Week 41 of 2023 has arrived. It feels odd to be watering the new grass while wearing a hoodie, but the fall rains have yet to arrive... maybe they are waiting for Halloween night.  Every childhood Halloween memory I have is rainy... is that just because they were the most memorable?

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

Sometimes, as I am composing these emails, a theme reveals itself to me... on that note: a lot of my inputs and internal dialogue this week have been revolving around the question of "what makes a life rich, full, and meaningful, and do those experiences have a way of lengthening the perceived length of a life?".

There is more on this below, more questions that is, not as many answers... If you have answers, I would love to hear them.

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 41 of the year 2020, Jennifer Doudna received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Emmanuelle Charpentier, for the development of a method for genome editing. She was 2,955 weeks old (56.67 yrs).

Week 41 of the year 1945, Percy Spencer, an American physicist and inventor, filed a patent for the microwave oven. (Of course some say he lifted the new tech from secretly recovered alien crafts.) He was 2,672.57 weeks old (51.25 yrs).

Week 41 of the year 2008, Jessica Cox, the world's first licensed armless pilot, earned her pilot's certificate after three years of training, and was qualified to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet. She was 1,340.29 weeks old (25.7 yrs).

This Week's Quote

"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." -Brian Tracy

...Provided that you have:

• Determined what the most important thing is
• Developed a system to keep that "important thing" front of mind over time
• Made a commitment to doing that "most important thing" regardless of the distractions.

This is something I have been thinking a lot about over the last 15 days of the Massive Action Society, but especially on Friday and Saturday of this week when there "just wasn't enough time in the day".

There are a lot of things on my to do list everyday... we own a few small businesses, and are starting a new one, we have kids, etc, etc.

And yet...when I wake up, there is no question that I am going to fill in the little square on my Massive Action Card before I go to sleep. It seems like just a piece of printed, diecut, card stock... and yet, it has been the reason that, even on days where I was TOTALLY booked sunup to sundown, I have kept my promise to myself to do the things that I determined were "most important".

So, decide what is "most important",  find a way to keep that "front of mind" and then DO IT.

What I am Consuming This Week

There were SO many this week. I have been doing a lot of work on a new business that allowed hours and hours of listening time. I have commented on a few, and then just listed the rest... All are worth the time if the topic interests you.

The Wizard and The Prophet, Two Remarkable Scientists. and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World. Charles C. Mann This is a tome... but the thing that is most striking to me is how much "some dude's" ideas about the world can just become an accepted truth by following generations... It's worth remembering that we are making almost all of this up as we go along... some parts are more believable than others, but it's all just a story.

The Tim Ferriss Show, "#694, Sam Corcos, The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Assistants, 10x Delegation, and Winning Freedom by Letting Go"  There is a ton of great info here for people who have a small team... tons of tips about how to delgate and leverage virtual assistants, and work "asycronously" effectively.

Death, Sex & Money, "Why Ezra Klein Thinks 'We're Living Through A Mistake" Death, Sex & Money is my favorite so far of the "reader suggestions". Beware... a mention of  "Burning Man".

Hard Fork, "All Gas, No Brakes in A.I. + Metaverse Update" A friend listened to this and recommended it... I wish it was more dense, but it's a good way to peak in at the HUGE changes in "tech" a SHORT period of time.

Freakonomics, "Is this 'The Worst Job in Corporate America?' or maybe the best?" I am exhausted with the FTX collapse... yawn, fraud... but this conversation with the "emergency CEO" is pretty fascinating... I particularly liked the part where he says "if you have a conversation, with just one other person, you can never deny that you had the conversation." around minute 35.

Revisionist History, "Guns Part 6: 'Sin is the failure to bother to care" This seems like an accurate condemnation of all of us US citizens, and I am not sure where to take it from here... what to "do".

The Good Life Project, "Andrea Gibson, The Year of No Grudges." My wife sent this to me... I am more of an old fuddy duddy than I care to admit sometimes, and I am not sure how I feel about a lot of this podcast, BUT... the poems are absolutely breathtaking.  To give you a visual... I was in the shop, headphones in, cnc machine, dust collector, vent hood, and air scrubber running... an ocean of white noise... respirator and nitrile gloves on, paint gun in hand... Applauding to no one.

RadioLab, "The Secret to a Long Life".  RadioLab is an OG podcast for me... I have been listening longer than my kids have been alive.  This episode mentions our Life Calendars... and is another data point in the theme this week about how to lengthen the perception of objective time.

Freakonomics, "The Facts Are In: Two Parents Are Better Than One".

The Tim Ferriss Show, #695 Shane Parrish on Wisdom from Warren Buffet, Rules for Better Thinking"... etc.

Snap Judgement, "Head Games"

The Daily. "The Mosquitos are Winning".

The Grey Area, "Is America Getting Meaner?"

The Tim Ferriss Show, "#696 Be Useful, Arnold Schwarzenneger"

InnerCosmos, Ep. 28 "Does Your Language Shape your Thinking?"

Death, Sex and Money, "Leaving the Extreme Right, and a Marriage, Behind".

What I am Thinking About This Week

Subjective Time.

This brand started by offering a very stark visual measurement of the brevity of life, as a tool to motivate you to make the most of it while you have it.

A fairly obvious next step, after you start looking at our poster every day, is to laser focus on your health for longevity.

But... while the time that we get may be finite, and objectively measurable, that isn't the whole story.

A second, a minute, an hour, and a week, are all objectively measurable... but... as we all know, our experience of a second can feel like an hour, likewise, a week can feel like a second.

And so... how can we act each day to make that day as rich and long of an experience as possible?

The RadioLab podcast above is all about this topic, and a past InnerCosmos with David Eagleman did a deep dive on our perception of time. I think it was this one.

We are working on some tools that help all of us to start tracking the "experiences" as well as the weeks as they pass, to remind us of the richness of our past, so that we can model that behaviour in the future.

One last thing I liked this week... I wasn't sure where to put this, so here it is...  Reader Hartmut send me this vignette:

Snoopy and Charlie Brown are sitting at the beach looking at the sun go down. Charlie Brown sighs and says, "One day we all have to die“. Snoopy replied, "That’s true. But on all the other days we don’t“.

Here's to all the days we don't.

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

Have you heard of the new band 1023MB?

They're really good, but not a gig yet!