Reblogging this because I love the message. Also, if you have a goal, don’t be afraid to go for it, and don’t be afraid of failure!
What Would You Do With an Unlimited Budget for 24 Hours?
Now, this is a dream-come-true situation! Everyone wants an unlimited budget. No one wants to decide if they should buy A instead of B, but they want both! When I saw this question, I thought, oh dang, this is a business owner’s dream come true! No more prioritizing software subscriptions or delaying the purchase of new equipment because the budget says no.
So here’s what I would do if I could go wild with the spending for just one day.
The Spending Spree
With unlimited funds and a ticking clock, I’d start with my wish list and buy the best office setup available: an ideal office chair, the most up-to-date monitors and keyboards, and a year’s worth of subscriptions for all the software I need and wish I could try out.
Next, I’d lock in memberships. Industry associations with annual fees. Premium networking groups. Masterminds I’ve admired from the outside. One year, paid in full, before the clock runs out.
Beyond the Business: The Fun Part
Here’s where it gets fun. Elite credit cards with eye-watering annual fees? Applied. Exclusive dining clubs? Joined. I’d prepay for a year of reservations at restaurants I’ve only read about. (Or buy gift cards to them.)
And yes—I’d buy a house, mortgage-free. It’s going to be a busy day, but you can get a lot done in a short time. And I have a year or more to enjoy all that I bought within 24 hours.
The Real Takeaway
This thought experiment is the ultimate way to ask ourselves what we really want if money weren’t an issue. I would surely take advantage and make a great life for myself.
What would your 24-hour list look like?
Daily writing prompt
If you had an unlimited budget for 24 hours, what would you do?
What’s a moment that made you question reality?
More than once these days, I watch a video about something that seems to defy reality and I question what I’m looking at. Is it even real? Can my cat cook me dinner? And then I go to the comments and someone says, “This is AI.” What a trick! It’s scary, the speed at which AI has slipped into everyday life. One minute it was science fiction, and the next it’s everywhere.
You can’t even write an email without a recommendation for AI to write it for you. How about doing something more useful? (Please, AI, make me my lunch. I’m too lazy to cook!)
It’s both fascinating and unsettling.
AI is Good
AI can be incredibly useful, especially if you run your own business and you don’t have the funds to hire three staff members without giving up your child’s college tuition. It can handle repetitive office tasks faster than people. It can also analyze data if you prompt it correctly. But you still need human oversight, or it can reach some oddball conclusions.
One way AI makes you question reality is by generating scenes that never happened. Not fake news. But reenactments of scenes from the past. Reading pages out of history books can be boring. Hiring actors and creating sets can be expensive. So using AI to recreate the past, such as a scene from the Ice Ages, is educational. I call this a benefit.
But there’s another side to it that makes reality feel a little unstable.
AI is Bad
AI systems can “hallucinate,” confidently giving wrong information that sounds completely believable. That means people still need to double-check the AI’s work, even while depending on it more every day. AI once gave me advice to do something real humans wouldn’t do. That really made me question this new reality of AI assistance.
Another scary moment was when I was watching a video by a creator I follow. Then I clicked on the profile and realized it wasn’t her. It was a series of AI-generated videos using her likeness and voice. I had been deceived!
Key takeaways
AI creates moments that make me question reality. Sometimes it’s for a good reason (accurate historical enactment) and sometimes bad (stealing someone’s work). Overall, we’re getting closer to living out those sci-fi movies we used to watch!
When do you feel most productive?
When do you feel most productive? I find most people have a straightforward answer, like “morning” or “night,” but for me, the answer is, “it depends.” For me, productivity depends entirely on the type of work I’m doing, whether it’s creative work, routine office work, or routine housework. (I’m unpredictable.)
Mornings are best for my structured, routine tasks like meetings, email, and office work. It’s not all that exciting but it’s predictable, and I like getting those tasks all done earlier in the day. Same with housework for some reason. If I finish dusting the room and I get to see how clean it is in the sunlight, there’s a wonderful feeling of accomplishment that gets me through the rest of the day.
Evenings are when my night owl personality comes out. That’s when creativity kicks in. Writing, brainstorming, and deeper thinking crawl out of the shadows and into the moonlight. My mind is free to wander and that’s often when the best ideas are born.
This contrast is exactly why having flexibility in your schedule is important. Having control over your time or running your own business allows you to align your work with your natural body rhythms. Instead of fighting against your energy levels, you can work in sync with them.
A strict 9-to-5 schedule can make this balance harder to achieve, and not everyone can have the luxury of deciding their schedule! I remember when I used to work a 9-to-5 and one time I was so sleepy that I forced myself to stay awake and type. I fell out of my chair, which jolted me awake – and this is my reasoning for a flexible schedule!
Understanding when you work best—and adjusting accordingly—is the best way to handle productivity. You’re not fighting your body or doing embarrassing things like falling asleep at the keyboard.
What You Learn in High School: Looking Back as an Adult
High school is a phase for learning general knowledge – but it sure doesn’t always teach you what you actually need to survive life.
My biggest protest is how we spend years learning how to write formal essays to prep you for college. Then you graduate college, and pretty much everyone I know hasn’t written an essay since then. Starting from your first job, you’re writing emails, reports, Slack messages, or PowerPoint presentations. There is a major disconnect between what we learn to do and what we actually have to do when we get a job. Of course, it’s a relief that you’ll be done with essays at some point if you really hate them.
We also study a wide range of subjects in high school, such as science, math, and history. Some topics were more interesting than others. One example is chemical elements. It’s handy to know what you should and shouldn’t combine if you don’t want to create an explosion. But I’ve forgotten how to create a parabolic curve, despite dedicating two weeks of my life to learning the math behind it.
In hindsight, if there’s one thing that should have been taught to everyone, it’s business. Not because everyone will want to be self-employed, but because business teaches valuable skills: leadership, communication, resilience, budgeting, and how to present and “sell” your ideas. These are skills you use whether you’re running a company or working a 9-to-5 job.So what I learned about high school was that you learn a lot of generalist knowledge that is (mostly) not applicable to your adult life. Also, at that young age, you don’t know what you really need. A lasting example is learning to bake cookies in cooking class. Since then, I’ve learned that I’d rather buy than bake them.
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