Week 6 of 2024 has arrived. Blasting us in the face with a gust of icy winter wind. It's almost as if the wind is daring you to stick to the plan... Do you have enough courage to do the important work in the face of a stiff icy winter wind?

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

Take a listen to the audio version of the weekly newsletter, usually coming in at around 15-20 minutes... try listening! 

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Let's get into it! Away... We... Go...!

Remarkable Weeks

Week  6 of 1921,  Charlie Chaplin debuts his inaugural full-length feature as a director, "The Kid," a silent movie that features both Charlie Chaplin and the six-year-old Jackie Coogan. It was the second-highest-grossing film that year. And it was only 103 years ago... He was 1,659.71 weeks old. (31.83 yrs)

Week  6 of 1964, The Beatles first appeared live on "The Ed Sullivan Show", captivating an audience of 73.7 million television viewers. They are considered the most influential band in history. It's the screams from the young girls that really gets me. The rock band was around 215 weeks old. (4 yrs)

Week  6 of 2005,  Ellen MacArthur, an English sailor, sets a new record as the fastest person to sail solo around the world, completing the journey in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds. Imagine being alone with your thoughts for 71 days. It is hard to even imagine day 5. She was 1,492 weeks old. (28.61 yrs)

This Week's Quote

Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.  -Bryan Tracy

A long time ago, my first business coach, Dodie Jacobi said this: "What you focus on will increase." I have found that to be true in my life over and over again, in both good and bad directions.

The sticky part of the Tracy quote above is the "confidence".  I have been doing a lot of intention setting lately, with goals, and visualization.  I find myself occasionally falling into a "realist" trap of doubting the possibility of the future matching my vision.

And so, I am using two tools to combat that "negativity disguised as realism".

The first is specificity.  I am not sure how we will get to the finish line on some of the goals, but that doesn't stop me from visualizing in very intricate detail what that finish line looks like... down to the way it is gently flapping in the breeze.

The second is stepping out of my current self, and back into the shoes of my 30-year-old self to gape in awe of how far I have come.

Seriously... the kid who was juggling how to make a then large, now small, purchase with "10% off if I sign up for the credit card, and 12 months same as cash" and constantly wondering if there was enough in the bank so his debit card would work, would be astounded by what is possible in a decade in a half.

Nearly everyone overestimates what they can get done in a day, and underestimates what they can get done in a year.

Expect great things for yourself... we're all counting on you.

What You are Doing

A New Experimental Section: This might be a flash in the pan... but last week I included a picture of my poster and an invitation for you to send me a picture of your unique take on how to use the 4K Weeks Poster. 

You can email me a picture of how you use your 4K Weeks in a unique way, or post and tag me on IG... @the4kweeks

This week I want to show you Wini's Poster. Wini is 81, and an artist.  Wini says: 

"It isn’t for cowards. It’s not much different than having your doctor tell you that you have five years to live. One result is that I am starting to say "No" a lot. My life had become so busy doing little local open-call and/or juried theme shows. Each one was a distraction. It wasn’t joyful, it was work. Painting things that I wasn’t interested in painting. turning my focus away from the work I really wanted to be doing. Although I was telling myself that these projects were a good thing because they got me into the studio and kept me working. But it was a form of procrastination, preventing me from doing the real, authentic, work. After receiving my calendar (I call it my death calendar) I didn’t interact with it for many months. But since I have started filling in those tiny black squares I am stunned by how quickly the weeks are flying by. I am sure that because of my age the weeks seem shorter, not like the summers of my childhood. All I can say is thank god I got the 100 year version or I wouldn’t have many squares left! I believe that the calendar is having an effect on my art process. Learning to say "No" is a biggie."

What I am Consuming This Week

The Gray Area, with Sean Illig, Guest Ingrid Robeyns. "The case for banning...millionaires?" This is a very interesting discussion of what is good for us.  And while the title is click-baity, it is a serious discussion of what kind of world we want.  I, for one, am not in favor of banning millionaires... Billionaires maybe...?  But I do think that a personally enforced wealth limit of $10 million is a very reasonable suggestion. ( One sticky part about these discussions is that most everyone wants, self-interestedly, the limit to be a few dollars more than they have.)

The Tim Ferriss Show, "#717: Noah Kagan". The title of Kagan's book, How to Launch a Million Dollar Business This Weekend is also click-baity, but there is a lot of good stuff here on how to get started, and how to make things happen.

My new nutritionist, Leslie Bonci  My friend told me to tune in and listen to the KC Chiefs nutritionist on the local NPR affiliate, KCUR, the other day. As I listened, I thought "I should email her and ask if she does consultations."  So, I did, and we met this week for the first time.  I could tell right away that she LOVEs nutrition, and I am excited to experiment with the changes she makes to my diet. . . mostly focused on giving me the stamina to play a second day of basketball a week. (My trainer says everyone should spend 5% of their income on wellness in some way... you can afford this.)

IG Nuggets

• I really like @Feleciaforthewin, and this is kind of liberating...
• Aspirational diverse creativity.
• Humans!
• Be a Great Dad to the world.

What I am Thinking About This Week

Taylor Swift. 

OKOKOK, this might seem cheap, or... even click-baity! ...but it's also true. And it's about what matters. It's a story from just the other day.

Background: Fun fact, I turned our family on to Tay-Tay in 2019.  I heard this Ruston Kelly song, (it's a great performance) and thought it sounded familiar, and also that the songwriting was incredible.  So, I looked it up, and it ended up being a version of a popular Taylor Swift song.  And so, with a 9-year-old and a 7-year-old at home, we started listening to Taylor Swift. I love sharing things with them...SO MUCH!

There is a VERY IMPORTANT thing that gets lost in all the Celeb-who-what-shiny-footballer-lovelife-drama-distraction, and that is what this is about.

My daughter (now 14) and I were driving and listening to the 10 minute version of All To Well. and this verse came on:

"You who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes,

sipping coffee like you were on a late-night show,

but then he watched me watch the front door all night willing you to come,

and he said 'It's supposed to be fun, turning 21' "

I said, "That's profoundly insightful, I really admire her craft."   

(I am always talking about craft... I have been talking about it and wondering about it, and trying to decide what it is since I was a freshman art student.)

And as I said that to my daughter something clicked in me, and I  said "Do you want to know why I admire her craft so much?"

It's because it can't be faked.

You have either put in the reps, or you haven't. You can't take a pill for it, you can't buy it, you just. can't. fake it.  And always, the people who know, know. And often even people who can't articulate it can feel it.

I think there is potential for craft in everything. Everything has a way of showing that you respect the work enough that you are willing to toil for ages to get it right.

And that's why I really enjoy Taylor Swift.  Not because she's famous or sequiny or rich or in the news, but because it is clear that she is a focused, hard worker who has put in the reps.  And because of that, she puts out well-crafted works of poetry that help me connect with the humans I love more than life.

Taylor Swift is a great songwriter because she has put in the reps, writing song after song, after song after song thousands and thousands probably.  That is something to admire. All the rest is just window dressing.

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

My wife asked me to stop singing "Wonderwall" to her...

"I said maybe...!"