Week 3 of 2024 has arrived. Wow.  Already three weeks into 2024. Be still my beating heart.

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

One of the hardest things to stomach about modern life... is the nuance in everything.  These days 99 % of everything is a shade of grey, but black and white are the only things that cut through the noise.

The nuance I am speaking of here is the need to push hard and fight to have an agenda and get it done, while at the same time not squeezing the sands of time so tightly in your fist that they run out faster...

It's the relaxed intensity that wins races... that's what you need to shoot for.

Time runs away... the universe drops turds in your punch bowl... and you just need to keep a loose grip on you priorities and plow forward.

Take a listen to the audio version of the weekly newsletter. Usually coming in at around 15 minutes... try listening! 

If you do listen, do me a favor and rate it and share with a friend!

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

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Remarkable Weeks

Week  3 of 2009  Chesley Sullenberger successfully lands US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in NYC, which was dubbed the "Miracle on the Hudson." All 155 passengers and crew survived the emergency water landing. Listen to the audio... "unable" ...the only way you are this calm is training... He was 3025.2 weeks old. (57.9 yrs)

Week  3 of 1882  Aletta Jacobs, the first Dutch female physician, opens her office. Read her Wikipedia entry... she was a fighter... the kind that makes things better for all of us. She was 1457.57 weeks old. (27.97 yrs)

Week  3 of 1981  Muhammad Ali talks  a 21-year-old man out of taking his life. Ali did myriad things that could be called great, but to this young man's mother, this was certainly the greatest. He was 2035.29 weeks old. (39.03 yrs)

This Week's Quote

A man is great by deeds, not by birth. -Chanakya

So, what are you going to DO?  Because here is the thing... we all need each other to be great.  Our future depends on it. 

The Universe tends towards disorder.

Entropy is increasing.

You have to work to become your best self to keep the decay at bay.

Our species is either growing or dying.

Now... to be clear, "great" is a loaded word.  The way I define great is certainly different than you.  And that is 100% fine and dandy. Great doesn't have to move mountains... in fact, few of us will be "great" in that way. All sorts of small things are "great".

Because it is in the trying to bring forth what is within you that you succeed.

And when you succeed in that battle, we all win.

Abraham Lincoln said the same thing in the language of the country boy..."You have to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was."

What I am Consuming This Week

The Big Dig Podcast, "GBH News and Ian Coss". WOW.  this is a fascinating look at one of the largest infrastructure projects in the US.  I have been bingeing it. There are nine episodes and I am on seven.  We need to build things, and repair things, and lately it seems like any big plans are impossible.  Lots of lessons in this podcast, and the story is compelling too.

Who Makes The NBA, Data Driven Answers to Basketball's Biggest Questions. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz I can't remember who recommended this to me... If it was you, send me a note. This book is super interesting - I read the whole thing this week. Primarily because it was written as an experiment in 30 days, using AI to crunch the numbers... He wrote the book, but it relies on a TON of data to tell the story, and all that data was crunched using the assistance of AI.  

I am spending 2+ hours a day on training for one of our businesses.  What are you intentionally learning right now... what is stretching your brain? Tell me.

Insta Nuggets: I have been trying to boil these down to good content that pushes you forward... but sometimes a hysterical meme will sneak through...

• I feel this mightily in my soul. (repeat... I'm leaving it.)
• If you need gift ideas for me...
• Truth... the gremlin's show up at night and Sunday afternoon.
• Have you got a dollar?
• You haven't learned ANYTHIN!
• Be the tush push that gets them across the line.

What I am Thinking About This Week

The current you is not capable of realizing your dreams.

I heard this idea a few different ways this week, and I intentionally chose the most inflammatory way to phrase it in the headline, because I wanted to ruffle your feathers a bit.

If the person you currently are was capable of doing the things necessary to achieve your wildest dreams, THEN YOU WOULD HAVE ACHIEVED THEM ALREADY!

And so, take a minute, let go of the ego part of this, and see the truth to it. Now, allow that truth to open the door of possibitlity.

• Who do you need to become to accomplish the things that you dream about?
• What skills do you need to improve?
• What habits do you need to build? What habits do you need to kill?
• What things that come naturally to you do you need to spend more time on?

Focus on becoming the person you need to be to accomplish the goals that you need to accomplish, to achieve the dreams that you have for yourself.

Think of yourself as the author, not the character... You are the person controlling Link in Zelda, Breath of the Wild...

Now, run that character around the game map and collect gold coins and swords and armor so that you can save the princess or whatever!

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

Did you hear about the new style of broom??

Yeah, it's sweeping the nation!  OR:

Yeah, it's sweeping away the competition!