It’s Okay To Mess Up.

If this was in fact a set-up stock photo plan, so sad for this waste of a drink.

Hi, it’s me.

I’m back after a 2-3 week hiatus.

Why? Because I couldn’t meet my personal deadlines to myself.

Why? Life got busy.

I’ve been hanging out with friends and family, and that's eaten up my time.

On top of that, I’m still doing my coding class, which takes up another 6-8 hours a week. Since it’s my first time learning coding, the material is challenging to understand so it has taken longer.

As a result, my personal goal to produce weekly blog content fell short.

And I’ll be the first to say it sucks.

It sucks to not meet my own expectations.

It sucks to feel like a failure in that regard.

But it’s also a reality. There’s nothing I can do now about it, except continue to strive to complete the goal I set out for myself.

Nothing has changed.

I still want to accomplish this goal of regular content production.

Failing to do so for a couple of weeks in a row doesn’t change that fact.

Additionally, failing to do so for the last few weeks has no bearing on my intention and my desire.

Just because I couldn’t meet those expectations the last few weeks, doesn’t mean I still don’t hold those expectations for myself.

So…we just continue with that goal.

Dust yourself off and try again – that’s okay.

Sometimes we look at failure and the lack of accomplishment as something to hang our heads over.

It gets to the point that we don’t even try to risk failure or we only aspire for a manageable goal.

Screw that though. I’m allowed to make mistakes. I’m allowed to fall short of expectations. I’m allowed to have a life, to be busy, to choose other things to prioritize.

It won’t stop me from aspiring to accomplish big, sometimes unattainable things.

Because only by aspiring for the impossible, the unattainable, the unimaginable do we actually demonstrate the capacity to surprise ourselves and accomplish such things.

It is only through surprising ourselves that we gain confidence, ambition, and the determination to make the impossible possible.

Messing up is part of the journey.

It’s how we learn, grow, and ultimately succeed.

So, while acknowledging that I messed up, get right back up on that metaphorical horse and keep striving for greatness.

Drink Some Tea.

I have no idea whether this image is of green tea or not. But just imagine me drinking this cup of tea.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten into a green tea habit.

A pot of green tea after a meal to sip on over the next couple of hours has been a truly enjoyable and relaxing experience.

Whether that’s simply to enjoy while spending time with family or sip on while focusing on a personal project, this act has kept me alert, engaged, and yet calm.

It’s not jittery like a coffee. It gives me a bit more of an alert yet stable and present feel.

And it’s been helpful in ensuring I get enough hydration too.

Now, from a productivity standpoint, it’s helped me focus and it made me wonder why that was the case. Here’s what I found.

Hydration - A Direct Impact On Energy And Brain Function

Now, I wouldn’t qualify myself as anti-water or anti-hydration, but sometimes it slips my mind.

Well, the brain is strongly influenced by your hydration status.

Studies show that even mild dehydration, such as the loss of 1–3% of body weight, can impair many aspects of brain function.

It can impact your mood, perceived difficulty with concentration, and feelings of fatigue.

Caffeine - Stimulant

It’s fairly commonly known. Green tea has caffeine. Certainly the amount of caffeine is less than a cup of coffee but the caffeine is present and can help with alertness and focus. Typically, a cup of tea contains approximately 35-61mg caffeine and may vary depending on whether the tea is loose leaf, bagged or powdered.

L-Theanine

The other and lesser-known ingredient in tea that can associated with the boost in attention is the 4.5–22.5 mg of theanine in tea.

Theanine is an amino acid that is virtually unique to tea (and some mushroom types). The amino acid is thought to bind to attenuate neurotransmitter levels, interfering with their precursor availability and thus affect cognition. It appeared to modulate α wave brain activity and has been associated with relaxation at rest and performance during attention task performance.

Additionally, L-Theanine has been connected with improved sleep quality through anxiolysis. For me, sleep quality hasn’t been an issue in the first place, but I’ll take extra benefits that come my way.

Habit - The Foundation For Deep Focus

Finally, my tea drinking has gotten to the point of a habit. It’s something I look forward to before I settle into my chair to tackle a new problem, a new personal project, and a new focus.

That sense of routine lets me relax and slows my mind from its incessant racing and sporadic thought-jumping.

Sometimes It’s Important To Know Productivity Can Be Defined By What You Enjoy Too

Like I always say - productivity is a very personal and subjective thing. For me, drinking green tea has been an enjoyable and relaxing act and it has also impacted my productivity as it impacts the other connected events in my life. Whether that’s facilitating me focusing on my activities, whether that’s putting me in a relaxed state after a day at work, or whether it’s helping me with my sleep (even though I swear I sleep fine regardless).

So I say - try it. Grab a pack of tea. Try having it after dinner several times a week. See how it makes you feel.

Don’t you want to be this relaxed, drinking tea, and reading 2 books at once!?

Third Month Of The Year. Do You Feel 1/4th Of The Way To Your Goal?

It’s the beginning of March, the third month of the year

It’s shocking how quickly the year has passed by thus far. I only feel like a couple of weeks ago, I wrote my two cents on 2024 as a new year.

But, it’s important to take a step back and acknowledge our current trajectory.

Are we progressing as expected at this point?

Have we done enough these past 3 months to feel on track with whatever expectations we set for ourselves?

Now, I’m not talking about arbitrary externally validated goals. Whether that’s a monetary compensation number, a numerical count of followers reached, or whatever else.

I’m talking about how we view ourselves or how we see our actions aligning with our words and thoughts.

Are we being walking the walk just as much as we talk the talk 3 months into the year.

And if we aren’t walking the walk, what does that mean?

Again, I am against self-loathing and self-punishment, but I think it’s an important discussion to have. Why do we think we aren’t prioritizing the goal we set out for ourselves?

Is it because this isn’t actually the goal we want to achieve and instead only a goal we think we should achieve?

Is it because we keep procrastinating or delaying ourselves?

What can we use to leverage against ourselves?

What are we doing that gets in the way of ourselves?

And what does that tell us and teach us about ourselves?

Again, there’s nothing wrong with the truths we understand about ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with not actually wanting the thing we tell others and ourselves that we want.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I think it’s more about being a reflection or commentary about how we truly feel about something.

And by forcing ourselves to have these types of discussions, we can better figure it out ourselves.

Maybe we truly do want to accomplish whatever it is that we say we want to accomplish. Perhaps we were truly preoccupied with something that required our attention more - a family medical emergency, a business deadline, a personal breakthrough in another facet of our lives.

Whatever the case may be, recognizing the 3 month mark or quarter year mark helps us come face to face with the temporal nature of the year, the sense of urgency in what we set out to do, and hopefully the time and space to reaffirm to ourselves what it is we hope to accomplish by the end of 2024.

For me, I’ve made it to my programming midterm. I’ve learned coding for roughly 8 weeks now. And I feel pretty good about it.

I have been a little inconsistent with my health goals, because my time has been a little reduced since family has started visiting. I’ve been prioritizing hanging out with family instead of exercising or working on other personal projects, so that’s to be expected. And I’m okay with only accomplishing the coding goals.

Spending time with family fulfills my relationship and family goals so I’m happy with that trade-off compared with my original 2024 intentions.

For my business goals, those have been a little slow, so I need to make sure I prioritize them more in the 2nd quarter, especially since by then, I should be wrapping up my coding project soon.

I also want to finally commit to posting on TikTok and trying my hand at social media. It’s hella awkward and I’m more private myself but it’s something I want to try to get used to doing or feel less anxious about because whether it’s business or learning how to feel more comfortable sharing myself with the world or connecting with people online, I think having a social media presence is a part of that process.

Ultimately, there’s no right or wrong in this recap of the year so far but I think it’s a vital process to sit down and discuss with yourself what exactly you hope to accomplish. Additionally, it’s vital to evaluate whether you are making strides towards that goal.

Yes, goals can change.

Yes, timelines can change.

Yes, things can come up to derail your plans.

Those aspects are out of your control. The things that I think are important are whether you (or I) are acting in a way to take advantage and control the things I can do.

Whether I am choosing to sit and watch TV after work versus the personal project that I want to achieve.

Whether I am scrolling on social media for an hour versus changing into gym clothes to get a quick workout in.

Whether I am surfing the internet at the end of the day to “squeeze in some down-time” versus going to bed on time so I’m rested for the next day.

Actions have consequences and I want the consequences, positive and negative, that I designed for myself.

I don’t want 2024 for end without achieving at least some of the things I sought to accomplish and knowing whether I am heading the right direction by checking in with myself regularly along the way is my way of figuring that out.

Exploit Yourself For Yourself.

What Makes You Tick?

How do youu motivate and drive yourself?

How do you exploit yourself in order to motivate yourself?

One of my current goals and focuses is taking a programming course. Offered by StudyHall and Arizona State University, the program is an introductory course in computer science.

Every week I have homework.

Every week there are assignments and readings to complete.

Every week the pace of the class is relentless.

I’ve even got midterm exams 😣

Sure, I’m 100% confident this would be a much more manageable schedule if I didn’t work a 9-5 as well but given that I don’t, never will have the amount of time I had as a student without a job, I’ve got to figure out ways to motivate myself, prioritize learning, and channel my interest and motivation into meaningful investments of time.

