Gerald

Writer of ideas worth having #bitcoin #nostr #philosophy

Let's build the future


I will not have you without the darkness that hides within you.

I will not let you have me without the madness that makes me.

If our demons cannot dance...

neither can we.


GM


Everytime I try to fly I fall, without my wings I feel so small...


Yesterday I heard some big influencer talking about how Joe Rogan dominates his market.

"He is the Niche."

(Now that I think of it, it was Alex Hormozi who was saying this)

Most marketing advice about niche-ing (such a funny word), says to stay focused.

Narrow in on 1 hot button issue a particular (preferable cash-rich) group will pay for, and never stray away from your niche.

If you're a dating coach?  Hoe-math only, bruh.

Business consultant?  No sports talk, pal.

Crypto enthusiast?  Keep things on-chain, amigo.

Of course, most people who put forth this advice are wrong.

And it's so blatantly obvious at the top of the internet...

The people who bow to algorithms are the plebs at the bottom... fighting over dead meat.

The reality is:  Individuals rule the world, not niches.

For some, (like myself) the first lesson that needed learning is:

"I have value.  With all my quirks, eccentricities and strange bits.  This is especially true of the parts I thought were stupid, nonsensical, or impractical. "

For a long time, I could only "see" my value in direct relation to things that make money.

So I wouldn't talk about my love of Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, storytelling and other things I like.

I don't think I'm alone in this.

In fact, 'staying niche' might be the most common form of cowardice.

That’s not to say you’re a coward if you niche, it’s a personal choice.

What I mean to say is:

Authenticity has always been... and always will be... a luxury few can afford.

But to me, it's a price worth paying...

-Gerald

A path to a personal brand you're proud of...


Same, by far


one


This is **‘little white lie’** has been working for me…

If I'm procrastinating, I write down the thing I don't want to do on my to-do list...

And then I write "5 minutes" next to it.  (On the right)

Like this:

- [ ] Dishes - (5 minutes)

Even if I know the task requires more than 5 minutes, I write down “5 minutes.”

It’s a lie, but I believe I only need to do the thing for 5 mins to check it off my list.

So that’s what I do. I proceed to work on that thing… for 5 mins.

Like rolling a car that just broke down on the side of the road, sometimes the hardest thing is to get things moving...

Once you have momentum, things tend to stay in motion...

**Newton's first law**:

1. an object will not change its motion unless a force acts on it.

(As a brief aside, I learned from Bitcoin Billionaire, Michael Saylor that a book worth reading might be Newton’s Principia Mathematica)

If you believe, like I do, that "thoughts are things"?  Then taking a task that appears in your mind as "big" and *shrinking* it will make the task easier to move off your to-do list.

**Newton's second and third law**:

2. The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied.

3. Whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite on the first.

How amazing is it that in the world of the mind… you can control mass, force, and motion no matter what your size?

You can shrink things down to whatever size you want… even smaller than a satoshi!

;-)

-Gerald

"It's not a lie if you believe it, Jerry." -George Costanza, Seinfeld


The 4 keys to community

The keys:

1. Shared values
2. Membership identity
3. Moral proscriptions
4. Insider understanding

These accelerate and deepen relationships like nothing else.

> "We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own."
-Cesar Chavez

I'm starting to think more about things like:

- What does "community" really mean?...

- Why do I believe they are best built organically?  (not with ads, or something to "sell")

- Why do I believe they are best built cross-culturally?

Truth be told, **I don't 100% know the answers.**

It’s almost as if the ideals that built the foundation of America are moving to the digital realm.  To that end, I'm super inspired by what I am seeing in the NOSTR & Bitcoin communities more than anywhere else.

You get a palpable sense there are people who want to work hard and share the wealth of a brighter future.

More to come,

-Gerald

& why I am falling in love with NOSTR & Bitcoin


I need someone's help making a #NOSTR client

Even just a point in the right direction will help.


As a refresher...

The basic idea of the Pareto Principle is:

Nature distributes resources unevenly… at a rate of about 80/20.

Which means a few great works are more profitable than many "okay" ones.

One great business is better than a dozen mediocre businesses.

And like Mr. Beast says,

“It’s easier to get 5 million views on 1 video than 100,000 views on 50 videos."

It's kinda counterintuitive.

Which is why a lot of folks (myself included) will spin dozens of plates at once.

