Aragorn & the making of a man, a friend's new book, apple vs microsoft, the anti-modern neighborhood, the move-every-day challenge, a push-pull-core burner, & sheet pan salmon
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In The Better Way Weekly
Article Review
Book Summary
Podcast Recommendation
Just Good Content
Weekly Challenge
Workout of the Week
Recipe of the Week
✅ ARTICLE
Every once in a while I come across something that stops me mid-scroll and makes me want to send it to everyone I know.
“Aragorn and the Grey Company: The Making of a Man of the West” by Rev. Ryan S. Matchett did exactly that.
It’s an essay about Tolkien’s Aragorn — but really, it’s about what it means to be formed by something bigger than yourself. Matchett argues that Aragorn’s quiet authority doesn’t come from self-invention or personal achievement. It comes from inheritance — from a community of men who carried moral memory across generations and passed it to him.
That hit me differently than I expected. We live in a culture obsessed with self-made identity. Build your personal brand. Define your own truth. Manufacture your story. But Aragorn’s strength was never manufactured. It was received.
Full disclosure: I haven’t finished this one yet. But I want to recommend it right away.
I’ve just recently had the privilege of meeting Noah. In a single, very brief conversation there was a significant resonance and relatability to the way he views the world. I have a deep respect for his mind and his perspective, and it seems we were both very much shaped and influenced by similar things.
When someone like that writes a book, you don’t wait to finish it before telling people about it. You start talking about it at chapter three.
Apprentice of Avalon is a fantasy reimagining of the Perceval legend — a sixteen-year-old shepherd in sixth-century Wales who stumbles into a destiny he didn’t ask for. Merlin. Knights. Quests. The eternal struggle between light and darkness. It reads like something C.S. Lewis and Stephen Lawhead would have cooked up together over a long dinner.
But what makes it feel different from most fantasy is what’s underneath it. Noah thinks carefully about myth, about heroism, about what archetypal stories actually mean. He wrote a whole Substack (The Lumenorean) excavating these ideas, and that perspective shapes every page of this book.
What I’m taking from it so far:
Great stories are moral ecosystems. The battle between light and darkness in this book isn’t abstract. It lives in specific choices made by specific people. Noah understands that virtue and vice aren’t philosophical categories; they’re habits that shape the world around you.
Ancient myth still speaks. We’re drawn to stories like this because they’re telling us something true about the human condition — something we know intuitively but have trouble articulating. Noah helps you articulate it.
🎬 JUST GOOD CONTENT
Simon Sinek back at it with some beautiful and insightful truth on how to view competition and growth.
We recorded this episode a while back, but I’ve been pulling clips from it recently, sharing it with people in my life, and it keeps really resonating with me.
The conversation is about what I’d call intentional life design — specifically the role that place and proximity play in the life we’re building. We talk about neighborhoods. Not just where you live, but how you live in relation to the people around you. In a culture that has largely privatized everything — meals, leisure, even friendship — there’s something quietly countercultural about choosing to know your neighbors, to build shared rhythms, to design your environment around community rather than convenience.
I think the ideas in this episode matter a lot. The drift toward isolation is real. This conversation is one small antidote to that.
🚀 5 FACTOR CHALLENGE
(Factors of Health | Eat, Sleep, Train, Think, Connect)
Factor: Think
This week’s challenge is simple but difficult: do something active every single day for 7 days straight. It doesn’t have to be a workout. A 20-minute walk counts. A few sets of pushups counts.
The goal isn’t intensity — it’s consistency. Most of us are great at training hard two or three days a week and completely shutting down the rest. This challenge rewires that pattern. Movement every day, even light movement, keeps your metabolism humming, your joints happy, and your mindset sharper.
Why you benefit: This doesn’t replace the need to intentionally train, but daily movement builds momentum. When your body gets used to doing something every day, rest becomes intentional rather than accidental. You’ll feel the difference by day four.
💪🏻 WORKOUT OF THE WEEK
The Push-Pull-Core Triple
This one hits your upper body from every angle and finishes with a core burner.
Five rounds, minimal rest between exercises, 60 seconds between rounds.
Push-Ups — 20 repsModification: Drop to your knees or elevate hands on a surface. Sub: Dumbbell chest press.
Inverted Rows (table edge or low bar) — 15 repsModification: Bend knees more to reduce load. Sub: Dumbbell bent-over rows.
Pike Push-Ups — 12 repsStart in downward dog, lower your head toward the floor. Targets shoulders. Modification: Reduce range of motion. Sub: Seated dumbbell shoulder press.
Superman Hold — 10 reps (3-second hold each)Lie face down, lift arms and legs simultaneously, hold 3 seconds, lower. Modification: Alternate arm/leg lifts.
Plank to Downward Dog — 10 repsStart in plank, push hips up into downward dog, return. Activates core and shoulders. Modification: Hold a static plank for 30 seconds.
🥑 RECIPE OF THE WEEK
A healthy, nutrient dense, minimally processed meal or snack.
Sheet Pan Salmon with Roasted Vegetables and Lemon-Herb Drizzle
From: Lesley Price | Hearth & Horizon
Jamison doesn’t eat fish, so this gets subbed to a different protein for him.
Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets (6 oz each), skin-on
2 cups broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced into half-moons
1 cup cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
For the lemon-herb drizzle:
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh dill (or ½ tsp dried)
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
Toss broccoli, bell pepper, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes with 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Spread in an even layer on the pan.
Roast vegetables for 10 minutes.
While vegetables roast, whisk together all lemon-herb drizzle ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Remove pan from oven. Push vegetables to the sides and place salmon fillets in the center. Brush with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Return to oven and roast for 12–15 minutes, until salmon flakes easily with a fork.
Drizzle the lemon-herb sauce over everything right before serving.
Serves 4. Pairs great with quinoa or cauliflower rice.
