Day 661 - New goal - biohacking stress - https://golifelog.com/posts/new-goal-biohacking-stress-1666479705423
I've just set a new goal: Biohacking stress.
Not sure why it took me this long to realise, but through a series of serendipitous content I chanced upon, [like sleep and insulin resistance](https://golifelog.com/posts/stress-and-insulin-resistance-1666395617976) and [sleep and stress](https://golifelog.com/posts/stress-and-sleep-1666304617982), I connected the dots to my latest hypothesis about my health:
My stress levels are chronic and is the root cause of most of my minor to major ailments in the past decade.
A quick run-down of all the ailments caused by stress in the past 10 years (since 2011):
- Bad diet habits like junk fast food
- Bloatedness, intestinal discomfort, poor digestion, bad gut microbiome
- Overall weight gain
- Visceral fat build up (the 'hidden' fat that's stored deep inside the belly, wrapped around the organs like the liver and intestines)
- Insulin resistance, likely near pre-diabetes level (own diagnosis)
- Immunity issues that led to surgery on my leg in 2012
- Gut issues that led to surgery in 2017
- Recent muscle/joint pains and injuries - back, shoulder, neck, Achilles tendon
- Multiple rounds of burnout every year or alternate years
- Overall increased chronic fatigue (not sure if linked to adrenal fatigue)
- Poorer mental health - anxiety, low moods
The horror is realising that all that I've been doing with my sleep and diet biohacking is just treating the surface symptoms. No wonder I've been doing it so long but still feel like something's missing. Like how I'm really happy with how far I've come for my diet, but can't shake off the feeling that despite it, I'm still not feeling that sense of wellbeing I crave for. Same thing with sleep. The habits are settled but the fluctuations in sleep quality seemingly outside of my control had been frustrating. I say "seemingly", because I didn't know that stress could be the underlying factor.
Now I do.
So I can't keep doing sleep and diet biohacking in good faith without also addressing the huge elephant in the room: my stress.
So I've set a goal to work on it:
> Reduce and remove stress to healthy levels as it's been the root cause of my sleep, diet and health problems for the past decade since starting my first business in 2011.
Still got much to learn and work on. This problem runs deeeeep.
But at least I recognise it and am now aware of its impact.
Baby steps onwards!
Not sure why it took me this long to realise, but through a series of serendipitous content I chanced upon, [like sleep and insulin resistance](https://golifelog.com/posts/stress-and-insulin-resistance-1666395617976) and [sleep and stress](https://golifelog.com/posts/stress-and-sleep-1666304617982), I connected the dots to my latest hypothesis about my health:
My stress levels are chronic and is the root cause of most of my minor to major ailments in the past decade.
A quick run-down of all the ailments caused by stress in the past 10 years (since 2011):
- Bad diet habits like junk fast food
- Bloatedness, intestinal discomfort, poor digestion, bad gut microbiome
- Overall weight gain
- Visceral fat build up (the 'hidden' fat that's stored deep inside the belly, wrapped around the organs like the liver and intestines)
- Insulin resistance, likely near pre-diabetes level (own diagnosis)
- Immunity issues that led to surgery on my leg in 2012
- Gut issues that led to surgery in 2017
- Recent muscle/joint pains and injuries - back, shoulder, neck, Achilles tendon
- Multiple rounds of burnout every year or alternate years
- Overall increased chronic fatigue (not sure if linked to adrenal fatigue)
- Poorer mental health - anxiety, low moods
The horror is realising that all that I've been doing with my sleep and diet biohacking is just treating the surface symptoms. No wonder I've been doing it so long but still feel like something's missing. Like how I'm really happy with how far I've come for my diet, but can't shake off the feeling that despite it, I'm still not feeling that sense of wellbeing I crave for. Same thing with sleep. The habits are settled but the fluctuations in sleep quality seemingly outside of my control had been frustrating. I say "seemingly", because I didn't know that stress could be the underlying factor.
Now I do.
So I can't keep doing sleep and diet biohacking in good faith without also addressing the huge elephant in the room: my stress.
So I've set a goal to work on it:
> Reduce and remove stress to healthy levels as it's been the root cause of my sleep, diet and health problems for the past decade since starting my first business in 2011.
Still got much to learn and work on. This problem runs deeeeep.
But at least I recognise it and am now aware of its impact.
Baby steps onwards!
Day 660 - Stress and insulin resistance - https://golifelog.com/posts/stress-and-insulin-resistance-1666395617976
For those who are on keto or low carb to work on your insulin resistance but finding it hard, this finding that [Dr Bikman](https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cj8FSoiDpxh/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) just shared looks super interesting – stress as a hidden factor to insulin resistance.
How it works: Cortisol and adrenaline are increased during stress/anxiety and works to increase glucose. So insulin must work harder to lower glucose, making the body increasingly resistant to insulin over time. Stress is one of the 3 primary causes of insulin resistance, potentially leading to Type 2 diabetes.
It's crazy that I'm only knowing this now, yet it's such a great a-ha but face palm moment. Because that's exactly what happened to me.
I've always thought I gained weight and got all the associated chronic conditions due to my poor diet and the carbs I love eating - desserts, pastries, ice cream. The story I made up was how I sought out comfort foods due to associations with food from my growing up years. When in fact at the root it could very well just be ***stress-related***.
Stress also makes the body want to increase glucose, which I'll naturally feel pulled to do by simply eating more sweet treats. Cause and effect. No need to pull in complicated concepts like emotional eating or personal relationship with food and all that therapy sh\*t.
Perhaps this explained why I gained so much weight during that first year I started my own business. I was super stressed. I worked late all the time. That led me to eating fast food and junk, no exercise. No wonder.
Maybe that also explains why it's so easy for me to gain back weight/dad bod, and a nagging suspicion of stubborn insulin resistance.
All because I've been chronically stressed since my first business in 2011. That's a damned decade there. The stress is uneven, with peaks and valleys throughout the ten years, but I definitely had more metabolic and physical ailments during the peaks, and overall health had declined significantly over the past 10 years. I would shrug it off to age, but the decline felt pretty steep and drastic, more so than simply ageing.
I've been sleep biohacking and diet hacking for years, but I now realise those are just working on the surface symptoms, not the root cause.
STRESS IS THE ROOT CAUSE.
Fix stress, and I fix my sleep, my diet, my health, my sense of wellbeing.
Oh gosh why am I only learning this after 10 years...... 😫
How it works: Cortisol and adrenaline are increased during stress/anxiety and works to increase glucose. So insulin must work harder to lower glucose, making the body increasingly resistant to insulin over time. Stress is one of the 3 primary causes of insulin resistance, potentially leading to Type 2 diabetes.
It's crazy that I'm only knowing this now, yet it's such a great a-ha but face palm moment. Because that's exactly what happened to me.
I've always thought I gained weight and got all the associated chronic conditions due to my poor diet and the carbs I love eating - desserts, pastries, ice cream. The story I made up was how I sought out comfort foods due to associations with food from my growing up years. When in fact at the root it could very well just be ***stress-related***.
Stress also makes the body want to increase glucose, which I'll naturally feel pulled to do by simply eating more sweet treats. Cause and effect. No need to pull in complicated concepts like emotional eating or personal relationship with food and all that therapy sh\*t.
Perhaps this explained why I gained so much weight during that first year I started my own business. I was super stressed. I worked late all the time. That led me to eating fast food and junk, no exercise. No wonder.
Maybe that also explains why it's so easy for me to gain back weight/dad bod, and a nagging suspicion of stubborn insulin resistance.
All because I've been chronically stressed since my first business in 2011. That's a damned decade there. The stress is uneven, with peaks and valleys throughout the ten years, but I definitely had more metabolic and physical ailments during the peaks, and overall health had declined significantly over the past 10 years. I would shrug it off to age, but the decline felt pretty steep and drastic, more so than simply ageing.
I've been sleep biohacking and diet hacking for years, but I now realise those are just working on the surface symptoms, not the root cause.
STRESS IS THE ROOT CAUSE.
Fix stress, and I fix my sleep, my diet, my health, my sense of wellbeing.
