Hi Everyone,

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

This week we’re talking about Dan Campbell’s music, Stoicism, and focus. Let's get into it.

When Guys Need What

The best leaders can walk the line between chewing your ass and lightening the mood.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff tells this story about his coach, Dan Campbell, randomly playing music in team meetings.

"In those mundane meetings, he'll just start playing his favorite music, or music that makes him think of certain things.

This will go for like ten minutes. And he'll say things like,

'This song was playing when I was going to my senior football game in high school,' or 'This is the song that was playing when my daughter was born.'

And then he'll play some modern stuff that our guys like, and he'll say, 'I heard you guys like this song.'

We'll do that for like 10-15 minutes, and then it's just over.

He's got such a unique leadership ability to know when to dig into us and then to know when the guys need some fun and relief.

His emotional intelligence to know when guys need what is the highest I've ever seen."

I think this is a skill that's built deliberately over a long period of time. You have to be good at reading people. At reading the room. At feeling the vibe.

You can't be a hard ass all the time. That kills morale.

But you can't be too relaxed either. That kills accomplishment.

The best bosses I've had knew when to pull the plug early on a Friday and buy the team beers after work. Then they had some goodwill in the bank when they needed us to work late and hit a deadline.

The best coaches I've had knew the days when they could end the practice with lung scorching sprints versus the days when we needed to coast out on a scrimmage.

It's a balancing act. A subtle art. A well-refined skill.

But it's one of those skills that separates the iconic leaders from the average. A skill worth noting, honing, and applying, whether you're on the sidelines, the front lines, or building the bottom line.

37 Lessons from Stoicism

I first discovered Ryan Holiday and Stoicism through Tim Ferriss' fourth podcast episode back in 2014. I went on to read The Obstacle is the Way and five more of Holiday's books on Stoicism, some multiple times.

In 2019, I read The Daily Stoic every day for months and wrote a short journal entry reflecting on how it applied to me.

Thanks to Ryan Holiday, I've spent a ton of time with Stoicism, and it has tremendously improved my life.

Do I always get it right? Of course not. My wife and I joke about my occasional "outbursts."

But Stoicism gives me the tools and mindsets and frameworks to get it right more often. It helps keep the outbursts to a minimum.

One of my favorite lines from Morgan Housel has to do with bullshit. He says, "There is an optimal amount of bullshit in life. Having no tolerance for hassle, nonsense and inefficiency is not an admirable trait; it’s denying reality."

Stoicism increases your tolerance for hassle, nonsense, and inefficiency, which may sound like a bad thing but is actually crucial for being able to function in a world full of those things.

I'll bring it around to the point here. I believe everyone can benefit from Stoic philosophy. Ryan Holiday just wrote an article with 37 lessons from Stoicism. If you don't know much about the philosophy, this is a great place to start. If you do, it's a great refresher.

Focus

"No one would pay for the advice 'just stay focused,' but it’s often the best course of action."

This was another great piece from Poor Jack's Almanack. He explains why focus is the secret key to success. It sounds trite, but as he explains—and illustrates with stories—it works because it's harder to do than it seems.

Workout of the Week

I've been doing a lot more running recently since I'm training for a half marathon. So today, I wanted to share one of my long time favorite treadmill workouts. It's great when you're stuck in a hotel for work or have a crappy day where you can't get outside.

8-10-8-10-3

After a good warmup:

• 1 min @ 8mph

• 1 min @ 10 mph

• 1 min @ 8mph

• 1 min @ 10 mph

• 1 min @ 3mph

Repeat for 4 total rounds.

Quote of the Week

"It’s impossible to learn that which you think you already know." - Epictetus

Have a question or a comment? Respond to this email.

Talk soon,

Joe