00:00 - This Is Not a Tutorial

Welcome to Slow Builds.

I want to start by saying I'm not an expert.
This is not a tutorial.
This isn't a "how to write better prompts" video.

I'm not here to teach you how to use AI properly.

I'm just trying to make sense of something I noticed.

I got my 2025 ChatGPT Year in Review.

And it said I'm in the top 3% of all ChatGPT users.

Also... top 3% of first-time users.

Both surprised me.

And honestly?
I didn't feel proud.

I felt uncomfortable.

Because most days I feel messy using it.

01:30 - Early Tech, That Part I Understand

The "early user" part makes sense to me.

I've always gravitated toward new tools.

Early Twitter.
UserVoice when it was brand new.
South by Southwest during the early SaaS explosion.

We were from the early wave of startups and internet tools growing up in small-town Canada.

So being in the first few percent of users?

I can grasp that.

But top 3% overall?

That scared me a bit.

Because I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

03:00 - I Feel Like a Hot Mess

When I use ChatGPT:

• I rephrase constantly.
• I correct it.
• I correct myself.
• I restart mid-sentence.

Half my chats start with:

"This might be dumb, but..."

And end with:

"Wait. That's not what I meant."

So part of me wondered-

If I'm top 3% and still this unsure...

What does that mean for everyone else?

04:10 - So I Asked It

Instead of guessing, I asked ChatGPT directly:

"You put me in the top 3%. How?"

If you look at volume alone - new chats started -
I'm nowhere near the top.

I don't use it like Google.
I don't fire off quick one-off searches.

The difference, it said, was depth.

I go deep inside conversations.

I stay in them.

I follow up.
I push back.
I clarify.
I ask for alternatives.
I ask it to go deeper.

It values sustained dialogue over quick surface usage.

That made sense.

05:30 - How I Actually Use It

I don't delete chats.
I return to them.

Trips.
Car purchases.
Family texts.
Recipes.
Side projects.
Work integrations.

I'll stay inside one thread and keep building.

Even on walks with my wife.

We once spent an entire 30-minute walk troubleshooting why the pool chlorine kept dropping.

It became a third voice in the conversation.

We could interrupt it.
Correct it.
Ask for clarification.

It didn't replace thinking.

It extended it.

07:00 - Code, Quality, and Going Deeper

I use it heavily for code.

But not to blindly generate more.

I use it to:

• Refactor.
• Re-examine.
• Challenge assumptions.
• Ask if there's a better structure.

There's a narrative out there that AI makes developers ship bloated code.

Maybe.

But I think that's a usage issue.

The tool isn't the problem.

The intent is.

09:00 - It Wasn't Volume. It Was Staying in It.

Being top 3% didn't mean I mastered AI.

I don't have:

• A giant prompt library.
• An elite workflow.
• Fancy automation chains.

It was about staying in the conversation long enough to reach clarity.

Not accepting the first answer.
Rephrasing.
Refining.

That repetition taught me better prompting over time.

11:00 - Messy Is My Default

I use it the way I think.

Midstream.
Switching directions.
Throwing in random thoughts.

In one chat I might ask:

• Who's the shortest NBA player?
• How long to roast a chicken?
• Would an eSIM work for an app idea?

It's chaotic.

But it mirrors how my brain works.

I don't use it to move faster.

I use it to get unstuck.

There's a difference.

12:30 - The Awkward Phase

Most people quit during the awkward phase.

When answers feel generic.
When you don't know how to ask better questions yet.
When you feel like you're "doing it wrong."

I didn't get better because I mastered it.

I got better because I stayed awkward longer.

I kept opening it.
Kept asking.
Kept refining.

14:00 - Context Changes Everything

Over time I learned something simple:

If I need something serious,
I give it context.

I tell it who to be:

• Senior developer
• Therapist
• Investor
• Chef
• Life coach

Not because it's magic.

But because clarity creates better output.

The constraint improves the result.

15:30 - "It's a Time Waster"

I see people saying ChatGPT kills productivity.

And I understand how that can happen.

But that's true of any powerful tool.

Your phone is incredible.

Navigation. Banking. Work. Communication.

It's also three hours of scrolling.

The tool is what you make it.

If you use it to escape,
it becomes escape.

If you use it to build,
it becomes leverage.

Most days, I use it to build.

18:30 - You're Probably Not Behind

If your prompts feel messy...

If you constantly rephrase...

If you restart mid-chat...

You're not behind.

You're probably early.

As long as you're opening it,
trying,
experimenting-

you're ahead of the people who refuse to touch it.

20:00 - It Learns You Slowly

By staying in longer conversations,
it starts learning how you think.

My recap reflected:

• My work as a developer
• My family dynamics
• My travel preferences
• My personal goals

That didn't happen from one-off prompts.

It happened from continuity.

21:30 - A Slow Build on a Fast Tool

This isn't about mastering AI.

It's about staying in the conversation long enough
for it to compound.

It's a slow build
on top of a tool that's moving fast.

And that feels very on-brand for this channel.

00:00 - Opening

Welcome to Slow Builds.
So this one again is another rambling that I'm gonna go through.

And this one's more of an investment one.

And when you make investments, sometimes they don't work out the way you felt they should've...
or you got in at the wrong time.

But you always have to look at your investments - in my mind - as full-on long term.

And you just gotta go with the ups and downs.

So...

00:32 - Buying Nike at the worst time

I bought Nike pretty much at the worst time possible, in my mind.

I bought it right at the peak - not the peak, I guess - but one of the largest peaks they'd had for a long time.

It was well over $100 a share.

It was right before COVID.

They had just brought in a new CEO.

Things were looking great.

And then... yeah... COVID hit.

00:55 - Nike felt untouchable

The stock was doing great for a while because - like I said - anywhere you looked...

Every team, every sporting event, at the mall, every show...

No matter what you looked at or where you went, you saw a swoosh.

It seemed like everyone had it.

They sponsored everything.

Great stories were being told.

Great support.

Everything felt really good.

But then... like I said... COVID hit.

01:29 - COVID made the CEO's idea "work"

They had that new CEO who happened to come in on a high.

And he came from a background that didn't really fit that type of market... and that kind of product.

But because of COVID...
and the whole situation surrounding that...

his ideas worked.

