Stuff that happened

In June I jumped on the Toronto Raptors bandwagon. After the Leafs were eliminated in the playoffs back in April, I decided to follow the Raptors and their amazing playoff run.

What I saw during my bandwagoning was freaking amazing. The Raptors just kept competing even when they were down in the series. My favourite moment was when Kawhi hit the game 7 buzzer beater against the 76ers:

It was awesome to see the Raptors power through very tough opponents and eventually win the championship – I can only imagine how it felt for fans who have been following them since the beginning. As silly as it sounds, the Raptors championship gave me hope that someday the Leafs will win too.

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During the St-Jean-Baptiste long weekend, I took the bus down to Ottawa to see some friends and family. Upon arriving at the Greyhound station, I immediately met up with my buddy Mikey whose place I was staying at for the weekend. Throughout the weekend we walked around aimlessly in Ottawa, stopping by for coffee or food here and there. It was the definition of a relaxing, stress-free weekend.

I also got a chance to see my friends Kevin and Cat to see their beautiful newborn baby. It was mind-blowing to think about how we’ve known each other for almost 10 years now, and how we were just 20-year old kids playing music together when we met. Look us at now, doing all sorts of grown-up stuff!

I love living in Montreal, but man do I ever miss my old friends sometimes. On the bright side, it makes catching up that much sweeter.

What I played

This month I picked up The Cadence of Hyrule. It was a short and sweet game that blended Zelda and Crypt of the NecroDancer.

I absolutely loved the art style and the sprite animations. I also loved how they incorporated some of the puzzle elements found in Zelda games. My only gripe was that it was very repetitive. The beat that you have to follow is always the same, so once you get familiar with it it becomes pretty easy to defeat enemies and bosses.

I would recommend this game if you’re a fan of Zelda games, but otherwise I’d skip it.

What I read

This month I read Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath. In it, the authors outline the WRAP process which can be used to make better decisions.

At first glance, the WRAP process may seem like common sense, but it was surprising how little we think about making decisions in our lives.

I appreciated the many real-world examples they included to back up their points. I found that I could apply many of their suggestions in my life, such as:

• the 10/10/10 rule, in which you reflect on how you’ll feel about a decision 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years from now
• setting tripwires to avoid getting stuck on autopilot (aka: preventing putting things on the back-burner)
• widening options by eliminating “whether or not” questions and instead asking “Are there other options? What more can be done?”.
• …and much more.

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work was a short read filled with many gems. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a little help building a process for making good, confident decisions.