To be fast and effective and efficient. What percentile do I fall in terms of the human potential for efficiency?
To be able to see through problems in a genius like way. What percentile do I fall into for my perception?
Warmup ideas:
Emotional processing on stress (5 min)
Workout (5 min)
Meditation (5 min)
Postwork Review:
I was very calm and measured during this work. I also did not take breaks.
Emotional processing, exercise and meditation are quite effective.
Grading:
Efficiency: 65% I think most people would be able to do what I was able to do but I suppose there were more steps than I thought and I was quite efficient at them.
Perception: 70% The task didn’t require insane perception until the very end where I did solve a problem really fast by realizing the problem.
Before I can provide informed answers to your list of questions, it would be helpful for me to understand more about your background, current situation, goals, and resources. Please allow me to ask you some questions to gather this context:
What is your current profession or line of work? Do you have experience running businesses before?
What specific skills, expertise, or qualifications do you possess that are relevant to the potential AI consulting or art coaching businesses?
Do you have any existing client base, network, or portfolio to build upon for these businesses?
What are your primary motivations or goals in starting these businesses? Is it mainly for income, personal fulfillment, or a combination of factors?
What is your current financial situation? Do you have savings, investments, or other sources of income to support yourself as you build these businesses?
How much time and effort are you able to dedicate to these business endeavors on a weekly or monthly basis?
Do you have any partners, team members, or support system in place to assist with these business ventures?
What is your level of expertise or familiarity with AI technologies, and what specific areas of AI are you most knowledgeable about?
For the art coaching business, what is your artistic background, medium, or areas of expertise?
Have you conducted any market research or identified potential target audiences for your services?
Please provide as much relevant detail as possible in response to these questions. The more context I have about your specific situation and goals, the better I can tailor my advice and recommendations.
Me
I currently work as an AI consultant where I do advisory and coding services for large companies. I also do a little coaching of artists on the side.
I studied art for many years, went to a magnet art program in high school, and got a full ride to college for art. I have also started a non-profit children’s magazine when I was in middle school with my sister that used comics and cartoons to talk about social issues. The magazine is no longer running but when it was, we won over 26k in grants. I studied art and mechanical engineering in college, and worked in the software industry for over 6 years and have focused the last year on generative AI and large language models.
I do have an art portfolio, I don’t really have a strong client base, maybe a 2 or 3 who may not be ready to by. I am working on my network, I do have some connections on linkedin that I have not fully tapped into. I estimate maybe 20 or 30 solid connections on linkedin (even though I have over 1000 total connections).
It was personal fulfillment, I feel art coaching makes me really happy, I want to see more artistic masterpieces in the world and I feel I’m really good at coaching. AI is also really interesting for me and I think I’m really skilled at designing clever AI solutions.
Yes, I have a 40k emergency fund, 120k in stocks, and about 35k in cash. I also still do some AI contract work that nets me about 4k per month (which about covers my living expenses)
I have to work 24 hours per week on the AI contract, I’m willing to dedicate another 24 hours on these ventures
I don’t really have anyone. I do have a girlfriend who is supportive but she doesn’t really understand the space. I have a life coach, and also a good friend who also wants to start businesses.
I have a pretty advanced level of knowledge when it comes to generative AI and more basic knowledge on AI in general for other types of machine learning
My background is in painting, but I also sing, play the piano, dance and write
I did a bit of market research for my Art coaching business. It told me that people struggle with a couple of things: balancing art with a different fulltime job, they miss a community, and sometimes need inspiration
AI
Thank you for providing such detailed context about your situation. Based on the information you’ve shared, here are my thoughts and recommendations:
What should you focus on first? With your background in both AI and art, I would recommend focusing initial efforts on building up your art coaching business first. This aligns with your passion, leverages your artistic expertise directly, and can be a lower-risk entry point compared to starting an AI consulting firm from scratch.
How to divide what you want to do into steps? For the art coaching business: 1) Build out service offerings and pricing 2) Create marketing materials and online presence 3) Tap your existing network for first clients 4) Continuously improve/expand offerings based on client feedback
For AI consulting: 1) Define your niche and unique value prop 2) Build case studies from past work 3) Network and prospect for clients 4) Decide pricing/engagement models
AI or Art Coaching? Focus primarily on art coaching initially, using your passion as a competitive advantage. Maintain AI skills through contract work while validating the coaching business.
