I’m really big on trying out cool new stuff. How big? Well, I have a vibrating massage chair in the middle of my living room, I’ve eaten jellyfish before, and I once bought a device designed to help you break bad habits by shocking you. Unsurprisingly, most of the weird gadgets, gizmos, and trinkets I’ve tried don’t live up to the hype, although some of them are definitely moderately useful. There are, however, a small number of items that have been big difference makers in some form or fashion. I’m listing them below in hopes that you’ll try them out and have the same experience.

Honorable Mention: George Foreman Grill ($51): This one is so pedestrian that I feel like I’m almost cheating by putting it on here, but I get a lot of use out of the Foreman grill. Every single week, I’m cooking steak, chicken, beef patties, or hamburger steak on there. It’s easy to use. It drains the grease off. I also buy the type with plates you can take off and put in the dishwasher. It’s just a nice, simple tool that really fits well in a bachelor’s kitchen.

1) Bedjet ($459): It’s great living at the beach, but it does get awfully hot in the summer. What that can mean is that sometimes, it’s warmer than I’d like when it’s time to go to bed. The Bedjet fixes this by blowing lightly chilled air directly across the mattress. This makes it much easier to zonk out because people that are physically cool drift off to sleep much easier. It can also blow out warm air, but that’s not a feature I use.

2) Blackout Shades (Various): I’ve done a lot of traveling in my life, but I have not stayed in a lot of 5-star hotels. One of the very few times I did, they had motorized blackout shades. I was a big fan. The motorization part isn’t really necessary, it’s just cool. Meanwhile, the blackout shades keep your bedroom nice and dark. Very few things make as big of a difference in the quality of life as how well you sleep, and blackout shades really help with that.

3) Fitbit ($199): What gets measured, gets managed – and a Fitbit allows you to measure your health. It captures the number of steps you take, sleep quality, heart rate variability, and resting heartbeat among other numbers. Checking these numbers day in and day out will give you a good idea of where you’ve been, where you’re at, and what direction you’re going in physically.

4) Kindle Fire Tablet ($149): I was reluctant to change over from physical books to a Kindle, but there ended up being too many advantages. Now, when I go on vacation, I can carry an almost unlimited number of books with me on the Kindle. My highlights in books? They’re automatically saved. It also has some basic applications, and I can use it to check social media at the airport. Also, the cost of books on the Kindle? Typically, it’s 40% to 60% cheaper than buying a physical copy of the book. If you’re a big reader, that’s a heavy discount.

5) Oska-Pulse PEMF ($429): Most people are not familiar with pulse electromagnetic frequency (PEMF) devices, but they work really well. I’ve been using the Oska-Pulse for years and it is AMAZING at dealing with acute inflammation. In other words, if you turn your ankle, tweak your knee, hurt your neck, etc., then run the Oska-Pulse, it’s going to be much less inflamed and sore the next day. Most people are going to be dubious about that because they have no experience with PEMF, they don’t feel anything when it’s happening, and it just looks like it’s nothing but light. However, not only have I had great experiences with this, I have loaned this thing out to a half dozen people over the years and every time (with one exception, who had long-term, chronic pain caused by an old injury), they are blown away by how much it helps.

6) Quattro Stagioni Glass Milk Bottles ($59): All of us, myself included, have too much plastic in our bodies. It’s just a consequence of modern living, where all of our food is coated in it. One of the things I did to try to reduce the amount of plastic getting into my body was to start drinking out of glass bottles. These milk bottles are great for that and as an extra added bonus, I find if I drink two of them per day, I’m getting plenty of water to stay well hydrated. That’s particularly important as you get older because you literally can start having joint problems solely from not getting enough water.

7) TENDLITE Red Light Device ($169): Red light is catching on in a lot of places these days. In particular, a lot of chiropractors are offering it as a service. This small device IS NOT as powerful as the commercially available devices. In fact, in my opinion, it’s good for one thing only… dramatically helping with pain and inflammation in the hands and fingers. The thing is, as someone with a lot of power who hits pads a couple of times per week while doing Muay Thai, I frequently tweak my fingers and knuckles. This makes a world of difference. I can also report that someone I gave one of these to with arthritis also found that it helped a lot. If you have similar issues, would I recommend this? Unhesitatingly so.

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