Tag: books

Thankful for My 2026 Reading Goal, Choosing My Mindset, & Engaging Conversations

Day 4,042

Growth:

One of my Start Doing’s for 2026 was to read, re-read, and then re-re-read 25 specific books. Each was selected for a specific reason, largely focused on values I wanted to live into more this year, concepts I wanted fresh in my brain, and stories that have always struck me as interesting on a deeper than surface level. With a little over two months to go I’m on track and only have 10 reads to go, 65 already under my belt.

I’ve learned so many things through this process. There are books I’d like to read more than three times due to how engaging they are. There are also books that I’m going to set aside and not pick back up for at least a year or two. Throughout each I’ve caught myself seeing deeper insights, hearing slightly different themes, and changing my behavior and thoughts as a result. It’s been a positive result for sure!

I miss reading so many different titles, I’ve only read 14 outside of the 25 core curriculum of 2026, but I’ll get back to that next year. This year this level of focus was exactly what my mind needed to help hardwire some of these concepts into my brain. Here’s to the home stretch of 2026 AND to the new books of 2027.

Appreciation:

This was a day! Many reasons for that statement, some positive, some scary, some exciting, some frustrating. As Jim Valvano once said, “if you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day!” In one single sixty minute stretch each of those was knocked off the list! During the entirety of the day there were definitely some repeats of all of them.

What’s interesting is that I could find myself looking only at the positive and trying to forget about the frustrating, keeping an overly optimistic view of all of it, but I’d be getting it wrong.

I could find myself looking only at the negative and getting so frustrated and agitated as I forgot about the positive, keeping an overly negative view of all of it, but I’d be getting it wrong.

As luck would have it, my current book is The Book of Joy in which the Dalai Lama and Bishop Tutu share so much wisdom about framing moments and putting the focus on where it should be. They had a positive impact on me today and helped me choose what feels to be the more correct path.

All of the things today happened. They were each individually good or bad, they were. Each of those moments offered an opportunity to learn, to feel, and to experience life. Each moment gave me an opportunity to be grateful – I was alive for each of those moments, I was able to experience each of those moments. So many of them were out of my control. In most I was grateful for the opportunity to see that I can live my core values and into my purpose in good times and in difficulty. In some I was able to more clearly see the gap between who I am and who I be living into, I was shown an opportunity to grow. Each of those moments was a gift.

Each moment, not good, not bad, always a gift. An opportunity for growth. My mind and soul, both at peace.

Presence:

Today had several conversations that involved some hard core presence. In each there was no room for anything but being right in the moment – to follow along, to dig deeper into a difficult topic, to be sure I was hearing what the person was saying. There were some with high emotions, some more cerebral and logical, and others focused on new ideas and growth.

The consistent detail was keeping the focus on the conversation I was having the with the individual – hearing them, considering their message, and responding accordingly.

Very grateful for each of those conversations today, they were so engaging that they inspired me to work harder on being that engaged in other conversations.

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Books x 4, a Day of Connections, & Calmness in Motion

Day 4,035

Growth:

Some books stick with us longer than others, and sometimes for reasons we don’t quite understand. What I’m learning is that when I find one of those books the best thing I can do is pick it up and read it again and again. As I keep diving in I’m able to see what my brain didn’t quite connect the first time, I can see all the details I missed the first time. In the third round I’m feeling more and more of the themes and connections, seeing the book from the wider perspective. By the fourth time I’m able to start combining the themes with my life experiences to see why the connection felt so strong. Four different readings, all of the same book, four levels of understanding.

Appreciation:

So much connection today from so many sources. Running with Becky. Morning conversation with Natalie in the office. Team stats review to celebrate where we’ve grown. Text messages of celebration. Face to face meetings to plan for an upcoming meeting. A lunch conversation with a WSU student to help her in her career search. Another face to face meeting with a client we’ve worked with for a long time to work through a challenging change. Phone conversations to coach and guide. Emails to help others understand and see. Chilling on the couch with Becky for a few moments at home. Dinner with friends hearing stories of their outdoor adventures and shooting the bull. Watching the Brewers game while texting Nick and my boys.

