Build Your Inner Citadel - Two Z's Two T's

Today's Fit as a Fiddle Friday is brought to you by two z's, two t's Kyle Cazzetta and his father, Vinny. One of many stories I love Kyle to tell starts with an explanation of what is a kicking block. 

One summer, when Kyle was in high school excelling on the soccer pitch, Vinny went to the local sporting goods store to pick up what I imagine was a one-inch kicking block. He brought it home and suggested to Kyle that his soccer skills, while quite strong, might need to improve to get him into the best schools. He suggested trying to kick a few field goals. Kyle nailed his first kick from some 35 yards! A short while later, after a call to the high school football coach, the rest is history.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal hanging with Kyle at Yale.

This came to mind when reading the chapter, Build Your Inner Citadel (p. 134), in Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle is the Way. The chapter starts with a story about Theodore Roosevelt and his father visiting the young, frail Theodore's room. "Theodore, you have the mind but haven't got the body. I'm giving you the tools to make your body. It's going to be hard drudgery, and I think you have the determination to go through with it." Theodore's response: "I'll make my body."

A couple of good stories below on how Vinny's suggestion set Kyle on the path to an outstanding college career at Yale.

Chip Malafronte: Kyle Cazzetta a military mind in a Yale helmet

FOOTBALL: Close ties bind Cazzetta and Cadets

'Foot' note from Vinny: 

Wow, that takes me back to some great memories. The other fun part was Kyle playing in a soccer match on Friday afternoon and a football game on Friday night. One, in particular, comes to mind when we had to drive Kyle one hour to an away football game after the completion of a soccer match. On the way, the football coach kept in contact with Kyle to see how much longer we had to drive so he could make a decision on whether to kick off or not if we won the toss. We dropped Kyle off, he ran through some woods to the 40-yard line and did the kickoff.

See: Proud of Kyle - Inducted into his high school Hall of Fame! 

World Surf League on Anything Goes Thursday

Hey Peeps,

I noticed this building on a walk last night from my hotel in Santa Monica to a Yoga Studio down by the Pacific Ocean. It made me think of Lucy and Surfing the Nations. She will be with some of her teammates from STN in a couple of weeks in North Carolina!

Go here to learn a bit more about the World Surf League. Very cool website and a lot of interesting stuff.

Love ya,

Dad

In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

Sally and all my talented designer-types,

This strange little book (less than 80 pages) would seem to be a must-read for anyone in a design field, especially interior design. First heard mention of it from Tony Fadell on this excellent Tim Ferris interview. I have a couple of copies of the book ready to share with my girls. Here's the time point in the Fadell podcast:

(We share our impressions of a little-known (and very short) book called In Praise of Shadows — and Tony explains why he gifts it so often. [1:41:41])

Now it pops up again in this New York Times opinion piece: What We Get Wrong About Minimalism

"So often minimalism portends to be permanent, a fixed end state, instead of flux and change. Minimalism is a process that has to be kept up and refreshed day to day. I’m always inspired by this quote from a 1933 essay called “In Praise of Shadows,” by the Japanese novelist Junichiro Tanizaki: “We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.”

Lastly, this paragraph in the NY Times article connects well to Sunday's Nugget and the article Charlie sent from The Atlantic. See corpse meditation, and how not to make the mistake of trying to maintain peak performance indefinitely. A little weird, to say the least (no pun intended) but makes a great point!

"My ideal concept comes from Japan, which has developed its philosophy of absence for more than a millennium, via Japanese Buddhism. “Mono-no-aware” is a term that means something like “the beauty of things passing”; it can be found in thousand-year-old texts like Murasaki Shikibu’s “The Tale of Genji,” in which characters take particular pleasure in everything that is transient: blooming flowers, decrepit wooden mansions, fire embers on a cold night."

Life is an ocean, love is a boat - Stay whole our crew!

Lucy,

As your mom and I get more serious about planning our time in Ireland this summer, we have been listening to Pandora's The Irish Tenors Radio and other similar channels. There are several songs that we love to hear over and over, such as Amazing Grace, which always makes me think of Papa (Pop's father) and how one of your mom's cousins sang at the memorial service.

One of our other favorites is called The Voyage. I have posted a YouTube version of that song above and the words below. 

