Journal

I like to share my ideas with others, so I use an app that records my voice memos and saves them for later. I use GPT to help me make sense of what I have been thinking about and organize my thoughts. If you want to try to use your own AI powered Journal check out my new app Journal

2023-05-04

Catching Up After a Long Time

Back from Japan and Starting Consulting

  • Recently returned from a trip to Japan
  • Got sick for a bit but recovered
  • Successfully started a new consulting business

Reevaluating Pricing Strategy

  • Currently considering raising rates to $270-320 per hour
  • Exploring the option of a retainer fee for more stability and guaranteed work

Personal Growth and Career Goals

  • Continue focusing on personal growth and career goals in upcoming life coaching sessions
  • Prioritize being a good partner and expressing gratitude

2023-05-01

Preparing for New York to Asia Trip and Moving In with Linda

New York and Asia Trip

  • Last 2 months in New York before the trip
  • Planning a trip to China and Japan with Linda
  • Coming back from Canada on May 10

Training, Work, and Relaxation

  • Training Jiu-Jitsu consistently
  • Balancing job interviews and workouts
  • Booking a spa day with Linda after returning from Canada
  • Plan on working with consulting for additional income

Moving In with Linda

  • Will move in together after the trip to Japan
  • Converting the apartment into a shared space
  • Communication about the transition and shared space is ongoing

Personal Goals

  • Remain focused on my career
  • Continue training and workouts
  • Strengthen relationship with Linda through open communication
  • Practice gratitude daily
  • To-dos: Finish preparing for the trip, discuss storage options for Linda's items, and finalize consulting work schedule

Gratitude and Daily Summary

  • Grateful for the upcoming trips — bringing wonderful experiences and opportunities to bond with Linda
  • Feeling positive about workouts and Jiu-Jitsu training
  • Maintaining open communication and focusing on a balanced, shared living space with Linda

2023-04-25

Grateful for Linda While Fighting Stomach Bug

Gratitude

  • Linda is taking care of me even though she's busy
  • She makes sure I'm not hungry, checks up on me, and stays by my side
  • I express my gratitude to Linda whenever I have the chance

Uncomfortable Feelings

  • First time in a long time that someone is taking care of me when I'm sick
  • Usually, I'm the one taking care of people, so it's slightly uncomfortable
  • Learning to accept care from others is important

Health Updates

  • Currently on day 4 of stomach bug
  • Talked to a doctor who advised waiting it out and said I'm probably turning the corner
  • Have developed a stye after a day of resting

To-Do List

  • Continue to rest and recover
  • Keep expressing gratitude to Linda
  • Focus on being a good partner during this time and beyond
  • Once recovered, refocus on career goals

Summary

Today, I was still experiencing the stomach bug, but I am truly grateful for Linda in my life. She keeps checking up on me, taking care of me, and making sure I'm not too hungry even though she's quite busy. It's an unfamiliar feeling for me to be taken care of, but I'm learning to accept it. I talked to a doctor who advised waiting it out, and I also developed a stye. I'm trying to focus on being a good partner and will work on my career goals once I recover.

2023-04-23

Back From Japan and Starting Freelance Work

Japan Trip Highlights

  • Visited with my girlfriend
  • Explored amazing places recommended by my girlfriend
  • Loved Harajuku and Aoyama and considering living there in the future

Cultural Differences

  • Appreciated the peaceful and respectful environment of Japan
  • Struggling to find a balance between collectivist values from Japan and the individualistic society in America
  • Want to maintain my collectivist values while living in America and potentially wish to live in Japan someday

Starting Freelance Work

  • Have three clients and need to figure out how to price myself
  • Considering charging $150 per hour
  • Need to balance competitive pricing and long-term offers without undervaluing my work

Gratitude

  • Grateful for my girlfriend's recommendations and sharing her experiences in Japan with me
  • Grateful for the amazing places I visited in Japan that resonated with me
  • Grateful for the opportunity to start freelancing and helping people through my work

Goals

  • Incorporate collectivist values I learned from Japan into my life in America
  • Research pricing strategies and provide fair offers based on experience and industry averages
  • Be a good partner to my girlfriend by continuing to cherish shared experiences and grow together
  • Maintain focus on my career and personal growth both culturally and professionally

2023-04-20

Reflecting on Mailing List Improvements and Marketing Strategies

Mailing List Changes

  • Implemented a change log
  • Created an open letter for subscribers

Brainstorm Marketing Strategies

  • Consider new ways of promoting the mailing list
  • Explore creative ideas for engaging with subscribers
  • Build on the success of recent improvements

Journaling Goals

  • Focus on gratitude
  • Improve career focus
  • Enhance partnership skills

To-Do List

  • [ ] Practice gratitude daily
  • [ ] Implement career-focused activities
  • [ ] Maintain open communication with partner
  • [ ] Continue brainstorming marketing ideas

Gratitude

  • Appreciate the growth opportunities in my mailing list
  • Thankful for the support from my partner
  • Grateful for the motivation to overcome challenges

Daily Summary

  • Reflection on mailing list improvements
  • Brainstorming marketing strategies
  • Working towards personal goals for growth and relationships

2023-04-12

First Ghibli Museum Visit

Visiting Japan

  • Unsure of arrival date

Visiting Ghibli Museum

  • Going to museum
  • Details unknown

Gratitudes:

  1. Grateful for the chance to explore new places.
  2. Appreciate the opportunity to visit iconic locations like the Ghibli Museum.
  3. Thankful for enjoying the day in Japan.

Todos:

  • Check favorite Ghibli movie exhibitions.
  • Share experience with my partner.