Around every moment today there was a connection waiting to be made, each a gift of sharing the present with someone.

Presence:

Our morning run today was outstanding! It didn’t necessarily feel the best, but we were both awake, talking, and enjoying time outside with the dog while the rest of the world slept. Those quiet mornings are amongst my favorite times, calmness in motion, connection without distraction. Throw in a random animal on the road (thinking it was fox, but it was dark and difficult to see) for good measure and life was pretty epic in that run! No deadlines, no stress, only chill!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Perspectives of Time, Combining Friends and Family, & a Day of Moments

Day 4,024

Growth:


“There are so many kinds of time. The time by which we measure our lives. Months and years. Or the big time, the time that raises mountains and makes stars. Or all the things that happen between one heartbeat and the next. It’s hard to live in all those kinds of time. Easy to forget that you live in all of them.”

Robert Chales Wilson, Spin

Throughout the “sweatshirt book” I talked about yesterday (Spin by Robert Charles Wilson) there are several themes interplaying all at once. Connections to people. The way we view life and meaning. The shifting of perspectives. One of my favorites is the the various sizes and weights of time in our lives.

The quote above really encapsulates the concept throughout the book so well. Wilson does a masterful job of shifting between each of those types of time in the story, helping us feel the conflict as we shift uncomfortably from one angle to the other.

What sat with me today was how often I can catch myself in one mode and completely miss another, forgetting that the others exist while I’m hyper focused in viewing time from one perspective. I’d love to find a way to help keep this quote in front of me with regularity help me remember to choose the appropriate frame of reference.

Appreciation:

Very grateful for the opportunity to spend time with my some of my best friends AND Dominic all at the same time today! It was a busy time, loading and unloading the UHaul for a couple of moves in the same day, but so much fun and laughter throughout. So often I’m used to spending time with either my friends OR my family, this was fantastic to blend the two together and enjoy the time. The jokes were all combined, there were a few times when someone was about to hold back and I assured them it was totally okay to let ‘er rip and we all ended up having a blast! I’m sure I’ll be a bit sore from the moving and lifting and whatnot, but that is such a small price to pay for the opportunity to create new memories while also sharing old ones together.

Presence:

Quiet time on a long early morning drive. Fun conversation with Dominic as I pick him up to help friends move. Spending time combining the laughs and jokes shared with my lifelong friends with the laughs and jokes shared with Dominic. Taking a quiet moment to create space to share a moment of emotion with a friend going through difficulty. Enjoying the excitement of friends as they move into new homes. Hearing about Gavin’s first rugby matches and all the fun he had via text messages (can’t wait to hear more about it tomorrow on our family FaceTime). Dinner with Becky on the deck with a relaxing walk afterwards. Taking time to jot down notes from books I’ve recently read. All these moments, so much joy!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Re-Directing Inward, One of My Favorite Sweatshirt Books, & a Relaxing Friday Night

Day 4,023

Growth:

Throughout the day this quote came up a couple of times for a couple of different reasons. What really sticks out to me on this one is two separate points.

Life is so much clearer when we know the direction we want to take our lives, and we’re so much more impacted by the gravity and drift of the world when we’re not pointed in a single direction.

So easy to take the third person perspective and direct the life of another when we don’t have all the details, when we don’t have to deal with the repercussions, and when we have nothing too lose. When the tables are flipped and we have to face reality everything seems to be a bit more difficult.

When do I need to remember this quote most? Times of lost focus and times of projecting my focus onto others.


Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

Paulo Coelho

Appreciation:

“Sweatshirt” books are the best! As I pick up Spin by Robert Charles Wilson for at least the eight time I continue to find such a deep state of chill while also exploring the deep complexity of the story and all of its characters. Just as I’ve found in each repeat reading, there have been new insights, adjusted views, and different perspectives. The me who is reading it today is not the same me who has read each of the previous, and when combined with the knowledge of what will happen there is continues to be surprises tucked away that keep my interest.

This time around it is in a realization of just how much the concept of perspective is mixed in, the differences in the characters and their relation to other portions of the book. So grateful for another read of one of my all time favorite sweatshirt books!

