on managing multiple interests
my current interest stack and recommendation on how to balance it all.
I keep having varying states of energy towards the things I’ve been engaged in recently.
coding
writing
graphic design
online business
notetaking
fitness
philosophy
minimalism
Let’s talk about each one.
Coding
This is my job.
I get paid to write code for a product that serves the members of a bank.
I provide value by hardening a product that someone else made. I make it better or rather ready for production.
In a sense, it’s not very innovative.
However, I do have the opportunity to create my own software for different cases within the business.
Events like hackathons give me the space to create something valuable within a theme, outside of regular job duties.
The most recent one I tried, was based on Generative AI. (like ChatGPT for text or DALL-E for images).
I wanted to create a summarization bot but they wanted a more company-specific use case idea.
As far as my interest, I would like to build something like an app that helps people with self-improvement.
Not sure what though.
Top of mind is a chatbot that interacts with content from my website.
Like recommending what newsletter would be helpful for specific topics (i.e. someone is looking for a timeblocking productivity system, so AI will link the relevant articles).
Writing
The core of communication.
I started writing here again after coming across a podcast by Matt Giaro and John Bejakovic.
I remembered hearing about John a bit from Kieran Drew’s emails and I decided to see what all the fuss was about.
He writes a daily email and his readers claim to not feel sold by them.
He is an email copywriter.
It seemed interesting to use daily emails to stay in touch with my audience and also have more repetition to practice my writing so here I am writing a daily email.
Why write in the first place?
I find it therapeutic. It’s also the basis of all good ideas. It starts with a thought, gets understood through writing it down, and then it can be translated into other media forms, including stories that can impact a reader and change their perspective.
The root of all problems is either a flawed belief or an attitude that doesn’t serve the master (topic for another day).
Graphic Design
I’ve been an “artist” for as long as I can remember.
As a kid, I loved to draw and sketch while being bored to death in class.
One of my longest friends that I met in the 5th grade, came across my radar when I saw him drawing Dragon Ball Z characters in class. I was interested so I tried it out myself.
The rest is history.
Now, I’ve tried to bring back art into my creative practice in the form of graphic design.
Why graphics?
Because it’s faster to create.
I can get an idea to reality quicker than I could draw (any of my sketches are super rusty). They’re also enjoyable to create.
What is art if the artist doesn’t love their craft? (philosophize me capt’n)
I’ve been thinking about visual notetaking but haven’t dived into the practice. There’s a guy on YouTube I’ve been meaning to check out. His entire business is based on it.
Online Business
My nemesis.
Okay, not really. I’ve tried to “start a business” since I started lifting.
Back in 2013, I was inspired by fitness YouTubers like Elliott Hulse and Omar Isuf. I felt like it was a dream to
work out
make cool videos
rake in money at the same time.
Big mistake. That highly oversimplified approach doesn't work like that.
Flash forward to 2022, I find Dan Koe and the creator economy on Twitter (now X), and I’m posting 3 times a day, a newsletter and thread a week, repurposing to Instagram and using my newsletter as a YouTube script.
Because systems for success right?
Wrong.
Burnout and bad times bruh.
As a multipassionate, I wanted to do it all. Fitness coaching, productivity guy, and maybe some affiliate marketing to top it all.
Oh, and I need a website right?
The gurus tell me I need to engage in my comments. Like all the time. Don’t miss a day or you die! So I quit. But then I came back.
WTF sb? Look. I like creating content. It energizes me.
So I found a middle ground.
Fuck the business (for now). I’ll just follow my curiosity because despite how cheesy that sounds. It resonates with my soul.
Why would I want to build a client business that I can’t maintain?
I’m building a more difficult, less enjoyable, and unstable 9-5 where my clients are the employers.
Na bruh, I have a family to feed.
My 9-5 ain’t perfect but it pays the bills and then some. It’s also not all bad, I get plenty of time to fuck around with content.
Sorry for the rant, let’s wrap this up.
I’m taking the offer building slowly. If I don’t like it or can’t maintain energy when building it, then I cut it out. Simple. That way I’m doing what I love and not selling my soul to money.
I made peace with the fact that if I continue doing this and don’t make money, I’ll still be happy with my path.
Notetaking
I’ll keep this short.
I would like to have a better note system to capture, store, and USE all the shit I learn because if I’m good at anything it’s learning new shit.
Right now, my system is using 2-3 notebooks, Notion, and Amplenote to capture ideas, brainstorm, or journal.
If you have any tips, send them my way!
Fitness
My first love.
I got into fitness about 11 years ago after a breakup. Long story short, I used the pain and heat of revenge to stay motivated to look like a Greek God.
Dumb I know, but hey it paid off a billion times over.
Now I have a workout habit and look good as a 30-year-old dad.
I tried to be a fitness coach but it never worked out so recently, I quit.
I decided not to pursue fitness coaching because it doesn’t fit well with my operating system.
Where did I go wrong?
I think I fell for the “idea” of being a fitness coach like the guys of YouTube Fitness a decade back. I didn’t consider the day-to-day or maintenance work of keeping that title alive.
Philosophy
I’m pretty sure I was born a philosopher.
Questioning human nature and existence is my jam. It’s been intriguing to me to dig deeper into everything that I experience/do on the regular.
I understand this is a never-ending cycle, so I pull in wisdom wherever it makes sense.
Minimalism
if it weren’t for minimalism, I’d be lost, confused, and overburdened with clutter (more than I am now).
In the spirit of this concept, that’ll be short.
I recommend reading:
Trust me, it’ll change your life for the better.
last thoughts
Managing these all is a work in progress.
Of course, these don’t account for the endless amount of distractions that come in between.
I read Slow Productivity recently, so it’s helped.
If you’re similar to me, I’d recommend starting there.
I know books are a heavy time investment so you can save some time, by asking ChatGPT for a summary and main points for each book, or go watch a few YouTube videos on them.
Good luck.
That’s all folks. Hope this perspective was helpful.
See ya.