Week #25 of 2025 has arrived... Have you heard the 3.5% rule?

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

According to social scientists, "Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts, and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change."

So, go ahead!  No matter what type of change you want in the world, get four people out of a hundred to agree with you, and to agree to remain non-violent, and change the world!!!

I believe in your ability to change the world!

Now for the ask...

ON WEEK #25 OF 1963...

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space,  returned to Earth.

He was 1,371.57 weeks or 26.3 years old.

WHAT I CONSUMED THIS WEEK

The Shadow Casket, The Darkwater Legacy Book 2, Chris Wooding Man... I plowed through book one, The Ember Blade. Now I am halfway through book two.  I mentioned last week that reading fiction is really helping open my brain up a bit... This is a story of a young man's tragedy at the hand of a ruling empire, and his struggle to win back his nation from the colonizers... I can't turn pages fast enough.

Fault Finder is a Minimum Wage Job. Freakonomics Radio, Fascinating conversation with Austan Goolsbee, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are." - Ruth Williamson

I have mentioned this before, but if you were going to ask me what one habit has had the biggest leverage on my life, it would be the habit of writing three things I am grateful for each day.

Even in this chaos, there are things to be grateful for.  Waking up today... Generations before who paved this smooth path for you… The cup of coffee you are going to drink tomorrow morning…

Making a habit of taking stock of your blessings will change your life, and the lives of the people you love.

WHAT I AM THINKING ABOUT THIS WEEK

Prosocial Contagion.

I actually heard this term last week, but I had already written the email, and so I saved it for this week.

It came to me from the Pushkin podcast, Medal of Honor.  In Episode One, Season One, they talk about courage and how it is contagious.

Prosocial Contagion is defined as; the phenomenon where witnessing a prosocial act (a behavior that benefits others) leads to increased likelihood of other individuals performing similar prosocial actions. It's a form of social influence where seeing others help can inspire and motivate others to help as well. 

This is such good news!  It means that when you live according to your principles, you are not only making your life better, you are making it more likely that your world is better.

It is easy to root for the underdog in a novel about a ragtag bunch of misfits fighting against injustice (like the one I just finished) because the story line is linear… you can feel the direction from the outset.

But real life is a much murkier place to look for future triumph. There is no plot line… until you are looking back from the end.

There is no way the rebels in Star Wars don’t get crushed every minute of every day. The Empire is TOO strong.

The success of the Continental Army was more than improbable; its chances were effectively zero against the British Army, the most dominant military force in history up until 1781, when suddenly the plot revealed itself.

Prosocial Contagion is just the science-y phrase for “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

There is no guarantee for any of us that we will be the hero of the story. Many “nameless” rebels get shot on the train platform just for stepping out of line. Power thoughtlessly grinds down innumerable would-be heroes each time a tyrant gets ahold of the reins.

But… by making sure we act like the hero of our own story, we make it more likely that the story will end in triumph for the good guys.

Strength, courage, integrity, honor, humility, bravery, selflessness, empathy, love, kindness… these things are contagious, so catch them… and pass them on.

Until next week!

Spencer,

Owner of 4KWeeks

P.S. Clickon this reward if you feel like letting me know you read the whole newsletter: Ahh, humor.