Even though, when it comes down to it there are only a handful of things that really move the needle.

I woke up today and it hit me.

"Huh, Imagine if I stopped trying to spin all these plates... got out of the businesses I'm not passionate about... and... just focused on doing one thing better than anyone else in the world?"

I mean, I wouldn't be able to tell people I run 'multiple businesses.'

... And I would be ignorant to a lot of the struggles people have about "not having enough time to do everything I want."

But if the Pareto Principle is real... then what does it look like?

The Fortune 100.

I'm looking at the list right now...

The top company has more revenue than the bottom 50... combined.

Now ask yourself: would I rather be in charge of the number 1 company or try to be CEO of the bottom 50?

You'd be working a lot harder for those bottom 50 and still making less money.

Puts things in perspective.

Last thing: the Pareto principle is a directive to start measuring what matters.

It begins with the question:

What is most important for the next three (or six, or twelve) months? (3, 5, 7 years, and beyond)…

For me it is the production of content, conversions & cash flow.

For you, as a creator, it may be different. (But it’s probably pretty similar).

Idea of the day:

Pay attention to the Pareto Principle.

Godspeed,

-Gerald

P.S.  This is a bit of a paradox. Even though the top 20% of my posts will garner 80% of the views, I still need to produce a daily post in order to ‘find’ those posts. Plus, the daily practice of writing helps me to ‘see’ which ideas are worth going all in on.

The Pareto Principle for Digital Media Creation


**If you have seen the movie "Inception," Great!**

And if you haven't yet, here's the idea...

**Leonardo DiCaprio** plays a character who enters people's dreams and **puts ideas into their minds.**

Sometimes he needs to ***push*** these ideas **into the subconscious**... deeper and deeper and deeper... so he does something ***crazy***...

He puts his target into a **"Dream within a Dream".  **

So he puts them to ***sleep*** in real life...

... Knocks them out again in **their first dream**...

And goes into **a second layer dream**... and a third...

Like a pizza: bread, **cheese, sauce... layer after layer... **

The problem is with each level of dream, **time slowwsss dooowwwwnnnnnn...**

Layering language does the same thing...

**It's a bit crazy... but works like crazy, too.**

You have layers 1, 2 and 3.

Here they are:

### Layer 1. Speak to a specific situation or avatar (This is layer 1: Identity)

### Layer 2. Show them something desirable (This is layer 2: Desire)

### Layer 3. Make it "Watchable" like a movie (This is layer 3: Disassociation)

Need a refresher on what each of these layers is doing?...

I'll start with Disassociation:

### Layer 3: Dissociation

**This is never talked about, but it's one of the most powerful things you can do with your language.**

It's simple: when you use language that removes the work from the reader, they **become passive** rather than active...

Think of it like they're **watching a movie**.

You’re showing them how your thing works.

Then when it's the right time, you make them active.

Ask them to step into the movie.  (This is where the old phrase "And you can too!" comes from).

The simplest way you can do this is to add an "S" to verbs.

Instead of "How to put power in your words" you're writing "**How this puts power in your words".**

See the difference?

### Layer 2: Desire

I've already touched on this a bit but I'll do it again real quick: **speak to their desire.**

What do they want?  **Show them how to get it**.

As an example: if you’re talking to a hungry crowd, all you need to say in your headline is, “**HOT FOOD!**”

It's really that simple and I won't belabor this... you're advanced.  You know.

Oh and with that last phrase, we're touching on...

### Layer 1: Identity

You're acknowledging how the person sees himself or herself.  **Their self-image. That’s identity.** Simply call out to the identity you want to speak to.

(Examples of more identities: doctors, artists, gurus, coaches, tech-entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, etc.).

You can get creative with it, if you choose.

**Simple as cherry-pie.**

You can do this in your content, emails, **anywhere**.

It's a great way to establish who your content is for, and the benefit the reader gets from reading... **all at once!**

Hope that's useful to you!

Godspeed,

-Gerald

P.S. I’m a big Leonardo DiCaprio fan. The guy does great work. His most recent film, Killer’s of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese is an all-time classic. Highly recommend.

For Advanced Marketers & Hypnotists: Use these 3 layers to start getting your ideas into their Brains

This is like Inception... (btw you should see Killers of the Flower Moon)


This is true freedom.


I will look deeper into Luc Julia.  This confirms my suspicions about what's missing in the larger AI conversation and is a much needed antidote to the overall technological pessimism it seems we're up against at the moment.  Thanks for mentioning!