Otherwise, the alternative, being able to relax in front of the television on my couch, is a very realistic alterrnative choice.

The reason I wanted to tell you about it is because it hits the perfect middle ground of incentives.

1. I had to commit money. Not a lot. But enough for me to feel the commitment and be motivated to brush off my commitment.

2. There’s some degree of external commitment. Someone else is expecting something from me. Even if I’m 100% sure no one is actually seeking me out or monitoring my progress personally, this level of accountability as an official student is enough commitment.

Sometimes your own intrinsic motivation isn’t as high as you’d like. At least mine isn’t. What I do instead is hijack my need to be accountable to others to push me over the finish line.

I think it’s important to know yourself and know what makes you tick.

Only when you know what you value, how you think and how you find motivation can you then manipulate yourself to accomplish what you want to do.

It’s present day you signing up future day you to do something.

It’s present day you manipulating future day you. For the sake of accomplishing what you want.

And to me, it helps me shape and design the life I like.

So, part of the reason this post is a day late is because I stayed up until 1AM on a workday trying to finish homework for a class I paid for because I know I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t complete the homework before the duedate.

And that is how I am learning how to program. And I enjoy it that way.

Tiktok - Should I Try It

As a millennial, I have a pre-digital life and pocket computer and post-digital life and pocket computer life.

I know what it is like to have dial up, to walk around without a rectangular bulge in my pant pocket.

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a streamer, YouTuber or influencer.

My first instinct is not to whip out my phone and record myself.

But…

I recognize and acknowledge the existence of social media, the power of social media, and the role that a following can have on your brand, on your business’ public facing persona and the impact on marketing.

And, a presence on social media is a part of that.

And I’m terrified.

It’s certainly an aspect of business that I never imagined myself in. But part of business is advertising and marketing and the most effective means to that is having a social media presence.

So, there’s that. And I think I need to accept and embrace trying to post on Tiktok.

Scrolling through social media myself for personal interest, there’s always a wide range of content. You’ve got a couple of staple types of content:

• interesting but random content - think the random but captivating stuff, usually skils and talents that you’d never think to consider learning but recognize exist

• adorable content - the cat/dog content, the random cartoon cutesy stuff

• shocking or divisive content - the political or hard stance stuff

• educational content - you learn something.

• entertaining content - the funny, the charming, the interactive interviewer stuff

• attractive people - guys and girls who model, look good, or do something attractive like fitness

Accounts that do well online seem to hit a couple of these staples at once. They offer two or three things really well.

Whether that’s:

• educational and entertaining - like learning the physics behind juggling

• shocking and interesting - like watching chiropractors crack a back before claiming a miracle

• attractive people and educational content - like those fitness exercises that blend skill and education on targeting muscle groups

For me, I want to create content that is educational and interesting +/- entertaining.

I want to create snippets of information that are meaningful, can be evaluated quickly and implemented quickly. I want to create content that is told in an interesting way.

So let’s analyze some content creators I’m interested in and break down exactly why I like them so I can understand some formulaic framework for reproducing the type of content I like:

@b_turner50 - Brett

https://www.tiktok.com/@b_turner50/video/7333427469585878277?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7326619891276301829

1. His content is tech-y and typically revolves around home automation. It’s not super technical or doesn’t have to be and it’s in an area that can be implemented in a relatable setting - the home.

2. His content typically falls into short but educational snippets. There’s something that can be extracted and implemented into my own life. Whether that’s a type of thinking, a ‘what if’ possibility for products and services that would easily integrate into my own life. Additionally, although some things seem to be offered in quick snippets, despite them potentially being longer projects, we don’t hear about the testing, the troubleshooting, the rest. Just the final product, which in itself, offers a sense of satisfaction and finality.

3. He seems fairly level headed. He has a logical explanation for why he makes his choices and recommendations (whether that be his preference for Apple Home Kit or use of NFC tags with the Apple Ecosystem).

Although some of his content applicability is behind a monetary barrier, whether it’s purchasing some radar tech, 3D printing, or whatever else, it’s something that is achievable if I can stomach some costs. I’d qualify his content as interesting and entertaining with a mix of educational. I don’t learn specific skills, but I can see example use cases. I may not personally find those use cases as applicable to my lifestyle but they dabble into the realm of possible interest.

@DearModern - Feng Shui Guy

Another entertaining and educational creator is the Feng Shui Guy - Cliff Tan

https://www.tiktok.com/@dearmodern/video/7172937210696633606?lang=en

His content is typically response to direct questions and videos asking for his assistance. People tag him in their videos requesting interior design recommendations, typically because of awkward home layouts. He quickly communicates information in an engaging and matter of fact way in small snippets.

1. His communication style is very ‘let me tell you something’. We’ll do this. We’ll avoid this. There’s a decisiveness in his directness that ultimately makes things clearly communicated. There isn’t a need to justify his credentials because people seek him out already.

2. It’s engaging and quick. There’s pace to his videos that keeps you moving quick. Even his narration is quick. I’d say the pace of his speech keeps you on your toes until the end catch phrase “So now you know!”.

3. There’s a learning moment. If you consumed his content frequently, you can predict and know his recommendations because he’s consistent in his responses. You learn something in the span of a couple seconds that you can then implement in your own living situation.

@HybridCalisthenics

Finally, there’s Hybrid Calisthenics.

https://www.tiktok.com/@hybridcalisthenics/video/7151600657248865582?lang=en

The content is good, it doesn’t get overly bogged down in aesthetics, and it has a gentle, patient, and encouraging tone. There’s no real sense of urgency, there’s a friendly and patient tone to his communication style, and he offers several steps to build to the final skill development.

1. It’s a refreshing take on exercise that isn’t about aesthetics. He’s not trying to flex or pose. He’s not trying to show how muscular he is. He’s not in some gym in front of a mirror with the latest equipment or anything. He’s on his deck using old furniture, a tree, some gymnastiics rings, and simply trying to help.

2. There’s a focus on encouraging and building up people at whatever level they are at. Yes, he can do some very difficult and powerful moves but I feel like the feeling is less about showing off what he can do and more about encouraging you as the viewer to accomplish what you can do.

So What Do I Want? What Kind Of Content Can I Crreate?

I want to have a clear, calm, and direct communication style.

I want to offer short snippets of information to people about topics interesting to me.

With my business content, I want my content to be interesting and educational. I want to focus on communicating effectively and clearly, whether that’s body language, tone of voice, or pronunciation.

I want to offer help to people. To share my expertise in a topic and hopefully make some well-timed comment that allows people to learn or unlock something in their comprehension.

I will achieve this by providing clear, quick commentary - nothing rambling or long-winded.

I should be able to boil down my take-away into something simple and short.

I should be able to meet people where they are at in their communication, providing levels of skill development that build towards the intended overall goal.

With my personal content, I wish to document my growth in areas of interests. I’m less so interested in showing people a better way or anything, but I wish to use it as a means of expression for myself as well as a way to display interesting content. For me, I think that would be via my interest in videography/photography, my desire to try new things, and my interest in learning how to story-tell.

I will achieve this, not necessarily through commentary, but via good story-telling techniques.

I should be able to pick a technique or a skill, and story-tell my implementation or growth in it - what I’ve learned, why I learned it, and what I can use it for.

I’m hoping that by posting this monologue for myself online, it will spur me into action. I’ve posted that I’ll consider these things. I’ve said that I want to try to make that shift. Maybe this will get me over my millenial apprehension and get over myself and my worries.

Happy Chinese New Year 2024

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Hope you get to celebrate with family and spend time to be with loved ones!

If you don’t celebrate Chinese New Year, then this is just another random weekend before Valentine’s Day.

But what is Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is the biggest celebration in Chinese culture. It’s a big deal. Bigger than Christmas, bigger than Jan 1st new years. It’s big.

It’s at least 3 days of public holiday time +/- any extra time that work gives you.

Chinese New Year is a festival that celebrates the beginning of the lunar new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar.

It’s a time for family and tradition, ushering the new year in, driving out bad spirits and ill fortune while welcoming good fortune and prosperity.

There’s firecrackers, performances, loud music and a big spectacle.

If this were a random weekend with no associated cultural significance to me, I’d see it as a waste of my time or something I’m not interested in.

But, there are things in my life that are not necessarily productive to anyone else, but are productive and meaningful to me.

And I think it’s important to talk about it.

I think it’s important to recognize and acknowledge the things that may not necessarily be objectively productive to other people because productivity is an individual and personal thing.

Again, productivity is a very subjective thing based on your individual priorities.

From the perspective of someone who doesn’t celebrate Chinese New Year, the customs, traditions, and familial duties may seem like a waste of time, distract from your real priorities, and reflect a huge time commitment to something that is silly.

And that may entirely be correct for them if they were in your shoes - after all, they don’t celebrate it.

But for you, this may be a time-honoured tradition that gives you meaning, lets you celebrate your culture, and connect with your family and community on a larger scale.

For me, around this time of year, spending time at a crowded, noisy, bustling dim sum restaurant with friends and family is enjoyable.

