Calico Jack = 1 Month Old :)

January27

It has been fantastic and so much fun :). The below picture is Calico’s face when I tell him about the time I fought all the dinosaurs in the world and that is why none are left. Super skeptical face.

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2017 Plans…

January20

What am I hoping to do in 2017?

Theme Of The Year?
I want to get my mojo back! What does that mean? I want to refill my energy and passion. I’ve had a hard 3-year run and I want to get some of my energy/mojo back :).

Work Stuff…
1. Work to make Pressed a success.
2. Pursue some small fun projects around helping other entrepreneurs.
3. Keep focusing on how to execute to the best of your abilities.

My Stuff…
1. Find a new sport I am going to LOVE and will keep my back happy.
2. Plan out an adventure for late in the year.
3. Shed a lot of junk that is piling up in my closet.
4. Clear my desk and keep it clear.
5. Read at least 50 books.
6. Do more hikes with friends, and more lunches/coffee with people in my community.

Core…
1. Follow my current health and diet plan.
2. Keep my daily rehab and meditation habits.
3. Do my big workouts and FT 4x a week.

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Trump Now President.

January20

It is now real.

Somehow a man who lacks the character or ethics to manage a McDonalds is the president of the United States of America despite losing by 3 million votes. This is the end of a long winding road caused by the Republican party being hijacked and held hostage by an anti-fact anti-intellectual movement. America is asleep in a puddle of tears as the “American Dream” slips even further from being a unifying vision for our country. One thing is certain, this is going to be a very interesting period in history.

Where is America headed?

I am still trying to be optimistic and give him a chance. But so far he has further solidified my opinion he lacks moral character and wisdom. I am hopeful that we as a country will get a few things out of this: move the USA to a territorial tax system for business/personal, smart corporate tax reform, and kill off the common core. I am incredibly afraid he is going to try to tear down the American safety net and hurt a lot of people (ie, social security, healthcare, public education, a minimum wage tied to inflation). I am also afraid he is going to cut taxes for the wealthy and increase inequality. I hope he passes something to empower more people to go to college or some type of post-secondary training (I’d love tuition to be capped at 20% of poverty levels or something).

Update… Week 1 does not bode well for the future of this country. Historically we have a long history of uninformed uneducated voters making bad decisions on the right and the left of the political spectrum. That makes me feel “good” about that situation as you can never say that democracy is powered by educated voting. The problem I am trying to get my head around is I am not aware of any situation in American history where a group is set on tearing down government entirely and then saying “look it doesn’t work”. Or had such a blatant disregard for science, expertise, and truth. I am really scared/curious if the USA will emerge stronger once the backlash hits, or if somehow this extreme right group can continue to brainwash uninformed uneducated voters to keep voting for them. I am very hopeful this is the beginning of the end and that in 10 years we will have a better safety net for citizens. I really don’t want to see WW3, a global depression, or a global trade war (which would probably cause a global depression).

posted under Politics, Pollution / Environment | Comments Off on Trump Now President.

2016 In Review.

January8

2014 was the toughest year of my life, and while 2015 was MUCH better and WAY more fun… so many of the things that caused stress in 2014 were still there and still had to be dealt with. I had high hopes for 2016 finally giving me a bit more space to find my mojo but that didn’t happen quite the way I wanted.

All in all, 2016 was a bit exhausting. I was working 2 CEO gigs for 85% of the year, one of those gigs was booting up a brand new tech startup which is a challenge, our family bought a house and moved 9+ times while getting it ready to be lived in, Lindsey got pregnant and we had a baby in December :), and I had to deal with a few health scares. There is a lot of good in there, but it was a pretty intense year.

2016 felt a bit like this…
giphy-2

I sat down a month ago and made a big timeline of everything going on in my life from 2014 to 2016 by month. It is pretty crazy how much shit went down over that 3 year period. Even after reading it I feel pretty amazed I am still standing. I am very confident that 2017 will be a bit more relaxed :).

