What I'm Up To - Vol. 77
Here's what I've been up to since Volume 76...
What I'm Up To Volume 77
Hey friends,
Here’s what I’ve been up to since Vol. 76…
1. November Happenings
Happy holidays, everyone! The big news for this past month was finally getting all the paperwork for Grandpa Milt to move into his assisted living residence. Wendy gets daughter of the year for spending multiple days at the VA and on the phone to close the deal. I guess that’s what she does. She is an amazing real estate agent, after all.
Wendy and I and our team at The ONE Thing hosted our 7th annual Goal Setting Retreat in Scottsdale. It was by far our best ever. Our trainers knocked it out of the park. Life-changing stuff. Definitely filled my cup. Next year, we’ll host in Austin Nov 8-10. If you’re having FOMO for this year, you can check out our virtual edition here. Reply back if you want a discount code.
The next week, I co-hosted our top-agent masterminds in Austin. Given the high-profile legal cases, we focused hard on getting super clear on how we express our value proposition. Gary, Jason, and I have spent the last few weeks turning our learning into an important new course called Value2. More to come! During that event, Wendy and I attended a live taping of The Billion Dollar Creator Podcast with our friend, Ken Pozek. Hosts Rachel Rodgers and Nathan Barry interviewed Sam Parr. (Apple/Spotify) Worth an hour of your time– smart, insightful, and most importantly, funny.
By week’s end I was exhausted. Luckily, we had a getaway planned and drove west to Big Bend National Park. We hiked, took the Bronco offroad, popped over to Mexico for the day, read books, slept in, and spent time with a few old friends. In Vol. 76, I shared how my long-time friend gifted me some 1994 Thomas Hardy Ale. Scott, you’ll be happy to know, we sampled a few bottles with some serious beer connoisseurs. We tasted hints of butterscotch, nuts, coffee, chocolate, and malt. Thank you for the wonderful experience.
The following week, we took the kids to Memphis for Thanksgiving with my family. Unlike previous years we did not join our extended family in Mississippi. While I missed my cousins, aunts and uncles, it was great relaxing at home. We did our annual pilgrimage to Gibson’s Donuts, went “feast mode” on turkey and dressing, did some shopping, visited my niece’s office, took a family photo, and got a lot of playtime with my great-niece, Mia.
Finally, I attended two more author masterminds in November. When I said ‘yes’ to Donald Miller’s mastermind in June, it felt like an opportunity. When Mo Bunnell invited me to his in early fall, I knew I needed help but wasn’t 100% clear on what I needed. By the time I got the invite from Stu and Amy McLaren for the Village Impact Mastermind taking place in November 2023, I’d stepped into the CEO role at The ONE Thing training and coaching company, Produktive, and had some clarity about what we needed. So grateful for all the learnings and how they showed up just when I needed them.
The first November mastermind was a virtual follow up to the in-person event Mo Bunnell hosted in October. (Thanks again, Mo.) The latter was hosted in Charleston by Stu and Amy McClaren. I got to reconnect with Codie Sanchez, Jenna Kutcher, Jeff Walker, Michael Hyatt, Amy Porterfield, Ryan Levesque, Brandon Turner, Nathan Barry, Jim Kwik, and our hosts. I also got to make new friends with Dan Martell, Bonnie Christine, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, Humble the Poet, and a half-dozen other creative entrepreneurs.At the end of the event, we combined forces for a Village Impact fundraiser at Sage Studios, easily the coolest virtual stage I’ve ever seen. We raised over $384,000 in three hours. More than enough to fund two new schools in Kenya!
2. What I’m Reading
I’ve got multiple non-fiction books in flight (thank you Audible!). I did finish an early reader’s edition of Mo Bunnell’s upcoming book, Give to Grow. It’s excellent and accurately captures his unique approach to sales and entrepreneurship. I will share again, when the book goes on-sale. I also read An Apothecary of Art by Ravenous Butterflies at my mom’s house. It’s a collection of art paired with passages from literature, poetry, and famous quotations. Once I started reading, I read it straight through in a few hours.
For fiction, I stumbled across “The Egg,” a short story from Andy Weir. I found it thought-provoking. I also enjoyed the latest Jack Reacher, The Secret by Lee Child and Andrew Child. And I devoured Iron Flame by Rebessa Yarros, the sequel to The Fourth Wing.
Finally, a shout out to Codie Sanchez for featuring The ONE Thing with some of her favorite books in her Contrarian Thinking newsletter. The article is called “You’ll want to bookmark this.” I want to be that good at headlines when I grow up.
3. What I’m Watching
David Fincher is one of my favorite directors. And I love Michael Fassbender's work. Despite the critical acclaim, I found The Killer (Netflix) plodding and wasn’t sure why I should care about the protagonist. Wendy and I really enjoyed Dumb Money (Amazon), the story of the rise and fall of GameStop’s stock. My sister and I snuck away to see The Holdovers (in theaters) at Thanksgiving. Paul Giamatti is great in the moody character study of a curmudgeonly professor babysitting a prep student over the holidays. I give it a B+.
Finally, Wendy and I decided to give Parks and Recreation another try. The first season didn’t do it for us. Talk about redemption tales. Season 2 showed us what all the fuss was about! We have many hours of laughter ahead!
That’s it. Please hit reply and let me know what you’re up to.
Be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!
Jay
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