Monday guys! I’m still running on fumes with kiddo #3 so the send time is a bit off. We’ll get back to our 9 AM scheduled time soon. More coffee needed.

And hey, congrats to all the Seattle Seahawks fans out there

Watched Sam Darnold’s post-game interview after the Super Bowl last night, and one thing stood out. He kept bringing up his parents. How they believed in him through the good seasons, the bad seasons, and all the dumb stuff that comes with growing up.

On the surface, it’s easy to hear that and think, yeah, believe in your kids. Makes sense.

But belief isn’t just something you say once and move on.

You don’t really get to believe in your kids if you don’t believe in yourself. If you’re constantly doubting your own decisions, talking yourself down, or acting like you’re just trying to survive the day, they feel that too.

Belief shows up in how steady you are when they screw up. How calm you stay when things don’t go to plan. How you talk about effort, not just outcomes.

Kids don’t need blind hype. They need someone who stays in their corner when it’s messy.

That kind of belief isn’t loud. It’s consistent. And it starts with how you carry yourself.

Dougie Mann is an artist and brand builder based in North Tustin, California, and a dad of four kids ranging from two to twelve.

The hardest part of parenting, he says, is the mental grind. First it’s the lack of sleep. Then it’s the weight of providing as an artist and entrepreneur, where the highs are high and the lows can feel heavy. You never quite feel out of the woods.

The most rewarding part is the purpose. Having something bigger than yourself forces you to show up in ways you didn’t know were possible. His guiding principle is simple and hard-earned: be present. Love your wife every day. Tell her more than you think you should.

His non-negotiable says a lot about him. Get your kids in the ocean. Teach them to swim. It’s a gift they’ll carry for life.

Follow him at @dougiemann. Check out our interview here.

Hat storage came up in Slack. I grabbed a handmade rack from Maggie at Stokecraft and mounted it in my closet.

Looks good. Dead simple. Solves the problem.

Support a small biz. Get your hats off the floor. Win-win.

Get it here.

You’ll see HRV in Whoop, Oura, Garmin, Apple and it’s easy to overthink. Don’t.

What it is:
HRV (Heart Rate Variability) shows how well your body is recovering from stress.

What’s “good” vs “bad”:

For most adults, numbers often land somewhere between 30–80 ms, but the exact number matters way less than your personal baseline.

How to use it:

Don’t chase elite numbers. Chase consistency.