‍ My Revival Journey

Day 23, Monday, Dec 9th 2024​

I have not much to share other than being at work and getting up back tired.

Today is Tuesday I am rushing towards work as I want to shift and go there early and get back early so I can do business until sleep.

Btw I always wondered, even when I made so much money, why people hate so much motivational content, it's actually super helpful, it's mindset!

I can assure you, the majority of my past success was based purely on mindset, the books, and motivational content!

Mindset is everything!

Best of luck

AboveAll said:

In my decade journey of being an entrepreneur I had tested all productivity software and now I just stick to the basics, second brain softwares are no go to me, as for my personal live I use my phone and nothing beats the simplicity of Apple Notes.

The bookmarks are significantly sorted, I think I'll end up doing them all as major progress was made. Btw it's not about the sorting, having these references help me learn and know way beyond just my narrowed field. We all know that we must pivot or get well-rounded out of SEO at some point, right?

I go to the gym as I don't want my home to be messy with equipement. I had the best standup desk both in my office and in my home, but I decided to create an actual home after my past relationship (not a gym or man cave), but last thing I want to have right now when I am tired from work is to be standing up.

I don't want to reveal much but I am a former successful entrepreneur, I just don't know how I even got here, but I'll recover.

It's a lesson that I want to share to others. This will be I think the best thing that I can give back to the community and a peace of legacy that I can share, as giving back was actually one of the primary goal that I did in my past.

It was never about money, it was always liberty and freedom, selfless and passionate!

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you were stubborn when you didn't have to be, and you gave up when you should have continued.

your misuse of the skill of stubbornness is how you got to what you yourself called ''here''

your mind is not doing what it is supposed to do - aiding in your physical / mental / spiritual prosperity

I could write an essay with one or many counter-arguments to each of your points, but whatever I don't have much time this session - only 5 minutes

good luck in reviving yourself

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my belief is that motivational content that is made with the purpose to be motivational content is feces
(basically everyone in the modern self-help / guru spheres)

real motivational content is hidden inside real and fictional stories - where the reader creates the motivation by himself from the lesson he chooses to learn from the story - he does this by thinking deeply and systematically about the ideas encountered - he consumes 5% of the time and chews on that 95% of the time - similar to the idea of that was supposedly said by Lincoln

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe

this is why most people burn out and fail, they never tasted real motivation.

(not saying your burned out and failed)
I am speaking in general and my message isn't to you directly, just like you I am flexing at sharing with everyone

good luck in reviving yourself

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Since you are sooooo into selflessness and not all about the money, you may enjoy the fruits of this man labor.

His name is Dr. Clay Tucker-Ladd

He dedicated decades of his life to humanity, he basically spent his entire life researching and updating his knowledge and gave that to everyone for free

about author - https://www.psychologicalselfhelp.org/author.htm
the free book (can be read online) - https://www.psychologicalselfhelp.org/

good luck in reviving yourself

fielddigger said:

you were stubborn when you didn't have to be, and you gave up when you should have continued.

your misuse of the skill of stubbornness is how you got to what you yourself called ''here''

your mind is not doing what it is supposed to do - aiding in your physical / mental / spiritual prosperity

I could write an essay with one or many counter-arguments to each of your points, but whatever I don't have much time this session - only 5 minutes

good luck in reviving yourself

---------------

my belief is that motivational content that is made with the purpose to be motivational content is feces
(basically everyone in the modern self-help / guru spheres)

real motivational content is hidden inside real and fictional stories - where the reader creates the motivation by himself from the lesson he chooses to learn from the story - he does this by thinking deeply and systematically about the ideas encountered - he consumes 5% of the time and chews on that 95% of the time - similar to the idea of that was supposedly said by Lincoln

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe

this is why most people burn out and fail, they never tasted real motivation.

(not saying your burned out and failed)
I am speaking in general and my message isn't to you directly, just like you I am flexing at sharing with everyone

good luck in reviving yourself

------------------------

Since you are sooooo into selflessness and not all about the money, you may enjoy the fruits of this man labor.

His name is Dr. Clay Tucker-Ladd

He dedicated decades of his life to humanity, he basically spent his entire life researching and updating his knowledge and gave that to everyone for free

about author - https://www.psychologicalselfhelp.org/author.htm
the free book (can be read online) - https://www.psychologicalselfhelp.org/

good luck in reviving yourself

Click to expand...

I do believe that there is no right or wrong. It's just different for different people, I did worked for me.

Let's agree to disagree we are all different.

Keep in mind I don't indulge in motivational content. It just keeps me alive when I have to deal with people here.

I don't know where you live, but in the society where I am, entrepreneurship is not as popular, in fact most people have collectivist mindset.

I agree with many of your points.

I didn't just gave up, it was not related to the business so much, rather other things. Don't want to share as it's private and may reveal my identity.

The focus now is revival.

Day 24, Tuesday, Dec 10th 2024​

It's super busy at work and I had to go to a barber.

I've manage to get some slightly good early rest, chores are too much anyway.

