Week 43 of 2023 has arrived. Oh man. I am really excited about life this week.  I can wear jeans again, the colors in the trees are beautiful, I've been happily married for 16 years... the hits keep coming.  

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

Seriously... life is infinity times better when shared with someone. Asking her to marry me is the best decision I ever made. I hope you -have found/do find- your best version of that, too.

Now back to the week... I am on day 29/66 of the Massive Action Society.  I know some of you are in about the same spot on the journey. As a refresher, I am dribbling a basketball and playing piano, 15 minutes each, every day... holy crap is it working... the consistency of effort is really starting to pay dividends...

I play basketball every Friday and my ball handling is 100x better, and I can now play the piano to most any song on Chordify.

And... there's this...

Consistency of effort... moves mountains.

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 43 in 2016, Ed Whitlock, age 85, became the oldest person to complete a marathon under 4 hours, at Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 3 hours 56 minutes. He was 4, 467 weeks old (86.7 yrs).

Week 43 in the year 2017, Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister of New Zealand in 2017. She also claimed the title of being the world’s youngest female head of government, at 37. She was 1,943 weeks old (37.3 yrs).

Week 43 in the year 1963, Sandy Koufax is the unanimous winner of Cy Young Award for pitching. Interesting side note... my dad went to 7th and 8th grade with him, and they played some sandlot baseball games. He was 1,451 weeks old (27.8 yrs).

This Week's Quote

To hell with circumstances, I create opportunities. -Bruce Lee

I love this quote. There is so much power in "Plan A Only" thinking.  I told my wife a few weeks ago that the only reason our first e-commerce brand succeeded was because I was willing to do anything to make it successful.

I learned that lesson playing basketball in high school...

Some people have a natural athletic ability, and watching them play is like dance... I am not that person. I am slow, and fairly uncoordinated.  But I was tall early so I got on the team... but what then... what can you do when they are all better athletes than you by far? You focus on what you can control.  No one worked harder. That's a choice you can make.

If you dive for every ball that goes out of bounds, you are bound to get a few.  If you never stop working, the circumstances matter less. Some people get annoyed when you try that hard. Seriously... it gets under some people's skin because you are a mirror, and they don't like the reflection on their work ethic.

Larry Bird, perhaps the best combo of natural ability and an indefatigable work ethic, said, "It makes me sick when I see a guy just stare at a loose ball and watch it go out of bounds."

A wasted opportunity to create an opportunity.

Be relentless... if you keep plowing forward, if you keep hitting it hard, if you keep driving your legs, it's more likely that something will break loose. The only way forward is through... to opportunity.

What I am Consuming This Week

My band, Underhill's new album on Spotify  or Apple Music So.. this isn't something I am consuming, but maybe you would like to... I was in a band in my 20's...  We are all still great friends, and get together every month to write songs and have fun.  We have been recording these 7 songs over the last year or so. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

The Untethered Soul, Michael A. Singer.  I have been listening to this book this week.  It is good so far... I am only a few chapters in... the first chapter really breaks down the voice in your head in a compelling way. I am slightly questioning who is "I".

InnerCosmos with Brian Eagleman, "What Does it Mean to Know Thyself in the age of Neuroscience"? More interesting thoughts about "Who are you?".

Rich Roll Podcast. "The Divine Comedy of Pete Holmes". Pete Holmes is my current fav comedian... He is funny and sincere, and his take on life is nice to listen to.

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

• Rick Rubin super relevant for me as I share my band's music with you... and for you... PUT THINGS OUT THERE!
• Jocko making a strong argument for the 66 Day Massive Action Society.
• Ice Cube trying to save you some wasted effort... or helping you to change your life.
• This kid... joy.... I don't even know what's in the box.

What I am Thinking About This Week

Survivorship Bias.

The people who dropped out of college, and then didn't start Microsoft, Facebook, or Harpo Productions . . . don't get magazine cover articles written about them.

Is it possible for everyone to do great things?  What is a great thing?  Does it matter if the whole world knows? Is Taylor Swift the "most successful" since we are all talking about her?

The further along I get on my journey, the less I know what "success" means, or if it matters... But I still exist in our culture, and am not immune to the background hum of the social mores relating to how and what we rank as important.

Is a fairly mediocre life (what does that even mean?) with one instant of "heroic": kindness, vision, creativity, love, etc... a success?

I don't know how to encourage and motivate people other than the "Rah! Rah! Rah!, You can achieve anything if you only work hard every day for years!"...And part of the oxygen that I need for myself is to be motivating people... But maybe that's not how other people need to hear it.

Much of the social media I see could be described as: "Survivorship bias pushing a hustle culture agenda"... Follower count and financially successful bros telling you to grind on... "3 ft from gold".

I suppose I do know that I have found happiness (and some success?) in the consistent work.  And I do know that I feel the best when I set a goal, chip away at it, and achieve some version of it.... and I will never back away from believing that you need to be tough...

...but the constant feed of "Future Success Peddling Influencer Bros" has me questioning my script.

Do you all have thoughts on this? I would love to hear them. How do you want to be driven on to be the best version of your being?

Send me a quick note. I would really appreciate the dialogue.

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

What do you call a wreath made from $100 bills?