Should you do AI consulting? Yes, AI consulting can be very lucrative, but wait to fully commit until the art coaching business has traction. Use contract work to learn the consulting landscape.
Finding a partner? Having a partner can be helpful for AI consulting eventually, but for art coaching, it’s better to lead solo initially to control vision and branding. Hire contractors/staff later if needed.
Legal business setup? For simplicity, operate the art coaching under a sole proprietorship to start. Incorporate (LLC or Corp) for AI consulting when you’re ready to go full-time.
Make life easier? Prioritize optimizing your energy and focus. Batch routine tasks, automate what you can, and protect deep work time for high-leverage activities.
Marketing businesses? Art coaching: Build an online presence (portfolio site, social media, content marketing). Network locally. Get featured on relevant platforms/communities. AI consulting: Content marketing, networking, prospect outreach, referral partnerships.
What are you missing? A formalized business plan and growth strategy for each venture. Dedicate time to properly scope, plan, and set measurable goals.
Art coaching success without burnout? Set boundaries from the start. Limit number of active clients. Build passive income streams like courses/workshops. Focus on your unique methodology.
Maintain AI expertise? The contract work helps. Also, publish content, study the latest research/trends, and collaborate on code projects with others.
Make it fun while achieving goals? Celebrate small wins. Inject creativity into your work. Spend time with supportive people. And be sure to safeguard work-life balance.
Something to start succeeding at today? Update your portfolio site and start promoting it. Reach out to warm connections about art coaching services. Attend/participate in art events.
Are your goals properly scoped? Your goals seem reasonable, though having finite milestones will help measure progress. Adjust as needed based on traction.
Speed up progress today? Conduct a time audit. Identify low-leverage activities to reduce/eliminate. Also, batch similar tasks for efficiency.
Make a lot of money in a month? With your skillset, freelance AI projects could generate sizable income quickly, though likely requiring intense effort that month.
Small shift for massive impact? Consistently publishing valuable content and leveraging your existing network can be high-impact, low-effort activities.
What to hire out? Once cash flows allow, hire for time-consuming tasks that don’t directly generate value (administrative, marketing execution, etc).
Make you happier/more successful today? Spend an hour reviewing your goals/vision. Realign your daily priorities accordingly. Then tackle one high-impact step for each business.
The key will be patience, persistent effort, and continuous optimization based on what data tells you. Let me know if any other questions come up!
Fly first class to a destination with a plus one, with a nice airbnb every month: 5k
Organic high quality groceries: 1k
Nice quality clothes: 1k-2.3k
Total: 28.2k-41.4k
Per Year: 338.4k-496.8k
If I wanted to save 50%: 676.8k-993.6k
Before taxes that would be: 1.091M-1.601M
Meaning each month I would have to bring in: 90.1k-133.4k per month
I realize that this is more of an end goal. To get to the place I want to be right now, I don’t need to make enough to save 50%. That can come later. I highly suspect that having a great business coach, massages, and a therapist will enable me to double and triple my income.
So lets take another look at the numbers. What is the bare minimum I need to get into this lifestyle?
338.4k per year -> 531.8k before taxes
44.3k per month
If we were to operate on the Parrado Principal just for coaching:
80% from group coaching: 355 group coaching clients | 20% from one on one: 6 one on one clients
80% from art coaching: 425.4k | 20% from AI consulting 106.4k
Questions for myself:
What should I focus on first?
How do I divide what I want to do into steps?
What should I focus on, AI or Art Coaching?
Should I even do AI consulting?
Should I try to find a partner for AI consulting? Should I wait until I find a partner to do anything?
How do I want to legally set up my companies?
How do I make my life easier?
How do I market my businesses?
What is something that I’m missing?
How do I make my art coaching business succeed in a way that doesn’t destroy my peace?
How do I maintain my AI expertise? How do I make progress without being overwhelmed and unfocused?
What will make my life more fun while making big strides in my businesses?
Is there something I can start succeeding at today?
Am I aiming at the right goals? Are they too small? Too large?
What can I do today to rapidly speed up my progress?
If I wanted to make a lot of money, enough to live on in the next year, and I wanted to make this money in a month with my current skillset, what should I do?
Is there a small shift I can make that will have a massive impact on my income/success?
