What I'm Up To
​Volume 103

Hey friends,
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Here’s what I’ve been up to since Vol. 102…
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1. January Happenings
​Last year, I joined my first paid mastermind, Aspen. My friend, Shawn Blanc, invited 18 creators to be founders, and we had our first gathering in Kansas City. We masterminded, shared ideas over barbecue, and huddled around the firepit. I’ve been looking for community, and Aspen surpassed my expectations. Everyone is brilliant, kind, and clever. Color me happy.
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Meanwhile, Wendy’s Her Best Life hosted their mastermind in the Dominican Republic. Yes, she teased me that my mastermind hunkered in the frozen Midwest, while hers sunned on a Caribbean beach. No argument here. The ladies for the win. As always, she returned rejuvenated by time with friends.
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I also made it out to Better Ranch before the cold front arrived. With some help from friends, we’re checking all the boxes on our wildlife management tax exemption.

For MLK weekend, we joined Jennie, Lonnie, Janna, and Ben for our annual pilgrimage to Big Bend. This year, we skipped the Big Bend Ultra Race in favor of a long hike around the South Rim. The guidebook lists that trail as “strenuous” and didn’t exaggerate. 🥾 We hiked 14.5 miles with 3,400 feet of elevation. The views more than compensated for the aching feet. After, we visited our friend Melanie’s pizzeria, Long Draw. If you’re out that way, grab a pitcher and a thin-crust “El Pollo Chingon.”
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The next day, we brunched at a local cafe, visited the general store at Terlingua, and relaxed around the ranch. I spent about four hours trying to crack the old safe. Dialing the antique safe by feel may not be possible, but I look forward to trying again on the next visit.

The Arctic freeze that swept across the US spared us the worst. We had some sleet and ice. Streets were rough for a couple of days. Nothing like 2021, thank goodness.
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I traveled to Phoenix to deliver a keynote for the KW SW Region and LA Region’s “Top 100” event. I’m trying to connect with friends more when I travel. Kyle and Chelsea, a couple I met in Newport last year, took me out to dinner at a local brewery. 🍺 After my speech, I flew to Seattle for a full-day intensive with a new coaching client and his leadership team.
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Ben Kinney picked me up at the airport and took me to Chuan House, an authentic Sichuan restaurant by the university. Ben ordered about half the menu, including pork feet, chicken gizzards, and “numbing, spicy frog.” 🌶️ 🐸 I tried everything but wish he were a little less adventurous.

After my coaching session, my friend Yassi joined us for dinner at Wild Ginger. We ate family style pad thai, green curry chicken, grilled sea bass, and lots of satay. Nothing made my tongue numb. 🎉
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We ended the month with some unexpected challenges. Our water heater stopped working in the freeze. Eight days and an expensive plumber visit later, we discovered it was never set up properly in the 7+ years we’ve been living here. We now have hot water, better water pressure, and the humbling knowledge that we only needed to hit the “reset” button. Wendy dropped her phone getting out of the car, and the next car drove over it. A lot of her contacts weren’t backed up. So if she’s slow to reply, you’re probably not in her new phone yet.
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Finally, I shattered a filling while eating a gummy bear. You read that right. A gummy bear. I called my mom, who was a dental hygienist for 25 years.
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Me: “What should I do?”
Mom: “Have you Googled it yet?”
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Thankfully, Carly found an emergency dentist appointment for me at 5 pm on a Friday. I got a temp filling and will probably kick off February with a new crown.
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​2. What I’m Reading
​I continued the poetry with Dog Songs by Mary Oliver. So good. I’m probably done with canine-themed verse. Please share your favorite poetry when you reply back.
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​Exiles by Mason Coile is a sprint-to-the-finish SciFi thriller. Three astronauts jolt out of hypersleep enroute to Mars. Something is wrong. The robots setting up their base have gone ominously silent. Cue the eerie music. I stayed up too late reading this one.
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For nonfiction, I read two advanced readers: Less Achieves More by Cyril Peupion (not pictured and due out in the fall) and Career Cheat Codes by Courtney Johnson (which lands in April). Cyril’s book is a great practical companion to The ONE Thing. He’s been coaching in the productivity space a long time. Courtney’s career book is superb. If you have a young person new to the workforce, buy them this book. Courtney unpacks the playbook “A-Players” use to get jobs and promotions. It’s not that they are more competent employees. They are playing the game by the unwritten rules revealed in the book. Courtney unpacks the rules with biting humor and more than a few curse words. Definitely rated PG.

Wendy and I listened to Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s like an updated version of Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. Ostensibly written for creators and authors, yet every entrepreneur should read it!
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Lastly, listened to One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Akkad is a naturalized US journalist whose family came from the Middle East. He bears witness to the tragedy in Gaza and how International aid and support have largely been silent or sidelined. It started with a social post in 2023: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” It’s not an indictment of any political group, but rather the current state of humanity. It’s too easy to look away, to be silent. Especially lately, when tragedies seem to be unfolding everywhere all at once.
​What I’m Watching – Wendy and I are gearing up for the Oscars. We loved One Battle After Another (HBO) and Marty Supreme. Both are worthy Best Picture nominees. While Wendy was away, I binged through The Pitt (HBO), season 1, and all the available episodes of season 2. Fantastic show. It will tie you up in knots and release you in a cathartic crying jag.
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With the Peaky Blinders movie coming out this year, we went back to the beginning, and Wendy is watching with me.
hat’s it for this month. Please reply back and let me know what you’re up to!
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Be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!
Jay

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