2023-04-11

Preparing for Product Hunt Launch

Self-care and Gratitude

  • Prioritize self-care
  • Focus on gratitude

Progress and Accomplishments

  • Set up a mailing list
  • Created personal journal goals

Personal Goals

  • Work on gratitude
  • Improve focus on career
  • Be a good partner

Todo Lists

  • (Add tasks based on your personal and professional goals)

Gratitudes

  • (List things you're grateful for today)

Summary of the Day

  • (Briefly describe your day and important events, as well as any insights and learnings)

2023-04-10

Landed in Japan and Struggled with Transportation

Flight to Japan

  • Watched new Netflix shows.

Figuring out Cash and Train

  • Had trouble understanding the train system.

Riding the Train and Overages

  • Unsure about what happens if I ride the train too long and if I can just pay the overage.

Goals, Gratitude, and Daily Summary

  • Gratitude: I'm grateful for a safe flight and the opportunity to travel to Japan
  • Career Focus: Look for opportunities to learn about Japanese work culture and expand my professional network.
  • Being a Good Partner: Communicate with my partner about my arrival in Japan and share my experiences with them.
  • Todo List: 1. Get help from a local or transportation worker for train overage payment. 2. Reach out to professional connections in Japan. 3. Write about my experiences each day.

2023-04-09

Long Flight to Japan and App Feedback

13-Hour Flight

  • On a long flight to Japan
  • Baby on the plane, using noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs

Life Coach Approaches Me

  • Life coach said their folks could use my app
  • Received valuable feedback from Chris and Pedram for app improvement

App Feedback and Improvements

  • Jenny provided tips on onboarding flow
  • Asked Joan to help with design, taking inspiration from Notion's design

Pedram's Encouragement

  • Pedram sees great potential in my journal app for improving the lives of millions
  • He believes I have a unique mix of skills and experience to make it work.

2023-04-08

Excited for Japan Trip

Packing for Japan

  • Last day in New York before flying to Japan
  • Feeling less nervous, more excited about the trip

Journaling

  • Will consider journaling my experiences in Japan

Gratitude

  • Grateful for the opportunity to travel
  • Appreciate the support Linda has given

Career and Relationships

  • Keep a focus on career goals during the trip
  • Continue to strengthen my partnership with Linda

2023-04-07

Anxiety over Future and Japan Trip

Supporting Linda's Decision

  • Linda unsure about staying in New York or going back to China
  • Want to be a supportive, non-biased friend

Job Rejection

  • Rejected by Anthropic
  • Feelings of disappointment

Starting My Own Business

  • One less excuse to not start my business
  • Need to incorporate and deal with immigration issues
  • Desire to develop both founder skills and machine learning skills

Gratitude

  • Grateful for Linda's presence in my life
  • Cherishing the memories we make together

Preparing for Japan Trip

  • Feeling a little anxious about the trip
  • Excited for new experiences

Todo list

  • Reach out to anyone who can offer guidance on immigration issues
  • Research ways to integrate technical skills with entrepreneurial ventures
  • Make a plan to balance machine learning and founder skill development
  • Talk to Linda about the Japan trip and share feelings of missing her while away
  • Gradually prepare for the Japan trip and address any concerns

Summary

Today, I discussed my anxieties about Linda's decisions, the rejection from Anthropic, starting my own business, and the upcoming trip to Japan. I also acknowledged my gratitude for having Linda in my life and plans to stay connected while away in Japan.

2023-04-05

SPC Onboarding and KBBQ with Friends

Networking at SPC Onboarding Event

  • Met lots of great people
  • Got lots of ideas
  • Plan to set up 1:1 meetings with new connections
  • Start Slack threads to maintain conversations

Korean BBQ and Machine Learning Discussion

  • Going to get KBBQ with friends
  • Talk about machine learning with friends
  • Focus on staying open to perspectives, asking questions, and sharing insights

2023-04-04

Bought usejournal.xyz, time to launch

Dealing with Domain Name Change issues

  • Experienced frustration due to email gating
  • Issues persisted throughout the day
  • Resolved and ironed out the problems

Deciding on a Writing Topic

  • Need to find a subject to write about
  • Considering focusing on gratitude
  • Plan to list three things I'm grateful for today

2023-04-03

Preparations and Catching Up with Friends

Preparing for Japan

  • Made some small preparations
  • Met up with Jasmine, Jenny, Alex, and Evan from Trelis
  • Created a list of places to visit

Enjoying Japan

  • Excited about shopping and fashion
  • Fuji and Ghibli Museum
  • Using Google Maps for planning
  • Not worrying too much about budget

Anthropic Job Update

  • Haven't heard back since Wednesday
  • Will follow up on upcoming Wednesday

Product Hunt Launch

  • Releasing app to 60 beta testers tomorrow
  • Aiming to get feedback

Pottery and Priorities

  • Didn't do much pottery this year
  • Focusing on BJJ and work for now
  • Waiting on Anthropics job offer before making a decision

Time with Linda

  • Spending time with Linda before Japan trip
  • Plan to cook together

2023-04-01

Startup School: I should really ship

Mailing List Setup and Email Communication

  • Set up a mailing list with about 50 people
  • Plan to write an email to communicate effectively with potential customers

Implemented Change Log and Open Letter

  • Created a change log to document updates and improvements
  • Wrote an open letter to users to build trust and establish transparency

Future Steps for Growth

  • Define target audience and research customer preferences
  • Develop a marketing plan and strategy for the product
  • Build social media presence and engage with potential customers
  • Focus on user experience and implement changes based on customer feedback
  • Establish partnerships to help grow the brand and product
  • Continuously learn and stay up-to-date with industry news and trends

2023-03-31

Big day

Gratitude for Linda

  • Linda was stressed this morning due to her fashion design thesis work
  • Prepared dinner (pork belly) as a way to support her
  • Created a calming atmosphere for her brief time at home

BJJ training and mentoring

  • Helped new white belts at Marcelo's BJJ class
  • Connected ideas from class and own knowledge to guide students
  • Reflected on personal growth as a practitioner
  • Focused on skills like off-balancing and fighting for underhooks

Meeting with startup founders

  • Arranged a call with another startup
  • Connected with their founders, discussed ideas and synergies

Balancing learning new skills and reflecting on existing expertise

  • Desire to learn new things and expand knowledge
  • Appreciating current skills and understanding their value
  • Considering balance between exploration and utilizing existing skills for financial growth

2023-03-30

Missed Opportunities and Time Challenges

Demos and Gym Classes

Today was an interesting day. I can't help but feel disappointed with myself for missing the demo day at the office. I know it's important to attend events like this, but I just couldn't make it there in time.