Yesterday I've found a very lucrative niche with low competition that is in the pipeline.

Day 25, Tuesday, Dec 11th 2024​

Another day in which I am telling to myself "I am waking up and I'll go to work in order to get home earlier", yet I am in front of the computer doing stuff.

It's both good and bad, however in the morning it's true that my brain works better, so maybe I need to actually exhaust it here, rather than giving my best at work.

What I manage to do is to work on the spreadsheet for the content production.



Hear me out, it's not paralysis-analysis. It works, and I even proved that in work. Here is the concept - and steps:

1. Create this mess of things – ideas, brainstorming, notes, bookmarks, drafts etc.

2. Start creating a system of it, logic, functions etc.

3. Arrange them.

4. Start thinking – how can I make this clear & simple.

5. Remove the complexity and compartmentalize properly:

- Where is the friction?
- Is this scalable?
- Can I manage it?

6. Perfect it without making it perfect!


Then you start and then you scale!

The majority of my success is built upon that.

I cannot reveal this and say details, but at work I do the same, it takes so much damn time in the beginning, but then it's easily scalable and everyone is asking "how did you manage to do all that in this amount of time."


And then you start becoming developing a habit as it is actually a fun game and pleasure to work on something that has way less friction than a messy start.

In order to develop a Flow, the water must move without too much obstacles and friction!

I am going to work!

Flow is everything!

I am somewhat in my revival stage as well, keep up the good work, dont give up, we are here to support you through it all!

Days 26 - 29, Dec 12th - 15th​

- I deleted social media from my phone and didn't open anything from the computer for it.
- I managed to do tons of background work to reduce friction, improve my sheets, systems, folder structures, etc
- The backlog is now compartmentalized and in a state in which I don't have to actually clear/process it all as it can be done gradually.

I ultimately decided that it's time for launching the site and here is what I did so far:

- I am currently creating a sheet for content management, it's simple, yet effective, I need to think the structure and consolidate further.

My decision is the following - I will launch the site and do the backlog gradually, if at all. Site is way more important. If I can hit my targets I can go full time on everything, including the backlog. I had a "vision" and I trust myself.

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Day 30, Monday, the 16th of December​

I wanted this to be the first day in which I start my new routine. But I couldn't handle it. I slept 2-3-4 hours at max and bad, yet I did wake up at 6:15 AM.

I wanted to go to work very early, optimize my schedule, change the groceries store shop and get back home and work on the site at the evenings.

But yeah, I sit in front of the computer, wasted a bit of time and now I am back again into going to work late.

Here is the practical routine that I want to get over:

- 6:00 - 6:15 - Wake up
- 6:15 - 6:30 - Chores
- 6:30 - 6:45 - Taking care of water, pills, coffee, pets etc.
- 6:45 - 7:00 - Open sites that are related to routines like budgeting etc.

- 7:00 - 7:15 - Bath / teeth
- 7:15 - 7:30 - Get dressed up and use dumbbells for energy

- Get the public commute and listen to motivational & self-improvement things
[work]
- Launch - go in solitude to walk and listen to motivational & self-improvement things
- Finish work at ~17:15
- Get to the nearest groceries store and take the bus home

- Get back home - bath, chores, taking care of pets
- Working
- Dinner

The work priority is content, for now.

P.S. I bought myself headphones that are not noise cancellation, but are cheap and good enough to force me to focus. I saw improved flow because of them.

Wish me luck, I start this day a bit groggy and honestly, I would prefer if I was able to go to work as intended.

I will utilise the Christmas bank holidays in order to work on the revival.

Keep it going!

Days 30, 31 – Dec 16th, 17th​

Super exhausted from work and commute.

Day 32 - Dec 18th 2024​

Started the day at 6:00 AM with work on my backlog and purchased hosting.


My decision is to start the site ASAP and to the backlog in the background. I did small stuff from the entire backlog - each peace so my brain can potentially figure out faster way to deal with it.

It has some valuable parts there that can be useful for the site, especially around SOPs.

My new plan is to get to work earlier so I can leave earlier the office and focus uninterrupted work at home at night.


Tired, but going!

Day 33, 19th Dec 2024​

Super tired, tons of work at work.

1. Purchased hosting and did the setup.

2. I did parts of the backlog and it's not enough to call it cleared.

Time is running low, so I plan in the next days to start ruthlessly with all this AS I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE!

Day 34, 20th Dec 2024​

I am forcing myself to generate 1 article draft before I go to work. It's my mental exercise to operate even when I feel drained.

I have no other choice, but to succeed!

Good luck to you, just a piece of advice as you are about to start a new site, make sure to use content that has high human score, otherwise your site wont last long, and with recent updates it is better to start multiple websites, with different niches, because some niches are very difficult to grow with new websites.

Dec 31 2024 Update​

I've made some progress. Won't count the days anymore. I'll also write the date on which I'm writing.