Which... did it hit a lot?
Yeah.

01:55 - The biggest mistake: go direct, cut stores

His biggest mistake was he saw the sales going through the roof - shoes flying off the shelves - and he's thinking:

"Let's cut out the middleman."

"Let's go direct to customer."

"And let's get rid of the stores."

And you know what? Perfect timing - stores are shut down.

Nobody can go in and buy anything or try anything on.

So everyone's online buying.

It's the perfect situation for someone who doesn't really understand the product...

...but yet his idea manages to work.

02:29 - It worked... for that moment

And it did okay in that time frame because it gave customers a way to still get the product they wanted.

They were able to go run.

Like you couldn't buy a treadmill.

I live in Canada and my treadmill was broken and I couldn't get one.

So I'm running outside - and where we are it's pretty cold.

I'm talking... no wind... minus 20 Celsius.

Because I had to run... and I had to have my Nikes... because that's what I wear when I run.

Actually... I do wear Nike... but they stopped making the one I love... so now I'm a second runner.

But regardless.

03:13 - When COVID ends, people want stores again

So he managed that.

But then what happens is...

When COVID's over, people want to get out.

They want to go to the stores.

They want to talk to people.

They want to be in that environment.

And what happened in my mind is...

during that period, these stores still gotta put something on the shelves.

They still need product.

And if Nike doesn't want to be there...

other brands fill the hole.

03:57 - Shelf space shift: On + Hoka get their chance

And that gave an opportunity for the up-and-comers - the brand-new ones - like On and Hoka.

They got to fill space that normally they wouldn't even get a shot at.

New Balance has always been around - they got more shelf space.

Saucony - I've always worn it - it's always been there.

But again, they fill a void.

04:15 - Shoe retail background: reps + training mattered

And shoppers want to touch and feel.

And the other thing is...

I worked in shoe retail for quite some time - in my university and high school years.

Nike and Reebok - and all these brands - would send reps with the shoes.

They'd go store to store...
or set up nearby...

And they'd teach you about the products.

What the product's for.

What's new about it.

What changed.

Who it's not for.

And that makes a huge difference.

Because your salespeople are knowledgeable...

and they can help people make the right decisions.

And when you help someone make the right decision...

and that decision happens to be a Nike shoe...

they're gonna buy a Nike again.

05:14 - Runners are loyal

We used to get runners come in and they'd ask me about shoes I didn't even know were coming out yet.

And if it wasn't there... they'd just leave.

I didn't understand that at the time because I didn't run.

Now I get it.

I know exactly what size, which shoe, which make.

Unless there's a new model.

That's the only time I tinker.

06:00 - Customers try the new brands... and Nike loses share

So... shelf space gets taken over.

You've got On and Hoka and other brands filling that space.

The customer gets a chance to try them.

And sure - these are great shoes.

No issues.

And true runners are loyal.

Once they find something... they don't like to change.

Blisters. Ankle problems. Shin splints.

You gotta be careful when you run a lot of miles.

So Nike lost that market share right there.

And that's hard to get back.

06:59 - Second mistake: killing story + innovation

And on that front...

he took away the storyline.

He took away the athlete.

He took the heart and soul out of Nike, in my mind.

He tried to make it like a machine - just pumping stuff out.

You can't just knock out the same thing over and over again and hope people buy it just because it's iconic.

Dunks. Dunk lows. Skateboarding. Jordan.

You can't just regurgitate.

08:28 - Combined impact: off shelves, no story, no innovation -> stock drops

So all this together...

taking it off shelves...

losing market share...

taking away the story...

no innovation...

So what happens?

Stock goes down.

They're losing revenue.

Share price drops.

And again - I bought it at the worst time thinking Nike's everywhere.

09:31 - What I do: I double down (average down)

But again... what do I do?

I double down.

When I buy a stock and believe in it and I see the price drop...

to me that's a chance to average out.

I always believe it's gonna go back to where it is.

With Nike, I believe there's a new beginning.

10:42 - Nike reset: board + consumers spoke

Nike realized it.

The board realized it.

Shareholders spoke.

Consumers spoke.

People moved on.

But no matter how much the others grow...

their revenues combined still don't meet what Nike does.

And the one thing Nike has the ability to do - even when they look like they're suffering - is they can push back.

11:59 - New CEO brings back wholesale + innovation

With the new CEO back in - he was there before - I can't remember his name...

he brought back innovation.

He said: Nike is an innovation company.

This is what we do.

They brought back wholesale.

Foot Locker. Dick's. All those stores.

Now they're carrying it again.

Back on shelves where it needs to be.

12:42 - Nike can fund innovation others can't

And Nike is slowly gaining it back a little bit in running.

I always go to running because that's the biggest thing I do.

Hoka and On mainly do running and walking.

They don't have the budget to spend hundreds of millions... or a billion...

to chase the next evolution.

Whereas Nike can go try to make the fastest marathon shoe.

They can push track and field.

They can test crazy ideas.

Some might end up in the garbage.

But Nike can afford that.

15:35 - Stories are coming back too

And he's bringing back the stories.

He's bringing back what makes Nike, Nike.

That feeling...

when you wear it... and you believe.

And outside of running, they have so many other avenues.

I just don't see Nike failing.

Which is why... again... I double down.

17:15 - Slow builds / long-term framing

So I guess what I'm saying as part of this channel is...

I bought something knowing I was gonna hold it a long time.

I knew it was high.

But I thought it would at least stay there... maybe move up slowly.

I wasn't looking for a rocket ship stock.

This is something that chugs along.

Pays dividends.

18:46 - Dividend + DRIP + compounding

And here's the other thing...

they didn't drop their dividend.

They even increased it.

So even though the price is down...

I'm able to get a little more.

And the amount of money Nike makes is still massive compared to almost all of them.

So they're working from a place where they can learn.

And turn it around.

19:52 - Why I wanted to release this now

This is why I wanted to get this video out.

Because everywhere I look now they're talking about the innovations.

They're talking about the mistakes.

They're talking about reversing it.

And I'm like... man... I've been talking about this forever.

Even friends have said: "What price do I need to buy some now?"

And I'm like... I hope it does go back.

Because I've been buying at the low.

20:30 - Investing fear: "what if the market goes down?"

And I have a lot of people in my life who are scared of investing.