Love you,

Dad

"The Voyage"

I am a sailor, you're my first mate
We signed on together, we coupled our fate
We hauled up our anchor, determined not to fail
For the hearts treasure, together we set sail

With no maps to guide us we steered our own course
We rode out the storms when the winds were gale force
We sat out the doldrums in patience, and hope
Working together, we learned how to cope

Life is an ocean, love is a boat
In troubled waters, it keeps us afloat
When we started the voyage, there was just me and you
Now gathered round us, we have our own crew

Together we're in this relationship
We built it with care, to last the whole trip
Our true destination's not marked on any charts
We're navigating for the shores of the heart

Life is an ocean and love is a boat
In troubled waters, it keeps us afloat
When we started the voyage, there was just me and you
Now gathered round us, we have our own crew

Teach a man to fish

Hey fam,

Kicking off the week with the above quote, pecked by Kyle during a recent visit to my office. I love the ROYAL and the messages I occasionally get from Kyle.

As to the origin of this one:

Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime

The article concludes:

". . . this article presents a snapshot of the incomplete knowledge available. Based on current evidence Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie deserves credit for formulating a striking adage that used fishing as a paradigmatic task enabling self-sufficiency. The saying evolved over time and became more memorable by mentioning the ability to eat for a lifetime. The claim that the adage was an old proverb from China, Italy, India or somewhere else has only weak support at this time."

Lastly, Jesus was a fisherman,

Dad

Sunday Nugget: When does 'relevance' start to matter most?

Happy Sunday my dear Lucy,

I am writing this Nugget for myself and friends closer to my age, but knowing you as I do, you will also find this 'relevant.' Uncle Charlie shared this article from The Atlantic: Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think.

It is long but quite good. If you stick with it, you will learn about a Hindu guru named Sri Ramanacharanatirtha Nochur Venkataraman, known as Acharya (teacher) to his followers. You will learn about ancient Hindu teachings and the five stages of life. The first is Brahmacharya, the period of youth and young adulthood dedicated to learning. You are now in the Brahmacharya stage of life!

When I read the article, my first thought was of the above envelope prayer. For those who don't know the story, one of my best friends in Austin, Rodger Anderson, is my exact age, 60. Rodger and Tracy (Cathy’s best buddy) have four daughters, all similar in age to our girls. We connected immediately after moving to Austin 19 years ago. When we turned 50, Rodger shared a prayer he wrote and would often say with his family. He annotated it on the back of an envelope for me. The prayer consist of five things:

• Forgive me - for what I have done wrong and for when I have failed to do right
• Heal me - my mind, body, and soul
• Strengthen my faith each day
• Make me not afraid
• May I have mercy on those less fortunate

A few years after 'Rodge' shared what I now call the ‘envelope prayer,' he sold his real estate business to CBRE and signed on to run their retail business in Austin. He quickly found out working for a large cooperation was different than being his own boss. It was then that he added a sixth line to the prayer: relevance - help me stay relevant.

I knew what Rodge was feeling. I grabbled with that word quite a bit over the past decade, especially after divesting from day-to-day work at Salient and moving into an enterprise-sales role with a global technology company. I have written the word ‘relevance’ on the top left corner of my daily planner everyday sense. Fortunately, for both Rodge and me, in our profession of sales, 'crystallized' intelligence is far more beneficial than 'fluid' intelligence. These terms are in the article, explaining why we are both still very much on top of our games.

In closing, I'll leave you with one more teaser from the article. Read it and find out why after age 50, we should all strive to "be more like Johann Sebastian Bach, not Charles Darwin."

Love,

Dad

P.S. The photo of Rodge below is after he bowled his personal best 221 this past Christmas during our annual excursion to Dart Bowl. His previous best (180) set 47 years earlier when he was just 12 years old. Now that is staying relevant!

Covid-19 casualty (July 14, 2020): Austin institution Dart Bowl will reset the pins for the final time Friday night and close its doors forever, ending a 62-year run for the business and a 24-year roll at its current Grover Lane address.

Fit as a Fiddle (Your brain) - David Allen

Hey Lu boo,

I started a new Tim Ferris Podcast this morning, David Allen — The Art of Getting Things Done (GTD) (#384). I've found that my drive time from the house to the gym and back gets me through about one podcast every week. 

Here's a good quote from David Allen on productivity:

"Your brain is for creating ideas, not for holding them!"

