Apr'26: actions follow intentions
notes from my reset arc
Something about making art has to do with with overcoming things.
The month of April went by within a blink. When I tried to reflect on it, I realized I didn’t read much except one half finished book of Art & Fear and a few pages of multiple different books. As if nothing was hooky enough to continue reading.
Still there were 4 things that I did (Let’s call them experiments):
Creating videos on Instagram
Writing religiously every morning.
Walking & creating a streak (unintentionally)
Doing cold outreach with meme decks
1. Videos on Instagram
In the first 2 weeks, I posted 9 videos on Instagram and 6 of them performed way better than expectation. My sister who is 15 tried to enlighten me about consistency, she said: “This is so good! You should be consistent. All good things come when you show up consistently”
Although I agree with her, that was not my goal with these videos. I was feeling a strong blocker in reaching out to people I want to work with. I was not able to send my usual pitches with loom videos.
So I thought, let’s just try creating videos for fun. Maybe I will get in the groove and be able to send pitches again.
It worked, eventually I did send a loom video in my cold outreach.
Right now, Instagram is giving a big boost to new accounts. If you have ever thought about creating video content. Now is the time. I am surely be making use of this. You can follow along at @akanksha.notes
2. Free flow writing
In the past few months my journals were filled with too much negativity. I would only write when I was confused, angry, irritated or upset. I would have so much angst and troubled emotions while writing, it became like a vent box.
A venting box calms you in the moment but you are left directionless and you keep repeating the cycle.
In these few months I became the person who went from winning to whining.
I don’t know what came over me or what inspired me but somehow I started writing every morning. I wrote whatever came to mind in free flow. And voila, a pattern emerged:
First few days were the same, a lot of negative writing. When I say negative I count things that make me distrust myself, engage my mind in petty distractions and stop me from feeling alive.
After that came the phase where I am motivating myself, feel good stuff, making empty promises. The intention to do better was there, but the actions weren’t.
So one day, I decided today is going to be a No Task day. I was not doing what I am supposed to do. So what if I just allow myself to not do anything. Let myself be.
That day I floated around. Did whatever I wanted. Without feeling the pressure of I am supposed to do something but I am not doing it.
The next day though, things changed. I did all the backlog tasks without any mental declarations. I did them effortlessly.
My writing from this moment onwards also changed. I started dabbling with ideas and work. A few negative emotions came but nothing significant. A larger part of my brain had been shifted, I am now able to focus for much longer than before.
If I had to map out the phases I would say:
Negativity -> Motivating myself -> Letting myself be -> Fresh ideas.
I had so many ideas from the reflections, I have noted some of them down below.
3. Health Reset
Habits stack on other habits. When I started writing religiously, I also started going on thinking walks. I was finishing 6-8K steps without even trying.
I studied a bit about fiber intake in food. Made a slight tweak of eating a lot of salad in lunch and dinner. It had such marvelous effects on my health that it was unbelievable. Eating fiber stabilizes your glucose levels. Instead of sudden spike of energy that makes you feel exhausted after a few hours, you release energy throughout the day.
4. Meme Deck
In my outreach efforts, I used to send simple text emails or loom videos. Now I have started sending meme decks to prospects. It’s showing some pretty good responses.
If you would like to send one yourself, here’s a guide you can refer to.
Now, it’s time for the reflections:
1. Think on Paper
Think on paper is never a wasted advice. AI makes you an option picker. You pick the best out of what’s given. You are not exercising your brain enough.
Make it hurt. Think hard.
The strain you feel when facing the blank page, it’s like the burn of a muscle in the gym. The pain is the signal: you are about to get stronger.
Let yourself feel the strain as often as you can. Always think yourself first before turning to AI. Even for writing simple emails.
2. Compounding in reverse.
AI’s responses are about 90% correct. We always consider the 10% error because of hallucinations. Which means if you give the AI response to another model, and then another model. The accuracy will become:
90% x 90% x 90% = 72.9%
Now imagine this mathematical equation in our life. Every time we do things half heartedly and give less than our 100%. We keep diminishing our abilities.
90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 90% = 59.04%
The beautiful thing about this equation is we can start changing it from any moment. This is where we are right now:
90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 90% = 59.04%
With one effort of 110%, the equation will become:
90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 110% = 64.95%
Another event with 110% the equation will be:
90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 110% x 110% = 71.44%
Multiple such events & the equation will become:
90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 90% x 110% x 110% x 110% x 110% x 110% x 110% x 110% x 110% = 126%
It’s magical to think that we can start building or destroying our lives at any given moment. We are either growing or dying, there’s no in between.
3. Keep it casual
The more importance I attach to something, the more I have the urge to run away from it. So, I have started to keep it casual. No pressure tasks. The same tasks but with the idea that if I sit and do them, it could be fun.
The importance I attach to the task comes from the outcome it can create for me. So, I slice up the outcome and put it in the back. No focus needed on that.
That’s a wrap for April!
Excited for May
- Akanksha