The crash

I thought I was doing everything right—no red meat, only weekend drinking, and jogging on Saturdays. Then—bam! One ER trip later, I was on the operating table getting my gallbladder removed. My system crashed. Hard!

Geeks like us are usually early adopters, but it’s easy to fall behind when we stop paying attention. Showing up isn’t enough. We have to build better habits, too! That emergency room visit was my wake-up call. I didn’t want to spend the second half of my life with shoulda, woulda, coulda regrets. I was determined to fix my glitchy habits. Armed with lifestyle medicine books, documentaries, podcasts, and dozens of open browser tabs, I got to work.

Creating patchOS

Even though I have no medical credentials—and the only letters behind my name are G, double E, and K—I realized I could create a behavior-change system using the same principles I use to create digital products: clear, concise, and helpful instructions. So that’s exactly what I did. I reverse-engineered the advice of top lifestyle docs into six default habits—simple, memorable, and system-friendly. These habits became patchOS—the wellness operating system designed to keep habits top of mind with two-word defaults that could prevent or mitigate system glitches:

1. Plan Ahead

2. Eat Well

3. Move Often

4. Stress Less

5. Love More

6. Sleep Deep

patchOS isn’t a bio hack—it’s a repeatable system that runs day after day and in any order. Don’t know who to call in an emergency? Plan Ahead. Tempted to grab a donut? Eat Well. Been sitting for a long time? Move Often. Feeling overwhelmed? Stress Less. Want people to be nicer to you? Love More. Tired all day? Sleep Deep.

Wellness isn’t about perfection—it’s about playing the long game with small, smarter choices, and building strength from the inside out.

Becoming Geek Strong

Day by day, I started making significant progress...

Minimize emergencies and maximize preparedness. Done. Switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet and stop drinking alcohol. Done. Build endurance to run 5 miles, 5 days per week. Done. Identify stressors and accept things I can’t change. Done. Stop holding grudges and transcend my ultra-introverted personality to be friendlier. Done. Create a cool, quiet, and dark sleep haven. Done, done, done, done, done, done, and done.

With patchOS installed and running smoothly, everything started to click—and I mean everything! Brain fog? Gone. Snoring? Stopped. Cholesterol meds? Canceled. Weight? Dropped 35 pounds. Skin condition? Glowing. Energy? Through the stratosphere. Muscles? Back like an unlocked retro bonus level!

Today, I’m on a mission to help geeks around the globe get strong with patchOS and habit-changing stories called Patches. Let's patch things up and be Geek Strong! 🤓💪