It's been two months since my last progress report.
Here's what I have for September and October of 2025. I'm still trying to take a picture of my face every day to keep myself accountable. I'm not sure what I'll eventually do with those photos. Maybe one of those "I took a picture of myself every day for my first year of content creation" videos.
September (Weeks 5-9)
In September, I divided my energy over learning AI automation, starting my Etsy store, writing an ebook, creating my first n8n workflow, publishing my first YouTube video, and finding a niche AI automation project. In my free time, I worked on songs on onlinesequencer.net, where my username is also Thoughtra.
I received a sample of my "End Car Dependency" bumper sticker I made in Printify. I listed the sticker on Etsy and decided to make revisions to the design. I named my Etsy store "TrafficCalmingCo."
I then made a "Paint isn't Infrastructure" and a "Stroads Kill" sticker and added them to Etsy.
I wrote down a lot of ideas for more stickers but struggled to feel like making them. It's an enjoyable process but takes time. Fortunately, I was able to decrease the bike sticker price from $8.32 to $2.26 (3"x3" size). The shipping is still $5.79, so I'll need to continue to adjust the prices.
At the end of the first week of September, I changed projects and started writing an ebook, which consumed two weeks of my time. It was something different to try, and I decided not to continue it.
Thereafter, I made my first personal AI automation in n8n. I nicknamed it the "Misery Meter" because I'm not a very happy person. Ok, it's supposed to be a positive way to track my fulfillment and mood day-to-day. Anyway, it emails me a survey every day to ask me how I feel about my life based on Ali Abdaal's Wheel of Life categories.
The beginning of the "Misery Meter" workflow in n8n.
I rank each category from the Wheel of Life system by how I feel and by that category's importance for that day. n8n then calculates the weighted value of each category and colors each output on a gradient from green to red depending on the overall score recorded. The result is a table with colors showing my mood for each day.
"Misery Meter" survey results (left) and final calculated and color-coded scores (right).
I attempted to record a small video of my mood ranking automation, but I guess perfectionism got the best of me because nothing came from it. It didn't feel valuable. I want to rename it, too. I need to adjust the weighing because most of my days were not as bad as getting a 30/100 score, and I didn't feel like all of my days should look orange or yellow.
I posted my first YouTube video on September 16, 2025. The video is of me practicing my first Blogger poem and is called "Loser Practices Her Poem About Life and Cries." I first imagined it would be a slideshow designed in Canva with calm music and text, but I decided to film myself trying to recite it. I'm not ready to show my whole face on YouTube, so my eyes are covered with a black bar for privacy (although I am aware that people who know me would recognize me). I got my first subscriber with that video, so thank you.
I don't care if my video is embarrassing. It's my real self (or was at the time), and it's a big step for putting myself out there.
My second video featured my End Car Dependency bumper sticker. Filming this video was fun. I had my earplugs in, so I felt relaxed that I couldn't hear distressing noises, and I was less self-conscious of my voice, pronunciation, and pacing.
The day was September 20 when I settled on my first serious AI automation project combining the capabilities of n8n and Notion. The first week of the project (Week 8 of content creation) involved learning about my niche and learning how to use Notion, which was a challenge.
"Notion is a bit too hard right now to learn, so I have retreated to n8n where I have more control. And if I'm running to n8n for comfort, that's a good sign that I've learned how to use n8n!"
Starting Week 8, I noticed that I was increasingly anxious and overeating, which is the opposite effect of what I suggested in my poem "A Life Worth Living," which stated that eating was a chore I didn't have time for... I should have known better about myself to know that I overeat when anxious. Throughout the month, I felt like I was trying to do too many things and often felt down and lost. But I stayed busy every day and continued to learn despite my mood, and that's what's important.
To summarize, here were September's activities:
- Published my first (and second) YouTube video
- Gained one YouTube subscriber
- Listed three stickers on TrafficCalmingCo on Etsy
- Found a niche for my AI automation
October (Weeks 9-14)
October was dedicated to my AI automation project, with the exception that I published another poem and played on onlinesequencer.net during breaks.
