This Is How It Feels To Live With Intention

This Week:

• Choosing my next destination! Maybe it’s not what you think.
• What it’s like to meditate with a buddhist monk in Thailand.
• My first day in 3 months I took care of my mental and physical health with intentionality.

October 2023

Where In The World Was I?

• Bangkok, Thailand

Live Travel Map 🌎

How To Min-Max Calories In Thailand

After another looooong life update last Sunday, I closed the laptop at 6:30pm and hit the streets to figure out how to max a full day’s worth of calories in about 2 hours 😅

I’ve pretty much been living off these protein shakes from 7-11 my entire time in Bangkok so far. There are 7-11’s literally everywhere, the shakes are cheap (~45THB, $1.25), and high in protein.

Not sure I hit >2,000 calories but I ended the night full so I’ll take it.

If He Can Do It So Can I

That evening I was chilling in the hostel common room and ended up meeting this guy that’s a digital nomad. He has an online business where he teaches people how to code, which includes both a course that he developed (and is still developing) as well as some 1-1 calls.

First off, it was cool to meet someone with an online business like that! I haven’t met a whole lot of digital nomads yet. I know they’re out there I just haven’t met them.

But anyway, he took a coding bootcamp some time ago, got a job from that, then about a year ago he quit his job to start an online business. He bought an online course for coaching and applied that to create a coding coaching program – coding course lectures + access to him for help.

He got his first clients by literally just doing cold outreach to online groups like reddit communities.

At this point I was thinking dang this is pretty cool, I’ve only ever heard about people doing this. I wonder how much he’s charging? Maybe like $50/mo?

So I asked him…

His clients pay him $500/mo.

$500/mo!

And he didn’t explicitly say how many clients he had but it sounded like around 10 or so.

Disclaimer: I’m going to give myself permission to bag on him because of the singular reason I write at the end of this.

From that moment on, all I could think about was… man, if this guy can do it, so can I.

He said he’s never even built a full stack application before. I was thinking, there’s no way this guy has more coding nor more teaching experience than I do…

When I asked him what is core value proposition was to sell the course (having no results yet) he kind of struggled to answer. He just said he told people that he took the coding bootcamp path and they didn’t help him find a job, so he wanted to help people go from zero TO finding a job.

And in talking to him, his (macro) focus sounded very scattered. He told me he wanted to compete with coding bootcamps, but also talked about this new website idea he had, talked about setting up a Facebook group for his course business, and then brought up how what he really wants to do is get back into physics and tinkering/building things in the real world.

We talked more about community and I was telling him how I’ve heard how big communities are becoming right now, but how I’ve found it hard to figure out what to build a community around long term, like 5-10+years, and don’t want to build something for the short term, like 1-2 years.

He responded, “1-2 years? I mean that sounds pretty good. If you can do something for a year I think that’s pretty good.”

Immediately I thought back to something I’ve heard Alex Hormozi talk about. I can’t remember the quote, but the idea is that hearing people talk about time horizons and what they consider long vs short-term can be a good gauge of success. The longer the time horizon, the better.

For example, a family friend I met a year ago talked about her and her partner’s vision/plan to create a community focused cafe “in the next decade.” I remember hearing that and thinking, yep that’s a long time horizon. Those are the people I want to be around.

So anyways back to this guy…

I wrote and wrote in my journal finding these “weak” points in his metaphorical armor, things that I don’t agree with, and complained about how I have more experience than him.

But there was one idea, one crux of it all that brought it all together…

I wrote:

“I can complain all I want but he’s the one making whatever $3000+ per month and I have diddly squat zero goose egg.”

And with that, I have to respect him. He’s got action and results. I don’t.

I HAVE to be overthinking all this…

The Big Decision

The next morning I did some pretty solid journaling in a coffee shop about my next steps. Something that’s been a big unknown lately for me (see last week’s post The Week I Watched A Man Get Knocked Out In Thailand).

October 23rd 2023 | Actionable Planning

Okay I think we should pick what's next, with some intention finally.

The UK guy asked me last night where I'm going next, I said "I'm not sure" and he goes "well I haven't heard that answer before" LOL.

I'm tempted, really tempted to just fly straight to Bali.