Oh gosh why am I only learning this after 10 years...... 😫
Day 659 - Stress and sleep - https://golifelog.com/posts/stress-and-sleep-1666304617982
Stress and sleep is something that I've not looked into much for my sleep biohacking practice.
But recently my sleep quality had been noticeably poorer, and I suspect it's due to stress.
[Because](https://daveasprey.com/how-stress-ruins-your-sleep/) in order to relax and go into deep sleep, our brains have to switch off the sympathetic nervous system, the part of our that's in charge of "fight, flight or freeze". being chronically stressed means it's on even while asleep, and the cortisol hormones get in the way of relaxation and thus deep sleep.
Apparently, chronic stress is one of the best predictors of insomnia, other sleep issues, as well as overall poor sleep quality.
So if I want great sleep, I really need to get my stress in order.
I looked up some tips from [Dave Asprey](https://daveasprey.com/stress-management/) which I could use:
- Meditate: Already do this. But could spend more time on it at night especially, before bed.
- Cold thermogenesis: Tones vagus nerve, reduce stress. I stopped cool showers for some time. Time to bring it back!
- Diet: An unhealthy gut microbiome might stress you further. I stopped probiotics for a while, so might be worth being more intentional about consuming it. Sugar and emotional eating to deal with stress makes things worse, so must eat healthy and wholesome foods.
- Supplements: Apparently adaptogenic herbs help relieve stress, like kava, ashwagandha. L-tyrosine supplements might improve brain's resilience. I've not heard about all of these, so worth diving in to research more!
- Take breaks: I hardly take breaks during work. Got to finally heed my pomodoro timer, and take intentional 10min breaks!:
- Better, more sleep: Just being more disciplined and sleeping early at 8:30pm, and getting 8h of sleep, makes me less in survival mode and less stressed out. It's amazing what a night of sufficient sleep makes.
- Exercise: I exercise in the morning, but been skipping my evenings walks to work more. I do notice I'm less physically tired (even though I'm mentally spent). Time to bring it back!
- Embrace stress to make you more resilient: Inwardly, not wanting to be stressed makes me more stressed! So that's good advice - just let it be, and go with the flow.
I feel I'm so new to stress management, especially in relation to sleep. Much stuff to learn and experiment with!
Onwards.
But recently my sleep quality had been noticeably poorer, and I suspect it's due to stress.
[Because](https://daveasprey.com/how-stress-ruins-your-sleep/) in order to relax and go into deep sleep, our brains have to switch off the sympathetic nervous system, the part of our that's in charge of "fight, flight or freeze". being chronically stressed means it's on even while asleep, and the cortisol hormones get in the way of relaxation and thus deep sleep.
Apparently, chronic stress is one of the best predictors of insomnia, other sleep issues, as well as overall poor sleep quality.
So if I want great sleep, I really need to get my stress in order.
I looked up some tips from [Dave Asprey](https://daveasprey.com/stress-management/) which I could use:
- Meditate: Already do this. But could spend more time on it at night especially, before bed.
- Cold thermogenesis: Tones vagus nerve, reduce stress. I stopped cool showers for some time. Time to bring it back!
- Diet: An unhealthy gut microbiome might stress you further. I stopped probiotics for a while, so might be worth being more intentional about consuming it. Sugar and emotional eating to deal with stress makes things worse, so must eat healthy and wholesome foods.
- Supplements: Apparently adaptogenic herbs help relieve stress, like kava, ashwagandha. L-tyrosine supplements might improve brain's resilience. I've not heard about all of these, so worth diving in to research more!
- Take breaks: I hardly take breaks during work. Got to finally heed my pomodoro timer, and take intentional 10min breaks!:
- Better, more sleep: Just being more disciplined and sleeping early at 8:30pm, and getting 8h of sleep, makes me less in survival mode and less stressed out. It's amazing what a night of sufficient sleep makes.
- Exercise: I exercise in the morning, but been skipping my evenings walks to work more. I do notice I'm less physically tired (even though I'm mentally spent). Time to bring it back!
- Embrace stress to make you more resilient: Inwardly, not wanting to be stressed makes me more stressed! So that's good advice - just let it be, and go with the flow.
I feel I'm so new to stress management, especially in relation to sleep. Much stuff to learn and experiment with!
Onwards.
Day 658 - Squirrels & startups - https://golifelog.com/posts/squirrels-and-startups-1666228654658
Fun fact by a new Twitter account [@stats_feed](https://twitter.com/stats_feed/status/1577530930201239554) I just discovered and enjoying:
> Squirrels fail to recover up to 74% of the nuts that they bury, unintentionally planting new trees in the process. 🐿
Nothing in Nature is ever wasted. Even mistakes.
The mistake of one creature ends up being beneficial to other plants or creatures, and overall great for the ecosystem.
It's interesting to see this from the perspective of entrepreneurship and the market.
Every mistake, loss or failure, is a mistake, loss or failure *to you*. But for the ecosystem—of other founders, businesses, customers—those mistakes, losses and failures might be planting seeds for other new ideas, products and businesses in the ecosystem, sometimes without us being aware it's doing that.
You try launching a SaaS to help people share their links using Google Sheets. You failed (sounds familiar?). But because you shared the story publicly, it might inspire or nudge someone to try something similar in his or her own way, or something totally different. He or she might end up succeeding where you failed. And all the interaction you had with this founder could be a Like, or maybe not even any interaction at all.
So the world is the better for it, even though it felt worse (to you) when you failed.
I like that sharing about my journey—wins or losses— are helping the ecosystem even if I don't directly benefit from it.
Perhaps if the world is better for it; perhaps if that uplifts the entrepreneurship ecosystem, we all rise together with it. Subtly. Invisibly.
I love how squirrels were the inspiration for today's post, for something as serious as startups and entrepreneurship.
Be like a squirrel.
> Squirrels fail to recover up to 74% of the nuts that they bury, unintentionally planting new trees in the process. 🐿
Nothing in Nature is ever wasted. Even mistakes.
The mistake of one creature ends up being beneficial to other plants or creatures, and overall great for the ecosystem.
It's interesting to see this from the perspective of entrepreneurship and the market.
Every mistake, loss or failure, is a mistake, loss or failure *to you*. But for the ecosystem—of other founders, businesses, customers—those mistakes, losses and failures might be planting seeds for other new ideas, products and businesses in the ecosystem, sometimes without us being aware it's doing that.
You try launching a SaaS to help people share their links using Google Sheets. You failed (sounds familiar?). But because you shared the story publicly, it might inspire or nudge someone to try something similar in his or her own way, or something totally different. He or she might end up succeeding where you failed. And all the interaction you had with this founder could be a Like, or maybe not even any interaction at all.
So the world is the better for it, even though it felt worse (to you) when you failed.
I like that sharing about my journey—wins or losses— are helping the ecosystem even if I don't directly benefit from it.
Perhaps if the world is better for it; perhaps if that uplifts the entrepreneurship ecosystem, we all rise together with it. Subtly. Invisibly.
I love how squirrels were the inspiration for today's post, for something as serious as startups and entrepreneurship.
Be like a squirrel.
Posted a question to Strapi forum to at least get this major pain (of updating the heroku-18 stack) started
https://forum.strapi.io/t/how-does-updating-heroku-18-stack-impact-strapi/22957
Paid for 2 Heroku Hobby Dynos for Lifelog app - damage = US$7 × 2 = +US$14/month
Jason Leow
Author
Yep 28 Nov, but thought I should do it early in case there's any issues that come up when I switch to paid dynos.. (none so far)
we have till Nov 28th, right? but anyway that price seems reasonable enough, not too painful…
Day 657 - The basics of business are low bars now - https://golifelog.com/posts/the-basics-of-business-are-low-bars-now-1666162285466
If you're an indie solopreneur, just aiming to give a prompt response to your customers is already a killer competitive advantage.
I'm surprised when people are surprised and thank me for replying to their email within a day (usually hours). That also shows just how bad it is out there. Especially huge companies – funny how the better funded or resourced they are, the worse/slower their support gets. In a crazy world of holding the line for half an hour just to talk to customer support, only to get rerouted to a different department and having to tell your story all over again, it's delightful to get answers quickly.
