Highlights of the month
- I moved today to Ericeira to enjoy the beach and surfing 😎
- I have a new client!!! After a couple of months, I have found exactly what I wanted 😬. I will work only some days per month for them, but enough for accomplishing my objectives: having some peace of mind, structure and not seeing my wallet going down. The company builds a simple and small product, not a crazy startup, with a small and global team working 100% remotely 👌
- I have incorporated keinois, my new Estonian company in less than 48 hours, including all the necessary banking procedures, 100% digitally without ever putting my feet in Estonia 🤯
- wetipi has two new members!! As software engineers, they will increase the tech weight of the company, allowing us to build the MVP faster. The first design version is already done, and now we will focus on developing the MVP as fast as possible as proof to investors and companies that we are capable and have traction 💪
- wetipi website version 2 is online. You can check it here
- My portfolio has a slightly renovated Home Page and a new project showcase
- I created the Open Finance page in the blog with my financial data
FIRE financial objective - 1.000.000 €
This month gross revenue: 1.155 €
Total wealth: 136.261 € (+ 3.026 €)
Check all the details at my Open Finance page
Personal reflection and growth
There's no point on being angry with the world because of the weather when it is not how you like it to be. There are sunny days, rainy days and fucking crazy storms. They are all beautiful.
I don't have many things to add to the previous image. The last months have been completely rollercoaster, but this was even more. I honestly don't complain about it. I really love this feeling of uncertainty, going back and forth, etc., at this very moment of my life, despite the bad or negative things that I'm also experiencing. Enjoying at maximum the positive things, do all I can with the negative things but accepting them if they are beyond me and being grateful for having what I have. It is not easy, of course.
I realized that the price of security is insecurity. To be comfortable dealing with uncertainty is to be secure. That I don't want freedom to, but freedom from. That I used to want certain things, but what I really wanted was the feeling and experience I thought those things were going to produce on me because of my previous experiences. Now I know that I want to feel happiness and that I still want 95% of the things I used to want. But now I know why, and that's much more important.
I have no more words. This month has been crazy.
PD.: Thanks Maaria for re-discovering me randomly some of the most important concepts in life in the particular moment I needed them. The best things that happen in life are the ones that you don't plan or expect!
The plan of getting a new client to give me some structure and peace of mind seems to work. At least during this first week 😂. I've been able to focus more, to produce more in less time and to enjoy and appreciate more the moments I saved for enjoying. Let's see what I say in some weeks/months...
Habits improved this month
- I used to snooze the alarm when waking up during 30-40 min each day. It was not a matter of not sleeping enough—I was sleeping 8 hours or 8 hours and a half each day. I used to put my iPhone on the night table. Now I put my iPhone in another room, meters away from me. That forces me to go out of bed to turn the alarm off. Because I'm already out of bed, I don't go back.
- I have increased the minutes I meditate every day. From 15 minutes once per day to 20 minutes twice per day—after waking up and before going to bed.
- The previous month I lost a habit I started some months ago when eating alone. Mindful eating. I started to do it again. Mindful eating derives from Buddhist monks and is something I'm glad I discovered months ago in a unique and unexpected experience in a Buddhist temple in Da Lat. When eating, eating is just about eating. Eating with the purpose of eating, enjoying food and be thankful for having that food that nature gives to us. Not using any digital stuff while eating, not reading, not listening to podcast or music, not doing anything. Be completely in silence and eat. I have to say that many people look at me as crazy when I close my computer, put off my AirPods and eat looking at the food in cafes 😂.
Monthly priorities
Previous month priorities review
Next month high-level priorities
This month, few priorities to maintain myself focused
This next section includes more details and explanations about everything I have done during the month to help me see how much I’ve done, like a diary for myself. The resume of the essential things is above.
Detailed report
Freelancing
- I have started a new contract with a new client. The contract is only for working some days per month—a minimum amount of 8 plus a variable amount depending on needs—, but that will give me enough peace of mind, structure and more than enough money even to save money every month. The product is simple and small, not a crazy startup, with a small and global team working 100% remotely. Exactly what I wanted. Sadly I can't post a link here
- I filled some hours as Sr. Product Designer for my client
wetipi
- We have added two new members on the team to help us build the product. Two developers with which we also worked together a couple of years ago. We have a very powerful team now. One Brazilian, one Estonian, one Latvian, one German and one Spanish 😂. Very happy and excited about that!! 💪
- I finalized and released the version 2 of the website. You can check it here. We are translating the website to german, I need to review all the german stuff
- I have finalized the first version of the prototype of the app. Only wireframes and drafts. Nothing super final, but know we have the entire image of what we want to build in the next weeks. A big part of my work has been to reduce as much as possible what we develop to provide value. This also should show investors and companies that we have something that works and that we have traction developing the product. Probably it is one of the lasts things we need to get investment 🤑
GouBlue
- I designed and developed 3 sales landing pages to send to our prospects when trying to sell them our products
- We reviewed one screen of the app that was making us spending a lot of money with the Google API
- I fixed the contact page in GouBlue webpage in mobile screen sizes
- We are translating the website to English. I just did the language switcher here, no more.
Portfolio, applications & interviews
- I did three design tasks for getting a job/client—two of the paid, which is nice. One of them got me my new client!!!
- I released the GouBlue app project in my portfolio
- I released a new version of the home page for my portfolio and improved the responsive
Nomad Samurai blog
- I created the Open Finance page in the blog with my financial data
Other small bets
- In the Black Friday week, instead of fancy things, I bought:
- A course from a well known Indie Hacker with tips to grow a Twitter audience
- Build once, sell twice. A very good and proven playbook for productizing yourself by a very famous designer that did what I'm trying to do
- I have started those courses trying to learn a lot and follow their suggestions
- I doubled down the time I dedicate to learning how to code in codeacademy
- I created several profiles in social media networks that support Indie Hackers to work on them and try to build some kind of trust and community which, in theory and according to the courses I'm doing, helps you when releasing this kind of products. FOLLOW ME!!!
- Indie Hackers
- Angel List
- NomadSamurai Instagram is death now. I will use only my personal account on Instagram, with things about the blog there if needed
Miscellanea
- After 2 months of leaving the country, I finally and officially terminated my Swiss health insurance contract 😂
- I picked up my Estonian e-residency card 🇪🇪
- I opened keinois, my new Estonian company 😬 in 24 hours. And I also opened all the bank account stuff in other 24 hours
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This blog is a tool to keep me in the pace of creating stuff and openly sharing my journey. If I don’t make progress, you can point me and tell me: GO FUCKING DO IT! 👉