Hi all,

This week’s update is personal, but very related to the topic of this email.

I’m giving up a goal. Not the goal to connect with 10 great business owners. That’s still alive — and I made progress recently, adding a potential gem to my CRM, which I’m excited to tell you about.

I made another goal this year: write 50 weekly email updates. You’re reading #10 right now.

It’s this goal that I’m reluctantly letting die. I’ll explain.

Why I write

I started and continue writing this newsletter for three reasons:

1. Reflection

2. Accountability

3. Connection

It’s served each purpose beautifully. Writing is the best forcing function for these three things in my life.

But I need to take a break.

The logistics of doing too much

Everyone’s plate is full, so I’m not going to detail how busy I am.

We all know busyness is not exceptional anymore. Focus is exceptional.

Focus — specifically, focus on the right thing — is the professional skill I most aspire to attain, but often feel really far from.

The busyness of life is boiling over recently, and it’s demanding a sharpened focus on the right thing.

The right thing(s) for me

In case you’re curious, I spend most of my time on these things:

1. My family — I have a wife and two young kids

2. Relocating — we’re moving soon

3. Building The Hypo Group — the agency my brother started

4. Curating mismanaged, hidden business gems — you know about this

Simply put, I’m scaling back my email to invest the time in what I consider more important work right now.

My plan going forward

I love writing, and I love writing a weekly email. So it will be back, Lord willing, one way or another.

For now, this email will become a quarterly update. I will write about the businesses I find, talk to, and pursue. Nothing new there.

A true, good update means it may not follow a strict cadence.

I don’t like writing this.

I like consistency. I like dependability. This doesn’t feel like that.

But it is what it is, and I’m settled with it. I know nobody counts on this email as their last ray of hope. It’s really not that big of a deal.

And, I look forward to keeping this journey going. My hope is the relationships built over this topic will continue to flourish, even if I don’t write 50 updates this year.

So, don’t be a stranger. If you’re on the journey, too, I want to hear from you.

Talk to you soon.

Mike