The bar's really low for basics like these.
That got me thinking: What other basics are the big guys neglecting (where it's an advantage for us indies)? Some ideas from the customer's point of view:
- Having access to the founder/owner. Getting a DM or email from the founder him/herself always feels more special.
- Just being human and building a genuine relationship person to person. People always prefer to buy from people, not cold, faceless corporate entities.
- Giving a feature request and the founder making it within a day.
- Giving feedback/suggestions and someone contacting you immediately to find out more.
- Following someone's building in public journey and supporting his/her cause.
- The founder being helpful and giving to you (beyond the scope of the product) without trying to sell anything.
*What other basics of a great customer experience or running a business did I miss?*
I'm surprised when people are surprised and thank me for replying to their email within a day (usually hours). That also shows just how bad it is out there. Especially huge companies – funny how the better funded or resourced they are, the worse/slower their support gets. In a crazy world of holding the line for half an hour just to talk to customer support, only to get rerouted to a different department and having to tell your story all over again, it's delightful to get answers quickly.
The bar's really low for basics like these.
That got me thinking: What other basics are the big guys neglecting (where it's an advantage for us indies)? Some ideas from the customer's point of view:
- Having access to the founder/owner. Getting a DM or email from the founder him/herself always feels more special.
- Just being human and building a genuine relationship person to person. People always prefer to buy from people, not cold, faceless corporate entities.
- Giving a feature request and the founder making it within a day.
- Giving feedback/suggestions and someone contacting you immediately to find out more.
- Following someone's building in public journey and supporting his/her cause.
- The founder being helpful and giving to you (beyond the scope of the product) without trying to sell anything.
*What other basics of a great customer experience or running a business did I miss?*
Day 656 - My very first business - https://golifelog.com/posts/my-very-first-business-1666059380590
Thinking about doing things my way got me thinking all the way back to my very first business.
It was 2011.
I just left my last job in late 2010. It was a fulfilling and meaningful job in the social impact sector. I was doing well, on my first managerial position and on a high potential track. But I left anyway, because I wanted to explore the more creative and aesthetic side of my work. The job mined me for my meticulousness and organisational skills, but little on the creative side. I was hungry for more.
So I resigned, and started my very first business.
A presentation design productized service.
Why presentations? It all started with me wanting to get better at public speaking and presentations for work. I attended a Powerpoint design course, was enthralled by being able to design not just work slides but anything on it. It helped me in my job, but it also woke up the creative side of me. I had to do some sort of design work now.
So naturally, I started a service to design presentations. I was good at it, there wasn't many people or companies doing it, and seemed like there's a market gap for it.
Some relics of that business still exists on the internet:
Twitter: [@PopcornPrez ](https://twitter.com/popcornprez)
[Slideshare](https://www.slideshare.net/popcornprez)
[YouTube launch reel](https://youtu.be/qYNmt4jYUlM) and channel
[Vimeo channel](https://vimeo.com/popcornprez)
> Presentations to have popcorn with. Millions of presentations are given each day around the world. Every idea in every presentation, big or small, aims to change the world in its own way. We envision to help you do so, one slide at a time. PopcornPrez is a presentation design business which aims to be the 'Pixar of presentation design'. We believe that design should inform & delight. At PopcornPrez, we design presentation experiences that captures the entertainment and excitement of movie-going with popcorn in-hand. We do this with our services in: 1. Presentation design 2. Web design 3. Design thinking
This was before the time of indie hackers and the creator economy. Social media was just starting. So I started distribution on these channels. It all looked like a great plan, but the presentation design business never took off. I didn't know any companies that needed that service. Nobody knew me. I didn't know how to market, cold call or cold email, or find out where my potential customers were.
Revenue was zero for months.
But one day, a friend asked me if I knew how to set up a website. I did, because I had to learn how to create my very first website using Wordpress, for my presentation design business. So I helped her with it, got paid, and like they all say, the rest is history.
Suddenly I pivoted to a web design business.
To say "pivoted" is giving me too much credit. Because it's more like I was pulled along.
Friends started to know I did web design, and asked me to help them. They told their friends and their friends' friends. It was all through word of mouth. After a while, I managed to earn at least $1k per month or more from it. It worked out fine since I was still single and no kids.
And thinking back, I really did follow my own path.
My web design skills was a by-product of starting the presentation design business, but the by-product ended being the main product. The classic "sell your sawdust" approach. *The presentation design thing didn't work, but look now there's a web design opportunity, so let's just go with it!* I wasn't hung up about sticking to the original product or plan. I didn't have any baggage or preconceived notions of the right or wrong way to do business. No ideals and narratives of indie hacking, solopreneurship. There's not much influencer influences in my life yet.
Just whatever it took to survive, as long as it's still design work.
Marketing wasn't about growth hacks but simply about helping others succeed in their business, doing a darn good job for them, and building trust. So much trust and satisfaction that customers are willing to recommend me to others.
And right now, after a decade being an entrepreneur, I feel like I've come back full circle.
Back to that beginner's mind. Or rather, wanting to get back to that beginner's mind. That purity. That singular openness.
It's hard to be divorced from influences of social media and internet communities these days. But I really do want to go back to those early days where I was just operating off my innate instincts and reflexes.
It's possible. It just takes discernment and mindfulness to filter out the noise.
Back to that quiet fire within.
It was 2011.
I just left my last job in late 2010. It was a fulfilling and meaningful job in the social impact sector. I was doing well, on my first managerial position and on a high potential track. But I left anyway, because I wanted to explore the more creative and aesthetic side of my work. The job mined me for my meticulousness and organisational skills, but little on the creative side. I was hungry for more.
So I resigned, and started my very first business.
A presentation design productized service.
Why presentations? It all started with me wanting to get better at public speaking and presentations for work. I attended a Powerpoint design course, was enthralled by being able to design not just work slides but anything on it. It helped me in my job, but it also woke up the creative side of me. I had to do some sort of design work now.
So naturally, I started a service to design presentations. I was good at it, there wasn't many people or companies doing it, and seemed like there's a market gap for it.
Some relics of that business still exists on the internet:
Twitter: [@PopcornPrez ](https://twitter.com/popcornprez)
[Slideshare](https://www.slideshare.net/popcornprez)
[YouTube launch reel](https://youtu.be/qYNmt4jYUlM) and channel
[Vimeo channel](https://vimeo.com/popcornprez)
> Presentations to have popcorn with. Millions of presentations are given each day around the world. Every idea in every presentation, big or small, aims to change the world in its own way. We envision to help you do so, one slide at a time. PopcornPrez is a presentation design business which aims to be the 'Pixar of presentation design'. We believe that design should inform & delight. At PopcornPrez, we design presentation experiences that captures the entertainment and excitement of movie-going with popcorn in-hand. We do this with our services in: 1. Presentation design 2. Web design 3. Design thinking
This was before the time of indie hackers and the creator economy. Social media was just starting. So I started distribution on these channels. It all looked like a great plan, but the presentation design business never took off. I didn't know any companies that needed that service. Nobody knew me. I didn't know how to market, cold call or cold email, or find out where my potential customers were.
Revenue was zero for months.
But one day, a friend asked me if I knew how to set up a website. I did, because I had to learn how to create my very first website using Wordpress, for my presentation design business. So I helped her with it, got paid, and like they all say, the rest is history.
Suddenly I pivoted to a web design business.
To say "pivoted" is giving me too much credit. Because it's more like I was pulled along.
Friends started to know I did web design, and asked me to help them. They told their friends and their friends' friends. It was all through word of mouth. After a while, I managed to earn at least $1k per month or more from it. It worked out fine since I was still single and no kids.
And thinking back, I really did follow my own path.
My web design skills was a by-product of starting the presentation design business, but the by-product ended being the main product. The classic "sell your sawdust" approach. *The presentation design thing didn't work, but look now there's a web design opportunity, so let's just go with it!* I wasn't hung up about sticking to the original product or plan. I didn't have any baggage or preconceived notions of the right or wrong way to do business. No ideals and narratives of indie hacking, solopreneurship. There's not much influencer influences in my life yet.