Their biggest thing is:

"What if the market goes down?"

"What if I lose all my money?"

And I always say... if you lose all your money...

those companies don't exist anymore.

And if banks, energy, telecom, pharma... all disappear...

we have way bigger problems than our portfolios.

21:36 - Price drops are a feature (for long-term dividends)

And then I always say:

Dividends reinvest.

Price drops are awesome.

Because the dividend buys more shares.

If the price goes up, I get less.

So over time... I actually want those downs.

So with Nike... I'm glad it's down.

It's a chance to get more cheaper.

22:09 - Closing

Again... this is the long game.

This is a slow build.

I'm taking my time.

I believe in Nike.

I've always loved Nike.

There are certain brands I stand behind.

And I really believe they're gonna turn this around and make it a great thing.

Alright. Thanks.

00:00 - Opening: This Is a Ramble

Hey, welcome to Slow Builds.

This one's a ramble.
Maybe even a bit of a rant.

It's the first time I've talked about investing on this channel, and that's part of my slow build philosophy. It's something I take seriously.

And this one comes from a little frustration.

Not anger.
Just... confusion.

00:40 - Why This Is Personal

This comes up because of my daughter's boyfriend.

He qualifies for a disability.
He wants to work.
He is working.

And I'm trying to convince her to make sure he follows through on this.

But there's hesitation.

And that surprises me.

Because she understands investing.
She's maxed her TFSA.
She contributes to RRSPs.
She talks about big goals.

So I don't understand why this one feels hard.

02:30 - What the RDSP Actually Is

In Canada, there's something called the Registered Disability Savings Plan.

If you qualify medically and you're working:

• You open the account.
• You contribute.
• The government contributes.

That's it.

The part I love most?

You have to work.

This isn't just free money for doing nothing.

You qualify, you participate, you contribute.

04:00 - The Simple Math

Let's break this down simply.

If he puts in $500 per year:

The government adds:

• $1,000 bond (while eligible)
• $1,500 grant (on the first $500)

So that $500 turns into $3,000 for the year.

That's not hype.
That's math.

$42 a month.

That's less than eating out once or twice.

And the government is effectively putting in about $208 a month beside it.

05:50 - Over Time (The Boring Part That Matters)

From age 20 to 49:

Out of pocket: about $15,000 total.

Total in the account (just deposits, no investing):
Around $80,000.

That means roughly $65,000 of that is government money.

That's what I mean when I say:

You're leaving money on the table.

08:45 - If It's Invested (Set and Forget)

If you just invest it conservatively.

Nothing crazy.
No chasing dreams.
No Tesla bets.
No gambling.

Just something boring. Broad. Dividend ETF. Even bonds.

Let it drip.

Let it compound.

Now you're not looking at $80,000.

You're potentially looking at $150,000 by 49.

Which could throw off $400-$500 a month in income.

Layer that with:

• CPP
• OAS
• Maybe GIS depending on situation

Now retirement doesn't look scary.

11:30 - The "You Can't Touch It Until 60" Problem

This is where the hesitation comes in.

You can't touch it until 60 without clawbacks.

But that's the whole point.

It's a retirement program.

It's designed to be untouchable so future-you is protected from present-you.

And honestly?

That's a feature.

Not a flaw.

13:00 - Why I Actually Agree With This Program

People with real disabilities often hit income ceilings.

Not because they're lazy.
Not because they don't try.

But certain roles require things not everyone can do long-term:

• Social intensity
• Leadership energy
• Executive functioning
• Stress tolerance

So earnings flatten.

The RDSP feels like the government acknowledging that.

Saying:

"If your lifetime earning potential is structurally lower, we'll help offset it."

That feels fair to me.

15:30 - The Other Side: Lifestyle Creep

Now compare that to people who can move up.

They make more money.

But what usually happens?

Bigger house.
Better car.
Lifestyle inflation.

They don't pay themselves first.

Then 40-50 hits.

And panic sets in.

Because salary went up...

But assets didn't.

18:30 - This Is the Part That Gets Me

It's $500 per year.

Not per month.

Per year.

And over 30 years, it removes pressure.

It removes panic.

It builds dignity.

It builds optionality.

And I just don't understand leaving that behind.

21:00 - Dream Big... But Build Slow

I don't want my daughter not to dream big.

I love that she dreams big.

"I'll be a millionaire by X."

Great.

But you still do the slow builds.

You still pay yourself first.

Because if the big dream works?

You won't regret having an extra $150k sitting there.

And if it doesn't?

You won't regret protecting yourself.

24:00 - The Real Frustration

Yes, people abuse systems.

Yes, that bothers me.

But this program has guardrails:

• You qualify medically.
• You open the account.
• You have to work.
• You wait.

It rewards participation.

It rewards effort.

It rewards time.

26:00 - Closing

You don't need to get rich.

You don't need to gamble.

You just need to not leave money sitting there.

If it's offered...
And you qualify...
And all it takes is $500 a year...

Take it.

Set it.

Forget it.

Let it compound.

That's it.

Hey, welcome to Slow Builds.

I think we've been taught that if something feels easy, it doesn't count.

And then if you use help, it just means you're cheating.

I don't think that's true anymore.

I cheat all the time.

Not on standards or quality, never on my wife, and definitely never on taxes.

Only on things that cause friction.

Things that slow me down, and almost always on the boring stuff.

Because nobody wants to do that. One place I cheat quite a bit, intentionally and unintentionally in a lot of ways, would be fitness and nutrition.

It's done in a way to keep me motivated, to not burn me out, not to make it feel like a burden all the time.

So one example would be like if you go to the gym, you're going to do your three sets of press and you want to hit 10 to 12 reps per set, but you hit eight and feel like, "I'm done."

You know what? You're there. That's the big win right there. The fact you showed up. You're there and you had a goal. You might not have hit it. That's fine.

Another one is the treadmill. I run on treadmill a lot, and I run outdoors a lot.

But I find that the treadmill and the Apple Watch don't line up all the time.

So it feels like there's kind of a cheat where I can run a little faster, go a little longer when I'm indoors on the treadmill if I only go off the watch.

And I'm fine with that.

Because then when I go outdoors, what happens is it is GPS. It is true. There's no lying on that one.

