Hello! It’s been a huge week personally speaking, and thus I’m a bit tardy in getting this week’s edition out 😬

Rhett Woods was the first boss I inherited through being part of an acquisition, and as those things go - I count myself blessed to have had the experience I did. After we parted ways in ~2019, he went on to found a VC fund, then lead product at Calm. Today (as always) he’s a hyperentrepreneur who’s teamed up with another (Rob Dyrdek) to build a system not for managing time, but for transforming it.

Among other things, we discuss his Arctic adventures, psychedelic therapy, exercise, and the sustaining force of being a maker.

Check out Rhett & Rob’s company (still pre-launch):

www.existence.io

There’s been a theme chasing me like a psycho with a chainsaw for the past few weeks. Everywhere I’m reading, it shows up. New people I meet or follow already have it in their lexicon. The magnitude feels enormous. It’s like a gravitational force or tractor beam pulling me apart. The gist of it is:

There’s something new I’m becoming. Or meant to become. And as part of that, I’m shedding who or what I was before. Something is falling to the side, or decaying, so something new can emerge in its place.

If it sounds uncomfortable, DON’T WORRY IT IS.

As I’ve been processing this, I have to be honest that the who I was part started bumming me out. I began to realize how much of a chameleon I’ve been through my working life. I’ve worked across 5 different industries at this point. I’ve done video production, SaaS design, investor relations, product management, and marketing. If that’s not schizophrenic enough, that all comes after graduating with a degree in elementary education and having a blip where I thought maybe I could play pro baseball.

That’s a lot to cram into the first act of life. A whole lot of stuff, seemingly little expertise. I can do a whole lot of things, but I’m no longer sure which I do best. Or which I want to keep doing.

No wonder it feels like an identity crisis here at the turn. Because I think… I don’t have a desire to keep being any of those things. And that’s one hell of a confession to make from where I’m standing.

During my final week at my full time role, I had a conversation with someone who introduced me to the term caterpillar soup. While the transformation process within a chrysalis was quite apropos, I’d never realized what truly happens in there. Between caterpillar and butterfly.

The won’t belabor it, as the term is fairly descriptive. But essentially the caterpillar digests itself entirely and reconstructs with new cells. Those butterfly wings can only be created from the complete liquification of the prior form.

Chances are if you’re reading this, you might be in the soup too. What I can tell you (and remind myself) is that it doesn’t stay soup. This is a natural, calculated, and necessary phase of transformation. I think a lot of us are experiencing it collectively based on the frequency with which I come across the topic.

My wife recently planted some flowers outside our kitchen window that are butterfly attractors. There are beautiful monarchs around constantly now. I’m using them as a reminder for whatever this thing is I’m becoming.

If you’re feeling the soup, keep your eyes peeled. Butterfly season is coming.

-Justin