On top of that, I missed another gym class today. I've been trying to keep up with a regular exercise routine, but it seems like something always gets in the way.

Challenges with Time Zones

On a more positive note, I've been making progress with my work. However, one challenge that I've been facing is dealing with time zones. It's been a struggle to get it right, even with the help of libraries like moment.js and Temporal. I'm feeling a bit stuck at the moment, but I'm hoping to find a solution soon.

Taking Breaks and Self-Care

After a long week, I decided to take a break and get some fresh air. It was nice to step away from work for a bit and recharge my batteries.

Overall, today was filled with missed opportunities and challenges with time, but I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects of my day. I'm grateful for being able to spend time with loved ones and for the progress I've made with work. I'll continue to work on improving my time management skills and finding solutions to the challenges I'm facing.

2023-03-29

Reflecting on Balancing Work and Life

Career Focus

  • Felt optimistic about exploring opportunities to advise startups and invest
  • Accomplished a successful day of coding and personal growth
  • Was rushed due to rescheduling job interviews before an upcoming trip to Japan

Pursuing Passion

  • Felt conflicted about finding balance between work and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practice
  • Set goals to continue pursuing passion while incorporating relaxation and self-care

Relationships

  • Celebrated a mini-milestone birthday
  • Felt grateful and reflective during the celebration
  • Want to make sure I am being a good partner

Overall, I experienced a lot of different emotions this week. I felt optimistic about the direction of my career and managed to accomplish a lot with both my personal growth and coding. However, I did experience some stress with rescheduling job interviews before my upcoming trip to Japan. In terms of my passion, I am still trying to find the right balance with my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practice and work-life. On a personal level, I celebrated a mini-milestone birthday and felt grateful for my life. I'd like to bring more focus to my relationships and make sure I am being a good partner.

2023-03-27

Reflecting on My Birthday

Today's Highlights

  • Celebrated my birthday
  • Spent the day reflecting on my life and achievements
  • Feeling grateful for the people in my life

My Career Goals

  • Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the instability of my work life
  • Looking to focus on setting clear boundaries and priorities
  • Working towards having a more clear plan in place for managing my time and energy

Upcoming Interview

  • Feeling some anxiety about the upcoming interview with Prompt Engineering
  • Planning to practice mindfulness and focus on my past successes to help boost my confidence
  • Prioritizing rest and self-care before the big day

Looking Forward

  • Excited to explore new opportunities and start fresh in the upcoming year
  • Focusing on gratitude and being a good partner to those closest to me

2023-03-26

Reflection on a Productive Day

Interview Preparation

  • Followed up with interviewers regarding scheduling and feedback

Development

  • Successfully connected a database to a user interface
  • Continued development on my web app

Work-Life Balance

  • Balanced work and passion projects
  • Took time to relax and recharge ahead of my birthday

Relationships

  • Met my girlfriend's father for the first time
  • Worked on being a better partner

Personal Growth

  • Conducted mock interviews to improve my skills
  • Explored different options for journaling and chat apps

Overall, today was a busy and productive day. While it was full of different activities and projects, I was able to balance everything and take time for myself as well. I learned more about my girlfriend's family and took steps towards my personal and professional goals. I'm looking forward to implementing some of the feedback from my mock interviews and continuing to develop both myself and my projects.

2023-03-24

Navigating Job Interviews Before My Trip to Japan

Rushing to Meet Deadlines

  • I had to schedule my job interviews before my upcoming trip to Japan.
  • Scheduling them right before the trip felt like a rush, but I had no choice.
  • I felt a bit anxious as I knew I might not have enough time to rest before the interviews.

Rescheduling a Coding Interview

  • I thought I had a project review interview scheduled but it turned out to be a coding interview.
  • It was a bit frustrating, so I had to reschedule the interview to avoid doing it while traveling or feeling tired.
  • I hope to hear back from the interviewers soon, so I can figure out if I need to adjust my travel plans.

Managing Stress

  • The thought of juggling job interviews and a trip to Japan is stressful, but I am trying to stay calm and take things one day at a time.
  • I've considered reaching out to the interviewers to see if we can adjust the schedule to better accommodate my plans.
  • It's important for me to manage stress and stay positive throughout this process.

2023-03-23

Making some progress

Database Connection

  • Successfully connected database to UI
  • Able to view all content

Next Steps

  • Allow edits of content and title
  • Clerk permissions making the process easy

2023-03-22

Discussion about Advising Startups

Interview and App Launch

  • Interview went well
  • Focused on launching web app past two days
  • Still more to do

Advising Startups

  • Considering advising startups
  • Wondering about the long-term goal as an advisor
  • Can advisors also be angels?
  • Asking for equity instead of cash

Conclusion

  • Overall, feeling good about potential opportunities in the future
  • Aiming to provide value and build relationships in any advising or investing pursuits

2023-03-21

Thinking about Work-Life Balance

Finding a Balance!

