A bit over a year ago, in March of 2020, I started working on an app called Lean. A friend from high school reached out because he wanted to get an app (that he had started building with another friend) up and running, and a previous developer had ghosted him. Since I was in quarantine and finishing up university, I thought, sure, I can do a few hours of work. Didn’t think much of it.
A few weeks went by, and the start date for my first job out of college was moved back from June 1st (one week after graduation) to August 17th. I now had three months open with nothing planned. So I continued working on the app, because I could, and because, why not?
We released the first version of the app in late June. The app allows its users to manage their subscriptions (only works for UK bank accounts). Add your bank account, we analyze your transactions to find recurring ones, and we provide an easy process to cancel any unwanted subscriptions. Easy concept, solves a clear problem. In other words, a great idea for an app.
Over the summer, we continued to develop the app. We released version 2.0 a few weeks after the first. When I finally started my job in August, I continued to work on the app on the side a little bit, but I couldn’t do much more than a few hours a week. We eventually got a few thousand users, but I didn’t think it would go anywhere unless by some sudden stroke of luck.
Let’s just say that luck struck. Over the next few months, we began discussions with the market research and data analytics company YouGov. They were looking to get into the banking data space, and it just so happens we were the perfect company for the job. The discussions culminated about three weeks ago, when we sold our app and company to YouGov, with a three-year earnout.
So yeah, that’s what I’ve been up to.
But anyway, this isn’t Max’s Big Announcement Blog, this is Max’s Accountability Newsletter. If you’re reading my newsletter for the first time (Hi Grandy!), I started this newsletter for the purpose of keeping me on track with the goals I set for myself in 2021. I started out with ten goals, which you can read about here. A few weeks later I whittled the list down to 5 key ones to focus on. I was doing pretty well, and I had set some pretty good habits, allowing me to make small increments of progress each day. The keyword in that sentence is “had”: although this newsletter was supposed to come out every week, I haven’t posted one since March. Not good.
So that means I’m late on goal #1: “Publish one newsletter a week”.
On goal #2, “Read 30 minutes a day”, I’m behind by a week. Not too stressed about this one, should be able to catch up quickly.
On goal #3, “Work out once a week”, I’m actually quite ahead, by 7 weeks! What?! Just gotta keep doing more of that.
On goal #4, “Post 52 videos on TikTok”, this is where I’m really falling behind. I haven’t posted on TikTok since the last newsletter, and I was already behind then. I’m going to have to find a way to post consistently and in a format that doesn’t take long to make. Should be an interesting challenge.
Finally, on goal #5, “Consume less, create more”, I’m doing both terrible and very well. Terrible in that I’ve been consuming TikToks at a higher rate than ever before, and playing multiple time-wasting games on my phone. I’m talking, somehow, an average of 10 hours a day on my phone! But I’m also doing well in that this made me delete TikTok, Twitter and the games off my phone 2 days ago, and my screen time has gone down to about 2 hours a day since then. And I’ve finally found the time to write this newsletter!
For the time being, I want to stick to getting back on track with these five goals. The other five can wait. My focus for this week: catching up on reading, and posting something on TikTok. Oh, and also, writing a newsletter for next Sunday. That’s right, baby, the newsletter is back! At least I hope so. Fingers crossed!
For those who are new here, the next two sections I have in every newsletter to go over what I’m reading and some stats concerning my goals.
Reading
Finished since the last newsletter:
“The Power of Habit”, Charles Duhigg.
“Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrants”, Robert Kiyosaki.
Currently reading:
“The Compound Effect”, Darren Hardy.
“The Little Book of Common Sense Investing”, by John C. Bogle.
“The Handmaid’s Tale”, Margaret Atwood.
Please leave any book recommendations in the comments and add me on Goodreads.
Statistics
Year progress: 35%
Newsletters posted: 13 (+1)
Newsletter subscribers: 23 (thank you ❤️)
Hours read this year: 61 (+2) - 3 behind target
Workouts this year: 25 (+6) - 7 ahead of target
TikToks posted in 2021: 9 (+0) - 9 behind target
TikTok followers: 119 (-1)
Thanks for reading my newsletter. If you’re new, and you found this interesting, please subscribe to keep me on top of my goals.
Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions or remarks you’d like to share.
See you next Sunday (hopefully) ❤️