Stuff takes longer than you think.

All the little things add up. I’ve been working every single day, but a lot of it is invisible. And most of it has been a distraction, because I’ve been avoiding the things I know I should do.

It’s not easy changing your identity.

One day on a microphone

After my most recent livestream had technical issues, I spent a day building a custom OBS plugin. It tracks whether my microphone software crashed, and if it did, it restarts it automatically.

Then I completely over-engineered it. It will automatically change Zoom's speakers/microphone while the software is dropped. There’s a backup microphone now, plus notifications I can actually see. It compares two different microphone sources to check if I’m speaking but it’s not landing on stream. It runs in the background while OBS is running and only when I use specific scenes.

I didn’t intend to spend a day on that. But once there’s a problem, my brain feels like it needs to fix it.

The rest of the list

That plugin was one day. Here’s some of what else has been filling my time:

• I rebuilt my automated idea harvesting system and revamped the notifications I send myself, because there were far too many distractions.
• I built a custom tool that captures what I say at my desk all day long and transcribes it in real time. I built it because I spent 20 minutes dictating without realizing the program wasn’t on.
• I checked every Stripe payment against a monetization document I keep updated. Now all of my numbers are accurate to the penny.
• I sorted all of my thoughts, potential projects, and video ideas into one master list. It was literally about 1,000 items.
• I updated one of my scripting skills in Claude Cowork to cut out a handful of manual steps that didn’t need to be there while I write.
• I shipped some significant upgrades to my plugin, Boundless Insight. More on that at the bottom.
• I committed to doing Hard 75 until the day before Christmas Eve, with some adjustments.
• I spent a night creating custom Warhammer printouts for a one-time game.

That’s on top of my weekly calls, the work I do in the background with clients, and emails.

I also made a video. It’s off with an editor while I see if that’s a thing that’ll work out. So even though I made a video, I don’t have anything to go on the channel.

An amazing time to make things

It is an amazing time we live in. Any idea I have, I can just go create. Any problem I have, I can design a solution for.

But I’ve gotten away from the things that got me here.

I made some decisions months ago. Landing where I’d like to eventually be, and enjoying the journey the way I’ve designed it, takes some changes. My identity is lagging behind those decisions.

I got stuck. And while I wasn't making those changes, I kept making things that took me in a different direction. And the guilt and frustration kept snowballing in the background.

Wins at the wrong time

When you feel mentally and emotionally drained and you’re trying to get back into it, little things are important. They’re how you build momentum.

But the little things that build momentum are the ones you’ve been avoiding. The things you’re supposed to do.

I was doing all of this and counting it as wins. It wasn’t building momentum. It was avoidance. Efficient procrastination.

That doesn’t make any of it bad. These are genuinely cool things, and they’re valuable. A lot of them I still would have wanted to do. I was just doing them at the wrong time.

I have a list of priorities, and I kept finding ways to put things in front of the important ones.

My number is 12

At my current rate, I’d be lucky to get 5 more videos on the channel by the end of the year. So I’m committing to 12.

Saying that number out loud is the important part, because it’s tied to action. Actually making videos. I’ll let them turn into whatever they turn into.

Now is the time to focus up, put on a good showing, and make a push to the end of the year.

Find your number

There are about 11 weeks left in the year. That’s plenty of time to build momentum, as long as you spend it on the right things.

Look at your own list. Find the thing you keep putting other things in front of. Maybe it’s videos. Maybe it’s something else you know you should be doing.

Then find your number. How many of that thing can you get done by December 31? Pick one that pushes you a little.

Write it down where you’ll see it, say it out loud if that helps. You got this. 💪

Thanks,
Dave

P.S. That plugin update I mentioned is a big one. Boundless Insight is my free Chrome extension. It shows up on every YouTube video, and one button breaks down what made the video great, why it worked, and what people liked about it.

The new feature is Diagnose. It shows you why a video underperformed. It’s still a work in progress, so I’d love your feedback on it. You can also analyze videos in other languages now and get the transcript and results in yours. There’s a new History tab where you can favorite every video you’ve analyzed and organize them into folders. And it’s running the newest models from Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, with more thinking up front for a better result.

It’s bring your own key so I can keep it free. Try it with Gemini for free, and if you like it, put $5 into Claude. The results are worlds better. Get Boundless Insight here​