  • Feeling conflicted about taking time off for myself
  • App getting more popular
  • Interest in pursuing more BJJ
  • Struggling to balance work and BJJ practice

Solutions Discussed

  • Setting aside specific times for work and BJJ practice
  • Incorporating other hobbies or activities for relaxation and self-care
  • Taking a test at Helicone to explore the potential of LLMs for personal growth

Overall, I'm struggling to find a balance between my work and personal life. I've been feeling guilty about taking time off for myself, especially because my app is becoming more popular. I've been interested in pursuing more BJJ, but it's been difficult to balance my schedule with only classes at noon and 6pm. In talking through my options, I've considered setting aside specific times for work and BJJ practice and incorporating other hobbies or activities for relaxation and self-care. I've also thought about taking a test at Helicone to explore the potential of LLMs for personal growth.

2023-03-20

Looking forward to Anthropic Interview

Interview Day

  • Feeling great about the interview
  • Prepared by studying, doing mock interviews and researching the company
  • Interview is important because of the large-scale societal impact

Interview Experience

  • Thought interview went okay
  • Waiting for next interview if pass the first one
  • Feeling anxious about waiting process

Moving Forward

  • Trying to focus on strengths from the interview
  • Practicing self-care and being kind to myself during the waiting period

2023-03-19

Interview Preparation for Anthropic

Mock Interviews

  • Conducted mock interviews using GTP4 to prepare for the interview with Anthropic.

Thoughts on ML Safety

  • Considered ML safety as a potential topic of discussion during the interview.
  • Explored the idea of malicious tool injection and local smaller LLMS for anonymization.
  • Discussed how these ideas relate to ML safety and how they could be implemented to improve safety measures.

2023-03-18

Insights from a survey on journaling and chat applications

Preferences for Journaling

  • 80% of respondents journal to write out their ideas and plans
  • 60% use journaling to track their progress, growth, and manage stress and anxiety
  • 80% prefer using pen and paper for journaling

Preferences for Chat Applications

  • 70% of respondents would prefer a web application to chat with their AI copilot
  • 50% would prefer a custom iOS/Android app
  • 50% of respondents want to access their writing via a mobile app

Desired Features for Journaling App

  • Top-valued features include habit tracking and follow-ups, mood tracking and analysis, and using AI to reflect on past writing
  • Respondents envision an AI-powered journaling app enhancing their writing experience through personalized prompts, reflection, organization, and feedback.

As someone who is exploring different journaling and chat application options, I found a recent survey to be quite illuminating in terms of how others approach these tools. It turns out that many people prefer using pen and paper for journaling, while at the same time, highly value different features that an AI-powered journaling app can offer, such as habit tracking and personalized, reflective prompts. Similarly, many survey respondents preferred a web application for chatting with an AI copilot, but also expressed interest in accessing their writing via a mobile app. All in all, these insights have given me a lot to consider in evaluating which journaling and chat solutions may be best for my needs.

2023-03-17

Reflection on My Jujitsu Practice Today

Injury

  • Soreness in neck after practice due to a big guy cracking my neck

Future Plans

  • Considering seeing a doctor or consulting with my Jujitsu instructor if pain persists or worsens
  • Thinking about reaching out to Jujitsu communities or groups for networking and mentorship opportunities

Previous Experience

  • No coaches or mentors presently, have always practiced Jujitsu independently

Overall Thoughts

  • Enjoy practicing Jujitsu despite occasional injuries
  • Grateful for opportunities to learn and grow, both physically and mentally

Next Steps

  • Prioritize self-care and listen to my body
  • Keep practicing Jujitsu and pursuing other hobbies and interests

2023-03-16

Exploring the Potential of LLMs for Personal Growth and Self-Reflection

Reflecting on the Wii and LLMs

  • Thinking about the novelty and limitations of the Wii as a unique video game controller
  • Comparing this to the potential and challenges of LLMs for chat interfaces

Balancing the Risks and Benefits of LLMs for Personal Development

  • Discussing concerns around users feeling like they are just being told what to think when interacting with LLMs
  • Exploring ways to balance these concerns with the potential benefits of LLMs for self-reflection and personal growth

Ideas for Gathering User Feedback

  • Brainstorming ways to solicit user feedback and pricing information through surveys and posting on Product Hunt and Reddit
  • Discussing the value of creating a Discord community for users to connect with each other

Overall, I'm excited about the potential of LLMs for personal growth and self-reflection, but I'm also aware of the risks and challenges associated with the technology. I'm eager to explore ways to balance these concerns while still leveraging the benefits of LLMs. I'm also considering ways to gather feedback from users and create a more accessible way for people to connect with me and each other.

2023-03-15

Discussing Support and Productivity

Today's Accomplishments

  • Went to the new Marcelo gym
  • Practiced BJJ
  • Got some work done

Thoughts on Fitness Routine

  • Enjoying the new gym with more classes
  • Able to catch up on missed classes and attend more regularly

Personal and Work Productivity

  • Feeling good about catching up on missed gym classes
  • Concerned about supporting friend with work stress
  • Would like to explore quantified self using journaling

Future Plans

  • Continue attending gym classes
  • Incorporate more strategies to improve productivity
  • Explore options to support friend with work stress
  • Investigate quantified self using journaling

2023-03-14

Busy day, haircut, dinner, bjj!

A Busy Schedule

  • Today, I have a pretty busy schedule ahead of me. I plan on going to Jujutsu in the morning and then I have a haircut appointment that I'm feeling pretty excited about.
  • Later in the day, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends Linda, Kelly, and Pedram for dinner. It's always great to catch up with them.

Balancing Work and Social Life

  • Lately, I've been feeling lucky to be able to see my friends frequently, but I've also been noticing that I'm not getting as much work done as I would like.
  • I know that I need to prioritize my responsibilities and prepare for my upcoming meeting with the VC on Thursday. However, I'm excited to have picked up Tailwind UI, and I think I'll be spending some time later today or tomorrow working on a landing page for my journaling app.

