Hello!
Happy Memorial Day to those in the US and happy regular Monday to those elsewhere. I am currently sitting in a coffee shop in LA, drinking a cappuccino, and writing this first update.
The Entries
I don't have a specific strategy for these updates. My goals are to:
Write something that is valuable, fun, and interesting to you
Write something that is valuable, fun, and sustainable for me
Find early users and get feedback on what I'm building
While those goals won't change, the structure and frequency of the updates certainly will. My current thought is to send an update every week or two and treat them as public journal entries (ish). The content will be a mix of personal and professional.
I value your feedback. If a specific entry resonates or misses the point, I want to know. Feel free to reply to the email with your thoughts.
What I'm working on
I'm currently working on a cooking assistant app called Let Me Cook. It's a hands free cooking assistant: give it a recipe, put in headphones, and ask it questions while you cook like "What do I do after I saute the onion?" or "How much butter do I add?".
However, I haven't spent much time actually building the last few weeks and it's making me anxious. My goal was to build 12 apps in 12 months, and I'm already closing in on month 1. It's easy for me to spiral when I think about it that way. It's a good example of how goals can actually be harmful. For me that goal is about accountability and consistency more than it is about a specific timeline. Yet, now that I set that goal, it's easy to feel like a failure for not hitting it. A goal that I set! Absurd, isn't it?
I have the basic interactions in the app finished: speak-to-text, integration with GPT, and text-to-speech. I posted a demo this week if you missed it. Here's what is up next:
Authentication (log in)
Stitching each interaction I mentioned above together
Onboarding (users need to know how it works)
Below are the first designs of the app. We're going to keep iterating so the actual app might look completely different from what you see here. Let me know what you think:
What I'm feeling
I currently feel moved, grateful, proud, tired, and anxious.
I feel moved and grateful because of you. There are so many incredible people here sharing vulnerable parts of themselves. I am so grateful for you and the support you have shown me.
I feel proud of myself, not just for putting myself out there, but for how I put myself out there. My process of becoming more vulnerable while still having boundaries has taken years, and I still have so far to go.
I feel tired because creating content and engaging has taken a lot of time and energy. Social has been nearly all consuming the last few weeks. Connecting with people is one of my favorite parts of the process, and I want to make sure I am doing it in a sustainable way.
I feel anxious because I care what others think about me (something I'm working on!). I think while humanity's environment has changed dramatically in the last 10,000 years, our biology hasn't much. Our brains aren't designed to handle being put on a stage in front of thousands (or millions for some) people.
What are you feeling?
What I'm thinking about
"Enough" is a powerful mindset and something I'm working on internalizing. I notice how much anxiety is driven by the "need" for more: need to be a better friend / grandson / person, need to be more successful, need to have more revenue.
I already feel this extending to socials: need to have more followers, more engagement.
I find there are a few problems with not feeling enough or that I have enough:
It's too easy for me to sacrifice my values to feel / get "enough".
I find it hard to enjoy, appreciate, and be grateful for what I do have.
But you know what? I'm grateful for where I'm at in life. I'm grateful for my health, my friends, and my family. I'm grateful to even have the opportunity to build my own business. I'm grateful for your support. I'm grateful to everyone who has shared their stories these last few weeks.
I'm trying to be okay, and genuinely grateful, for what I do have in life.
Grandma updates
She is doing well! She is a Celtics (basketball) and Dodgers (baseball) fan and is happy with both of their success thus far. We're both looking forward to a trip soon to see her sister.
What I'm enjoying
👨🏻🍳 I made some split pea soup yesterday to have for the week.
🎧 I'm late to the game (as usual), but I'm enjoying Fred Again's sets. I enjoy the emotion he brings to his music.
📖 I finished up Wuthering Heights recently and have started Jane Eyre. I'm also (very slowly) reading The Personal MBA.
📺 I'm excited to start The Sympathizer. The books are excellent, so I'm excited to see what they did with the show.
- Grant