🏃 Let's hit the ground running
Ep. 17: Mastering your reaction to change, the frustration of slow-moving time, and a look back into the past year (because everyone's doing it).
Happy New Year! I hope that you had a fantastic close to 2022 and are ready to hit the ground running this week. I know I am!
A Tip for the Modern Worker
Master your reaction to change. Change is the one thing you can count on in this life. You can embrace it, tactfully challenge it, or remain unaffected by it. It's your choice.
This tip is one of 365 in my Handbook for the Modern Worker. I have learned that change, especially in the context of work, is a certainty. That knowledge makes it a little more palatable when it happens (hey, things were bound to change eventually!) but it doesn’t mean it’s 100% easy. I usually embrace change or try to be unaffected by it. Challenging change can come at a big price, so make sure it’s worth the cost before you push back.
#365DayDraw
I drew this and wrote the accompanying annotation as part of my #365DayDraw project 7 years ago today.
Time Fries. Wordplay amidst boredom in the ski lodge.
This was my second drawing of the year-long challenge, and yeah, it shows. I was in a ski lodge, probably fairly bored, and very much watching the clock. The adage “Time Flies” turned into “Time Fries” in my brain, and you can almost feel the frustration in that adaptation of the phrase. The smell of someone’s ski lodge fries probably factored in heavily, too. And great, now I’m hungry!
Commentary
Okay, it’s that time of year when you get to read all of the year in review posts, the top 10 lists, and superlatives. I don’t want you to feel short-changed in reading this, so yeah, let’s recap a few things from my 2022, shall we?
In the fitness category, I’ll run down my running stats. It wasn’t all running, though: I rowed 250,000 meters on our indoor rower, did 40-50 BodyPump sessions, and was active 317 days of the year. If you want to connect over fitness on Strava, please do! And now, running stats:
Distance: 1,270 miles
Elevation Gain: 75,663 feet
Longest Uninterrupted Effort: Philadelphia Marathon
Longest Day and Distance: FLRC Ultra Challenge 100K
I read for 30 minutes most weekday mornings, for a total of 22 books. 16 of these were from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. If you want to see what I’m reading now, hit me up on Goodreads. I’m particularly enjoying The Overstory by Richard Powers, but it’s taking some time because I keep needing to renew it and there’s a loooooong line.
Shortest: Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
Longest: Nothing to Lose by Lee Child
Most Shelved: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Highest Rated on Goodreads: Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Who’s still playing Wordle? I took a break early in the year but started back up. 230 plays, 97% win, and into a streak of 65. 2/3 of my guesses are 4 or 5, with the rest evenly distributed between 3 and 6. I had one 2! My consistent opening words: MOUSE and CHAIN (or CHAIR). Hey, I like to know what vowels I’m dealing with.
And lastly, I’m proud to have started some new habits, including this newsletter.
Miscellanea
🎤 We watched Muscle Shoals on Amazon Prime. By the time this comes out it’ll have rotated off, but it’s such a good documentary. It’s the story of Rick Hall and his house band, The Swampers, and how influential they were in creating some of the most important songs of all time.
📅 I rolled up my sleeves and did some coding over the break, successfully figuring out how to automatically create Google Calendar events from Google Sheets entries. It’s for Amy’s cake business and it was such a fun and satisfying challenge. I’ll write a blog post about it.
💪 Amy and I were just elected to the board of the Finger Lakes Runners Club. We’ve really enjoyed being a part of the club as a family, participating in races, volunteering, and enjoying socializing with others as part of the FLRC Challenge. We’re looking forward to doing even more!