The $2M "Don't Die" List.

You've probably seen the name Bryan Johnson.

Bryan is a tech founder.
Sold his company to PayPal for $800 million.
Now spends roughly $2 million a year trying to reverse his biological age.

He recently posted a list.
41 things he's learned spending millions on longevity.
Here it is

Called it advice from "your immortal unc and auntie."

Some of it is the best health advice you'll ever read.
Some of it is extreme.
Some of it doesn't apply to your life at all.

I went through all 41.
What I'd double down on.
What I'd cut, and a rapid-fire run through the rest.

Let's go.

#0 SLEEP IS THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL DRUG.

He numbered this zero. That's intentional.
This isn't a tip.
It's the foundation everything else is built on.

Bad sleep raises cortisol, kills testosterone, tanks recovery, impairs decision-making, and accelerates aging faster than almost any other lifestyle variable.

8 hours in bed.
Same bedtime every night.
Cold room.
No screens before bed.
No food right before bed.

Bryan follows all of this obsessively.

You don't need to be obsessive.
But if you're skipping the gym, eating poorly, or feeling like garbage, fix your sleep before you change anything else.

It's not glamorous.
But it's the highest leverage thing on this entire list.

Most people optimize everything except the thing that matters most.

#13 LIFT HEAVY THINGS.

The most important three words on the list.

Not "exercise."
Not "be active."
Not "move your body."

Lift. Heavy. Things.

Muscle is the organ of longevity.
It regulates glucose, protects your joints, keeps your metabolism revving, and is the single best predictor of how functional you'll be at 70, 80, 90 and on.

Cardio is good.
Walking is good.
And stretching, done right, matters too.
(I wrote about the mistake most people make with it here: The Stretching Mistake You're Making.)

But none of them build muscle.

You need resistance.
Progressive overload.
Give the tissue a reason to grow.

If you're only doing cardio and calling it fitness, you're missing the most important variable.

Start lifting.
If you already lift, lift heavier.
Challenge yourself.

#38 THE BODY IS A CLOCK. HAVE A DAILY MORNING AND EVENING SCHEDULE.

Your body runs on a circadian rhythm.

It wants to wake at the same time.
Eat at the same time.
Sleep at the same time.

When you respect that rhythm, consistent wake time, morning sunlight, food timing, evening wind-down, everything works better.
Sleep quality improves.
Energy is more stable.
Recovery is faster.

When you fight it with late nights, inconsistent wake times, eating at random hours, your hormones pay the price.

This doesn't mean you can never stay out late.
It means your default, your baseline, should be structured.
Monday through Friday, hold the line.

#41 DO LESS. MOST THINGS DON'T WORK.

His last point.
The most underrated one on the entire list.

The wellness industry wants you confused.

Confused people buy more supplements.
More gadgets.
More programs.
More "protocols."

I covered some of this in Most Recovery Tools Don't Work.
Go back and read it if you haven't.

The truth is, only a handful of things actually move the needle.

Sleep.
Lifting.
Walking.
Whole foods.
Stress management.
All of this over a long horizon makes the real difference.

That's it.

Everything else is noise dressed up as optimization.

Bryan Johnson spends $2 million a year figuring this out.
His conclusion is to do less.
How ironic.

#39 AVOID LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL WHERE YOU CAN.

This one doesn't live in the real world.

Bryan can avoid long haul flights.
He controls his entire schedule, sleeps in a bio-optimized bedroom, and has a team monitoring his biomarkers.

You have a job. A family. A life.
Maybe you're building a career and travel is part of the build.

Long distance travel disrupts sleep and circadian rhythm, that part is true.
Jet lag is real. The recovery cost is real.
But the fix isn't to stop traveling.
It's to manage it.

Get sunlight when you land.
Match local meal times.
Prioritize sleep the first two nights.
Move your body.
Hit the gym and lift heavy.

Travel is one of the best things you can do for your mind, your relationships, and your perspective.

Don't optimize that out of your life.
Go see the world.

#40 BABY STEPS FIRST. INCORPORATE NEW THINGS SLOWLY.

I get it. And for most people, this is probably right.
But if you're reading The CODE, you're not most people.
Baby steps keep you comfortable. Comfortable doesn't build anything.

Pick two or three things from this list that you're not doing.
Commit to them fully for 30 days.
Not one. Not a soft version of one.

Two or three. All in. For a month.

That's how real change happens.

Small, slow changes are better than nothing.
But if you want to actually transform how you look and feel, raise the standard, don't ease into it.

#27 ALCOHOL IS BAD FOR YOU.

He's not wrong. The data is clear.
Alcohol sucks.

But c'mon.

A glass of wine at dinner with your family is not destroying your health.

Chronic, frequent drinking is.
Binge drinking is.
Drinking to cope is.

The all or nothing framing is where a lot of people check out and abandon the whole list.

Know the cost.
Make an informed choice.
Don't lie to yourself about how much you're actually drinking.

That's the real tip.

THE NO-BRAINERS

#1 - 8 hours in bed. Non-negotiable.
#2 - Same bedtime every night. Your body loves routine.
#3 - Don't eat right before bed. Digestion disrupts sleep quality.
#6 - Avoid added sugar. It's in everything. Read labels. Don't become neurotic about it. Just know where it hides.
#11 - Walk after meals. 10 minutes. Blunts blood sugar spikes, aids digestion.
#12 - Get your heart rate high routinely. Two to three times a week minimum.
#14 - Stretch daily. Mobility is a long game. Start before you need it. (The Stretching Mistake You're Making - read this first.)
#16 - Drink water. Most people are chronically under-hydrated. That afternoon fatigue you blame on sleep or diet? Half the time it's dehydration.
#17 - Get sunlight when you wake up. Sets your circadian clock. This is really tough in NYC, especially in the winter months. But worth it.
#19 - Stand up straight. Posture affects how you breathe, move, and feel.
#25 - Avoid sitting for long periods. Get up every 45–60 minutes. Non-negotiable if you have a desk job.
#26 - Protect your hearing. Underrated. Hearing loss is permanent.
#28 - Finish coffee before noon. Caffeine has a 6-hour half-life. It's affecting your sleep more than you think.
#30 - If obese, look into a GLP-1. The data supports it. This is a medical conversation. Talk to your doctor.(GLP-1s Work. But They're Weakening Your Bones.)
#31 - Sleep in a cold room. 65–68°F is optimal. Most people sleep too warm.
#33 - Turn off notifications. Attention is your most valuable asset. Protect it.

WORTH KNOWING. NOT WORTH OBSESSING OVER.

#7 - Avoid all things in an American convenience store. Directionally correct but overly rigid. Know what to avoid: processed sugar, ultra-processed ingredients. The rest is fine occasionally.
#21 - Avoid plastic where you can. Worth being aware of. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
#29 - Avoid bright lights after sunset. Blue light is real. Blue light glasses and dimming your screen is enough. You don't need to live by candlelight.
#34 - Limit social media. Yes, it’s rotting your brain. But try to replace it with something that actually stimulates you.

Bryan Johnson is extreme. Most of what he does isn't realistic or necessary.
But this list? Most of it is just common sense that we've stopped practicing.

Sleep more.
Lift heavy.
Walk after meals.
Eat real food.
Have a routine.
Do less.

You don't need $2 million to figure this out.
You just need to stop overcomplicating it and start doing the basics.

That's the whole game.

Train Hard.
Think Deep.
Live with Intent.

— The CODE