K's Weekly # 5
Welcome to the fifth edition of K's Weekly.
If you are new to this weekly newsletter, I share my learnings from week-in-a-life as a maker, teacher, coach, advisor, entrepreneur and a student.
Every week I share a bunch of learnings from being curious, doing experiments, building & launching stuff, meeting new people, reflecting deeply, and absorbing information around me. There has never been a week so far where I did not learn anything.
Let's dig in this week!
Weekly check 1-2-3
This week of mine was all about easing into fiscal year 2021 (Apr 2021-Mar 2022). Post our moratorium, it is time to move Xperian from a lab to a business.
After three years we took up consulting work. Boy! that world has not changed one bit. It is full of hustle-bustle. Love the energy and the push.
After 1000 days of moratorium, as people we have changed (for good). Our approach to the same old world is different. Our methods are different, Our competence has gone up, our workplace is set, our interiority is clear, our systems are in place, our routines are getting set, our focus has become monomaniacal and all of this shows in the quality of work we do. It couldn't be better than this. I am enjoying the breath of fresh air in our ways of working. Wish we knew this a decade ago. I keep reminding myself better late than never.
Our community is buzzing now with almost 90+ members now. Our clubs have kickstarted. Our challenges (30 days) are ongoing. Our weekly events are coming along and the energy is ramping up. In many ways this is dream come true moment for me. Personally I am super excited 🤩
Value Communication
After we pivoted to an internet business (thanks to covid), it is imperative we need to embrace the world of content. So, I am learning content marketing using my home grown UKEA method (unknowns to knowns to experiments to articulation).
As an information architect I live in data and content. I have done this for almost two decades. I thought it is will be all about just taking content at its core and apply in the marketing world.
I really thought it will be easy to learn. Gosh, I was so wrong. It is hard to unlearn. It is even harder to learn the right way. To bring a beginner's mind into everything we learn is tough. Slowly I am getting there. Content is certainly churning me this week.
It is one thing to say and it is another thing to do. It sounds so much easier in words but action is so much harder. It took me 4 hours to write 6 lines one time and it took me 7 mins to write 500 words another time. So unpredictable.
If you are a maker and you are excited about writing content, then I suggest you take a look at these books. Reading to absorb and reading to refer are two different things. Here is a reference list to write better.
Ted-A-Day
The lockdown did disturb a number of routines. For me, ted-a-day is one of them. 18 mins a day listening to some of the brightest minds of the world for almost six years had a deep impact in me as a person. It made me a good listener, a good storyteller, a crisp communicator and more. I strongly recommend this practice for all curious maker minds out there.
This week, I restarted my Ted-a-day practice. Instead of office travel, I coupled it with my morning walks. Out of the 7 talks this week, a talk that had a deep impact in me is Guy Winch's Emotional Band Aid. I realised how little we take care of our emotional wellbeing. Listen on!
Chuck Apple-a-day, there are better things to consume 🤓
P9669
My weight loss project using my home grown BOWL system is going great guns. My intent is to prioritise lifestyle (main effect) in this project. I am positive a number of good side effects will compound over a period of time. I already see a few. A good skin, a great sleep routine, a no BS diet (zero cog load), more nutrition, clearer thinking etc.This is my attempt to compound health.
If this excites you, follow my #loseinpublic @Karthi2209.
Like any new project, I started with a 10% moratorium. I feel it will take me min 12 months - max 18 months to achieve the goal of almost 27 Kgs weight loss without pills, powders and potions. This made me dedicate one month to practice the routines. I started on March 15. So far lost about 3.2 Kgs. Yay 🥂
Project Brain Vault
It is our 7th week into designing a brain vault. We finally arrived at a simple system that eases information overload struggles. We are testing our MVP within our Guild next week. Whooo hooo 🎉
This is our first project from THE PAD of the guild. I am super excited about helping makers manage their knowledge better. Can't wait for the guild launch. In next month or so, we will bring it to public as well.
Humble bicycle
Now that our home studio is close-by, a whacky idea hit me this week. How about cycling to work and nearby places? This way I will move my body more and it will bring in new health benefits. I have never done this before because the work place was very far and the car has spoilt me so much.
I geared up all my courage this weekend and invested in a basic gear-less cycle that I will use for 5KM radius. The summer in Hyderabad is certainly scaring me but I am determined to do it starting this week.
Mom's place is just 3 kms from here. Our studio is just 2 kms. Why not cycle day in and day out ? I'll keep you posted how this goes.
Learning from Launches
Our Webflow Intensive 12-week course is happening from 6 June 2021 onwards. We are baking the specifics now. We spent this entire week to learn about the needs of our customers.
The first decision we took was to make it a 0-10 program and not a 1-10 program. The difference is huge. To make it worthwhile, we tweaked our curriculum. It has more basics covered than before. We can't assume everyone knows everything in the web world. So our curriculum is expanded now for the same cost.
In lieu of wanting to ease decision making for our makers, we decided to launch a weekend workshop (1% investment) so that they can get a taste of what it means to learn Webflow and also what it means to learn from doers of Xperian. As human species we don't like risks. Do we?
That surely was a power packed week. It feels so good to work with less distractions and more focus after a long time.
How has been your week? What are the new things you are learning? What is exciting at your end?
Have an amazing week ahead makers!
Until then,
K 🎉
P.S: I have decided to send you only this Weekly email going forward. The rest of my daily writing will not be sent to you by email. You can always access it from Karthi's Blog anytime. I don't want my daily routine to flood your inboxes. This decision springs from empathy.
Read more here
A few years ago @arjunphlox gifted me a @webflow blog site encouraging me to write more.
— Karthi (@karthi2209) April 15, 2021
It was one of the most precious gifts ever. The site didn’t have any subscription or membership or email features. It is a place where I just write and that is about it.
Like you, I also subscribe to people whom I admire and love to hear from. I noticed from my own behaviours that it is hard to keep up with daily writers. I love them but it is hard to keep up with their consistency.
Let's do a simple math. Imagine you had 5 daily writers in your inbox. In a week, you will have 35 unread emails (in case you have a habit of catching up only weekends like me). This is hard. If you have the inbox zero OCD, it is gonna kill you. If you have a dedicated junkyard for all newsletters then anyway there is no point in getting daily doses.
I will send you a simple digest of my week, so that you can catch up on things that sound exciting to you. I respect your attention my friends. Let's make it easy.
The idea is to keep in touch with the maker tribe and share my learnings on the go. No other hidden agenda. I am also learning the nuances of this world slowly. Thank you for your support and patience 🙏 Appreciate you.