Minute With Mallon: What’s Your Panzano?

Welcome to Minute with Mallon! 

Since Christmas Day falls on Thursday this year, I’m sending this a little early so you can read it before the holiday rush. Hope it encourages you as you head into Christmas with your loved ones! 🎅🏼

Something I Taught:

Recently while working with a client our discussion turned to him setting up his life to slow down a little more often in his day-to-day world and to focus more on some of his life passions.

During our call I told him this story…

Back in 2007, my wife Sandy and I went to Italy for our honeymoon. We made Florence our home base, but every day we’d venture out to explore different parts of the country — Cinque Terre, Bologna, Pisa, Siena, and more.

One day, we rented a cab and asked the driver to take us to a town called Panzano in Chianti — a small hilltop village in the heart of Tuscany’s Chianti Classico wine region.

We’d heard there was a wine festival happening there, and we wanted to spend the day with the locals, soaking in the sunshine and enjoying the beauty of the town.

As we were going from winery to winery, we met a man who struck up a conversation with us. It turned out he was from California and worked as a plastic surgeon — tall, very handsome, and full of life.

Every year, he would come back to this quaint little town to apprentice with a world-renowned sculptor. For several months, he’d step away from his medical practice and work in the sculptor’s shop.

He told us that most of his time was spent sweeping, dusting, organizing tools, and setting things up — whatever needed to be done. But while he worked, he watched the sculptor closely and learned from him. He wasn’t paid a dime, but he was given a small room above the shop to live in during those months. 

He told us it was the best part of his year — a season of learning, slowing down, and simply enjoying life in Italy.

Most importantly, it filled him back up so he could return home with the energy and clarity he needed to run a thriving medical practice.

When I think about him now, a handful of words come to mind: relaxed, content, energized, joyful, and satisfied.

So how does this apply to you?

Every one of us needs a place — or a practice — that fills us back up. A rhythm that slows us down long enough to remember who we are, what we love, and why we do any of this in the first place. 

That surgeon didn’t go to Italy to escape his life… He went so he could return better to the life he was called to live.

Maybe you don’t need to fly to Tuscany. But you do need something that restores you, stretches you, and reminds you of the joy inside you that gets buried under the noise of responsibility. 

So here’s my question for you this week:

What is your version of Panzano?

Where is the place — or what is the practice — that helps you slow down, breathe again, and come back energized?

Find it. Schedule it. Protect it.

Because you deserve more than just pushing through life.

You deserve to be filled back up. 

Something to Ponder:

“What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.”

— Vern McLellan

Something I Saw:

Panzano in Chianti

Now let’s make 2026 your best year ever. Pick one or two things you want to get better at — not ten, just one or two — and go all-in on them. Small, consistent improvements always beat big, sporadic efforts. Commit to a habit, build a rhythm, get accountability, and move toward the person you want to become. You’ll be amazed at what can happen in a year when you decide to live it on purpose.

Hope you have an incredible Christmas and God bless each of you! 

Robert