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Profit in Peace 15: Workplace Reflections
Byjack
I had quite a stressful workday as I expected but I wanted to jot down a couple of reflections today:
- Reminding myself of my boundaries (time, respect, honesty, empathy, and possibility) really helped
- It also helped to note down what I cannot control before every major meeting (usually something related to how someone felt about me)
- I noticed that keeping pace with my todo list was helpful:
- Keep all tasks that come to mind in my todo list (use it as a mental trashcan to throw all my worries)
- Reorder todo list to whatever I am working on right now (move something to the top if I am currently working on it)
- Do tasks immediately if they are low-effort
- Do sweeps (try to do everything on the todo list)
- Focus also helped
- Close as many tabs as possible
- Focus on one thing at a time
I was thinking about how to transition from work to Valorant more effectively since I usually start to feel dead and I end up watching youtube and ordering food and that kind of makes it hard for me to stay sharp when gaming and I end up feeling even more stressed and awful.
I think cleaning is a really good transition point. Cleaning reduces stress and is a great way to transition slowly…if I’m worried that there will still be a call coming in and I might have to go back to work, cleaning makes it easy to go back to work without feeling like I am not ready to transition to the next thing. In fact, if I clean, even if I go back to work, I will still be more ready to game after the work is done because my space is now clean.
I also like the idea of a mental dump to write down everything you are thinking about at the end of the day so that you can pick it up at any point today or tomorrow or the day after.
Finally, I like to look at the schedule for the next day and mentally prepare for it to know what you can do today to give you a lot of spaciousness tomorrow.
Profit in Peace 5: Next Steps
Byjack
Today I want it to be all about Instagram.
I want to do the following:
- Put in a good headshot
- Rework bio
- Create Instagram brand/colors
- Add in youtube videos, add brand
- Add friends and create offer
Also, I want to spend 20 minutes watching the next part of the coaching session.
Finally, I want to go after the brand and posts in a directed way. I’ll use the syllabus method.
A reminder for the syllabus method:
- Create a clear, ambitious, and exciting goal (something to inspire the angels)
- Use Alex Hormozi mindset (don’t think about how to achieve it, think about what would make it impossible for you to not achieve it)
- Break down those things into 3 steps
- If the steps are still too big and nebulous, break those steps into 3 more steps, repeating step 2 and 3
Goal: Create an Instagram page that is able to bring my energy of coaching to all artists, something so clear and powerful it is easy for me to create posts (3 hrs)
Step 1: Develop Brand (1 hr)
- Tap into coaching energy, write down ideas
- Try looka and other ai brand generators
- Develop style guide
Step 2: Ask Questions and Get Answers
- Put myself in the mindset of posting videos, posts, etc
- Ask questions
- Tap into coaching energy, answer questions
- Research other similar brands
Step 3: Play Around With Brand
- Create templates
- Create sample videos and posts
- Tap into coaching energy and adjust
Even If She Wanted Me Back
Byjack
Even If She Wanted Me Back
Even if she wanted me back
I wonder
Will it be like before
No secrets between us
No unspoken words
Or will I feel like I’m on a sinking ship
The water at my chest
Threatening to drown me
The words she used to hurt me
Only hurt
Because I trusted her enough
To expose my naked heart
I know if she asks
I will try to open my heart again
But I worry
That invisible locks
Have already formed
To protect me
And she doesn’t have the willpower
To find the keys
I am scared knowing that the amount of pain between us may be too much to overcome. Pain is always an invitation for growth, but how much is someone willing to grow? I worry sometimes I made a huge mistake. I did it because of the feeling that it was over already. That staying would have been just trying to push along a dream, squeeze out the last bit of real connection that we had. I felt that I had to try to give things enough space for perspective. I wonder sometimes if she even has the capability to feel the love I felt for her. Whether it was just an obsession for her, when it was love for me.
The Profit in Peace Challenge
Byjack
So here is the long and short of it.
I saw an ad on Facebook. It was talking about making money as an introvert and making money without giving up your inner peace.
I immediately signed up. It was about 20 dollars.
Now I have done a bunch of the exercises for the prework of the challenge and here are my reflections.
Some major questions that I have right now:
- What am I willing to give up and how will I go about giving it up?
- How do I live my values every day in a way that is in flow and not forced or mechanical?
I have some initial ideas.
First, I was thinking originally about what I wanted to give up in terms of things like YouTube, or socializing. But recently it made a lot more sense for me to think about time. Specifically, I wanted to dedicate my entire morning to succeeding at these goals.
From the time I wake up, I usually am doing what JT Franco calls “buffalo brain” (the idea of being one of the herd that moves without thinking). I listen to audiobooks, and watch YouTube videos. I don’t eat breakfast or drink water. I keep the blinds closed. I feel awful and I don’t feel the feelings.
Someone once said (might be Melinda Gates) that the first few hours of the day are the most important because they set the stage for the entire day to come. If I want to give up anything, I want to give up my mornings to getting up, drinking water, feeling my body, and going downstairs into the lounge to write on my blog and work on achieving my dreams.
Middle of the day has to be reserved for work and for talking to my girlfriend. End of the day has to be reserved for me time. Being alone, taking time, creating art, and letting the magic of nighttime take over.
