Andy Boyer

Dad | Marketer | Psychology Student | Author | What's Next?

Category: Human Behavior (Page 1 of 5)

Andy and Jack

Remembering a Real Life Hero

August 13, 2026 /

Some people enter our lives through circumstances we never could have planned, at exactly the time we need them. Jack was one of those people for me.

If you found yourself in Newport Beach on a Wednesday night, Jack was easy to find. He had his chair, and nobody else dared sit in it. Anyone new could introduce themselves, and Jack would dispense whatever wisdom he thought was appropriate. Sometimes it was profound. Sometimes it was practical. In my case, one of his first instructions was simple. Call him every morning at 8:00. Not 7:55. Not 8:05. At 8:00.

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The “Three Task Test”

June 21, 2026 /

I’ve struggled with concentration at different points in my life, and I’ve tried a number of ways to keep myself organized. Long to do lists seem like a good idea until I have 20 things staring back at me and spend more time thinking about the list than actually doing anything on it.

So lately I’ve been trying something much simpler. I write down three things.

They don’t have to be the three most important things in my life. Usually they’re just the three things already taking up space in my head. I get those done, cross them off, and then make another list of three.

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Goal Alignment vs Compromise

April 26, 2026 /

There is a difference between compromise and goal alignment, and the older I get, the more I notice how often people confuse the two. I first came across the idea while reading about goal alignment in the book, “Beyond High Performance” although at this point I honestly cannot remember whether the exact distinction came from the book itself or from the argument my brain started having with the book afterward.

Compromise is usually presented as one of the great virtues of adulthood. You want one thing, I want another, and somewhere in the middle we agree to accept a slightly less satisfying version of both. We each get to eat, but somehow end up at Applebee’s.

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The Only Three Things I’m Trying to Master

February 15, 2026 /

Most people know the Serenity Prayer. It shows up in AA meetings, on coffee mugs, in treatment centers, and taped to refrigerators.

For those of you who don’t know it, here is a refresher:

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

It’s a genius prayer because of its simplicity. It doesn’t ask for wealth, success, influence, or even happiness. Just three traits: serenity, courage, wisdom.

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Celebrating With A Million Friends

February 13, 2026 /

Getting 1 million people to do a single thing is no easy task. Getting 1 million people to do an extremely inconvenient thing that disrupts an entire day of their lives is even harder. But that equation changes if 1 million people want to be part of something that happens only once every 10 to 20 years and they want to be part of a group of 1 million people. And that’s what happened with the Seahawks parade this week.

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A Resolution is Not a Task List

January 1, 2026 /

As we enter a new year, many of us feel the pull to set resolutions. The pattern is familiar. We make a list. We write down goals like eating better, exercising more, organizing our homes, or spending less time on our phones. These are fine intentions, but often they become just another layer of pressure. Another set of expectations stacked on top of the ones we already carry. The word “resolution” ends up feeling like a January version of a task list. But that is not what the word means. Not really.

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Coffee cup

30 Day Results of the Caffeine Purge

August 7, 2025 /

About a month ago, I started dialing caffeine back to almost nothing.

I’m not going to lie, the 1st week was brutal. Even though I warned everyone, “Hey, I’m going to be cranky,” I seemed to exceed their expectations and still annoyed them.

But then it passed and now that I’m on the other side of it, here’s the quick report:

  • Sleep: The first week was amazing. Now it’s just… better. Not perfect, but steadier.
  • Focus: On the softball field I noticed a real difference. My reaction time was noticeably improved. I felt sharper, like my brain wasn’t juggling 34 distractions at once.
  • Mood: Less up-and-down. Easier to slow down and pause before responding. (That topic is probably worth a post or two of its own.)
  • Energy: No dramatic crashes at night, just a gradual wind-down. But also no huge daytime surges.
  • Weight: No big changes, other than a little natural water loss.

I still enjoy a cup of coffee here and there, and I’ll grab an iced tea at a restaurant if I’m out or in a coffee shop if I’m working. But the dependence is gone. And we’re measuring in cups, not pots.

Overall: Let’s call it a meaningful success with no downside. Not life-changing, not a miracle cure. Just a steady improvement that makes me feel pretty good about the choice.

To Do list

When You Have Too Much to Do, Stop and Do Less

July 13, 2025 /

Eventually, the list gets away from you.

You sit down ready to work, but nothing moves. Your brain stalls. You’re not even procrastinating. You’re just stuck. The list looks like a mountain, and instead of climbing it, you stare at it, waiting for something to change.

The anxiety and stress don’t come from the list itself. They come from the pressure we put on ourselves to catch up. That pressure builds, and the spiral begins.

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Coffee cup

The Caffeine Purge Begins

July 6, 2025 /

I drink a lot of coffee. Usually a full pot by the end of the day, and sometimes I throw in three or four Cascade Ice caffeine drinks just to round things out. It’s not that I think I need that much. It’s just what I do. Part habit, part coping mechanism.

But I’ve been feeling the effects lately and I don’t like them. Anxiety, restless sleep, a sense that my nervous system is running slightly off the rails even when nothing’s happening. So I’ve decided to do something about it. Not some dramatic life overhaul. Just one thing: cut back on caffeine with the goal of a total abstinence. Seven to ten days of tapering. Let’s see what happens.

The plan is to mix decaf into my coffee grounds, tart with half and half, then taper it down. That will remove about 1/3 and gives me a few days to fool myself before things get more difficult. Next, drop the Cascade Ice drinks and try to replace them with pure water and electrolytes. That’s 1/2 of the current state so 2/3 total.

Then, it’ll just be cutting down the pot to 1/2, then one cup, then none at all. Sounds easy. I mean, I’ve done much harder things.

Why now? Because I want better sleep. Less edge. More clarity. And I want to see what my face and gut look like without all the hidden water retention and stimulant drag. Ten days without caffeine should be enough to know whether any of that’s real or just a theory I invented while over-caffeinated.

So this is Day 1. No big declarations. Just an experiment. I’ll check back in if things get interesting.

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