I’m a 32-year-old single male and have been living in Bellevue, WA for the last couple of years. I strive to achieve my full potential in every aspect of life. One day, later in my life, I’ll dedicate my time to helping others achieve their full potential as well. Today I do so through reading, writing, building, following my curiosity, and leading the engineering team at Grove. Most of the time I’m either out in nature, in front of my computer, or having a long deep discussion with interesting people over dinner or a long walk.

My website links out to my social media profiles, but I’d suggest following me at either Olshansky’s Newsletter or olshansky.medium.com if you’re interested in following some of my writing.

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PHYSICAL

• TRS Gemini – As someone who lives with an L5/S1 herniation, this is a tool I always keep in my backpack. It’s like a foam roller that meets a couple of lacrosse balls and can be used as lumbar support (e.g., on a plane), for soft tissue manipulation (when training), and self-adjusting your upper back (when there’s no chiropractor around).
• Instant Coffee Packets – I love a good iced coffee as much as the next person, but paying $10 each time is getting excessive. As long as you have a bottle, most places will provide free ice and have milk or creamer available, creating a very convenient and cost-efficient way to get an iced coffee on the go. This way you save the $10 coffee with a croissant for those special high-quality occasions. There are tons of different flavours, but I like this one in particular because I get some vitamins in as well.
• Battery Jump Starter – Your car’s battery is likely going to need a jump start at the worst possible time (travelling, in a rush, etc.). If you have cables, another driver might be able to help you out. If you have insurance, you can call them in. But keeping a battery jump starter keeps you self-sufficient and going in less than 5 minutes. There’s no particular brand I’m attached to, but I do suggest having a quarterly calendar event that reminds you to charge it up.

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DIGITAL

• Snipd – This app transformed how I consume podcasts. I listen to podcasts at 0.8x speed and would always open up the notes app on my phone to jot down key moments. This was annoying and distracting, especially if I was listening to the podcast while at the gym. With Snipd, I double-click on my headphones every time there’s a key moment I want to remember, and have all my snips sync to Notion and Obsidian. It makes it really easy to keep track of everything I listen to and refer back to key moments I’m looking for.
• Todoist – I tried nearly a dozen different ways to keep track of my TODOs, but after discovering Todoist 5 years ago, I haven’t looked back. I use it to plan my day, capture my ideas, as a calendar, and generally just organize my entire life. Can’t live without it.

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INVISIBLE

Figure out what you want-to do instead of what you want-to want-to do. Now go and do it.

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05/7/25