Chris: 1 - Just another penny in the fountain.

authors note: sorry for late. this shit wasn't even supposed to be my topic but the dots were taking too long to connect and I kept derailing so I kept some of what I wrote and chose a simpler topic. to be quite shamefully honest this is the first time ive written my own original thoughts down for a few hours straight since ChatGPT came out. I was also teaching someone to screen print at the same time. forgive me.

    Every single day you have ever lived, you make seemingly simple decisions. Some days you are more in control than others, maybe because you're not feeling very disciplined, but especially for your early years since you simply cannot make certain decisions yet. An individual of greater ability and wisdom hopefully decided to nurture and take care of you. Your mom wiped your ass, and your dad decided you needed a big breakfast with a glass of milk. But you still took an action. You either drank the milk, or you wailed at the sight of your pacifier until your elders made the choice for you. 

    Then one day, in the middle of a highschool biology quiz you look around the room. Most of your peers have their face down scribbling in their answers. Others are dumbfounded by the quiz, instead counting the tiles on the ceiling. 

    You come to an epiphany. One day, every single person in this room, including you, no longer had to consciously think about their everyday actions. You no longer have to consciously think about which fingers grip your pencil. You no longer have to consciously eat breakfast. You no longer have to consciously wipe your ass. You have done these actions so many times that your subconscious takes over. Through hundreds of repetitions of consciously taking a shit your brain essentially flips on autopilot for the entire activity. This autopilot is just your brain using energy more efficiently. The same applies to your hobbies. Cranking 90s in Fortnite becomes automatic after enough repetitions. There is no longer a need for your conscious energy to be wasted on simple tasks. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of your daily actions end up taking on this same principle. Your behaviors form into habits that stack onto each other like building blocks. Your brain knows that when you wake up, it's time to brush your teeth, eat breakfast, drive to work, eat lunch, and mindlessly continue this routine until you go to bed. Sure you have cues of hunger and monetary gain that motivate you to make most of these decisions, but habits are far more linked than you may realize. Of course we still have free will, but in a way we are all still slaves to our behavior patterns that we have accidentally engraved in our subconscious mind.

    Stick with me here. If you imagine the universe in itself as one giant living being, you can see this same energy saving principle in effect very clearly. Fingerprints are eeriely similar to the rings of a tree trunk, the roots of a tree closely resemble the veins on your arm. Given enough repetitions of evolution the universe turns on autopilot for biological formation and these similarities ensue. This aligns with The Principle of Least Action, which states that "the path taken by a system between two points in space and time is the one that minimizes the action. (In simple terms, nature often follows the most "efficient" or "optimal" path). I do not want to derail this too hard by mentioning the universe as a living being, but I just want to further reinforce the notion that repetition often leads to efficiency. 

But here is where I think it gets really interesting.

    Religion by itself is a topic for another blog, but I am still going to dance around it. For many religions praying is a very common practice.  You repeat a mantra in faith it will bring you some change or as an act of worship to a higher being. For this blog, I'm focusing on the former. This is an extremely conscious and one-pointed activity. Your attention is focused completely on the mantra at hand, and your subconscious wanders, visualizing the stated mantra in relation to recent events. It could be a wrongdoing you feel remorseful of, or hope for good fortune and health for you and your loved ones. The end goal is ultimately the same; for a higher power to help you become the person you wish to be. However, for some others like myself who are not religious, mantras can still be commonplace. 

    A couple years ago I started repeating to myself, out loud: "I will succeed with Wojo. I will succeed with Wojo. I will succeed with Wojo. I will succeed with Wojo." To this day, the first dozen repetitions still cringe me out. However with enough conscious focus of visualizing myself doing specific tasks like creating graphics, designing clothes, doing photoshoots, getting sales etc, the mantra is spoken with more and more confidence. Even if my motivation is low, at the end of my repetitions, my confidence that I will succeed with Wojo is unwavering. I have came to the conclusion that I will succeed through the actions I have visualized, and my subconscious is skewed just a little bit more in my favor. In other words, it's a little push for my conscious to make productive decisions. And for what it's worth, it works. I make a decent living off of Wojo and I plan to continue to do so.

    Some call it praying, others call it manifesting, and others, affirmations. The point is, nobody can deny the impact it has. You are consciously repeating an action, in hopes of purposefully reprograming your subconscious. 

I don't expect you to have read this and had your mind blown. 

All I want you to do is start repeating your goals out loud to yourself when you are alone. 

Firstly, sit in silence. 

Think of just one metric of personal success you hope to achieve. 

It could literally be anything. Just make sure you can imagine yourself completing the task with as much detail as possible. 

For instance if your goal is to workout everyday, repeat to yourself every morning "I will go to the gym at 11AM" (more specific=better). 

