The High Performance Journal Written By Dan Go - January 27th, 2026

When I was 26, I was a high school dropout. Overweight. Directionless. I had just discovered the gym, but I was so exhausted that I needed naps just to get through the day.

I didn't have the energy to change my life. I barely had the energy to imagine a different one.

Now I'm 46. I run multiple businesses, ​coach high-performing business owners​, create content daily, and do all while raising a family. And guess what? By 6 pm, I still have energy left over.

The wild thing is, I have more energy now than my 26-year-old self ever did while having 10x the responsibilities.

It's not some hack I discovered. It's having better health protocols.

In today's newsletter, I want to share the protocols I use every single day to perform at my best.

And it starts the night before.

The Evening Protocol

Once the sun goes down, the blue light blockers go on. Every screen, every light in the house gets dimmed. Blue light after dark destroys your melatonin production, which destroys your sleep quality, which destroys your next day.

This isn’t optional.

Around 6 pm, I usually take a quick shower and put on some facial moisturizer and eye cream to keep my skin looking handsome (more on this in a future newsletter).

Before bed, I do a five-minute brain dump. Three tasks for tomorrow, one win from today, one point of tension I’m holding onto, and one gratitude. Got this from my friend Sahil, and it empties my brain onto paper, so I’m not lying in bed running through my to-do list.

I read to my kids before they sleep. This shifts me out of work mode and into presence mode. By the time they’re asleep, my nervous system has downshifted. It’s also great for their brains #winwin

Then I engineer the sleep environment. Room temperature is 71-73 degrees. Sleep mask on. Mouth tape.

Yes, mouth tape sounds insane. But it forces nasal breathing, which keeps you in deeper sleep longer. I was skeptical. Then I tried it for a week, found it improved the quality of my sleep, and never went back.

My phone charges in another room. Not across the room. Another room entirely.

The Morning Protocol

I wake up between 5 and 5:30 am. Before my kids wake up. This is my time.

For the first 45 minutes, I don’t touch my phone. No email. No Slack. No social media. The moment you check your phone, you hand control of your brain to someone else.

The first thing I do is try to get natural sunlight into my eyes. This resets your circadian rhythm. It tells your body we’re awake, start producing cortisol, let’s go.

If you’re waking up groggy every day, this alone will change your life. Morning sunlight is the most underrated performance enhancer on the planet. And it’s free.

Since it's winter, and I'm living in Mexico, this can't happen til 7 am, so I do the following:

I meditate in front of my red light panel for 15 minutes. Red light therapy increases mitochondrial function, which helps your cells produce more energy. I stack it with mindfulness, so I’m getting the physical and mental benefits at the same time.

Btw, I'll do an entire newsletter on the 30-day test using red light therapy. The results were crazy, and can't wait to share that with you.

After that, I drink water with electrolytes. Not coffee first. Water first. You wake up dehydrated. Fix that before you add caffeine.

When I make my coffee, I add 400mg of L-theanine to it. L-theanine smooths out the caffeine. You get the focus without the jitters or the crash.

Here’s my morning supplement stack: 10-15 grams of creatine (not 5 grams like most people say), omega-3s for brain health and inflammation, collagen for joints and gut health, CoQ10 for cellular energy production, and vitamin D if I’m somewhere without sun.

Then I do two hours of deep work. No calls. No meetings. No interruptions. This is when I do my hardest thinking.

The Afternoon Protocol

When I get back to my desk, I step on my under-desk treadmill. Light walking at 2-3 miles per hour while I work.

Walking after eating regulates your blood sugar. It prevents the afternoon crash. And because I’m baking steps into my work, I’m not relying on finding time to exercise later. It just happens.

Also, I use an app called ​Wispr flow​ to do work. It's a talk-to-text app that allows me to get writing done while walking. Incredible tool I use every day.

By the end of the day, I’ve walked 8,000 to 12,000 steps without ever “going for a walk.”

After each deep work session, I take a 15-minute break. I go outside. No phone.

This sounds simple, but most people don’t do it. They finish one task, immediately start another, and wonder why they’re fried by 3 pm.

The breaks are part of the system. They’re not wasted time. They’re what let me sustain output for 10+ hours.

I work out around 1 pm. This is when I’m strongest. I’ve tested morning workouts, but my strength peaks in the early afternoon. I don’t fight my biology. I work with it.

Why This Works

These protocols aren't random. They're optimized for my lifestyle.

Your body thrives on the right routine. When it knows when to wake up, when to eat its first meal, when to walk, when to do deep work, and when to wind down, it naturally attunes itself to that schedule.

Your hormones align. Your energy peaks when you need it. Your recovery happens when it should.

Most of what I do is science-based. But science-based DOES NOT mean adherence.

The best protocol in the world is useless if it doesn't fit your lifestyle.

Maybe you can't work out at 1 pm. Maybe you have young kids who wake up before you do. Maybe your work requires evening calls across time zones.

What works for me might not work for you. And that's the point.

This is why the protocols we set up for the business owners in ​our coaching program​ are all customized to fit their lifestyles. Everyone is different. The principles stay the same, but the application has to match how you actually live.

We had a client recently. Founder, mid-40s, running a $10 million company. He came to me exhausted. Gaining weight. Foggy by noon. His business was growing, but his body was failing.

We didn’t overhaul everything at once. We started with three things: morning sunlight, walking after meals, and exercise first thing in the morning because that was the only time he could get it in.

That’s it. Three changes.

Within three weeks, he told me he had more energy and focus at 5 pm than he used to have at 12 pm. Within three months, he’d dropped 23 pounds and had better energy levels than he did in his 20s.

What You Can Do Now

The stack I showed you today is the full picture. This is what I do. But you don’t need the full picture to start.

Also, keep in mind that I'm not a robot. Sometimes things change, environments differ, and I must adapt.

The key is to focus on the big rocks that keep you energized and sane, and not to stress about being so rigid.

So pick one thing from each section. Evening, morning, afternoon. Start there. Build momentum. Add more over time.

The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is a system that compounds.

Until then, onward and upward. 🚀

- Dan

When you're ready, here are 2 ways I can help:

1. The Lean Body 90 System: When you’re ready to get in great shape, Lean Body 90 is the obvious choice. You can get in great shape and reach your fitness goals in just 90 minutes a week. Lose weight and build muscle even without hours in the gym or highly restrictive diets. Join 1000+ students here.

2. Are you an entrepreneur who wants to get lean, boost energy, and get in your best shape? Apply for private one-on-one coaching here.

Disclaimer: This email is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.