Just whatever it took to survive, as long as it's still design work.
Marketing wasn't about growth hacks but simply about helping others succeed in their business, doing a darn good job for them, and building trust. So much trust and satisfaction that customers are willing to recommend me to others.
And right now, after a decade being an entrepreneur, I feel like I've come back full circle.
Back to that beginner's mind. Or rather, wanting to get back to that beginner's mind. That purity. That singular openness.
It's hard to be divorced from influences of social media and internet communities these days. But I really do want to go back to those early days where I was just operating off my innate instincts and reflexes.
It's possible. It just takes discernment and mindfulness to filter out the noise.
Back to that quiet fire within.
Day 655 - Win or lose it's my way - https://golifelog.com/posts/win-or-lose-its-my-way-1665967370239
What’s your chief regret as a creator/solopreneur?
Mine is listening too much to others who are more successful than me, and not being embodied and trusting of my own instincts and inner wisdom.
Talking about this on Twitter and then one comment from @mattli8020 resonated loads:
“Sometimes I feel like I’m doing it all wrong, but I decided a while back that win or lose, it’s going to be my way.”
And that’s what I will aspire to do from now on.
Win or lose, I’m gonna do it my way and my way only.
F**k the advice from all the success stories from folks whom I look up to too much. I love you guys but I can’t keep being enamoured by what you do and following it like a script.
Maybe I’ll get it wrong more often because of my newfound stubbornness to be my own person and solopreneur.
But at least it’s my own. That independence and freedom is ultimately why I started on this path in the first place. If I wanted to let others decide my work and my fate, I might as well go back to employment.
It’s my way or the wrong way perhaps.
But when I do get it the right way, I know it’s truly mine.
All mine.
Mine is listening too much to others who are more successful than me, and not being embodied and trusting of my own instincts and inner wisdom.
Talking about this on Twitter and then one comment from @mattli8020 resonated loads:
“Sometimes I feel like I’m doing it all wrong, but I decided a while back that win or lose, it’s going to be my way.”
And that’s what I will aspire to do from now on.
Win or lose, I’m gonna do it my way and my way only.
F**k the advice from all the success stories from folks whom I look up to too much. I love you guys but I can’t keep being enamoured by what you do and following it like a script.
Maybe I’ll get it wrong more often because of my newfound stubbornness to be my own person and solopreneur.
But at least it’s my own. That independence and freedom is ultimately why I started on this path in the first place. If I wanted to let others decide my work and my fate, I might as well go back to employment.
It’s my way or the wrong way perhaps.
But when I do get it the right way, I know it’s truly mine.
All mine.
Day 654 - Following chaotic evil energy - https://golifelog.com/posts/following-chaotic-evil-energy-1665875407182
I've always been a methodical person. Wait, correction: I'm not naturally a meticulous from young but got conditioned into it by school and work.
But that's how I am now out of force of habit. Doing things in terms of priorities, in a methodical fashion. Even if I don't feel like it. Acting with integrity and duty, in accordance to a righteous code of ethics and values.
[Lawful good](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alignment_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)#Alignments), they say.
But struggling with a client report lately forced me to try something else: the chaotic evil approach.
That means no regard for rules, method or sequence. Just doing what feels good and is aligned to my own desires without much regard to how it affects others or other parts of the system. Essentially, not behaving themselves.
So for my work, it looks like this:
- Lawful good: I would always plan to finish A first before going to B. Methodical, meticulous, sequential.
- Chaotic evil: Do whichever I prefer or feel for. Even if piecemeal. As long as there's progress, any bit goes.
Following that chaotic evil energy felt especially powerful when feeling stuck. And it was pretty effective in getting momentum going to eventually work on the sections where I feel more stuck on.
Which made me think: ***What if I did this for my entire indie solopreneur approach?***
That's what my [Opportunistic Trickster identity-based goal](https://golifelog.com/posts/identity-based-goals-1634279678058) is about, isn't it? Traits like:
- Has too much fun, oftentimes at the disapproval of others
- Takes nothing too seriously, even when others are serious
- Keen sense of asymmetric chances to win big
- Acts on asymmetry and actually wins
- Doing random is second nature
Are all about following chaotic evil energy without guilt or shame.
For the longest time, following this particular identity-based goal out of the 4 had been the hardest for me, because being lawful good is ingrained. I also found it imagine ways I can practice that identity. It was hard to make it tactical and tangible. But feels like I'm on to something tangible here.
Chaotic evil > lawful good.
But that's how I am now out of force of habit. Doing things in terms of priorities, in a methodical fashion. Even if I don't feel like it. Acting with integrity and duty, in accordance to a righteous code of ethics and values.
[Lawful good](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alignment_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)#Alignments), they say.
But struggling with a client report lately forced me to try something else: the chaotic evil approach.
That means no regard for rules, method or sequence. Just doing what feels good and is aligned to my own desires without much regard to how it affects others or other parts of the system. Essentially, not behaving themselves.
So for my work, it looks like this:
- Lawful good: I would always plan to finish A first before going to B. Methodical, meticulous, sequential.
- Chaotic evil: Do whichever I prefer or feel for. Even if piecemeal. As long as there's progress, any bit goes.
Following that chaotic evil energy felt especially powerful when feeling stuck. And it was pretty effective in getting momentum going to eventually work on the sections where I feel more stuck on.
Which made me think: ***What if I did this for my entire indie solopreneur approach?***
That's what my [Opportunistic Trickster identity-based goal](https://golifelog.com/posts/identity-based-goals-1634279678058) is about, isn't it? Traits like:
- Has too much fun, oftentimes at the disapproval of others
- Takes nothing too seriously, even when others are serious
- Keen sense of asymmetric chances to win big
- Acts on asymmetry and actually wins
- Doing random is second nature
Are all about following chaotic evil energy without guilt or shame.
For the longest time, following this particular identity-based goal out of the 4 had been the hardest for me, because being lawful good is ingrained. I also found it imagine ways I can practice that identity. It was hard to make it tactical and tangible. But feels like I'm on to something tangible here.
Chaotic evil > lawful good.
Day 653 - Odds increasers - https://golifelog.com/posts/odds-increasers-1665790057396
Big lesson in entrepreneurship: NOTHING guarantees success.
Yes there's lots of necessary factors that lead to it. Things like hard work, consistency, enjoying the process, capital, luck, being smart.
But none itself are sufficient.
It's not enough to just work hard.
It's not enough to consistently show up everyday.
It's not enough to enjoy the process or product.
It's not enough to have access to capital.
It's not enough to be lucky.
It's not enough to be smart.
In fact, put them all together in one person or business, and it still doesn't guarantee anything.
Another way to debunk it: For every necessary factor, you can find a success stories where said successful person didn't have it or need it. Lazy people winning the game is the kind of stories we hate to admit exists.
So all we're doing is to up the odds of winning the game. Our real job is just to do things that increase probability of success.
Nothing more. It's all probability.
And anyone who says "Do X and you'll succeed" is just trying to make money off your naivety and hope. We do that to ourselves too, because we *want to* have hope that our efforts and pain mean *something*. It's comforting to deny that reality is a dice game.
Every growth hack, entrepreneur trick, savvy business move - are simply odds increasers.
And we're all gamblers.
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Yes there's lots of necessary factors that lead to it. Things like hard work, consistency, enjoying the process, capital, luck, being smart.
But none itself are sufficient.
It's not enough to just work hard.
It's not enough to consistently show up everyday.
It's not enough to enjoy the process or product.
It's not enough to have access to capital.
It's not enough to be lucky.
It's not enough to be smart.
In fact, put them all together in one person or business, and it still doesn't guarantee anything.
Another way to debunk it: For every necessary factor, you can find a success stories where said successful person didn't have it or need it. Lazy people winning the game is the kind of stories we hate to admit exists.
So all we're doing is to up the odds of winning the game. Our real job is just to do things that increase probability of success.
Nothing more. It's all probability.
And anyone who says "Do X and you'll succeed" is just trying to make money off your naivety and hope. We do that to ourselves too, because we *want to* have hope that our efforts and pain mean *something*. It's comforting to deny that reality is a dice game.
