Week one has arrived. Who are we to deserve such a precious gift? Use it well!

and.. .HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 Time to stand up, walk over to your 4K Weeks poster, and fill in the next square.

Done?

Here is my best shot at helping you set off on the right foot this year...

Sometimes how we start a journey is how it goes, sometimes not.

I love this Bill Burr bit... "isn't it better?"

It IS BETTER.

1. Week #01 in the year 1976 , Richard Dawkins, Published his book, The Selfish Gene, which popularized the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term "meme". (Thanks ALOT Richard!)  He was 1814.14 weeks old. (34.79 yrs)
2. Week #01 in the year 1984, Oprah Winfrey, Took over as the host of the Chicago market's lowest ranked morning talk show, AM Chicago. Within months it topped the rankings. She was 1561.43 weeks old. (29.94 yrs)

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."-Martin Luther King, Jr

First off, I don't think we should mention Dr. King without acknowledging two things. First, Dr. King wasn't universally loved when he was living. He was a very divisive figure, with 63 Percent of Americans rating him unfavorably in the last Gallup poll taken before his assassination. (When I researched for this paragraph, I was stuck by HOW unpopular he was, it seems impossible.) This fact is relevant as we view current events. Take note of your bias. Change is uncomfortable for most, regardless how clearly right and just it is in hindsight.

Second... Poverty. When the "big people" give speeches on MLK Jr day, rare is the powerbroker who quotes Dr. King about poverty. Poverty was inextricably linked with racism in Dr. King's Mind. 

Ok, now that the context is laid down, the quote context here is simple.  Who knows how this year will go.  Who knows if this is "your year" or not.  But, either way, next week I will send out the "Week #02" email.  So, you might as well start up that staircase and smell the roses as you go.

Accountability.  My best friend and I have developed an accountability system for exercise.  We both have been athletic across our lives, but at 45, with lots of competing interests, it's hard to make it a priority.

It falls solidly in Quadrant 2... Important but not urgent.

This method has been pretty damn effective in keeping us exercising... not always... sometimes the other priorities win, but it does work. It has evolved over time to suit the goals we are after... Here is the evolution:

First we started texting each other. Every day.  If you exercised today, a green check mark emoji, if not, a red x emoji.

But, exercise is about consistency over time. A daily pass/fail was too simple... what if I PLANNED on not exercising today because it is a rest day. I WANT CREDIT!

So, now we do this:  Same daily texting, but instead of a daily snapshot, it is the trailing 7 days.  If I have exercised 5 of the last 7, then the two rest days (7-5=2) are green x's.  If not, all non-exercise days are red x's. The build up of a few "prioritization fails" really helps make it happen.  I'll put a screenshot below.

I have a few other daily accountability things that have been really working for me, and I have been thinking about trying to bring that success system to any of you who are interested.  There has been a pretty good response, and now the question is how and when.  If you are interested in being involved, or if you have ideas on execution, email me here.

Accountability works.

Thanks for being a part of the journey with us! Please let me know if you liked/disliked the content this week.

Talk to you next week.

-Spencer, Owner of 4KWeeks.com

What do vegetarian zombies eat?   Graaaaainnnnnssss!

P.S. Hear a great quote, topic, or joke we should use? Email me at the link above. Cheers!

P.P.S. What are you working on?  We are working on building new tools... Have thoughts? Send them over!

P.P.P.S Thanks for reading down this far. I worked hard to make it worth it,