With art being subjective and contextual, it's unlikely you'd be wasting your time if you were to pursue this project, even if AI produces 'better' writing than humans by several orders of magnitude.


When you can focus, you become lethal.

Learning new things becomes easier. And more fun.

Which means:

- You become more valuable (and your value compounds the more you learn and ‘stack’ knowledge-disciplines)
- You become Anti-Fragile (assuming you continue learning, you will continue getting stronger even as you make mistakes… Even horrendous mistakes like I have)…
- And you will become capable of doing more...
- To top it all off, it’s a virtuous cycle, where the more capable you become, the easier it gets.

What most people don't realize is everyone has two '**modes of focus**.'

And staying in “one mode” for too long is counterproductive.

So in today’s post, I’ll be sharing these two modes of focus and how to split your attention between the two at the right times.

Plus, how to engineer your environment to tune into each more easily.

Sound good? Alrighty then, let’s go…

# FOCUS: The 2 Modes

## 1. Conscious Focused Mode

This mode of focus happens in the Prefrontal Cortex. This is the part of the brain where we do our “executive thinking” and decision-making.

We want to use this mode for intense, detail oriented problems.

A while ago, I took a MOOC called Mindshift where Barbara Oakley describes the kinds of environments we want to put ourselves in for this type of problem-solving & focus. Can you guess what is best?

I’ll tell you: you want a quiet room with a low ceiling.

It should feel as if your focus is *tight*.

This lends itself to more detail-oriented thinking rather than big picture thinking.

Which is what we are doing in the next mode of focus…

## 2. Unconscious Diffuse Mode

The opposite of conscious focused mode is unconscious diffused mode.

In this mode of focus, we’re better off approaching creative, big picture problems.

And as you might guess, the better environment for this kind of focus is a room with a high ceiling. Or in my personal opinion, being outside is also great for this when the weather permits.

I’ve found that splitting my time between the two, and mixing up my environments to reflect each of these kinds of focus has a profound effect on my productivity and overall sense of well-being.

I get more done. I feel more relaxed. And generally, enjoy life more.

Hope this will have a similar effect for you, too.

Godspeed,

-Gerald

Get More Done with Less Effort By "Splitting" Your Focus Into Two

Learn harder topics, faster. Feel more relaxed...


Today has just been "one of those days."

There's a famous Jim Carrey / Oprah interview where he says:

> "I wrote myself a check for $10 million dollars, for acting services rendered... and I gave myself 3 years.  I dated it Thanksgiving 1995.  And I put it in my wallet, I kept it there and it deteriorated and deteriorated.  But just before Thanksgiving 1995, I found out that I was going to make $10 million dollars for Dumb & Dumber."

I've been struggling all day with putting together a clearer vision for myself.

Where I run in to trouble is… I am trying to create something that hasn’t been done before. Somewhere at the intersection of tech, media, and education.

But enough about my struggles...

There are fundamentals to Carrey's visualization "process" that we can extract and use:

- Give yourself a price tag
- A Service rendered or a product offered
- And a timeline

Now, it’s easier said than done.  I’m not going to pretend like I didn’t spend most of today trying to ‘figure; this out… only to realize as I write this that you don’t ‘figure things out’ by thought, you figure them out by doing.

So here I am doing something. Posting yet another daily entry.

May you see your life’s vision more clearly than I am seeing mine at the moment.

-Gerald

My Struggle. (Jim Carrey's $10M Thanksgiving)

The struggle is real.  But I'm reminded of 4 things:
1. the purity of your intent
2. the focus of your will
3. the level of your awareness
4. the quality of your character


It's rare, cherish what ya got..


I have a book of his quotes, "Striking Wisdom" I think it's called.  Love it.


**"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man."**

-Elbert Hubbard (Writer, Philosopher)

Words written in 1911 which are still true today...

Especially in light of AI.

Whether you're a teacher, artist, creator, engineer, innovator, a mother, a father, a sister or a brother...

There is always demand for extraordinary people across all industries and communities... and there always will be, forever.

Until the sky is falling... and the last two humans on earth look into each other's eyes and say "I love you."

How can I be so sure?

Think about what those three words really mean.

-Gerald


Same thing happened to me!


A few weeks back...

I attended a hall of fame ceremony at my alma-mater.