Money isn't an issue, I found hella cheap rewards seats.

I think Chang Mai is off the table. I'm not in a rush to explore too. I'll be around.

I think the main thing that needs to happen is building back up my routine, and getting back behind the laptop. It felt like talking to [coding course guy] last night was a heavy sign. A sign that told me it's (business) is possible. If this guy can do it, so can I.

## Options

Back to options, I think bare minimum I need to get into some co-working spaces. I could do that here in Bangkok, it's #1 on NomadList, but idk it just doesn't feel right. I think I'd prefer a change (new country) and still have my eyes on that coworking hostel in Bali.

Maybe we just bite the bullet, fly to Bali, get back into routine there, then once I have some control again, I can bop around to other nomad-friendly places to work.

I know I could start now and it's just an excuse, but I'm holding Bali highly and I'm itching to "resolve" that - maybe it's not worth the hype?

## The Fear Of Missing Out

What's stopping me [from flying to Bali]?

Feeling like I'm not exploring these other places despite being so close, and some FOMO.

It's like, I see the response being "oh why did you skip all those amazing places? Why didn't you go to X?"

My answer? "Cuz I feel like crap LOL, too much travel, not enough routine and meaning. Gimme a couple weeks/months and I'll be ready to travel again."

I dunno, that (above) sounds reasonable and I think I'm worrying too much about what other people might think and not listening to my own body and mind.

And that at the end really nailed it.

I felt like the only real reason I wanted to go to Chang Mai was because SO many people I met in my hostel were going there next. It was the popular next place to go, not what *I* wanted.

I was afraid of what other people would say to me, which is funny because this actually ended up happening.

The next night I was taking a taxi back from the night market with these two girls. In our conversation I told them how I was planning on flying to Bali next and one of them, in a friendly tone, goes “you just got here and you’re already leaving? 😄”

And, having already made the decision in my mind, I said “yep.”

3 seconds of awkwardness, then the conversation moved on.

It’s time to put myself first.

But Not QUITE Yet

So I got to actually planning.

In my visa research, I decided rather than just showing up and getting a visa exemption/VoA (max 30 days no extension), I decided to apply for an e-Visa on Arrival, which lets me stay 60 days.

I submitted my application, which took a couple days to get processed and accepted.

In the meantime I decided to stay in Bangkok, but switch hostels (as my “change”). However, the idea was that once I switched hostels, I’d live more intentionally.

I had one more evening and afternoon at this hostel and a lot happened in that time.

What IS The Purpose Of Meditation?

Our hostel was supposed to have this meditation session hostel event with a buddhist monk at a temple but because of a national holiday he had to cancel.

So instead, the hostel manager decided to lead a meditation session herself on the rooftop area.

She started with explaining some of the broad concepts, but it felt like a lot of vague and abstract concepts. It was her first time and she was doing her best, but I had some trouble understanding some things and stringing the thread together.

On top of that, having meditated before, she said some things that contradicted things I’ve previously learned or heard about meditation and life. My mind raced with thoughts and my curiosity grew too much that I couldn’t help but speak up and ask some questions.

• “One of the key insights to meditation is that our feelings are our most important thing.”
  • I thought, hmm, are they? Feelings come and go, they’re fluid and uncontrollable. Should we really guide ourselves based on our feelings?
• “If you keep digging, you’ll find that we only ever have 3 types of feelings: positive, neutral, and negative.”
  • I asked, “is the implication, or the goal, to reduce negative feelings and increase positive feelings?” What about things that feel hard in the short term but good in the long term (e.g. exercising)? What about things that feel good in the short term but bad in the long term (e.g. scrolling social media)?
  • I thought, should we even label feelings in the first place?
• She talked about how during her meditations, she would listen to the thoughts and feelings that surfaced, explaining how those insights would lead her to things she may be intentionally ignoring.
  • The meditation I’m used to is one in which thoughts and thinking are simply acknowledge as such and you return your focus to the breath.
  • I asked, “how do you find meditation different from thinking?”

Unfortunately I didn’t feel like I got concrete answers. But I tried to really focus on seeing this as a different type of meditation and understanding her perspective, one that I didn’t have. At some point I felt like I was asking too many questions (I was being “that guy” in the classroom 😅) so I held back and just went along for the ride 😄

We finished the session with a 5 minute silent meditation.