What should I be hiring someone else to do? What things will have a good return on my investment, make me money not lose money?
What should I do today that will make me happier and more successful?
My intuitive answers:
What should I focus on first?
You want to focus on the fundamentals: sleep, meditation, food, emotional processing
The stronger the fundamentals are, the more you will be able to handle anything
How do I divide what I want to do into steps?
Picture some of your immediate goals that make you feel excited, give you energy, make them small enough to understand, and work on meeting those goals first
What should I focus on, AI or Art Coaching?
It depends on what you want to do, to create a large business, AI makes more sense
For creating a smaller business, focus on Art Coaching
Should I even do AI consulting?
Yes of course, there is a really good business opportunity here
If you mean at the same time as Art coaching, the answer is it depends, you will have to pick a priority
Should I try to find a partner for AI consulting? Should I wait until I find a partner to do anything?
No you shouldn’t wait, you can start by yourself
Yes, you should look for a partner while you are looking for clients, you are developing a network for both
How do I want to legally set up my companies?
Depends on how easy it is to change, the benefits of separating them, etc.
How do I make my life easier?
Stop doing everything alone, work with other people
How do I market my businesses?
Ask other people for ideas
What is something that I’m missing?
You are missing a business coach/mentor
How do I make my art coaching business succeed in a way that doesn’t destroy my peace?
You write about your challenges and experiences, to approach the business like an opportunity for personal growth
How do I maintain my AI expertise? How do I make progress without being overwhelmed and unfocused?
The best way is if you could connect the art coaching with AI and AI with art coaching, if you could find a way for them to be symbiotic, that would be the easiest way
The other way is to find a simple and easy way to make money from AI
What will make my life more fun while making big strides in my businesses?
I think maybe posting about your process/journey on social media
Hosting events and meeting people
Speaking at events
Creating strong boundaries for doing other things unrelated to business
Is there something I can start succeeding at today?
Yes, focus on the fundamentals, they are the most important part
Am I aiming at the right goals? Are they too small? Too large?
I think you are focused on the right goals, but maybe it is too early to be thinking about timelines, just create a bunch of attainable goals and work through them with no timeline in mind
What can I do today to rapidly speed up my progress?
Meditate
Sleep as much as possible
Find a mastermind
If I wanted to make a lot of money, enough to live on in the next year, and I wanted to make this money in a month with my current skillset, what should I do?
Teaching people would probably be the best way, that is probably your strongest skillset at the moment
Probably not the best use of your time for your goals
Is there a small shift I can make that will have a massive impact on my income/success?
Yes, write down goals and look at them everyday
What should I be hiring someone else to do? What things will have a good return on my investment, make me money not lose money?
Finding a good video editor or social media manager
Marketing is key and you need to work with people to get good at it
What should I do today that will make me happier and more successful?
I feel pretty overwhelmed and unhappy to work because there are a lot of tedious work to do that I don’t feel is very fun. In this first match, I just want to get everything done so I can move on.
Criteria for success:
Speed (percentile)
Efficiency (percentile)
Intellect (percentile)
Energy (1-5)
Warmup: Cleaning + walk + meditation/breathwork
Gameplan
UNIT ONE: Set up api calls
UNIT TWO: modify prompts
UNIT THREE: testing
Postmatch analysis:
I definitely did not follow the plan, yet everything somehow got done anyway.
Speed – 65% I was pretty fast, knowing what I need to do and was focused. Nothing too special though.
Efficiency – 60% I was ok efficiency, could have coded my way to better efficiency though
Intellect – 60% I definitely used my intellect to speed things up but it could have been accomplished by many people.
Goals: I really want to feel less shitty and tired and I want to come up with a direction for my podcast edit and how I can edit it in 40 minutes or less.
Here are the metrics for scoring:
Energy rejuvenation (1-5)
Confidence in solution (1-5)
Creativity (percentile)
Raw efficiency, work over energy (percentile)
My plan for my warmup is just for go for a long 15 minute walk.
Plan for work session:
UNIT ONE: Analyze video (10 min)
Might want to create a good intro
who are you and what have you done
What would help her as a writer?
Creative process from start to end
Talking about book in a way people want to read it or get greater insight
Greatest struggles as a writer
What like to write about
What do other people probably want to know about a writer?
