University and personally training 100+ website contributors. Most offices have limited budgets and even more limited manpower, so hiring specialized staff solely to run a website or web page isn’t realistic. AFPIMS allows average employees to contribute directly to the website.

Some people prefer complete freedom from any templates. Certain organizations have opined they want complete freedom to design websites, and it is true, AFPIMS doesn’t offer complete freedom. However, most consider burden of legal and regulatory compliance, security and specialized employees onerous. Some organizations have tried to manage websites without addressing all these issues. Years ago, a pair of websites hosted on a dusty server in the corner of one U.S. Air Force unit were defaced and the resulted in an OSI investigation and a White House situation room briefing. Another constant risk is a violation of trademark or copyright laws. In all cases, getting a public affairs office to clear content for public release is critical. It is possible to ignore the rules of official government public websites, but it’s not career enhancing.

When considering all the pros and cons, hosting an official government website on the established DOD solution, which already hosts nearly 1,000 DOD websites is the best option available to program managers and commanders. Once a reasonable risk analysis, business case and budget are considered, AFPIMS is almost always the preferred course of action. Even if a unit decides to choose an alternate website hosting service, in all cases, they should engage the local Public Affairs Officer to ensure all publicly accessible content is properly cleared for release. AFPIMS website hosting service offers easy, one-stop shopping to ensure a properly compliant and secure official public website.

Most significant book I’ve read all year

Insufficient sleep has been linked to aggression, bullying, and behavior problems in children across a range of ages. A similar relationship between a lack of sleep and violence has been observed in adult prison populations; places that, I should add, are woefully poor at enabling good sleep that could reduce aggression, violence, psychiatric disturbance, and suicide, which, beyond the humanitarian concern, increases costs to the taxpayer.
Equally problematic issues arise from extreme swings in positive mood, through the consequences are different. Hypersensitivity to pleasurable experiences can lead to sensation-seeking, risk-taking and addition. Sleep disturbance is a recognized hallmark associated with addictive substance use. Insufficient sleep also determines relapse rates in numerous addiction disorders, associated with reward cravings that are unmetered, lacking control from the rational head office of the brain’s prefrontal cortex.
Psychiatry has long been aware of the coincidence between sleep disturbance and mental illness. However, a prevailing view in psychiatry has been that mental disorders cause sleep disruption – a one-way street of influence. Instead, we have demonstrated that otherwise healthy people can experience a neurological pattern of brain activity similar to that observed in many of these psychiatric conditions simply by having their sleep disrupted or blocked. In deed many of the brain regions commonly impacted by psychiatric mood disorders are the same regions that are involved in sleep regulation and impacted by sleep loss. Further, many of the genes that show abnormalities in psychiatric illnesses are the same genes that help control sleep and our circadian rhythms.

Preliminary but compelling evidence is beginning to support this claim (sleep and psychiatric disorders are 2-way street of interaction). One example, bipolar disorder. A research team in Italy examined bipolar patients during the time when they were stable, inter-episode phase. Next, under careful clinical supervision, they sleep-deprived these individuals for one night. Almost immediately, a proportion of the individuals either spiraled into a manic episode or became seriously depressed. The result supports a mechanism in which sleep disruption – which almost always precedes the shift from a stable to unstable manic or depressive state in bipolar patients – may well be a (THE) trigger in the disorder, and not simply epiphenomenal.
Thankfully, the opposite is also true. Should you improve sleep quality in patients suffering from several psychiatric conditions using a technical we will discuss later, called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), you can improve symptom severity and remission rates.

My favs: tech books related to public affairs

https://www.audible.com/pd/Talk-Like-TED-Audiobook/B00H4E0YUQ?qid=1575769444&sr=1-1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=WPREGYGA5580DN03NBEQ&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1

https://www.audible.com/pd/LikeWar-Audiobook/B07FF5FLC4?qid=1575769501&sr=1-1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=P6PK0KZR7R718R963862&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1

https://www.audible.com/pd/Cognitive-Surplus-Audiobook/B003OFNLX6?qid=1575769544&sr=1-1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=398S5A3FK8Q04GKZDAA5&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1

https://www.audible.com/pd/Here-Comes-Everybody-Audiobook/B004MNK02Y?pf_rd_p=1bcbcf4a-338d-4f9f-9fb9-7c5b66bf627d&pf_rd_r=RBB0M8V606MNPD7743SX&ref=a_author_Cl_c19_lProduct_1_1

https://www.audible.com/pd/Googled-Audiobook/B002VA9YH2?qid=1575769681&sr=1-1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=WVK2H02YJAH7EH4HPFQW&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1

https://www.audible.com/pd/In-the-Plex-Audiobook/B004UN8UD2?qid=1575769698&sr=1-3&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=X75GW4RF9PFJZW2B7ZRD&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_3

https://www.audible.com/pd/Army-of-None-Audiobook/B07CRT2QQP?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=3K9FBJA1JT84QPT8GJEF&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B07CRT2QQP