Think about it!

Happy Friday.

Taylor and Granddaddy Jim Chapman in Miami

Love this picture of Taylor and his Grandfather in Miami together! What a special trip for these two. Be sure to check out the below earlier post on Jimmy and his work at Chapman Design Studios. I especially love his work in the golf industry and his portfolio is quite impressive.

Nugget from son-in-law 'T'! - Celebrating his Granddaddy: Architect, Jimmy Chapman

Teddy Roosevelt quote - never be with the cold and timid souls!

I'm going with a great Teddy Roosevelt quote on Woman Power Wednesday. I love it!

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The movie 'Just Mercy' and Bryan Stevenson (Stay Whole Tuesday)

Uncle Charlie McDowell (middle) with "two of my heroes": Bryan Stevenson and Mike Purzycki

Last night I enjoyed getting this text from Lucy:

”Everyone has to see the movie Just Mercy” It is about an attorney named Bryan Stevenson. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence. In the years that follow, Stevenson encounters racism and legal and political maneuverings as he tirelessly fights for McMillian's life.

Lucy went on to say, "It is maybe the best movie I’ve ever seen and very enlightening to the corruption of our justice system. I am enjoying discussing the movie with my friends."

Coincidently, I had just exchanged something with Uncle Charlie related to Bryan Stevenson. I want to share his comments here:

If you don’t know about Bryan Stevenson, you should see the movie that just came out about his life, “Just Mercy” or read the book “Just Mercy”. I first heard Bryan Stevenson speak in 2015 at an annual conference of Purpose Built Communities which I attended after first visiting the initial Purpose Built neighborhood next to the historic East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta. The second time I heard him speak was at an annual dinner of the Black Lawyers Association in Wilmington. (Bryan is from downstate Delaware.) I heard him for a third time at last year’s Purpose Built Conference. He is the most compelling speaker I have ever heard. He is the only person I have ever asked to have my picture taken with. I will send you the picture from the Black Lawyers event. Also with my good friend and Wilmington Mayor, Mike Purzycki – two of my heroes.

Footnote: McDowell Honored for Community Service at Annual Gridiron Dinner 

Stay fit and do your job!

Fun times bumping into Carter Tomsu at the gym on Thursday morning. Look out golf ball! Check out this pdf titled How You Move.

And who does the text below remind you of from pages 93-94 in Ryan Holiday's, The Obstacle is the Way? The chapter is titled, 'Do Your Job, Do it Right.' Have you ever had Rodger Anderson's life-lesson on how to properly use a broom? It looks like Rodge and Dale Carnegie are in lockstep, just like Carter and gPage above.

Stay fit and do your job!

Lucy's second semester schedule plus watch the sun rise and set

Anything goes Thursday and here's LuLu's second-semester class schedule. I believe she also has two correspondence classes in the mix, right Lucy? I look forward to hearing about some highly-productive days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and I will target those days for a two-hour lunch in College Station soon!

Yesterday I shared a Check in on my 2020 New Year, New You Daily Stoic Challenge through Day 15. The first-day challenge was to watch the sunset and the sunrise. A couple of comments about both of those. 

My favorite sunrises often take place when driving to the gym in the mornings. I especially love the view from the scenic lookout (across from St. Michaels) of the sun rising above the city of Austin. The combination of riding by our church and seeing a beautiful sunrise makes me feel close to God.

As for sunsets, some of my favorites have been on golf courses. That time of night with the long-shadows is always special when on any golf course!

Check in on my 2020 New Year, New You Daily Stoic Challenge through Day 15

Hey guys. I'm doing a quick check-in on the Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge I undertook. Some great shares (see below) with Beth Smith on this along the way. Mom has also been reading the daily emails and playing along to some degree. I'm not 100 percent, but I have made some reasonably impactful changes. Mom and I both commented recently that we already do a lot of these things, so that is good.

