Howdy!

You don’t wake up one day with a bestselling book 📖✨, a thriving business 💼💰, or a perfect life 🌟.

But you can wake up and stack one small win at a time—building your life like LEGO bricks 🧱.

The secret isn’t in massive, overnight change 🌙⚡—it’s in tiny, daily moves that compound into something unstoppable 🔄🔥.

For example, we started this newsletter little by little, and now we have the authors of the books we review sending encouraging words:

In store for today

• How tiny actions stack into massive change – Momentum is your secret weapon. How small habits create big results.

• 🎬 The Stream: Piece by Piece (2024) – Pharrell’s LEGO-built journey and the power of reinvention.

• 📚 The Read: Atomic Habits by James Clear – How stacking small actions leads to life-changing results.

• 🛠️ The Gear: Sonos x IKEA Speaker – A sleek, space-saving speaker to fuel deep work and good vibes.

Let’s go! 🚀🔥

The Momentum Code

Everyone thinks change happens in a flash—like a ⚡️ lightning bolt of inspiration or a 💥 sudden explosion.

A deus ex machina moment where an invisible hand taps you on the head, and boom—you’re different.

Then, when change does happen, people ask: How? Why? How do I do it? They assume it’s a miracle.

But real transformation isn’t an explosion—until it is.

My own shift felt like an epiphany 💡, but it had been brewing for years. The final click was just the last bit of pressure breaking through.

📚 Business books love to talk about the flywheel effect—and for good reason.

A flywheel is a massive, heavy wheel ⚙️ that takes a ridiculous amount of effort to start turning.

Every push feels useless at first, but keep at it, and suddenly, it moves on its own. What once needed force now just needs consistency 🔄

That’s how habits work. That’s how reinvention works. There are slip-ups. That doesn’t matter ❌ There are breaks. That doesn’t matter ❌

What matters is that you’ve built enough of a foundation 🏗️ to get back in the groove 🎵

✅ That cup of 🍵 chamomile tea you make before sitting down to write? That’s part of the momentum.

✅ Touching the 🎹 piano keys every day, even if you don’t play? That’s part of the momentum.

✅ Putting on your 🏋️‍♂️ workout clothes, even if you don’t work out? That’s part of the momentum.

✅ Taking a step back at work and implementing a 🛠️ system instead of chasing everything in chaos? That’s part of the momentum.

Reinvention isn’t about perfect execution—it’s about minimizing the resistance to getting back on track 🚀

🧱 Dump a fresh LEGO set onto a table, and it’s just a pile of bricks. No structure. No clear vision. Just pieces. But start clicking them together, and what was once random noise becomes something real.

🎵 Pharrell gets this. He spent five years just laying down beats before any of it turned into a hit. 🎶 

No shortcuts.

No rush.

Just stacking skills, piece by piece, until the final picture came into view.

🧠 Here’s why this works. Studies in behavioral psychology show that small, consistent actions rewire your brain for success.

Every time you complete a tiny habit—whether it’s playing piano for two minutes, writing ✍️ one paragraph, or getting out of bed instead of hitting snooze 😴—you’re casting a vote 🗳️ for the person you want to become.

The secret is to get on base.

The more votes, the more automatic the behavior becomes, until it’s just who you are.

I’ve seen this play out in my own life over and over.

🏋️‍♂️ When I wanted to get back into shape, I didn’t start by committing to insane workouts—I started by doing 10 push-ups first thing every morning.

That was it. The first LEGO brick 🧱

And over time, that turned into gym sessions, Jiu-Jitsu 🥋, and a complete fitness reinvention. Now I have lost almost 50 pounds and am about my target weight 🎯

✍️ Same with writing. Some people sit down and try to bang out an entire book in one sitting 🫠 I used to try that. Didn’t work.

Now? I write every single day, even if it’s just one paragraph. Sometimes it turns into five pages. Sometimes just a few sentences.

But the brick gets placed, and that’s what matters 🏗️

Everyone wants a life-changing moment—that magical shift where everything suddenly falls into place ✨

But the truth is, that moment doesn’t exist. What does exist? Small, intentional, daily actions.

🚫 Don’t overthink it.

🚫 Don’t wait for motivation.

🧱 Just stack a single brick today—whatever that looks like for you.

And then do it again tomorrow.

Because the future isn’t built in one move—it’s built one piece at a time 🔥

The STREAM

Piece By Piece

Pharrell Williams is a master of reinvention 🔄✨ 

Whether in music 🎶, fashion 👕, or now LEGO animation 🧱🎥, his ability to take bold, unconventional creative leaps makes him not just the perfect subject for Piece by Piece, but the only subject.

After all, it was Pharrell himself who had the idea to tell his story through LEGO—a choice that reflects the very theme of building success piece by piece.

The film breaks down how Pharrell went from a Virginia Beach kid making beats in his bedroom to a global icon 🌍🔥 

For five years, he and his band were just stacking beats—no major success, no viral hits, just pure repetition and refinement 🎵 

The key?

Stacking skills brick by brick 🧱 

He didn’t wake up one day and become a cultural powerhouse—he repeated tiny, intentional actions over decades.

