Week #13, 2025
Week #13 of 2025 has arrived... And we have safely passed the Ides of March... Just incase any of you Caesars were worried. Et tu, Brute!
Time to walk over to your 4K Weeks poster and fill in another square. Done?
This week is all about my back. It was bothering me this week... Who knows why... but that meant that a few times this week, instead of barreling through my agenda like an unbridled force of nature, I needed to lay on the ground for a few minutes. Each time, our wonderful 100 lb, loveable mutt Walter came over, laid nearly on top of me, and rested his head on my chest.
When he does that, I often wonder what could be more important than laying there with him. I mean, I am a modern human, and so my default is "PROGRESS, PROGRESS, PROGRESS," with a healthy dose of compulsive Puritan work ethic, but no matter what I get done in this life, it is still a limited time only deal. So... lay down with the dog, I suppose.
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ON WEEK #13 OF 2000...
Akira Kurosawa, Japanese filmmaker, won the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is considered one of the best directors of all time. He made 30 films in more than 50 years of his career.
He was 1,530.57 weeks or 29.35 years old.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts." - Buddha
This! I would say that by back and my unguarded thoughts are even on the harm they have done me this week. But, at least my back is honest with me. It is giving me accurate feedback on what is actually wrong.
My mind is sneaky... trying all sorts of ways to get me to feel sorry for myself, create problems that don't exist, predict the future, re-litigate the past, and let me off the hook from doing the work that will solve the problem.
Who the heck am I that I have warring voices in my head!??! Which one is me?
As far as I know we all have warring voices in our heads. Make sure you listen to (and empower) the voices in your head that encourage you towards growth, meaning, and intention.
WHAT I AM CONSUMING THIS WEEK
Founders #380 "Four hundred Pages of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger in their own words."
This podcast was awesome. My friend Ben has been listening to these for a while, and so I decided to dive in this week. There are a TON. After listening to this one and liking it, I decided to go back to the beginning and listen. It was eye opening. He has improved SO much. Anyone who is thinking of starting something but doesn't think they are good enough to start should listen to the latest Founders podcast, and then listen to the first... The thing he needed to do at the beginning... was START!
I am still in the thick of The Stormlight Archives, Book 4 It is sooooo good. I want to send Brandon Sanderson a thank you gift... if any of you know him, let me know!
Nuggets:
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This DIY Electric Jeep Conversion... I have 2 Jeepsters, a 1968, and a 1971. The 71 is a rare Hurst Edition. It's engine is seized... and I have an electric motor all ready for when I get a few free weeks squares to dive into the project, unless someone buys it from me first!
WHAT I AM THINKING ABOUT THIS WEEK
Back to my back, and the struggle to struggle well.
I herniated a disk in my back when I was 18. Every decade or so it rears its' ugly head and becomes a blinking red light check engine light on the dashboard of my life.
The last time began around Thanksgiving 2019. It got so bad (sciatic nerve pain, uncontrollable back, hamstring, calf and foot spasms) that I was only sleeping 2 fitful hours each night, with the help of muscle relaxants and nerve pain medicine. It was miserable. (I did get caught up on Game of Thrones though!) After struggling with that for three months, I had an epidural steroid injection in my spine two days before the lockdown in March of 2020. In hindsight, I am not sure why I tolerated it so long.
That injection calmed the inflamed nerve enough that I had a window to get stronger in my core. I was determined to take advantage of it, and never let my lower back be a blinking red light again.
And so, since then I have completely transformed my fitness. I am strong in big ways and in small ways. I see my trainer weekly, my physical therapist regularly, and we address any weak points as they are discovered. I am active and durable. I play basketball twice a week with 20 year olds, and they don’t dive after loose balls like I do. I am in the top 95th percentile for strength in my age. On and on and on. I have prepared.
But, here is the thing… I can only control what I can control. And what I can control is dwarfed by what I can’t control.
Two weeks ago, I went on a long walk with my wife, and when we got home, my back hurt. Over the course of the next 48 hours, it tightened up. But now I have tools… so for the next week or so, I made sure to do my core exercise, and try to create the conditions for it to relax. But after basketball on Tuesday, It really locked up.
All of the strength work I have done has helped. It is important to remember that you do have some level of control over many things… it’s better to be wicked strong and have a back issue than it is to be weak with a back issue. William Irvine, in his book “A Guide to the Good Life” calls this the Tricotomy of Control.
But… by far the hardest struggle this week has been the one in my head.
"I DON’T WANT TO HAVE A SORE BACK!!! IT’S NOT FAIR!
Is this the end? Will it be like this forever? Will I ever be able to be rid of this curse?
What about all the work I have to do! If I can’t work, who am !?" etc. etc. etc. Future traveling, past mining, on and on and on.
All this crap that my own mind is piling on top of the actual issue, making things worse. I have had to walk backwards up the trail and away from the mood spiral dozens of times this week.
Everything is a struggle of some sort, and it is up to us to struggle well.
My back hurts. Great, it’s also Thursday. Both are facts that don’t need any additional context. Struggle well.
Struggle to climb up the hill, struggle not to get knocked back down, struggle to have the courage to keep climbing when you do get knocked down, struggle to keep from “why me-ing” everything. Struggle well.
Ellen Langer, has done studies that show how much your attitude and your expectation of a certain result affect the outcome. So, forget the contextualizing, Sysiphus. The sun rises, pick up that stone and walk it up the hill. The sun rises again, do it again. Struggle well.
Until next week!
Spencer, Owner of 4K Weeks
P.S. I'm serious about the 33 Day Foundation. It works, and in the nascent 4K Weeks Community, I am happy to help you define your goals and stay accountable.
P.P.S. Here is your reward for reading this whole email: New Ideas
DAD JOKE O' THE WEEK
What do you call a pig that practices karate?
A pork chop!
Think you can do better? Join our Dad Joke thread!
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