09 Jul 2026 #misc
As a creative practice, I write 10-idea lists every day. Here are 7 interesting ideas I found recently. I’m writing them as I go, so I’m missing sources.
#1. Have a list of alternative activities to scrolling.
Instead of grabbing your phone, have a default activity for when you’re bored.
That might be opening your journal or reading a book.
Or have a creative date with yourself.
#2. Rest isn’t the same as stillness.
Rest is inactivity that recharges you for later work.
Industries profit from rest.
But stillness is inactivity just for the sake of doing nothing.
Yes, you’re allowed to do nothing.
#3. Stress is external. Anxiety is internal.
From a book I skimmed in a grocery store. I can’t remember its title…
Once the stress source is gone, so is stress.
Think of hitting an important deadline at work.
But anxiety is a fight in your own mind.
You have power over it.
#4. Human attention requires human effort.
Paul Graham from Y Combinator doesn’t read AI-generated emails.
There’s nothing remarkable in prompting an LLM for a business pitch.
Don’t send screenshots of ChatGPT replies.
Don’t copy-paste ChatGPT replies and pass them as yours.
Anyone can do that. Show human effort.
#5. How to make a billion dollars.
Again from Paul Graham.
It isn’t as hard as it might sound.
#6. Build a fortress of related books.
This is from Anthony Metivier’s YouTube…
Read books that build on each other.
Read one main source, a complementary source, and a contrasting source.
If you’re learning about guitar, read a songbook, a book on music theory, a biography of a musician…
#7. Use 10 words to describe your product.
This is from a product marketplace I can’t remember…
Its only requirement is to use 10 words to describe your product.
Excellent idea for a book one-liner.
For more interesting ideas, check out 10 Surprisingly Simple Ideas That Changed My Life And Could Change Yours Too. It’s on my books page.
08 Jul 2026 #writing #selfgrowth
These days, I’ve been fighting my inner voice and its self-doubt.
I needed to reread my own advice:
From change starts in your mind, I remembered, action alleviates anxiety.
From write like no one’s watching, I remembered, signal takes time and there’s always a chance tomorrow.
From do nothing, I remembered, when overwhelmed, pause instead of doing more.
A blog leaves breadcrumbs and success clues for yourself.
That’s the real advantage and a good reason to keep writing.
Find some of my best pieces of life advice on 10 Surprisingly Simple Ideas That Changed My Life And Could Change Yours Too. Find it on my books page.
07 Jul 2026 #writing
Some days, the daily post is a piece of cake.
Other days, not even walking seems to help to hit publish.
But just a few lines count as writing.
Anything longer than a tweet works to mark the day in the calendar.
Better a small rep than a broken habit.
Like a high-performance sport, every day you don’t write you’re practicing not writing.
06 Jul 2026 #bookwriting
Yesterday, a friend asked me, “How does writing a book feel?”
She had just bought a printed copy of 10 Simple Ideas That Changed My Life.
Well…
The first days are full of excitement.
I use 10-idea lists to come up with a title, subtitle, and outline.
I come up with cover ideas.
The next few days are full of doubt.
It’s when the inner critic speaks louder.
“Is anyone going to like this?”
The next few weeks are quiet.
Like a marathon, it’s one foot after the other.
It’s doing something small every day.
The first draft brings accomplishment—and some anxiety.
“What are my beta readers going to say?”
“Wait! Is this really worth publishing?”
The roller coaster peaks when the first printed copies arrive.
Opening that box of books is pure satisfaction.
“This was in my head and now it’s in my hands.”
But the ride always goes down.
The temptation is to refresh sales daily.
“Why isn’t this book selling? Is it the price? The description?”
That’s when I let go of control.
Time to start thinking about the next project.
It’s a roller coaster, worth every ride.
A ride I’ll keep taking, turning parts of my life into books.
Find the pieces of my career and life I’ve already captured on my book page
05 Jul 2026 #coding #career
You know something is happening when Hacker News features a Who Is Quitting instead of a Who Is Hiring.
Bad managers, unrealistic expectations, AI, toxic culture…
Every response shared a different but similar story.
I’ve wanted to quit more times than I can count.
After a layoff in 2024, I stopped coding for almost a year.
That breaking moment came after a “good job” that broke me, left me sick, and burned me out.
The time between jobs became a mini-sabbatical.
I couldn’t find a job and nearly drained my savings.
But that was the most peaceful moment in my recent years.
After recovering, I took a coding gig as a freelancer while reinventing myself.
Since then, I’ve developed a love-hate relationship with coding.
And just yesterday, a stupid error made me think about quitting again.
As some sort of manifestation, I don’t see myself coding until retirement.
Instead of coding, I’m working on my horizon goal:
Turning parts of my life into books.
Before I retire, I’m passing on what I learned in a book series. The second book, Street-Smart Coding, is already out. The prequel is on its way. It’s my way of sharing the lessons nobody told me.