Day 1: Watch Today’s Sunset and Tomorrow’s Sunrise - done
Day 2: Take a Cold Plunge and Shock Your System - done, I've been taking cold showers all month and believe it helps with inflammation, as well as with my psoriasis; I especially enjoy the cold showers after doing the steam room at the club
Day 3: Find a Place of Isolation, Then Count to 1,000 - done
Day 4: Pick A New Skill and Add It to Your Game This Year - done, journaling daily and created a system of note-taking and cataloging quotes, meaningful passages, etc.
Day 5: Visit A Part of Your City You’ve Never Been To Before - done, Mom and I went to McKinney Falls State Park
Day 6: Write Your Personal Ten Commandments - done, see Anything goes Thursday #2 - My flat ass rules
Day 7: Pretend You Have To Get a New Job—Today - done, I spent some time thinking about things I would enjoy doing in retirement like officiating basketball, coaching youth sports, etc.
Day 8: Open Your Mind: Read Something by Someone You Disagree With - I missed this one
Day 9: Find Your Most Prized Possession—and Get Rid of It - Ummm, I thought about giving away my table tennis bat but decided against it (strike two)
Day 10: Free Yourself from One Social Media Account or News App - cut ties with the WSJ digital and am now reading the paper version at the club
Day 11: Go Outside and Pull Weeds - Strike three - but I've been to the putting and chipping greens quite a bit, and I plan to rake some bunkers soon
Day 12: Pick A Physical PR to Beat...and Re-Beat This Year - Handicap will get to 9 or better in 2020
Day 13: Set Up Your Personal Board of Directors - Still working on this one
Day 14: Sit Down, Write a Letter to a Friend About the New You, and Send It - Plan to write Coach Rogers and Moyer Smith (two exceptional mentors)
Day 15: Cut out one recurring expense - done, cut WSJ digital and a couple of other subscriptions to things I was not using or getting enough value

Here are some fun notes from Beth she recently shared that I think you will enjoy:

Thanks for your message. I love this back and forth too, keeping me accountable and thoughtful about each challenge.  Things still on my list: watching a sunset, pulling weeds, have not finished cleaning out my closet. Things I've done but we have not discussed: I don’t really do social media and don’t have news apps on my phone. BUT I have given up my hour of morning news reading for the rest of the challenge, which is brutal for me but definitely making me more productive starting my day. My yoga teacher and I had a great conversation on how I was attached to knowledge to avoid taking action. That really resonated with me and have thought about it ever since. Giving up that news hour was a great shake-up in that habit. Feel like I have a decent Board of Mentors for my personal life but I would like to challenge myself to do something creative this year. As a part of that need a separate group of mentors, so going to work on that for this particular challenge. Kevin and I are doing an Olympic distance Triathlon in April, WAY out of my comfort zone and out of shape in all 3 disciplines but will definitely count for my Physical Challenge of 2020!!!

Persist and resist on stay whole Tuesday

Epictetus

Lucy,

This morning I read a chapter titled 'Practice Persistence' (p. 76) in The Obstacle is the Way. Holiday tells stories of General Ulysses S. Grant and Thomas Edison. 

In Civil War times, for nearly a year, Grant tried many different ways to break through the defenses of the Confederacy in Vicksburg, MS. This was a critical city to the southern armies and their ability to control the Mississippi River. None of Grant's attempts to gain control worked, but he kept trying and eventually he found a way through. 

"At Vicksburg, Grant learned two things. First, persistence and pertinancity were incredible assets and probably his main asset as a leader. Second, as often is the result from such dedication, in exhausting all the other traditional options, he'd been forced to try something new. That option - cutting loose from his supply trains and living off the spoils of hostile territory - was a previously untested strategy that the North could now use to slowly deplete the South of its resources and will to fight." (p. 77)

And I know you are familiar with how many times Edison tried to create the incandescent light before he found the way. History says that he tried six thousand different filaments! Just like Grant in Vicksburg, Edison used persistence to eventually get there.

The phrase 'persist and resist' was a favorite of Epictetus, the Greek Stoic Philosopher who is often a subject in Holiday's books. "Persist in your efforts. Resist giving in to distraction, discouragement, or disorder."

Stay whole,

Dad

It is as true for food as it is for information

Hey Lucy,

Welcome back to College Station my second-semester sophomore! Please send me your class schedule when you get a second.

Here's something to think about today from Thich Nhat Hanh:

Before we can make deep changes in our lives, we have to look into our diet, our way of consuming. We have to live in such a way that we stop consuming the things that poison us and intoxicate us. Then we will have the strength to allow the best in us to arise, and we will no longer be victimes of anger, of frustration.

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his pioneering teachings on mindfulness, global ethics and peace.

