SABANI Portable Charger 35000mAh Power Bank. I use the downloadable maps on the AllTrails app to navigate on backpacking trips. The problem is that if you’re out for more than a day, your phone’s battery will die, and there’s nowhere you can charge it in the middle of a national forest. To solve that problem, I bought this power bank before our last backpacking trip to New Mexico. It worked like a champ. Used it to charge my phone and Apple Watch twice while we were out. You can charge your iPhone up to five times with this power bank, and it comes with four built-in cables. The one downside is you can’t bring this charger on a plane, so save it for outdoor excursions.
The Founder. After watching this movie when it first came out in 2016, we watched it recently as a family. The Founder shows how Ray Kroc, played by Micheal Keaton, went from a struggling, middle-aged, Willy Loman-esque salesman to building an international fast food restaurant empire through doggedness, ruthless cunning, and a dose of motivational Norman-Vincent-Peal-esque self-talk. Keaton was fantastic, and the best scenes in the film are the tense phone calls between him and Dick McDonald, McDonald’s original co-founder, who’s played by Nick Offerman. After watching this movie and also The Social Network recently, I’ve been thinking about my own business philosophy, which is a paraphrase of the counsel George Washington gave in his farewell address: avoid entangling alliances.
The Enduring Appeal of “Mr. Brightside.” You all know I’m a die hard Killers fan. It’s the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album Hot Fuss, which includes some of the Killers’ biggest hits, including my go-to deadlifting PR pump-up song: “All These Things That I’ve Done.” But the song on that album that has become the biggest cultural touchstone is “Mr. Brightside.” As soon as this timeless anthem is played in any large group, like at a stadium or party, everyone starts singing it. What’s the lasting appeal of this song? Mike Hilleary attributes it to its universal theme of romantic betrayal and its catchy sing-along structure. After you read the article, go give the song a listen. Destiny is calling you.
Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly by John Kay. I read this book over a decade ago, but still think about its ideas today. In Obliquity, economist John Kay makes the case that big, complex goals are often best achieved through indirect approaches rather than straightforward paths. Kay argues that problem-solving, success, and happiness are often the result of adaptability, experimentation, and flexibility — a process that he calls obliquity — rather than rigid, linear strategies. Lots of food for thought in this book.
Quote of the Week
He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.
—Francis Bacon
