I'm quoting Heisenberg / Walter White from Breaking Bad.
I've done 7 days so far. I've done 3 days on, 1 day off at 3 loops each.
Some inner shifts:
* I'm shifting my inner gears toward technical work; I'm reaching toward a loose technical plan that will be the foundation of a language-learning app. I will stress my knowledge of Natural Language Processing and database concepts.
* I'm becoming restless again (a VERY good thing) about how I'm not making money. Though during the previous couple of months, I couldn't drum myself up any level of motivation about making money, I'm not actively annoyed that my only source of income is a 9-5 tech job that doesn't pay that much.
* I'm feeling a growing urgency about the state of my country and of Western countries in general; I shouldn't be trying to create deep roots here because the financial numbers are fucked and getting more fucked.
Some outer shifts:
* During Boxing Day, I got a new brand-name belt for 8 dollars and awesome Diesel jeans for 22 bucks (Canadian money, so less in USD).
* My friend/mentor figure gave me career advice; get your PMP, get a Certified Business Analysis Professional cert, then join two board member positions, which I could provide value toward due to my expertise in various areas. THEN, he gave me Timberland boots, just because.
* Went to see a $10M dollar house (outside only) about 30 minutes away from my parents when I was there to visit. It's one of the houses that caught my attention on the Realtor house, and I've eyed it for months.
* A buddy from two years ago and I reconnected. He showed me an app that's been making him money, and he'll be able to onboard me in a couple of weeks. Apparently doesn't require much time, and when we met (by my parents), he showed me the app and satisfied any "is this a scam?" type questions.
Day 13,
I've been increasing the number of loops to 4 on the days that I've been doing it.
I've taken an interest in videos about standing out in a tech job, creating a stellar resume, etc. Have also brushed off the Security+ training videos and I'm going through them at the moment.
However, I haven't been pulling the trigger on applying for jobs.
Day 14,
It's back. The genuine slow-burn sense of urgency is back after months of it being away. This is when I act my best and move the fastest.
Day 20,
I'm doing a second pass of my Security+ practice exams. I was getting 65-80% on my first go around, and I've now been getting 85-95%, which surpasses the 82-83% pass mark for the official test. Am still referencing some unknown acronyms or semantic differences between a couple of things, so my results aren't a perfect reflection.
I've created enhancements to my Jiu Jitsu tracking sheet, to let you look at categories of moves. I know that it's technically "filtering", but it's a bit more refined than that. I'll also need to implement something to increment your skill level based on certain milestones.
I remember in your OGSF2 journal your motivation was suffering. It seems like UMS2 has helped with that, judging by your recent posts.
(01-12-2025, 02:04 PM)Frosted Wrote: [ -> ]I remember in your OGSF2 journal your motivation was suffering. It seems like UMS2 has helped with that, judging by your recent posts.
To Frosted: Yes, my struggles are now directly tied to making money and becoming successful.
To everyone: I've been having an extended back and forth with myself about how to make more money.
It goes like this:
* Me: "I want to make more money. I need to figure out what to do."
* Also Me: "But I can't! It's too hard! It's hopeless."
* Me again: "No. You can do it, but you need to pick an area and commit to it."
* Me: "I don't know. I don't want to get stuck doing one thing all day."
And on and on.
I've now been playing some extra loops in the background during the day.
Day 25,
I passed the Security+ exam with 796/900. Waiting for the emails/CompTIA platform to confirm my success and give me the official cert.
Might be because I've done it on a Friday evening.
Need to remember to switch to Stage 2 in about 4 days.
Day 28,
About to head into Stage 2.
I'm in this headspace where I'm feeling guilty for not doing the other thing.
For example, I do thing A, and I feel guilty for not doing thing B.
I switch to thing B, and I feel guilty for not doing thing A.
I know that it's a transient thing and that it will pass.
Falling asleep has been challenging these past three nights, and it's taken over 30 minutes each time, with more shallow sleep.
(01-20-2025, 08:36 AM)Ampersnd Wrote: [ -> ]Day 28,
About to head into Stage 2.
I'm in this headspace where I'm feeling guilty for not doing the other thing.
For example, I do thing A, and I feel guilty for not doing thing B.
I switch to thing B, and I feel guilty for not doing thing A.
I know that it's a transient thing and that it will pass.
Falling asleep has been challenging these past three nights, and it's taken over 30 minutes each time, with more shallow sleep.
Perhaps you remember, there was some talk a while back that UMS (or was it MM?) should be played during daylight hours because they have a slight "up" effect.
(01-20-2025, 09:13 PM)thectexperience1 Wrote: [ -> ]Perhaps you remember, there was some talk a while back that UMS (or was it MM?) should be played during daylight hours because they have a slight "up" effect.
Fortunately, this restless phase has passed, and I'm now slipping to sleep quite quickly, perhaps a tick faster than I used to.
Day 34,
I've gotten past the feeling of guilt for not doing what I'm supposed to do; now, I've slipped into skipping some minor obligations, such as habits that I've kept with myself. And I'm feeling perhaps 10% bad, but the rest is secretly knowing that I want to skip them.
Day 49,
I've officially hit resistance. I don't enjoy singing. I don't practice my guitar. And I'm not really focused specifically on making money.
I have a Facebook ad running until Tuesday, all based on the recommendations of a business coach; but it's not selling.
I made two sales within 12 hours of itself last Sunday, but nothing since.
Have been sick with a low-level cold all week.
Can't focus on anything positive or optimistic for more than a few moments.
Day 56,
Got two sales within two hours on Friday, but otherwise, that's it despite having Facebook ads running.
The statistics of traffic toward my sales page are terrific.
On 180 CAD, I've gotten 1020 clicks, $0.18 CPC, a 2.75% click-through-rate.
Even better for "all", where I get repeat clicks: 1,776. $0.10 CPC, and a 4.78% click-through-rate.
Two sales for the week makes up a 0.2% conversion rate (a buy). The industry standard - 2 percent - would mean I'm at 1/10th of where I could be with some refinement.
But with those two sales, I've recouped 60% of my ad purchasing.
Edit: I didn't check my emails; I made another sale 20 minutes ago. So I've recouped 90% of my ad purchasing. Meeting with my business coach tomorrow and we'll talk about the copy on the sales page. And the source of that sale? ... Gumroad, not Facebook (go figure!)
Day 57,
I've gotten another sale this morning; 4 sales within 4 days in total. By the end of today, I'll have made exactly the amount to pay back all of my ad spend. A ROAS of 1.00... fancy that.
Conversion rate is up to 0.35% from 0.2%.
A few small tweaks to the copy could create a ROAS of 2, 3, 4, and beyond, creating an actual income stream.
A bit more consistent about the number of days into this stage since I'll be getting stage 3 before the billing rolls over for stage 2.