At the same time, visualize yourself driving to the gym, pulling into the parking lot, stretching, doing a bicep curl, etc.

Only stop repeating the mantra when you are 100% confident that you will complete the task at hand.

Try this everyday for a week straight and observe how your desired task becomes easier to complete.

Or don't. I dont really care it just works for me. It's just another penny in the fountain.

P.S. Happy birthday N8 !!!!!!!!!!!

JP: 1- Stoic Intelligence: Enduring Tough Times Through Philosophy

Good Morning Readers and Happy Friday

My name is JP, and today I am going to write about one of the few things I am confident I know well—how I deal with tough times. Specifically, I want to talk about the philosophy of Stoicism and how it has helped me tremendously in overcoming these tough times. The overall point of this post, and all future ones, is not to convince you to change your ways or question everything, but rather to offer a brief moment of inspiration for your day.

Since this is my first post, it will be formatted differently from the ones I plan to write in the future. Today's post will have two parts: the first being a very brief overview of Stoicism, and the second being the quote of the day, its meaning, and what I (personally) took from it. The latter is what I plan to post about most of the time, unless I have something different and fun I want to write about. Even then, I will try to include at least the quote.

I see this not only as a way for you all to learn how this philosophy can help you, but also as a way to keep me accountable and up to date on practicing it. That being said, I look forward to writing to you all deca-daily, and let’s get right into it.

Stoic Origins: A Historical Journey

When setting sail from the ancient city of Citium in Cyprus to the port city of Piraeus in Athens, a wealthy merchant’s ship suffered a catastrophic disaster during a raging storm. The shipwreck sent all of the merchant’s valuable goods to the depths of the sea, effectively swallowing his wealth with it. This merchant went by the name Zeno of Citium, and this disaster would later become the shipwreck that changed history.

Zeno of Citium survived the wreck and washed up onto the shore of Athens with his soul beaten by the cruelty of nature. However, as he walked through the ancient city, he passed a bookstore and began reading a book by Xenophon, a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. The book was called Memorabilia and contained Socratic dialogues that greatly influenced Zeno. He quickly realized that he could either let the impartial destruction of nature be the catalyst for a terrible life, or he could allow it to inspire a great one. He chose the latter.

Zeno began studying other texts and the teachings of philosophers such as Crates of Thebes (a Cynic philosopher) and Stilpo (a Megarian philosopher). Through these teachings, Zeno founded the first school of Stoicism in 301 BC. He taught at the Stoa Poikile (Painted Porch), a public gathering place where Zeno and the people fortunate enough to hear him would discuss their ideas. Stoa Poikile would later become the source of the word Stoic, which is how we know the philosophy today.

Zeno, however, never wrote down his teachings, but they were preserved through the transcriptions and works of his later students, the most famous of whom was his student Epictetus. Epictetus, who was born a slave and died a freeman, author, teacher, and philosopher, would become one of the most famous Stoics in history and inspire many more to follow the path of Stoicism. Epictetus taught that although external events are ultimately beyond our control, we have control over how we choose to react to them. These teachings were immortalized in his Discourses and Enchiridion, written by his student Arrian.

These texts and their teachings had a profound effect on the Roman statesman and senator Seneca. Seneca, who was the tutor to the Roman Emperor Nero, believed, like the others, that Stoicism was more than just a subject or theory—it was a lifestyle to practice. What is remarkable about Seneca, much like Zeno and Epictetus, is that he lived by his Stoic principles until the end. So much so, that when Emperor Nero wrongly implicated him in a plot against Nero’s rule and ordered him to kill himself, Seneca did so with calm fortitude, realizing that all men die, but not all men die complaining. Fortunately for us, Seneca was a prolific writer, so his teachings lived on, most famously in his Letters from a Stoic.

 The final and most well-known Stoic of ancient history was none other than Marcus Aurelius, the greatest Roman Emperor, who reigned from 161 AD to 180 AD. Despite holding the title of the most powerful man on the planet, and being tempted by vices that were expected to be indulged in, he was deeply philosophical and was the perfect representation of what is known as a Philosopher King. Marcus practiced what he preached and wrote about it in his journal. Thankfully, this journal was found and saved, later becoming known as Meditations, which is the most famous of Stoic writings. These writings, however, were never meant to be published and were a clear representation of a man on a journey of self-betterment.

These remarkable men came from very different backgrounds—a merchant, a slave, a senator, and an emperor—but they all had one thing in common: they believed that the key to living a happy life was through accordance with nature and the one TRUE good—virtue.

