Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.

I hope you and your family are having a wonderful holiday season. If you have time for reading this weekend, these are a few of the things I've been thinking about this week.

Training For Adversity

It's been more than four years since I completed my first misogi—running 36 miles in 24 hours.

In one of my most popular articles, I explain what a misogi is, why I did it, and what my experience was like.

Have you ever done a misogi? I'd love to hear about it.

Keep a Commonplace Book

I came across this gem from my friend Adam Karaoguz this week and had to share it.

He makes an argument for keeping a commonplace book. It's kind of like a journal but for everything. You can record your thoughts on the day, a good quote you found, a business idea, an interesting observation—anything worth writing down.

I do a lot of this digitally, but I think I'll start doing it on paper too. Maybe a new habit for 2026.

Finding a Way

I was re-reading some of my old book notes this week and found a cool story from Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer's incredible biography of Pat Tillman.

During one of Tillman's high school football games, his team was leading 55-0 at halftime.

Not wanting to run up the score, the coach pulled most of the starters, including Pat. The coach told Tillman he was done for the game, and he wasn't going to be playing anymore offense or defense.

Right before kickoff, the offensive coordinator turned to the head coach and told him Pat was on the field ready to receive the kick. Not only did he receive the kick—he returned it for a touchdown.

As Pat came off the field, he said to his coach, "You didn't mention anything about special teams."

Just a fun reminder that if you want something bad enough, you'll figure out how to go out and get it.

Workout of the Week

Nothing exciting this week, but it's still a good workout. I've been using the rower for a long time, but I think this is the first time I've done this workout.

5k row for time

Yup, that's it. Hop on, find a pace you can hold, and dig in.

My time was 19:52, and it was pretty brutal. Let me know your time!

Quote of the Week

"There's a capacity for appetite that a whole heaven and earth of cake can't satisfy." - John Steinbeck

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Talk soon,

Joe