“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
Maya Angelou

Marketing basics remind me to be predictable: tell people what you are going to do, tell people what you are doing, and tell people what you did.

One of my hobbies is baking these days and I am working on pizza and focaccia weekly.

I’m a little light on the salt and very light on the oil, the dryer bread is healthier in my mind as I am eating all of the bread I make. Right? This is the incentive to make better bread. Ideally it will get good enough that I will share it. This week? I am eating a lot of o.k focaccia!

Like most of my hobbies, I started doing this because I want something, to live healthier. Literally nobody believes eating pizza will make you healthier, unless it’s your favorite food, you know, the one you are taking to the island and living forever with?

Pizza.

And by the way, I want it vegan!

So, I’m practicing and learning what happens as the parameters change, what the rules are and how they work. Intentionally finding limited success. I’m getting closer, to something.

In the spirit of progress, and improving with consistent practice over time, this focaccia is really a metaphor for my daily life, goals and maybe even California and America. This focaccia needs more water. I need to drink water before I ride the Peloton and even as we head into an El Niño Winter, we have water shortages in our State and as an aging population kidney stones from lack of water. Whew. Maybe just make another batch next week and feed the dough a little more?

And drink more water.

One of the the keys to success in having healthy skin and muscles is a balance of hydration.

We grow better with water.

I visualize my body as a filter, with a pressure based structure to care for my brain. The food and water that nourishes growth and processing is balanced with the joy and experience of living.

Do The Work. Every Day. Improve.

The story is as old as the bible, maybe, I didn’t want to go, resisted, and had the best time. Yeah, I’m talking about the ride I took this morning on the Peloton through Provenance, France, in the garage.

Beyond the desire to get away, I mean travel, I’ve been doing the scenic timed rides that are self led. During the warm-up I lay out my training blocks for the ride, and sweat. I’ve been into the slow burn cool down for the last 10 minutes dropping the resistance one notch per minute and keeping the cadence up. Finishing is easy, how do we start?

I’ve got 3 Pro-Tips to share:

1. Set out my clothes for the ride before I go to bed, get the prep done hours before you will workout.
2. Ride Early. For real, even if that means getting up earlier. Getting your workout in before the day starts is key.
3. Praise Your Self. Seriously, Acknowledge and Encourage your activity on the bike, “YES, WE are in for a FAST FUN ride this morning!” I’m encouraging you to speak poistively to the room and include yourself in, hear the support. You will get more out of the ride and start to create the reality you want.

Daily exercise is key to thriving through change, doing the work and growing intentionally. 

The latest Apple update included some mood logging software, which I immediately implemented, the more data the better, especially subjective data that I add. The early results are obvious, I feel better and more confident after exercising.

You don’t have to believe me, do your own experiment. Try getting up 30 minutes to an hour earlier every day for a week and doing your workout first thing in the morning. See what the data shows you.

If you want to experience change in your life, whether it is personal or business, tighten up your daily routines around fitness and health, these are the keys to shifting smoothly. Yoga, meditation, hiking, spinning, lifting weights; these are all great tools to support our growth in the other parts of our lives.

Start today.

PS – My daily routine includes spinning or hiking and 20 minutes of pilates core to strengthen and support my back. I roll out my muscles regularly and include light yoga. Every other day, light weight lifting for 15 minutes. Do the physical, so the mind is free to work.

‘Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Dr. Suess

I am deep in it. Every 2 weeks through the end of the year, evolving Big Daddy’s Spicy Nuts. I’m mostly working with cashews and almonds as the base nuts to get the heat right and the balance of agave and chipotle. Each batch is an opportunity to tune into the details and improve part of the process. As I am mixing the ingredients, I think about the flow of the sticky syrup, the color of the spices as they blend into a rich dark undertow of heat slowly building into a cool wave of sweat on the back of your neck just below the hairline.

I make extra nuts so I have random jars and containers to pass out to my people. The end of the year brings every stress and trauma to a zoom meeting with every project that has to finish by the 31st, and nothing happens after the 19th; and here I am roasting nuts and encouraging all of us to slow down and enjoy the next few weeks. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and get some of Big Daddy’s Spicy Nuts.

If you’ve made it here, thank you. The ultimate purpose of this site is to connect us together. Reach out and get in touch if we should take a hike or make something together. I took this photo from the top of Sorich, overlooking San Anselmo, while hiking with my friend Jeff, a long over due catch-up, he reminded me the best opportunities come from helping each other. If I can help you in anyway, whether it is through my knowledge and service or connecting you with an appropriate resource, tell me. I want to help you. “True friendship adds years to life.” Maya Angelou