First, here's what's new this week.

Obvious Choice Podcast Episodes:

*If you only listen to one, make it this one.


Money

1.

Sadly, most adults stop evolving once they reach adulthood. They never learn anything new, meaningfully improve their fitness, or build deep and fulfilling relationships.

The reason is that slow and consistent improvement is fine as an in-between thing, but it cannot be the main thing. If that’s all you do, it will result in a lot of effort with little results. At any one point, we must aggressively pursue growth in one area, knowing that the time will come for the others, too.


Health

1.

Longevity experts are obsessed with living longer. They’re focused on the wrong thing.

The motivation should not be how long you live, but how well you live. What we need to be concerned about is the quality of our life because we cannot predict its length.

2.

You’re much less likely to lie to yourself after a hard workout. The fatigue breaks down your natural safety nets allowing you to see and feel your true self.


Relationships

1.

According to Aristotle, there are three types of friendships: those based on utility, those based on pleasure or delight, and those grounded in virtue.

At the bottom, are friendships based on what both parties can do for one another. These are most often colleagues, professional networks, or people you pretend to like perhaps more than you actually do because you sense that the friendship might pay off.

Next up are friends of pleasure or, I’d add, convenience. These are people who you enjoy sharing activities with, live close to, paths cross often, or exist in communities amongst one another. Some examples are neighbors, pickleball buddies, or fellow members of a religious congregation.

At the top, are friends based on virtue. People who you love for them.

I have one friend. His name is also Jon. He’s the only person I go out of my way to visit. We have nothing in common. He loves stability, I thrive in chaos. He likes vacations, I like adventure. He works a regular, professional job and enjoys the paycheque and knowing that his mortgage will be taken care of, and I’ve given up hope that I’ll ever figure out what I do for a living.

And yet, you could lock us in a room with food for a month and when you open the door, we’ll still be talking and laughing.

There’s nothing wrong with having friendships of all types. But research from the University of Michigan clearly shows that the number of friends that we have doesn’t have much of an impact on our well-being. Instead, all you need for higher levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and lower levels of depression are two relationships: a spouse and one true friendship.

I guess what I'm saying is that you should have less friends, but more good ones.


A Few Good Quotes from a Great Book

"The work is brutal, but theirs."

" A seed that lands upside down in the ground will wheel—root and stem—in great U-turns until it rights itself. But a human child can know it’s pointed wrong and still consider the direction well worth a try."

-Richard Powers (from The Overstory)


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In the airport. Going to New York. Have four meetings. Then coming home at 8:30pm. I think 22 year-olds on Twitter call this "hustle", though I'm not up to date with what the youngsters call anything these days. My kid asked me to 'dap' him, and I dipped my finger in water and booped his forehead.
-Jon

P.S. The money's grrreat!


Promo

This month, I’m accepting 20 (3 more) online trainers, gym owners, or fitness influencers to my advanced mentorship.

In it, we guarantee a $15k increase in 12 weeks or we work with you for free until you hit that mark.

if you’re like most people that we work with then you had some success online but you’ve kind of been winging it on the business end and you want some help scaling up, please click the link below and apply.

I'd love to have a chat to see if the Online Trainer Mentorship is right for you.

Here's the link to apply:
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Jonathan Goodman
Coach. Author. World explorer. But mostly, Dad.
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Thanks for reading. Here's a few additional ways that I may be able to help you.

Free
Instagram: @itscoachgoodman
Podcast: The Obvious Choice
Software: QuickCoach

Paid
Book: Ignite the Fire
Course: Online Trainer Academy
Mentorship: Online Trainer Mentorship