Personal Epistemology - Nov 2022
The last few months I have updated to working from nonprofit roles, starting a operations / management consultancy for high impact nonprofits, looking for roles in a funded early stage or Series A emerging technology startup for product management, to fully embracing the end goal I’ve had in mind for a while: entrepreneurship.
Along the way, I’ve had a couple of relocations as to where I live. Lots of variations to my sleep schedule, and a series of pickups and drop offs on projects.
Thus: lots and lots of shifting.
I’m hunkering down now, with some baseline of systems to iterate on as time goes.
The current plan for holistic life building:
- join existing networks and communities around from a social perspective with who i want to be around. this is a comparative advantage i have of curated communities. i've contracted for and worked hard in those roles, and now have been referred to some very exciting folks. I plan to volunteer a couple times a week around maker spaces I like to help them flourish.
- (fun/personal sustainability, desired skill acquisition, / reducing reliance on willpower/motivation through externalized commitment) I have involvements and commitments where i am leading the charge on the things i want, leveraging the bay area. for example, maker spaces exists. having 1-2 weekly commitments for events or things i do as part of my routine will ingrain it and overcome those hurdles. music production and AI tools / app building
- (fun/reputation development / knowledge acquisition) develop value in personal brand through authenticity / putting out content on the material on my radar. thats a blog and podcast. leverages my interest in writing / media giving me leverage (eg links to work), and my network of cool people to talk to about emerging technology
- from an entrepreneurial perspective: the intention is to find a technical cofounder i vibe with. someone who is committed to working in person / has local ties and connections, / industry experience and domain expertise. cofounders are more intense than marriages.
Concrete things for the next 6 months are:
1 hobbyist group I am actively involved in for feedback while doing creative projects (music production wise).
1 weekly group or meeting for AI hackathon type builders.
1-2x weekly meetings with people of a like minded community (dinners, meetups, etc).
3-4x projects I’ve shipped.
building out an initial discography of podcast and music content, perhaps a min of 10 pieces of content each.
Drop 25 pounds and 7-10% body fat.
Epistemics Update
(me identifying how far or close I am to bridging the gap to living a fully congruent life based on my human needs and desires for each life area).
1. Spiritually - Though the most uncertainty exists right now than ever before in my life, I also feel the most whole. It’s uplifting.
I’m making every aspect of my life congruent and aligned to what I want, while working through current practices or involvements that can be iterated on or let go of. I’m finding a great positive sum game in life where all areas of life empower me to be at my best - which is how I show up everyday. I am becoming increasingly more present and purposeful. I’m feeling more energized and passionate on a daily basis than ever before.
2. Financial - Running on Savings
This is fine for now and a big reason why I am embracing this time period. Conditions won’t ever be perfect. The world is in a weird place with high interest rates, crypto market having turmoil from an FTX withdrawal shortage, frontier technology being accelerated all around us everyday, and many other things (leaving out news cycle and politics).
I don’t want to run on savings forever,
3. Career - Prepare myself for entrepreneurship
1) Assemble an advisory board and have a technical cofounder. I intend to do this with my plan to source / build more technical expertise in my growing network and community an affordable training program to beef up your resumé and increase your odds of finding a new gig
2) Cultivate more expertise and document this (hence the blog and podcast).
3) Be involved in project and hackathon sprints for finding out what is worth iterating on what might be useful products via feedback loops and marketing channel curation. Lean MVP style.
4) Understand the realities of what “things being hard” means. Relinquishing creative control, sales, being fully responsible while still juggling many knowledge and technical skill gaps. Leading people. Putting skin in the game.
Backups that exist that I am not considering or offering any priority for: MBA program or job market.
4. Intellectual Goals - Get work flow
Building your knowledge by taking a class on something you’re interested in at a local community college (debt-free, of course)
Reading a nonfiction book every month
Spending less time in front of the TV and using that time to develop your leadership skills by listening to The EntreLeadership Podcast
5. Fitness Goals - Get in shape.
Health is wealth.
Currently at 229 lbs and 27% body fat at age 25. still bring up that I was 175 lbs and ~10% body fat at 21. It’s been 4 years you boomer-sounding ass.
currently in physiological pain, and general physical discomfort with my lack of stamina strength and mobility, which leads to emotional turmoil as well.
Interventions are:
Sleep - good sleep hygiene practices. biggest one is not bringing my laptop to my bed where I stream binge watching TV shows late into the night, and getting sun / light exposure upon waking up.
resistance training - lift heavier
mobility work - stretches and yoga
movement - walking treadmill / walks
nutrition - trying athletic greens, reducing eating out, having kale and spinach traditional indian cooking (which tastes great), and make sure I eat foods that digest well and offer good energy.
6. Family: Integrated into my life, but not from a place of seeking to be understood.
From recent conversations with a life coach, we’ve found out that a lot of my insecurities / hesitations stem from some personal psychological need to be understood. Letting go of that need is important, and after myself, it starts with my family. I'm not sure how I will accomplish this as I don’t know what it looks like. I imagine a lot of iterations of me just doing what I want to do, externalizing my risks and mitigating factors, and moving forward with what’s on my radar. This is to seek to inform, not for permission.
7. Social Life: Developing rewarding relationships to my congruent self.
One of the hardest aspects of adulting is making friends. The loneliness epidemic had been prevalent before the coronavirus pandemic. Part of this is putting myself out there and investing in what feels right to me. Not forcing relationships to happen for the sake of it. I want to be around the small percentage of people who share my values, and are both thinkers and doers. Finding and developing relationships with people like that isn’t easy, and it won’t happen tomorrow. But I’ve got to start. And start I have :).