Keeping Up With My Essay

  • It's important for me to continue working on my essay on sticks and ropes paper. I got some tips from Chris, but I haven't had the chance to incorporate them yet. I need to remind myself to keep going and not let it fall to the wayside.

2023-03-11

BJJ and VC Thoughts

VC Conversation with Chris!

  • Chris helped me think more deeply about the VC space and provided me valuable insights about my writing and tools.
  • He was open to reading my ideas and gave me constructive feedback, especially around my word selection.

Meeting With Yusuf

  • Met Yusuf, the ML Infra guy from Spc, and discussed his work in Machine Learning Infrastructure.

BJJ Training

  • Today, I plan to do more BJJ training, which is a key part of my routine.
  • In the past, I have experienced frustration with "spazzy white belts" but have recently switched to Marcelo Garcia gym in Manhattan for better training.
  • My previous gym did not teach passing or any kind of guard, so I decided to make the switch.

Overall, I am excited about my progress in BJJ and working hard to improve my writing and work in the VC space. Both areas are important to me, and I am grateful to have supportive mentors and coaches to help me grow.

2023-03-10

Great Conversations at Spc

Meeting Yasir and Chetan

  • Spent time helping unpack ideas related to GPT/LLM related work
  • Offered insightful commentary and suggestions

Personal Strengths and Areas for Growth

  • Identified a strength in technical feedback development
  • Noted interpersonal relationships as an area for growth

Conversations with Chris

  • Had great conversations about life and technology
  • Felt comfortable and open with each other
  • Developed a connection and potential for future friendship

Overall, I had a great day at the Spc. I had insightful conversations with Yasir, Chetan, and Chris about various topics. It felt good to be able to contribute something valuable to the GPT/LLM related work with my technical feedback. At the same time, I was able to identify some areas for improvement, particularly around interpersonal relationships. My conversations with Chris were particularly enjoyable and it seems like we could become great friends in the future.

2023-03-09

Discussing BJJ, Demo Day, and Other Topics with Orate

BJJ Training and Thoughts on Finding the Right Instructor

  • Good training session
  • Some frustration with spazzy white belts
  • Realized previous gym didn't teach passing or any kind of guard

Challenges with Database Issues

  • Frustration with ongoing database issues
  • Issues randomly resolved themselves

Excitement About Demo Day

  • Planning to attend demo day with friends Chris and Pedram
  • May showcase work around YouTube summarization and text editing
  • Not feeling nervous, if presentation happens

Recap

  • Reviewed topics covered in conversation, including BJJ training, database issues, and demo day excitement.

Attending Demo Day

  • Heading to demo day to showcase work
  • Wants advice on how to network with others at the event

2023-03-08

First Day at SPC

Meeting at SPC

  • Had my first meeting at SPC and I am super excited about the people around me
  • Felt like it maintains the collaborative culture of SF building
  • People I met were passionate and involved with COVID relief and agriculture startups
  • Looking forward to learning from everyone here

Other Thoughts

  • Going to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Ray tonight, which I am stoked about
  • Excited about expanding my horizons beyond building small apps
  • Plan to travel to Japan in April
  • Interested in injecting context into our previous conversations and searching past conversations in the future.

2023-03-07

Back to New York

  • Flew back to New York today after spending time in San Francisco
  • Looking forward to seeing Linda again soon
  • Plan to watch "The Last of Us" and have dinner with friends tonight

Gym Struggles

  • Had a great day of BJJ training, but starting to feel like my current gym isn't the right fit for me
  • Value a gym with a good culture and focus on improving techniques
  • Decided to switch to Marcelo Garcia gym in Manhattan

Upcoming Travel Plans

  • Planning a trip to Japan in April
  • Open to exploring and seeing where the adventure takes me
  • Will do more research over the weekend to plan the trip better

2023-03-06

Struggling with a database connection issue

Background

  • Been making a lot of progress with my TypeScript application
  • Tried connecting to a database in Vercel, but it just wouldn't connect
  • Frustrated and unable to solve the issue for the past three hours
  • Two other apps connected to the same database without issue
  • Feel silly for wasting so much time on what turned out to be a premature optimization

Lessons learned

  • Need to learn to write tests to prevent issues like this from happening
  • Copilot can be both a blessing and a curse, making it easy to overlook important details
  • Looking forward to doing BJJ again as stress relief and to burn off excess energy

2023-03-05

Learning TypeScript, Prisma, Planetscale, and Nextjs

Introduction

Today I started working on building a full stack application using TypeScript. Although I thought about doing it in Python, I decided to go with TypeScript to learn something new.

What I'm using

  • TypeScript for the chat agent
  • Prisma for database management
  • Planetscale for cloud-hosted SQL database management
  • Nextjs for front-end development

Learning trade-offs

I'm finding it difficult to determine the trade-offs between focusing on productive work and spending time learning the language. I also realized that my productivity had improved due to my use of GitHub Copilot.

Conclusion

Overall, I'm excited to learn new technologies while building a full-fledged application. However, I need to be mindful of balancing productivity and learning.

2023-03-04

Spending Time with Family

Recap

Today, I spent the day with my family before leaving for New York. We had good food and played mahjong together. I also got a massage and played ping-pong with them.

Thoughts

It's always great to spend time with family, especially since I don't get to see them very often. Despite some losses, we had a lot of fun playing mahjong, and it was great catching up with everyone.

Future Plans

I'm excited to go to South Park Commons and start my LLC, which I've been planning for a while now. I'm also considering rewriting the telegram bot with TypeScript and Next.js to improve my skills. Overall, I'm looking forward to what the future holds.

