Most People Aren't Thinking About You - Frozen Whipped Lemonade

More than four centuries after his death, William Shakespeare remains one of the most quoted writers in history. While he is best known for his plays, his enduring appeal comes from something deeper: an extraordinary understanding of human nature.

His characters wrestled with ambition, fear, doubt, courage, love, and failure in ways that still feel remarkably familiar today. The quote below is a good example. Though written hundreds of years ago, it speaks directly to a challenge nearly all of us face at one time or another.

The Warm Up!

Most people are not thinking about us as much as we think they are. They are not for us or against us. They are focused on their own lives, their own pressures, their own concerns.

In a strange way, that can be hard to accept. We tend to overestimate our role in other people’s thoughts. We replay conversations. We assume people are noticing more than they are.

But the truth is, we are not that important in most people’s daily lives. And they are not that important in ours either. We are all just trying to navigate our own path.

That realization can feel uncomfortable at first. Then it becomes freeing. It removes the pressure to be liked by everyone. It allows us to focus on what actually matters. The work. The people close to us. The standards we choose to live by.

Do what matters. Let the rest go.

Show up! Put in the work! Regroup! Put in the work! Don't quit! Believe in yourself! Develop your skills! Process > outcome! Be okay with uncomfortable! Compete!

The Journey!

Lately, it feels like I've been waiting on a lot of things.

Waiting for inventory to arrive. Waiting for the factory to have time to move new products into development. Waiting for orders to come in.

If I'm honest, I've never been very good at waiting.

Waiting can feel like nothing is happening.

But over the years I've realized that's rarely true.

The waiting is usually where the preparation happens. It's where you fix the little things, improve what you can, and get ready for whatever comes next. Then one day the shipment arrives, the order comes in, or the opportunity you've been working toward finally shows up.

Looking back, it feels like it all happened at once.

It didn't.

It happened while you were waiting.

P.S. While I was doing some waiting this week, I started going through a few old photo albums and came across the picture below. As best I can remember, it's from one of—if not the—first bike races I ever did, sometime around 1987.

Looking at it now, I had no idea where a bike would eventually take me.

Meal Time

Man, it is hot.

The Tour de France has been dealing with record temperatures, and here in Atlanta it's been nearly 80 degrees by 7:00 in the morning with humidity hovering around 95%. By the time I finish a run or ride, I usually feel like I've spent the day in a sauna.

Even later that evening, it still feels like my core temperature hasn't completely come back down.

That's when something cold really hits the spot.

This week's recipe is one of those things that sounds almost too simple...and then you make it and wonder why you don't do it all summer.

Cold. Creamy. Bright from the fresh lemons. Just sweet enough to feel like a treat.

Frozen Whipped Lemonade

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk

½ can sweetened condensed milk (about 7 oz)

Zest and juice of 3 lemons

1 teaspoon vanilla

3–4 cups ice

Pinch of salt

Instructions

Add everything except the ice to a blender.

Blend briefly until combined.

Add the ice and blend until smooth and thick.

Taste and adjust. Add another squeeze of lemon if you'd like it a little brighter, or a bit more ice if it's thinner than you prefer.

A Few Tips

Zest the lemons before juicing them. That's where a lot of the lemon flavor comes from.

Don't skip the pinch of salt. It doesn't make it salty—it just makes everything taste a little brighter.

If you'd like it a little lighter, replace half of the milk with cold water.

Pour it into a chilled glass, find a little shade, and enjoy.

This is What I Heard...

I came across a survey this week that I thought was pretty interesting.

You answer seven simple questions, and based on responses from thousands of Americans, it tells you how many people share your exact combination of answers. When I finished, just 1.31% of Americans answered the same way I did. I honestly expected the number to be much higher.

It was a good reminder that it's easy to forget the person across from you has lived an entirely different life than you have. Different experiences. Different priorities. Different assumptions. Maybe that's why two reasonable people can look at the same situation and see something completely different.

Take the quiz. It's worth a few minutes, and I'd be curious to know what percentage you end up with.

Most People Aren't Thinking About You - Frozen Whipped Lemonade

The Warm Up!

The Journey!

Meal Time

This is What I Heard...

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