The Amazing
Lindsey and I have been married for two years and it just keeps getting better and better :). I made a great choice and I hope she feels similar. We found out Lindsey was pregnant on April 20th and little Calico was born on December 30th 2016. This is a pretty momentous change to our lives, and we are pretty excited :). I am incredibly excited to be a dad!

In February we moved to Colorado and by March had bought a house in Boulder. Lindsey worked like crazy to get the house ready and by July we were moved in. We are loving our house and it is so nice to have a home/office and be less nomadic for a while. Between February to July we moved 9+ times as we scrambled to find new places whent he house work was delayed.

What other fun stuff did I do this year?
– Lindsey and I went on a 2 week baby moon to Maui Hawaii which was needed. We also spent a few weeks in Key West and Florida visiting friends & family. It was great to finally introduce Lindsey to my grandma, even if we have to do it everytime she wonders who is in the car with her :).
– Lots of amazing hikes in Colorado with Daniel and solo.
– I joined Vistage early in the year, and EO toward the end. Both those communities have been great, and I trying to learn how to better execute on ideas. This is a huge focus of mine for the rest of my life.
– I’ve managed to cement my morning ritual and I hit 380 consecutive days of morning rehab, and 310 days of meditation. I am pretty happy with keeping that up amidst a pretty choppy year.
– I am back to doing workouts 4x a week which feels great! They are light workouts but it feels great to sweat. I am slowly accepting that medical peoples have no clue about my back, and it is up to me to figure out what I can and can’t do.

The Challenges!

Health:
2016 was not a great year in the health department, but it did end on a positive note :). In January I got hit with some liver problems due to some preventative meds they had me taking. I stopped taking them and was back to normal by late March. Then in May they saw some signs inflammation might be back so I switched back to a super strict Paleo AIP diet and I’ve been on that ever since (7+ months). In August I got a colonoscopy and they didn’t see any sign of the disease now or historically so that was great to hear! Halfway through the year I also got some tests on my adrenal glands and the doctor discovered I am pretty zapped and at the end of a long stress cycle (duh!). So they gave me a mountain of hippie pills to help put humpty dumpty back together again :). I am feeling better now from an energy perspective and I am looking forward to getting my mojo back.

Komorebi:
Site5/WWWH was sold in June 2015 and for the 17 months following that I have been working two CEO gigs, one booting up my new startup Pressed, and one at WWWH to oversee the transition to the new owners. That was very stressful/tiring and I do not recommend doing it. Saying goodbye to Site5/WWWH after spending 7+ years building and running it was tough. I hope it finds a good home, as I haven’t been too impressed with what has happened under the new ownership. I was able to line up new homes for 75%+ of the team too which I feel good about. And, I think another 10% to 15% found positions through referrals a few weeks later.

Trump:
Somehow the country elected Trump to be the president of the USA. Trump is someone I wouldn’t hire to manage a McDonalds bathroom, let alone hand a pair of childproof scissors too. God help us all :). I am still working through what this means… it has caused a lot of reflection on what the American dream is for me, and what it is for other people. I am a globalist, I have friends all over the world, I am someone who thinks this country needs a strong social safety net in FDR style, and I am dumbfounded to see the very people who need help in the modern economy vote for someone who is going to screw them over. Hopefully, from the ashes the country emerges stronger (at least we might get a territorial tax system for people/companies finally).

2017
I am really excited about 2017! It is going to be a great year :). You can read my plans/goals here (COMING SOON).

Onward to 2017, ARRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!!!
giphy-3

posted under Life Planning & Execution | Comments Off on 2016 In Review.

2016 Book Summary.

January6

giphy

Since 2010 I’ve taken part in a yearly challenge to read 100 books. I love reading so this is not too hard. For 2016 I read 112 books, and they were mostly fun books given the nature of the year.

I do a big book summary each year too, if you want to take a look at past years for some reading ideas check them out here: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. So what are my top books of the year?

