You ask me anything / me ask you anything (yama/maya) #5
plus a look at everything I accomplished last year
That’s right folks, it’s yama/maya time. The first of 2024 and fifth of all time. History, here, before us!
Wow! Quick recap of how this works:
you can ask me anything
me answer
me ask you anything
you answer (optional)
Cool, huh!
The questions can be about ANYTHING that’s sort of the whole point. But also, I want to try providing a wee bit of a theme / topic in case you’re like ‘man, anything? that’s too many things.’
This month’s topic: THE HUSTLE AND THE GRIND
people always ask, why don’t i go clubbin why don’t i go to parties, why don’t i smoke or drink?
The answer is because I’m grinding. in the last 12 months alone I’ve…
written 2x/week for 52 weeks
done at least 1 “lunch and learn” call with people I admire every single day
asked my parents nightly for a small loan (with interest) just to help me get Three Boots, my business where we sell you 3 boots, not 2, so in case you lose 1, you still have 2, off the ground.
drank 10 cups water daily
eaten at least one salad per day, usually two
gone viral on Reddit once for Three Boots which people called “the dumbest fucking idea of all time”
ran five miles every day except for May 3rd
Opened and closed the brick and mortar Three Boots location on the same day because I “didn’t have the licenses” and “was charging everyone for two pairs of boots” all on May 3rd
prayed daily
pivoted mid-year to a new business called Flip Flops where I’d mix and match the third shoe from two different pairs and sell those together so you’d be wearing Adidas superstars on one foot and Converse Chucks on the other foot
lost $340k
filed for bankruptcy 2x (first one didn’t go thru because I “tried to bribe the judge with a truck full of shoes”)
meditated for 3 minutes every few days
What’s your excuse?
for real tho
I wanna talk about how people relate to…work? productivity? hustle? grindset? So if you want a topic to chat about for YAMA, let’s do that.
Some subtopics:
how do you make a living and make your art?
The evolution of someone who used to think that work was the only thing that mattered (and still often does lol)
Gary V. and Tim Ferriss, the concepts, the men.
is it actually brave and vulnerable to be online talking about how you’re trying to make something happen (hustle + grind)? Maybe we’re all being too mean about it?
Achievement as the means to love.
idk whatever else!!!
The yama/maya is for paid subscribers only which, oh my god yes, it looks like you can become one for the low price of $1.25 / week! That’s not much money at all, it’s literally just three lil guys (1 lil guy is worth $0.4166666 as everyone knows).
The math is solid! Become a paid subscriber and let’s have fun in the comments section!
I’m gonna do more of this sorta paid-subscriber only stuff so if that seems fun to you, come on in the water is too warm but we’re working on it, Stanley is grabbing some ice and gonna toss it in to make the water colder it will work i know it.
#BRAVEANDVULNERABLE: how do I become a Substack Featured Publication cuz goddamit I’m really really trying and they don’t seem to be noticing?!
Alex! How are you? No, how are you REALLY.
I don't know if it's "brave and vulnerable to be online talking about how you’re trying to make something happen". But I do know there are an awful lot of people doing it. I recently became a paid subscriber of Writers @ Work, and have been making a concerted effort to be present on Notes. There are an awful lot of people posting about how they're "writing into the void". At first I felt validated, like, yes yes! Me too! But now it's starting to feel like a ploy to get *likes* on Notes, and even if it's not, I'm tired of seeing it, LOL. Lots of people are trying really, really hard, and lots of people are getting nowhere. If there's one thing that spending more time on Notes has taught me, it's that for me, it's going to have to be my way or the highway. If I don't post on Notes often enough, or in the right way to get likes and restacks, so be it. I'll just live in the void---it's peaceful here. Two nights ago after drinking a cocktail, I posted a photo of my husband in his pajamas, and ended up writing about our old dog's toxic farts. That's the way it's going to have to be.