04 May 2025 #misc
Tagline?
“Sith Lord — On a mission to rule the galaxy”
About page?
Late projects and unmotivated team members?
I specialize in putting teams back on schedule.
My unconventional but proven methods will help you lead ambitious projects.
I found in the Dark Side a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
Since then, I coach founders and executives on how to leverage the Dark Side too.
I teach them not to choke on their own aspirations.
DM “Dark Side” for a free 30-minute discovery call.
Hooks for the first 10 posts?
- How I found my best mentor
- Here’s how to live with a ventilator
- The #1 strategy I use to manage my teams
- Why I joined the Dark side (and you should too)
- 1 lesson from failing at my most ambitious project
- I had to choke one of my team members, here’s why
- I failed to work with my son, here’s what I learned
- Here’s what I love about being in the Dark Side
- How I put projects back on schedule
- Since I were a kid, I felt different
May the 4th be with you.
03 May 2025 #misc
Learning languages turned out to be the most valuable skill I’ve learned.
It took me about 2 years to learn English and a couple more years to speak with confidence. I went to a traditional language school to get a diploma. Lots of grammar and “repeat after me” exercises.
But I learned French, my second foreign language, in about a year and a half. I did it on my own with tutors and at my own pace.
These are 10 tricks I’ve used (and recommend) to learn any language faster:
1. Forget about grammar. Focus on your pronunciation
When I started studying English, I was obsessed with grammar.
On the first day at my language school, our teacher asked us to open a textbook to start learning rules and exceptions. Later, I devoured Grammar in Use, a popular English textbook.
But perfect grammar means nothing if you can’t get your points across. Work on your pronunciation first.
2. Learn phrases, not words
It’s tempting to start memorizing individual words. A, aardvark, abacus, abandon, abase…
Unless you want to sound like Tarzan, you need more than individual words. Start with simple phrases for casual conversations and combine them like Lego bricks.
3. Change your phone language
That’s the easiest way to be immersed in your target language.
We keep our phones with us all the time, even when going to bed. Turn them into language-learning companions.
4. Change your phone’s alarm sound to a song
Again, an easy way to immerse yourself in your target language. Make sure you wake up to do something you love, or you’ll hate that song.
5. Create your own phrasebook
List situations you’ll face when using your target language and the phrases you’ll need for them. Learning a language for your next vacation isn’t the same as learning it for a job interview. Use AI here as your tutor.
6. Create flashcards with phrases from #2 and #5
Then, study them in every free slot in your agenda. Use spaced-repetition software like Anki for that.
7. Use AI to generate stories with the most common words
Try this prompt:
“Act as an expert tutor in <target language>, generate a 200-word story in the present tense about <favorite topic> using the 100 most common words.”
Then use a text-to-speech tool to generate audio for that story. Boom! Enough material to practice reading and listening.
Again, remember to learn words in the context of phrases. That’s from #2.
8. Learn filler words and connectors to sound like a native
Learn the “you know,” “and uh,” and “isn’t it?” to help your words flow naturally like a native speaker.
9. Watch children’s stories multiple times
Watch each time with a different focus:
- The first time, watch to understand the story.
- The second, with subtitles on, to read along.
- The third, to identify words you don’t know.
This way, you can squeeze the most out of a single story.
If you think children’s stories are too easy, try with a video from the YouTube channel “Easy Languages.”
10. Consume content about your hobbies in your target language
Okay, call me a nerd.
But when I got back home from university, a long time ago in a galaxy far away, I watched lectures on YouTube about the same topics I had covered that day. I learned new words and practiced my listening skills while reinforcing the material I was covering.
You don’t have to be a nerd like me. Replace university classes with hobbies or skills you want to learn. Win-win!
I hope I have no grammar errors here. That would be embarrassing after saying I devoured Grammar in Use. Anyway, learning a language has been my best career move and an AI helped me proofread this.
02 May 2025 #writing
Blogging has been dead for years.
Dead in the sense of writing posts to rank on search engines and attract visitors for ads. Google killed that style of blogging with constant algorithm updates. And ChatGPT seemed to kill Googling.
But, personal blogs are still alive in some corners of the internet, like this one.
I’m a romantic. I’ll keep writing on my blog, even if blogging is dead.
My blog is my time capsule and content vault. Everything that I write online ends up here. It’s my catch-all place. It’s been better than a portfolio for my coding career.
Each platform has its own set of unwritten rules. On LinkedIn, we’re expected to write about business-related topics. On Medium, we’re expected to write following publication guidelines. But a blog is a place without rules.
Mike Saas said in Just Put It on Your Blog:
It’s great to have a place to share your thoughts. A place you can go back to when you want to remember something you had written or thought about before. A place you can refer people to when they have questions you’ve answered in the past. A place to be you.
My blog is my cabinet of curiosities, public notebook, and writing gym, away from social media’s speed. And that’s why I’ll keep blogging, even if the internet says it’s dead and even if AI writes faster and better one day.