And when I see that my numbers outdoors are not hitting the same as the treadmill, I feel like, "What's wrong?"

Like, I'm faster than this, so I speed up and I do my best to hit those numbers.

So it's sort of like a little motivational cheat code in that sense.

And same with calorie counting. I've always counted my calories.

Calories in, calories out. That's it.

If you don't care about having a muscular body and you just want to lose weight, it's just about counting your calories.

Don't eat those bags of chips or that double scoop of ice cream. Eat a salad without extra dressing and extra cheese.

Have healthy options. Have your chicken breast with rice and some broccoli, and you're good to go.

Sauce is what kills you.

But anyway, what I mean is you track it, and I work out quite a bit, so I know what everything kind of is.

But I also know that not everything is tracked for what I burn.

If you take the stairs instead of taking the elevator, or use the bathroom downstairs so you take extra steps, or you shovel instead of letting the plow do all of it, that's all movement.

And I find what happens in that situation is I'm allowed to have that croissant or that Polar Bear ice cream.

Sure, on paper it looks like I didn't burn as many as I'm taking in, but there's a little bit of a cheat there and I reward myself with that.

I don't fret about it because I've been through it and I know it.

Another place that cheating really comes into play and makes life easier is special moments.

For gifts and stuff like that, especially Christmas, Valentine's, anniversaries, photo books.

We all have millions of photos. Everything is photographed and everything is backed up in the cloud.

Instead of wasting time trying to figure out the perfect gift that I think is perfect, I throw together a photo book.

Pick a year. If you went on a trip that year, usually that's what I do.

I'll take all the pictures from the trip and make a specific Bahamas book or New York trip book or anything like that that brings it all back and floods the memories.

In the end, people like those gifts the most. They're simple, but more meaningful.

And when we have so many pictures, I just print them all.

Another hack I do with that is I use Instagram.

When we do go on a trip, I post everything to Instagram, and that becomes my photo album that I can go off of, plus all the other ones.

We usually have boxes and envelopes full of pictures just sitting around.

Any other day, it gives us something to do to go look at those pictures.

Another one is handmade cards.

I know that feels cheap to the person making it, like school-grade handmade Valentine's or handmade Christmas cards.

But again, people love those the most.

And this is where AI fits into the picture and where we start moving into useful places we can use AI.

One example: two years ago, it was our 25th anniversary.

As kids, we called ourselves Pooh and Roo.

I gave AI a prompt. I said, "How would Roo ask Pooh, and what would Pooh say when asked how long 25 years is?"

Boom, it came out with the perfect response, like it came right out of Pooh's mouth.

Then I needed an image for this because it was too good.

I asked, "Can you draw an image of Roo and Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood watching the sunset?"

Awesome.

Then you use Canva or Staples, throw it together, and in less than 24 hours you've got a printed card.

You made it yourself, you tweaked it, but you did use AI.

So it's a cheat, but it's the best kind of cheat in my mind, because those are the ones that stick around a long time.

Those are cherished a little more than going down to the grocery store or Hallmark and picking something someone else did.

Sure, AI wrote text for me, but it was my inspiration. It was our history. I picked what went there.

I was able to create it myself.

And that's the way I like it.

I've done examples before where I use AI on a daily basis, and it's sort of like a cheat too.

Before I send texts, if I feel emotional or reactive, emails, text, or even confronting someone, I'll put it in AI.

I'll give it context about the situation and say, "This is what came back, and this is what I'm thinking about responding with."

It helps me slow down and reframe it.

Most times it's spot-on, or it'll ask me: Do you want to be confrontive? Do you want to resolve this or make it worse? What is your end goal?

It helps me revisit what I would say and keeps me out of bad situations.

So it's cheating in a way. It gives me nudges in the right direction.

Another place is recipes.

I use AI for recipes all the time.

I don't like going to the grocery store and then realizing I don't have one expensive ingredient I only need once.

So I use AI for substitutions.

I have this, I want to make this, what goes together, what kind of sauce goes on it, what's good for quick dressings.

I even started tagging recipes in an ongoing ChatGPT project called Food.

It condenses them, puts them together, knows what we like, and gives me quick ideas.

Then I can ask, "I have this in the project, what can I make from the recipes we have?"

And like I mentioned before, and I'll do a deep dive video in the next few, this channel itself is heavily supported by AI.

AI helps with script ideas, ordering, thumbnails, descriptions, comments, and my website workflow.

I say that, but I've learned pure AI scripts don't work best for me because I feel like a robot.

So I get a script and ad-lib off it to make it more me.

AI handles the structure, which takes pressure off.

I don't edit these videos much, and I'm pretty bad at editing.

When we go deeper on cheating, one thing I notice is I "cheat" on one AI with another.

I'll use ChatGPT, then Grok, then Claude, depending on the task.

For recent events, I find Grok often has better current context.

I use ChatGPT for most day-to-day thinking and drafting.

I use Claude for larger code and document tasks that need deeper processing.

Sometimes I use ChatGPT to help generate prompts I then give to Claude.

That's another way I cheat.

As a developer, another cheat is repetitive code.

If I need to check whether an object has name, and whether it's nil, blank, empty, etc., I don't always want to rewrite that pattern.

I'll use Copilot or Codex to scaffold it fast.

That's not breaking standards. That's removing repetition.

Then I ask: should this become a reusable method?

Maybe it already exists in our system.

Claude helps me find similar methods across a large codebase, evaluate whether one can be extended, and avoid breaking other things.

That happens super fast.

Then we have a robust method everybody can use.

Sure, AI helped write it, but it was still my idea and judgment.

Same thing with tests.

AI writes test drafts for me.

I still run them, verify them, and make sure everything passes.

At work, I also use AI for Jira work.

We have Claude connected to Confluence, Jira, code, and Slack.

I can brain-dump messy notes and have it produce clearer tickets and docs that architects, designers, and PMs can review.

That helps me focus on actual implementation.

Right now I'm also testing a personal setup with OpenClaude and agents.

Agents for docs, tests, git, implementation updates, and status reporting.

They run multiple times a day on cron jobs and send Telegram or email updates: what's done, what's blocked, what needs review.

Then I focus on features.

I prompt for a feature idea, we prioritize it, break it into sprints, and agents pick up queued work.

I still approve code, review tests, and decide what ships.

