Heyaa
Itâs Sunday here again. 6.33 AM. Woke up a bit early, a little groggy from body pain. Just the normals; either changing weather or growing age. Seems weird. (It was later that I knew I was flat sick with fever that day and after.)
Itâs peaceful, just some birds chirping. The sun is almost up. I slept later than the sun and woke up before it. Worth celebrating, right?
My Spotify is playing this currently (for the last two days, actually):
Now, what should I write about? HmmmâŠ
A lot happened this week. On the personal front, as a solopreneur. I am comfortable considering myself a solopreneur now.
And with that⊠comes responsibilities.
So, what does it take to be a solopreneur? A lot of time on hand⊠to troubleshoot everything on your own.
Yep, a lot of time.
You know, it took me four hours just to create the menu for a website and skeleton pages linked to that menu. No content, just the menu items and a linked blank page for each.
The menu just didnât appear right.
But that wasnât the only thing that troubled me.
I bought a plug-and-play webcam for my laptop. Now, to have it installed and working, should have taken a minute, only one minute.
Took me almost an hour to set it up. It was displaying a black screen. This new effing cam had only one purpose, and it failed at that.
So, I reset the camera app settings, unplugged-replugged the webcam, updated the drivers, uninstalled and reinstalled. Nothing worked.
Can you guess what I did next? I know what you're thinking. Laptop restart?
Yes, laptop restart karke phir se check kiya. And this tiny green light on the right-bottom corner lit up. My big piggy face filled up the screen.
So, yeah, living the solopreneur life.
Actually, these days, I havenât worked on my book blog and merch store. There are just so many things to do to promote your own book.
I got tired after sharing the book launch update with everyone.
On Friday, I started feeling off. But then, on Friday itself, I got back my reading mojo. Itâs this light-read Hindi novel I picked up.
Ibn-e-batuti.
The name means nothing. The book is only 160 pages long, and I read 40 pages in one sitting without realising.
Could have finished reading the entire book in a go. But client work was piling up. So, put a pause on it.
I was so happy reading that one physical book that I rewarded myself and ordered five books. Now I know how my reading pile keeps growing.
I like crime thrillers and business biographies the most, but they arenât the only things I read. I try anything that instinctively feels good.
As Neil Gaiman (or whoever) said -
Read. Read anything. Read the things they say are good for you, and the things they claim are junk. You'll find what you need to find. Just read.
Although I have been reading since I was a kid, this addiction started with (cringe?) novels by Chetan Chegat, Durjoy Datta and Ravinder Singh.
I know âesteemedâ readers frown at hearing those names. But the truth is the truth.
We all started somewhere.
The social media posts that have become a trend, we all are a part of it. I see the posts I used to do, and Iâm not proud.
Ashamed? Nada!
I posted what felt right, to get some attention to this noob content writer.
Reading cringy books or making shitty posts isnât a crime. Itâs a crime only when you fall prey to their allure and canât move up and become better.
This newsletter is nothing of value to you. I know that. But I canât help it.
I canât give gyaan over and over. I get tired of that.
I tried. This newsletter is almost five years old now, of which four years went in vain⊠trying to provide something of value⊠regularly.
All I know is sharing experiences.
You know, when I made that book launch landing page (this one), I did what I wanted other landing page designers to do (but werenât): an easy way to skip to what I wanted to see.
Instead of having to read bla bla bla benefits for 2 hours, I sometimes just want to get the signup form (or payment link) and get it done with.
So, on my page, I added the buttons for smooth jumps⊠to the end (where the signup form is).
This is all I know. Experiment and experience. If you learn something from my experiences, well, thatâs because youâre a good learner.
I canât teach anyone anything. Itâs an art that I revere, and I revere my teachers, too. Think whatever you want, but teaching/training is the most difficult profession.
Iâm more of a troubleshooter. Sees a problem; solves it.
Ummm,⊠not sure what else I should blabber about. Not feeling at my best with my thoughts.
So, thatâs all from todayâs newsletter.
Bidding adieu.
Live long and prosper.
See you next week, with another story.
PS⊠I finished reading Ibn-e-batuti yesterday. In four days. I could have done better. But at least it got my confidence back. Now, I have picked two books that I have been procrastinating for months.
Hereâs my Ibn-e-batuti review, by the way. My first review, I think, thatâs written in Hindi. Took some help from ChatGPT to translate and form sentences here and there.