2023-03-03

Training BJJ, Organizing My Flight to Japan, and LLC Updates

BJJ Training Session

  • Spent most of the day focusing on training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
  • Focused on perfecting my technique and positioning
  • Worked on pressure passing and submissions
  • Had a good session overall

Organizing My Flight to Japan

  • Spent some time organizing my flight to Japan
  • Booked my flight through a travel agent
  • Went over my itinerary and made sure everything was in order
  • Excited to explore Japan and immerse myself in the culture

LLC Updates

  • Spent some time on LLC updates
  • Made sure all of my paperwork was in order
  • Checked my email for any important updates
  • Made a to-do list for the week ahead to stay on top of things

2023-03-02

Productive Day with Exciting Updates

Upgrading Study Notes App

Today, I worked on upgrading the Study Notes app, and I am excited to use OpenAI's whisper instead of my own modal endpoint. However, before making the switch, I decided that it would be prudent to perform a performance/cost analysis.

Ordering Pizza through Langchain

I was curious to see if anyone had ever ordered a pizza through Langchain, my latest project. I confirmed that no one had, so I attempted to order a pizza to test out the platform.

Progress with YouTube Summerizer

I also had a productive conversation with Hassan, which gave me the confidence that we'll make some progress with YouTube summerizer.

Applying to Speak.com

After discovering speak.com, I applied to become a speaker on their platform.

Setting Up OpenAI Transcriptions

Finally, I was able to set up OpenAI transcriptions, which opens up new opportunities for the projects that I'm working on. Overall, it was a productive day, with some exciting updates and progress to look forward to.

2023-03-01

Getting VC Emails from Updating my LinkedIn

What Happened

  • I finally got around to updating my LinkedIn profile to reflect the fact that I'm currently focused on building my project.
  • After updating, I surprisingly received emails from three Venture Capitalists expressing interest in my venture.

What I Learned

  • Updating your LinkedIn to reflect your current project can attract potential investors.
  • There are many people on LinkedIn who are actively searching for investment opportunities and may come across your profile.

2023-02-28

A Weekend of Ice Diving

Ice Diving Trip

  • Had an amazing trip ice diving over the weekend
  • Experienced plenty of underwater ice formations

Work

  • Going back to work tomorrow
  • Need to do a lot of due diligence for startups
  • Planning to build more features for YouTube Summarizer
  • Lots of work to do for LLC and fractional leadership

Journaling

  • Thinking about writing a journal entry about the ice diving trip

2023-02-22

Getting Accepted into South Park Commons

Excitement

  • I am beyond excited to share that I have been accepted into South Park Commons!
  • I feel fortunate to be accepted into this community and I am eager to start this new journey.

Next Steps

  • Upon acceptance, I am now in the process of figuring out next steps for joining the community.
  • I am taking time to carefully plan my move and make sure I am prepared for this new chapter.

Gratitude

  • I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a fantastic community and know that it will be an incredible experience.
  • I can't wait to see what's in store for me at South Park Commons!

2023-02-20

Experimenting with Developing Personas

Ideas for Building Components for Personalities in Chat Apps

  • Want to explore building personas for chat apps
  • Think it would be a fun skill to develop
  • Interested in experimenting with different personality types

Implementing Page Views on My Blog Posts

  • Realized I need to track page views on my blog posts
  • Want to see what kind of traffic my posts are getting
  • Should research how to implement page views

Overall, today I had some ideas around experimenting with developing personas for chat apps and the importance of implementing page views on my blog posts. I'm excited to see where these ideas take me and how implementing them will help me grow.

2023-02-18

Improving My Website's OG Tags with Orate

Summary

Orate helped me improve my website's OG tags.

Details

  • I asked Orate for a reminder to improve the OG tags on my website for SEO purposes.
  • Orate provided the reminder and helped me understand the importance of OG tags.
  • Orate walked me through the process of improving my OG tags step-by-step so I could implement the changes on my website.

Takeaways

  • Orate was knowledgeable about OG tags and provided helpful information.
  • Orate was patient and guided me through the process of improving my OG tags.
  • I feel more confident in my website's SEO now that I have better OG tags.

Overall, I am grateful for Orate's assistance in improving my website's OG tags.

2023-02-17

Improving the Youtube Summarizer

Better Video Support

  • Noticed that the Youtube Summarizer wasn't able to summarize videos properly.
  • I spoke to the life coach bot 'Orate' and got some suggestions on improving the service.
  • Orate suggested adding better video support to the summarizer.
  • This would make the service more useful for people who prefer watching videos over reading.

Different Levels of Verbosity

  • Orate also suggested adding different levels of verbosity to the summarizer.
  • This would allow users to choose how much detail they want in their summaries.
  • The current summarizer provides brief summaries, but some users may want more detailed summaries.
  • The addition of different levels of verbosity would make the summarizer more customizable and user-friendly.

Overall, I was pleased with the suggestions made by Orate. I'm excited about the prospect of improving the Youtube Summarizer and making it more useful for users.

2023-02-16

Life Update: Jiu Jitsu, Ice Diving, and LLC Worries

Jiu Jitsu

  • Three more days of practice to go
  • Looking forward to starting my ice diving lead up next week

Ice Diving

  • Feeling a bit nervous about holding my breath underwater under ice
  • Hoping everything will go well and I won't die

LLC Worries

  • Starting to stress about details around American vs. Canadian ownership
  • Getting more startups reaching out and adding to the stress
  • Need to sort out LLC details soon

2023-02-14

Exploring the Possibilities with LLMs

Education and LLM blog post

  • Started working on a blog post related to education and LLMs
  • Received some helpful links from a friend that I need to explore further
  • Looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this topic

Links on LLMs

  • Friend shared some links with me to explore
  • Excited to delve deeper into the topic and gain insights
  • Grateful for the help and resources offered by my friend

Overall, I am excited to further explore the world of LLMs and the impact they have on education. I am grateful for the support and resources offered by my friend and I can't wait to share my findings with the world.

