Week 23 of 2024 has arrived.

As far as science knows, Homo Sapiens have been around for about 300,000 years.  We have had domesticated dogs for  23,000 years,  baked bread for 14,000 years, agriculture for 12,000 years, numbers for 5,300 years, poetry for 4,000 years, astronomy for 2,400 years, gunpowder for 1,000 years, printing for 600 years, industry for 240 years, flight for 120 years, the internet for 41 years, and AI chatbots for 2 years.

These are the good ole days.

Time to walk over to your 4K Weeks poster and fill in another square.  Done?

The coaching and accountability group is full! If you are interested in being on the waitlist send an email to Elisha.  info@4kweeks.com

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Thanks for being here and reading. These emails help me "Sharpen The Saw" and hopefully help you to sharpen yours!

The 4K Weeks Brightsider... For the colorful among us.

The 4K Weeks Fade to Black - Memento Mori, Anyone?

The Original 4K Weeks... A Striking Visual of Your Life

Remarkable Weeks

Week  23 of 1931, Robbert Goddard patented the first rocket-powered aircraft design. He was 2,539.71 weeks old (48.70 yrs). 

Week  23 of 1949, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four was published by Secker & Walburg. He was 2,397.86 weeks old (45.98 yrs).

Week  23 of 2008, Michael Parkinson, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. He is called by The Guardian as "the great British talkshow host." He was 3,819.00 weeks old (79.24 yrs).

This Week's Quote

Either I will find a way, or I will make one. -Philip Sidney

I don't know if you have ever done a plank hold... maybe you do regular 1-3 minute plank holds in your daily workouts. If you have done over 5 minutes in a plank then I know you are familiar with the voices in your head.  There are at least two... the "let's stop!" voice and the "we can do it!" voice. Those voices get louder over time depending on which one you listen to.  The more you hear "we can do it!" the more it becomes true.  That's what this 45 minute plank exercise is about

All of the emotional pain in life comes from uncertainty. "Will this happen, will that happen, will I fail, will I be able to handle it, will I live, will I die"?  You can remove a lot of that pain if you are willing to fully commit regardless of the consequences. "Either I will find a way, or I will make one, or I will die trying."  There is a peace in that statement.

If you are under considerable stress, you might have to keep "fully committing", over and over and over... your will is a muscle... it needs to be exercised to get stronger.

The sets and reps for this are:

• Set #1 Chose a thing that is hard for you, commit to doing it, do it.
• Set #2 Commit to doing 1.5x of that thing, do it.
• Set #3 Repeat as often as you can over a lifetime.

What I am Consuming This Week

The Art of Living, A translation of Epictetus's Enchiridion, by Sharon Lebell

The Enchiridion, Epictetus. Translated by Thomas w. Higginson

The Tim Ferriss Show, #739: Brene Brown and Edward O Thorpe. Rare is the person with this kind of inquisitive unique and open intelligence.  And Brene Brown is great too... 

The Tim Ferriss Show, #740 Greg McKeown and Diana Chapman, This podcast sent me down a rabbit hole. I am still down it.  Tons of good stuff in both of these guests' portions. Diana Chapman is very interesting, and since this was the third mention of Byron Katie, I decided to download her book... 

Loving What Is, Byron Katie. People who know this book seem to simply refer to it as doing "The Work". It is very Stoic in nature - in fact, Epictetus makes an appearance early on.  I am just starting to get in to it, and it is super intriguing. It is the kind of intra-personal honesty that I am very interested in.  I think if you are wrestling with demons it is worth a look, and if you aren't, but want to strip away any stale layers, might be good for that, too.

• Insta Nuggets: (some good ones this week!)

• The best time to plant a tree...
• That is one way to increase your motivation!
• 100%...flip the script
• Phones... jeesh.
• Sheep are odd...

What I am Thinking About This Week

Epictetus.

Stands to reason... I have been gorging on his lessons lately.

Nothing can hurt you unless you allow yourself to be hurt

There was nearly a tussle at basketball a week or so ago. Two guys had been chirping at each other all game. When my team lost they kept going as we walked to the bleachers, and then suddenly they were chest to chest and nose to nose.  I yelled at both of them, stepped in between them, pushed them apart, and then kept yelling. It surprised and angered me, and I was a little embarassed at how I raised my voice.

One of them snapped out of it the moment I pushed them apart, and began apologizing, the other said this... "He challenged me as a man, I'm wasn't going to just let that go."

I have thought about that all week.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Epictetus said "People don't have the power to hurt you. Even if someone shouts abuse at you or strikes you, if you are insulted, it is always your choice to view what is happening as insulting or not."

I have been lucky in my life. I don't want to take credit for much of this, but for whatever reason, there is nothing you can say to me that would be insulting. Nothing that comes out of your mouth could challenge my manhood.  The only people who could even dent my armor with words are the people that I love.

But Epictetus also says "Self-importance is not the way of the true philosopher. Nobody enjoys the company of a braggart." and it is clear to me that I have my own work to do on my own shortcomings... so I will leave you with one more thing from Epictetus...

"Don't be afraid of verbal abuse or criticism. Only the morally weak feel compelled to defend or explain themselves to others. Let the quality of your deeds speak on your behalf. We can't control the impressions others form about us, and the effort to do so only debases our character. So, if anyone should tell you that a particular person has spoken critically of you, don't bother with excuses or defenses. Just smile and reply, 'I guess that person doesn't know about all my other faults. Otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned only these.'"

If you want to read more Epictetus, here is the easy version, here is the harder version

Have a great week!

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

Spencer, Owner of 4KWeeks.com

Dad Joke O' The Week

I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went,

and then it dawned on me.