[05.31.21] Alec's Update #26
"I hate the fact I'm living with these demons in my head and they don't fight fair" - Driveways
GREETINGS Citizen 🖖
Yes, yes I know it is not Sunday! This past weekend was probably one of the most productive weekends I have had in a while. So, felt like I wanted to wait until today to commit more brain cells to this weekly update.
It’s also the last day of the month and I feel like it’s a great time to have some sort of retrospective! In tech companies there is usually a thing that happens at the end of your work cycle where you talk about the following things:
🤘 What went well?
👎 What didn’t go so well?
🛠 What can be improved for the next cycle?
At Xbox I LOVED doing these. It was always nice to sit around the table with the team and just talk about all the stuff we shipped. I personally get so stuck in what I’m doing that sometimes I don’t realize everything that was done. This has definitely been a huge trend this past month for me!
So, today we are going to have a bit of a retrospective on ZipSchool and Personal Development. I would encourage you to take some time today to just sit back and think about all the stuff you have done the past 30 days. Answer those three questions and share it with me! Would love to see all the cool stuff you did this past month 😄
Hype ZipSchool Moments
AH ZIPSCHOOL. What a journey this has been. The one thing I have been really enjoying is talking to the team as a whole, but more so having one-off conversations with Farza, Emily, and David. I feel like I definitely have my own rapport with each of them. I’ve been amazed by how all our personalities are melding together in a positive way. If you haven’t been able to tell by the last 25 newsletters - I am big on work culture. I believe that the work we do everyday should be something we enjoy and get more value out of than just a paycheck.
Alright, so let’s answer these questions then shall we?
🤘 What went well?
We launched an entire new platform (iPhone / iPad App)
Created a new style of classes that show progression and an end goal
Brought more fun to ZipSchool with Pets & Rewards
Focused more on a child using ZipSchool and not so much the parent
Peeled back another layer of WHAT problem we are solving
👎 What didn’t go so well?
I felt like I could have switched to other tasks that might have been more impactful
Video on the web is hard - way too many bugs around video playback
I felt like I was too deep into some tasks to see the full picture of what we were working on
🛠 What can be improved for the next cycle?
Pull my head up to see the forest for the trees
Setup a daily reflection to gather my thoughts on what I feel is important for the day
Spend more time understanding why things are not working (more on the tech side here)
DAMN. Pretty solid list I must say. I feel like I can pinpoint a common theme here: Don’t forget the bigger picture. I like this a lot. Looking back through my life I can see multiple moments where this could have been really useful.
So, how do you get better at something like this? I feel like it’s asking people what they do to see the bigger picture in things. I have always felt Farza is pretty good at doing this, so I asked him for some thoughts on how he goes about doing it. I also think doing things that keep your brain creative help a lot. For example - watching a movie helps you focus on something else and might inspire you in some way that helps you form a bigger picture in your mind!
PS. Watched some BANGER movies this week:
A Quiet Place Part 1 & 2
Cruella
Oldboy
Soul
Would HIGHLY recommend all these films.
Personal Development
I have been in NYC over 5 months now. I feel like I am still a n00b here, but feel a lot better about my place in life at this moment. I have also noticed that more people are starting to ask me for directions around town. Which is sick because I look like a local, but also scary because I am definitely still learning how to get around myself 😅.
I would say overall - I am very happy with how my month has progressed on a personal level. Maybe it’s because things are starting to open up around here or maybe it’s because I’m finding my place in this city. Either way - lets hit these questions.
🤘 What went well?
Finally found my stride in running (see what I did there 🏃♂️)
My apartment has more of an “Alec vibe” to it
Cut my hair (been wanting to do this for a bit)
Meeting more people / having more random conversations with strangers
Work/life schedule seems pretty on point these days
AMC Movie Pass - Most fun I’ve had all month
Started brewing my own Kombucha
Been listening to founder podcasts (AMAZING)
👎 What didn’t go so well?
Still haven’t started streaming yet
Still haven’t gotten back into my side projects
Still have a fair amount of days of feeling uninspired to do things outside of ZipSchool
Got thrown off my eating/exercise schedule for half the month
🛠 What can be improved for the next cycle?
Press. The. Go. Live. Button. (Twitch)
Just. Start. Building. The. Things. (Side projects)
Just. Be. In. The. Moment.
As you can see it was a HIGHLY productive month, but also some fairly concerning things that could easily change this in the next month. I haven’t updated you on my place in a while so hope you enjoy this photo of my current setup/new hair-do (not sure about my face here, but think it describes me perfectly)
The things that didn’t go so well are a bit unfortunate, but I do think what I have in store for the next month is going to be great. I feel like streaming/side projects will be steps in the right direction for me. I’m still battling with why I still haven’t started these things. I think it’s mainly because I have been more interested in making NYC my home!
Music Of The Week
If you didn’t know I actually listen to each of these playlists every time I write these newsletters! Feel like it puts me in the headspace I was in for the entire week. This week I discovered a really cool new artist named “girl in red”. She has some BOPS for sure. Probably some of my top jams for the week. This playlist has a really solid mix of sounds which always makes me happy 🙂. Like always, take a gander and tell me your favorite jam 🎸.
What a retrospective, eh? See why I enjoy this so much? Don’t forget to do one for yourself and make sure to let me know how it goes. I hope you end up having a fantastic rest of your week and I will catch you on the next one.
Salute y Saludes,
Alec