Where come up with ideas
Interesting passages from book
UNIT TWO: Process/look at other ideas (10 min)
Going all in on Judy Blume masterclass video:
As soon as you tell me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it.
I hope that in sharing with you what I’ve learned over 50 years of writing that it will help you find your way as a writer.
As a 12-year-old, I was obsessed by the idea of growing breasts and getting my period. But there was no place that I could read about it. When I started to write, I was determined to be honest. So I’m going to share with you the practical side of writing.
There’s nothing more important than character. You’re living with these people for years. You had better feel for them. Do some exercises. Have your character write a letter to you. The first draft is pure torture for me. I hate every second of it. I have a messy mind, and my writing is a process of cleaning up the mess, then slowly making a story. I will be able to show that to you.
I got a particularly nasty review once. It got to me, and I took my typewriter, and I held it over this arroyo. And I was going to throw it in. I thought I cannot do this anymore. And then this little voice went off in my head. Wait, you’re going to let this one review stop you from writing? That’s crazy! That’s one opinion. I enjoy finding and supporting new writers, and this is a chance for me to reach more of you.
I always ask myself, why would anyone write if they didn’t have to? I mean it’s so hard. So this is for all of you who feel that you have to.
I’m Judy Blume, and this is my Master Class.
Something really special about Danuta and unique about her personality, show don’t tell.
*Beeroll on books and images from life, maybe emotional points of interview
Some sort of intro to talk about what this is about (maybe introduction)
Something about how she gets started with creative process, or something about art or creativity.
Walk through the step by step creative process
*Images or animation if possible
Talk about a challenging emotional experience
Resolution if possible
Deeper philosophical point
End
UNIT THREE: Create plan for actual editing (currently thinking one short, one long) (10 min)
UNIT ONE: Gathering clips
UNIT TWO: Gathering broll
UNIT THREE: Compositing
Bonus time: shot list
Something really special about Danuta and unique about her personality, show don’t tell. Should be humorous and controversial.
Beeroll on books and images from life, maybe emotional points of interview
To kill the other
Some sort of intro to talk about what this is about (maybe introduction)
Something about how she gets started with creative process, or something about art or creativity.
Walk through the step by step creative process
Images of process
Talk about a challenging emotional experience with resolution if possible
Deeper philosophical point
Some sort of ending
Bonus time: animation thoughts
Trying out pencil 2d!
Postmatch Review:
Overall, this was very fun and rejuvenated my love for editing and video.
Energy rejuvenation – 4 I don’t feel 100% but my energy went up TONS since I started working
Confidence in solution – 2 I feel the plan is really solid but the timing seems a little tight to get all of this done
Creativity – 70th percentile, pretty good, not revolutionary. But I don’t think most people could do this.
Raw efficiency, work over energy – 80th percentile, I think most sessions and people can’t be this productive in 40 minutes that was actually insane.
Match 2: Video Editing
Goals: I want to be excited about this video edit, feel satisfied, while boosting my confidence in pushing out videos faster with less effort
Here are the metrics for scoring:
Excitement in the edit (1-5)
Satisfaction in the edit (1-5)
Efficiency (percentile)
Fun (1-5)
How ME it is (percentile)
My plan for my warmup is to hype myself up – play music, tell friends etc. + motivation.
Clean, write on my board.
UNIT ONE: Gathering clips (10 minutes)
Something really special about Danuta and unique about her personality, show don’t tell. Should be humorous and controversial.
Beeroll on books and images from life, maybe emotional points of interview
To kill the other
Some sort of intro to talk about what this is about (maybe introduction)
Something about how she gets started with creative process, or something about art or creativity.
Walk through the step by step creative process
Images of process
Talk about a challenging emotional experience with resolution if possible
Deeper philosophical point
Some sort of ending
UNIT TWO: Gathering broll
UNIT THREE: Compositing
Postmatch Review:
Excitement in the edit – 2 I’m not that thrilled about the cut so far
Satisfaction in the edit -1 I’m not all that satisfied in the edit
Efficiency (percentile) – 60% I’m better than average but a bit slow compared to experienced video editors
Fun (1-5) – 3 I had quite a lot of fun
How ME it is (percentile) – 15% not a lot of me in it so far
Match 3: Video Editing + MEified
Goals: I was right that the last match did not finish the process of editing. It was just too much. But I did make REALLY good progress. The only problem is, it’s not ME enough. This last challenge, I want to get the edit done, and I want to inject some Jack magic into it.