The event was to congratulate us, among other student-athletes, for notable accomplishments in athletics during our tenure there.

It's been 17 years.

My teammates and I recounted the glory days.  Among the many fond memories, we each have trophies.  Medals.  Plaques.  All in storage.

While the awards are flattering and a great reminder of hard work paying off, the medals are meaningless.

The real treasure is the lessons, experiences, and memories themselves.

And so today, I'm reminded of a simple idea:

"God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars"

-Elbert Hubbard

When struggling to accomplish a goal...

The answer is not to struggle less.

It's not to shortcut the process and go directly to the reward.

The answer is to struggle well.

Idea of the Day: We must collect scars before we can collect trophies.

Godspeed,

-Gerald

P.S. I’m struggling well with a lot of work right now. Couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities. Much of my “good luck” today is a result of the lessons I learned running miles… and miles… with the simple goal of being the best I could be.


Why not Soundcloud?


I am upset that I have to re-follow everyone...

Not sure how that happened.


I was just watching a commercial for some big time carpenter with a fancy 1-800 number

At the end of the commercial he starts discounting: 40% Off For The Next Caller - **Call Right Now!**

I'm all for Frugality.

But for me, focusing time and energy on discount sales… or worse, getting pushed around by “respond right now!” advertising ends up **costing more in the long run.**

Anything that takes my attention away from my highest value activities is a distraction that is costing me.  How much?

Well, my aspirational rate at the moment is $10k an hour.  And as soon as I hit that I’m going to 10x it...

So if I'm monitoring prices and sales for lifestyle related 'stuff' it's **costing me bigly.**

Buying assets (**Bitcoin**) on discount - Ok, great.  (And yes, as you probably agree since you're reading on NOSTR, it’s still on discount!)

Buying liabilities on discount… Idk, seems like if you're gonna waste money you might as well waste it in style.

That's just me.  I'd rather buy less “stuff” anyway…

**Idea of the Day:**  be mindful of the difference between a discounted asset vs. a discounted liability.

-Gerald

P.S.  In his excellent book on investing, **"The Most Important Thing"**, Howard Marks talks about how price is one of the most important considerations when investing.

At the right price, even garbage can become a good investment.  So take what I'm saying here with a grain of salt.  I'm oversimplifying for clarity's sake.

If you'd like me to dive deeper into this idea in the future... let me know.


Starting to get more active on yakihonne, habla & blogspot :)


**A snowy note on leverage:**

I grew up in upstate New York…

In the winters, when the snow fell, I’d scurry outside with my brother and sister to build a snowman.

**Our process was simple**: stack 3 big balls of snow on top of each other.

A carrot for his nose. Coal for his eyes and mouth. Sticks for his arms.

And maybe throw a hat and scarf to keep him warm…

**One, two, three.  Now you have a Snowman.**

The bottom ball is the most important part.

As adults we refer to this as “the foundation”.

To establish your snowman foundation, you start with a tiny ball that fits in the palm of your hand.  Then, you roll it on the ground over more snow and let it grow… until it's so big you can't roll it anymore.

What makes it easier?  **Gravity.**  If you get your balls to the top of a hill you’re going to have a much easier time pushing it to accumulate even more snow.

**This is a kind of leverage.**

The point: the same thing happens with habits of all kinds: Good and Bad.

Our habits and behaviors are enhanced, diminished, reinforced, and influenced by our environment more than anything else.

Where have you pushed your ball?  Is it at the top of a hill?  Is it at the bottom?  Have you lost sight of it in one of life's blizzards?

Wherever you are, I’m finding it helpful to remember we can always redirect the snowball to where we want it.

We are the masters of our fate.  We are the captains of our souls.

It all starts in the mind…

**Idea of the Day:**

*Get into the right environment and hard choices become easy.*

-Gerald

**P.S.**  In my personal experience, the best way of getting your snowballin’ game up is to get around extraordinary people… something I am working on right now by posting more consistently to NOSTR because working remotely can be isolating.

“How did you get such big balls?” (Leverage)


Wow I just fully realized I cannot keep a burner account for exorcising my demons.


Coming up on 36 hours of fasting...

The ideal zone for Autophagy: where your cells disassemble junk parts and repurpose them into usable cell parts.

At 36 hours you get 300% increase in autophagy.

At around 72 hours fasted, you achieve "Max Autophagy".  But I've found I lose mental sharpness on day 2.