Your Authors Favorite Quote from Each Stoic Figure

"The goal of life is living in agreement with nature" - Zeno of Citium

 "I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it" - Epictetus

 "They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn"- Seneca

 "The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting, The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way" - Marcus Aurelius  

BONUS QUOTES (should you wish to read)

 "Waste no time arguing what a good man should be. Be one" - Marcus Aurelius

"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius 

"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present" - Marcus Aurelius 

"How much more harmful are the consequences of anger and grief than the circumstances that aroused them in us" - Marcus Aurelis 

"You are hurt the moment you believe yourself to be" - Epictetus

"Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember" - Seneca

Stoicism - Your Authors Interpretation

Instead of giving you the definition of what a stoic believes and practices, I will give you my interpretation of it. This being said, I highly recommend reading all the above writings and coming to a conclusion yourself. For your author, stoicism is simple. It is a lifestyle that no one can ever truly master and requires practice day in and day out. It is remembering all men must die and to accept death and the unbiased happenings of nature. It is accepting what is out of your control, changing what is in your control and knowing the difference between the two. It is living with Wisdom, Courage, Temperence, and Justice. It is loving fate as it happens and realizing that if something stands in the way, it becomes the way. It is to enjoy suffering and the fall, as that is the way to grow. It is to live in discomfort so that you can endure. It is to domesticate your emotions and not eliminate them. It is to treat every new person you meet as an opportunity for kindness. Most importantly, it is to live above all things, virtuously. 

(Deca)Daily Stoic: Wisdom for Every (10) Day(s)

February 28th, 2025

WHEN YOU LOSE CONTROL

“The soul is like the bowl of water, with the soul's impressions like the rays of light that strike the water. Now, if the water is disturbed, the light appears to be disturbed together with it — though of course it is not. So when someone loses consciousness, it is not the person's knowledge and virtues that are impaired, it is the breath that contains them. Once the breath returns to normal, knowledge and the virtues are restored to normal also.”

― Epictetus, Discourses and Selected Writings

What is means: "You messed up a little. Or maybe you messed up a lot. So? That doesn't change the philosophy that you know. It's not as if your reasoned choice has permanently abandoned you. Rather, it was you who temporarily abandoned it. Remember that the tools and aims of our training are unaffected by the turbulence of the moment. Stop. Regain your composure. Its waiting for you."

Your Authors Take: Screwing up in life is normal. It happens. We are only human, and when it does, it's not the discipline itself that's leaving the path, but rather us stepping away from the path of that discipline. Just because it happened, though, doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch and create a new path. Get back on it. The things we have practiced and the knowledge we have gained are still very much with us; our brains may just be too fogged with emotion to see it. We just need to settle down, acknowledge our mistake, and continue to practice. When things go wrong, we fall back to our most basic level of training. In our minds, the concept remains the same.

 Thanks for reading and talk soon

J.P. 

 

Lucas: 1 - Miraidon EX & League Cup Results

     Good afternoon, folks. Like the Mir Clan's youngest, I have been on a Pokemon TCG kick for the past calendar year. At the risk of discouraging some of my potential readers, reading Nathan's first blog or familiarity with the game is a prerequisite to this vlogpost. Everyone has done enough banter and you all know me, so let's get to the meat of this vlog.

Some PTCG Basics

   Nathan covered nearly everything required to pick up some cards and play the game except for Active and Benched Pokemon. At any given time, you only have one active Pokemon. This is the only Pokemon that can attack, or be attacked. At the same time, you can have up to five benched Pokemon. A sample board is shown below. This may sound a little silly to some of you Hearthstone-heads out here; "oh, so any Pokemon I choose can have taunt? Dumb." And you would be right, were it not for cards like Boss's Orders allowing us to aggressively move around our opponent's Pokemon. Cards like that are what make turbo decks possible.

Miraidon EX Deck Profile

Deck Overview

    When looking at the different deck strategies provided by Nathan's blog-- Miraidon EX would be considered a "Turbo" Deck. We rely on almost exclusively Basic EX Pokemon with large health pools and try to rush down our opponent before they can establish their board. We do this using a mixture of cards that are aggressive, supporting, and somewhere in the middle.

Flexible Cards

    The backbone of this deck is Miraidon EX. Using his Tandem Unit ability, we can search our deck for up to two Basic electric-type Pokemon, including another Miraidon EX. We use this ability early into the game, ideally on our first turn, to get out the attacking options most relevant for our current matchup. At the same time, his Photon Blaster attack deals enough damage to knock out most opposing Basic EX Pokemon for a somewhat costly three energies. Raikou V is another Pokemon that doubles as a supporting and aggressive Pokemon. Its Fleet-Footed ability can draw a card, which is crucial in the late game, and because we can fill our bench with Miraidon EX, its Lightning Rondo attack can deal heavy damage for an efficient two-energy cost.

