Hi there! Greetings from snowy Northwest Ohio.

I know it's been quite awhile since I sent out my last email, but I'm resurrecting this newsletter as "Steele Notes." It will be a weekly digest of things I've found helpful. Could be a book, tool, or theological/ethical/political rabbit hole.

I'd like this to be a way to build some community outside of mainstream social media, so please always feel free to REPLY to these emails with questions, comments, greetings, etc.!

Things I've found helpful this week:

1. A 20-pound sand-filled "slam ball" for, yes, squatting down, picking up above my head, and slamming into the concrete floor of my garage with all the force I can muster. It's a great workout and a fantastic way to blow-off some steam/stress! I'm 5'11" and weigh 215 pounds, so 20 pounds may or may not be too heavy for you. But they sell all kinds of different weights.
2. Nicholas Bate's The Tools of Excellence: Seventy Devices, Concepts or Strategies which enable Brilliance, Easily, which I was able to read for "free" via Kindle Unlimited. A very quick read, but put the following back on my radar screen to try or keep using: jump rope, 5BX fitness program, gaffer tape (superior to duct tape), sewing kit, trail mix.
3. Jump rope for cardio. I've always sucked at jump rope, but the previous book convinced me to give it a try again for cardio fitness. I picked up this weighted jump rope from Elite Jumps and, hoo boy, it's a good workout! And the extra weight makes it easier for me to tell exactly where the rope is and to time my jumps. I also picked up this lighter model from the same company, which is much easier to adjust the length precisely. Turns out, most people try to jump with a jump rope that is too long! This leads to bad form and, if/when the rope bounces off the ground into your feet, more tripping.
4. Writing "Morning Pages" in my journal every day. Pioneered by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way, Morning Pages are simply 3 pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing that you do first thing in the morning (or as close to first thing as possible). They can be about anything and everything. Ask questions. Scream into the void. Plan your day. Sometimes it's been hard to come up with things to say, but making myself do Morning Pages again (I used to do them years ago but fell off the bandwagon) has been helpful for my mindset each day.
5. 4-7-8 breathing for whenever I'm stressed or anxious. You breath in for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 7, and then slowly and fully exhale for a count of 8 (I think you're supposed to slightly purse your lips so you kind of have to push out the air with a bit of force against the resistance). Here's a video on how/why to do it, from Dr. Andrew Weil, who popularized it in recent years.

How is 2026 going for you, so far? What are you hoping for more and less of in the year ahead?

For me, the year is going well, so far (only 15 days in, ha!). I'm focusing on my health this year, specifically by making an effort to track my diet and exercise. Even if I don't always make the best choices, I'm going to write them down so that they're top of mind as I review my daily/weekly notes.

And I'm hoping for more relationships and less loneliness in 2026. More time spent investing in friendships, and less time spent reading the news, doomscrolling social media, etc.

Thanks for reading! Again, please feel free to reply to any of these emails! I will read and respond!

~ Josh