This is what I’m thinking roughly:
7/8 AM – 9/10 AM: Dedicated to living the magical life
9/10 AM – 12 PM: Dedicated to doing the impossible at work
12 PM – 1/2 PM: Lunch, meditation
1/2 PM – 5 PM: Work, performing at the highest levels
5 PM – 7 PM: Misc time
7 PM – 11 PM: Alone time, creativity, play
During the weekend, work will be removed, leaving more time for dedication to my magical life. I think it will look something like this:
7/8 AM – 12 PM: Dedicated to living the magical life
12pm – 7 PM: Misc time
7 PM – 11 PM: Alone time, creativity, play
With this balance, it seems that my breakdown is this:
Weekday
- 1-3 hours per day on living magical life
- 5-7 hours of work
- 4 hours of alone-time/play
- 2 hours of miscellaneous time
Weekend
- 4-5 hours per day on living magical life
- 4 hours of alone-time/play
- 7 hours of miscellaneous time
I suspect, I will have to do careful planning during the weekend, in order to perform at the absolute highest levels of work and potentially spend less time there.
In terms of living out my beliefs of empathy, intuition/following feelings, creativity/imagination, and honesty. I’m not entirely sure what actions I need to take to feel that I am in congruence with my values.
My main thought right now is about taking risks, breathing through difficult emotions and sensations, and following connection theory.
Core Wounds 6
Byjack
Today I want to address the core wound that I am undesirable and a bad person specifically because I want to make other people happy.
He Looked Sad
He looked sad in the sharing circle
I’m having a rough time
He said
He didn’t say much more
And I don’t think
Anyone else knew
That this was a call for help
Only me
I see that you usually are very happy
I said
I feel that you must really be going through a lot
And I want to tell you
That it will be ok
He smiled
And I felt
Happy
I Felt Powerful
I knew
During the meeting
He was judging me
Trying far too much
To try to speak for me
I was angry
But I bided my time
When he tried to take control
And asked if I wanted to show the customer something
I said no
Then
After the meeting
Fresh from my success
I let myself be still and quiet
Let the doubt creep into his mind
Let him understand
That I knew exactly what I was doing
That I was the one
In control
Workpost 33: At the End of My Rope
Byjack
I feel pretty awful. I’ve lost focus in work. I feel overwhelmed and unhappy. Every day I stay up late at night. The only solace I find is in games. Everything that I wanted to do now feels like things I have to do.
I struggle to regain the mentality that I use for these workposts.
I guess I feel extremely tired and depressed.
There are a couple of things that filter through the haze that I’m feeling:
- I want to find a way to post on LinkedIn again. That is the one thing I want to work on achieving.
- This new idea in taichi, and breathwork. To receive what is coming instead of taking. To allow things to come to me. To receive breath instead of taking it. To receive emotions, purpose, and understanding, instead of creating it. I feel this is the essence of patience.
- To be curious. I want to do more IFS therapy, but I feel overwhelmed by it. Too much thinking about thinking that is too cerebral, non-intuitive, and downright frustrating. However, we can take the core concept of IFS – the concept of creativity. Ask how do I feel? What do I need? Why do I feel that way.
It’s not been all lost I suppose. There was something I worked through recently – two people that I am jealous of. One who went to Harvard and ended up starting a successful youtube channel, and another who worked on my software company before leaving and getting big on youtube for his music, and is now a famous musician.
In speaking with my friend Edgar about this I came up with the following concepts to remind myself in times of jealousy:
- How do I want to succeed my way? The issue with a lot of these people is that they got successful in things that I want to succeed in, but not in the way that I want to succeed. There is great value in succeed in the way I want to succeed.
- Hardship creates growth. Success isn’t the end goal, success just leads to creating more challenges for yourself to work through. The ones who go down the harder path to begin with will still succeed but will be more complete when they do.
- Is my goal to succeed a little in the short term? Or is the goal much bigger? This is the concept that if I want to gain one rank in Valorant, the outcome of a match matters (because my elo will be impacted directly). If my goal is to get to radiant (the highest rank), one loss in the scale of a huge journey is not significant.
Finally, I’ve put off doing a LinkedIn post for far too long.
Let’s tackle the steps:
- Answer a list of questions in a letter to my girlfriend.
- Come up with a research plan and timebox it.
- Timebox getting everything “on the canvas”, move very fast, get messy, take big risks, keep going until it coalesces into what the art wants to be
- Break to do other things, view work from different angles
- Put on strategic hat to finish
Questions to ask myself (step 1):
- What my vision for the ideal post?
- What am I worried about and feel uncomfortable by?
- What do I want to learn when creating this post?
Strategic Hat
- See the work as something in itself, not just as a manifestation of my ideas
- Put on creative hat, check: is there some feeling here, is there some beauty, fun?
- Put on producer hat, check: if this was a work created by one of my clients, how would I promote it? If it was done by my brother?
*One Big Thing I Noticed*
It’s a lot easier for me to be motivated to workout than to work. Plan workout sessions for the entire day and bring work to do during those times. If no work gets done, I am still being productive and will be healthier, guaranteeing better work in the future.