But repetitive orchestration is automated.

That's the ultimate cheat, and I'm excited about it.

So I guess in the end, what I'm saying is: yes, I cheat.

And cheating is okay in this context.

As long as it's not illegal, not harming relationships, and not lowering standards.

I don't want AI to replace my thinking.

I still want authenticity.

I want it to be me.

I just want to outsource the busy work, remove repetition, and reduce friction.

I don't want lower quality in the work, the product, the meal, or the gift.

I want less unnecessary effort around the things that matter.

If something saves me time and helps me stay consistent while I focus on what actually matters, I'm okay with that.

To me that's not cheating. That's being smarter.

I'm not trying to win by cutting corners.

I'm trying to stay in the game long enough to compound.

Thanks for sticking around. Hopefully you enjoy this video.

Hey, welcome to Slow Builds.

Over the years, I have rebuilt my productivity system more times than I can count.
Every time, I am convinced this is the one.

It has that New Year's resolution feeling: new year, new you.
You are excited, motivated, and certain this time will be different.
It feels clean. It feels simple. It feels manageable.
You think, "I figured this out."

And for a while, it works.
Some things do stick.

I find the ones that stick usually have outside pressure:

• you are doing it with other people and do not want to be the one who drops it
• money is tied to it
• there are medical reasons with real consequences
• or there is a hard deadline and no choice

But most of the time, it fades.
Not all at once.
It fails slowly.

Until one day you realize you are just not doing it anymore.

I have fallen for this so many times.
I have failed at most systems I set up.
A few survived.
Some I only finished because the end of the year was close and I wanted to check one resolution box.

Over the years I have tried a lot:

• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Basecamp
• Monday
• email labels
• notebooks and handwritten lists

I was not casually experimenting. I believed in these systems, and I still do.
They are built for a reason, and they can work.

But for me, most fail around month three.
There is no dramatic crash.
You just quietly abandon them.

There is always that moment at the beginning:
You rebuild everything.
You clean your tools.
You archive old tasks.
You create fresh boards and tags.
You feel empowered.

"This is clean."
"This is manageable."
"This is me now."

And for a week, maybe a few weeks, you are on top of everything.
You are consistent. You check it every day.

Then life shifts a little.
Nothing crazy.
Just enough.

Work gets busier.
More meetings.
Deadlines.
Family stuff comes up.
Long days add up.
You get tired.

You skip one day.
Then another.
Then opening the system feels like work.

Not because tasks are hard.
Because the system itself starts to feel heavy.

You dread opening it because odds are there is nothing you can check off anyway.
So why even look?

All you wanted to do was get simple things done:

• check the air in your tires
• clean the treadmill
• clean the shower

But now you have to "do the system" just to do the thing.

I convinced myself recently I had solved it with Apple Reminders and Apple Notes.
Simple. Clean. Convenient.

I organized tags, smart lists, timed reminders, linked notes.
It felt efficient.

Then one random task popped up and I froze.
Where does it go?
Does it need a new tag?
Does it need a schedule?

Then it became:
Do I need to update everything else too?

Fixing the system became the main task.
That is when it starts to fall apart.

What is interesting is there is rarely a dramatic quitting moment.
You usually do not delete the app.
You do not announce you are done.

You just stop opening it.

The longer you stay away, the harder it feels to return.
Backlog builds.
Missed check-ins.
Overdue tasks.

Then guilt shows up.
You try to use the system not because it helps, but because you feel you owe it.

At that point, it feels like the system is judging you.
Keeping score.
Adding pressure.

That is the part I missed for years:
Most productivity systems do not run on structure.
They run on motivation.

That "new setup" feeling is the fuel.
When it wears off, you see what the system is made of.

At first everything feels clean.
Then every task becomes another decision:

• what tag?
• what time?
• what list?
• does it need a note?

Now the system is not helping you do tasks.
It is asking you to be motivated enough to manage the system.

If it only works when you feel "on," it is not durable.
It is a good mood with a dashboard.

That is why month three matters to me:

• month one is novelty
• month two is momentum
• month three is the test

Does it still work when you are bored?
When life is messy?
When motivation drops?

The thing that keeps a system alive is design.

By design I mean:

• does it make starting easy?
• does it survive missed days?
• does it work when energy is low?

If not, it is not really a system.
It is motivation with extra steps.

What actually survives for me is simple:
Put things where I already know I will look.

There is no perfect system for everyone.
At work, tools like Jira, Basecamp, and Monday make sense.
They exist for projects, deadlines, and coordination.

For personal life, I keep rules simple.

Email:
If it is important and I cannot handle it now, I leave it unread.
I check email all the time, so unread means I will see it.
If days pass with no follow-up, it probably was not urgent.

Reminders:
I use reminders for personal tasks and review once or twice a week.
Not perfect, just predictable.

Calendar:
I am known for missing meetings if I rely on checking the calendar.
So I rely on notifications: one day before, four hours before, ten minutes before.
Email plus device notifications.

I am not trying to build a perfect system.
I am putting things in places I trust.

And this is the key shift:
The goal is not organization for its own sake.
The goal is relief.

When something stays in your head, it loops.
It interrupts you while driving, while relaxing, while trying to focus.
It creates low-grade stress.

My wife does this in her own way.
She writes notes on paper towels with a Sharpie and puts them where she knows she will look: fridge, door, mirror.
Strategic places, based on time.

It is simple, but it works.
Because it gets things out of your head.

Once your brain trusts that a task is parked somewhere reliable, it stops carrying it.
That frees space.

You focus better.
Think better.
Build better.
Create more.

That, to me, is the real win.
Not productivity points.
Not optimization theater.

This also connects to why I am building AI systems right now.
I want AI to carry repetitive, mentally heavy work in software development:

• documentation
• test creation and execution
• merge support
• deploy management

The idea is not to remove responsibility.
The idea is to automate standard busy-work so I can review output and spend more brainpower on product thinking, features, and real use cases.

It is the same principle:
Get mental load out of your head so your best thinking has room.

Another shift for me was pressure.
I used to love last-minute adrenaline.
University, work, side projects.
I would leave things late, sprint, and feel sharp when I pulled it off.

But that is not discipline.
That is adrenaline.
And it is not sustainable.

Then I over-corrected:
Finish early, but hold delivery so I would not get more work.

