A New Format?
I overthink writing posts too much so I’m experimenting with this weekly update style that my friend Jenn uses for her blog (From Mine to Yours). Still going to try and throw some more thought-out ones out here and there though, but I have to build some momentum. It says 9/3 because I wrote it that day, but didn’t have the chance to publish.
Fun:
Last Sunday, I hit a Japanese food festival (even though most of the food wasn’t Japanese) with Johnny and Kingsley in Manhattan. The streets were packed with people and there was a ton of energy. The sun was BEAMING down on us. I was out there sweating profusely eating my bao bun, but it was great vibes. I peeped I have to up my wardrobe a little bit. People in the city really leave the house drippy, especially the crowd at this festival. We walked over to Starbucks and chilled there for a few hours after. Great day.
Most of the weekdays were a little slower. Just routine vibes—hitting the gym, pull-up bars, cafes, working, etc.
The weekend has been great. Had an amazing day at Prospect Park yesterday and walked around Crown Heights. The weather was perfect and there was a ton of activity at the park.
Today I had a lazy cafe day writing this blog. I also went over to the local park and ate some food watching a youth basketball tournament. It was mad funny watching the parents yell at refs and how much stake everyone was putting on the game. The sun was once again hitting and I was sweating eating my chana masala. Sometimes a solo day just watching life around you is the perfect day.
Fitness:
This was a solid week for me on the fitness side. Saturday was my first day missed after 19 days straight of 2-a-days.
I started the week off last Sunday with a 50-mile ride. I started in Teaneck, rode across the George Washington Bridge, and did a loop around Manhattan. This was my longest mileage since last fall. Felt good to get back to it.
The next day I was OD tired and didn’t want to get one workout in, let alone 2, but around 8 PM I stopped being a bitch and went swimming. My legs were dead weight so it was an amazing 2,400 meters. The mental challenge of swimming (or cardio in general) is way more fun when your body is tired and doesn’t want to get to it. You want to quit then remember you never had to be out there anyway and that it’s fun. After that it’s light. Just gotta keep moving. That second workout though…….. hell 💀. Went to the pull-up bars right after and I was feeling nauseous. Toughest day of the week by far.
The rest of the week was pretty chill. I did 2-a-days with a mix of swimming, long walks, yoga, HIT, and a 27-mile bike ride to Brooklyn. I also worked at a warehouse for a couple of days and moved hundreds of IV stands and dozens of fridges. Blue-collar work has to be the best workout out. A full shift leaves you ready to lay on the couch until the next day.
Saturday I fell off. I didn’t get any workouts in. I ended up walking 17k steps, but that just happens in the city. Probably needed the day off though.
Working:
A lot of the same themes as the last few weeks/months in this category. I continued the search for another business to buy. The process has been pretty slow. A lot of the brokerages that I check haven’t put up many new listings. And the sellers I have reached out to have generally wanted prices very far outside of what I think their businesses are worth. So it’s been a little stale on that front. Found one business I really like and filled out a buyer profile for that so I’m hoping the broker and seller think I’m a good fit.
Last week I had the realization that with my 26th birthday coming up in December, I will officially be off my parent's insurance. Shout-out to America. In light of that realization, I’ve been searching for jobs. My medical luck can get pretty bad so health insurance is a necessity. Been applying to mostly business operations and project management roles. I tried to hire a recruiter on Fiver to apply to jobs for me, but her work was trash and it ended up being a waste of money. So back to punching a couple applications a day. I’m really open role-wise so if you know anything remote or hybrid in the NYC area with flexible PTO, please let me know.
Our team closed on our third business 2 weeks ago, so I also watched some training videos on that and did some general admin tasks that one of my partners asked me to take care of. He’s taking the lead on this one and it’s been amazing to see his vision coming together and be a part of the process. Looking forward to learning a lot more about how that business ticks in the coming months.
For some quick pocket change, I worked a temp job this week in a warehouse. The company is staging a hospital (fully stocking it with furniture, medical equipment, supplies, etc.) and that means receiving some massive shipments at a nearby warehouse and prepping them for last-mile shipping to the hospital. The first day was putting together around 500 IV stands and moving them around the warehouse. Day two was moving around some fridges. The days fly by on the job and it’s a great workout. Feels good to use my hands for something besides typing or moving a cursor. I'll work there this coming week too.
Learning:
Books
I’m going to try and write some longer posts about these but I finished Born to Run by Christopher McDougall and Why should white guys have all the fun by Blair S. Walker.
Born to Run is about running long distances and how we are all suited for it. It goes over the Tarahumara, a Mexican tribe known for ultra-running in sandals through some of the harshest terrain in the world. It derives lessons from them about running in it’s simplest form and displays that a lot of what we think we know about running is actually just great marketing. Taking it back to the basics makes us less injury-prone.
Why should white guys have all the fun is about Reginald Lewis, a black leveraged buyout artist (business buyer) who did it at a time when few people thought black people were capable of it. After going to Virginia State he went on to Harvard Law, a prestigious law firm, founded his own law firm, and then while working on legal documentation for other leveraged buyouts decided he was on the wrong side of the table. He went on to buy multiple businesses across the globe on his way to a 400 million dollar net worth at the time of his premature death at the age of 50. The book is incredibly inspiring. His life proves that we are only limited by our own self-beliefs. Whatever we want to do we can make happen. If a working-class black man from Baltimore could do what he was able to do in the America of the 70s and 80s, there isn’t shit I can’t do if I put the effort in.
Podcast
The best I watched this week was a my first million episode: https://youtu.be/gzHdrQ5pDFo?si=mDbiCzkgg7oI3JA-
Syed Balkhi is a dog. In the interview, he talks about how he created a business empire doing over $100 million per year without ever taking on outside debt. It’s an incredible story and amazing how he was able to do it by just going really deep into WordPress and content for the most part.