The atmosphere takes on a positive twist where the adjectives are festive, exciting, and nostalgic rather than crowded, noisy, and squished.

For me, around this time of year, I miss my parents and family more, because I don’t get to do these traditional activities with them. I remember the

So it’s meaningful and productive for me to dedicate time towards spending with friends, calling family, and being together with loved ones.

It’s meaningful for me to buy mandarin oranges with leaves and stems attached.

It’s meaningful for me to wear nice new clothes during these family gatherings.

It’s meaningful for me to have gotten a haircut before new years and not to wash my hair on new years day.

The point is, productivity continues to be a subjective pursuit.

Sometimes, things can be considered productive if the parameters are right.

Other times, those same things can be considered non-productive.

But today, they are meaningful.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Treat Your Time Like You Budget Your Finances

I like to think of productivity as a budget. You’ve got 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 168 hours a week, 672 hours a month.

How do you assign value to your hours? Where do you say you’ll spend time versus where do you actually spend time.

I use an app called YNAB for my personal budgeting. It’s extremely helpful for me to actually recognize where my money is going and ensuring that I save money where I say I want to spend it.

Here’s some basic principles for YNAB.

1. Rule 0: Decide your top priority for your money. Key word is decide. You have the ability to choose what to spend it on.

2. Rule 1: Give every dollar a job, by creating accounts for each of the goals you want to fund. If you don’t assign each dollar a job, you may be tempted to spend it on something else. If you recognize that that dollar is part of your rent money, then you won’t spend it on random snacks or a nice article of clothing. Yes, essentials are essential so food and rent are both necessary, but understanding and segmenting your money between vacation, fun money, clothing, subscriptions, take-out food, and the rest can help protect money for things you actually want.

3. Rule 2: Embrace your true expenses, by creating categories for each infrequent, but predictable expense (car repair, doctor’s bills, new computer, Christmas gifts) and assigning a portion of the money you currently have to each of them, until they are fully funded, you aren’t surprised or scrambling for a large payment.

4. Rule 3: Roll with the punches. Every once and a while, you’ll get an unexpected big cost. Whether that’s an unexpected car repair, an emergency hospital bill or insurance claim, or whatever else, recognizing that a budget includes being flexible is important. The flexibility to realize a budget isn’t set in stone and can change to adapt to each month’s unique circumstances, you can feel comfortable pulling money from lower priority accounts to fund higher priority ones.

5. Rule 4: Age your money, by waiting as long as possible from the moment money comes in, to the moment it is spent, which creates a cash buffer for dealing with fluctuations in income and expenses.

Parallels to Productivity

What does a budget do? It keeps you on track and intentional with what you spend your money on. It inventories what you do, what you save, what you spend and makes you formally recognize and assign monetary value to the respective categories of your life.

Time equally can be scheduled and managed with the same level of intentionality. You can track and decide what you spend your time on. You can inventory what you do, what you decide not to do and you can formally recognize and assign a temporal value to the respective categories of your life.

So here’s what you can do.

1. Figure out the deeper purpose

Sit down and figure out what you want to spend your time doing. Whether you do that in a 2024 Annual Plan, a 2023 Annual Review, a State of the Union plan with your partner, or whatever else, take the time to answer the question: “What do I want my time to do for me?”, just like you can ask, “What do I want my money to do for me?” for your personal budget.

Taking the time to decide and assign for yourself a deeper intention or a relative direction you want to head towards, you can make future decisions and plans accordingly.

If you value freedom and autonomy, then protecting time to be spontaneous and not booking yourself months in advance, can be a smart move that aligns with your overall direction. But if you don’t have a vision of where you want to go, then maybe you wouldn’t have the foresight to refuse future requests.

If you value creativity and self-expression, but have a current career filled with administrative tasks, limited self-autonomy, and you work endlessly to the point that you’re exhausted in your free time and subsequently not motivated to have creative time, then maybe a more dramatic productivity shift is needed in your life.

2. Rejig Your Budget - It’s Allowed.

With both money and time, a budget is fluid and allowed to change.

People often times approach budgeting and their time as black and white or set in stone. Once it’s decided, it’s decided. But the reality is that you can change, adapt, modify, and tweak these things. Just like financial categories as abstract, so are your time commitments.

What I mean, is that you can have an honest conversation with yourself and recognize trade-offs. If you have no money in your Restaurant category but it’s a Friday night and your friends are hanging out, you can move money from another category - let’s say Clothing & Appearances. My point though, is that you need to acknowledge the trade-off and accept the reduction in money for the Clothing & Appearances category. So maybe not buying a new sweater this month or deferring a haircut.

The same can apply for your time. If you accept that Friday night you are going to spend 3 hours hanging out with friends, then maybe that’s 3 hours of time taken out of your Reading or Hobbies time and maybe you’re going to have to be okay with less reading for the week.

This lets you reframe your week or your scheduling from, “Did I get enough done today?”, with more nuanced ones, like “What could I have done differently today?” because you aren’t working with more or less time, it’s more about what you decided to do with that time.

3. Tighten the feedback loop between your present and future self

Both money and productivity boil down to a relationship between your present and future self.

In order to forge towards a desired future, it necessitates planning and decision making. The only way you can align your future and present self to align your goals and decision-making, checking in frequently is important. When it’s a personal budget, updating regularly and budgeting as soon as you get your money ensures that every dollar is assigned and accounted for.

For time, deciding what you will spend your time on for the week ensures that you are deciding ahead of time and not simply strung along by others. You are designing the life you wish to live.

4. Manage unexpected events by turning them into consistent routines

Both money and time can be consumed by unexpected events. A death in the family requires a barrage of last-minute funeral expenses, maybe some travel expenses, and a lot of coordination costs.

A new responsibility at work means a flurry of meetings, oversight, an extra pile of responsibilities and so forth.

But the truth is, the unpredictable is predictable and having the capacity to anticipate, appreciate, and account for these curveballs can help us prepare for these inevitable events. YNAB recommends categories for each of the “emergency” expenses we are likely to encounter at any point in the future, and to fund them up to a reasonable level. This ensures that when your fridge or boiler breaks down, you have funds ready and waiting, instead of scrambling for cash and taking it out of your grocery budget.

Preventative maintenance is what allows you to ride out the crises and emergencies, without being completely thrown off track from your priorities. Auditing your weekly time commitments, recognizing the average amount of time you get side-tracked or how much time you commit to unexpected or unplanned events can give you a calibrated estimation for future week planning. This can slowly but surely assist you in predicting and designing a weekly schedule for yourself.

5. Create milestones to provide a sense of completion

Managing flows of money or time is never-ending. You start doing it and it’s a commitment for life. This means there are few built-in stopping points to celebrate how far you’ve come. It can feel normal or what I should be doing and sometimes it neglects a part of us that I think should be celebrated.

YNAB recommends funding a category only until it has enough funds - something that can be determined when the category is first created. Instead of one giant “emergency savings” fund that is never quite big enough (and so tempting to “borrow from”), you have a series of smaller, more targeted savings accounts designated for specific purposes. Once all your accounts have been funded, you’re free to spend anything left over guilt-free!

The same mechanism is valuable in productivity. Figure out your tasks, completion dates, weekly reviews and to-do lists. Finishing those should allot you free time and energy to do what you want.

Build in reward time into your schedule if you accomplish the things you want to get done - whether that’s 60 minutes to relax and play video games or 60 minutes to read a book before bed to wind down. The idea is knowing ahead of time that you have time to relax and unwind so that you can focus your attention on work.

6. Have an honest discussion with yourself about what is actually happening instead of what “should be”

In both your personal budget and investment of time, what should be happening and what is actually happening can differ. That’s okay. It happens sometimes and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. But it’s a message and you need to listen loud and clear.

We can make up justifications, rationalizations, and excuses effortlessly, and maintain our behaviours even when the impact on our health, happiness, and relationships are evident.

Take a second to acknowledge the current state of things. Take a second to realize your actions and decisions may not match up with what you tell yourself and others. Take it as a sign that maybe you need to have an open discussion with yourself about you care and prioritize and gravitate towards, because it perhaps may not be what you think you should. Instead you may need to change your budget and your schedule to reflect what you actually want instead of what you should want.

7. Don’t try to fully automate – instead, make it quicker and easier to make good decisions

When you use YNAB, you are actively budgeting your money. No autopilot, “set it and forget it” approach. Instead, you create a current financial picture and actively route funds to the categories you have actively set up.

Likewise with productivity, let’s just get this out of the way and say you wouldn’t have a “perfect system”. You won’t know exactly what to do each moment. Some days will be more productive and some days will be less productive. But the habit of deciding, refining, and planning will be a vital component of having a more intentional routine.

8. Scarcity can help us be more concrete about our priorities

Scarcity in money or time provides an invaluable source of clarity. It quickly can determine for you what you truly care about and what matters most. When funds dry up, that is the exact moment when you find out what’s most important, and what can go.

When time runs out, you find out what needs to be done and what can wait.

DeepWander - My Opinions

Introspection is a skill worth investing time to develop, giving anyone with the ability the power to analyze, understand, and improve on themselves. Whether that’s reflecting on their actions, their emotions, their upbringing or how they wish for others to see them, it’s a powerful tool and one that you don’t need much to get started with. I recommend considering DeepWander because it’s easy to set up, makes for an interesting discussion, and it honestly is a good starting point for people to consider why they think and act the way they do.