Make it a great Monday,

Dad

Pete Dye (1925 - 2020)

Harvey looks out at our flags

Why are our club flags at half mask?

Pete Dye, the legendary course architect, and designer of Austin Country Club, past away on Thursday at the age of 91. Emily knows well the story I tell when playing with guests on our hole number eight, WGC World Match Play tournament hole 17. The short par 3, plays across a canyon. A shot short or left of the green is automatically swallowed up and you face double bogey or worse. The hole is basically a set of tee boxes, a few well-placed bunkers, and a green.

Supposedly, when Pete submitted the original renderings for the golf course when the club moved to its present and third site in 1984, the greens committee reviewed the drawings and called Pete to discuss. They told him, "Pete, we love the golf course. But there is one problem . . . there are only 17 holes?" Pete quickly responded, "I know that. We can put a par three anywhere."

Scroll through this best of Pete Dye-designs when you have a minute to marvel at his work, starting with Whistling Straights (photo below). Enjoy!

Anything goes Thursday #2 - My flat ass rules

Here's an oldie but goodie from Nashville days.

Circling back to Day 6 - State your flat-ass rules and stick to them . . .

Beth (aka 'Ba') gave me her ten at the bottom of the above post. And here's what I came up with for mine:

My flat ass rules (2020)

Succeed at home first

Seek and merit divine help

Seek wise counsel

Build and use a challenge network

Listen to my spouse (woman's intuition)

Live substantially below our income

Have courage and strength at work

Be kind and compassionate to others

Learn something new every day

Forgive and let go

Anything goes Thursday - F. Scott Fitzgerald

From Ryan Holiday's chapter titled 'Think Differently' (p. 49) in The Obstacle is the Way, I offer up this from F. Scott Fitzgerald:

Genius is the ability to put into effect what is in your mind. There's no other definition of it.

The chapter outlines examples of how Steve Jobs would refuse to accept 'it can't be done' when he was pushing design ideas into reality. While Jobs had his personality flaws, you can't deny his genius. As Holiday points out, Steve Jobs refused to accept people who did not believe in their own abilities to succeed. "Even if his demands were unfair, uncomfortable, or ambitious."

In my work as a 'salesperson', I have always tried to project positivity, self-confidence, and belief in others. I feel strongly that is a key part of my job and of my success.

Woman Power Wednesday - loved this night

Among the many fun events over the holiday season was a dinner hosted by Kyle and Emily, where we had a chance to get to know Kyle's Aunt Anne and Aunt Joanne. Aunt Joanne is the Rafferty and is a comedian and storyteller. Aunt Anne is a retired physician. 

The above photo pictures the ladies playing a game of BANANAGRAMS on the table my Dad made for Cathy and me when we were first married.

Here's a link to one of Joanne's stories:

Joanne Rafferty Wins our Guilty Pleasures Story Slam!

On a different note, If you are listening to the Tony Fadell podcast (yesterday's Nugget), be sure to check out this part on gaining self-awareness through professional counseling:

What were Tony’s most valuable takeaways from talking through his leadership questions with a psychologist? [36:48]

Tony Fadell — On Building the iPod, iPhone, Nest, and a Life of Curiosity

Hey, hoot hooters. This Tim Ferris podcast is probably great from start to finish, but for those of you on the New Year's fast, take ten minutes to listen to the beginning as Tony Fadell (inventor of iPod and iPad) talks about how he gave up alcohol and caffeine.

You can find the podcast and the show notes here. Be sure to check out the links at the bottom of the notes.

This is another cool part that I heard in the car this morning, on how persistence always wins out when you have a burning desire to get something or somewhere.

"With so much competition vying to get a job at General Magic, what elements of Tony’s approach got him in the door and eventually hired? [19:27]"

Stay whole and stay on task with the fasting and the detox!

Day 6 - State your flat-ass rules and stick to them

Today, from the New Year, New You 21-Day Challenge: Write your personal ten commandments.

"In the book of Exodus, after Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt, God gives Moses the spiritual and moral laws that he intends the Israelites follow, laws that became known as the Ten Commandments. The story is fascinating because it’s one of the few times in the Bible where God makes explicit his instructions to humanity, rather than using prophecy or interpretation. It shows the importance that God placed upon making a singular statement of principles, one so simple and clear that the Israelites would rely upon it forevermore."