That also failed.
Because those "free days" were not free.
The unfinished thing still lived in my head.

Now my rule is simple:
Finish it, clear it, then rest for real.

So back to the main point:
If your productivity system fails, it does not always mean you failed.

Maybe it was not discipline.
Maybe it was not consistency.
Maybe the system was fragile.

If a system needs your best self every day, it is not built for real life.
Real life includes tired days, messy weeks, and low motivation.

I am not anti-system.
I just do not want fragile ones.

I do not want systems that become guilt machines.
I do not want systems that require constant optimization to survive.

I want something that blends into life.
Something that still works at 60 percent.
Something that survives boring weeks, because most weeks are boring.

And if you are trying systems, rebuilding them, tweaking setups, starting over, that does not mean you are lazy.
It means you care.

Lazy people do not reflect.
They do not rebuild.
They do not keep trying.

The issue is often not effort.
It is architecture.

This channel is not about optimization for optimization's sake.
It is about building things that survive:

• software
• habits
• money systems
• life systems

Not built for perfect weeks.
Built for real life.
Built for tired days.
Built for when motivation dips.

Built to bend, not break.

And mostly: built to survive past month three.
Because that is the real test.
Not how it feels at the start, but what is still standing when the novelty is gone.

Opening (0:00-0:45)

So before anything...
this isn't a tutorial.
I'm not an expert.
I'm not teaching anything.

(pause)

I'm just going to show you how I'm trying to use AI day to day.

And I'll be honest - I'm not very good at it yet.
It's messy.

(pause)

So this might be... kind of boring.
Because it's not a highlight reel.
It's just one developer - and one person - trying to keep up.

(pause)

This isn't how you should use AI.
It's just how it fits into my life right now.

---

Why I Use It (0:45-2:10)

And I'm not using it because AI is cool...
or because I want to brag about it.

(pause)

Honestly, I don't even talk about it that much in real life.
Because I'm always a little worried people will think I'm becoming reliant on it.

(pause)

But the truth is...
I use it like a backup.
Something that helps me move... when I normally stall out.

And that's actually very "Slow Builds."

(pause)

I'm not using AI to go faster in a hype way.
I'm using it to remove the friction...
so I can slow down where it matters.

(pause)

It makes it look like I'm speeding up...
but what's really happening is it gives me time back.

Time I can put into the parts that actually matter.
And it helps with the parts I struggle with.

(pause)

And sure - for someone else, it might be the opposite.
They might use it differently.
But for me... this is what it is right now.

---

The Speed of Change (2:10-4:15)

And part of why I'm using it...
is because I don't think what we see today is what it's going to be.

(pause)

It's changing fast.
Like... ridiculously fast.

I watched a video the other day where someone tried to explain it like this:

(pause)

We're used to new iPhones once a year.
Maybe every six months.
We at least have time to learn the thing... before the next one shows up.

(pause)

But AI isn't moving like that.

The idea was...
instead of humans iterating on it slowly...
it's the system iterating on itself.

(pause)

So it's not years.
Or months.

It's weeks.
Days.
Hours.
Minutes.

(pause)

And you can feel it.

I have a friend at work who said,
"yeah, I tried this... it wasn't that good."

And I asked him when.

(pause)

It was like three months ago.

And I'm sitting there thinking...
AI this morning is not the same AI it was three months ago.

(pause)

It's already better.

And that scares me.

(pause)

Like... actually scares me.

---

What Scares Me (4:15-6:15)

Not in a sci-fi way.
Not in a Terminator way.

(pause)

Although... who knows.

But what scares me is how unstoppable it feels.

You can't really "cut the cord."
It's distributed.
It's already out there.

(pause)

And I do think governments should be involved somehow...
I just don't know what that looks like right now.

(pause)

And I'm not even thinking about my generation as much.

I'm thinking about what this does over time.
A generation... two generations... down the line.

(pause)

Because right now, a lot of the people holding the keys...
management... leadership...
they're nervous too.

They might not say it.
But you can tell.

(pause)

And they're not going to blindly trust it.

Which is why I think for now...
there's still a place for senior developers, architects, product people...

Because companies still want humans to review.
Humans to decide.
Humans to own responsibility.

(pause)

But the people coming up behind that layer...
they're going to build new things.
And that part is exciting.

(pause)

...okay. I'm getting off topic.

Let me bring it back.

---

Where I'm At Personally (6:15-7:35)

I don't feel like I know what I'm doing at all.

I'm overwhelmed.
I feel behind.

(pause)

Every day it's something new.
New tools. New agents. New "this thing can run your life."

"Give it your credit card. Give it your login. Let it handle everything."

(pause)

That freaks me out.

But it's happening fast.

(pause)

And right now... my focus is building my own setup.
A new server.
A place where I can start running agents... for my projects... for my workflow.

I'm not trying to master AI.

I'm just trying to not be scared of it.

(pause)

I know it's impossible to fully keep up...

I just don't want to fall so far behind that I wake up...
and it feels like I'm in another country.

(pause)

I want to stay sane enough...
to keep moving through it.

---

What I Use It For (7:35-10:30)

Most of the time my AI use starts with confusion.

Messy thoughts.
Half-formed ideas.
Things rattling around in my head.

(pause)

I just dump it in.

And whatever comes back... comes back.

(pause)

Not always for answers...

More like... structure.

Reframing.
Different angles.
Steps forward.

(pause)

Especially for ideas.

Instead of doing hours of research to figure out:
is this feasible?
legal?
ethical?

I can throw the rough idea in...
and get a starting point back.

(pause)

And honestly... I've been pleased with what I get.

---

Prompts + "AI to Prompt Another AI" (10:30-12:30)

One thing I learned pretty fast is... prompts are the whole game.

(pause)

Like... the difference between spending five dollars...
and spending thirty cents...

is often just the prompt.

(pause)

Claude is expensive for coding.

So sometimes I'll use ChatGPT first -
just to build a better prompt for Claude.

I'll use one AI to write the prompt...
then paste it into the other.

(pause)

And that sounds silly...
but it saves money and saves time.

(pause)

I even built a little thing for myself where I can dump messy thoughts...
and it turns them into a structured prompt.

Code prompt.
Research prompt.
Personal prompt.

And it'll even tell me where to use it.

