Disclaimer – I imperfectly mirrored this page idea from Derek Sivers

Updated May 8th, 2023, from my home by the bay in San Diego.

Work Period #1

Kicking off a 3-month period of work following mini-retirement #1. Focusing on learning AI tools for Marketing, getting my blog up and running, and creating a ton of useful content based on what I’ve learned as a scientist, running companies, and driving marketing for a public company. Here we go!

Completed Mini-Retirement #1

3 months of “working on Rusty.”

I’ve been wanting to take a “mini-retirement” ever since I first read Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour-Work-Week almost 2 decades ago. As much as I’ve learned and applied from that book, I haven’t actually taken the step of implementing the 3 months on 3 months off lifestyle Tim describes in the book. So let the experiment begin!

In January 2023, I stepped into a new Strategic Advisor role with Bigtincan and out of the full-time role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). I figured it was time for my first mini-retirement, which is the first real-time off since Mark and I started my first (and last) blog How to Sell to Scientists back in 2010 (see My Story to read about this).

So what did I do exactly?

As Tim states, mini-retirements are intended to be a “recurring lifestyle” where “meetings, e-mail, and phone calls don’t exist for a set period of time” vs. true retirement e.g., never working again.

The idea is you focus on yourself and grow personally, maybe learn a thing or two, complete a bucket list item, or just generally get your shit together.

So here’s how I spent the last 3 months

Learning Spanish

I’ve always wanted to learn Spanish since I live 12 miles from the Mexico border and, I spend a ton of time fishing down there. I chose Duolingo based on the recommendations of friends and managed to complete lessons on 96 consecutive days (and counting) reaching Diamond League just a few weeks back. Also based on recommendations from friends I’ve been watching streaming shows with the Spanish subtitles turned on.

Am I fluent? No, not even close. Can I communicate? Absolutely. This is a habit I plan to continue indefinitely. Duolingo is easy to access and the courses are really fun. If you are thinking about it, just jump in.

Speaking of Habits…

My Reading List for Mini-Retirement #1

I spent most mornings of the last 3 months reading and reviewing non-fiction books.

Atomic Habits was first on the list. I don’t know why I put off reading this one for so long. It’s just a great book and everyone should read it! I learned so much and took pages and pages of notes.

I do know why I read it though. Because I heard James Clear on The Tim Ferriss Show and hearing the author talk about his ideas really pushed me to go read the book.

A few weeks later I was listening to an All the Hacks Podcast episode with Brad Barrett. Around minute 10, Brad and Chris started talking about their favorite podcasts guests of the year and, Brad casually mentions he read the book Die with Zero, but didn’t “get it” until he heard the podcast with Chris and Bill Perkins. This led me to my first real insight of the mini-retirement.

Mini-Retirement Insight #1 – Combinations are exponentially impactful.

E.g., listening to a podcast with an author and then reading their book (or vice versa) creates a unique experience and leads to deeper enjoyment, retention, and most importantly allows me to create novel ideas to solve problems = conjecture.

I plan to write and talk about “Combinations” and “Conjecture” a lot in the near future.

Here’s my reading list for Mini-Retirement #1 with a tiny takeaway from each one links go to my notes/book review for each book (when I publish them):

  • Atomic Habits – learn to say, “I’m the kind of person that…”
  • Die with Zero – start spending down the principal much earlier
  • Built to Sell – don’t sell services, sell a process
  • The Art of Selling Your Business – most Founders wish they sold sooner
  • The Mom Test – focus on what you can learn, not what you can sell
  • Almanack of Naval Ravikant – reread, still my favorite book of all time
  • 4 Hour Work Week – still relevant after reading countless times
  • Deep Work – as shallow work grows e.g., AI; deep work will be exponentially more valuable
  • Write Useful Books – expose your ideas as soon as possible
  • Roths for the Rich – get all retirement savings into Roth IRAs ASAP
  • Ikigai – never “retire”, walk daily, garden, cultivate a support group, live long
  • Thought Leaders Practice – process for becoming a 7-figure thought leader
  • Hell Yeah, or No – the title says it all
  • 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals – reinforced you can’t and shouldn’t stress about doing it all in one lifetime
  • Code Breaker – CRISPR is one of 3 forces that will change everything


Mini-Retirement Insight #2 – Reread your favorites, you learn something new or remember something important every time.

Two Trips to Mexico

In January, I had the honor of presiding over the wedding ceremony of two of our closest friends. I hope I did them justice, but I was so sick with Montezuma’s revenge that I barely remember it. At least I made it through the ceremony!

In February, my wife and I went down to Cancun to see Phish for four nights at the Moon Palace. Just can’t say enough good things about the environment and accommodations for this event. Great friends, great music, bottomless drinks — does not disappoint.

Also knocked off a “bucket-fish” down there – Sailfish on!

Meal Prep

My wife jokes that what I really did during mini-retirement #1 is watch YouTube and drink bourbon (which is mostly true). One thing I discovered is the joy of weekly meal prepping, where you prepare everything you need to put together every meal for the week at one time then mix and match the ingredients as the week goes along. If you want to learn more or try it, check out these two videos from ProHome Cooks- Mediterranean Meal Prep and Mexican Meal Prep. These are my go-to’s.

I must admit that Mike Greenfield at ProHomeCooks really inspired me to become a YouTuber. His videos are high-quality, well-edited, and very entertaining in the spirit of Alton Browns’s Good Eats tv show.

Mini-Retirement Insight #3 – Doing things in batches saves a ton of time and makes me healthier. You’d think I would know this by now given how many times I’ve read 4-Hour Work Week. Doh!

3000 Mile Road Trip

Finally, I finished off mini-retirement #1 with a 3000 mile journey from San Diego to Seattle and back living in my Jeep. Working on a blog article to show you how I converted it into a moving tent that will be out soon!

Highlights of the trip:

  • Living in a Jeep Wrangler, camping in amazing places, and chilling the F out.
  • Catching a steelhead trout (with no guide) on the Rogue River- Shout out to the shop owner at Rogue Valley Anglers for the flies and tips!
  • Hanging with my lawyer and my wife on a “house boat” in Seattle
  • Seeing Phish play in Seattle
  • Exploring Portland with great friends
  • Eating way too much cheese at the Tillamook Factory
  • Catching a wild steelhead on an amazing float trip down the Rogue River
  • Fly fishing on Pyramid Lake with guide Mike Curtis and talking a tremendous amount of trash with his friends

That’s it. Mini-retirement #1 is in the books! On to work period #1, 3 months of work to get the new company off the ground.

I’m already looking forward to Mini-Retirement #2. What shall I tackle?