Site:

- created a content management sheet
- created a structure of the menu & site
- listed out some ideas for content - 120 so far
- wrote 1 article - figuring out the flow


Backlog:

- I've compartmentalized the backlog further for faster faster bulk processing;
- today there are more than 30 items that I consider "easy low hanging fruits" to deal with;


Today I won't celebrate, I would rather work on my business revival!

For tomorrow - the 1th Jan 2025, I will have two main tasks for the whole day:

- figure out structure for a range of articles;
- create 25 articles;

I have to use my bank holiday for this in order not to loose my credits from the software.

Wish me luck!

Why you stop counting days? Why you start with it ?

I'm curious

Best wishes

fielddigger said:

Why you stop counting days? Why you start with it ?

I'm curious

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It takes time to calculate and I can't see it on a daily bases.

So far guys, my feedback on the so called AI writing assistants is that they are just glorified GUI wrappers of the GPT APIs.

The backlog is shrinked more than expected, but this weekend will be all about Saturday doing the content and Sunday clearing as much as I can from the backlog.

I know many people say people just focus on "what matters", but honestly the backlog does give me so much valuable info when processing it, that I think it is worth clearing it.

AboveAll said:

It takes time to calculate and I can't see it on a daily bases.

So far guys, my feedback on the so called AI writing assistants is that they are just glorified GUI wrappers of the GPT APIs.

The backlog is shrinked more than expected, but this weekend will be all about Saturday doing the content and Sunday clearing as much as I can from the backlog.

I know many people say people just focus on "what matters", but honestly the backlog does give me so much valuable info when processing it, that I think it is worth clearing it.

Click to expand...

Aight!

You've been making moves and taking action, so doing the busywork now in your ''rest'' time is no big deal.


Also agree with the backlog thing from that perspective, many times it lead me to great inspiration with fleshing out current ideas but also new ideas to explore.

But it has also negatively affected me by leading many times into time wasting rabbitholes.

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So nowadays I try to keep the following guideline in mind while doing ''cleaning''

"Never mistake motion for action." Ernest Hemingway

Also I have incorporated the cleaning part into my ''weekly review'' practice, that way I am always thinking how to use what I encounter instead of just mindlessly playing curator as I used to do.

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For a while I also applied a principle from minimalism - 1 thing in, 2 things out - but this didn't go really well, because I was spending more time working on my bookmarks/sources collection rather than working with the ideas from it.

Nowadays I just mercilessly extract the ideas with clear purpose in mind and delete it after putting it into my reference manager.

Unless it's a really obscure hard to find piece of text, like a research article from the 1950s, then I'll archive it and back it up

Keep up the good wrok

@AboveAll Following your journey has been really interesting. I also found when building sites that focusing too much on tracking days can become a mental burden. Better to put that energy into actual progress - which you seem to be doing with the content planning and site structure. The day count matters less than consistent forward movement.

All the best for the journey.

Doing the right thing is more important than doing things the right way.
I actually rarely bring my inner truth to reply to such topics, but I admire your persistence.
Sometimes we should recognize that one person's strength and thinking is flawed, and maybe you can find a partner to set out with.
If anyone thinks I'm right and wants to start a business, talk to me, I wouldn't mind an extra co-founder.

Jan 9th 2025 Update​

Nothing to be admired.

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Guys, Surfer doesn't perform well for me at all for their pricing. I see tons of issues with it. Definitely not worth the price in its current state.

There Surfer AI is so bad, that your own prompts may be actually producing better content. Maybe the only thing that it is worth for can be NLP optimization of existing articles.

The outlines and the produced content by Surfer AI looks like GPT-4o mini to me with tons of fluff and "Conclusion"-s all over the place. They even didn't bother prompting it not to have that.

No wonder why one of the shareholders claims his portfolio of sites got decimated and stopped its course, if he uses Surfer in its current state, it's definitely going to be marked as spam at some point.

My biggest suggestion is to not go for this shiny toy, it may have usability to optimize existing content, but definitely don't use it for content production.

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I have the opportunity to have a level up at my job which can give me a bit more money that I can invest in these things with a slightly different approach.

I will be looking at providing real actual added value for the end user, not SEO-optimized keyword-focused AI-generated crap.

I definitely think I know what to do now.

Day #55 – Friday, Jan 10th 2025​

Ok, day numbers are back, I have a pile of todos in my app for this weekend, but I hopefully will be able to do the following things for the rivaval journey:

- Migrate hosting to something simpler;
- Crank up some new articles;
- Investigate things related to stock imagery as I don't want to use AI for this.

- Organize prompts - useful for the journey.
- Reduce the backlog.

There is a nuclear option and it will be about not doing anything else than the journey, but the problem is there are some really important things in my life, including my job, that I have to do on the weekend. Will think about it.

Guys, other than that I am thinking of something, that I don't know if it make sense, but, did anyone done this before?

- Get a dumb phone;
- Use physical bank cards;
- Use physical paper for notes/tasks on the go;

- Turn off the smart phone completely and leave it in a drawer for the weekend/week?

Sometimes irrational decisions are way better!