(pause)

Because if the system wants a prompt...
why not use it to help build the prompt?

---

Communication + Work Context (12:30-15:00)

And this part matters to me because...
I've always struggled with communication.

(pause)

I've done consulting for years.
I can figure out what to build.

But translating requirements...
decoding expectations...
turning feedback into something clear...

That's always been hard for me.

(pause)

So now... if I'm confused about a Jira ticket...
or code review feedback...
or what someone actually wants...

I drop it into AI.

(pause)

And it helps me see:

"here's what the manager is expecting."
"here's what the requirement actually says."
"here's what your code is doing."
"here's what the feedback means."

(pause)

That's not magic -
but it's a huge relief.

---

Family + Hard Conversations (15:00-17:00)

I also use AI for communication outside of work.

Texts.
Hard conversations.

(pause)

Not to avoid people.
Not to outsource emotion.

Just to pause.

(pause)

I'll explain the situation...
give a bit of history...
and draft what I want to say.

And I'll ask:
does this sound harsh?
does this escalate?
how would I say this calmer?

(pause)

And a lot of the time the output doesn't sound like me.

I don't copy-paste it.

But it still helps me see the situation clearer...
and respond slower.

---

Close (17:00-18:00)

So yeah... this is how I'm using AI right now.

Messy.
Practical.
Unfinished.

(pause)

I'm not trying to master it.

I'm just trying not to ignore it...
and not be scared of it.

(pause)

And honestly -
the better I get at using it...
the more it lets me slow down in the rest of my life.

(pause)

So... it belongs here.

Hopefully we all get through this...
and AI makes our lives better... not worse.

Hey, welcome to Slow Builds.

So this one's going to be a little bit different.

So this channel was really...

I have an idea to go through what AI told me would be anchors.

So like their family, investing, coding, life.

Just the main topics.

And we have 52 of those queued up, basically.

at least the most...

idea framed. And we had the also the idea of adding in, they called it like a bridge

video, which would be examples of what I'm doing, what I'm working on, how I use the

things that I talk about from time to time, maybe what I'm investing in, especially reading,

there'll be a lot of references to books, almost like little quick book reviews. But

I think that's what we're gonna decide what these are called so they'll come out not

Whatever I feel I want to say something

So at the moment

So

so this one really is gonna be maybe Tesla Elon and what I think I saw might be happening and

When he was at Davos, I noticed

He started commenting about the Sun because he was asking about solar panel solar power

And he was asking about the EVs and the robots and stuff like that

But he can he mentioned like the Sun and how much power

Can be generated and I think he mentioned like enough the power all of China

Which is pretty insane and then he did mention

uninterrupted sunlight

So ding ding

What does he have? He has the rocket ships. He has the satellites

So for him it's not that big a deal so you start thinking about it, it's like he has these plans to

Do satellite to come out for Starlink, which are super powerful

One friend mentioned how he feels the transmission time delays, but I think

At my level and my friends level

There's things that are being developed and changed that we don't know

And I believe Elon has the right people in place to help him figure these things out

So if he's throwing up the rocket ships and then he's throwing up the massive solar panels and he wants to start

He has grok and AI and he wants to start building

These chips and I really believe if he can't find the right supplier. He is going to make him

Himself and it's probably already in the work somewhere

Prototypes and whatever else because he the numbers he's talking are massive

Even taking off the Tesla car to earn in the robots and how many wants to pump out which means he needs the chips

Which means he's the power he needs da I he needs everything. So when you think about it

With the and with the Starlink involved he has it all he has all the pieces in place

Throw up those satellites have him directly pointed at the Sun. They're collecting all the power. He's got

Let's just say what he's going to do data centers in space because what happens free energy

That's one of the biggest cost. The other problem is the heating wall in space. There's no problem with that

So he can have these

Super data centers up in space floating around processing all this data. We're sending up requests and whatever

It's caching everything and then it's star link connected to the car connected to the robots connected to your laptop your computer your phone

Whatever. I still think he is working on a phone

It's just too big and I really believe he I don't think he thinks a little ways down the road

I think he thinks long long term, but hoping it happens faster than it does because he tries to push people which

It comes off

Rude and mean and whatever, but I think his goal is just

Get the Mars

and to make us the smartest

Civilization is possible. I

Believe a lot of what he says. I think a lot of it does come across as I

I don't want to say the crazy word, but it kind of feels that way.

But in the hard-hating time, the crazier the idea, it just seems to be that's what people

are doing and that's why it works.

It's like living in the Jetsons.

So as bad as it is to have one man with all that power, I do believe someday I'm going

to wake up and my Tesla stock is now going to be a combination of all of them.

The biggest company in the world of history.

runs everything, everything runs off of it. It's kind of scary to have that much

power but hopefully there's regulations and things in place. And the other thing

is he wants to get the Mars. He wants to give us a chance to live. He wants

to build civilization right I think or at least in the way he believes it should

be run. I don't think anyone's gonna stop him. I don't think no matter what he does I

I think he's the only one pushing the envelope farther and farther ahead.

He's trying to get there quicker because I think he wants to see it in his life.

And if he's able to do that, then it helps all mankind really.

In many ways, I can't even think about him, so I'm not even going to go there.

But I believe no one's going to stop him.

I believe he's going to be able to keep doing what he's doing.

People want to put up with it.

People want to complain.

People want to buy his products.

Worse comes to worse.

Government funded.

Private funding.

I think people are going to let him run this course in hopes that it turns into what mankind

possibly needs.

This is a true random.

This is a rambling, like the best of them.

It's like sitting around with the guys and just, what could happen?

What's a crazy idea?

And that's what I feel this one's turning into.

And that's okay, like there's no script there.

So hopefully this one, I don't need to edit it.

I haven't edited anything yet.

Everything's been a one shot deal.

And I feel I wanna do more, if I post this,

and I think I might after I rewatch it,

make sure I don't say anything too crazy.

I like doing the random links.

I have like, I have an idea I wanna do,

I really want to do it now, but like with Nike,

I want to pop something out for that.

The autonomous cars.

Why I'm very, very bullish, bullish on Uber right now.

And why my strategy has changed a lot.

Yeah, slow builds.

I think all these are slow, like you invest it, forget it.

It's good volatility is through the roof on these.

