Analog Action by Matt Ragland

I hope my fellow Americans had a great July 4th holiday 🇺🇸 I spent the weekend at my old summer camp and had an amazing time. My son was there for the first time, but they let the rest of us hang around for fireworks and DANG was it a good show 🎇 Honestly, it was just the break I needed. With 4 kids and running the business, I haven’t taken a whole lot of time off the past couple years. And even when I do—like the week in the mountains—I’m still taking care of clients and staying on top of...

Hey Reader, I started doing something recently you might think is kinda odd. I wrote most of this newsletter in my notebook. It started with the idea. A few bullet points became a full page in my Field Notes. Then I flipped on the Monologue app on my phone and talked through it in more detail. Then I printed out the rough draft, sat down, and marked it up like a professor grading a freshman essay. It had arrows between paragraphs, a circle around a lazy verb, and a note in the margin that...

Hey Reader, I was in Boise last week for my favorite conference of the year, Craft + Commerce by Kit. This is a little different than the normal WRAP—I'm just sharing my main takeaways from the week. The speakers are amazing but the quality of attendees is even better. Seriously, great people and amazing creators who should (and have been) speakers in their own right just show up to hang out. I love it for all those reasons, but also because it has the feel of a big family reunion. It's the...

Hey Reader, last weekend was the closing of my family's busiest stretch of the year. Seriously, it's busier than Thanksgiving through New Year's Day 😅 We start in late April and then over the next four weeks run through: youngest son's birthday, Morgan's birthday, Mother's Day, our wedding anniversary, oldest son's birthday, and baby girl's birthday. May is may-hem. It's a busy season but full of celebration, family, friends, and (mostly) great weather. And every year, it reminds me of...

Hey Reader, I was watching the college baseball regionals with my son on Friday. (Go Gators!) Somewhere around the third inning he turned to me and said, “Dad, it’s tough to be the hitter. You don’t know where the ball is going.” “True,” I said. “But the pitcher has to throw in the strike zone. Four balls and the batter walks.” He nodded and went back to his snacks. He’s 11, so he did not stand up and start clapping, saying “great life lesson, Dad!”. But our little chat stuck with me, and...

Hey Reader, I spent most of this week dealing with a fever and sore throat (Sunday morning update, it’s strep!). One of those bouts of sickness that old-me would have pushed straight through—same hours, workouts, schedule—because I was worried about falling behind on something. I could never really articulate what that something was. Just a vague, low-grade dread that if I stopped, I’d lose ground I couldn’t get back. As I write this, I realize I still may have done too much… it did become...

Hey Reader, Ever caught yourself frustrated about not performing the way you wanted to... even when the situation didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things? How do you balance holding yourself to a personal standard against not letting a bad showing get in your head? I was dealing with that question Friday morning. I'd played two softball games Thursday night, didn't get to bed until midnight, was up with the kids at 2, and somehow still dragged myself to jiu-jitsu at 6am. Where I...