Monday Seven No. 020
Proposing, Quarterly Planning, and Modern Iran
Hey Friends 👋🏽
I’m back in Toronto from the beautiful la-la-land that is Vancouver. Felt good to see loved ones. Feels great to be back at home, in my routine, and in full throttle.
Some big personal news to share this week. Earlier this month, I asked my long time girlfriend Christine to marry me (and she said yes). We then went on what felt like an IPO roadshow telling our friends and family in person. Super stoked to continue building a life with Christine.
This week I’m looking back on the summer and planning for the last 3 months of 2020.
Let’s get right into it…
No. 020
1 — Proposed in the Rockies
While driving through the Rockies we went for a hike up Mount Bourgeau in Banff. The hike is about 21km with a 1700m elevation gain and took us about 7 hours out and back. The trail takes you up to Bourgeau Lake, then over to Harvey Pass, Harvey Lake, and finally a climb up the summit.
Once we were past Harvey Lake and halfway up the summit, I got down on a knee and asked Christine if she’d be my partner in life. She was initially confused, thinking I was begging her to continue the next 30 minutes up to the full summit. For clarity, she only said yes after I confirmed I wasn’t going to drag her up the full summit. We’re still unsure whether we will legally marry or not. We committed to becoming life partners and figuring it all out together. The rest is really just semantics.
We made a new friend on the way down and he snapped this photo.
We’re trying to figure out what a life partnership means for us. Right now, I think it’s a lifelong process of defining it together. We’ll have a small ceremony in Spring/Summer 2021 but not planning much right now.
If you have a non-traditional marriage and any advice to share, I’d love to hear it.
2 — Great Canadian Road Trip
In case you missed it, we were on a road trip across Canada. If you’re thinking of doing the same, you can follow this itinerary from Vancouver to Toronto. We put it together for my parents who are driving back now. Flip it if you’re going from YYZ to YVR.
Highly recommended it while international travel is unlikely to pick up until 2022.
3 — Quarterly Planning
This week I’m taking time to reflect on the past few months. There are only 3 months left in 2020 and I want to make sure I can move as many big boulders as possible from now until December 24 when I shut it down for a week.
Here are the questions I am asking myself this week.
Looking back on the past three months:
What went well?
What could have gone better?
Key lessons learned
Action items - what are the lingering to do’s that I need to close the loop on?
Looking forward to the next three months:
Questions that need more thought - These can be backward or forward-looking. The aim is to do my best to answer them before the start of the new quarter.
Key priorities - I project myself 3 months into the future and then ask how I’m going to tangibly move closer to my goals to be healthier, wealthier, and wiser.
Action items - What are immediate to do’s I can complete in the first 1-2 weeks of the quarter to help me gain momentum?
4 — Book I’m reading
Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution by Nikki R. Keddie. I’ve been interested in Iranian history for as long as I can remember, but unfortunately, it was not taught in school as our public education system does not give kids the choice of self-directed learning. I’m about a quarter of the way through and so far it’s super interesting (and not surprising) to find many parallels between late 19th / early 20th century Iran and the roots of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
5 — Just for fun: The most interesting thing I’ve eaten lately
Cucamelons look like tiny watermelons and taste like cucumbers. Somebody is going to figure out how to harvest these at scale and make a fortune selling them to the same crowd that buys $200 square watermelons. Photo by Christine @christinebikesthecity.
6 — Album of the week
James Brown Funky Instrumentals (1h 44m)
7 — Quote of the week
Getting back into my routine means regular exercise, meditation, and fasting all to keep energy levels high and even-keeled. In the spirit of reconnecting with my body and mind, I came across this quote from an old notebook.
The mind is a kite, the breath is the string, and the body is the spirit’s engine.
The source is unclear, though it’s similar to this one from Ravi Shankar.
Last Words
I’m thinking of a few directions to take this newsletter and want to hear from you. Are there any specific topics you’d like to see me write about? What have you enjoyed and would like to see more of?
As always, thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a friend you think will find it valuable.
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Until next week,
Yashar