Five Points newsletter #40

This week I took my daughter for a short vacation in London during her school holidays. She was super excited about the big city, and it was my present for her 16th birthday.

On Sunday I ran my thirty-something half marathon distance, but this time I ran barefooted. Ljubljana Marathon track passes my home on the third kilometer, and when I stopped to energize from the kids' hugs, I took off the shoes and ran the rest of the race with my bare feet.
Spectators by the route seemed to find running barefoot pretty astonishing, but in the end, it's the same as with the shoes on, you just have to be a bit more careful where you land. However, with barefoot running, different muscles seem to be working, so I always end up with some soreness afterward. But running itself is pure joy and freedom. I ran much slower than my usual pace, but that's okay.

After more than 35 times running longer than 20K distance (including 3 full, 42K marathons!), I believe I've found my enough in the 21K half marathon distance. It's somewhat challenging, yet not as exhausting, and doesn't require so much mental nor tactical preparation as the full marathon. So it strips away all the work and leaves only the pure joy of running.

I thrive in change, and just like I dropped the shoes to change my running, I'll also bring some change to this newsletter (yes, again). Stay tuned.

Title photo: Churchill's daily schedule and habits. I have a fetish on figuring out the daily habits of smart people and Winston has to be on top of the list. There are so many things to learn from this great leader. Extra points for that Nobel prize in literature. A leader, a writer, a painter, and a person who seemed to know how to enjoy life with his cigars, wine, and liquor. A truly remarkable man who found his enough.

This week's #FivePoints:

• 🤦‍♂️ #ChallengeNOTaccepted: I'm delaying the release of my 2nd book. 7/25ths of chapters in, I'm not nearly close to being ready to publish it. Your pre-orders weren't charged and will be automatically canceled. I'm sorry for that.
• 📱 Fairphone is a Dutch company behind a fairer phone which is coming up in its fourth incarnation. While I have terrible Android user experience from the past, I do like the idea of a phone with pure Android that's open, sustainable, and waste-neutral. Any users out there?
• 🍔 European countries fixing what's wrong with the Corporate America: When McDonald's Came to Denmark.
• 🛫 Business travel returns. Read what this HBR contributor learned from a year without business trips. I have to say that I don't share nearly close the same experience with her when it comes to business travel. For me, it's always been a joy to travel and meet people, or I wouldn't spend all these years on the road. It keeps surprising me, how many people keep suffering in their jobs ... it's better to apply intentional life design upfront!
• 🤪 Pedestrians being dumb for ten minutes straight. Are the homo sapiens really worth saving?!

See you next week.
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.
Peter K.