Week #3, 2025
Week #3 of 2025 has arrived. Wow. And just like that we are 5.76923077 percent through 2025. Does it surprise you how "little" 5 percent of the year is? 2025 is a flash in the pan. Enjoy it!
Time to walk over to your 4K Weeks poster and fill in another square. Done?
I got an email "thank you" from a reader this week. She was specifically thanking me for four sentences that hit her at just the right moment earlier this year.
I had forgotten that I wrote them.
But they bear repeating as we all try to make a fresh start this year. Don't carry anything into the new year that isn't serving your purpose. Here are the four sentences:
"The sun will rise tomorrow. The leaves will fall from the trees in the fall. The rivers will be sending their endless ripples to the sea next year, and the sea will still be throwing waves to the shore in 1000 years. In light of that, is this outrage you feel worth it?"
Spoiler alert. It isn't.
ON WEEK #3 OF 2000...
Steve Ballmer became the chief executive of Microsoft when Bill Gates stepped down from the role.
He was 2,480.29 weeks or 47.56 years old.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Either you run the day or the day runs you." - Jim Rohn
I know this to be true, but I really struggle with the best way to "run the day."
Some people say you should only put one item on your to-do list, and it should be a "next action" of one of your big projects. Some people say it should be three, blah blah, strategy, strategy.
At this point, with the Studio, 4K Weeks.com, and Portofcuriosity.com, I mainly just plow through projects over multiple days... ignoring most other things until I come up for air... and then there will be other stretches where I seem to only be able to check "urgent but not important" things off to-do lists for days at a time. I am currently less organized than many of you would expect. Everything is a cycle.
What is your current process for owning the day? I say "current" because one thing I know to be true after 30+ years of trying to be productive is that your process must be constantly evolving to fit your changing world. How do you ensure that you are making daily progress on your big goals? Let me know in the 4K Weeks member community. (You have to create an account, but there is a fairly robust free area for discussion, and one of my goals this year is to build it into a vibrant community.)
WHAT I AM CONSUMING THIS WEEK
Two podcasts.
Tim Ferriss, #786: Tactics and Strategies for a 2025 Reboot. Essentialism and Greg McKeown
This is a good one, and it pairs well with the second podcast below. I think we all need to regularly think about what "The main thing" is for ourselves. McKeown is a master at getting to the meat of that.
Ezra is at his best when he is using a guest to get thoughts about a change he is trying to make in his life. I think he asks his best questions when interviewing these types of guests. This is a conversation with my "world of 4000 weeks" brother I have never met, Oliver Burkeman, author of 4ooo weeks, Time Management for Mere Mortals. (Which is a spectacular book, written a few years after we started 4kWeeks.com.) It was recommended to me by one of my best friends and proofreader of this email, John G... which reminds me... since we only have a finite amount of time on this earth, we need to schedule coffee!
Insta nuggets:
WHAT I AM THINKING ABOUT THIS WEEK
What you are capable of.
I'm stuck on this.
I will try to move on to some other topic next week, but for now... indulge me.
None of us knows what we are actually capable of.
We all think we know. I feel like we all think we are capable of great things, are more than a little scared we aren't capable, and actually have no idea of our actual potential.
We all hold on to limiting beliefs about ourselves and others.
Even the most focused and positive thinking person has limiting beliefs. What is water?
And that's because it is hard to hold on to an unknown. It is very hard to hold an empty space for "What I can do" so instead we fill it with a well-meaning "This is the most I can do."
Our mind/body needs to stick a square hole into a square peg, and instead of staring at a square hole empty, it fashions us into a square peg just to close the loop. A sub-par known feels much better than a potentially awesome unknown.
Added to that difficulty are the very real limits that life often shows us. The other day I was attempting a one-rep-max bench press. I managed to lift one rep PR, but both my coach and I thought I should be able to do 10 lbs more. I tried twice, full of confidence each time that I would succeed, only to fall just short both times.
But certainly if my child's life had depended on it I could have lifted it...And by the end of the year I will be able to lift it. I need to hold space for all three realities, and that isn't easy. Especially for those of us who don't like to deceive ourselves... (and if you have a 4K Weeks poster, that is you.)
But all three realities are true... I couldn't lift it, I could have lifted it, I will lift it.
This is whole bunch of words just to say... If you think you can, you're right. And if you think you can't you're right.
I can see a world in which we are all living into our full potential. It is better than anything we can imagine. We have to be it to see it.
Now, go get after it!
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's your reward for reading the whole newsletter! This simple reminder...
DAD JOKE O' THE WEEK
What do you call an old snowman?
A glass of water.
Think you can do better? We're waiting for your dad joke entry!
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