Tears were shed.
On Week 9, I had a breakthrough and finally figured out what needed fixed in my workflow. Getting it to work so that it is modular and scalable is a big accomplishment. The worst part was September 28 through October 6. Of course, fixing one thing broke another thing, but I got it sorted.
"I WILL HAVE THIS."
I have a bare-bones workflow that does a single job. As I continue to add more features to the project, I know that I could make several products from one workflow, depending on the desired complexity and capabilities people would be interested in. It also occurred to me that my workflow was becoming too complex for a product I didn't know people even had an interest in. I realized that my perfectionist self was taking over.
The season is changing, too.
"It's cold. I'm still working, though, layered up! OHHhh, my workflow is spaghetti! It's a mess."
"October 18: Feeling down. I hope my effort pays off. But I've given myself two years. I work on my project every day. I can do this in less time than that."
And then came October 19.
"October 19: Wow, week 12. What have I been doing? Many people are more successful than me in a shorter amount of time. I'm doing everything alone, for one. I can't trust anyone... I thought the main workflow was bad! This is worse!
I keep forgetting to take a picture of my face every day 'to keep myself accountable.' Ugh, all of this is so difficult. Give me three more months! I keep taking a nap almost every day. But I'm pushing through it for another hour today. Wow, an hour later, and I'm no longer tired! I got that dopamine hit to keep going.
Ok, here's the new plan. My workflow is trying to do too many things. I will keep the first workflow that I finished on October 13 (wow, not even that long ago)... Right now, my single workflow isn't just growing an arm. It's growing a whole other body! So, it's best if these conjoined workflows be free of each other. They still need each other, but they are waaay too involved with each other's inner workings.
Um... my boyfriend wants to break up with me, so I didn't work on any of this today."
What followed was a week of confusion and trying to push through my workflow.
"October 20: I'm more driven to achieve my goals. To prove everyone wrong, especially myself. And him. With someone or alone, I'm doing this."
I was so distracted and needed a break or a change in scenery. But I kept going and overcame an API token error that I really didn't need. I hit a barrier with my workflow and decided to pivot my focus to making a YouTube Short of the part of my workflow that is functional.
"Ok, the demo is in working order. At least, enough to be shown."
I created a separate YouTube channel called "Thoughtra Automates" because I don't want my professional AI automation project to be on the same channel as a video of me crying...
The 49-second Short of my workflow demo took from October 26 to November 1 to create. I'm pleased with it, although I think the music is too loud. Oh, I get to embed a video!
That video should really go in my November monthly report, but I want to share it now.
In a different vein, I'm not very interested in working on my Etsy shop. Maybe I'll make a video about how I make my stickers. Everything takes so long to do.
Here were October's activities:
- Reached a breakthrough (or two) in my AI automation workflow
- Made a separate channel for AI automation (Thoughtra Automates)
- Posted my first AI automation video
What's in store for next month? I am starting month 4 of 6 in my AI automation roadmap (credit to Liam Ottley's "6-Month AI Automation Agency Roadmap" worksheet).
- Continue adding features to my AI project workflow
- APPLY my experience: find practice clients with the AI Automation Agency Skool community
- Conduct warm outreach
I've been working on this new path in life for 3 months and 2 weeks and have had lots of mental growing pains. I'm in a very uncertain stage in my life, and I feel a lot of pressure to be successful. I'm trying to keep myself together while feeling like my life is falling apart with heartbreak, financial stress, and creative exhaustion.
What helps me is telling myself that I have "fortitude, resiliency, adaptability, and frustration tolerance" (Alex Hormozi) and that "Nothing meaningful in life is easy, and nothing easy in life is meaningful" (Mark Manson).
When was a time in your life when you experienced uncertainty or hardship but came out stronger and wiser on the other side?
Comments
Post a Comment