Using your powers for good

While getting better in the process

Hey welcome back friend.

(And if it is your first time here, welcome aboard!)

It’s mid March and there are a couple of things I want to share with you.

Let’s go.

Main quest 🛡

Picture this for a sec.

You’ve been doing the work, honing your craft, putting in practice what you’ve learned here in the HQ, and can use your newfound skills with fluidity and intuition.

Not only that, but you also have the confidence that if in 3-6 months there’s another big shift due to AI, you can be like “challenge accepted” and level up your skills to meet the demands of the change.

What’s the next thing that comes to your mind? What would you do next?

A) You take it chill, breathing a sigh of relief that you are no longer in constant “catch up” mode. And take some time to dedicate to your hobbies or even pick a new one.

B) You are like “Hmm, with what I now know, I can help out some of my friends and relatives who don’t look like to up to date with the times”.

C) You think to yourself “I can use this knowledge to not only improve my work online but also reach others who are struggling like I was“.

D) (Insert another option here)

Would you keep your new powers for yourself, your immediate circle, or would you use them for “the greater good”?

The reason I ask is that most of us spend so much time, effort, and resources in achieving a particular goal. And when (if) we reach it, we get all excited, celebrate, enjoying those sweet brain chemicals.

But then… reality sets in.

And we’re left like

Dunno, never thought getting this far

Of course, it doesn’t happen to everyone. Some plan, strategize, execute, and know what to do after the milestone is reached. Some are goal-getting machines.

But for the rest of us, we often times think that getting to a new point (whether that’s getting a new job, a different role, landing an important client, moving to another place) it’s going to be ‘the’ moment when we finally can relax.

It’s human nature to think that something external will make our lives better than it already is (also getting bombarded by constant marketing doesn’t help).

But it is also human nature to reach a new stage, achieve a goal, and have it become our “new normal”. Our default baseline where we’re back into wanting something else.

The point here is not to stop improving, stick with what we have and not desire anything more.

The point is to become aware of this fact, even set an ongoing reminder. Be grateful and content with what we have while striving to be better and go for more.

Most of us are on this journey not just for ourselves but for the others around us, our loved ones.

But if we want to “make it”, we’ll have to come to a point where we need to decide whether we keep doing what we know, what we’re good at, and what is comfortable.

Or…

Decide to take chances, to throw some shots, to do what’s uncomfortable and even a little bit scary.

It’s what Steven Pressfield says in “Turning Pro“:

Turning pro is like kicking a drug habit or stopping drinking. It’s a decision, a decision to which we must re-commit every day.

See? It’s not a “one and done” type of thing. It is something we do every day. Like Kaizen. It’s getting a little bit better at every opportunity we have.

And we must decide to do it despite the fears, perceived limitations, impostor syndrome, and whatever else.

I’m telling you this because for the longest time, I choose to play small and be a little too humble. Waiting on the sidelines, being scared about putting myself out there and doing the work I know I needed to do.

If I look back at my old self and all the missed opportunities & wasted chances I had… It makes me terribly ashamed. Like I wish I have a time machine to go back in time and slap some sense out of my former self.

Inaction has costed me a lot more than I’d like to admit.

It’s been due to:

• Thinking too low of myself.

• Being scared of what others would say.

• Believing that others are much more qualified than I am.

• Or that if I do “make it”, that success will get to my head and turn me into something I’m not and don’t want to be.

• And so many other false beliefs, outdated mindsets, bad habits, you name it.

But looking back to the previous year and the beginning of this one… It’s a completely different story.

I’m no longer playing small.

I’m no longer waiting on the sidelines.

I’m no longer letting opportunities pass me by.

I’m no longer not doing the work for fear of putting myself out there or so many other things.

I’m using fear as a compass. If something makes me nervous & second guess my decisions (like reaching out to people, pitching a service, or something else) it’s a sign that I should pursue it further and see where it leads me.

And that’s what I want to leave you with.

Use your powers for good.

Use your Supercharged Learning skills to improve your life, the lives of your friends, family, and the people around you.

Not only because is the right thing to do. But because it will make us all better, together. And in this times of disruption and upheaval, the last thing we should have is competition, division, and selfishness.

You have the power to choose how are you going to use your skills.

And in the immortal words of uncle Ben Parker…

Experiments 🧪

This time I’ve been experimenting with the Substack settings and gave the HQ a make over.

How it was before…

How it looks now.

Like what I did with the place?

I think it came out pretty nicely.

It’s a new face for 2025. For the cozy not-so-little-anymore home of all the supercharged learners around.

Will keep improving it with all the good stuff coming this year.

Power-ups ✨

You know what’s (one of) the problem(s) with most productivity timers? They’re normally inflexible and require you to start and stop them.

Pomodoros are too restrictive for me. I need at least a 50-minute block to focus and make some real progress on a task.

And once I get in the flow of things, I forget that I’m using a timer… I don’t stop the session or log any breaks I had. That just defeats the purpose of tracking my work time or having any sort of analytics.

But early this week, I found something that might very well be the solution to all my time tracking problems…

It’s called Rize. You can try it here. It’s an app that tracks time in the background, nudges you to work instead of being distracted, and helps you build a focus habit.

And if you like to pinpoint with exact precision where you time is going, you’ll find super useful its dashboard with a whole breakdown of how your screen time is spent.

I’ve tried it this week so far and it’s been a great experience.

All I need is to start the timer and the app alerts me when to take a break or when I’ve spent too much screen time on the day.

Take it for a spin. I know you’ll be pleasantly surprised as well. 😉

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That’s all for this time.

Thanks for being here.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and get a great start of the week.

Catch you later.

Cheers,

Juan.