Where a Beginner Should Start

In this article, I will share where I would begin if I were a newcomer. As we learned from the previous article, biohacking is the improvement of one's vital signs based on scientific research through training, various practices, tracking, and supplements.

The first step: setting goals

The first thing I would start with is setting goals. Here is an important point that I didn't realize right away: almost no one comes to biohacking with the goal of "living a long, high-quality life." People come because of a specific pain point. Some often feel fatigued and don't understand where their energy went. Some sleep poorly and wake up feeling exhausted. Some gain weight even though they seemingly haven't changed anything. Some can't focus and get angry with themselves because of it. Others experience unstable moods, and so on.

If you recognize yourself in any of this, that is excellent—this is your first goal. It is far better than any abstract objective: it yields visible results quickly, making it easier not to quit by the second week. Major goals like longevity come later, once you have experienced firsthand that this actually works.

I started exactly the same way—simply wanting to stop burning out by midday. Over years of practice, my list of goals grew and shifted: from "fixing what hurts" to "preserving what I have" and "preventing what comes with age."

Today, my goals look like this:

• Maintain and, if possible, improve cognitive abilities—memory, concentration, and clarity of thought.
• Keep my mental state and overall well-being in check, and build resilience to stress.
• Maintain stable productivity throughout the entire day, without energy crashes.
• Stay in good physical shape—strength, endurance, and mobility—rather than just "not gaining extra weight."
• Delay as much as possible the diseases that creep up with age—cardiovascular, metabolic, and others whose prevention can be started well in advance.
• Live a high-quality and maximum possible long life.
• And a relatively recent addition—to look good and youthful.

The second step: tracking

The second step is tracking, which means measuring and recording where you are right now. If you establish your starting point, you will have something to compare future results against—otherwise, it is easy to miss progress and conclude that "nothing works."

I still measure everything, from lab test results to assessing how my day went. However, at the beginning of the journey, I wouldn't overcomplicate it. I would start simple: rate my overall well-being over the past month on a ten-point scale, and then separately rate the areas of life connected to my goals—sleep, nutrition, daytime energy, and mood. Essentially, track the very pain point you started with.

The third step: learning and application

The third step is learning and application. Next, I would begin studying the articles on the website and gradually implementing what I read into my life. In these articles, I break down protocols for optimizing specific areas, complete with references to scientific studies and my own experience. Take it one thing at a time: implement it, evaluate the result, and move on to the next.

Here is what I would tell my past self at the beginning of this journey: do not try to do everything at once and perfectly.

Pace yourself for a lifetime and build healthy habits gradually. It is better to reduce the load or take a short break than to burn out at some point and quit everything altogether. Biohacking is not about a month, a year, or even ten years. It is about your entire life. And it is never too late to start—or continue—working on yourself.