Reflections
Richer
- Spent nearly 8,400 AED! Major expense for flights to Necker.
- Otherwise spent 2,860 AED. Down week-on-week. Covered some monthly expenses. Eating out is a major expense bucket still.
- Without severely altering lifestyle, can't 'solve' finances by spending less. Need to make more. Needs to be soon if continuing to invest aggressively into new business ventures.
- Agency play is costing more and taking longer than initially thought. Upwork is not performing well. It's expensive. Not closing calls.
More Powerful
- Maybe. See a path to greater power. Need to meet more people in Dubai and get around more people doing fun and exciting things. The energy is infectious. Need to tap into it instead of being reliant online.
Happier
- Enjoyed the week working with AI. It's like managing a team - allows more 'entrepreneur' and less 'worker'. Leverage play.
- Ended week feeling stressed due to argument with Anu and being unclear on if business bet is a good one. Plus money keeps draining.
- Feel pressure with expectations vs. reality. In ~6 months want to propose to Anu. Don't feel ready. Finances nowhere near expectations. Don't feel stable or capable of confidently providing for Anu and a future family.
Stronger
- Went to the gym Mon-Wed. Lost fat. Boxing sparring with Nico, Joe, and Zak improved boxing.
- Gym routine is working well, so long as not too fatigued going every day. Perhaps alternating M-W-F gym, Tu-Th tower run.
- More cardio has shown improvement in HRV and RHR again.
- Boxing sparring was good. Realized need to watch the guy and fight, not focus on me too much. Same applies to padel. Get out of my head.
Wiser
- There's something I still need to get into: is the business model and bet for my new business even a good bet? Need to look at investment, potential ROI, and risk adjust. There might be better opportunities. No emotion to it.
- From sparring: focused too much internally (in my head) and not enough on the actual activity. Don't lose sight of what I'm trying to do (punch the guy) bc I'm too busy trying to throw a good punch (which ends up not landing).
- On recurring money-based stress: trying to eliminate uncertainty and lack of financial security. Very stressed about money and income. It scares me. I want to be pursuing big opportunities.
- Need to be aware of bias when determining if agency is worthwhile. Tempting to shut down to stop the money leak, but also turns off potential upside.
- The stress is rational - based on premise of being unable to provide for family (Anu, parents, myself). Also an identity conflict: consider myself successful, yet fear being unable to provide and protect those I love.
Acting Smarter
- AI! Claude Code + Cowork is a BIG step forwards. Exciting! Potential to move forward very quickly and capitalize on being a great operator.
- Updated habits board was useful, but starting to feel too heavy instead of the easy list it started as.
Did I Have the Week I Planned?
- Strong start to the week, but got more derailed as time progressed. Mon-Wed were near perfect vs. plan.
- Several things NOT done, especially as mental capacity reduced. Or when tired and things felt too high friction (packing bags, calculating spend, running the tower).
- Got distracted by books and games (Knight of the Seven Kingdoms + CK3). Took decent time and disrupted sleep for 2-3 days. Major impact.
- Did not succeed in getting more sales opportunities. Upwork was dry. Not in direct control. However, things in my control appeared much better.
Changes to Implement
- Set an alarm or notification for 10pm every day to get off screens.
- No screens late in the evening. Replace with positive offline activities.
- Reduce the 'burden' of morning and evening routine. Each thing should be quick and require minimal thinking.
- Don't overwork my body. Split gym + cardio into M-W-F and Tu-Th split. Tower on Tu, boxing on Th.
- Continue using Claude to facilitate positive progress.
- Investigate and assess whether the agency is a good investment. Make a determination and decision on best path of action.
- Figure out how to get income up in the short term - whether from SSG, CS, or other sources.
- Spend more time with people who're making money. Blended into existing activities without additional cost or major time.
Future Pacing
If I can solve the money outflow problem, it would be a phenomenal week. If I can be extremely clear in understanding it, and explicit in the bet I'm making, that will help massively. Meaning: I know my cash inflows/outflows, I make a decision on CS based on expected returns, and I know I can handle the cashflow dip with clarity about how I'll get my money up.
Implementation Actions
- Assess the viability of Upwork agency business at 1pm when leaving the Ritz for lunch with Anu - DONE
- When considering any new business idea for viability, make it work in a simple spreadsheet and be clear on key assumptions to prove or disprove before beginning.
- Call Anu at 10:30pm each day to protect sleep. Confirm done for the day, get ready for bed and read afterwards if not sleepy.
- Reset and simplify habits board at 4:30pm today after sales call with Amina.
Wiser Lessons
Week 7
- Learned from Nico: I'm an inconsistent and emotionally driven opponent. If I could stay in state more I would be extremely difficult to beat.
- Distraction is the enemy. Phone. Book. Game. Anything that isn't the intention in the moment.
Week 8
- From sparring: focused too much internally (in my head) and not enough on the actual activity. Don't lose sight of what I'm trying to do (punch the guy) bc I'm too busy trying to throw a good punch (which ends up not landing).
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