Now, Let’s Play (Un)Hooky

I just got back from a morning walk.

It’s that time of year where I live—Spring is fully showing off. It was Around 8am, people were out, moving with purpose, heading to wherever they needed to be.

And it hit me.

This used to be me.

Corporate mornings. Commutes. Schedules.

And then, my mind jumped even further back…

High school.

Now, I don’t know about you, but by the time I hit 11th and 12th grade, the last place I wanted to be on a beautiful Spring day… was in school.

Not even close.

On days like that, the urge to “play hooky” would spike hard.
Just… disappear for the day. Deal with the consequences later.

That feeling?

Yeah… I still have it.

It comes rushing back sometimes—that little surge of excitement around the idea of just cutting loose.

Goals? Habits? Progress?

Who needs ’em??

Am I right?

Whoa… easy there.

Remember—this week is about going out to play.

Right. Okay. Good reminder.

Yesterday, I hit my three.

And they were, in fact, fun.

Calorie intake
I figured out that if I average 1900 calories or less per day for the rest of the month, I’ll hit my target.

Simple.

Then reality checked in:

Wait… it’s Cocktail Week? And we should go sample them?

Whaaaaaa…(Cry, Baby, cry)

Nope. Not happening.

But—I did go out. Had a light beer, enjoyed the atmosphere, and didn’t go off the rails.

Result: stayed on plan and had a good time.

That’s a win.

Song rehearsal
This one was a real Joy.

I randomly picked 5 of the 30 songs I’ve been working on and played them through four times.

Each round got better.

More energy. More confidence. Voice warmed up naturally.

That felt… really good.

Blog post
You saw the result of that.

And honestly, I’m starting to really enjoy this part of the day.

After that, I looked ahead at the rest of Spring and picked one more thing I could do—something that would move things forward and be enjoyable.

it was a Solid day.

And then…

This morning happened.

I woke up earlier. Felt better. Lighter.

And then promptly fell right back into my old routine.

I got Hooked.

Water (good).
Coffee (eh…).
Sit down…(why?)
Throw on some random YouTube video (distraction)…
Open a game on my phone (dopamine drip)…

And as they say on SpongeBob SquarePants…

“Two hours later…”

What. The. What?

Wasn’t the plan to get up, maybe have a quick cup of coffee, then walk to a coffee shop and write this post?

Oh yeah…

Here’s the thing I’m noticing:

One of the challenges of living on the Highway to Yeah is that you want to say yes to life.

But the paradox?

That often means saying no to autopilot.

No to the default routine.
No to the easy dopamine.
No to the things that quietly hook you.

So here’s my move for tomorrow:

I’m playing un-hooky.

Wake up. Drink some water.
Get fully dressed—like I’m going somewhere (because I am).
Walk to a coffee shop I’ve been meaning to check out.
Order my first cup of coffee there.
Write the blog.

Done.

No scrolling. No drifting. No “two hours later.”

Just… go.

The author Craig Ballantyne (who I mentioned yesterday) has a concept he calls the “milk the cows” morning routine.

He grew up on a dairy farm.

And on a farm, when you wake up… you don’t ease into the day.

You get up. You get dressed. You go milk the cows.

No journaling ritual. No elaborate routine. No perfectly optimized morning stack.

Just… do a thing that matters.

I like that.

Let’s see how it goes.

How about you?

What’s something in your life right now that’s got its hooks in you…
that’s quietly keeping you from saying YES to something that matters a whole lot more?