All of these conflicting thoughts, questions, and feelings kept coming up. In the spirit of following this new type of meditation, rather than acknowledging them and moving back to the breath, I tried questioning and following them. I asked myself, Why? Why am I feeling this way?

At the end, we all (maybe 12 of us?) went around and she asked us how we felt, what came up, what we thought about, etc.

And looking back on this moment, I can’t help but laugh…

One person talked about how they felt grateful to be in Thailand and the path they took to get here.

Another person mentioned how they were thinking about their travel plans, where to go next, what to do next, etc.

Someone else talked about they just felt hungry and were thinking about what to do for dinner.

And then it got to me.

I smiled and let out a little laugh because I knew what was coming next.

I started… beginning to blush and get hot.

“I felt… conflicted… Some things I’ve heard you talk about are different from how I learned to meditate. But, I’m really trying to focus on learning and understanding the perspective that you have and that the buddhist monks have. So, rather than acknowledging thoughts and returning to my breath, I decided to try following the thoughts that came to my mind. I asked why? and followed that path. I think I felt conflicted because of the switch from my previous/current understanding to the new one I’m learning.”

I felt alone, but it was my truth. I described my mind, I tried to be objective, and so I can’t be upset.

Fortunately one of the other guys spoke up after I went and seemed to understand the difference I was describing.

And later that night one of the girls from the session told me she really liked my question about the difference between meditation and thinking, and how she was also having trouble understanding. That felt good, like I wasn’t going crazy 😄

But looking back on this, just seeing the contrast between what people shared is fascinating. Everyone else talked about their travels, where they were going next, and I’m over here like “I feel conflicted because you’re saying things I don’t know that I agree with, but I also want to learn and understand your perspective.”

Like if that’s not a sign about how my brain functions differently from others, I don’t know what does.

What other evidence do I need to show myself to start sharing more of this online?

The Local-Only Night Market

Went to this night market “Indy Market Pinklao” and man I spotted MAYBE 4 other tourists there. It was SO good. Those are the gems you get from local recommendations.

The Buddhist Meditation I Was NOT Expecting

After the hostel meditation, the manager recommended a daily meditation with a buddhist monk for those interested.

Judging by the fiasco I had during the session, I thought, maybe I’d actually be interested in doing that. So, I did!

And I ended up meeting a couple people from the hostel who also showed up!

The mediation time was blocked for 3 hours, but I didn’t think we’d actually use up that whole time…

I thought wrong 😂

He similarly talked through concepts first, then took us through a 30 minute sitting meditation.

Now, I haven’t meditated in months… but when I did (mostly last summer/fall), the max I’d do is 20 minutes.

It was tough! But I enjoyed it. His explanations were more similar to what I understood – being objective of thoughts, acknowledging thinking as “thinking,” acknowledging sensations/feelings as “feeling,” etc. and that it was all about intention. Every single action needed to have intention behind it. If you wanted to move your arm, you had to think “Intending to move. Intending to move. Intending to move.” then “Moving.”

After the 30 minutes was up, I was thinking “man that was tough but great. I’m glad I went to this!”

And he goes “so now we’ll do a 30 minute standing meditation.”

I glance over to the other side of the room and see these 2 girls look at each other like “is he serious 😂”

To be honest I felt the same way, almost terrified that I’d have to “endure” another 30 minutes, but it would be too awkward to leave, so I just went with it.

And after the 30 minute standing meditation the monk goes “now we’ll do the next meditation that we practice, the walking meditation for 30 minutes.”

At this point I had just accepted it 😂 I was actually excited for the walking one though as you actually got to move.

About 10 minutes into the walking meditation, I started to really FEEL the intentionality. It’s so hard to describe in words, but every step I took, I felt my the bottom of my foot pressing on the floor, I felt my toes wrapping down to make contact with the floor.

It started to feel… good. It almost felt like each step was a dopamine/serotonin hit of pleasure.

And THAT is one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve never put that much intention behind my life. It actually felt a little foreign (uncomfortable) to me. I’m so used to just going through the motions of life, having other people direct me to where to go and what to do. I feel like I don’t truly, like truly, know how to be intentional. And that was a fascinating realization.