Aggressive Cards

    Cards like Raichu V are only included to be able to knock out our opponent's Pokemon. Its Dynamic Spark attack deals 60 damage for each electric energy we discard from our Pokemon. This attack is costly, but can be used to take big KO's against bulky Stage-2 Pokemon. Iron Hands EX, on the other hand, has the weakest attacks we have seen yet in terms of damage dealt. The value of this card comes from its second attack, Amp You Very Much. For four energies, this attack deals 120 damage, but if your opponent's Pokemon is knocked out, you take one more Prize card. This allows you to quickly draw prize cards against Stage-2 decks before they can get set up, or deal a final blow on an opposing Pokemon EX softened up by one of our other attackers. In a game where taking 6 Prize cards wins you the game, this attack can make all the difference.

Supporting Cards

    I can hear what you're saying-- "But Lucas!! Nathan said we are only allowed to attach one energy per turn. How are we able to pull off attacks for three or four energies early in the game?" That's where pure gambling enters the picture. The Electric Generator item allows you to look at the top five cards of your deck and attach up to two electric energies you find there to your benched Pokemon. As some of you may recall, we are allowed to play as many Item cards per turn as we would like. Because of this, we spend most of our first turn frantically digging through the deck to get as many Electric Generators as possible. That's where cards like Squawkabilly EX and its Squawk and Seize ability come in handy, allowing us to see as many cards as possible as early as possible.

The Cup

    Now that you either skipped the first two sections or have a pretty good understanding of how to pilot a Miraidon EX deck yourself, let's move on to the results of the League Cup I played in this past weekend. 

Round 1 - The Mirror

    In round 1, I faced off against another Miraidon EX deck in a mirror match. My opponent chose to go first, which is questionable in this situation. Typically, when two Turbo decks face-off, the first player to take two Prize cards wins the game. These decks don't typically run any cards to disrupt the cards in their opponent's hand, so it is easy to chain attacks against them. You aren't allowed to attack going first, giving me a very good chance at taking the first KO.

    During his first turn, my opponent chooses to bench Squawkabilly EX to move through his deck aggressively-- a choice that may make sense at a glance. After all, I, the local subject matter expert, just said we want to see more cards, right? So benching this Pokemon to use his ability on the Only Turn We Can should always be a part of our game plan. Right??!? Not right. Wrong, actually. You see, Squawkabilly EX is weak to electric-type moves, meaning he will take double damage from any attack I use. And with a small health pool of 160, my opponent has--at the least, just given me an easy path to taking the first two Prizes and--at the most, gave me an opportunity to take three Prizes with one attack by knocking out his Squawkabilly EX Iron Hands EX's Amp You Very Much attack.

    My first turn is, honestly, pretty weak. I get no energy off of my first Electric Generator and only one on my second, which I attach to Raikou V. I decide the best course of action is to use this turn's manual energy attach on Raikou V and use its Lightning Rondo attack on one of my opponent's Pokemon for ~100 damage. His active Pokemon isn't a threat, so I use Iron Bundle's Hyper Blower ability to have my opponent switch his active Pokemon (he gets to choose the replacement), and to my surprise, he promotes Squawkabilly EX. With weakness, I am barely able to KO his Squawkabilly EX with Raikou, taking an early two Prize card advantage.

    He is unable to piece together an attack on his second turn, passes over to me, and I return with another 2-prize knockout. He slams his cards on the table to show me his "unlucky" hand before storming outside for some air. Something about card games, everyone thinks they're the least lucky player alive when the stars don't align to give them the perfect cards. Nevertheless; we start 1-0.

Round 2 - New Donk City

    My second game is against one of this deck's worst matchups: Charizard EX. His 330 HP is a number my deck has a lot of difficulty reaching, and he can chain attacks pretty easily. My opponent wins the coin flip, chooses to go first, flips over their Charmander, draws for turn, and .. passes. I have a decent hand, use Miraidon EX to get Raikou V from the deck, use two electric generators to get one energy onto the Raikou, attach for turn, and knock out his Charmander with Lightning Rondo.

    Now here's a situation that hasn't been discussed. You just knocked out your opponent's active Pokemon and they have nothing on their bench to promote. What happens now? Do they try to find another Pokemon? Get a chance to draw for a new one? We switch to hearthstone and hit face? Nope. The game is over the moment one player has no Pokemon remaining. KOing your opponent's lone Pokemon in the early game is commonly referred to as "Donking" your opponent. So, after taking only one Prize card, I've won the game. We are now 2-0 with the Donk.

Round 3 - Tryhard Central

    My next opponent was playing a deck that, frankly, is too complicated for me to try to explain in this post. Miraidon is probably a 3/10 on the complexity scale (mostly due to the different attacking options), and this guy is playing a deck that is closer to an 8/10. I'm not a big fan of playing against this deck, partially because it naturally builds up a massive hand of cards (which I can't disrupt), and partially because the people who pilot it are nearly always sweaty turbo-virgins. This specific guy was chill, but I still hate this deck.

