🧠 Thought of the Week

Close the Loop

With a nine-month-old at home, the clichéd advice from every parent is true: I’m always tired.

I assumed the reason for this constant fatigue was my workload — early mornings, constant chores, a full-time job, and chasing a crawling baby 24/7.

But the more I reflect on my weeks, the more I realize that the reason I’m tired isn’t the workload, it’s all the open loops I no longer have the time to prioritize:

The texts I haven't answered
The apology I owe
The decision I’m avoiding
The conversation I keep postponing

These run in the background of my mind all day, draining my battery. Jeff Bezos once said, “Stress doesn’t come from hard work. Stress primarily comes from not taking action over something that you can have some control over.”

I’ve probably shared that quote dozens of times. Yet, it’s so easy to forget and assume your exhaustion is the result of the things you’re actually doing rather than the things you’ve been avoiding. Mental clutter is 1000x more exhausting than physical work will ever be.

“Action is the antedote” is a line I need stapled to my forehead.

Close your loops. Watch your energy return.

I’ll still be tired, but maybe like 10% less… 🤷‍♂️

📚 What I’m Reading

365 Devotions for Catholics: Daily Moments with God

I went to Catholic school my whole life. But much like a kid forced to eat brussels sprouts, it had the opposite effect. For years, I tuned out anything remotely religious and shoved “faith” onto the back burner while I chased every form of self-improvement known to man. But after inhaling every personal growth book on the shelves, I realized something was missing. The more I optimized my habits and morning routines, the more I felt an ache for something deeper.

Lately, I’ve been trying to make peace with the idea of a higher power — even if I still cringe at some of the language and dogma of organized religion. I thought about taking a stab at reading The Bible, but that seemed like taking a bigger bite than I was capable of chewing.

So, naturally, I went to ChatGPT. I wanted something approachable, bite-sized, and practical. Like The Daily Stoic, but less Marcus Aurelius and more Jesus. After some solid recommendations, I opted for 365 Devotions for Catholics. Each day offers a short reflection: a verse, a thought, and a quick prayer. The best part is that each day is written by a different author, so you get a good mix of voices and interpretations vs. a singular view.

It’s thoughtful without being preachy and deep enough to spark reflection while being short enough to read while your coffee’s brewing. These daily readings have become a small moment of calm — a pause to set my intentions in the morning and unwind at night. For someone who once gagged on the taste of religion, this book has been a surprisingly easy way to start building spiritual muscle again.

📰 Articles I’m Reading

Reading Books Made a Man Out of Me — Shilo Brooks

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“It is powerful for a boy to see a grown man read. The lesson is best taught passively. My stepfather didn’t so much talk to me about books as demonstrate what it meant to have a relationship with them.”

Without Books We Will Be Barbarians — Niall Ferguson

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“… audiobooks won’t help with the fact that there’s a decline of literacy—the ability to read and write. When people stop reading, they stop being able to read. And I mean that, well, literally: Average adult skills scores for literacy compared with 2014 are down 12.4 points.”

The Best Family Trip Ever, According to WSJ Readers

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“We spent the rest of the evening under the stars, listening to the resident bull frogs and roasting s’mores, all with overwhelming feelings of gratitude and a much-sought sense of peace.”

💡How to Become Wiser

25 Questions to Ask Yourself

This blog post, “How To Become Wiser,” offers a great list of questions for reflection, organized around three main purposes: Seeking Perspective, Examining Yourself, and Developing Compassion. Here are a few of my favorites:

Who is this benefiting and who is it hurting?
How would an objective observer describe what happened?
What would I do in this moment if someone was watching me?
What’s the most caring interpretation of this person’s actions?
What is happening within me that I might be projecting onto another person or this situation?
If I’m judging someone, have I behaved similarly before? What was going on for me at that moment?

h/t Recomendo

💲The 7 Costs of Entry in Life

One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from Thomas Sowell. “There are no solutions, only tradeoffs.” No quote sums up the human experience quite like that one. At the end of the day, every single thing you want in life comes at a cost.

Sahil Bloom writes about the 7 unavoidable tradeoffs we must accept to achieve the things we really want in life:

Imposter syndrome is a cost of entry for growth
Uncertainty is a cost of entry for achievement
Loneliness is a cost of entry for personal transformation
Boredom of routine is a cost of entry for success
Hard conversations are a cost of entry for meaningful relationships
Criticism is a cost of entry for excellence
Embarrassment is a cost of entry for progress

h/t The Curiosity Chronicle by Sahil Bloom

🎙️ Podcast I’m Listening To

James Nestor on The Tim Ferriss Show [Spotify]

#829: Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost Performance

James Nestor (@MrJamesNestor) is a science journalist and the author of the international bestseller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, with more than three million copies sold in 44 languages. In this episode, they discuss the link between ADHD and poor sleep respiration in children, how LeBron James improved his stamina through nasal breathing, and the potentially hazardous CO2 levels in hotels.

While I haven’t read Breath, it’s been on my list for a while. I’ve been doing daily Wim Hof sessions for years, and it has helped me significantly in clearing a lot of the stress I store in my body. Nasal breathing has also been a huge lever in improving my stamina, posture, and mental clarity. If you haven’t explored the importance of how we breathe, I highly recommend listening to at least the first half of this discussion.

💭 Quote I’m Pondering

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I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.

—Leo Rosten

🎙️The Observe & Rapport Show

Episode #40 | Death on Payroll: The Life of an Executioner [Spotify]

Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss the life of Frantz Schmidt, a sixteenth-century executioner in ⁠Nuremberg, Germany⁠. Based on Schmidt's unique journal, the book explores his public role in executing and punishing people, his private struggles with his profession and religious faith, and his attempt to gain honor and avoid the social stigma of being an executioner. A rare, detailed look into the era's criminal justice, social customs, and even medical practices, challenging the common perception of executioners as monsters.

📚 Books discussed in this episode: