Observe

Adventure

• Good weeks enjoying NYC:
  • Natural History Museum - Beyond Earth exhibt v good
  • Video Games + Systems at MoMA
  • Minigolf

Community

After reading Digital Minimalism, I've been thinking about what connection really means. I've been off most social apps on my phone for several weeks and it's made a pretty large impact in how I spend my time.

One thing it made clear is that a lot of my "connection" was actually passive - it wasn't active connection and I think that's what's important for fulfillment. I considered naming this section "conversation" as a form of active connection as recommended in Digital Minimalism but eventually decided that it didn't quite capture what I believe is important.

Community does a better job I think - it's active but also embodies many of the values I think are important in life.

Conversation can be empty. Community, by definition, cannot.

Research

I've been exploring different ways of launching bootstrapped startups quickly and efficiently. Some of this is visible in the things I've launched this month (see Business), some less so.

• Domain-first development (like .com first)

Also exploring separation from my socials - see Community.

Create

Business

Launched:

• HAMINIONs - my membership program giving discounts and source code access.
• Creation Cycle - Formalizing my systems around effective product cyles. The first release is the Effective Meeting Template. More: The Creation Cycle.

Career

Starting at a new company is hard. I forgot that in the last few years at IG.

The problem is there's so much to learn and often not much confidence in what the answers are:

• What does x do?
• How do I test y?
• How do these things work together?

It's a slow process which can be frustrating. But also exciting as you get the chance to learn / play.

Shares

I've formalized what I'll be sharing about into 3 buckets:

• Business / Startups
• Creation Cycle
• Technology

This is highly aligned with what I'm hoping to do as part of my infinite game. This is very similar to what I've been doing, just a bit more formalized.

Also: been having some fun / success with the fsharp community over on Twitter.

Top #fsharp backend web frameworks in 2023https://t.co/r2cEBY2GVJ pic.twitter.com/46gOQYlmUN

— Hamilton Greene (@SIRHAMY) February 1, 2023

Reflect

Finance

I've been spending quite a lot. This isn't great as I'm expecting a downturn in the next few months.

Might be a good time to tighten the belt and buy up the dip.

Health

I've joined a gym which has helped me get back into full workouts. I don't lift as much as I used to but I also don't think that's necessary. I'm already feeling more energized in my body.

I also wondered if some of the benefits of going to the gym was simply leaving the house, changing environments, and getting some sun. I am almost certain that this is the case and worth at least 30% of the benefit. I've updated my daily habits to try and see the sun more regularly.

Fulfillment

I've been feeling a bit restless. I think a lot of it is just Winter and being cooped up inside more than usual.

But I'm also considering what I really want to work on this year and in life.