    My opponent won the coin flip, chose second, and over a very long game with lots of back and forth, I was able to win by knocking out his Pikachu EX with my Iron Hands EX's Amp You Very Much attack to take my final three prize cards in one turn. He had the option to KO my Iron Hands EX the previous turn but didn't consider this line of play. We move to 3-0.

Rounds 4 & 5 - Very European

    Going into Round 4 undefeated, we are afforded a very European luxury-- Ties. If I intentionally draw the next two games, I am guaranteed to move on to the Top Cut. My opponents understand this too, so I spent the next hour and a half saying "Draw?" twice and sitting to watch the rest of the games play out--taking note of any interesting cards in my future opponent's decks. We exit the Swiss rounds with a record of 3-0-2.

Top Cut

    Despite not playing my last two games, I exit the Swiss stage of the tournament in 2nd place out of 22 players. Due to the size of the field, top eight players will move on to the Top Cut. Matchups in this phase of the tournament switch to best-of-three single elimination sets.

Top Cut - The Elite Eight

    I lost. I've already written about 2000 words and have tilted enough about losing this shit for me to do a full write up on this best-of-three. I am playing the same opponent as round 3. In game 1, I draw fairly well and can chain attacks, but he is able to high roll me and KO my Iron Hands EX's back, leaving me with no viable attackers and two Prizes remaining. Game 2, I run him

over with Iron Hands EX's Amp You Very Much and he concedes on his third turn to conserve time in the round. In game 3, we both draw poorly. I play poorly and am not able to piece together an attacker in time. He takes a few knockouts before time expires and he is declared the winner.

    With plenty of Ricky Bobby-esque disappointment, I drove home a loser. That said, I was a loser with some fuckin packsssss, baby! For making the Top Cut, I earned 12 Series 5 Play Pokemon! packs, 4 Series 6 Play Pokemon! packs, and 3 Surging Sparks packs. 

Decklist and Prizing

    Peep that deck list photo, pretty clean stuff. The list is not a standard Miraidon EX list in the current metagame, but for Knowers, it should be a reasonable Prime Catcher variant. This form of the list prioritizes aggressively moving your opponent's Pokemon with Prime Catcher and doesn't worry about utilizing its own Stadium cards. 

The PULLS

    The Play Pokemon! packs don't really have any chase cards or much to pull that's worth big bucks, but they do have a LOT of playable cards. For standard packs, I'd approximate I get one playable card every 2-3 packs. With the Play Pokemon! packs, I get anywhere between 2-3 playable cards Per Pack. Wow! Numbers!! And what these packs lack for in ceiling, they make up for in floor, with many common cards being worth $1-2. The best pull of the evening was a Full Art Milotic EX from a Surging Sparks pack, with all the Play Pokemon! packs netting me a "metric assload" of staple cards. 

    I'll be playing more stuff, and hopefully winning, so I'll keep y'all updated, but for now: Good Afternoon, Good Evening, and Good Night.

    

Kedrick: 1 - Lessons of the Professional World

Lessons of the Professional World

Hello everybody! I'll start with a brief background about myself. My name is Kedrick Mir, and I am the eldest of the Mir children. I'll be turning 30 on July 17th of this year. I've always enjoyed creative writing in my spare time, most recently in the form of fairly detailed "power rankings" for our family's fantasy football league and the occasional 800-word Letterboxd review. Through a lot of practice, I now consider myself to be an above-average writer (of course, though, I am the worst I'll ever be). Writing not only gives me a creative outlet but also helps me pass the time while sitting in my cubicle, a space in which I've been spending an increasing amount of time over the past few years. As for blog topics, my notes app currently has a few ideas. If any of them stick out, let me know, and I'll prioritize them: personal finance lessons, photography introductory lessons, travel blogs with photography samples, and detailed film reviews. For now, I'll focus on a few lessons you can use in the professional world.

Professionally, I am a Certified Public Accountant in the great state of Georgia (CPA037854; feel free to verify at cpaverify.org), and I have lived in Atlanta since graduating from the University of Florida with my Masters in Accounting in 2018. I began my career at Ernst & Young, where I worked until September 2020. I am now an accounting manager at an international wholesaler owned by Home Depot. Through my almost 7 years in the corporate world, I have learned a great deal not only about accounting & SEC reporting but also about myself and my work preferences. I found that I am intrinsically motivated and work best when given "free rein" to take ownership of areas, which is an important strength in the professional world. My other biggest strength is my lack of resistance to change and ability to navigate through uncertainty, to which I can credit my generally calm demeanor. That's not to say I lack stress or anxiety. I've been officially diagnosed with anxiety and taken medication for over a decade now, but that results from external stressors (primarily heights), while fast-paced and uncertain environments do not raise my heart rate one iota.