We ended the session (finally, lol) and I met back up with the people from my hostel. We started walking towards the market to find a place to eat some food.

Wait…

See this is what I’m talking about. I just wrote “we” as if it was a collective group decision to all find a place to eat, but that’s not how *I* experienced it.

Was I hungry and did I agree to go with the group to find a place to eat? Yes.

But I felt like my mind was racing. What was this meditation experience I just had? How did I feel about it? What did I learn? What about these nuggets of wisdom I had?

It was such a weird feeling – walking out of the meditation to join back up with the group from the hostel and starting to walk down the street, chatting… It actually felt like I was being bombarded with stimulation and didn’t get the time to process the previous 2 hours. I kept thinking “wait wait wait hold on, aren’t you gonna document this?”

After showing up to a restaurant that had their kitchen (food) closed, the girls leading decided to just head back to the hostel to get food around there.

But it was 5 of us and the Grab taxis only fit 4.

I decided to speak up… “I actually was thinking of going back into the temple so if you guys want to just grab a taxi for the 4 of you that’s fine. I felt a little rushed and wanted to explore some more.”

They froze a bit, but agreed and I left and walked away back into the temple area.

What I said wasn’t a lie, but what I REALLY wanted was like, 15 minutes, alone, to sit and process this experience I just had.

I sat there, took some pictures, wrote some learnings down on my phone, recorded a phone video explaining how I felt about the meditation session – the unexpected 2 extra 30 minute meditations, the weird pleasure from my foot touching the ground during the walking meditation, the realization that I had never TRULY lived with that much intention before.

That was honestly about it. I was there for maybe 15 minutes, then left and started walking back to the hostel. But after sitting there and making that video talking through the experience, I felt like I had “closed the loop.”

My mind felt empty again.

Intention.

Starting A New Life

I moved hostels to the east side of Bangkok, on Sukhumvit Road, and boy what a change of scenery that was!

The next morning felt like the morning of a new life. A life of intention. A life where I had routine, where I ate healthy food, I took care of my physical and mental health, and I worked on things that were meaningful.

I spent the morning in a coffee shop working on my laptop. The first time in MONTHS. Man it felt good to be back.

I essentially just journaled for ~2.5 hours researching why exactly I was back in a coffee shop and what I want to work on next.

I share that EXACT journal entry later in the post.

Also shoutout to ChatGPT Plus (GPT-4), man that thing is like 5 times better than GPT-3.5.

I then had an incredible salad/lunch at the coffee shop before heading out – kale, tofu, avocado, corn, beets, salmon.

I left the coffee shop thinking, wow it feels good to be back.

The only way I can describe that feeling is that “life felt aligned.”

It brought me back to all the days I spent working in coffee shops during van life last year. It didn’t really matter that I didn’t have a “thing” to work on yet, just the act of working on something, to make incremental progress, felt fulfilling.

I meditated that afternoon, my first meditation (besides the ones in this post) in I don’t even know how long.

And then took the skytrain a couple stops to a park to get a workout in.

It was something like 33ºC (91ºF), 75% humidity, but fortunately it was cloudy 🫠

I was literally sopping wet. My entire shirt was soaked. And when I say entire, I mean l i t e r a l l y.

I also picked back up reading on my kindle again!

Surprise Surprise

And surprise surprise, the next couple days looked… very similar 🤪 That’s kinda the point 😄

Wake up (a bit earlier each day, inching down to 7am wake up).

Find a coffee shop.

Work on the laptop a couple hours.

Come back to the hostel around 12:30pm/1pm.

Order food via Grab (~$12-$15 for food, $0.44 for delivery, +$0.33 for priority delivery)

Ate, watch a bit of YouTube, then meditat, read, and do some Duolingo (started learning Indonesian! Halo. Salam. Nama saya Peter. Apa kabar?).

Afternoon/Pre-dinner exercise

Dinner via Grab delivery

More hanging out, some YT, reading, Duolingo.

Bedtime +/- 9:30pm, sleeping by 10:15pm ish.

Work, Work.