If you only read 3 books this year I recommend the following:

1. Red Phoenix is a book based at the end of the Cold War and follows a North Korean invasion of the South and our response. It has echoes of Tom Clancy and I enjoyed it immensely.

2. Dawn of Wonder is an amazing fantasy book and I can’t wait for the second one. The premise is simple, a young boy as he suffers a tragedy and then as he joins a very elite military unit. Beautifully written, great characters, and just fantastic.

3. The Wolf of the North was a fantastic book and I can’t wait for the next one. Solid fantasy and beautifully written story with viking undertones.

Top 3 Scifi / Fantasy:

1. The Lives of Tao series. This is a GREAT science fiction series and very well written. Aliens crashed into earth and have been driving our evolution in order to get to a technology level to enable them to leave. At some point the group split into a group trying to help humanity and improve them, and another that just wants off the planet no matter the cost to earth. The aliens are a symbiotic relationship, and they combine with a human and can talk to them and effectively live forever. Which makes some really interesting topics on history when an immortal alien was inside the human’s head talking to them and giving them advice. Great series, highly recommended and I can’t wait to read more by this author.

2. The Black Gate Series is awesome fantasy and huge in scope. You see the world through a variety of characters that are slowly driven toward each other. Pretty unique world too.

3. The King’s Dark Tidings series. These are not the most complex, but boy are they fun. The main character is like a fantasy James Bond but a monk who seems to kill just about everyone. Fun world and characters, good for the beach.

Top 3 *Real* Books:

1. I was interested in learning how the USA passed a recent constitutional amendment so I picked up
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. It was very well written and fascinating to learn about. I was also curious how it mirrored Cannabis and the path to legalization a lot of states are taking.

2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life . This is a GREAT read and I love his website as well. I wish we passed this out to every student in high school or college.

3. The Rent Is Too Damn High: What To Do About It, And Why It Matters More Than You Think – This was a really interesting look at the cost of housing on Americans and the impact on the economy.

3 Honorable Mentions:

1. I read every book in the Gabriel Allon spy series. They are all very solid books and highly recommended.

2. The First Rule of Ten series, which is a fantastic detective series based in LA. The main character is a Buddhist monk and apart from the newest they are all amazing.

3. Waking the Kiso Road. This is a pilgrimage route in Japan I am thinking of doing and it made for a great read.

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Workout Summary 2016.

January6

For 2016, I did a total of 166 hours of tracked workouts. January was a total wash, but by February I was in Colorado and doing a lot more hiking (especially with Daniel). I moved into our house in Boulder in July and LOVE the surrounding trail network. I also started riding a cheap exercise bike I got late in the year and making sure I am doing “big” workouts 3x to 4x a week. It feels really good to sweat again :). Fun stats:

  • I hiked/walked 299 miles this year.
  • I biked for 25 hours this year (I just got started end of year).
  • Over the entire year I ascended 45,997 feet, which is less than last year but not too bad given I walked about half what I did in 2015.

  • I’d love to pick up Yoga again, I was doing it 3x a week, but medical peeps told me to lay off for now. I am starting to think they don’t know what they are talking about though. Ditto for running, they told me at the start of the year after another MRI that I shouldn’t ever run due to the pounding. I think I am just going to have to figure this out on my own.

    What are my workout goals for 2017?

    1. Continue my big workout + foundation training 4x a week (and do them before I start work). Plus my daily rehab practice.

    2. Figure out what I can do that isn’t going to tear up my back further (and that I hopefully enjoy as much as running). I would be ecstatic if I could do 3 to 5 mile trail runs, but that might not be possible. I am going to talk to a trainer and see if I can find someone who has experience with annular disc tears.

    3. Think on a big bike or walking trip and what I need to do to prepare for that. I am thinking about getting a folding mountain bike and doing a big ride in Europe toward the end of 2017 possibly.

    Past years: 2014 and 2015 workout summary.

    posted under My Thoughts | Comments Off on Workout Summary 2016.

    This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

    I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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