2023-02-13

A Busy Day

Video Summarization Experimentation

  • Spent most of yesterday transcribing videos
  • Experimented with long video summarization for studying
  • Explored using transcripts to generate YouTube chapters
  • Plan to take YouTube chapters to produce better chunks to summarization
  • Need to come up with a better name than summarization, like study notes or something.

Meeting with Chris Moody

  • Excited to catch up with Chris after such a long time
  • Will discuss his startup and see how I can help

Valentine's Day Stress

  • Need to buy flowers for Valentine's Day
  • Feeling a bit stressed about finding the right flowers

Meeting with South Park Commons

  • Exciting meeting with South Park Commons coming up.

2023-02-10

Progress on YouTube summarization

Making good progress

  • Developed a better user experience on waiting for responses
  • Can now transcribe long video streams and summarize them in chunks
  • Added a chunk schedule to optimize time to first summarization token
  • UI and endpoints are all working now

Dedication to work

  • I haven't eaten in two days
  • I just code, eat a sandwich, and go to BJJ
  • My hands have started to hurt, so I need to rest and calm down

Improvements in BJJ

  • Getting a lot of leglocks
  • It has improved somewhat, but still more to learn

Overall, I have made great strides in my YouTube summarization project but I need to balance my dedication to work and my health. My hands are starting to hurt from the constant typing and BJJ training, so I need to make sure I am resting enough.

2023-02-09

Working on Gratitude and Career Focus

Career

  • Went to an interview today for a marketing position
  • Learned about the company culture and values
  • Gained insights on new marketing trends

Gratitude

  • Felt thankful for my friends who supported me during the interview process
  • Received a compliment from a stranger which boosted my confidence

Relationship

  • Spent quality time with my partner
  • Listened to their concerns and gave emotional support

Today was a productive day, I felt optimistic after the interview and grateful for friends and strangers who brought joy and positivity in my life. I also made sure to prioritize my relationship and give my partner the attention and support they needed.

2023-02-08

Goals for the Week

To-Do List

  • Fit a transformer on instructional videos
  • Figure out voice transcription

Personal

  • Spend a couple of hours with my friend Pedram to learn about Transformers

Today's Summary

Today was productive. I implemented something called Magic which helps create a JSON object and sets attributes in the browser. I'm hoping to use it for the instructional videos I'm working on. Later in the day, I spent some time researching voice transcription to assist with my work.

In the evening, I had a great time hanging out with my friend Pedram and learning about Transformers, which is something I had been meaning to do for a while. In addition to my work, I am also trying to prioritize my personal relationships, so I made sure to keep my partner in mind throughout the day. Overall, I am feeling grateful and focused on my career.

2023-02-07

Meeting with the South Park Common Folks

Summary of my day

  • Met with the South Park common folks
  • Had conversations with other people building stuff in the space
  • Feeling grateful for this opportunity

Career Focus

  • Discussed career goals with others in the space
  • Received valuable advice and feedback
  • Excited to continue working towards my goals

Being a Good Partner

  • Checked in with my partner throughout the day
  • Made plans for quality time together this weekend
  • feeling grateful for their support in my career endeavors.

2023-02-06

Challenges with transitioning career focus

Work

  • Realizing that transitioning out of data science back into machine learning has been tricky simply because I hadn't been doing that kind of work in the past two years.
  • It feels like I spent more time building out software systems and more complex systems and reliability and integration and testing rather than going out and building more models.
  • Wondering if my software experience will hurt me in the short term.
  • Hoping that the next couple of weeks I can go back into training models and going back into the literature.

Experimentation

  • Tried experiments on having GPT produce better HTML using Tailwind even after fine tuning, but it underperformed as the data passed in probably isn't very good.

Learning

  • Spent the day learning Jax, which is a math library from Google that backs Flax.
  • Felt like I've spent the past week learning JavaScript, but there are still so many holes in my understanding of the language.

Personal Life

  • Want to make sure I'm being a good partner.

2023-02-05

Daily Journal Entry: Building Prompts for SQL and HTML Generation

Today's Summary

  • Managed to continue my progress with magic text.
  • Built prompts for SQL and HTML generation.

Gratitude

  • Grateful for the progress I've made with magic text.
  • Thankful for having the skills to build prompts for SQL and HTML generation.

Career Focus

  • Continued working on my skills in programming and technology.
  • Built prompts for SQL and HTML generation for my work projects.

Relationship Building

  • Made sure to spend quality time with my partner today.
  • Listened to their thoughts and concerns.

Overall, today was a productive day where I was able to improve my technical skills, maintain a healthy relationship with my partner, and continue working on my gratitude practice. I am looking forward to more progress tomorrow.

2023-02-04

My Progress with React, Nextjs and AI Brushes

Today's Accomplishments

  • Made progress with React and Nextjs
  • Implemented FramerJS and Vercel Edge Functions to stream data into a text box
  • Built a text editor demo using AI brushes

Integrating Material UI Icons

  • Will integrate Material UI icons into the apps I'm building

Personal Reflection

  • I'm grateful for the progress I've made with my tech skills and the opportunity to learn new things
  • I want to make sure I continue to prioritize my career goals and work towards achieving them
  • I also want to make sure I'm being a supportive and loving partner to my significant other.

Daily Summary

Today was a productive day for me in terms of my tech skills. I managed to make progress with my React and Nextjs knowledge and built a text editor demo using AI brushes. Additionally, I incorporated FramerJS and Vercel Edge functions into my work. I also plan on integrating Material UI icons into my projects. In my personal life, I'm grateful for my supportive partner and will continue working towards my career goals while being a good partner.

2023-02-02

Excitement for Japan and Coding Tool Comparison

Japan Trip Invitation

  • My partner and I got invited to go to Japan in April.
  • I am very excited for this trip and can't wait to explore Japan.

Blogging Experience

  • I wrote a blog post today.
  • I tried out hosting the content on the notion platform.
  • I enjoyed this blogging experience and learned a lot from it.