Presence:

A quiet dinner at home on the deck. A cold beverage, relaxed conversation, and no agenda. Chilling on the couch to recharge and settle the brain after a busy day. Quick conversation with my brother over the phone, passing a handful of funny texts back and forth. Watching a little football and relaxing. Perfect way to wrap up the week!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Books That Keep Getting Bigger

Day 3,969

One of my “Top 3 Start Doing” goals was reading more deeply rather than going very wide.

Over the past handful of years my focus has been on reading a set number of books and I’ve tended to let my mind and tastes wander a bit as progressed through the year. Whenever something caught my fancy I’d pick it up and give it a shot. This let to reading many books I otherwise wouldn’t have read, but it wasn’t conducive to deeper understanding. Occasionally one would really strike a chord and I’d read it again. Much more rarely I would stumble into a book which would re-read at least once per year.

This year I decided to do something a little different. I curated a list of twenty-five books that I committed to reading three times each in 2026. These were amongst my all time favorites, but largely focused on the ones I felt would help me grow most this year, the books that would help me work on closing the gap between who I currently am and who I’d like to grow into. For sure, there are some fiction mixed in – fiction allows a chance to reality test ideas in a sandbox, an opportunity to play and explore, a different view of the world focused through a very specific lens or paradigm.

Three of the books I’ve already consumed (or in the process of reading) for the third time have gotten better every single time I’ve read them. Fight Club, No Country for Old Men, and Fahrenheit 451 have gotten better with every single re-reading of them

Some books get smaller and less significant once you know the ending. These three keep getting bigger and more meaningful.

I wouldn’t necessarily call any of them perfect books. In fact, each has a few little quirks in the writing that annoy me every single time I read it. Somehow, I think that makes me love them more. The imperfections give them character. They feel less polished, perhaps, but more alive.

Beneath the plots are questions that don’t get resolved when you reach the final page. They’re questions humans have wrestled with for most of our existence: joy, acceptance, learning, freedom, intentionality, meaning, legacy.

Maybe that’s why knowing how these stories end doesn’t diminish them. Once I stop wondering what happens next, I have more room to notice what they’re actually saying.

The “me” who is re-reading them is not the same “me” who read them each of the last times. Life has changed since the last reading. My perspectives and paradigms and priorities have likely shifted just enough to provide a slightly new lens to view them through. Maybe the last reading helped me make a subtle change and I’m now ready to make another. Maybe I didn’t learn the lesson last time, and now I see it a little more clearly, with a little more urgency.

Regardless of the reasons, each of these books holds a gravitational pull on me. I’m grateful for the way they’ve pulled me into their orbit, and for how they continue to push and pull at the way I see myself and the world.

At this point, they’ve almost created a Three Body Problem in my brain!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Both Sides of the Glass, Being Human, & Sharing Thanks for Others

Day 3,871

Growth:

Funny how when pausing to consider how we can help someone else through a challenge we find a similar way that we could help ourselves through challenges we are also facing. Quite often this can quickly turn into a combination of a mirror AND window exercise – looking through to see how to handle a difficult situation AND seeing the sometimes ugly reflection of ourselves creating the same challenge for others that we ourselves are attempting to work through. As I pulled up this quote for someone this morning I caught myself on both sides of the glass – seeing both how I could have handled a situation differently had I followed the advice AND how I was simultaneously acting in poor judgement which also caused the same hardship to others who could have used the advice.

One friend, one piece of advice, two ways of seeing myself making poor decisions in the past, and two ways of seeing myself taking better action in the future. Cheers to the beauty of taking the third person perspective to help us heal what is broken within ourselves.


To feel affection for people even when they make mistakes is uniquely human. You can do it, if you simply recognize: that they’re human too, that they act out of ignorance, against their will, and that you’ll both be dead before long.
And, above all, that they haven’t really hurt you. They haven’t diminished your ability to choose.

Marcus Aurelius
Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library)

Appreciation:

There certainly are interesting themes I am starting to see within the twenty five books I’ve chosen to read three times each this year. One theme which has been resonating very clearly recently is the concept of being truly human. Not putting up a false front, owning what it means to be human in all of its trappings – good, bad, uplifting, disappointing, beautiful, and ugly. Being okay with being human, being less than perfect, being fallible, making mistakes, allowing ego to overcome the betterment of the community and so on.