Every growth hack, entrepreneur trick, savvy business move - are simply odds increasers.
And we're all gamblers.
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Day 652 - Incremental explosion/implosion - https://golifelog.com/posts/incremental-explosionimplosion-1665702048562
Another gem from James Clear:
“What appears to be a rapid shift is often preceded by a gradual process. Our results gradually explode or vanish thanks to the small habits we repeat each day.
What radical change are you slowly marching toward? An incremental explosion or an incremental vanishing?”
I love the last two questions. Great pause for ponder.
What incremental explosion or implosion am I marching towards?
Which habit streaks are serving me towards that future, even though the gradual and incremental progress in the present doesn’t seem like it will?
How will that explosion or implosion look like when it finally comes?
• Sleep biohacking – Restful sleep with daily sleep scores above 90%. Great sleep quality with more than 1.5h of deep sleep and REM sleep per night. Feeling rested and jumping out of bed when I wake. Not needing naps or coffee in the day. Peak productivity.
• Diet – Enjoys eating healthy and wholesome foods. Free from gut issues or metabolic/inflammation ailments. No more dad bod and tummy. Slim, healthy, alert. Peak sense of wellbeing and wellness.
• Indie solopreneurship – Hits $100K per year consistently from my portfolio of products and services. Creating new products just because it’s fun. Connecting and learning from and with others.
• Writing – Clarity. Joy. Gratitude. Creativity. A tool to time hop back and reflect. A bank of words that says who I was, who I’m becoming. A library of work that helps me in my work.
New habit streaks that I really want to add to the list:
• Fitness – Strong, lean, great posture, glowing. Even in my 70s and 80s. Strong but healthy. Able to run 5km anytime, walk all day. Fit AF.
• Money habits – Money is no longer “dirty”. Savvy at using money to grow money. Street smart at investing in stock market, businesses, crypto.
• Family relationship – I’d really love to have a habit streak that gets me to put in incremental effort in terms of relationships for my family - wife, son, parents. No idea how yet but they are so important that I thought I shouldn’t miss out mentioning it!
Onwards!
“What appears to be a rapid shift is often preceded by a gradual process. Our results gradually explode or vanish thanks to the small habits we repeat each day.
What radical change are you slowly marching toward? An incremental explosion or an incremental vanishing?”
I love the last two questions. Great pause for ponder.
What incremental explosion or implosion am I marching towards?
Which habit streaks are serving me towards that future, even though the gradual and incremental progress in the present doesn’t seem like it will?
How will that explosion or implosion look like when it finally comes?
• Sleep biohacking – Restful sleep with daily sleep scores above 90%. Great sleep quality with more than 1.5h of deep sleep and REM sleep per night. Feeling rested and jumping out of bed when I wake. Not needing naps or coffee in the day. Peak productivity.
• Diet – Enjoys eating healthy and wholesome foods. Free from gut issues or metabolic/inflammation ailments. No more dad bod and tummy. Slim, healthy, alert. Peak sense of wellbeing and wellness.
• Indie solopreneurship – Hits $100K per year consistently from my portfolio of products and services. Creating new products just because it’s fun. Connecting and learning from and with others.
• Writing – Clarity. Joy. Gratitude. Creativity. A tool to time hop back and reflect. A bank of words that says who I was, who I’m becoming. A library of work that helps me in my work.
New habit streaks that I really want to add to the list:
• Fitness – Strong, lean, great posture, glowing. Even in my 70s and 80s. Strong but healthy. Able to run 5km anytime, walk all day. Fit AF.
• Money habits – Money is no longer “dirty”. Savvy at using money to grow money. Street smart at investing in stock market, businesses, crypto.
• Family relationship – I’d really love to have a habit streak that gets me to put in incremental effort in terms of relationships for my family - wife, son, parents. No idea how yet but they are so important that I thought I shouldn’t miss out mentioning it!
Onwards!
Day 651 - Epitaph - https://golifelog.com/posts/epitaph-1665624560118
Saw this line on LinkedIn today:
"And so it's over. So many things that went wrong. But also many things that went right."
Thought that's a great epitaph. Could go on my list of possible contenders for my tombstone for sure.
But the curious follow-up question is: What went right?
If I had to make a future, post-humous list of the things that went right for my life:
- Came back as a human - that's the one in a trillion lottery win already
- Got born in a nice part of the world where I can not just survive but thrive
- Born with limbs and things intact
- Had lovely parents
- Found love
- Got married
- Had a kid
- Loved them all
- Travelled the world
- Found peace
- Died happy
I made up the last three. But if I can achieve them by my deathbed, it'll be sufficient.
Doing such thought experiments always gives such a good overview effect.
What of MRR? Revenue? Going viral? Having huge following? Creating great products that delight people? Earning a million dollars? How about a billion dollars? What of all these things and goals you want in your career and life?
Yeah they're good. *Nice to have.* But not fundamentally important. Not mission-critical. None that can be equal to anything on my list.
So many things that could go wrong, had went wrong.
But also many things that could go right, ended up right, or better. And more to come.
"And so it's over. So many things that went wrong. But also many things that went right."
Thought that's a great epitaph. Could go on my list of possible contenders for my tombstone for sure.
But the curious follow-up question is: What went right?
If I had to make a future, post-humous list of the things that went right for my life:
- Came back as a human - that's the one in a trillion lottery win already
- Got born in a nice part of the world where I can not just survive but thrive
- Born with limbs and things intact
- Had lovely parents
- Found love
- Got married
- Had a kid
- Loved them all
- Travelled the world
- Found peace
- Died happy
I made up the last three. But if I can achieve them by my deathbed, it'll be sufficient.
Doing such thought experiments always gives such a good overview effect.
What of MRR? Revenue? Going viral? Having huge following? Creating great products that delight people? Earning a million dollars? How about a billion dollars? What of all these things and goals you want in your career and life?
Yeah they're good. *Nice to have.* But not fundamentally important. Not mission-critical. None that can be equal to anything on my list.
So many things that could go wrong, had went wrong.
But also many things that could go right, ended up right, or better. And more to come.
🚀 Wow this blew up. Been a looong while since a tweet went viral! Again, jokes/shitposts always performs
https://twitter.com/jasonleowsg/status/1579835465779118082
Day 650 - The $500K question - https://golifelog.com/posts/the-dollar500k-question-1665529523396
Chanced on a good question from [@SimonHoiberg](https://twitter.com/SimonHoiberg/status/1578386243381071878) from the Twitterverse:
"If someone gave you $500K to quit your job and build a SaaS Product... What would you build?"
Most people will say "I'll use it to build X, my dream product." Basically, they'll choose to ***spend*** it. Looking at success rates of startups, 90% will end up draining the $500K pot dry from trying and failing.
I have a better answer.
I'll ***invest*** it. All of it. And use the returns on investment to fund my runway to experiment and build a portfolio of bets, including SaaS products.
Say I invest it in S&P500. Historically over decades, the returns are at least (conservatively) 10%.
10% of $500,000 = $50,000
That's $50K a year. While not necessarily enough to feed me and my fam, it can already cover a major part of it. I can top up the rest with gigs. I can imagine $50K to be more than enough for an indie solopreneur who's single, living as a digital nomad in Bali for example.
And living off that, you'll have almost infinite runway to keep trying, even if you fail.
Spending it on a ***single*** (SaaS) bet is actually a worse-off decision. Because you don't know if that's the one bet that will work. You might need many more tries on the slot machine called the market. But you went all in on that one bet with a 90% probability of failure.
Better to use it to fund all your future bets, and you stay in the game.
Only when you survive do you have a chance at thriving.
Entrepreneurs should be as good investors as they are at business, don't you think?
"If someone gave you $500K to quit your job and build a SaaS Product... What would you build?"
Most people will say "I'll use it to build X, my dream product." Basically, they'll choose to ***spend*** it. Looking at success rates of startups, 90% will end up draining the $500K pot dry from trying and failing.
I have a better answer.
I'll ***invest*** it. All of it. And use the returns on investment to fund my runway to experiment and build a portfolio of bets, including SaaS products.