Whether you’re already down the rabbit hole of introspection and self-reflection, or you’re learning for the first time how you are and why you are that way, you can get right into it and I think this tool might be an effective tool for you.

Why You Should Trust Me

No reason. I found it. Felt that it was a good tool for self-improvement and introspection. Felt that I’d be helpful in sharing others.

I am an individual blogger who is focused and passionate about being better, improving, and growing. So I’m looking into these things for my own personal growth and development. If you are reading this blog, then you’re already interested in what I have to say or stumble upon. If that’s a good enough reason to look into DeepWander, then that’s great! Try it for yourself and see if it works for you!

So What Is DeepWander?

DeepWander is an AI-directed introspective tool designed to provide you with introspective reflection. It’s a product that, like ChatGPT, takes your information and provides a response in a human-centric way. You feel like you are chatting with someone.

You can say as much or as little as you want about a situation so youu can direct how personalized the responses and the details are for you.

From my own experience with the application, the line of questioning offered by DeepWander is effective, pointed, and beneficial in directing you towards a line of thinking that you may not have understood or had the insight to look towards by yourself. The application works surprisingly well and thus far, I’ve really enjoyed the results I’ve gotten with it.

For me, the power of this tool is to have a succinct and easily referenced piece of material that encapsulates the experience, the thought-process and the general take-aways.

Who Is This For?

Anyone who is looking for a way to facilitate self-improvement and self-discovery.

I find that for me, I make mini-snippets of connections and have introspective thoughts on occasion, but that is just it. They are simply small mini-moments. They are fragmented pieces. DeepWander helps me have these meaningful thoughts and introspective moments on a more consistent basis and it does so in the span of a single conversation or interaction.

How I Made This Choice?

Options for Introspection - “Dive Deeper”, “Summarize”, and “Assess” - When having these discussions or sessions, you get 3 options to proceed. Dive Deeper allows you to request a follow-up question. It can get you to have more discussion or more leading questions to boil down to a certain thought or theme that you are currently having success with. Summarize puts the conversational framework into a first-person perspective summary of the identified thoughts and feelings. Assess highlights specific themes and concepts that were discussed, raises points of interest to further consider, and areas for future improvement. In this way, it provides words to the concepts and feelings so that is something to google and research afterwards. Kind of like how you don’t know what you don’t know. Having the language to express the thoughts and feelings as well as the vocabulary to delve further into the topic is important and meaningful.

Personalized Prompts and Self-Exploration Prompts - Whether you have your own topics for discussion or inquiry or if you are open to discussing any option for discussion, DeepWander is a powerful tool to grow and learn even if you don’t have a clear vision of how or what you want to grow and explore.

Introspective Journey Tracking - You can pause and resume conversations. You can refer back to previous conversations to review the take-aways and have it all documented/recorded. Compared with a therapist where the conversation occurred and there’s fleeting snippets of ideas and concepts that were discussed, DeepWander interactions are fully captured and can be referenced.

Cautionary Warning

Now, I don’t have the technical or privacy knowledge to recognize the potential dangers of sharing my information to this platform. That’s my bias and my concern. So take it with a grain of salt to not indulge the program with information that you feel may harm you.

Success - When Does It Start?

We need to have a frank discussion about SUCCESS.

I think the term is warped and shifted into a very outcome-driven definition.

When it pertains to tasks, projects, and used in other non-person descriptions, that definition is appropriate and easily understood.

When we transitioned from working with Bank A to Bank B, that transition was a success.

When we used Process A which was inefficient and slow but then switched to Process B, that was more efficient and streamlined, that was a successful switch.

When Facebook rebranded to Meta, that was an unsuccessful transition. No one calls it Meta.

When the term is used in the context of humans, of people, it becomes a more jarring and inappropriate descriptor.

Here’s why.

What Are The Criteria Of Success?

How do we measure success? There are many things that can go into one’s definition of success but it isn’t necessarily straight-forward, nor universally agreed upon.

Are You A Success Based Solely On Monetary Compensation?

What happens if you happen to make $1 million dollars a year but hate your job, and find the working conditions toxic and inhumane?

What about if you make $20,000 a year but love the people, the work, and the impact you have on others? You wake up every day eager to work and eager to make a difference in lives. Would you be considered a failure?

Are you a success based solely on happiness?

So long as I’m happy, is that sufficient to be a success?

Does success include financial stability or one’s ability to provide for a family? Certainly success can take many shapes so depending on your personal interpretation of success, these may be relevant questions and considerations. Back to the previous example of making $20,000 a year but loving the people, the work, and the impact you have on others, to some people that may be success.

Are You A Success Based On Your Fame And Recognition?

If someone can stop you on the street or identify you, that makes you a recognizable figure. Does that mean you are a success?

Some may say that actors are a success. What about reality TV stars? What about infamous people from the news?

Does your success depend on how others perceive you?

Some people purposefully avoid being in the spotlight, avoid being noticed.

Others relish in the attention and the impact that they have on the world around them, whether that’s through entertainment, education, social commentary, etc.

Does your definition of success include being acknowledged for your accomplishment?

What About Start-Up Company CEOs And New Industry Innovators ?

If you were creating a new product or service that people don’t quite even understand, are you considered a success or failure? As our technological world continues to advance, your everyday person may not necessarily understand what you are accomplishing. As a result, the recognition of your contributions may not come to fruition.

What about the first AI company before AI was a thing?

Or social media company before social media became a thing.

In the context of not actually understanding what product or service actually is actually being offered, is that successful?

Like nowadays, there are those live-streamers and NPC streamers. I still don’t quite understand the intention myself but if these individuals can pay the bills doing that, is that considered a success?

Is Vincent Van Gogh A Success?

Tiktok Account Kennovate posed the question here.

Vincent Van Gogh died before receiving the recognition for his art.

He died before the monetary success followed his creations.

He died before his fame peaked.

If money, fame, and recognition of talent did not occur until after his death, when did he transition from failure to success?

And how do we separate his success from his art’s success?

If you define success from external validation in the form of monetary compensation or recognition for your inputs and

creations, then success occurred after his death.

Is that a type of success you are willing to have?

Tiktok User Kennovate proposes a different interpretation of the word.

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.

- Earl Nightingale

This interpretation lends itself to the belief that success occurs when you pursue your goal.

It means that when Vincent Van Gogh decided to create art and pursue that endeavour - that’s when he was a success.

When he chose to pursue his interest in art versus any other potential pursuits, that he became a success.

And I think that’s an interesting interpretation. Because it certainly is not the interpretation we as a society apply or use. We don’t celebrate new or starving artist creatives like that. We prioritize stable, secure lines of work like nurses and government employees.

We judge people as successful based on their bank account, the car they drive, the size of the home they live in.

This definition means that your decision to pursue the thing that you identified as a target for pursuit turned you into a

success.

It means that Vincent Van Gogh was always The Vincent Van Gogh. That his success was something tied to him rather than

other people and their perception of him and his art.

It means the monetary compensation, the accolades, the fame, and the other external validations are irrelevant.

The question is then whether or not Vincent Van Gogh saw himself as a success. And I don’t think he did.

He committed suicide. The loneliness, sense of failure and sense of burden on his brother were speculated to be a part of his

motivations for suicide. And I think that’s the saddest part of it. If the rest of the world thinks you are a success after your

death, but you yourself feel like a failure, when does that label of success become applicable.

Again, I emphasize that I think success and failure labels for things/projects/endeavours should be handled differently from success labels for humans.

Humans are only not succeeding when they are not pursuing what they have decided what they want to do. Because they are not actually pursuing their worthy goal or ideal.

The additional caveat to that is that if they decide to change their worthy goal or ideal, they can then transition to being a success because their actions align better with their updated ideal or goal.

So I hope you have a moment to yourself to figure out what success looks like to you. Recognize that you are successful the

moment you are pursuing something you deem worthy of pursuit.

Recognize that that is the moment where success occurs. Not the accolades, not the monetary wealth, not the recognition.

Recognize that our societal measure for success in people is skewed, misshaped and a poor definition that depends on external validation.

Recognize that our societal measure for success doesn’t actually fit well with our unanimously identified icons of success.

Vincent Van Gogh killed himself, concerned that he was a failure and burden to his family.

Edgar Allan Poe was largely known as a literary critic while alive rather than a poet or short-story author because the world

didn’t come to appreciate his works until after his death.

Same goes for Herman Melville, the American novelist who wrote Moby Dick, whose recognition only followed his death.

My point being that your external validation of success may only be recognized posthumously, so I hope you employ a

definition of success for yourself that allows you to appreciate and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.

You’re a success.

Being Okay With Failure Leads to Growth

Every couple of months, I get back on my soapbox and continue to talk about failure.

There’s a lot of different feelings and thoughts about failure but there are some general themes about failure and honestly, I think they’re mostly good. As long as you have the tenacity and insight to reflect on your failure.

You don't matter that much.

