Hi Everyone,

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

One Line a Day

This was a great piece from Ryan Holiday about keeping a "line-a-day" journal.

It's exactly how it sounds. Simply write one sentence every day about something that happened that day. It's easy to do—anyone can write a single sentence. But when you do it day after day after day, just like saving money or lifting weights, the results compound.

After a year you can look back on the highs and lows. After five years you can look back on the patterns. After 20 years you can look back on your kids growing up, your career taking shape, your marriage evolving. You can see the contours of your life.

Holiday writes, "I see the person I was. I see the person I am becoming. I see the person I want to be again. I see mistakes I don’t want to make anymore."

I kept a journal like this for more than half of 2025. Regrettably, I fell off, but I've picked it back up this year. Like making photo albums, keeping a journal is an incredible gift to give yourself. A line a day is a small price to pay. I'm giving it another shot. Will you?

Living in the Gap

This article nicely summarized a feeling I've had for a long time. It's frustrating to have a passion or interest that doesn't pay the bills. I love writing. I enjoy making podcasts. I like learning and sharing what I find.

Sometimes other people enjoy what I make. Sometimes they don't. That doesn't amount to any useful sum of money.

Lucky for me, I have other talents that do pay the bills. They aren't my passion, but they fund my passions. The author of this piece argues we should lean into that good fortune. Having a job that funds a passion is a special blessing.

And, by the way, the grass isn't always greener. Spending eight hours a day on your passion might sound fun, but in practice, it may kill your passion.

Basically, I appreciated this article for showing me a different perspective. It's one I've come to on my own too, but it's nice to hear someone else feels the same way. If you have frustrations about turning a passion into a profession, I think you'll like this article.

Masterpieces Every Man Should Read

I've shared Jon Finkel's writing here before. He writes a great weekly newsletter called Books & Biceps where he shares the books he's reading and the workouts he's crushing.

He and I must have similar taste because every time I read a book he suggests, I love it.

This article has 11 of his book recommendations. I've read six on this list and loved them all. If you've enjoyed some of the books I recommend, you should take a look at this list. Lots of great titles here.

Workout of the Week

This was one of the more fun workouts I've done recently.

"Snowball Fight"

4 rounds for time:

• 10 cal ski erg

• 10 db push press (35s)

• 10 cal bike erg

• 10 GHD situps

• 10 deadlifts (135)

My goal was 14 minutes, and I finished in 12:38. Let me know how you do!

Quote of the Week

"We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be." - Joan Didion

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Talk soon,

Joe