General Jim Mattis, former Secretary of Defense calls this: "State your flat-ass rules and stick to them."

I'm working on mine. Beth shared her's this morning and I think they are excellent:

1. Be kind 2. Forgive, including yourself 3. Don’t waste time 4. Give every task 100% 5. Think/pause before you speak 6. Listen, Seek first to understand, put people at ease 7. Get up early/Exercise/Eat consciously 8. Show up/hold space for friends/family 9. Take action but let go of the outcome 10. Remember God is in everything

Make it a Great Monday!

Why I am into Peter Attia and how dots connect sometimes

Hey daughters,

This email/blog post is why I have become such a big Peter Attia fan, who seems (himself) to have become a Ryan Holiday fan. You may recall that ‘Doc’ at T4TG (Dr. Dumitrescu) turned me towards Attia a couple of months ago when I was sharing how much I like my Whoop! Fitness band and the Whoop! Podcasts. 

His response was simply, "If you want to listen to some really meaningful podcasts on wellness and longevity, check out Peter Attia." So a great example of how sometimes the dots in your life can connect. My Whoop! Fitness band leads me to Doc, Doc leads me to Attia, Attia is also into (Austin-based) Holiday, whom Beth had turned me towards several years ago. As an added bonus, Mom, Lucy and I have all scheduled tune-ups and evaluations with Doc's practice in order to strive towards better overall health. (More on this in a future Nugget.)

Those starting their New Year's fasting and detox today would want to read this share from Attia about his 2020 goals. He hits on some topics I think about often when he talks of his love of racing (go-carts) and archery (previously cycling and swimming) and whether those pursuits count as pure recreation?

He shares how 'kinetic' his life has become and questions whether he spends enough time doing absolutely nothing?

So I asked myself that same question this morning as it relates to my passion for golf and my pursuit of better scores? Does walking the golf course with people I love count as true stillness? For the most part, I am not one to worry about 'scores,' and I just enjoy being outside in nature. Golf relaxes me, golf steadies me, golf rejuvenates me. And for that, I am very grateful. I see table tennis the same way and thank you,, kids,, for gifting me the new table this Christmas. How fun to have two sports at age 60 that I can play reasonably well, improve at, and enjoy!

Attia also hits the nail on the head (at least for me) when he talks about sleep at the end of the post and the early morning 'golden' hours.

Please take time to read his post today or soon. Happy Sunday!

Daily Stoic: New Year New You Challenge

Today is Day 4 of the Daily Stoic New Year New You Challenge I am undertaking with Beth and Patton. I've shared the daily emails with Mom as well and she is along for the ride. We have watched the sunrise and sunset on Day One, taken a cold plunge (shower) on Day Two, and counted to 1000 in a quiet, isolated place on Day Three. 

Today's challenge is to pick a new skill and add it to your game. Beth is learning to bake bread from scratch starting with sourdough. I'm going with learning to make great drip coffee, and learn about the different types of coffee beans.

Here's how Ryan Holiday ends today's email:

Today, we exhort you to hone in on your desire, whether that’s learning to code, learning a new language, learning to cook a new type of cuisine, or something else equally mind-expanding, and add it to your game. Because the 2020s promise to be a decade of incredible, vibrant change. Millions of people across the world are doing their part to change the world for the better. The least you can do is change yourself for the better along with it. Make the choice to become more capable, to be a person who can make the most of the opportunities the next ten years have in store, and you will reap the rewards.

It's a Thursday that feels like a Make it a Great Monday (MIAGM)

One of Ricky May's best photos ever - Mandalay, Myanmar sunset

Today officially kicks off the first 'workday' of the new decade and the New Year.  I have accepted Beth and Patton's challenge to try Ryan Holiday's 21-day Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge. Can you tell I have become a big Ryan Holiday fan?

Today's challenge was to watch the sunrise and the sunset. I took Mom down to Lake Austin (takes one minute from our house) at 7:28AM, but the overcast conditions did not inspire as much as the photo above from Uncle Ricky.

I'll be Westward facing on our back deck for the sunset tonight at 5:42PM. Join me if you can. I just set the alarm for 5:30PM.

Between now and then, I'm 'chunking' (versus sprinkling) some work for Autodesk. What does that mean? Stay tuned . . .