Some people find solace in the fact that they matter very little. That the world will continue to exist and continue to spin no matter whether you succeed or fail at what you attempt to achieve.

It means that your feelings of insecurity and fear of failure largely go unnoticed to the rest of the world. Everyone else is also fearful of their own failures and don’t have time to concern themselves with yours.

This liberating feeling can and does mean that you are free to fail as much as you want and that people won’t notice.

Although it may feel catastrophic in your subjective perspective and in your life, it doesn’t mean much to the world as a whole.

“You miss a 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky,

Some people see the risk of failure as less paralyzing that not even attempting. Some people recognize that failure is a part of success and you only achieve success if you’re willing to fail.

This can be liberating to know because for many, it’s that first step that is the most challenging. But if you don’t take that first step, then there are no subsequent steps.

If you cannot take that first step, then how can you expect to make something from nothing?

Whether that’s a creative endeavour such as photography, pottery, woodworking, drawing, dance or anything else.

As someone who doesn’t really self-identify as creative or a business person, the idea of putting myself out into the world publicly while doing something that I wasn’t exactly trained in or that there wasn’t a clear cut path to follow has certainly been a daunting experience.

Whether it’s even blogging my opinions and thoughts onto a personal website, or trying my hand at a new hobby or craft, having to exist and take up space and do so publicly has been a challenge.

For example, posting photos, feeling comfortable walking around in public with a camera, having someone ask me about my camera or my photography has been weird.

I always kind of have to remind myself that I enjoy the hobby or interest and that I would want to do it if no one was around and that I’m doing it for myself and not for others. So my failures are solely for me and if I want to get better, I have to go through this period of failure and mediocrity.

But what does it mean to fail?

When we think of it from purely a definition standpoint

fail·ure - /ˈfālyər/, noun

noun: failure

1. lack of success.

   "an economic policy that is doomed to failure"

2. the omission of expected or required action.negligence

   "their failure to comply with the basic rules"

3. the action or state of not functioning.

   "symptoms of heart failure"

From a definition-standpoint, failure is very black and white. Success or failure. Two sides of a coin. But when we talk about failure as it pertains to skill develop and progression, it can’t be so clearly boiled down into a binary choice.

If I fail to score a basket in basketball, do I fail at basketball?

What would failure look like in a game?

There are so many complex moving parts, that the concept of failing in basketball is never considered. Whether it’s dribbling, passing, shooting, defence, set play implementation, athleticism, etc, these things can’t be so simply boiled down into success and failure.

We don’t even think about these terms of success and failure because we understand the complexity of these integrated and coordinated movements. We only boil it down to WIN and LOSE because it’s a competition that pits two entities against each other.

It’s so easy to see this objectively when we think about others as a third party. If Team A beats Team B we don’t say Team B are all failures. We may criticize specific plays, specific skillsets, specific matchups but we don’t widespread label the entirety of Team B as a failure.

And yet we someone do so in a first person perspective about ourselves.

We become so fearful of failing at something, whether they be trying something new, performing on a stage, trying a new hobby, or putting ourselves out there to do something different. Sometimes we arbitrarily avoid these situations because we don’t want to even give ourselves the chance to fail.

That mindset also negates all the growth and development that accompanies failure.

If I make errors along the way but practice a skill, or improve a skill proficiency, those are aspects of a failure that are not accounted for in SUCCESS and FAILURE.

The label FAILURE in itself fails to encapsulate the entirety of one’ performance.

By recognizing the shortcomings of the term FAILURE, it may liberate us from that fear because it forces us to acknowledge the limitations of the term to fully encapsulate the action.

Artistic and creative expression, the pursuit of a hobby or interest that you are new to - the technical knowledge, the

That act of attempting to apply the failure label may in fact then liberate us from that fear because it forces us to acknowledge the impossibility of applying the term failure at all.

And if we cannot fail entirely, then what can hold us back? If we cannot fail entirely, then we are only progressing and growing.

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” ― Thomas A. Edison

In the case of things that can be failed, I implore you to be okay with failure.

Why? Well, you simply cannot get better if you are not willing to fail.

How does one get better at a skill without practice?

How does one get better at a skill without learning from mistakes? And how does one even identify things as mistakes without the recognition and growth to understand there is a better way?

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan

We can only grow if we continue to try and if we continue to try we will inevitably grow. It is only when we stop trying or we do not even attempt to start that we will not grow.

---

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ―Winston S. Churchill

Deconstructing Goals: The Path to Proficiency in Lifelong Learning

Breaking down ambitions into their elemental parts is an invaluable skill, one I've come to appreciate more as I've grown older. It's not something typically taught during our formative years. Our educational path tends to be well-defined, focusing on predetermined targets set by the government, the school system, the curriculum.

However, as we move beyond these established milestones, a crucial question arises: how do we think critically and design our own learning pathways beyond these formative years? The world evolves, and industries emerge that weren't even on the horizon a decade ago. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and social media marketing have become pivotal fields that didn’t exist in the past. And your success and ability to be on the cutting edge of them demands a knack for setting and achieving self-defined objectives. Using Blender, Figma, Midjourney and the like are all things that require you to stumble along and create the industry so there is no predetermined curriculum or set course for learning.

And if you don’t have a means of self-proficiency to continue to propel your lifelong learning forward, then you don’t have a means of staying on the cutting edge. Now this may not matter to some. You don’t have to be the first in an industry and can simply fall in line or follow the footsteps of another.

But if you possess an interest, why not pursue it at the speed that you want, not governed by the proficiency of others already in the field.

We all possess aspirations and interests outside the confines of formal education.

For me, it's woodworking. I want to be handy, to be comfortable fixing my home and being able to modify my living space for my preferences.

But bridging the gap between aspiration and achievement requires deconstruction.

It starts by embracing imperfection.

Proficiency comes from persistently creating 'mediocre' work until it's no longer mediocre.

It's a gradual progression—from simple boxes to more complex woodworking projects like cabinets or wardrobes.

The essence lies in understanding that grand achievements are composite structures built upon smaller components.

Mastery in woodworking is the sum of mastering individual skills, where each step contributes to the larger goal. That may mean understanding that a wardrobe or dresser is simply a combination of boxes within a bigger box.

Being able to deconstruct these more daunting projects into their component parts is the skill that is required in these goals though. It is the unlock to lifelong learning because it deconstructs these larger, more grand, and at times more abstract goals into more concrete, simplified, and reasonable projects.

Each 'shitty' box signifies progress, a step towards mastery. It's about embracing the journey, reveling in incremental improvements, and recognizing that each step contributes to a lifelong pursuit of excellence.

Deconstructing ambitions, transforming them into achievable steps, and persevering through gradual improvement—that's the ultimate life hack for pursuing proficiency and lifelong learning.

Closing Out 2023. Onto 2024.

2023 is coming to a close. 2024 here we come.

Whenever a year comes to a close, it’s important to reflect on all the things accomplished, all the experiences to be grateful for, and all the aspirations to carry on to the new year. It’s important to reflect on what worked out, what didn’t work out, and what things to change.

For me, I will try to review things using Ali Abdaal’s Annual Review template on Notion. But I find it challenging to do so. I find it hard to reflect because I find it hard to acknowledge what has happened, especially the positives.

I don’t unpackage and process what I’ve done. My mind goes to the things I failed to do or instead glosses over everything, and feel that the year was fine.

Everything was stable.

I didn’t accomplish all my goals.

I failed to achieve my goals.

I didn’t do the things as good as I could’ve or should’ve.

I want to change that and I’ve tried to change it but it’s definitely something I struggle with regularly and it hasn’t really gotten any easier. I know how to walk the walk and go through the motions but to actually believe it myself is hard.

The annual review kinda helps me take myself out of the equation. I find it extremely uncomfortable to praise myself or give myself that language of success because I always think I can do more. Instead, my mind typically focuses on what I did wrong, could have done better, failed to do. By having a framework for an annual review, it actually focuses on some of the positives that I’ve accomplished and does so in a list-based, factual form. Its important because it sets aside some very key events and actionable items in almost a check-list manner, a matter-of-fact way.

These things happened. I cannot deny that. And if I cannot deny them, then it means that I did them. And if I did them, then they are my accomplishments.

It forces you to acknowledge the things you’ve accomplished

It forces you to acknowledge things that you need to keep doing and things that you need to stop doing.

It forces you write down and concretely define what you like and dislike.

I think the longer things stay ephemeral and vague, the easier it is to coast and the easier it is to end a year without knowing your next direction or how to adjust. Like, if I didn’t write it down, I don’t think I would’ve recognized that I let myself relax a lot more, that I indulged in video games a lot more, that I lessened my focus on meditation and prioritized sleep a lit more.

Although not consciously, I think I made some decisions with my instincts that led to a lot more mental and physical health prioritization rather than aspiration and goal achievement. I’d like to think my body just knew. And now, I feel revitalized and a little more restless wanting to get back into project management, skill development, and goal accomplishing in 2024.

As 2023 comes to an end, recognizing the things you made the most progress on, acknowledging the importance and dedication you placed on them, and protecting space for yourself in the new year to either continue those goals or to pursue new ones is important. It’s something that you can only recognize if you sit and look at it.

