I’m Glad You’re Here

Welcome to the community where together, we’ll dive deep and find the strength to never give up because Great Things Take Time.

Yesterday’s community reaction was incredible! Due to the overwhelming response, there were a few hiccups in our launch, but it just goes to show that Great Things really do take time. I can’t thank you all for your patience while things got sorted out.

For a while, I’ve looked for a way to connect on a deeper level with the community I’m a part of. Social media can be a one-sided, echo chamber-like place where we are unable to form deeper bonds. With Great Things Take Time, I’m looking to get closer to the community I care so much about, creating more ways for us to interact with each other. I want to offer more than what is found on current social platforms.

If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe and join the Great Things Take Time Community.

What To Expect:

Monday’s newsletter will always be accessible to anyone that has subscribed to Great Things Take Time. I’ll highlight moments of my week, announcements, things that have brought me joy, and other things worth sharing. But to bring you even more great content we have the Great Things Collective, a paid subscription level for $9 a month that gets you the following:

• Access to a Subscribers’ Only Discord community to interact with myself and other like-minded friends. 

• Additional editions of the Great Things Take Time newsletter where I share stories from my life, lessons I’ve learned, guest authors, personal growth prompts and so much more!

• Exclusive access to in-person and virtual events. 

• The ability for YOU to share more in-depth with the Great Things Take Time community. 

• First in line to get all announcements, merch drops, and anything else fun I have planned to share with you. 

The beautiful thing about people is that we all are made up of many facets that make us unique. This Wednesday starts a series of diving into the key aspects of our lives that impact our growth, and for me, this means sharing a story close to my heart with you. So much of who I am is because of my Nana, the foundation of my being. Her life impacted me greatly and filled me to the brim with love, but her death left a gaping hole I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover from.

Here’s a sneak preview of what I have to share with you:

Moments with Maurice

Each week, my Wednesday content will leave you with a reflection and prompt to share your reactions and thoughts and the following Monday I’ll highlight some of the responses. Taking things inward is powerful, but sharing them reminds us we aren’t alone in our thinking and that we aren’t all that much different.

Upgrade your subscription status to get these prompts with Wednesday’s exclusive content, discuss with the Discord community or submit your thoughts.

• Your Predictions: If you were around Instagram on July 22nd, I teased this project, receiving a mix of reactions that had me in tears. So while you won’t be hearing my voice via meditation, you will get to hear my voice in a whole new way. Although, maybe I just scrap it all and take up Hibachi? Shout out to bmw_habit who got the closest, Great Things Take time is a GT3, just not in the way you were thinking.

• Morning meditations: An inspiration to start my day coupled with a long walk outside with Frankie. Gets me on the right foot out the door.

• Seeing Missy Elliot Work It: At 53, she is an incredible performer, and put on one of the top concerts I’ve ever been to. Her use of costumes, effects, choreography and expertly crafted set list kept my friends and me dancing all night.

• The man who loves Yu-Gi-Oh! and can run fast: Fellow anime lover Noah Lyles took the Gold in the 100M and Bronze in 200M (with Covid!) at the Paris Olympics. He is so bold about who he is and doesn’t fit into the lines. You either love him or you don’t, he’s just going to keep doing impressive things. Now how fast can he Naruto run?

Watching the Olympics was an incredible 16 days. After what I watched, my hope is to attend the games in Los Angeles in 2028 in person to see what track and field is like in real life. It’s almost impossible to imagine humans moving that fast. So, in honor of the incredible Olympians who represented our country and those who brought home medals, I bring you:

Events I Would Get The Gold Medal In:

• Saying I have two things of note, but then really only talking about one thing.

• Not answering my phone (texts or calls).

• Talking and thinking about food. In fact, right now I‘m thinking about what I’m going to eat next.

• Spending time by myself.

• Driving the furthest without taking breaks.

• Hibachi Chefing (of course).

Work hard, relax hard. Here’s what’s had me stuck to my couch this week:

• Rewatching Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 (I told you, Anime nerd).

• Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix: Growing up, I would watch this on TV with my brother who would only make me more scared. He’d tell me to turn off all the lights at night because otherwise the Aliens would see me and take me. Now, because of what my brother does for a living, I pay attention to this new remake and how well they’ve shot it and the way they lean into story telling. They do a great job building the hype in the show and it is a must watch.

Food is a universal way of sharing and experiencing each other.

My grandma, my mom and I have always been the same, it brings us joy to see people enjoying what we’ve made. Because of that, I want to give space for the community to share recipes that are so full of love, it makes people say "damn, you put your foot in this!" 

Each week, I’ll highlight a recipe from a member of the Great Things Collective, sharing the story behind why this meal, dish or drink is special to them. What better way for us get to know each other better and maybe even cook together?

Ingredients: Rolls

• 4 ¼ to 4 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 package active dry yeast

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup mashed, cooked potato

• 1/3 cup butter, cut up +

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 eggs

• ½ cup packed brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ cup butter, softened

• 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar,

Ingredients: Cream Cheese Icing

• 3-ounce package of softened cream cheese

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 tablespoons softened butter

• Milk

Roll Recipe

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 11⁄2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside. In a saucepan heat and stir milk, potato, 1⁄3 cup butter, amount of granulated sugar, and salt just until warm (120°F to 130°F) and butter almost melts; add to flour mixture along with the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of your bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn to grease surface of the dough. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (45 to 60 minutes).

3. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. For filling, in a small bowl stir together brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

4. Roll dough into an 18x12-inch rectangle. Spread 1⁄4 cup butter over dough and sprinkle with filling, leaving 1 inch unfilled along one of the long sides. Roll up rectangle, starting from the filled long side; pinch dough to seal seam. Slice into 12 equal pieces. Arrange in the prepared pan. Cover; let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (about 30 minutes).

5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan. Drizzle or spread with icing. Serve warm.

Cream Cheese Icing Recipe: 

In a medium mixing bowl beat one 3-ounce package of softened cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Gradually beat in 21⁄2 cups powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in milk, 1 teaspoon at a time to reach spreading consistency.

Thanks for being with me on the start of this journey. I’m excited to see where this takes us, and what we’re going to achieve together. I know this is far from perfect, but together I hope we can grow it into exactly what it’s meant to be.

Remember:

-Adrian