I was getting flustered. The classic example of procrastination. You know the person who has important things to do but tidies their desk instead? I didn't tidy my desk.
Thinking about it, that would have been a good use of my time. My desk is a mess. Scraps of paper share space with folders, phones with pens, and there are biscuits on top of the printer.
Sometimes I think our surroundings are a reflection of our mind. There's probably business or literary gold within arm's reach, but the chances of finding it are slim. Yes, very much like my mind. My word of the month, fragmented.
Proof: we're into the fourth paragraph, and you're still waiting for even a hint that we're heading towards the title. There must be a word for procrastinating within writing. I don't know what it is.
Look, I was in the mood for writing, and courtesy of my good friend Claude, I have a list of ten titles, four of which I'm told can be written any time. Like that helps. So I did what any semi-decent writer would do. I went to the top of the pile.
How it all began
Ups and downs, waves, or just flavour of the month, any of those describe how I take in content. Something piques my interest, I look for more, and we're off. I wouldn't say I binge, but I can spend a week or more on one person's output, or one theme.
When asked where I was when I had the idea, I couldn't say exactly. When did the spore land and grow? No idea. But I do know where I saw the spore itself.
I was on LinkedIn, debating whether to pivot my account or start a new one. While I was there, I couldn't help but scroll a little. Ten minutes, tops, promise.
I watched a few School of Hard Knocks clips, saluted the man who never gives up until he gets his soundbite, and then I saw a post from Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary is one of my waves. I was in the tube for a good while.
The post was titled "Social Media is Dead. Interest Media is Here." How could I pass that by?
Here's the gist, in my words. Your feed no longer shows you what your cousin or your old school friend posted. It shows you whatever you've been into lately, because that keeps you on the platform longer. And you can steer it yourself, by searching new topics, engaging with the explore page, and telling it what you're no longer interested in.
The honest part: I couldn't debate the argument, or even tell you for sure there is one. It stuck, nevertheless. Later that evening, sitting at my desk, still undecided about LinkedIn, something tickled my thoughts and creased my brow. Pause here, follow that itch.
No, sorry, even reliving the moment doesn't explain it. There's a void. A synapse? The gap? All I know is that I had the idea at that moment. No long process. One minute there was nothing, the next, a 30-day challenge to see which AI could come up with a plan based on Gary's idea, and then, with my help, carry it out and build a viable, profitable business.
Five of them, in fact. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and DeepSeek, each with the same brief, no money, and one day at a time. Here's how the challenge works.
Why not? This could be interesting, yes? Sometimes it takes a while for my mind to fully engage. If I were a cold engine, I'd need a choke. Ask someone older than you, they'll know what I mean.
Why it matters
The conjoining of many things. Freedom, financial security, peace, quiet, and somewhere to let the dogs off the lead. That's the dream. No, it's not a dream, it's the outcome. It's what all of this is for. This is just another route we're taking.
(Conjoin: to join or combine separate things into one, or into a common purpose. Thank you, Merriam-Webster.)
I feel as though this next part should be the money shot, but it's not. I've built another website called the Odd Job Directory. On it are over a thousand odd jobs, legitimate ways to earn money on your own terms. Not your run-of-the-mill jobs.
Some of the jobs come with toolkits, full of useful bits to help with your quest for left-field work. At the end of every kit, below the section on tax and other stuff, there's one line that says more than I can here about why we're doing what we're doing.
Every toolkit sold helps fund a permanent sanctuary for dogs with nowhere else to go.
Thank you.