For me, this year, the general theme was rest and relaxation.

My personal business life was non-existent.

My 9-5 day job responsibilities grew.

My personal life was prioritized with it’s own ups and downs. I had an unexpected and devastating loss in the family. It

brought my family closer together but it also highlighted the fragility and instability that is human life.

From a goals and personal development perspective, I tried a few new interesting things. I dabbled in some woodworking (although limited in the apartment). I posted weekly on my personal and private business websites respectively, but I didn’t really push as hard as I feel I can. I also didn’t create a physical or digital product to sell.

Now, 2024 is coming in fast. So for me, reviewing and now creating a plan for 2024 will be the most important thing.

For anyone out there reading this blog, thank you. Whenever you read this, however this falls onto you, I hope some of what

I say here resonates with you and spurs you onto your next thing. I started this blog to motivate myself, to get myself to

commit to something, and to put my words into action because I do feel like I can do great things. And so, if you’re reading

this, then that is my great thing - sharing myself and my perspective with someone else. I appreciate it.

Happy 2023 and onto 2024.

Christmas Eve - Got Your List Of Things You Want?

Christmas eve is upon us!

It’s almost Christmas but what’s on your list of wants?

What matters most to you in this moment?

Go do that!

And I’m not necessarily talking material things.

I’m talking about what are the things that are most valuable to you this holiday season?

Is it family time? Is it learning a new skill? Is it seeing your kids brighten as Santa gets his bags ready? Is it the traditions, the games, the yearly movie you watch with the family?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Being productive is a personal and subjective experience. It is 100% dependent on what you give value to. If being productive is spending time with family doing the most mundane things, then go do that!

When you have responsibilities, family involvement and basically anyone else’s opinion coming into your head, recognize that they have their priorities and you have yours. Whatever the compromise is that you figure out with these people, you have to figure out for yourself if you’ll be happy.

If you’re traveling to visit family and find yourself sitting at the dinner table while your parents cook and you’re simply catching up and enjoying each others’ presence, if that’s what is most important to you - that’s productive time.

That’s valuable time.

The main thing though, is that people have the time and right headspace to sit down with themselves to establish that that is in fact the most important thing to them.

Make sure to ask yourself what matters most. What do you prioritize or value?

For me this season, here are my most important priorities:

1. Spend time with wife, friends and family

2. Clean the home

3. Organize my office space

4. Finish learning my Notion template

5. Finish my webinar lecture for work

If I accomplish these 5 things over the next couple of days to wrap up the 2023 year, I’ll be so happy!

Anyways, hoping you get to achieve your productivity goals this winter break! Hoping you get to do what’s most important in your life at this time. Hoping you get to start the new year revitalized, refreshed, relaxed and ready for another 12 months of productivity!

Happy Holidays - Emphasis on Happy.

Typically, there is an expectation that things wind down with the holiday season.

Businesses close (with the exception of direct-to-consumer brands).

Holiday season means vacation time which means significant business activity slows down.

If you work an office job or in public service, then things slow to a halt.

But you also don’t necessary need to feel the pressure of others to slow down.

This is also a perfectly good and appropriate time to ramp up. You can ramp up your work productivity while others slow down. You are allowed to be different. To not feel the need to slowdown. You can work twice as hard if you feel like you’re in a groove.

Sometimes, I feel the pressure to stop or cease or slow down because everyone else is; that it’s weird to want to work just as hard.

Or to redirect your time and effort towards soemthing that you didn’t have time to focus on during the regular work season.

But I think it’s important to normalize the idea that it’s okay to keep working if it makes you happy.

It’s okay to like working.

It’s okay to like spending a weekend at the coffee shop to work on passion projects or work projects.

And I want to make it clear that I’m not condoning hustle culture or breaking your back for your boss. I’m talking about passion projects that you are intrinsically passionate and motivated to complete yourself. I’m talking about the idea that you don’t need to necessarily sit on the couch and watch Christmas tv shows if that’s not your thing.

For many people, it is their thing and that’s great! Keep doing it. I’m referring to the people who enjoy their passion projects, and although they borderline fit with work, are things you are intrinsically happy and motivated to pursue, you are allowed to do those too!

So that’s what I’m doing today. It’s okay that your coworkers don’t understand that interest of yours. It’s okay that your friends dont.

Eventually you will find people to surround yourself with that also appreciate and embrace that lifestyle that you have. You will find people who are equally motivated, enjoy the self-improvement, and recognize the commitment you have to pursuing your passions.

My wife does and I’m forever grateful for that.

She is literally sitting beside me working on herself and her work.

She could very well rest and relax at home but she chose to sit beside me at a coffee shop and work on her projects and goals herself.

Because she knows I like doing this and I feel encouraged that she can do the same.

In fact, it propels me to do more myself because I see her working on herself and her goals. It encourages me to contiunue to improve on myself.

So happy holidays to you! Emphasis on happy. Do what makes you happy even if the world doesn’t understand.

I hope you thoroughly enjoy your holiday season with the people you love.

Embrace Your Uniqueness: Finding Fun in the Unconventional

Ever wondered what fun means to you? I’m currently delving into a book titled “I’m Surrounded By Idiots” by Thomas Erikson. It’s all about understanding personalities and relationships, helping you decipher what makes people tick. The gist is that everyone operates differently—what motivates them might not be what motivates you, and that’s okay. Their perspectives and priorities may not align with yours, but that doesn’t make them any less capable.

The key takeaway for me?

It's totally fine to be different, to embrace your quirks and idiosyncrasies. Recognizing what makes you tick and recognizing that it isn’t necessarily what makes others tick and adapting how you interact with them based on their priorities and mindset helps you opitmize these interactions.

And this applies to how they see the world, how they unwind, how they express themselves, and how they see themselves. This kind of revelation was highlighted to me when during the week, I found myself in bed excited about an Excel formula that I got working. And all I could do was smile and laugh to myself catching myself pumped about an Excel spreadsheet.

Sometimes, when I talk about my hobbies or how I unwind, they might not fit the usual mold. You know the standard responses: lounging on the couch watching TV, going for a run, or aimlessly surfing the internet.

Recently, I’ve found genuine joy in something seemingly mundane—figuring out Excel formulas to streamline my database management. It's not something I typically need for work, but diving into this skill has been unexpectedly fascinating and rewarding.

My point? Being productive doesn’t have to be all about work. It's okay to derive pleasure from productivity itself. Sometimes, amidst the holiday season or societal expectations of what "normal" festive activities should be, I tend to forget the joy I find in my unique interests.

But here's the truth: it's okay to feel that way. It’s perfectly fine to revel in the things you love and to view the world through your own lens. There’s no rule book dictating what should be enjoyable. If you find it fun, that's what truly matters.

Society often sets these unwritten guidelines for how people "should" act or what they "should" be doing. Kids should be outdoors, not watching others play video games; parents should adhere to traditional holiday customs instead of late-night outings; grandparents should live quietly, not seeking out extreme sports.

Yet, there are always exceptions—those defying societal norms.

Whether that’s being an 80 year runway model.

Or being a 46 year old skateboarder

or being an Excel World Champion

In the end, it’s about celebrating your uniqueness and finding joy in what lights up your world, irrespective of what conventions or expectations suggest.

So, revel in your peculiarities and relish in the enjoyment they bring. That’s what truly counts.

Mastering Organization for Success For Whatever Your Role

Whether you are starting a new position at work, trying to improve your current success in your current role or getting yourself ready for future job prospects, organization is a huge variable to your overall success and an exciting challenge.

For me personally, I recently transitioned to a supervisory role, where I’ll be spending more time managing people, tracking progress on multiple projects and personnel, and amalgamating thoughts and ideas for documentation and roll-out with the staff. What this ultimately means is I definitely need to keep myself organized for the many hats I’ll wear during this role.

And this is why developing a second brain system is a huge asset.

The Second Brain: Why Organization Matters

Think of your organizational system as your second brain. It's the reliable framework that enables you to stay on top of your responsibilities, manage tasks, and streamline your thought processes. An effective organization not only saves you time but also reduces stress and ensures that you're always well-prepared to make informed decisions. Now most second brain systems are software based but I think it should actually simply refer to the system in place. The technology used is secondary, although it will determine the type of content you can capture and where you can capture it. But, the main point is that you have a system in place.

Keeping Up with Technological Tools

Knowing the type of software and technological support at your disposal is important in designing the eventual second brain system. No point in designing a system based on software that your business or organization doesn’t have access to unless you have the authority to introduce new technology.

In any new role, staying up-to-date with technological advancements available to you is crucial because technology can support you in accomplishing what you want more quickly and seamlessly. I think the most surefire way to stagnate that organizational process would be to reject technology or see the burden of learning or the burden of error as greater than the potential upside, especially when make that decision from an uninformed point of view. So first thing first is to learn what can be accomplished with the technology available.

Consider taking courses or workshops that focus on relevant software accessible at your workplace. These courses can provide valuable insights into how to leverage technology to streamline your work processes and improve your organizational efficiency.

