Hola Amigo,

Fill up your cup of joe and let’s go.

What I’m Reading / Watching:

• Savages by Ryan Holiday. A good reminder that its okay to unleash your inner beast and look like a fool in the gym because you leave a trail of sweat dripping behind you or write / study so much in one night that you forgot to sleep and can barely move your fingers the next day. I have one friend in particular who is a savage (believe me, this is a term of endearment) and unbeknownst to him, he inspires the living heck out of me. I often find myself in the gym at a crossroads thinking, what would Cody (@thefulldiary) do? He’d say “let’ er rip and let the eyebrow raisin’ begin.”
• Stop Trying to Change Yourself by Mark Manson. An insightful read for anyone immersed in the world of personal development and struggling to truly experience any tangible results. As Mark brilliantly points out, if you remove your identity from the equation and simply focus on taking small actions and marginal improvement, you will likely experience all kinds of positive advancement in your life. However, if you keep your identity immersed in who you are and who you’re currently not but want to become, chances are your mind emphasize all the things you’re not. This is a slippery slope for your confidence and even slicker because of the vulnerable state of change you’re in. Be nice to yourself (take note of this Mike) and remove identity, insert action.
• Drake – a man at the top of his game on a global scale showing a great deal of humility on the brightest stage at the Grammy’s. His acceptance speech was not necessarily what you’d expect from someone of his stature. I thought his words exhibited a great deal of class and shone a bright light on the country we call home.

What I’m Thinking About:

This video montage of Robert Greene – author of The 48 Laws of Power – is very grounding. Robert is a world renowned thought leader and shares his wisdom on maintaining your child-like tendencies the older you get, the ability to have two contradictory ideas in your mind without feeling uncomfortable, divulging on whether creativity comes from the conscious or unconscious mind, and where real power comes from…

What I’m Listening To: “California” – The Delta Saints.

Words I’m Pondering: “Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness.” – Yousuf Karsh

With Gratitude & Fire,

– Wilkesy