01 May 2025 #misc
Few things are more frustrating than going to the doctor.
It isn’t just one visit. It’s one visit, followed by some blood tests at a laboratory, then going back to the doctor with the results, then a visit to a specialist, then another round of tests, then another visit with test results… And regular checkups. Arrggg!
It’s draining just thinking about it. That’s why I’ve decided to adopt some healthy habits, like these:
#1. Drink enough water to avoid kidney stones. For so long, I didn’t care about my kidneys until I had to rush to the ER with a loved one. Diagnosis? Kidney failure.
#2. Cut sugar to avoid diabetes.
#3. Exercise to keep the heart healthy.
#4. Get a good night’s sleep. It isn’t that complicated. I leave my phone outside my room, turn off all lights, change my bedding often, and regulate the AC temperature.
#5. Brush my teeth at least twice a day and use dental floss once a day.
#6. Sit less to avoid back pain. This was something that started in my first job. I wasn’t used to sitting for 8 hours on an uncomfortable chair. I had to change my chair at work and start walking. And more recently, I started to use a standing desk.
#7. Eat vegetables with every meal to go to the bathroom every day.
#8. Place my computer near a window for natural light, and put a lamp behind my display so it isn’t the brightest source of light at night.
#9. Cut processed food and sodas to keep my blood pressure under control.
#10. Have a daily moment of silence to control stress.
#11. Wear a good pair of shoes. Again, back pain.
#12. Eat more protein than carbs at every meal to keep my weight under control. Not only eat more protein, but also reorder how you eat. Salads first, then proteins, and lastly carbs. Thanks to reordering how I eat, I feel more energetic throughout the day. And that’s my best productivity hack since last year.
#13. Stay in contact with friends. Just to be happier.
#14. Take supplements for brain health.
#15. Don’t drink alcohol to protect the liver.
Maybe one day, AI will transform our visits to hospitals and doctors. Who knows? But until then, I want to be healthy to avoid those long appointments.
30 Apr 2025 #writing
In 2024, I went all in with my writing.
Writing worked like free therapy to recover from burnout. After months of inactivity, I decided to revive my LinkedIn account. I started writing 1 post a week, and of course nothing happened. Then I wrote 2 posts…then 3…until I settled on writing every workday.
Some of my ex-coworkers and friends have noticed some of my posts. They have genuinely asked me how to do it on their own.
Here are some of the myths about writing anywhere online I’ve heard:
1. I’m not an expert
Who’s an expert anyway? If you wait to be an expert, you will never start writing.
It takes 10,000 hours to be an expert. Do you have time for that? Write to be an expert, don’t wait to be one to start.
2. I don’t know how to write
Writing takes time to master. But to start, imagine writing for one person: a friend, your kid, a coworker, or your dog. Talk out loud and transcribe it. Or imagine you’re texting a friend and write inside a chat app.
3. I don’t want to expose myself
You don’t have to share pictures of your feet. Don’t write about subjects you wouldn’t bring up at work.
4. I’m not a native English speaker
Write in your native language.
5. I’m not good at explaining things
If you’re a coder, you are already good at explaining things. Coding is explaining things to a computer. Try to do the same in writing. Don’t try to write like a “writer,” share an algorithm. Start by writing TIL Posts
6. I don’t have anything to share
If you have learned something in the past 2 years, you have something to share. And you’re already sitting on content ideas, you just need to notice them.
7. I don’t know where to publish
Start on social media. Start writing a tweet or whatever they’re called now. Or try with LinkedIn. It might be cringy, but it has fewer trolls. On LinkedIn, the feeling is the boss is watching, so everybody behaves.
8. My boss will find out
Your boss won’t care. Your boss is busy pleasing their own bosses.
9. I need my boss’s permission
Unless you’re planning to write about company secrets, you don’t need your boss’s permission. You don’t need permission from anyone.
In fact, always write about what you do at work. That’s better than claiming you did something on your CV.
10. People will make fun of me
Nobody will make fun of you. Just hit publish.
11. Nobody will read
You can always read and like your own stuff on social media. Write for your past self, and don’t worry if anyone reads.
12. What if my writing comes up in future interviews
Congrats! It means someone found and read your stuff. And it will make you memorable. “Oh, the guy who wrote about XYZ.”
By writing, you can skip hiring lines. For example, my blog has done more for me than a portfolio.
13. I have too many ideas. I can’t decide what to post.
Post what you would have liked to read 2 years ago. See what sticks and keep writing about that.
14. I sit to write but nothing comes up
OK, that’s writer’s block. But that’s not the real problem. Again, write for your past self. Or try following writing prompts.
15. I don’t know how to create a website
You don’t need a website. Start on social media or social blogs. And if you’re a coder and want to start writing, don’t code a blogging engine.
I don’t have a New York Times best-seller and I’m not an expert either and you made it this far. That’s the power of writing online. Write as if nobody is reading and keep writing because you don’t know who you might help. Start today and see where your words take you.