• Finally got around to updating my Photography Portfolio, added a bunch of photos from the past 3 months and still didn’t get through everything just yet.
  • I tweaked the page layout a bit to add a “Featured” section, the best of the best of the best 15 out of the 86 (86! Wow!)
  • Also I’ve never mentioned this, but my personal filter for what goes in the portfolio vs not is basically anything I’d feel comfortable being printed and hung on a wall. Do I want to market my photos and try to sell them? I dunno… I think I want to keep it as a creative hobby, but if people voluntarily come to ME, then sure. Still TBD on all that.

• Fixed (or at least tried to fix) a couple website bugs.

The biggest activity was choosing what business path to go down next… i.e. what exactly I want to work on.

I was gonna try to summarize all this but it might be more interesting to just lift directly from my Obsidian.md journal. Open the dropdown to read it here:

# 202310250948 What problem am I solving
#journal #goals #personal 

So this was going to be a quick note for today's daily plan, but it doesn't feel that simple.

Why am I here, back in a coffee shop after 3 months of traveling?
- I want routine and structure to my life. I just want to work on something.
- I want money, but I don't need money.
- Finding meaning and fulfillment hasn't been as much of a priority, it's really been more about the micro, of having structure, of taking care of my physical health and mental health again.
- While I like social experiences and going out, I don't like how it makes me feel physically the day after, when I have to push back my wake time and my next day is slower.

So the main priority seems to just be, get back into my good habits and a structured life.
- Similar, [[202301090101 The focus right now is getting back to my good habits]]

Building some kind of business feels like the next "want," because it's an eventual end goal, but it's not an immediate goal, which I feel is good.

Thus, maybe the question of "what to work on" should then be directed towards setting up my future self for opportunities.

For example, I was chatting with a guy I met at the Jam hostel in Bangkok who has a coding course business. We were chatting how marketing is really difficult. The natural next thought was, having an audience or attention right now is so valuable...

Starting to build an audience and capture attention will allow my future self to more easily market, generate income, reach people to help, etc.

What's my end goal? (Preface: this will most likely change, but based on the information I have _today_, what's my end goal?)
- Coaching, mentorship, for people finding their passions, changing careers, solving problems people have with their lifestyles, lifestyle design.

What's my ideal day/week look like?
- Conversations with people, deep conversations about life, working through problems, exploring ideas. Maybe 1-2 of these 1:1 meetings per day, a couple days per week.
- The rest of the time, personal growth, improvement, building, creating, some kind of fulfilling work I can do while alone not talking with anyone else.

How do I get there?
- Start reaching out to people and offering help for free (that thought scares me).
- Building a community around these ideas I'm passionate about.

Do I want to build a community?
- Why yes? To find and feel like I resonate on a deeper level with people, to find my tribe of people who think like me. Because it allows for opportunities to create and sustain a lifestyle (money).
- Why no? There's only a certain amount of social interactions I can take. Feeling responsible for people, or for being a leader of others is scary. Why me?


I'm feeling like macro-wise, my next direction is to start building community, capturing attention, planting seeds, gaining skills, sharing value, helping people, all with the intention to not make money (because I don't need it).
- If I make the intention to do it for free, I may find people respond more genuinely, allowing me to provide more value, allowing my future self to eventually have the choice to make money.
- And maybe I get there by learning and developing skills, because as [[202210080748 Alex Hormozi]] has said, skills can't be taken away from you, and you can always trade your skills for time to make money.

So maybe it's like,
- Inputs: learning valuable skills
- Outputs: providing value to people (solving people's problems)

I like how I'm coming to basically the same conclusions as I've already come to LOL ([[202211260953 Goals breakdown]]). It's as if I already know all the answers ([[202211231736 Am I still searching for answers]]).

## Medium
Which medium of information am I most comfortable with?
- Written word
	- Most comfortable, like it for consolidating ideas, organizing information.
	- But I don't consume any written word content, feels like connected with my readers, deep conversations over written word are harder and feel more surface level (think, email conversation with Jack who reached out to me via website)
- Video
	- I consume the most, feels more authentic, is what I would want to use for end goal coaching (i.e. zoom calls)
	- But I hate editing, I don't like filming in public
	- The process of filming is hard, but I do enjoy processing my thoughts and already have evidence of this.
- Audio
	- No positives lol
	- I don't consume any podcasts

What if I never had to edit a video (think, 1stMan content, [[202211100731 DailyV|DailyVs]], or outsourced), and you always filmed in private when no one is around?
- What's coming to mind?
	- It's hard. That's a great reason to pursue it LOL.