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Mueller-Report-Audiobook/B07PXN468K?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=3K9FBJA1JT84QPT8GJEF&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B07PXN468K

https://www.audible.com/pd/Deep-Work-Audiobook/B0189PX1RQ?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=KY73RZTRHDY3341XZMJ8&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B0189PX1RQ

https://www.audible.com/pd/Grown-Up-Digital-Audiobook/B009SRC67Q?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=WXDQX24D5XSB3VK767GT&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B009SRC67Q

https://www.audible.com/pd/Measure-What-Matters-Audiobook/B07BMHFBCM?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=WXDQX24D5XSB3VK767GT&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B07BMHFBCM

https://www.audible.com/pd/Utopia-Is-Creepy-Audiobook/B01JQR8F72?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B01JQR8F72

https://www.audible.com/pd/Alone-Together-Audiobook/B004ZGSRZU?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B004ZGSRZU

https://www.audible.com/pd/Culture-Making-Audiobook/B0038G8TPQ?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B0038G8TPQ

https://www.audible.com/pd/Data-Driven-Marketing-Audiobook/B007V4RCF4?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B007V4RCF4

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Copyright-Wars-Audiobook/B00NQATT12?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B00NQATT12

https://www.audible.com/pd/Im-Judging-You-Audiobook/B01FY5VYNW?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B01FY5VYNW

https://www.audible.com/pd/Hatching-Twitter-Audiobook/B00GAA28JK?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B00GAA28JK

https://www.audible.com/pd/Primetime-Propaganda-Audiobook/B075SL6V8N?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B075SL6V8N

https://www.audible.com/pd/Drive-Audiobook/B002ZF14MG?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=METSQQA7MFRS2S2G4V49&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B002ZF14MG

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Anatomy-of-Buzz-Audiobook/B002UZKX4G?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=1B131A82W2Z2KSMF46K2&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B002UZKX4G

https://www.audible.com/pd/World-Wide-Rave-Audiobook/B002VACCAS?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=1B131A82W2Z2KSMF46K2&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B002VACCAS

https://www.audible.com/pd/Everybody-Lies-Audiobook/B06XDJHMS2?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=1B131A82W2Z2KSMF46K2&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B06XDJHMS2

https://www.audible.com/pd/Edward-R-Murrow-and-the-Birth-of-Broadcast-Journalism-Audiobook/B002UZNC94?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=GEPF1FH7K614SDS4NGC5&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B002UZNC94

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-New-Rules-of-Marketing-and-PR-Audiobook/B00LGZPWQ0?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=GEPF1FH7K614SDS4NGC5&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B00LGZPWQ0

The no-exercise exercise

Coming of age as I did in the Marine Corps, my idea of exercise has always been synonymous with misery. “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

Among my failed attempts to lose weight since I moved to Washington, DC in the Spring of 2018, I decided to bike to work at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA from Hyattsville, MD. It took one to two hours each way. And when I finally got home to my toddler, I was exhausted and often in pain. The heat was overwhelming in the summer. I did lose some weight, but in the end it came back and I resorted to baggy sweaters and dark colored pants to try to cover the excess me that I didn’t want the world to see.

There’s a Noom quiz about whether running or walking is a more effective weight loss option and the trick answer is, it doesn’t matter. No one could have convinced me of this until I saw it for myself. Not only does torture not help, the Marine Corps’ mandatory 3 miles per day is NOT ENOUGH!!!

I haven’t broken a sweat working out for pretty much all of 2019. Now my “workouts” are strolls. When the weather is lovely, I walk outside my office or home. When the weather is too hot or cold, I walk inside the huge government buildings I work in or on the weekends go to a mall.

Using my wearable, I track the steps. I’ve discovered that I’m actually more successful if I do more short walks than if I commit to a 30- or 40-minute walk. A 10- to 15-minute walk once per hour is actually better since I’m too busy to spend a lot of time on a long walk. Additionally, working constantly on the computer as I do, a break every hour is a nice distraction from a screen-weary mind and screen-bleary eyes.

I actually achieved one mile running in circles in my daughter’s ballet class because the teacher was late and the girls were bored, so when a few of them started running in circles, I joined in to encourage them.

I shoot for 12,000 steps every day. Today I’m at 16,500. But the number of steps isn’t dictated by my weight loss goals, it’s actually dictated by how many steps normally correspond with the highest quality heart rate dip and best deep sleep. After monitoring my activity for a while, I realized that anything less than 12,000 steps and my sleep quality suffers. So, as counter intuitive as all this is, the steps are for sleep quality and not for operating in a caloric deficit.

I’ve been working on adding strength training, but I’ve been adding it the same way I do my endurance, without breaking a sweat or feeling any pain or torture. I have 2 10-pound weights by my desk and 2 at home. They are well within my ability to lift and my hope is to do 5 sets of bicep curls, shoulder presses and tricep presses per day, one set at a time, separated by an hour or more. I also love STEALTH Plankster Core Trainer, but I also use it lightly. Every hour or so, just one minute of planking with the video game. It’s fun, easy and involves no sweat or torture, but I see great gains from light, but constant training as opposed to 30 minutes of hard, intense training that leaves me exhausted.

Another bonus: no crazy logistics of carrying all my fitness clothes and shower gear and adding a shower after I arrive at work on the bike or after 30 minutes in the gym. I love the no-exercise exercise. It has completely upended everything I ever thought about fitness.

I do sometimes jog, but it’s only because I’m short on time and need to get more steps in. It honestly makes no difference how fast or slow I do my 12,000 steps. The deep secret is just move. Slowly, constantly throughout the day and your body and sleep will thank you. You’re quality of life will radically improve and so will your blood work.

It’s literally as easy as a walk in the park.