👋🏼 you're getting this because you subscribed to the forward theory at some point, possibly a while ago. it's been a minute. here's what changed.

i had this aha moment recently: i was writing what i thought people wanted to read, versus what i actually wanted to write.

it’s a recipe for something tasteless. bland. the tofu of writing.

and i say that as someone who actually loves tofu, but let’s be honest, it needs a lot of work to have it taste like something.

when i stopped writing back in february, it’s mostly because i was exhausted. both mentally and physically. see, last year my wife and i welcomed our son into the world. and he welcomed us with lots of crying, the worst sleep i’ve ever had in my life, and endless need for attention (more than me!).

that was in direct competition with my ability to sit down and write. or sit down. or really do anything at all other than making sure he stayed alive.

but he’s older now, and at least for the moment, less needy than he was.

so it got me thinking: i missed writing for this newsletter.

but here’s the other funny thing about having a kid. it makes you start to question everything you spend time on in your life. because now it’s through this lens of like: is this actually worth the little time i have?

and that’s when i started to think about what i was writing and what i actually wanted to write. and what i arrived at was this desire to be much more honest, much more real and unfiltered, and much less generic airport self-help book vibe.

so i’m sorta rebranding. it’ll still be me, sam, and it’ll still be the forward theory. but that’s the thing. it’s a theory. it’s being tested, constantly. it’s me figuring out if movement (running specifically) can help me keep going forward. even when i’m being tested in every way.

i’m in the unglamorous middle of a bunch of things. raising a kid. starting a company. or honestly like 5 companies, it feels like. and oh right, i’m training for my second ever marathon. (coming off a 14 month foot injury. more on this later).

so what’s this newsletter then? here’s what it’s becoming. (also note if this isn’t for you anymore, the unsubscribe button is below. no hard feelings).

it’s for anyone like me: people building things, even when they’re tired. maybe especially when they’re tired. it’s a reminder that building things takes work. it takes time. it takes a lot of quiet hours and days and months where no one is celebrating you for showing up again. and again. and again.

it’s not me sharing lessons or tips or hacks. it’s just me sharing the reality of building stuff. the ups, the downs, and okay maybe a lesson learned here or two. but i never share with the intent to preach. it’s more like: hey, maybe this will help you.

so that’s what the forward theory will be. i’ll write once every couple of weeks, to the best of my ability. sometimes more, sometimes less. maybe more on the less side. i have a kid, remember?

i’d like to believe that if something really matters to you, you keep coming back to it.

or at least that’s what i’m telling myself.

cause otherwise why would i be here writing to you?

p.s. there's an ad below. it's how this stays free, and it's a lot easier than asking you for money. thanks for reading.

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