Week twelve of 2023 has arrived, and I for one... AM HERE FOR IT!

It's time to walk over to your 4K Weeks Poster, and fill in one more square... Done?

Interestingly, no one took me up on the Instagram challenge... This whole thing is an experiment... so data is data!  

The answer was No Hard Feelings by the Avett Brothers... Perhaps the most perfect song about mortality that ever existed. Play it at my funeral.

The title of the song is at the top of a memento mori painting that my good friend made for me. You can see a picture of the painting here.  

I have been getting email from some of you about how much you enjoy the content in these emails.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. It is incredibly motivating.

Keep changing the world!

The 4K Weeks Brightsider- A Multicolor Extravaganza!
The 4K Weeks Fade to Black- Momento Mori, Anyone?
The 4K Weeks Long View- A Different Horizon

Remarkable Weeks

Week #12 in the year 1997, Tara Lipinski became the youngest skater to win the world title in ladies singles figure skating. She was 771 weeks old. (14.79 yrs)

Week #12 in the year 2006,  Fred Shuttlesworth co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference delivered his final sermon at the Greater New Light Baptist Church. He was  4,383.00 weeks old. (84.05 yrs)

Week #12 in the year 1937, Bernard Fantus a Hungarian physician and immigrant to the US, established the first American Blood Bank.  He was 3,262.86 weeks old. (62.57 yrs)

This Week’s Quote

"What you will become in five years will be determined by what you read and who you associate with." -Charles "Tremendous" Jones 

All the color commentary for the quote this week is down below…

What I am Thinking About This Week

My future and your future.

I was sitting down to compose this week's email this morning, totally uninspired.  I had a small medical procedure yesterday, and between the propofol and the procedure, I'm just a bit worn out...

AND THEN...!!!  My friend, one of the five people I hang out with the most, randomly sent me this quote from Charlie "Tremendous" Jones, and I was flooded with excitement, because I knew exactly what I was going to write about. It's just so META!!!! In a perfect Russian Doll moment, my friend changed my state of mind with a quote about how your friends can change your state of mind.

You have heard it before: Jim Rohn said "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with", and another one : "Show me your friends and I will show you your future."

Who you hang out with today affects who you will be tomorrow. Of course. What do you do with your friends? You talk about what interests you.  If you don't have common interests, you probably aren't friends.  And if your friends only want to talk about shallow things, then that is what you talk about.  Shallow things like: what other people are doing, sportsball, material possessions, tv shows, binary politics, etc.  Yep, I said it... those things are mostly a waste of time to talk about, and you should stop it, or at least minimize it.  I'm no saint, I do it too. But my five friends don't tolerate it for long, and that is by design.  There are people that I love, that I don't hang out with much, because they aren't interested in growth.   I can only tolerate about two minutes of chit chat about "CelebPoliticstuffball" I want to talk about IDEAS.

This same topic, applied to health, popped up in the Tim Ferris Show (episode #660) recently. Dr. Andrew Huberman was talking about "things he has doubled down on", and he said this "I certainly believe that our state of mind and body at any point in time is strongly dictated by our state of mind and body in the hours and days prior to that."  You should listen to the first 20 minutes or so of that podcast, he really does a great job of digging in to how important the trailing period is on tomorrow with regards to fitness and health.  (But... as a father of two youngin's, you lost me at five hours of hiking on a Sunday, Huberman!)

On one hand it is almost too obvious to say out loud, but often the "truest truths" are the easiest to ignore.  What you are doing today effects how you feel tomorrow, rinse and repeat. DUH!

It's not an all or nothing game... in fact, as many people have said before, you only need a 1% change today to be 37 times better in a year!  You just need to tilt yourself in the right direction. Like I said last week "All the durable wins are in daily actions, repeated over years".

So, suck it up, and choose growth.

I love action items, so let me leave you with some.

#1) Put a book on your pillow in the morning.  Non-fiction if you can stomach it, fiction if you can't. Set an alarm titled "No phone, Books! From: Your future self." for just before the time you brush your teeth. 

#2) Which of your friends are interested in taking about big ideas?  Hang out with them more. Hang out with the others less.  Or, if you love them too much to give up on them, and if you have the stamina and the courage, try to bend the conversation to ideas. (Write down five topics on a post-it note and keep it in your pocket. It's hard work.  Us humans seem to be hardwired to want to talk about people and things.)

#3) What is one small creative thing you could commit to doing each day for the next two months?  Write a haiku? Make a sketch? Write for 15 minutes? Sing? The only rule is it must be active, not passive.

#4) Feeling really ambitious? Schedule a weekly meeting with five people who "get it" and spend the time talking about ideas.  Being part of a weekly "Mastermind" for eight years has TOTALLY changed my life for the better.

#5) Have any suggestions?  Email me and I will include them for next week!

Here is the thing, and I don't mean for this to be a heavy burden, but... The Universe needs you to be striving. Striving to be a better: human, dad, mom, business person, neighbor, etc. 

The only way to lead is by example, and that means being better.  I want to live in a universe where you expect greatness from me, and I expect greatness from you.

Not as a contest among mortals, but as extreme ownership mutually shared among divine beings.

Thanks for being a part of the journey with us! Please tell me if you liked/disliked the email this week.  Ask my wife... those are the only emails I like to get!

Spencer, Owner of 4KWeeks.com

Spencer@4KWeeks.com

Dad Joke O’The Week

What is the best thing about Switzerland?  I don't know, but the flag is a huge plus!