Say I invest it in S&P500. Historically over decades, the returns are at least (conservatively) 10%.
10% of $500,000 = $50,000
That's $50K a year. While not necessarily enough to feed me and my fam, it can already cover a major part of it. I can top up the rest with gigs. I can imagine $50K to be more than enough for an indie solopreneur who's single, living as a digital nomad in Bali for example.
And living off that, you'll have almost infinite runway to keep trying, even if you fail.
Spending it on a ***single*** (SaaS) bet is actually a worse-off decision. Because you don't know if that's the one bet that will work. You might need many more tries on the slot machine called the market. But you went all in on that one bet with a 90% probability of failure.
Better to use it to fund all your future bets, and you stay in the game.
Only when you survive do you have a chance at thriving.
Entrepreneurs should be as good investors as they are at business, don't you think?
Day 649 - Updated indie hacker playbook? - https://golifelog.com/posts/updated-indie-hacker-playbook-1665453031370
What's the classic indie hacker's playbook?
- Pre launch a landing page or build a scrappy MVP to validate interest
- Build in public, sharing progress and revenue updates
- No paid marketing, no ads
- Little to no SEO content, all organic reach by going viral
- Obligatory launch on Product Hunt
- Bootstrap your product to ramen profitability, without investor funds
Tweet Hunter's success story is pointing to a new indie hacker playbook in the making. [Ayush wrote a great article](https://www.listenupih.com/tweethunter/) summarising their story, and many of the growth hacks are more uncommon to indies:
- Partnering influencers by giving equity to the startup, pairing technical chops with marketing fitnesse
- Growth hacking through building viral side projects that bring attention to the main projects
- Acquiring smaller projects with good traffic from other indies to redirect attention to the main project again
- Micro equity partnerships with 12 other influencers, where they each get tokens from a pool, and will get returns if Tweet Hunter gets acquired in future
- Use of ads on Twitter to market the product
- SEO content
- Organic reach through founders' Twitter accounts
It's really just a mix of startup tactics with indie methods, isn't it?
These methods had always been around, just not often used by indies because it can be costly (e.g. ads) or just too difficult (influencer partnership assumes you got something worth partnering with). There's also the back story context where the founders had a lot of experience starting startups and failed a lot as well, so the classic 10 year grind had paved the foundation here.
Despite their huge success, I wouldn't go so far as to say go replicate their approach for your indie product.
But it definitely does open up new thinking, new distribution channels and growth opportunities where I would have previously shrugged off simply because it's not in the "indie hacker playbook".
Whatever that means.
- Pre launch a landing page or build a scrappy MVP to validate interest
- Build in public, sharing progress and revenue updates
- No paid marketing, no ads
- Little to no SEO content, all organic reach by going viral
- Obligatory launch on Product Hunt
- Bootstrap your product to ramen profitability, without investor funds
Tweet Hunter's success story is pointing to a new indie hacker playbook in the making. [Ayush wrote a great article](https://www.listenupih.com/tweethunter/) summarising their story, and many of the growth hacks are more uncommon to indies:
- Partnering influencers by giving equity to the startup, pairing technical chops with marketing fitnesse
- Growth hacking through building viral side projects that bring attention to the main projects
- Acquiring smaller projects with good traffic from other indies to redirect attention to the main project again
- Micro equity partnerships with 12 other influencers, where they each get tokens from a pool, and will get returns if Tweet Hunter gets acquired in future
- Use of ads on Twitter to market the product
- SEO content
- Organic reach through founders' Twitter accounts
It's really just a mix of startup tactics with indie methods, isn't it?
These methods had always been around, just not often used by indies because it can be costly (e.g. ads) or just too difficult (influencer partnership assumes you got something worth partnering with). There's also the back story context where the founders had a lot of experience starting startups and failed a lot as well, so the classic 10 year grind had paved the foundation here.
Despite their huge success, I wouldn't go so far as to say go replicate their approach for your indie product.
But it definitely does open up new thinking, new distribution channels and growth opportunities where I would have previously shrugged off simply because it's not in the "indie hacker playbook".
Whatever that means.
Fixed a user's streak due to having written but forgetting to hit publish
Day 648 - When was the last time you truly had fun? - https://golifelog.com/posts/when-was-the-last-time-you-truly-had-fun-1665364334409
I asked myself that question yesterday, and I couldn't recall the last time I had fun.
If there's one, it most likely would be during pre-COVID, pre-fatherhood times. Maybe it's the last time I was in Bali, in December 2019. So it's been at least 3 years.
**3 looong years.**
Through a global catastrophe, a local crisis, and a personal upheaval. Time is relative, they say. And truly, it felt like 30 years not 3.
> "I can't recall the taste of food, nor the sound of water, nor the touch of grass. I'm naked in the dark." – Frodo
Like Frodo in the *Lord Of The Rings*, I can't even remember how to have fun anymore, after those long dark years. My muscle memory on how to do it... all gone. Everything now is revolves around work or care, duty and responsibility. Even when it's supposed to be a fun leisure activity, I'm 'working' in some capacity - as an entrepreneur, a dad, a husband, a son. Always having to look out for others, care for them.
I thought I was burned out from work, from hustling.
Instead I think I'm burned out. From everything. From life itself.
*How do you take a vacation from life itself?*
I wish I knew the answer, but nothing's coming through... yet.
Or maybe I just need more sleep...
If there's one, it most likely would be during pre-COVID, pre-fatherhood times. Maybe it's the last time I was in Bali, in December 2019. So it's been at least 3 years.
**3 looong years.**
Through a global catastrophe, a local crisis, and a personal upheaval. Time is relative, they say. And truly, it felt like 30 years not 3.
> "I can't recall the taste of food, nor the sound of water, nor the touch of grass. I'm naked in the dark." – Frodo
Like Frodo in the *Lord Of The Rings*, I can't even remember how to have fun anymore, after those long dark years. My muscle memory on how to do it... all gone. Everything now is revolves around work or care, duty and responsibility. Even when it's supposed to be a fun leisure activity, I'm 'working' in some capacity - as an entrepreneur, a dad, a husband, a son. Always having to look out for others, care for them.
I thought I was burned out from work, from hustling.
Instead I think I'm burned out. From everything. From life itself.
*How do you take a vacation from life itself?*
I wish I knew the answer, but nothing's coming through... yet.
Or maybe I just need more sleep...
Day 647 - Sunday mornings - https://golifelog.com/posts/sunday-mornings-1665272883101
Sunday mornings are always special.
No traffic. No work. No commitments.
Everyone sleeps in, even the birds. It’s so quiet I can hear the world breathe.
I put on some chillstep music, sip on my double espresso, and stare at the screen. I start typing, but after a few words, I stop myself. The sound of my keyboard is spoiling the quiet.
I give up.
I spin 90º to the right, and just look out the window into the morning sky, and just soak it in. It’s a rare beautiful morning sky. Golden light emerging behind the cloud curtains.
Why do I even want to work through such mornings?
I should be out there. I should be walking and soaking it in. I should be breathing in that clean crisp morning air, bathing in that refreshing golden light.
Yet here I am. In my little dusty domain where I rule as king.
They don’t call it lazy Sunday mornings for nothing.
I don’t need to rush. I don’t need to get out there. I don’t need to do anything. I don’t need to be anywhere.
I can be content here and now.
Just being and breathing.
No traffic. No work. No commitments.
Everyone sleeps in, even the birds. It’s so quiet I can hear the world breathe.
I put on some chillstep music, sip on my double espresso, and stare at the screen. I start typing, but after a few words, I stop myself. The sound of my keyboard is spoiling the quiet.
I give up.
I spin 90º to the right, and just look out the window into the morning sky, and just soak it in. It’s a rare beautiful morning sky. Golden light emerging behind the cloud curtains.
Why do I even want to work through such mornings?
I should be out there. I should be walking and soaking it in. I should be breathing in that clean crisp morning air, bathing in that refreshing golden light.
Yet here I am. In my little dusty domain where I rule as king.
They don’t call it lazy Sunday mornings for nothing.