What is my biggest weakness? My fondness for a strong work-life balance. This not only closes the door to several roles that would otherwise interest me but also prevents me from leaving my cushy position in the private accounting world (private means working for a corporation as opposed to the public accounting world, which primarily involves auditing large companies and other forms of client service). If I wasn't so afraid of losing the many benefits available to me now, such as unlimited PTO, good coworkers, and a role that allows me to stroll into work at 9:30 and leave at 4:30 as long as I get my work done, then I may be inclined to climb the corporate ladder at a faster pace. But I've learned that's OK. In a world where people swap companies and roles every year, constantly searching for happiness in their 40 hours per week, I have found that being in the same place while steadily climbing can be just as good. But that's enough about me; let's get into what this blog was actually meant to be about before I started rambling!

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a company's (you may be able to guess which) annual conference. When the boys and I were growing up, our parents would leave us for one week every February for this same conference, so it was surreal being able to experience it firsthand alongside my beautiful wife and my long-tenured father. I had originally planned on writing a few lessons from each keynote speaker, but my preamble ran a little long, so I'll instead discuss two of my favorites.

The first speaker that resonated with me was James Clear, best-selling author of Atomic Habits. He spoke about a fascinating subject: the aggregation of marginal improvements. For those unfamiliar with big words, it is best explained as a story. In the early 2000s, the British cycling team was an international joke. In the 110-year history of the Tour de France, no Brit had ever come close to winning it. From 1908 to 2003, the UK won one cycling gold medal at the Olympics. The situation was so dire that one of the top European bike manufacturers refused to supply the team, deeming British riders a brand risk. One hire in 2003 changed this team forever; his name was Dave Brailsford. He implemented the philosophy of marginal gains. The improvements were in the hundreds and spanned changes from improved handlebar comfort to using the most effective pillows for each individual rider. By 2008, at the Olympics in Beijing, the UK took home 60% of the available gold medals for cycling. By 2012, Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. By 2017, British cyclists had won five Tour de Frances in six years. This is just one example of the power of tiny gains, and I'd encourage everyone reading to look for small improvements when trying to accomplish big things. You can read James's full article about the British cycling team here.

The second speaker came to the stage soon after James, and his grand presence was immediately felt throughout the crowd of over 9,000 people. In the lead-up to his talk, his name was consistently highlighted as one that people were most excited for. His name was Jocko Willink, and he was an ex-Navy SEAL and the best-selling author of Extreme Ownership. Jocko told many stories that were some of the most engaging of the entire conference, but I found one of his stories especially powerful. It was a specific example of his extreme ownership ethos. He described the difference in responses during debrief sessions after failed training missions with new Navy SEAL groups. Though the results of the missions were both tremendous failures, the responses from each team leader couldn't have been more different. When the first leader was brought to the front of the room and asked what went wrong, he explained that the extract vehicle driver was in the wrong place and the sniper team got lost. This led to the driver and sniper team leader getting defensive and blaming different members of their own teams until everyone was pointing fingers at someone else. No real progress was made. When the second leader was asked to explain his team's failures, he explained that he did not properly brief the extract team on where to be and did not do enough check-ins with the sniper team to make sure he knew exactly where they were. The responses of the extract and sniper teams were much different. Instead of pointing fingers at others, they also took ownership and explained things like "I didn't pay attention to the extract point in the meeting" or "I'll be honest, I got lost." This led to actual improvements and plans for the next mission rather than a finger-pointing competition amongst the entire team. Good leaders always take ownership of their failures.

That concludes my first entry into the Companion Chronicles blog. I hope everyone that read to this point learned something, and I look forward to reading and writing more content in the coming weeks!

Ryan: 1

Good evening all! My names Ryan and this is my first blog entrance. I’m going to be very original on this one with the idea because I know a lot of you are wondering what my day looks like. So we’re gonna zoom out and take a look at what a day in my life looks like. Let’s use today Monday, February 24th as an example. Alright, FROM THE TOP!🎬<-(“action”)

Wake up is usually 7am give or take, as of lately about 7:10 because the snooze button is WAY too tempting. I crawl out of bed, and throw in my contacts since I am blind as hell without them. Take a stroll out to the beautful kitchen and get the breakfast in the works, on the menu, you guessed it…YOGURT. MMMM YUMMY😋. A little yogurt with some fruit and granola. This weeks choice on fruit is blueberries and blackberries. I also have a banana sometimes if I’m feeling it. Then the next most important part is my coffee, a nice little homemade cold brew with the Chobani Carmel macchiato coffee creamer (if you have not tried it you have to, it’s the shit). A little clean up and stroll over to the second bedroom aka the office and get the computer booted up for work. 