There's the idea (that I've 100% had before [[202211011030 Processing my thoughts on writing vs video]] LOL and that [[202301311050 Dan Koe|Dan Koe]] does) of doing something like:
- Generate idea/concept/topic > Write blog post/newsletter (written word) > Use newsletter as script for YouTube video

Answer:
- Written word to process thoughts, ideas, information
- Video to share and build authenticity

## Coaching
What things can I do that I'm fearing, that will actually move me towards this?

- Just start offering free coaching "conversation" calls.
	- Requires a level of audience, attention, community, etc.
- Networking: go to a seminar, workshop, webinar, etc.

## Community
On a scale of tight-knit group to open community, I lean more towards a smaller tight knit group.

I do feel this relies on a level of attention or audience already generated. Feels like a backend funnel type of thing for the people that resonate the most with what I put out into the world.

Funnel (something like...):
- YouTube videos / Tweets
- ...
- (written word) Blog posts / Newsletters
- ...
- Tight knit community
- ...
- 1:1 conversations

## Skills
Skills that I'm passionate about:
- Communication: Persuasion, influence, conversation - think, "deep conversations" with people, knowing how to direct and influence action through questions, understanding emotions, listening, storytelling, capturing and keeping attention
- Writing, organizing information, problem solving
- Lifestyle design

Skills that are in demand:
- Communication
	- Active listening
	- Rhetoric and persuasion - building narratives and arguments
- Writing and organizing information
	- Content strategy - Organizing, planning, and structuring your content for maximum impact
	- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Making your content discoverable. This skill is vital for written content and YouTube.
- Lifestyle design
	- Personal Development: A deep understanding of productivity tools, habits, and mental models.
	- Work-life Balance Strategies: Effective time management, prioritization, and stress management techniques.

## Alternatives
- Creating online courses and workshops
- Creating e-books and guides
- Hosting webinars
- Membership site - exclusive content for subscribers
- Affiliate marketing through content creation
- Guest appearances - being a guest on other people's channels or podcasts
- Collaboration - team up with someone into editing or other skills I lack
- Mastermind groups - bringing people together, focused group on personal growth
- Digital products - planners, templates, tools
- Hosting local workshops and retreats
- Consulting services - for organizations looking to improve team dynamics, work-life balance, or personal productivity.
- Create a feedback platform - people submit their challenges, I respond to them (written, video, or live)

## Using SWE Experience
- Building digital tools and systems to aid in lifestyle design, coaching, solving problems
- Build an online platform
- Can still integrate coding into coaching - helping software engineers, work-life balance, transitioning careers, stressors
- Automating my business
- Niching down, coaching for tech professionals or helping software engineers transition to different roles or start their own ventures

## Standing out
- Target tech professionals or people transitioning from tech roles. Many in the tech field struggle with work-life balance, imposter syndrome, burnout, and other issues specific to the tech industry.
- Document, Don't Create: Instead of putting pressure on yourself to create content, simply document your journey, experiences, and learnings. People relate more to genuine stories and real-life experiences.
- Pick a couple niche topics and dive deep into them - things that genuinely resonate with me
- Real life experiments - create challenges or experiments and document my journey
- Focus on authenticity - instead of polished, perfectly curated content, focus on showing your real self, with all the ups and downs
- Combine written word and video in innovative ways - for instance, write an in-depth blog post and then create a video summary or discussion about it
- Engage deeply - don't spread yourself thin, pick 1-2 and reply to comments, create community events, host live Q&A sessions
	- Livestreams like [[202210270744 Lucas Catania]] but talking about lifestyle design Nathaniel Drew-style could be cool!
- Continuous learning - dedicate time to keep learning, which should keep content fresh

## Plan
- Written word is my backbone. Used to structure thoughts and ideas.
- Use video for the authenticity and personal touch.
	- Record in private, keep editing simple, and use written word as the foundation for videos.
- Coaching: start small, through word of mouth, friends, family, acquaintances.
- Skill to start with: SEO for content discoverability, Rhetoric & Persuasion for content creation.