Organizing Your Physical Space

Your physical workspace reflects your mental state. When your desk is cluttered and disorganized, it can be challenging to focus and remain productive. It can be challenging to recall information that isn’t recent and it can be difficult to reliably reference. Take the time to organize your physical space in a way that complements your mental processes. Invest in storage solutions, declutter regularly, and create a system that helps you quickly locate important documents, references, and tools.

Establishing Routine and Tracking Progress

Consistency is the key to maintaining an organized work life and honestly, will be the hardest aspect of the organization journey.

Being intentional with an established routine for systematically updating and tracking your tasks and projects is the challenge because everyone can do it once, but few people can reliably maintain that process consistency and indefinitely. Use tools like to-do lists, calendars, and project management software to keep track of your responsibilities and deadlines. Regularly review your progress and make adjustments as needed to ensure you stay on course.

When it comes to transitioning roles within an organization, you bring a lot of baggage with you. Whether that’s an already filled inbox, a previous lack of an organizational system or a incomplete system, and a guilt that perhaps you shouldn’t need to invest time into developing a system because you want to immediately be productive.

The important thing is to protect some space for yourself to have the time to design a system. For myself, especially in a supervisory role, communication and collaboration with my team will be more essential and more reliant on my capacity to communicate and be on top of certain things. Implementing regular check-ins and status updates to keep everyone on the same page, fostering a sense of unity and purpose, and managing the different personalities in the office will all fall under management support.

Find A System That You Enjoy

Find a system that you enjoy. It is important to recognize that if it feels like too much of a time-waste, then it isn’t a system that necessarily works for you and will likely not last you very long. It needs to be a system that captures important information but does not feel unnecessary. It needs to be something that encourages you to continue to use it, otherwise your commitment fails, and then the entire system fails.

Furthermore, a system can grow with its needed role. You can add things to a system that were previously neglected or ignored as the need arises. The first thing though is to start with a system.

Take the time to learn what software is available to you because chances are that the programs available are not being used to their full potential.

Investing in your organizational skills is an investment in your future success. Your newfound level of organization will not only help you excel in your new role but also serve as a valuable life skill that can benefit you in various aspects of your personal and professional life. Embrace the challenge of staying organized, and watch how it transforms your ability to manage people and projects with ease.

Embracing the Odd: How Unconventional Habits Boost Productivity

Sometimes we need something drastic to change a habit in our lives. Something just out there and dramatic enough that it causes a visceral reaction and jogs our conscious self into action.

We are definitely creatures of habit and we settle into routines and habits very unconsciously and automatically. What this means is that we can oftentimes develop bad habits or routines.

For me, that’s recently been phone use. Any moment I take my hands off the keyboard and take a break from writing, working, or researching - any breather of a moment - I find myself automatically reaching for my phone.

So, I reviewed what I tend to do. I took an audit of what I’m doing with my phone.

1. Reddit app.

2. Social media and deals - Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook marketplace, Redflag deals

And so, I made an extreme decision.

Delete Reddit & Physically Lock Away My Phone.

Now, I wouldn’t say I felt particularly addicted, but I recognized that I was wasting a lot of time using these apps and wanted a change.

Deleting Reddit would impact the ease with which I could access Reddit. I could still access it via my laptop or via my phone web browser. The phone locker would physically lock away my phone for a timed duration, ultimately making using it while locked annoyingly frustrating and challenging to scroll through - not impossible, but challenging enough that I’d truly consciously need to pursue it. This would give me enough time to consciously question and acknowledge the painstakingly laborious effort I’d need to use to use the phone

Whenever I think I’m doing something extremely dramatic and questioning whether it was even necessary, I think about a couple quotes.

It's not enough to just mildly want what you want. You must wildly want what you want. Nobody ever got their greatest wishes by being wishy-washy. You need to put extreme energy into your power of intention to win what you wanna win.
- Karen Salmansohn

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

- Albert Einstein

What I take away from these quotes is that if I want something to change in my life, I have to try something different. You can’t achieve something new and dramatically different from your current life if you aren’t willing to change part of your routine or some sort of habit. Something needs to happen differently for something to happen differently.

Sure, deleting apps and locking away your phone may seem extreme, but to me, they reflect commitment to what I say I want to accomplish. They clearly align with my pursuit of productivity and a willingness to jettison things that don’t align with that pursuit of productivity. And by committing to these goals, I am slowly designing my productive life.

And that’s okay.

Embracing the Power of Unconventional Choices

It’s okay to be a little weird. To do things that some would define as over the top or a little more extreme.

I remember while I was attending university, when I was afraid I would accidentally sleep for far too long during a late night cram session and only wanted to power nap, I would intentionally sleep on a pile of clean, unfolded clothes in order to be somewhat uncomfortable. Although odd, it allowed me enough comfort to rest but not enough comfort to rest for an undesired amount of time.

I also recently learned about a friend who would hold his most beloved items as ransom if he doesn’t accomplish a goal. This punitive routine would clearly establish a goal he needed to accomplish and an item of value he wanted to keep - in this case, a beloved hat. The punishment for not completing his tasks is the hat gets destroyed. And sometimes, these kinds of accountability measures and promises we keep with ourselves are the things that keep us on track with our higher aspirations.

What Can You Learn From All This?

What makes these actions unique is not their extremeness but their unconventionality. Most people wouldn't consider deleting their favourite apps, locking their phones away, destroying their own belongings, or intentionally seeking discomfort as strategies for productivity. But therein lies their power.

By being willing to explore these uncommon avenues, you're collecting valuable data points about your own behavior, habits, and how you work best. It’s a matter of trial and error to figuring out what makes youu productive and how to harness your knowledge of yourself to designing the life you want. Because we are so easily capable of falling into mediocrity, settling into comfortable situations, and adapting to what we have rather than what we want, we need to be comfortable learning how to break away from the mold, testing the waters, and gaining insights into what truly makes us tick. In essence, designing our ideal life by our terms, not society's expectations or norms.

And it's not just about productivity; it's about personal growth. These small, odd actions can help you gain a better understanding of yourself, your weaknesses, and your strengths. They encourage you to be introspective, helping you build habits that align with your aspirations.

So, the next time you find yourself contemplating an unconventional action in your quest for productivity, don't be afraid to embrace it. Be a little different. Whether it's deleting a time-consuming app or locking your phone away, taking ice baths or plunges, these unique choices can lead you down a path of self-discovery, productivity gains, and the fulfillment of your dreams and aspirations.

After all, in a world that encourages conformity, sometimes it's the odd choices that make all the difference.

Strengthening Connections: The Benefits of Creating a Personal Life CRM

As I’ve gotten older and naturally drifted from my friends with my own family growing and the nature of moving cities, maintaining meaningful relationships with friends and family has become more challenging than ever. For me, my nephews and nieces continue to get older, with their own lives, their own story arcs, and honestly, I worry that I’ll become that distant relative at times, the one on the other side of the country that you only see once in a while.

Same with my friends. I’m not the type to reach out consistently, not because I don’t care, but more so because I don’t personally feel like my feelings and fondness towards them changes. My friends will always hold a special part of my heart and head cause they represent a time and place in my life that I hold dear.

Over the last couple of months though, I’ve been trying to implement a Personal Life CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) to keep track of my personal relationships - a catch-all for my interactions with friends and family to keep important information documented and accessible.

Now, I’m not going to explain my personal system. I honestly don’t even know if mine is that good but I love the concept and intention as a means of productive relationships with people.

1. Enhanced Relationship Management:

One of the primary benefits of having a Personal Life CRM is the ability to manage your relationships more effectively. Like businesses use CRM systems to keep track of customer interactions, you can use a Personal Life CRM to record your interactions with friends and family. By doing so, you ensure that you don't forget important dates, like birthdays and anniversaries, and that you follow up on their life events and interests. This proactive approach helps to nurture your relationships, making your loved ones feel valued and cherished. For me, it means having a place to reference and document important and valued moments, events, activities, and interests. It means a place to identify good gifts, inside jokes and references, and intelligent or touching moments you shared.

If they aren’t aware that you have a CRM system, you look like the best friend because you remember all the nuanced, vulnerable, meaningful little details that they’ve shared with you.

If they are aware that you have a CRM system, it demonstrates your commitment to being a friend and the proactive way that you do it.

2. Improved Networking:

A Personal Life CRM allows you to organize and categorize your contacts. Ever wish you could easily blend friend groups or introduce friends to each other? Well, By tracking interests and hobbies or location, it can make it a lot easier to recognize who would be cool to introduce to who. Whether that’s meshing work friends with non-work friends, high school friends with university friends or even people who just have a similar vibe.

Now, you might think it sounds insane to keep it organized to this degree, but honestly, I think this level of organization lets you reflect on the types of people you attract, who challenges you, whose a good role model, whose a negative impact on your life and all the other nuances.

3. Stay on Top of Important Dates:

We've all experienced the moment of panic when we realize we've forgotten a friend's birthday or an anniversary. With a Personal Life CRM, you can set reminders for important dates and receive notifications in advance. This helps you avoid those awkward situations and ensures you can plan ahead to make your loved ones feel special on their special days. Whether that’s a birthday, anniversary, special event date like a graduation, celebrating a work success event, or anything else, you can create reminders so you never forget.