But I believe there's missing pieces that make them slow, slow build.

It's like you put the money in and you live with it.

It's like Bitcoin, you know, you just, you kind of ignore the news.

You follow it because you enjoy it and you're, you're invested in it.

But in the end, it's more, you got to go with your gut.

Like another one that I've got my kid to invest in and myself, Rivian.

I honestly believe that they have a great chance, but it all comes down to cash flow.

How long is that runway for them?

Can someone keep them alive?

Do they want to keep them alive?

But again, rambling, which is the purpose of it.

So hopefully you like this.

I would love to do more of these actually because I feel more comfortable doing this.

So we'll see what happens.

All right, thanks.

and leave some comments. I need to know if someone's actually watching this. It's

reaching a point that like I said I wanted to give up but I when I commit

to something I usually try to push through. I am pumping them out a little faster

than I was expecting because new it's new but if I know I'm gonna keep to my

schedule. It gives me a... I don't know, smart goals. I have small little attainable goals

along the way. Smart goals is another one that I want to put out. But yeah, let me know

if this is interesting to anyone. If I'm way off pace, do I even have a chance here? But

thank you.

0:00–0:25 — OPEN (settle in)

The first video was the what.
What this channel is about.
⏸ (2 sec)

The second video was the why.
Why I want to do it.
⏸ (2 sec)

I don’t know if I had to do it —
but I know I want to.
⏸ (3 sec)

So when you put that together —
what, why, when, where, how —
this video is the when, the where, and the how.
⏸ (3 sec)

And just to be clear up front —
I’m still figuring this out.
⏸ (2 sec)

⸻

0:25–1:20 — WHEN (cadence)

So starting with when.
⏸ (2 sec)

The goal is one video a week.
Maybe twice some weeks, if I can.
⏸ (2 sec)

In theory, that’s 52 videos a year.
I actually have about 52 ideas already.
⏸ (2 sec)

I don’t know if they’ll all make it.
⏸ (2 sec)

But the idea here is consistency over quality —
which… you can probably tell already.
⏸ (3 sec)

This isn’t a promise.
⏸ (2 sec)

It’s an intention.
⏸ (3 sec)

⸻

1:20–2:05 — WHEN (origin of the idea)

But when isn’t just about a schedule.
⏸ (2 sec)

This idea didn’t start all at once.
⏸ (2 sec)

It’s been sitting in my head for a while.
⏸ (3 sec)

Watching my kids do their thing.
Watching how fast everything is moving.
⏸ (2 sec)

And noticing what actually seems to matter online right now.
⏸ (3 sec)

⸻

2:05–3:00 — WHERE (physical)

That brings me to where.
⏸ (2 sec)

Physically — it’s this room.
⏸ (2 sec)

I moved things around a bit.
I’m very aware of what’s behind me.
⏸ (2 sec)

The acoustics aren’t great.
The lighting isn’t great.
⏸ (2 sec)

It’s quiet…
⏸ (1 sec)
which is actually kind of scary.
⏸ (3 sec)

I think nobody can hear me.
⏸ (2 sec)
I hope nobody can hear me.
⏸ (3 sec)

I’m not comfortable filming outside yet.
I’m not ready to just grab my phone and talk.
⏸ (2 sec)

So this room isn’t ideal —
⏸ (2 sec)
it’s just the place where I’ll actually show up.
⏸ (3 sec)

⸻

3:00–3:45 — WHERE (mental)

But there’s another where.
⏸ (2 sec)

Mentally, this came from watching my kids.
⏸ (2 sec)

They’re adults now.
⏸ (1 sec)

One is building in public —
trading, YouTube, documenting.
⏸ (2 sec)

The other makes a living from art.
⏸ (2 sec)

Both are putting real work out there.
Not polished.
Not optimized.
⏸ (2 sec)

Just… real.
⏸ (3 sec)

⸻

3:45–4:50 — HOW (AI + stance)

That’s where the how comes in.
⏸ (2 sec)

AI is moving fast.
⏸ (1 sec)

People argue about it constantly.
⏸ (2 sec)

“Is this AI?”
⏸ (1 sec)
“AI is garbage.”
⏸ (2 sec)

It feels a lot like the early internet.
⏸ (3 sec)

Where I land is pretty simple.
⏸ (2 sec)

I use AI.
⏸ (1 sec)

I don’t use it “right.”
⏸ (1 sec)

I’m not an expert.
⏸ (2 sec)

But it helps me move.
⏸ (1 sec)
It helps me think.
⏸ (1 sec)
It helps me build.
⏸ (3 sec)

⸻

4:50–5:40 — HOW (slow vs fast)

I see a lot of people using it to pump things out.
⏸ (2 sec)

Hype.
Flash.
Volume.
⏸ (3 sec)

What I’m interested in is different.
⏸ (2 sec)

Using AI to speed up the parts that don’t matter —
⏸ (2 sec)
so I can move slowly where it does.
⏸ (3 sec)

Structure.
Organization.
The boring parts.
⏸ (2 sec)

It gives me a foundation —
⏸ (2 sec)
and then I decide what actually stays.
⏸ (3 sec)

⸻

5:40–6:20 — WHAT STILL MATTERS

I don’t think AI replaces everything.
⏸ (2 sec)

Doctors still matter — assisted.
⏸ (1 sec)

First responders still matter — assisted.
⏸ (2 sec)

Storytelling still matters.
⏸ (1 sec)

Taste matters.
Perspective matters.
Presence matters.
⏸ (3 sec)

Even if most content becomes generated —
⏸ (2 sec)
people still feel what’s real.
⏸ (3 sec)

⸻

6:20–7:00 — CLOSE (land it)

So this channel is really about
moving slowly in fast times.
⏸ (3 sec)

I don’t know where this goes.
⏸ (2 sec)

I’ve already doubted it.
⏸ (1 sec)
I’ve already lost interest more than once.
⏸ (3 sec)

But if I don’t show up —
⏸ (2 sec)
I’ll never know.
⏸ (3 sec)

So I’m giving it a chance.
⏸ (2 sec)

I’m not promoting it.
I’m not pushing it.
⏸ (2 sec)

I’m just putting it out there —
⏸ (2 sec)
and paying attention while I do.
⏸ (4 sec)

Thanks for being here.