This directly ties into what we’re discussing this week: the power of momentum and continuous reinvention 🚀

The Bigger Lesson: Build Your Future Like LEGO

Pharrell’s story proves that nothing great happens overnight ⏳

Just like a LEGO set, success isn’t about one massive breakthrough—it’s about clicking the right pieces together, consistently, over time 🏗️ There’s no skipping steps.

No fast-forward button ⏩ Just daily commitment to the process.

Science Backs This Up

Studies in cognitive psychology show that consistent, incremental improvement is the fastest way to master complex skills.

This is known as compounded learning—a process where small, repeated actions lead to mastery over time 📚💡

The movie is a vibrant mix of creativity and music 🎶, straight from the mind of Pharrell—a kid from Virginia Beach 🌊 who turned his passion for sound 🔊 into a cultural empire 🌍🔥.

Now, as the head creative for Louis Vuitton 👔👜, his story isn’t just about beats 🥁—it’s about vision, reinvention, and building something bigger than himself 🏗️, one piece at a time 🧱.

The READ

Atomic Habits by James Clear

James Clear didn’t invent habits, but he sure made them a best-seller.

Years ago, I coined the term Petit Habit—a philosophy of stacking tiny, effortless wins to create real change.

Unlike Clear, and unfortunately, I didn’t organize my habits into a multimillion-dollar book 💰📖 And anyways “Atomic” sounds much cooler than “Petit.” Well done, sir.

In hindsight, maybe I should have followed his habit system before him—clearly, it worked out better for him than my winging it approach. But hey, credit where it’s due.

Atomic Habits is about how small, consistent actions create exponential results. The core idea? Forget motivation ❌ Build systems 🏗️

Willpower is unreliable, but automatic behaviors shape your future. Clear’s framework revolves around four laws:

✅ Make it Obvious – Create clear cues for good habits 👀

✅ Make it Attractive – Pair new habits with things you already enjoy 🎉

✅ Make it Easy – Start with tiny, almost laughable steps 🤏😂

✅ Make it Satisfying – Reinforce the behavior with instant rewards 🎯

Personal Take: My Habit Journey

Here’s where my Habit theory meets real life. Take piano 🎹 I always wanted to learn but found the idea of hour-long practice sessions daunting.

So instead, I committed to just two minutes a day—literally just playing a few keys.

What happened? After a few weeks, those two minutes naturally stretched longer.

Before I knew it, momentum took over, and now I can actually play songs (poorly, but still) 🎶😂

Science Backs This Up

Research shows that small behaviors compound over time ⏳

A study from the University of London found that it takes on average 66 days to form a new habit—not 21, as pop psychology claims.

The key? Start embarrassingly small, then let momentum carry you forward 🚀

The GEAR

Sonos Symfonisk Speaker

🎶 If we’re going to be blasting some good tunes, we need the right aparati.

The Sonos system 🔊 is known for its seamless, high-quality sound 🎧 and its ability to connect multiple speakers across different rooms, creating a rich, immersive listening experience.

The sound is crisp, well-balanced, and delivers depth even in a small package.

Enter the SYMFONISK Bookshelf Speaker—a collaboration between Sonos and IKEA that delivers premium sound without the premium price.

📌 Key Features of the SYMFONISK Speaker

• 💡 Design: Sleek, minimalist, and versatile. You can place it horizontally, vertically, or even mount it on the wall as a functional bookshelf speaker.

• 📡 Connectivity: Streams music, radio, and podcasts via Wi-Fi, eliminating the need for Bluetooth pairing. Supports AirPlay 2, making it easy to stream from Apple devices.

• 🔗 Integration: Fully integrates into Sonos systems, so if you already have Sonos speakers, you can expand your setup effortlessly.

• 🔊 Sound Quality: Despite its compact size, the speaker produces crisp, well-balanced audio with impressive depth.

At $119.99, the SYMFONISK is one of the most affordable ways to bring Sonos-quality sound into your home. (Check it out here)

This Sonos x IKEA speaker is a great entry point into premium smart audio, whether you’re setting up your first speaker or looking for an affordable way to bring high-quality sound into your space.

And let’s be honest, at this price point 💸, it’s practically a hack 🛠️.

You get top-tier Sonos sound without breaking the bank. Perfect for turning up your favorite beats 🎵, whether it’s reggaeton, hip-hop, or lo-fi focus music—whatever fuels your creativity and flow 🚀.

If you’re going to build success brick by brick 🧱, you need the right soundtrack 🎵. And for that, you need a great speaker 🔊.

Turn it up and set that vibe 🔥.

Outtro

🔥 And that’s a wrap!

Hope you enjoyed edition #5 of A Texas Nomad! If you did, don’t keep it to yourself—share it with a fellow traveler, dreamer, or side hustler. 🚀💌

🔗 [Share the Nomad Life ➡️]

📱 Follow along for more:

👉 Instagram: @edwardmcwilliams2

👉 Substack: @edwardmcwilliams

See you next week—stay curious, stay bold, and keep exploring!

Happy trails and happy stackin’,

yours truly,