[frogl3gs]

I had a job interview that I think went well today. So that’s nice. I’m still overthinking every piece of it though.

[frogl3gs]

Sent out two audacious messages this morning. We will see how these turn out!

[frogl3gs]

I think I need to learn how to be content lol

[frogl3gs]

I’ve seen recently a few full time job listings pop up for what I’m doing. I don’t want to work full time again. However, I am going to apply and then pitch working part time and see what happens.

[frogl3gs]

2 people in my life/network:

1 has referred me 2 clients without hesitation

the other said that they will refer clients when I “get results”

I can understand the impulse to not want to refer unless you’re sure that you are referring a quality product. And also, I have worked with person #2 across many projects across many years and they know my quality of work. Feels very transactional in a competition not community way.

[frogl3gs]

Idk if I ever said this explicitly here but my new work is that I’m a ghostwriter for founders. The difference between my offering and others is that I have 10+ year performance marketing background so I also work with clients to build a greater strategy that leads to discovery calls and becoming embedded in your niche.

Anyway, apparently 3 people have reached out to my client asking what he’s doing (since he hired me) and now I have 3 warm leads.

It’s very nice to be validated in this way. I am also enjoying being able to write for a living. I’m not sure how long this will last (I hope for the next few years at least) but I am actually having fun for once in my work and that matters to me.

Anyway if you guys know of anyone who needs a service like this, hit me up. I do LinkedIn, X, Substack, Newsletters, Articles, and Ebooks.

[frogl3gs]

It’s 8:27 pm, it’s 61 degrees, it’s June, and it’s drizzling outside. THIS is why I moved here.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

"You'll be left behind if you don't get onboard with AI!" okay let's assume for a second that AI is The Future or whatever. Let's assume that it will be the cornerstone of all future work. Let's assume that, like the investment guys floating on the surface of the bubble are desperate to have us believe, It Is Inevitable. Frankly I still don't think I'd lose much by ignoring it until that day comes. Like I simply do not believe that prompt engineering could take all that long to learn. Call me naive but I think that if AI became critical for my life tomorrow, somebody telling me how to access chatGPT (I imagine they've got a website or an app or something?) and being like "Remember how you used to use google when it still actually worked? Start there" would be enough. I think I could figure it out in like an hour, tops, by fucking around with the site and maybe looking up some tips on reddit. So like. Even if "AI is the future" did somehow magically turn out to be true, I don't see how that affects me at all right now or why anybody bothers saying so. "AI is the future, if you were smart you'd be using it!" no I wouldn't. It still wouldn't be a skill that's worth my time to learn yet. Pointless addition to the discussion. Maybe I'm dunning-krugered or something but I simply do not think that it would be difficult enough that I would need to start practicing right now or I'm missing out on something.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

"You'll need AI in a decade so you should get familiar with it now!" I think if you start getting familiar with it now, and I start getting familiar with it in a decade, we're going to end up at the same proficiency pretty quickly. Doesn't seem like the kind of skill where "X years of experience" is relevant. I don't think that's a skill gap that would be hard to close.

[frogl3gs]

They say this because they’re pushing for rapid and widespread adoption. It’s not an inevitability that AI will take over everything. They want you to lose hope and make you feel like it has so that you stop fighting. This is the story that they tell. It’s marketing. FOMO and urgency are two of the greatest psychological tricks marketers use in their copy to get people to convert/become users.

Also…no company is going to make their product harder to use as time goes on. They will smooth away friction and probably further degrade their product quality in hopes of widespread adoption.

But it really doesn’t matter right now because these businesses are not currently profitable and so what they look like in the future is completely up in the air still.

[frogl3gs]

1. Does anyone have any summer solstice traditions?

2. How do I learn photography? lol. We have a dslr, I was going to start with that on YouTube and want to take a cc class at some point but really want to start learning!

[frogl3gs]

.

[frogl3gs]

I think someone could make a lot of money helping local trade companies (hvac, plumbing, electric, etc.) set up a system that helps them answer the phone, schedule appointments, and send automated reminders for the things that happen on every job.

[frogl3gs]

Notes:

1. Work has been so nice and I feel like I’m finally able to act from a place of non burnout.

2. It’s hot as shit and we’ve been saving for AC. We don’t have enough money for the full payment yet. This means I need more project based clients. (3 or 4 would be great)

3. This means I need to get disciplined and increase my outreach 3-4x.

4. A rope/weight in the window broke last summer when we were installing the ac and I forgot. Window replacement within the next 5 years.

5. Insulation (with tax credits) are necessary this year. Well save money in the long run.

6. Outreach compounds. The more I do it, the more I’ll get back. Not just now, but in the future as well.

[frogl3gs]

Hot out today and the only spot in my backyard that’s in shade all day that also doesn’t have a direct line of sight with a neighbor is right by this dumb flower. It’s smells like rotting fish!!!

I want to pull it out but it was planted by the original homeowner and I feel bad about it 😅🫣

[frogl3gs]

I figured out how to do a week’s worth of work in 2 days. Now just need to figure out how to do it in ~4 hours.

[stuckinapril]

I think part of getting better is complete ego death. Like you’re not above setting a timer for 5 minutes and focusing on a task. You’re not above doing a very simple 3 minute workout to start. You’re not above reading for 10 minutes a day when you first get out of your reading slump, even if you used to read for hours. You’re not above starting slow and then building up to where you want to be/where you once were. What you are above is total inertia. Doing something really is better than doing nothing. Radically accept where you are, radically accept your limits, and go from there. Don’t let your ego get in the way.

[frogl3gs]

here is a phone background I made to help me believe in myself. take it if you need it.

[frogl3gs]

I am not religious in the way that Christians are religious. I was raised evangelical, bio mom in a cult, etc. so I just rejected that from very early on.

One thing I have always believed in though is nature. And I guess spiritual would maybe be the word? Idk.

Anyway, I don’t normally walk with M and the dog in the mornings even though I’ve wanted to, I let the warm bed keep me inside but something made me get up today.

We live near a couple of major highways and busy thoroughfares in the middle of the city.

I know Portland has coyotes but they aren’t normally reported over where I am.

Anyway we’re walking, and just as we’re crossing the street, a coyote appears and stares straight at me and holds eye contact. Then crosses around us and disappears around the corner. M and I look at each other and just shake our heads. I haven’t seen any coyotes since I’ve lived in Texas and only then from car windows.

We take a few steps forward and another appears! Same thing! Stares at me straight in the eyes for just a beat too long where I really am like animals don’t always make eye contact like this. Idk it wasn’t a hard stare though like dogs make when they want something from you. I felt like they were trying to beam me a message into my brain.

Then it went around us, then around the corner, and disappeared.

When we got back inside, I checked my email. My first client had paid my first ever invoice!!

I had told M earlier in the process that if I wasn’t able to close something by the end of this week, then I’d start applying for some local coffee shop type jobs.

And then I did it. Idk. I’m not religious. But those coyotes mean something to me.