I don’t need to rush. I don’t need to get out there. I don’t need to do anything. I don’t need to be anywhere.
I can be content here and now.
Just being and breathing.
Day 646 - Pareto your winning and losing - https://golifelog.com/posts/pareto-your-winning-and-losing-1665192645372
More and more I think my real job of being an indie solopreneur isn't running a business but running myself. My inner mental game, my productivity, creativity, motivation and energy.
And just finding way to maintain the game within myself is the mission.
Like they say, the real product isn't the product but the factory that makes the product. In this case, the factory is me.
And one of the most important parts of managing me, myself and I is my learning rate and progress rate. [James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/october-6-2022) explains it well in his latest newsletter:
> "Balancing success and failure is a tricky thing. I'd say 8 or 9 times out of 10, you should be succeeding. Build momentum. Accumulate advantages. Feast on the feeling of success and let it feed your desire to do more. But 1 or 2 times out of 10, you should be failing. Push yourself and reach beyond your current grasp. Force yourself to try uncomfortable things. Occasionally you will surprise yourself and the rest of the time you will learn.
>
> Win enough to keep progressing. Lose enough to keep learning."
That last line is so dope. And a perfect summary of what my real job is.
Set up enough small wins to keep feeling like I'm progressing, no matter how incremental. But don't get too comfortable winning all the time. Push things outside of my comfort zone a bit so that 10-20% of the time I'm losing *in order* to learn and grow.
That perspective on losing is pretty crazy in a way, isn't it? Seek out loss ***intentionally***, in order to learn.
That way, losing is no longer a stain in your success story track record. It *literally* is a stepping stone amongst many to success.
Failure is just research. Loss is learning.
Seeing this way, there's no way you *can't* win.
And just finding way to maintain the game within myself is the mission.
Like they say, the real product isn't the product but the factory that makes the product. In this case, the factory is me.
And one of the most important parts of managing me, myself and I is my learning rate and progress rate. [James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/october-6-2022) explains it well in his latest newsletter:
> "Balancing success and failure is a tricky thing. I'd say 8 or 9 times out of 10, you should be succeeding. Build momentum. Accumulate advantages. Feast on the feeling of success and let it feed your desire to do more. But 1 or 2 times out of 10, you should be failing. Push yourself and reach beyond your current grasp. Force yourself to try uncomfortable things. Occasionally you will surprise yourself and the rest of the time you will learn.
>
> Win enough to keep progressing. Lose enough to keep learning."
That last line is so dope. And a perfect summary of what my real job is.
Set up enough small wins to keep feeling like I'm progressing, no matter how incremental. But don't get too comfortable winning all the time. Push things outside of my comfort zone a bit so that 10-20% of the time I'm losing *in order* to learn and grow.
That perspective on losing is pretty crazy in a way, isn't it? Seek out loss ***intentionally***, in order to learn.
That way, losing is no longer a stain in your success story track record. It *literally* is a stepping stone amongst many to success.
Failure is just research. Loss is learning.
Seeing this way, there's no way you *can't* win.
Day 645 - What did you get done this week? - https://golifelog.com/posts/what-did-you-get-done-this-week-1665126178183
Killer question I learned this week from the great Elon Musk:
"What did you get done this week?"
Big tech CEO:
Elon: "What did you get done this week?"
😂😂😂
Tech memes and jokes aside, I found that to be a simple yet piercing question. It's the simple questions that's always the most arresting. Especially when asked because someone sees through the BS, from CEO to CEO. Can't imagine how it feels like to be on the receiving end of that text message!
I love collecting beautiful questions. A great answer stays fixed in time, and might become wrong when the context changes. But a beautiful question is evergreen, always inspiring to reflect on. Ask it each time and you get a different answer. And the most beautiful questions are often the simplest and most unassuming.
This is a great question for self-reflection and journaling, as an entrepreneur, maker, creator.
Did I make anything that moved the needle this week?
Anything that has concrete impact on the mission?
What did *I* get done this week?
"What did you get done this week?"
Big tech CEO:
Elon: "What did you get done this week?"
😂😂😂
Tech memes and jokes aside, I found that to be a simple yet piercing question. It's the simple questions that's always the most arresting. Especially when asked because someone sees through the BS, from CEO to CEO. Can't imagine how it feels like to be on the receiving end of that text message!
I love collecting beautiful questions. A great answer stays fixed in time, and might become wrong when the context changes. But a beautiful question is evergreen, always inspiring to reflect on. Ask it each time and you get a different answer. And the most beautiful questions are often the simplest and most unassuming.
This is a great question for self-reflection and journaling, as an entrepreneur, maker, creator.
Did I make anything that moved the needle this week?
Anything that has concrete impact on the mission?
What did *I* get done this week?
Jason Leow
Author
We need Elon-as-a-boss weekly reminder app SaaS! 😆 https://twitter.com/heymattia/status/1577800583486005249
Day 644 - Employment vs Entrepreneurship - https://golifelog.com/posts/employment-vs-entrepreneurship-1665017655427
When employed: Company pays a monthly subscription to you for your work. You're answerable to your boss.
When indie: Customers pay a monthly subscription to you for your work. You're answerable to your customers.
Let's get real here... is there *really* a big difference? 🤔
I'm usually the first one to put my hand up that there's a HUGE difference for sure. I'd shout "Because I want to master my own fate!" But lately, been reflecting on it, and I'm not so sure there's a *huge* difference.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there's NO difference. There's definitely differences between being employed versus being an indie solopreneur. But I'd argue that the day-to-day experience is **a lot less different than we (want to) think it is**.
Think about this:
- On job it sucks to have a bad manager. When indie, it sucks to have to deal with an unreasonable customer. Both feel the same. Both shit on your day the same way.
- On job you're selling your time. In business, you're selling your time to the product—building features, marketing—in exchange for customers. Sure you get equity and you're building a potentially scalable asset, but it's not like it's 100% passive. Nothing is. You still got to show up to work in exchange of your time for financial returns, right?
- On job, answerable to whims of a single person - your boss. When indie, answerable to whims of customers, co-founder(s), investors(s). No business is an island. You still have to make decisions being accountable to or constrained by others. Total autonomy is a false illusion.
- On job you get arbitrary income ceilings. When running a business, you get market 'ceilings', where winner takes all. There's a power law at work here. Most earnings is consolidated in the top few creators in Patreon, while most of the rest don't earn a living wage.
- On job you risk getting fired. But you can job hop and choose from hundreds of potential employers. As entrepreneur you diversify risk from a single point of failure (your job) to many customers, and you can fire any one customer out of hundreds/thousands, but that's assuming to get to that many customers in the first place. You risk your startup failing first (at an even higher risk than being fired).
So let's get real... on balance comparing between the two, is the lived daily experience really all that different? Feels like for every pro there's a con on both sides. Not one is better over the other in any definitive way.
Ultimately, I feel the main difference is in values and taste. In the same way I say I like eating chocolate versus someone who hates the taste.
Truth is, despite saying all the ways it's a lot less different than I thought, I'd still choose indie solopreneur path. Because that aligns to my values and taste, for autonomy, creativity, meaning.
But at least talking this through, I'm drinking less of the entrepreneurship Koolaid. I'm under less illusions, less enamoured of the benefits of self employment over employment. So that I get a more balanced view and expectations of my own path.
When indie: Customers pay a monthly subscription to you for your work. You're answerable to your customers.
Let's get real here... is there *really* a big difference? 🤔
I'm usually the first one to put my hand up that there's a HUGE difference for sure. I'd shout "Because I want to master my own fate!" But lately, been reflecting on it, and I'm not so sure there's a *huge* difference.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there's NO difference. There's definitely differences between being employed versus being an indie solopreneur. But I'd argue that the day-to-day experience is **a lot less different than we (want to) think it is**.
Think about this:
- On job it sucks to have a bad manager. When indie, it sucks to have to deal with an unreasonable customer. Both feel the same. Both shit on your day the same way.
- On job you're selling your time. In business, you're selling your time to the product—building features, marketing—in exchange for customers. Sure you get equity and you're building a potentially scalable asset, but it's not like it's 100% passive. Nothing is. You still got to show up to work in exchange of your time for financial returns, right?
