Feels a lot like 48 laws of power, but sort of different. probably the same.

Everyone is playing, whether they like it or not.

Maybe there are rules, maybe there aren’t.

Here's what I've noticed, in no particular order:

Make one thing good first, then replicate.

Watch those who’ve won, and those who’ve lost.

Understand the board. Especially the pieces pointed at you.

Go direct. Half-measures cost twice as much.

If you aren’t invited, don’t ask to go.

Never make the first offer in a negotiation.

If you’re going to speak, say what you mean.

The person who cares least has more control.

Play the long game. Everyone else is sprinting.

Might add more, might edit, or delete later.

p.s. The game doesn't end. You just get better at seeing it. Or worse, you start enjoying it.

The Rules of the Game

this is advice i might give to my younger self. (might not).

mvp usually means minimum viable product.

not minimum as in less. minimum as in essential. stripped down to what actually matters.

they dont try to be everything. they try to be enough.

ship fast. get feedback. adapt. ship again.

and somehow that makes them better than the thing that took three years and launched once.

so what does that look like for you as the product?

bc trying to do everything probably means you’re not doing anything well enough to make a difference.

just learning the next thing that makes u more capable right now. then adapt.

ship versions of work, in real time. so today, not tomorrow.

put work out there before its perfect. let feedback make u sharper.

bc the only way to know if something works is to test it. 

and the only way to test it is to ship it.

more for ppl who can separate themselves from their work.

where they can deconstruct, rebuild, optimize themselves as the mvp.

builders, designers. ppl who builds tools, apps, widgets, ect.

ppl who can become a prototype. a version. 

good ones iterate until they meet the demand.

maybe ur not supposed to have all the answers set before launch.

maybe u just ship the first version and see what happens.

p.s. ur not the final build. ur just the current version.

Minimum. Viable. Person.

A manifestation board won’t fix your life.

I was taking architecture tech courses. Surrounded by images all day—floor plans, elevations, material samples. Everything visual.

we had a project where we were asked to collect images that made us feel something. Not sure what. Just things that pulled at us.

so I saved them. Put them in a folder. Looked at them from time to time.

Didn't call it manifestation. Didn't call it anything. Just... a collection of things i liked.

Instagram saves. Pinterest boards. Screenshots folder on your phone.

I'm not the first person to collect images. Won't be the last.

Looking back at that board years later and seeing what I was pulled toward then.

Did any of it happen? Some of it. Not all of it. Some things shifted.

But the interesting part wasn't whether I "manifested" anything.

And realizing how much of it I still do. Or don't.

Maybe it's just useful to look at what you're drawn to. To see it all in one place instead of scattered across apps and forgotten folders.

Maybe it's a way of asking yourself: what am I actually moving toward?

Or maybe it's nothing. Just images you like.

Either way, there's something about externalizing it. Making it visible.

But because it makes you aware of what you're paying attention to.

Open a folder. Pinterest board. Whatever.

Save things that feel like something. Don't overthink it.

Could be architecture you're drawn to. Color palettes. Workspaces. Landscapes. Whatever.

No rules. No categories. No vision statement.

Come back in six months. A year. See what you were looking at.

See if you moved toward it or away from it.

See if it says something about where you were then vs where you are now.

Some of what I collected in 2017 I'm still chasing. Some of it feels irrelevant now.

Data about what mattered then. What matters now. What stayed consistent. What changed.

I'm not claiming this is some secret to success. It's not.

It's just one way to track where your attention goes.

 Your old boards will tell you more about who you were than who you're trying to be.

Visual mood board collage featuring architecture, cities, nature, and design imagery from 2017

Manifestation or Just Images?

Not for the thing you're building. Not for the way you're doing it. Not for where you're headed.

Everyone's waiting for a guide, a flashing sign, a 

But clarity doesn't show up first. It comes 

maybe you're not lost. you're just ahead.

Lost assumes there's a right way—a clear path someone forgot to hand you.

But what if no one's walked this exact route before? What if the thing you're creating—this version of it—has never existed?

Then, of course, it feels unclear. Because it 

Not because you're lost—but because you're ahead of what's known.

And maybe that's unsettling. Or maybe it's the point.

the ones who wait for direction never leave the station.

They hesitate. They overthink. They wait for proof before they believe.

But the ones who move? They build the proof.

Not by following a blueprint—but by testing, shifting, reworking. 

the real question isn't "where am I going?"

Because the future isn't waiting to be found. 

And if it feels like no one else has done it this way before? 

Maybe they haven't. Or maybe they just didn't see it like 

 If there's no map, it doesn't mean you're lost. Maybe no one's drawn it yet.

Mindset

Blogs

The Rules of the Game

Minimum. Viable. Person.

Manifestation or Just Images?

You’re Not Lost. You’re Early.