What I’m Up To - Vol. 82
Here's what I've been up to since Volume 81...
What I'm Up To Volume 82
Hey friends,
Here’s what I’ve been up to since Vol. 81…
1. April Happenings
We kicked off the month celebrating the 11th birthday of The ONE Thing. With over 3.1 million copies sold in 40+ languages, it’s been quite the journey!
Wendy joined the board for Explore Austin after last year's event, so she was a part of planning this year’s fundraiser which raised over $600,000. The nonprofit pairs underprivileged kids with adults for six years, like Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Each month they take an outdoor adventure from kayaking and camping to extended exploration trips. 100% of their kids graduate high school.
We also hosted about 30 guests and three dogs at our ranch for the total eclipse. Better Ranch was in the totality and we lucked out with the weather. Just before the big event, the clouds parted and we witnessed it in all its majesty. As a bonus, the bluebonnets were in full bloom.
My whole family came for the week. We have a timeshare at Barton Creek and my whole family came out for the week. They took advantage of the pools and golf courses and we went out for some great meals. It was my mom’s 80th birthday and we celebrated her in style at the steakhouse.
We also did a little travel ourselves. Wendy cohosted a Her Best Life event at a dude ranch in Arizona. She masterminded with her tribe of lady leaders between archery lessons, herding competitions, and other adventures. I accepted an invitation from KW Canada to speak in Toronto and Montreal. It was a whirlwind with four flights (two international), two keynotes, and two masterminds in three days. A highlight was stealing away for dinner with some Canadian superstars, Stu and Amy McClaren, Mallory Rowan, and Josh Reyes.
After surprising Wendy with a 15th-anniversary party for the Papasan Properties Group, we held the official event at our home for the team and dozens of past clients. It rained all night but we made it work!
Some other highlights for the month included catching up over coffee with Julian, one of the neighborhood dads I’ve known for over a decade. I got a hall pass to see Monkey Man (see below) with some other neighborhood pals. Wendy and I delivered a 3-hour workshop on goal-setting at the STR Secrets Mastermind in Boston. Can you say “lobster rolls?” And finally, we celebrated the 100th edition of my weekly newsletter for entrepreneurs, The Twenty Percenter. We now have over 8,000 subscribers in 135 countries (what?) with open rates hovering above 73%. Yay, team!
2. What I'm Reading
My nonfiction for April included The Lion’s Gate by Stephen Pressfield and 10x is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. The Lion’s Gate is the gripping story of Israel’s 7-day war. With everything that’s happened since the October 7th attack last year, I felt a deep need to be better informed. I highly recommend the book. If you enjoyed Sullivan and Hardy’s other books, you’ll love 10x is Easier Than 2x. They have a winning formula with Dr. Hardy weaving stories into Sullivan's coaching wisdom. It’s a good battle cry to think bigger.
For fiction, I read from David Baldacci. My father-in-law recommended The Innocent (Will Robie Book 1) to my sister, so I decided to read it as well so we’d all have something to talk about on family Zoom. I liked it enough, to immediately start the sequel, The Hit. If you like spy thrillers, these are solid choices. There are five books in the series, so I have plenty to look forward to.
3. What I'm Watching
I made it to the Alamo Drafthouse twice in April. It’s by far my favorite theater experience and I just don't get there as much since the pandemic changed our lifestyle habits. When my family was in town, we caught Pulp Fiction. It’s really held up over time. I also saw the Indian “John Wick” action movie, Monkeyman which was surprisingly good. I also caught Michael Mann’s biopic, Ferrari with aptly named Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz on the flight back from Canada.
For shows, Gus curated the final three seasons of Castlevania (Netflix) for Wendy and I. As I noted last month, it’s a nice twist on the Dracula theme. We also enjoyed season 2 of Tokyo Vice (MAX). Ken Watanabe shines in the show! Finally, we indulged in F1: Drive to Survive, Season 6 (Netflix). That show is bad for our wallet. We immediately bought tickets for F1 in Austin this fall.
That’s it for this month. Please reply back and let me know what you’re up to!
Be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!
Jay
Note – I’ve decided to start using Amazon affiliate links for the books I share here. While this newsletter isn’t a commercial enterprise, it does have costs to defray. I hope you don’t mind.
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