- On job, answerable to whims of a single person - your boss. When indie, answerable to whims of customers, co-founder(s), investors(s). No business is an island. You still have to make decisions being accountable to or constrained by others. Total autonomy is a false illusion.
- On job you get arbitrary income ceilings. When running a business, you get market 'ceilings', where winner takes all. There's a power law at work here. Most earnings is consolidated in the top few creators in Patreon, while most of the rest don't earn a living wage.
- On job you risk getting fired. But you can job hop and choose from hundreds of potential employers. As entrepreneur you diversify risk from a single point of failure (your job) to many customers, and you can fire any one customer out of hundreds/thousands, but that's assuming to get to that many customers in the first place. You risk your startup failing first (at an even higher risk than being fired).
So let's get real... on balance comparing between the two, is the lived daily experience really all that different? Feels like for every pro there's a con on both sides. Not one is better over the other in any definitive way.
Ultimately, I feel the main difference is in values and taste. In the same way I say I like eating chocolate versus someone who hates the taste.
Truth is, despite saying all the ways it's a lot less different than I thought, I'd still choose indie solopreneur path. Because that aligns to my values and taste, for autonomy, creativity, meaning.
But at least talking this through, I'm drinking less of the entrepreneurship Koolaid. I'm under less illusions, less enamoured of the benefits of self employment over employment. So that I get a more balanced view and expectations of my own path.
during my restaurant days, i'd say "I don't have a boss, i have thousands of bosses!" And same thing to my staff, I'd tell them "I'm not your boss. All these customers are your bosses."
Day 643 - Learning from failure & success is overrated - https://golifelog.com/posts/learning-from-failure-and-success-is-overrated-1664930299301
In Annie Duke's *Thinking In Bets* book, she talks about decision-making skills from playing poker. Poker's not all that different from entrepreneurship I feel. And "thinking in bets" is definitely how I relate to running a business, making products. It's not called "a portfolio of small bets" for nothing!
One line in particular—about learning from success and failure—stood out:
> "You’re not always right when things go your way; you’re not always wrong when they don’t."
**Mindblown.**
Gosh I'm so wrong. Again.
You see, I'm kind of a personal growth geek. I love learning. I like improving myself. I enjoy reflecting on my progress. Above all, I love extracting lessons from successes, and especially failures.
I'm always asking: "What did I learn?"
Maybe that way of learning worked well in a predictable world in school, sports and later in work, where it's easier to isolate and observe how your effort play out against the results you get. It's easier to learn from success and failure.
But not so for entrepreneurship.
Because of the volatile, uncertain and complex and ambiguous nature of running a business, it's not always possible to isolate and observe results from inputs accurately. Sometimes it just circumstantial, or plain dumb luck.
So in "You’re not always right when things go your way; you’re not always wrong when they don’t.", when I succeeded, the things I did aren't necessarily the right things. That I can understand, due to factors like luck. But what's more mindblowing was realising that when I failed, the things I did aren't necessarily the *wrong* things!
Learning from failure (or success) isn't always as helpful as we thought!
If we shouldn't emulate success stories of other entrepreneurs because we can't isolate the factors that led to success, then we certainly shouldn't read too much into failures.
**Learning from both success and failure are overrated.**
*What should I do then?*
- Don't form lessons and learnings. Form hypotheses. and experiments. Don't take anything as solid truth until I've acted on and applied it, and that it's shown to be replicable and reliable.
- Even things that I tried, worked, and repeatable on one of my products might not be useful on another product I run. Same person, but different product, different business context. So always be ready to review.
- See lessons as suggestions, learning from the successes/failures of others as brainstorming ideas to try, not new rules to follow.
- It's tempting to extract new rules to follow when doing post-mortem reviews from failures. DON'T. It's still ok to do reviews. But be highly suspicious of anything resembling a new rule. Form my next hypothesis instead.
Above all, aim to be your own person.
One line in particular—about learning from success and failure—stood out:
> "You’re not always right when things go your way; you’re not always wrong when they don’t."
**Mindblown.**
Gosh I'm so wrong. Again.
You see, I'm kind of a personal growth geek. I love learning. I like improving myself. I enjoy reflecting on my progress. Above all, I love extracting lessons from successes, and especially failures.
I'm always asking: "What did I learn?"
Maybe that way of learning worked well in a predictable world in school, sports and later in work, where it's easier to isolate and observe how your effort play out against the results you get. It's easier to learn from success and failure.
But not so for entrepreneurship.
Because of the volatile, uncertain and complex and ambiguous nature of running a business, it's not always possible to isolate and observe results from inputs accurately. Sometimes it just circumstantial, or plain dumb luck.
So in "You’re not always right when things go your way; you’re not always wrong when they don’t.", when I succeeded, the things I did aren't necessarily the right things. That I can understand, due to factors like luck. But what's more mindblowing was realising that when I failed, the things I did aren't necessarily the *wrong* things!
Learning from failure (or success) isn't always as helpful as we thought!
If we shouldn't emulate success stories of other entrepreneurs because we can't isolate the factors that led to success, then we certainly shouldn't read too much into failures.
**Learning from both success and failure are overrated.**
*What should I do then?*
- Don't form lessons and learnings. Form hypotheses. and experiments. Don't take anything as solid truth until I've acted on and applied it, and that it's shown to be replicable and reliable.
- Even things that I tried, worked, and repeatable on one of my products might not be useful on another product I run. Same person, but different product, different business context. So always be ready to review.
- See lessons as suggestions, learning from the successes/failures of others as brainstorming ideas to try, not new rules to follow.
- It's tempting to extract new rules to follow when doing post-mortem reviews from failures. DON'T. It's still ok to do reviews. But be highly suspicious of anything resembling a new rule. Form my next hypothesis instead.
Above all, aim to be your own person.
Day 642 - Dosage & frequency - https://golifelog.com/posts/dosage-and-frequency-1664837821494
Interesting insight about the nature of our likes and dislikes:
"If you like coffee, you don’t really like coffee. You like coffee at a certain dose and frequency. Change the dose and frequency, and what you like and dislike changes. Applies to almost everything." – @dvassallo
Dosage and frequency is an important nuance on our likes/dislikes.
I love coffee, but past 3 cups a day, I start to hate what it does to me.
Likewise, I say I love making products, but really it’s at a specific dosage and frequency too. Focus on one product for too long, and I start to get bored. That’s why I have a portfolio of products to vary my dosage.
I say I love being an indie solopreneur, but in actuality it’s at a specific dosage and frequency. The fun parts has to be a bit more frequent in dosage than the not-so-fun parts (like doing taxes, admin, burnout). The moment the pain is more than the fun, it gets hard to keep at it.
Likewise, the same for dislikes. I used to say I hate coding. But that’s because my dosage and frequency was too low to experience the benefits, to build confidence from competency. Past a dosage point, I started to say I like coding!
Tl;dr - Our likes and dislikes are not fixed. It can change, depending on context (like dosage and frequency). Don’t over-identify with it.
"If you like coffee, you don’t really like coffee. You like coffee at a certain dose and frequency. Change the dose and frequency, and what you like and dislike changes. Applies to almost everything." – @dvassallo
Dosage and frequency is an important nuance on our likes/dislikes.
I love coffee, but past 3 cups a day, I start to hate what it does to me.
Likewise, I say I love making products, but really it’s at a specific dosage and frequency too. Focus on one product for too long, and I start to get bored. That’s why I have a portfolio of products to vary my dosage.
I say I love being an indie solopreneur, but in actuality it’s at a specific dosage and frequency. The fun parts has to be a bit more frequent in dosage than the not-so-fun parts (like doing taxes, admin, burnout). The moment the pain is more than the fun, it gets hard to keep at it.
Likewise, the same for dislikes. I used to say I hate coding. But that’s because my dosage and frequency was too low to experience the benefits, to build confidence from competency. Past a dosage point, I started to say I like coding!
Tl;dr - Our likes and dislikes are not fixed. It can change, depending on context (like dosage and frequency). Don’t over-identify with it.