You know what time it is, TIME TO SELL SOME AIR CONDITIONING. Bright and early in the morning, 7:30am start time. Get all my programs open and then off to work. Taking some calls from 7:30-10 and then a little 15 minute break, usually consists of some floor time or doing some chores around the apartment. Some more calls from 10-12 and then it’s LUNCH TIMEEEEEE. On the menu for lunch today, leftovers (like most days). Today specifically though, we had leftovers from first watch from my beautiful girlfriend. So there was half of the farmhouse hash left that she got at breakfast this morning and I threw 3 fresh eggs on top, sunny side up of course and gobbled that down. Also has some dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s, those things are bussin. Then do some more stuff around the house or relax for the rest of the break. Then it is time for, you guessed it…more calls. 12:30-2:30 and then a little 15 minute break. Again some more floor time or little side quests around the apartment, then the final stretch, 2:45-4:30. The clock struck 4:30 and my ass was LOGGED OUT ready to hit the gym. 

Came out to the living room, say hi to Raechy Raech, get all my ish together and then down to our gym. A whopping 90 second commute. My latest fixation at the gym, PELOTON. Let me tell you, I’m doing the one month free trial right now and this shit is so fun. Hop on the bike and then instructors are hyped up, the music is gas and the workout kicks ass. A quick little 30 minute ride and we are all done, burned a couple hundred calories and got a good sweat in. Take a stroll out of the gym and over to the mail room, see what advertisements we got today, throw them out and then head back up to the apartment, SIKE, Raech had a package down in the package room so we went back down there together, SIKEEEEE, the package hasn’t been delivered yet. Back up to the apartment empty handed. Now it’s about 6pm and you guessed it, it’s DINNER TIME🥘🔔😋.

On the menu for dinner, mush mash of leftovers and new meals. Raech and I had 2 different ideas so we went crazy in the kitchen. Let me set the scene, last night we made shrimp elote tacos and we had a bunch of leftover elote. We also typically grill 4-5 chicken breasts each week just to have in the fridge for whenever we want to use it. We also had homemade tomato soup in the freezer from when Raech got her wisdom teeth out. So all those little odds and ends out of the way, I made grilled cheese with a combo of pepper jack cheese and three cheese blend with the tomato soup. Raech made a quesadilla with chicken, three cheese blend and elote. LOOOOKKKKKKK at the pics below, for leftovers, this shit went NUTS. For context I just had the one leftover piece of Raech’s dilla. We are clean plate club members around here.

Now that brings us to about 7:30, we got sopranos on the tv and Raech looks and me and says “do you want to play Roblox?” Naturally, I obliged and we played some tree mansion tycoon overall about a 7/10. Now time for a sweet treat, our go to lately…the little blue bell cups of ice cream. Chocolate is the flavor of choice tonight and some more of those Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups.

After a bit longer relaxing on the couch, now it’s about 10pm it’s time to wind down for bed, first though, gotta feed the sourdough starter and the fish. Then it’s teeth brush and contacts out and reset to do it all again tomorrow. To all those that read this far, thanks for coming to my ted talk. I love y’all😚❤️

Nathan: 1

 Yooo waddup gang. Thanks for sharing, Aaron! My name is Nathan Rene Mir, and today I’m going to teach you (except for Lucas) about the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG). But before I explain how the game works, let me tell you how I got introduced to it.

Last summer, while my family was in Minnesota, I found myself facing two "devils." One was my big brother, Quentin, who was trying to get me into the Pokémon VGC (Video Game Championships). Quentin had been interested in VGC for a while after discovering “WolfeyVGC,” a highly skilled YouTuber in the community. I gave it a few tries with him, but I just couldn’t get into it. The game felt too complicated, and the math didn’t help either. While I could’ve given it more of a chance, I realized it wasn’t for me.

The other "devil" was my big brother, Lucas, who introduced me to the Pokémon TCG. Lucas got into it through a YouTuber called “Pokémon Trainer Nguyen,” someone he went to high school with. Lucas started showing me his “Ancient Box” deck, and I was hooked. Since then, I’ve adopted that deck as my go-to for local tournaments (but more on that next week).

Building Your TCG Deck

In the Pokémon TCG, every deck needs exactly 60 cards. You can include up to four copies of any given card (except for basic Energy cards). When you build your deck, the key is to think about synergy—how your cards work together. There are six main types of cards in the game:

Energy Cards – These power your Pokémon’s attacks. You can only attach one Energy from your hand per turn.

Item Cards – These let you perform a variety of actions to support your strategy such as benching extra Pokemon, searching for energy, and finding supporters. You can play as many Item cards as you want during your turn.

Tool Cards – These are for specific strategies, like adding extra HP to a Pokémon or lowering the cost of retreating. Each Pokémon can only have one Tool attached at a time.

