Week 7 of 2024 has arrived. Somehow the beautiful days are sweeter in the winter.  The sun shining on your face after days of bleak cold is like that first stretch after a long night's sleep.

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! 

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!

Remarkable Weeks

Week  7 of 1930, Clyde Tombaugh, an American astronomer, discovers Pluto. Interesting fact... he crafted his own telescope, inspired by an article by Latimer J. Wilson featuring sketches of Jupiter. If you could drive to Pluto, at 65 miles per hour all day, it would take...6293 years. He was 1,254.29 weeks old (25.05 yrs).

Week  7 of 1903,  Morris Michtom, a Russian businessman, puts the first "teddy bear" on sale. The "teddy bear" was inspired by President Theodore Roosevelt. (I wish Teddy Roosevelt hadn't been a racist, because he was otherwise otherworldly.) He was 1,744.00 weeks old (33.44 yrs).

Week  7 of 1923, Howard Carter, archeologist, uncovers the inner burial chamber within the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, revealing the sarcophagus. He was 2,597.00 weeks old (49.80 yrs).

What You Are Doing

A New Experimental Section: This might be a flash in the pan... consider this an invitation for you to send me a picture of your unique take on how to use the 4K Weeks Poster, and what you are working towards. You can email me a pic, or post and tag me on IG... @the4kweeks

This week is Skye S.'s poster. Skye is a business owner, and 42 years old.  Skye's goals would be impressive at any age, but at 42, running a sub 5 minute mile, a VO2 Max of 60+ , and 8 % body fat is elite level. (There are 14 more goals!) 

Skye is marking off 20 week increments for focusing on the goals. Take a look below. Skye says: "The thinking behind purchasing the poster is that while 20 weeks may seem like an eternity, it’s actually a very small part of my life, and I don’t have forever, so if not now, then when. To illustrate that, I boxed and highlighted those 20 weeks…makes it seem so much easier when I look at the poster."

This Week's Quote

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. -Buddha

There is this great Instagram video  that lays this more bare even than the great Buddha did...

It's all inside you... There is nothing in "a thing" that automatically  requires you to get angry, or offended, or sad, or annoyed.  There is no there there. All the response is inside you. ALL OF IT!

Now, we have all been conditioned to quickly respond to stimulus from the moment the doctor slapped us on the bare butt so we would take our first breath... but that isn't useful for the beings that we have become.

I fail at this DAILY! The habituation is strong, no doubt.  You would think that by now I would have learned not to take it personally when my kids leave a mess around the house. Nope, still working on it.

But you don't have to ever do or feel anything or any way.

No matter how small the space between stimulus and response has become, it is still there. It's waiting for you to show up with your enlightened self and practice driving a wedge between: stimulus.....breath....and response.

The ultra pro version is: stimulus...breath... breath...breath...breath... breath...etc.

Choose not to be outraged today.

What I am Consuming This Week

This is the greatest thing. It's called The Brick. We have been doing a screen experiment at our house for a few months.  It has been hard. One reason is that Apple's screen time limits just randomly turn off! So our kids have to report the failure (which to their credit, they do). It is nearly class action worthy negligence on Apple's part. Also, I struggle with the desire for distraction whenever I am doing deep hard work... (like writing!). The Brick is the easiest solution I can imagine. I should have bought the 2 pack... I am buying a 2nd for the office. They are bootstrapping the company... I emailed them and asked if they do affiliate links,  and that means you get 10% off if you like. Use the Code: 4KWEEKS when you checkout. (Transparency: 4K Weeks gets a commission if you buy one.)

Read, Write, Own, by Chris Dixon I am interested in the internet... what it has been, what it is, and what it could become.  Just like today is always the first day of the year, today is also always the best day to plan for taking advantage of how the future will be way different than today. This is a good book. I don't know if it is right, but it's good.

Big Questions with Cal Fussman, guest Joe Chura, owner of Go Brewing. Episodes 172 and 54 Joe is a 4k Weeks customer and newsletter reader, so when I saw that he was on Cal Fussman's podcast I had to listen... to both episodes... His story is insane.  Can you imagine studying for college 15 seconds at a time?  Do what you gotta do!

Hard Fork: Mediapocalypse Now.  Super interesting discussion on the state of media today, and all the economics of it.  Also, this is where I heard about the Chris Dixon book above... they bust his chops. It's a good interview.

Insta Nuggets:

• Build this belief... one step at a time.
• Not cool mom, (but my kids and I still quote this).
• I am dangerous.  And also sincerely trying to be the nicest guy you will ever meet.
• LOL.
• Old wisdom.

What I am Thinking About This Week

Someone has smiled through worse than this.

I went to a toddler's birthday party last weekend, and one of the party favors that six of us took home was some kind of stomach bug.  I woke up on Tuesday at 5am with an achy body, very little energy, and lots of cramping. I laid on the couch for a while, contemplating my next move.

Meanwhile, my wife was doing her best to care for me and get me anything I needed, while also knowing that I HAD to go to work today. 

Normally I would let my body rest, but we were leaving town and lots of things had been promised to people before our departure.

After a few hours on the couch, I stood up to go upstairs to get dressed, bent over and shuffling across the wood floor. I said, mostly to myself "Oh well, people have suffered through worse." and as soon as I said it out loud, I knew that I was putting on a  "sick affectation". I didn't need to be bent over and shuffling... Sure, I was uncomfortable, but... So?

And as I thought about it that day as I worked, I realized that not only has someone suffered through worse than this, some people have smiled through worse than this.

And if they did that, I can at least try!

I'm not advocating for going in to work sick, or not taking care of yourself... Rest is often the best medicine. But sometimes a thing just has to be done in less than ideal circumstances.

And if it has to be done, just do it, and try to smile.  Don't make it harder on yourself and the people around you with any more "woe is me!" than is absolutely necessary.

It is hard to imagine a situation you will ever find yourself in that someone else hasn't made the best of.

The second you realize that you have choice, then the question is: "Who do I want to become?"

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

Why was the coach yelling at the vending machine?

He wanted his quarter back!