4. Deepening Personal Connections via Time Blocking:

A benefit to a CRM system is the time blocking reminder aspect. By setting aside an hour a week, you can have ensure deliberate time for reaching out to friends and family. By tracking when you last spoke or interacting with someone, you can determine the frequency with which you connect with them. This means you can maintain connections and be reminded of when a defined timeframe has elapsed. If I want to connect with a close friend, Tom, at least once every 3 months, I can now get a reminder of when 3 months is coming up, and reach out to him during my weekly carved out hour of time.

Extend this process out to all my closest friends and family, and I can have a system in which I feel connected to all my friends and family.

5. Efficient Time Management and Introspection:

Having a Personal Life CRM can also help you manage your time more efficiently. By prioritizing your relationships and setting goals for your interactions, you'll find it easier to allocate your time and energy to what truly matters. By forcing you to reflect on and keep track of your friendships, it can help you design a balance for yourself between your friends, social life and personal growth.

If you go through the motions and realize that you spend the most amount of time with friends that you actually only see as ‘close acquaintances’, it can help empower you to decline events and activities with this group of friends and schedule time for the more important people in your life.

Now, I’m not saying be super flakey and ditch people, but be intentional with who you surround yourself with and prioritize in your life. Not cause your an unsocial prick, but because you want to be intentional about designing and building your close social circle.

6. Reconnecting with Old Friends:

A Personal Life CRM isn't just about maintaining existing relationships; it can also help you reconnect with old friends and acquaintances. Over time, people often drift apart due to the busyness of life. Your CRM can help you identify individuals you'd like to reconnect with, making it easier to rekindle old friendships. Furthermore, the structure a CRM might help jog your memory on previous events, important moments, and talking points to rekindle that relationship.

For me personally, it also seemed to alleviate a sense of distress that I had with my relationships. I’d say over the years I’ve become more and more introverted and I don’t think it’s a bad thing but I think it can sometimes feel at odds with socializing and reaching out. I’m not the type of person to out of the blue reach out to someone and express to them how much they mean to me. I have found that in my own way, keeping this CRM has empowered me to know that I am taking active steps to keeping these friendships even if I’m not ready to or not wanting to reach out.

Imagine a life where you can recall every interaction, every small detail that a person has shared with you, a list of amazing gift ideas for them, and a way to track the important landmarks in your relationship over time. A Personal Life CRM can serve as a valuable tool for nurturing and maintaining meaningful relationships with friends and family. It allows you to stay organized, prioritize your interactions, and make your loved ones feel valued. Just as a personal budget keeps you accountable to your financial goals, a Personal Life CRM keeps you accountable to your relational goals, helping you become a better friend, partner, and family member. Furthermore, it lets you prioritize what you want to invest your time in. It lets you keep track of the bigger picture, the long-term aspirations you have with these people, and system flexible enough to change as your relationships with people change.

I hope to continue to use this system and be more intentional with who I surround myself with. It also has surprisingly made me want to make new friends. I’d say, I already felt pretty tapped out or comfortable with my current social circle, but the idea of logging new people, learn about new and interesting characters and seeing their lives intertwine with mine sounds meaningful. I kinda thought as I grew older, I’d become one of those hermits who stays with his family and has a few select humans that he loves and cherishes, but maybe there’s a larger network of people for me.

And that is an intrigue worth pursuing for me at this time.

Life and Productivity: A Hike Worth Taking

In the grand scheme of life, it's easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. We measure success by traditional standards - the job titles we hold, the money we make, the accolades we receive. But what if we were to change our perspective? What if we approached life and productivity as we would a hike?

It’s an idea worth exploring because I think it shifts our perspective and outlook on the world and our place in it.

Imagine life as a vast mountain range, and each one of us is embarking on our own unique hike. The terrain is as diverse as the paths we choose, and the journey is filled with ups and downs. No one path is better than another. Each is simply its own path. Sometimes these hikes intertwine or join briefly before splitting again.

Each hiking trail is separate and distinct for each person. No one is competing against one another.

No one thinks, "I'm better at hiking than you."

No one thinks, “I handled those challenging switchbacks better or more efficiently than you.”

No one thinks, “I have better gear than you.”

Similarly, no one thinks, "I got up my hike better than you, therefore I am more accomplished than you."

Each person's path is unique, with its own set of challenges and triumphs.

We all can sympathize about the similar challenges during hikes. We can all recognize and appreciate similar experiences on low points and high points but they are never exactly the same.

Just as a hiker revels in reaching a breathtaking vista or overcoming a challenging ascent, we should celebrate our individual accomplishments in life. It's not about being better than someone else; it's about being the best version of ourselves.

In the hiking analogy, no one thinks, "I worked harder to hike than you." Life is not a measure of who put in the most effort or who endured the most hardships. Success isn't solely determined by the sweat and toil we put into our endeavors. It's about the journey itself, the lessons learned along the way, and the growth we experience.

As you embark on this metaphorical hike of life, you'll find that you're not alone. You'll encounter fellow hikers who share similar interests and passions. These are the people who will walk alongside you, supporting you through the steep climbs and treacherous descents. Just as in life, you go with those who are interested in the same journey, and you travel the mountain at your own pace.

Crucially, you support each other, wait for each other, and enjoy each other's company as you climb. In life, we should strive to do the same. Lift each other up, lend a helping hand when needed, and take joy in the camaraderie of the journey. From a productivity standpoint, that means not gatekeeping, providing mentorship and advice to others a few steps behind you, and recognizing that it’s not a race.

So, the next time you find yourself comparing your life's journey to someone else's, remember the metaphor of the hike. Understand that everyone has their own path, their own journey to worry about, and their own journey to enjoy. There is no need to compete because, in the end, there is no comparison between individuals climbing the hike. Instead, focus on your progress, your growth, and the beauty of the journey itself. Learn to enjoy overcoming your own struggles. Only look at others’ progress to make sure they’re doing okay. After all, in life as in hiking, the most fulfilling rewards are often found along the way, not at the summit.

Sure, the peak offers a view of all that you’ve overcome, but you go on the hike to do the hike, not simply see the peak.

Starting Where You Are: Embracing Productivity Amidst Imperfection

Starting Where You Are: Embracing Productivity Amidst Imperfection

In today's fast-paced world, where productivity is often seen as the key to success, we tend to fall into the trap of waiting for the perfect conditions to get started on our goals. We convince ourselves that we need the right mood, a well-rested body, a suitable workspace, and countless other optimal conditions to unleash our true potential. While it's true that these conditions can facilitate productivity, they should never become excuses for inaction or cruxes that we depend on.

Consider this scenario: I'm currently writing a significant portion of this blog post from my car, while waiting for my wife who is wrapping up a work meeting. It's far from an ideal working environment, and I have no access to my workhorse computer. However, I'm determined to accomplish my goal, and I'm making do with what I have.

We have access to an unprecedented amount of resources and we hold supercomputers in the palm of our hands in our smartphones. We have the ability to make audio clip recordings to capture our ideas, we have note applications to jot down simple ideas and we have the ability to do so much more compared to generations past.

This fundamental truth continues to be apparent - there's always a way to stay productive if you're committed to your objectives.

We often find ourselves entangled in the web of ideal circumstances for work. We wait for the Eureka moment, for inspiration to strike, or for the perfect moment to start. We may believe that we must be in the "right" mood, well-fed, well-rested, and ensconced in a suitable workspace. We create a laundry list of 101 conditions that must be optimal for us to produce our best work. However, sometimes, our pursuit of perfection becomes a convenient excuse for not taking action.

In reality, your best work is not always a prerequisite for progress. Sometimes, mediocre work is good enough, especially when you're in the early stages of a project or when your time is limited. The key lies in finding a way to regularly work, as this consistency can be a more powerful means of achieving large, meaty goals over time.

No one is asking you to accomplish the entirety of a goal in one single sitting. Instead, it is only through consistent work over the course of weeks/months/years that you can accomplish great things.

Those five minutes of focus that you squeeze out while sitting in your car waiting for your child’s recital practice to end is productive. Those 5 minutes of brainstorming during your 15 minute break between classes may be enough to create a framework for your next endeavour. Those 10 minutes waiting for the bus might be worthwhile in researching next steps in your application. It may not feel like much but a couple minutes here and there can set you on the right path and motivate you to keep going.

While it's true that there might be a time and place most conducive to productive work, it's equally important to acknowledge that you can remain productive when conditions are less than perfect. It is this ability to adapt and produce results despite adversity that we admire as a hallmark of successful individuals. So if we admire this character trait in other successful people, why do we not aspire to achieve the same for ourselves. They understand that waiting for optimal conditions is a luxury they can't always afford, and they forge ahead regardless. Why shouldn’t we?

Think of all the start-ups that began in the garage of a founder’s parents. If they waited for optimal conditions, they would have squandered all their time and resources into ‘good to have’ rather than ‘need to have’ things.

So, the next time you catch yourself making excuses and waiting for the perfect moment to start, remember that success often begins with simple productivity habits.

Start where you are,

with what you have,

and find a way to make progress.

Whether it's in your car, during a busy day, or in less-than-ideal circumstances, embrace the challenge, and you'll discover that productivity can flourish amidst imperfection.