Supporter Cards – Often the most powerful cards in the game. They allow you to draw extra cards, attach more Energy, or target your opponent’s Pokémon. You can only play one Supporter per turn, so use them wisely.

Stadium Cards – These provide ongoing effects like increasing your bench size or reducing damage. Only one Stadium can be in play at a time.

Starting the Game & Prize Cards

At the start of the game, you’ll "flip a coin" (it’s usually a dice roll in reality). One player calls heads or tails (heads = even, tails = odd). The winner of the flip gets to decide who goes first.

Going first means you can’t play Supporter cards or attack, but it does give you the chance to evolve your Stage 2 Pokémon quicker and get extra energy in play.

Both players draw seven cards from their decks. If you have a Basic Pokémon in your hand, you’ll place it face-down on the battlefield. Then, you take the top six cards from your deck and place them face down as prize cards.

To win the game, you need to draw all six prize cards before your opponent does. To do that, you need to knock out their Pokémon.

Understanding the Turn Structure

At the start of each turn, you’ll draw one card, which is called “drawing for turn.” After that, you can start playing cards based on what’s in your hand. A single turn will consist of some combination of the following:

Bench Pokémon – You can place more Pokémon on your bench for backup or support.

Attach Energy – Attach an Energy card from your hand to one of your Pokémon.(Once per turn)

Retreat – Swap your active Pokémon with one on your bench. (Once per turn)

Evolve Pokémon – Evolve Pokémon you played in previous turns.

Play Trainer Cards – You can play Items, Tools, or Supporters (You may only use one supporter per turn)

Use Abilities – If any of your Pokémon have abilities, you can use them during this phase.

Attack – Finally, you attack with your active Pokémon—or you can pass if you can't do anything else.

The Different Types of Pokémon

In the TCG, your Pokémon can either be active in battle or on the bench. You can have up to five Pokémon on the bench, and they can help you out in different ways, like drawing cards, or can be backup attackers. There are also different stages of Pokémon:

Basic Pokémon – Charmander

Stage 1 Pokémon – Charmeleon

Stage 2 Pokémon – Charizard

When you play a Basic Pokémon, you can’t evolve it into Stage 2 until your next turn. But if you’ve got a Rare Candy Item card, you can skip over Stage 1 and evolve directly to Stage 2.

EX Pokémon

Some Pokémon are EX. These are stronger versions with more HP, better abilities, and stronger attacks. But there's a catch: when an EX Pokémon is knocked out, your opponent gets two prize cards instead of just one.

Synergy: Chien-Pao EX & Baxcalibur

One of the best examples of synergy in the Pokemon TCG is Chien-Pao and Baxcalibur.

Chien-Pao EX is a powerful Basic Pokémon with the ability “Shivery Chill.” This ability lets you search your deck for two Water Energy cards and add them to your hand. Chien-Pao’s attack, “Hail Blade”, lets you discard as many Water Energies as you want to deal 60 damage per Energy discarded. This can deal huge damage and knock out big Stage 2 EX Pokémon. But to do that, you need a lot of Water Energy on the field.

That’s where Baxcalibur comes in. Baxcalibur is a Stage 2 non-EX Pokémon with the ability “Super Cold,” which lets you attach a basic Water Energy from your hand to any Pokémon as many times as you want during your turn.

Together, these two Pokémon form a deadly combo. Chien-Pao sets up the Energy in your hand, and Baxcalibur helps you get it on the field quickly. This synergy lets you deal massive damage with Hail Blade and makes for a powerful team.

Deck Strategies

There are lots of ways to approach the game with different deck strategies. Here are some common ones:

“Turbo” Decks– Focus on dealing huge damage quickly to take down your opponent’s Pokémon and draw prize cards early.

Healing & Wall – Focusing on tanky Pokemon that can heal damage and not allow your opponent to draw Prize Cards. There are also many Pokemon that have abilities that prevent all damage from Pokemon with certain attributes.

Stage 2 Decks – These decks focus on powerful Stage 2 Pokémon. They might start slow, but once set up, they can dominate.

1-Prize Attackers – Decks like my “Ancient Box” revolve around Pokémon that give you only 1 prize card when knocked out. This gives you a big advantage in the prize trade.

Stall Decks – These decks try to stall the game by making it hard for your opponent to play. The goal is to make them run out of cards, which means they automatically lose.

There’s so much more to the Pokémon TCG, but I’ll save the rest for another blog post. Next time, I’ll dive into my “Ancient Box” deck and explain all the strategies and cards I use to win.

In the meantime, download Pokémon TCG Live and start playing! I hope you enjoyed my first blog—until next time!

Update: 

Today I went 4-0-1 in a league challenge and won 14 prize packs!!!!