Coding Tool Comparison

  • I am envious of the JavaScript community's tooling.
  • Python tooling is not as good as JavaScript's.
  • I want to explore more options for learning web development.

2023-02-01

Learning Next.js and Prisma for API Routes

Career Goals

Today was a productive day for me. I spent my time learning about Next.js and Prisma. I've never used these tools before, so I was a bit apprehensive at first. It took some effort, but I'm starting to feel more comfortable with API routes in Next.js.

Skill Building

I also spent some time checking out some SQL tools and exploring Langchain exploits. I think it's important to stay up to date with the latest technology trends in my field. I also started learning about defining API routes in Next.js using Vercel and Prisma.

Job Hunting

I applied for a position at Cohere AI, which is based in Toronto. The company looks promising, and I hope to hear back from them soon.

Reflections on Gratitude

Overall, I'm feeling good about my progress today. I'm grateful for the resources available to me online that make skill-building and job hunting easier. Additionally, I'm grateful for my partner's patience and understanding as I continue to focus on my career.

2023-01-30

A Short Summary of My Day

Gratitude

  • I'm grateful for being able to wake up early and start the day with a workout
  • I'm grateful for my significant other who always supports me in my endeavors
  • I'm grateful for my job which challenges me to grow and learn new things

Career Focus

  • I spent time today networking and reaching out to potential connections in my industry
  • I completed a project at work that I'm proud of and received positive feedback from my team
  • I took a course online to improve my technical skills in my field

Partner

  • I made sure to check in with my partner throughout the day to see how they were doing and if there's anything I could do to support them
  • We had a great conversation over dinner and talked about our plans for the weekend

Overall, it was a productive day and I feel grateful for the opportunities and relationships in my life.

2023-01-28

Struggling with Langchain

Issues with Langchain

  • Having some issues with Langchain
  • MRKL implementation seems scratchy

2023-01-27

Short Summary of my Day

Morning Routine

  • Had my cup of coffee
  • Did some stretches
  • Checked my emails

Career Goals

  • Had a meeting with my boss about my promotion
  • Set some goals for the week
  • Worked on a project for a couple of hours

Gratitude

  • Wrote down three things I'm grateful for today
  • Took a moment to appreciate the beauty of nature

Relationships

  • Called my partner during my lunch break
  • Made plans for date night this week

Self-Care

  • Took a walk outside and got some fresh air
  • Did some meditation before bed

Overall, I had a productive day and made sure to take care of myself and my important relationships. Practicing gratitude helped me stay positive throughout the day. Looking forward to tomorrow.

2023-01-26

Learning About Langchain and GPTindex

Today's Summary

I spent some time today learning about Langchain and GPTindex. While Langchain has a good toolkit for prompt generation, it's too heavy for Vercel.

Gratitude

  • I'm grateful for the chance to learn about something new today.
  • I'm grateful for having access to various resources to enrich my knowledge.

Career Focus

  • I have started learning about Langchain and GPTindex to expand my technical knowledge and potentially use in my career.
  • I need to continue learning more about this topic to see how I can apply it in my career.

Relationship

  • I also want to make sure that I'm being a good partner, and I need to plan a date night soon.

2023-01-25

Thoughts on Career, Gratitude, and Relationships

My Day

  • Started out the day with a cold ice plunge, but it really took a toll on me
  • Worked on learning more about modal to improve transcription models
  • Thinking about taking on learning Elixir, but might be better to stick with JS for now
  • Need to work on exposing a better rest endpoint for testing and fixing some issues with setting dates for the app
  • Caught myself feeling a bit lonely and wonder if this is where my spirituality comes into play
  • Spent some time reading "Shanzhai" by Byung Chul Han

Gratitude

  • Feeling thankful for having the opportunity to learn new skills and challenge myself at work
  • Grateful for having a supportive partner who encourages me to pursue my passions and hobbies

Career

  • Focused on furthering my skills in coding and technology
  • Want to stay up-to-date with current industry developments
  • Excited to see where my career can take me

Relationships

  • Recognized feeling lonely at points throughout the day
  • Want to make sure I'm being an attentive and present partner to my significant other, even when I feel stressed or preoccupied with work or personal pursuits.

2023-01-24

Diving Trip Preparation and Creativity

Activities

  • Did ice plunges for diving trip
  • Finished reading "Psychology of Money"

Thoughts

  • Creativity is important in our lives and inevitably leads to art.
  • Want to make progress in my career and be grateful for what I have.
  • Trying to be a good partner and invest in my relationship.

Summary of day

Today was a productive day. I did some ice plunges to prepare for my diving trip and also finished reading "Psychology of Money". It made me realize how important creativity is in our lives and how it leads to great things like art. I also thought about my goals for my career and how I want to be more grateful for what I have in my life. Lastly, I want to make sure that I'm being a good partner and investing time into my relationship. Overall, it was a good day and I'm excited for what's to come.

2023-01-23

Lowering My Training

Today’s Summary

  • Hands hurting today, so I worked on the blog post and bot in the afternoon.
  • I am planning to lower my training this month for jujitsu in trumpet and focus more on my freediving towards the end of the month.
  • Debating whether or not to make my tools open source
  • I want to be a good partner and take some time to show my gratitude
  • To make things easier, I'm planning on integrating my note-taking app with Siri so that I don't have to deal with transcription as much.

2023-01-22

A Busy Day

Career Goals

  • Worked on fixing mobile styling for website
  • Researched more on tailwind
  • Started brainstorming open source template for deploying telegram chat bots on Vercel with python

Gratitude

  • Celebrated Chinese New Year
  • grateful for the opportunity to learn and work on new things

Personal Life

  • Made sure to check in with partner and show appreciation for their support
  • At the end of a busy day, feeling fulfilled and excited for what's to come.