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July soared as I was able to team up once again with the fairy T-rex as well as two new wonderful warriors (Sarah and Grace) that undertook the list simultaneously all month! Really so very inspiring on the harder days to see other people taking on the struggle. Fairy T-rex averaged circa 19 hour intermittent fasts daily which boggled me; mine average about 14 hours lol - although I squeezed in a 48 hour water fast to make up for it. Loved her usual antics incorporating slightly more esoteric lascivious tactics as well as off-piste activities (“mountain a day” and “dance” were fave’s).
Grace was about as fastidious as it gets, noting down the specifics of each day meticulously. I suspect this will help massively with writing up her end of month, she was also the most consistent! I wonder if all that writing played a part hmmmm, human behaviour is so weird that I actually believe it is possible e.g. the study where waitresses who repeated back their customer’s order verbatim (as opposed to “great”, or “sure”) received 70% more tips on average; or the fact that people behave more honestly in environments when they feel they are being watched (captured by this cool little study where tea was placed in a room with an honesty box for people to pay the stated amount suggested - drawing eyes on the wall made them way more likely to pay for the tea than drawing flowers!).
Super proud of Sarah! We tried doing the list once before and didn't get very far before life took over (definitely not uncommon). So the fact we actually smashed the whole month this time is massive. I think timing had a part to play this time as she is simultaneously undertaking this wild 75 HARD challenge and training to run both the Istanbul and Tel Aviv Marathon in November 2021 and Feb 2022. Regardless, some awesome consistency in spite of all life throws at us; specially when reporting from a war zone.
For me, it was really amazing to push super hard on music this month. Having agreed to play at a good mate AJ’s wedding, a ridiculous setlist was slowly but surely absorbed and played to a decent standard. The main challenge was managing a team of higher calibre artists, seemingly a dream with all the possibilities for harmonies and syncopations. In reality incredible talent can be demanding, egoic, inflexible, and uncommunicative which requires a more assertive leadership style than I was able to muster on this occasion. Conflict avoidance is an emergent trait worth interrogating personally for sure given the necessity of holding ground and being forthright to channel/organise talent in a positive direction.
A sore reminder of the value of good health and habits too in July.
After having not been ill at all since 2019 we were faced with three weeks of Covid, Hay Fever, Back and Elbow problems rearing their ugly heads. Likely the combination of travel to a new environment, becoming blasé about taking the proper Covid precautions, drinking alcohol again in meaningful amounts, taking on the gymnastic rings and a 70 mile bike ride after not touching a bike or the rings since November 2020. Lesson learned! Back to hermit mode for me, and the slow build. Was fascinating to listen to a Billy Farland interview where he essentially attributes a lot of his mistakes - the most significant of which was the Fyre Festival for which he is now in prison - to trying to move too fast and achieve goals before their time. Then again Elon Musk is all about Parkinson's Law whereby work expands (or shrinks) to fill the time you allocate to it. Tricky challenge parsing the two perspectives!! Will certainly try.