This morning it really hit me as I was moved to emotion by this quote from Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse-Five:

“And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.
So she was turned into a pillar of salt.
People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore.”

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

Presence:

Pausing to take a moment to appreciate the positive impact someone makes in our lives. Such a simple action, pause, write out our thoughts, share them with the person, yet so easy to say “I’ll do that later” only to have “later” slowly transition into “never.” In those moments of focus, of thinking about that person and the positive impact they have had on us, our souls are full and we are completely present in the task of appreciating them. Very grateful for taking the time to do just that this evening!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for a Hard Hitting Story, Living a Full Day, & Lighting

Day 3,775

Growth:

This morning I took Leia out for a run, bundled up from head to toe, even wearing Dominic’s snowboarding goggles to keep my eyeballs from freezing up. As we ran down one of her favorite trails I heard a part of American Gods by Neil Gaiman which has always struck a chord, but this time it almost brought me to tears.

If you have a copy of the book be sure to pause, skip ahead to Coming to America, 1778 at the end of Chapter 11. The first 2-3 pages will deliver a gut punch to the soul in the best possible way.

“There are stories that are true, in which each individual’s tale is unique and tragic, and the worst of the tragedy is that we have heard it before, and we cannot allow ourselves to feel it too deeply. We build a shell around it like an oyster dealing with a painful particle of grit, coating it with smooth pearl layers in order to cope. This is how we walk and talk and function, day in, day out, immune to others’ pain and loss. If it were to touch us it would cripple us or make saints of us; but, for the most part, it does not touch us. We cannot allow it to… …There are accounts which, if we open our hearts to them, will cut us too deeply.” Neil Gaiman, American Gods – Coming to America, 1778

Appreciation:

This has been a day of action, of moving forward, of busyness, of flow. Throughout the day I’ve been going almost nonstop with very little time to pause in between – and I’ve enjoyed every single moment of it! As I think about it I can’t help but think back to Jim Valvano’s speech and his insight: “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that is a full day.”

Today I’m grateful for having lived a full day!

Presence:

Several years ago I read Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson and it had a profound impact on a part of my life I was not expecting. In the book Isaacson shares how da Vinci would paint the same scene multiple times – and always at a different time of day in order to learn more about how the ever changing sunlight transforms the colors and the highlights of the scene. Ever since reading that nugget I can’t help but take a moment to appreciate the bluffs in the Mississippi River Valley on my drive each day with the sun changing the hues ever so slightly based on the exact time I drive past.

Yesterday was a seeming fire erupting from the horizon, today was golden lit bluff tops. Each morning and evening the lighting changes just a little, but just enough to amplify the majesty of the natural world all around me. I’ve made that drive at least 5,000 times and it never ceases to draw me in.

Huge thank you to Walter Isaacson for a wonderful bit of wisdom which has sustained and grown my appreciation for the natural world.

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Learning Through Incremental Growth, Time with Dominic, & Difficult Money Conversations

Day 3,765

Growth:

Only two and a half weeks into the year and I’m already seeing huge benefits to my 2026 plan. My actions have shifted, my thoughts have shifted, my intentions have shifted. Nothing crazy, no wild 180 degree change or anything, just incremental growth, a focus on one percent better each day.

While digging a little deeper into The Alchemist this morning I came across this gem:

“It’s a book that says the same thing almost all the other books in the world say,” continued the old man. “It describes people’s inability to choose their own Personal Legends. And it ends up saying that everyone believes the world’s greatest lie.”

“What’s the world’s greatest lie?” the boy asked, completely surprised.

“It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

Here’s to remembering that we always have a choice to make, action we can take of our own volition – even if, or especially if – it is only within our own mind and heart.

Appreciation:

Dominic headed back up to college today, my initial emotion was sadness at his leaving. I had to pause, catch, and redirect myself – how grateful I was for the time we had together this past few weeks! It was wonderful having him home throughout these past weeks, we got so much bonus time with him. I’m very thankful for all of the experiences he has been having at school and for the future he is building for himself, I’m also more and more grateful for the relationship we built while he lived at home – it keeps us close even when the distance is far. So appreciative for the time we’ve had with Dominic, for the relationship we’ve built with him, and for the fact that I love him so much I always feel a bit of sadness when he leaves.