Metrics for scoring:
How ME is it (percentile)
Completeness & polish (percentile)
For my warmup, I’m going to watch a bunch of my videos.
Ok the warmup didn’t work, I’m gonna play some nice music and meditate. Me is goofy, profound, soft, and emotional.
UNIT ONE: Compostiting
UNIT TWO: MEify
UNIT THREE: Finalize
Postmatch Review: It ended up taking two hours. I’m tired now!
How ME is it – 65% it does feel real, and grounded but not as me as I could make it
Completeness & polish – 65% its actually not bad at all, could use some broll and animation
I have a new structure I want to propose for my matches.
5 mins – pregame win conditions (set my win conditions for the match)
15 mins – warmup
40 mins – the match itself
postgame eval (see how close I am to my win conditions)
Match 1
Objectives: Go through todo list and work list for anything quick and get it done or make progress
Win conditions:
Speed: how quickly I make decisions and make progress (percentile)
Precision: how accurate my decisions are (percentile)
Ease: how rejuvenated and relaxed I feel (1-5)
Innovation: how creative and efficient “smart” my solutions are (percentile)
Post match review:
I went through the tasks pretty fast and I was left trying to find more work to do. I thought some tasks were super tedious and it makes sense why I didn’t want to do them. I did experience some stress from the sheer speed I was going at and some breaks might have been nice.
Speed: 65% percentile, fast but not crazy
Precision: 65% percentile, accurate but nothing crazy
Ease: 2 I honestly feel kinda tired, maybe no breaks
Innovation: 20% percentile, not really innovative at all
I haven’t figure out a way to do the process of downloading statements faster before I started. I didn’t think particularly much about the upwork post before I did it. One thing I learned is a little of prep might go a long way also, some breaks can help.
Today I came up with a new emotional processing tool, finding a way to personify the feelings within me and making friends with them.
The goal is to accept and validate feelings within instead of trying to push them down or quickly process them.
Here are some examples:
Valorant stress and anxiety (fear of being bad/defective, fear of failure) – a little black dragon called Neelu. The tension in my stomach and heart are the dragon’s body my frustration its fire.
The feeling of being overwhelmed by the thought of work – Pedro the Triangle, a pyramid floating in my chest with sharp edges
The desire/pull for attention or to be liked – Lethe the a sort of fast moving air or energy in my chest
These personification, I make friends with them, allow them to be with me while I go about my business.
I also wanted to talk about a really good video I watched.
Some lessons I learned:
Stay consistent
Figure out what you want to be the best at (good enough for others to want to pay you money)
Figure out what comes before the money in terms that is more grounded and more closer to your purpose
Taking the final advice, I wanted to think about it a little more.
I want to make $200,000.
My two goals are:
To help people turn their artistic gifts into masterpieces
Works of art that are honest, emotional, grounded, playful, imaginative, personal, and beautiful
To make companies 10x more valuable
More purposeful, unique, efficient, intentional, innovative processes, brands, culture, products and leaders (consistent and aligned)
The question I want to ask myself is: how would I need to go about my goals in such a way that it would be strange if I didn’t make $200,000?
Today I feel very exhausted and tired. I still feel struggles with going to jiujitsu and going to bed on time. I feel overwhelmed with where I’m going with my business.
Here are some of the things I learned over the past few days:
I can combine the powerful techniques of connection theory and flow theory in the following way: first use connection theory to validate and understand my feelings, then use flow theory to somatically process it. I can then use connection theory to understand deeper, better and have a more grounded explanation.
It isn’t about what you do, it is about how you show up
It’s ok to not know where you are going, but aim your northstar and measure everything at it
Today here are the things I want to achomplish:
Complete the three tasks I created for myself
Have additional time to play Valorant before jiujitsu
Spend time after jiujitsu working on my businesses
Take a nap during the day to recover from tireness
I feel like it was an absolute slog getting back on my blog. I felt like I had to force myself. I’m afraid what happens if I don’t force myself. I just want to ignore everything. I’m not happy right now.
I feel so overwhelmed with work and stocks.
I really wish I could go back to those days when I wrote in my blog and I felt like I was on track and going places. I feel so frustrated. I feel a strong desire to take action, but its as if I don’t have the leverage.
