The Art of Letting Go

Devils River, West Texas. My favorite place on the planet and the part of the world from where I write to you now. 

It is a harsh open country where by day the sun chars your skin and by night the sky cools and stars speckle above. 

Rolling hills dominate the horizon while springs deep below the yellow and white limestone act as tributaries to the ever flowing, emerald green body of the Devils. The river carved its path through the hills and on towards Mexico centuries ago, bestowing this dry desert with an abundance of life along its banks. 

I hunt these grounds with my friends and family. 

It is difficult, and often, painful work. 

We wake hours before sunrise to spread across ridges and brushland to hopefully catch game on their morning commute. We ascend the hills through spiny lechuguilla, ocotillo, and the aptly-named prickly pear cactus - all things that love to stab your shins and calf muscles when you slip on unstable rock. Hikes take hours and require you to trudge your rifle and heavy packs holding food and water for the day. You start with warm layers to keep the cold at bay and then shed each garment as the sun reaches higher in the sky.

During these hunts, I feel a profound reconnection with myself. It’s as if a cord once severed from me has grown back to illuminate ancient wisdom that can only be accessed through prolonged time in wild nature. 

Here, all the lessons that I preach and often fall short of myself, come forth. On this trip in particular, the concept of letting go was the most apparent. 

On each of these hunts, given the time and effort combined with the glory of a trophy kill, you want so badly for things to go your way. This of course never works. Your brain focuses on all the reasons why you would fail and in return you look for and make decisions that lead to your failure. You rush instead of moving patiently, you pack up and leave just as game passes, or you fire your shot and miss completely, scaring off your kill. On my last day I saw the biggest feral goat of my life, this would have been hung above the mantle if I got it, instead I got over-excited and rushed towards my position. He heard, saw, and smelled me so he ran, condemning me to remember my mistake forever.on what’s actually in front of you

As soon as I stopped wishing I’d see game, the land gave back to me. 

If there’s something you want this year, think about what it’s like to have that already. Do this in a state of love, joy, and creativity and then proceed into your day. 

What you carry into the day shapes what the day gives back to you. 

Have a great week,

D.R.

I just released my conversation with Cru Mahoney, the guy who has run a mile every morning for more than 1,300 days in a row. If you are looking for inspiration on how to build a great 2026, look no further. We discuss:

• Why most people fail not from lack of discipline, but lack of self-trust, and how to rebuild it through small, kept promises

• How to design systems that make follow-through inevitable, instead of relying on motivation

• Why doing hard things never really gets easier, and why that’s actually the point

• How to stop living by trends, emotions, and other people’s expectations, and start acting from your own internal compass

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