Presence:

Working through difficult topics as a family today, figuring out college tuition budgeting now that Gavin’s selected where he’s going to school. We all had to pause, get all the details on a spreadsheet, figure things out, and then spend time showing how and why each potential level to pull is important. For sure, showing Gavin the benefits of paying more sooner on his after school monthly loan payments, working through the reasons behind interest rates, and showing how pulling money from one location versus another leads to a larger deficit in the future was not my idea of Sunday family fun, BUT it was exactly what we all needed to do in order to see a more clear path of what we need to work through. Not the most exciting family time, but family time that was very well spent and led to growth for Gavin.

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Being, a Excellent String of Books, & Couch Conversations

Day 3,668

Growth:

We never know the struggles others are facing. We will never understand their perspective. We will never truly grasp their entire backstory. We are human, known truly to no one, not even ourselves.

Rather than judging each other we should be focused on loving each other. Rather than wanting what others have we should be appreciative for all we have. How much more simple would life be if we were but thankful for this present moment, this breath? In that presence and contentedness there is no room for envy, fear, or anger, only love and appreciation.

Pause, breathe, be thankful for the breath we have, for the moment we are in, for all the beauty surrounding us. Don’t want, instead be.

Appreciation:

I’ve been on a pretty epic hot streak of reading recently! After a book on Roman history that was a pretty big miss I’ve been knocking out one great book after another and it’s been great!

The most recent book I’ve started is The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen, a gem written in 1978 of an expedition to Nepal. The author writes in a flowingly epic style, just enough detail to fully engage the mind’s eye without becoming tedious. The focus on what he sees and learns in chunks of smaller stories within the journey has caught my full attention.

Once in a while there is a book that I really just don’t enjoy. More often there are books I decide I would prefer to not read again. This recent streak has been full of books I’ll be re-reading at least one or two more times each!

Presence:

Sitting in the living room, having random conversations in spurts with Becky and Gavin as we each do our thing – Becky reading, Gavin doing homework, and me blogging. Interspersed in the moments of quiet focus were jokes, comments, and conversations. A perfectly chill way to spend time while also being focused on what we each needed in the moment.

Thanks!!!

Thankful for the Journey, Book Webs, & a Simple Task

Day 3,633

Growth:

Two very interesting quotes about enjoying the journey, not just the destination that both echoed in my mind:

But I’d had many great moments in the last few weeks, and I couldn’t help feeling a touch of sadness at the thought that it was all over. – Sir Edmund Hillary, High Adventure

There was loneliness, too, as the sun set, but only rarely now did doubts return. Then I felt sinkingly as if my whole life lay behind me. Once on the mountain I knew (or trusted) that this would give way to total absorption with the task at hand. But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind. – Thomas F. Hornbein, Everest: The West Ridge

Appreciation:

Throughout the years the boys and I have traded many great books. We’ve all encouraged each other to pick up different titles based on our overlapping interests and have created quite a web of book reading crossover. This evening Dominic was telling us about how far he was into a specific book, one that I’d initially read and then gotten Gavin hooked on. Gavin in turn talked Dominic into picking it up. I then shared with Dominic that I was just wrapping up a book he’d referred to me, High Adventure by Sir Edmund Hillary. So many of the books the three of us have read started with one recommendation from someone else and then expanded within our family. I’m very grateful for the shared taste in reading we all have!

Presence:

There was an oddly still moment of presence this morning in a very unexpected place. While making lunch I intentionally did not have any music, audiobook, or podcast going, I was working alone and in silence. With the main ingredients slowly cooking on the stove I got into a rhythm while slicing a couple of small blocks of cheese. Without realizing it I became quickly in tune with how focused I was in that moment, how nothing else mattered, and I was enjoying such a rudimentary task with much more joy than one should expect. The task itself was not important, it was the act of being fully present in the task at hand, in the that moment. Wild, so oddly soothing and gratifying!

Thanks!!!