A day and a half is that Goldilocks zone for me.

Apparently, on a day-to-day basis, 16 hours is best.

I'm usually between 12-14 hours most days, but I don't track religiously.


Why did my account unfollow the people I was following before?

I'm only following 2 people where just a few weeks ago I was following many more.


How to pull more people into the Nostr story?

The more value-packed the story, the more gravity & attraction they should begin feeling...

Some challenges:

1. To me, the main value prop is ownership of ideas, this is abstract & difficult to communicate in a satisfying way.
2. Most clients are still too technical for the average person.  Similarly, the concept of a relay means nothing to the average person.
3. Do mainstream people even care about owning their own social media?

Thinking out loud here... What other advantages can nostr provide to end users that other centralized platforms can't?


There's a mountain-sized crevice...

Between the things I’ve said and what I meant when I said them...

But I most regret the times when I said nothing at all…

A note to self:

- It's not your words...
* It's not your actions...
* It's the emotion you create in the other person, that counts.

As Maya Angelou said:

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Idea of the Day:

Always be kind because people never forget how you made them feel.
And if you weren’t kind?

Maybe there’s still time to make things right…

-Gerald

P.S.  Sometimes I'm in awe of how important communication is... sorta thinking out loud here on NOSTR with this one.

The space between what's said & meant...


~$109 Trillion dollars of economic energy influencing:

... What you allow into your body
... What you allow into your brain
... What you allow into your conscience
... Who you allow into your bed

Corporations & Governments want you:

... Eating garbage
... Addicted to cheap clicks
... Corrupting your moral intuition
... Divorced from love

Is #NOSTR the answer?


I don't even know where to begin as far as what questions to ask.  Looking forward to your analysis & perspective.


Cool!


Thank you!!!


Thank you!!!!!!


Gerald here,

I'm excited to be posting more on NOSTR / Habla...

I'm starting to think more about what it means to be a creator on these platforms?

And how EGO plays a part in it...

The ego protects us.  Not from pain, but from our potential to change.

How does it do this?

One way is by convincing us our pursuit is worthless.  Or it's "not for you."

Aesop wrote about this phenomenon in his fables in 600 BC.

"A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.

The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it.

The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way.

So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more.

Again and again he tried, but in vain.

Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.

"What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for."

And he walked off with scorn."

Aesop was a slave.  But was given his freedom because of his literacy and storytelling.

He knew it's human nature to despise and belittle that which is beyond our reach.

When we identify with ego, like Aesop, we become enslaved to our past.

When we identify with our higher self- our possibilities: we become free...

And our lives open with possibility.

So the idea I want to share today is this...

Ego is the Frenemy.  Break free from it and Embrace the higher self.


So what's the idea behind Coracle?


What's the best NOSTR client for long form / blog-like content?  I only know of Habla - are there any others?


Hello, welcome


Take what's in your mind, make it a reality...

Feel the magic of NOSTR


"Socratic questioning generally follows this process:

Clarifying your thinking and explaining the origins of your ideas (Why do I think this? What exactly do I think?)
Challenging assumptions (How do I know this is true? What if I thought the opposite?)
Looking for evidence (How can I back this up? What are the sources?)
Considering alternative perspectives (What might others think? How do I know I am correct?)
Examining consequences and implications (What if I am wrong? What are the consequences if I am?)
Questioning the original questions (Why did I think that? Was I correct? What conclusions can I draw from the reasoning process?)"

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nostr:note1u4549rxlqxtarswnt3lhzxllj66wjm8quzczqgupdw2srmzu5ewqhuyxlm
#philosophy
Action


"“To understand is to know what to do.”

— Wittgenstein"

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Call them Post it notes... live your best life.


................. "Bitcoin"

What a great moment


Prefer ... or ... settle for ?


Sooooo good 🤣


It is without a doubt the weirdest thing about air travel - I also fast on planes...

But I can't help but feel like I am actually in the Matrix in 2023 when they're still serving animal crackers.


Hey, I appreciate your reply.  That's starting to make sense, but not sure I completely understand.  I'm gonna keep reading up on this + researching, I'll let you know if I find anything useful.  Thanks again!


Great questions.  I will need to re-read / read some books on economics, bitcoin & quantum computing to come up with a steelman argument.


Lol, that guy has so many great videos


I can't believe this is real.  Holy shit.