Closing the first week of the new year.  Lots of reflections in today's newsletter, along with lots of challenges.  There is enormous life in a drop of water and 52 ideas for your Random Acts of Kindness this year.  We had a lot of fun reading about a chore swap in the U.K. and rethinking business schools. 

We finish today with awesome people, music notes, and a birthday song.  First, back to those pesky 2023 challenges! 

This is the 21 Day Challenge Program.

This is an interesting challenge that goes back to what you can control and can't.  For the last ten years, anyone with a cell phone has removed apps, locked them in a box, and even shut it down for parts of a day.  I got rid of personal social media and games from my primary cell phone years ago.  If you have clients, staff, or anyone that needs to reach you, this is a challenge you must plan out.  My recommendation, remove the apps you find yourself in a battle for control.

This is the 7-day happiness challenge, focused on relationships.

The challenge is to go out into a place you do your work.  That can include the coffee shop you regularly visit for a change of scenery.  The idea here is to find someone you interact with in a professional setting and see if there is an opportunity to grow that relationship.  We will add that to the possibilities for next week as the challenge list from this past week is beginning to pile up.

Working with a journal allows you to slow your own thoughts, and meditate on your days. Sahil Bloom does it again, and adds to the January projects. This project will be the daily cherry on top of all the others. Here’s the write from Bloom:

Smithsonian Magazine wrote a piece on what the [micro] world looks like in a drop of seawater.  The Smithsonian Magazine is a balance between writing and art.  The photos in this piece fire off your imagination, and the text adds fact and context to the images.

On the information side, the article goes into where the seawater was collected, the lengths the team went to keep the micro-organisms alive, and how that affects the color when you film.  Not only can the world be a beautiful place but finding people willing to discover it is inspiring.

The first week of January is over, and I wonder if the rest of the world is as hungry as I am.  The first time I experienced the effects of metabolism slowing down, I was 31 years old.  Married and with two kids under 5, it was the beginning of a battle I had waged ever since.  Never one to handle a diet or be told what to do, I moved into fitness mode first.  No change to the diet, but I went to the gym every day before work at 6:00 AM.  I started running and built up from there.  I have an addictive personality; I have always known I have an addictive personality. 

A movie came out several years ago about an aging rock star, who was trying to stay clean and to do that, he would do yoga for 8 hours a day.  His girlfriend tells him he can turn anything into heroin.  (the movie is Get Him to the Greek – Russell Brand and Jonah Hill).  I can relate; since I understand my personality, I use it whenever possible.  I break down some of my addictions and find alternatives when I can.  Running and the runner's high is accurate, and I used that one to replace; booze, fast food, and many other things I used to bring on a buzz. 

Still, trying to figure out what you can do?  Emma Beddington has 52 suggestions for you.  She put together a list of 52 things you can do to help others.  A big Random Acts of Kindness list, and you can pick one a week for the year and feel good about what you can bring to the table.  This goes right alongside the Happiness Challenge I'm finishing up this week. 

The new Columbia Business School in New York is a dynamic set of buildings with a unique and modern architectural design.  The NYT features the facilities in an article about the design and the new emphasis on the type of work you do and why you do it.  There are too many intricacies to the buildings and the new psychology of business school to highlight.  The facilities are beautiful, thoughtful, and provoking in many ways; the new psychology on paper sounds lovely but will it make a difference to the students who learn there?  Only time will tell.

If you are looking for five minutes of joy, read this creative article from The Guardian.  Four writers swap chores with their significant others.  Anyone who has ever lived with a roommate or currently lives with a spouse or partner will find this read hilarious and factual.  Please read it with your significant other and see who rolls their eyes the most!  Here’s a quick highlight from each couple:

The best part of Tim's observations includes how often you go to the store during a week and how much laundry a family of four goes through in a week.

In a scene reminiscent of The Odd Couple, these two split chores between cleaning and cooking.  Joe is the cleaner, and Peter knows the best place to put his fingerprints.  To combat this treason, Joe tries to starve Peter by numerous attempts and making food that only fed the bins!

This relationship had us laughing out loud.  What happens when a "self-proclaimed" logistics expert tries to figure out chores?  Answer – Five baskets for laundry categories!  It was hard to figure out what chores were swapped; ironing silk was mentioned, something about dog poop, and putting the bins out.  Remember, this is from The Guardian in the U.K. – bins are trash cans in the U.S.  There is so much joy in reading this.

These two could write a book, and as easy as they made it look, one likes the small stuff, while the other likes the bigger grubbier jobs.  One wants to cook, the other pulling hair out of the shower.  Here is the line that puts it all together for Coco and Stephen:

[Music Notes]

A (questionable) list of R.E.M.s top songs in honor of a birthday.  Henry Rollins speaks on behalf of Billy Idol and gives a somber look at those artists we lost in 2022.

Words | Music | Art | Unknown

Our favorite from the list.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.