## Working with Grant
Based on all that above, what do I think about starting back up with Grant, _before_ I reach out to him?

Pros:
- I liked having accountability and someone to work through problems with
- It felt like I had a concrete thing to work on. Personal development, lifestyle design, coaching, etc. all feels very abstract. I like being able to use that as experience to pull from when helping others down the line.

Cons/Worries:
- I'm still worried that it won't align with my passions and what I'm truly interested in, leading to feeling burnt out and feeling like it's "work"
- I didn't like how I was posting content on Twitter about my own life, then these seemingly out of place tweets about the business content. I wonder if there's a different route where we don't need to post content.
	- Feels like cold outreach or paid ads is the only other way, both of which scare me LOL.
- If I start following the Plan I identified above, posting on Twitter, creating blog posts, creating YouTube videos, I don't think I can do all that AND work on a business.

What path has a higher success percentage?
- Maybe it's just a lack of self-confidence, but it feels like I actually have a better chance at making money working with Grant than this coaching path, which feels like I need 2-5 years of consistency to get to.
	- I don't think I can do 2-5 years without making any more money...
	- Which then means I would need to start selling to my small audience I'm developing, get a day job, or start a business solving niche problems...
	- Which might just mean I end up back in this exact same situation... So maybe I _should_ work with Grant because it'll be the fastest path to financial success, allowing me to have an even longer runway for coaching, allowing me to provide even more value and not asking for money for even longer... That's an interesting thought.
- I mean like just look at the evidence. I started my "personal development" path and started dabbling with content when I quit my job in May 2022. I made zero dollars over a year. Over the course of what, 3 months, working with Grant, we already made $26. If that doesn't tell you something idk what does.

If he's not down to continue working, I think I start going heavy into content creation on Twitter/YouTube.

If he's down, I think it's worth continuing to work with him. Maybe I can start balancing both the concrete business work with starting to develop my own personal brand.
- But, I think that realization above is important. I need a pretty long financial runway for making content and I don't really have it right now. I foresee myself needing to making money within the next 1-2 years, so why not start it now while I have the choice. And the concrete experience of creating a business solving a problem is extremely valuable. Value I can use to apply to help others.

## Action Steps
- [x] Reach out to Grant and see where he's at with working together
- [x] Then decide on my path

I ended up having a call with my brother and talking through our ideas. He was on board but it feels like I’m really the leader here and he’s there to help. That kind of responsibility (read, “intentionality” 😉) is scary but it’s also a big growth opportunity.

So what’s next?

Where my mind is at: Take a step back from our last venture push (AI+Twitter) and start with, What niche and target customer can we find. How can we find real people to talk to early.

More to come next week, I’ll keep you in the loop.

Finally Eating Healthy

I can’t describe how nice it is to be able to afford high quality healthy food for $15 and delivered right to your door step for $0.50.

Eating healthier ✅ Eating more calories ✅ Saving time not having to walk out/back ✅ Nowwwww I understand.

Okay except for the Indian food, that was a lot of carbs 😅

The Comfort In The Chaos

On my run the other day, I ran through the back streets behind my hostel. It was a mixture of some markets, side streets, and residential areas.

(Side note: it was my first run since I broke my toe! Felt good on the run, a little more blood flow/swollen the day after, but not swollen swollen)

Halfway through my run, I started to have this weird feeling of comfort.

Running was a constant game of dodging motorbikes, people walking, and cars slowly weaving through the people.

I felt comfort, I felt a sense of trust that I knew everyone would be able to navigate through each other.

And layered on top of that was this belief that every stranger I was passing by would be so friendly and kind if I ever needed to talk to them.

I felt like I was in good hands.

It was a strange feeling.

The Cat Cafe

My hostel this week had a cat cafe on the ground floor.

Yes that’s my rain jacket I put on the counter in the last photo 😂 🥰

Don’t Drive A Car In Bangkok

I switched hostels this weekend and did a little exploration walk.

I still don’t know how they do it here…

What’s Next?

See you next week from Indonesia??

Location