Hey folks,

Back-to-back meetings all day, so this one’s coming in hot at 4:45pm. A couple of things on my mind…

1. Daily Reports to My reMarkable: Every morning, an automated task pulls together pre-reads for all my meetings - notes from past calls, client numbers, proposals - and sends them as a PDF to my reMarkable. Then I sit outside with an espresso and actually think before the day gets crazy, away from email and AI. I go into every call more prepared and more clear. (You could just print it, but why not spend $400 on something to read and mark up PDFs? Not an affiliate link :)

2. Who Wrote the Better Diary Entry? Man - I’ve been listening to Rick Rubin’s episode on Diary of a CEO, and I just love his purity when it comes to expressive art. He says competitiveness and even goals are antithetical to art, the same way we don’t ask “Who wrote the better diary entry?” We just ask “Is it beautiful? Is it true?” He’s clear that business is a different game - an important one - but a separate activity. It resonated with me because this newsletter, to some extent, and my book for sure have lived outside the “transactional world,” and they’ve given me so much joy - even if they make no money. The pod put words to something I’d been feeling about both of them. Give it a listen.

3. Sukkot: This is a bit of a weird one - but our family celebrates the annual feast from the Bible called “Sukkot,” or the “Feast of Tabernacles.” We’ve been doing it for 15 years now, and several of our kids have said, unprompted, that it’s their “favorite holiday.” It starts tonight, and I want to pitch you on why you should try it out whether you're religious or not:
​ - It’s an anti-materialism holiday. We hang out around a bonfire outside every night for a week to remember that as long as we have God and each other, we’re at home. We don’t need things to have a great time. Every American needs this.
​ - It celebrates courage and trust in uncertainty. We share stories about times we didn’t know what was going to happen in our lives - adventures, conflicts, etc. - and how these things grew our character and faith.
​ - It’s SO kid-friendly. It fascinates me that the Bible’s holidays are WAY more fun than most church or modern holidays. It’s hands-on, with great food, stories, time with friends, and a retelling of the Exodus story.

Here’s how you do it: Set up a canopy, pup tent, camping tent, pergola, or something similar outside and put a table in it. Then eat great food (it literally says “whatever your heart desires”). Invite friends over - bonus points if you meet them that week and invite them. Last, just tell stories. Just go on Google or Youtube and search Sukkot and you'll see how far people take it.

If you’re in the Cincinnati area and brave enough to try it, just reply to this email and we’ll find a night this week for you to stop by our place. And if you’re not local, reply with any questions - happy to tell you more.

That’s it for this week!

Best,

Blake