Simplifying Search: Combining Vector (Semantic) Search and Keyword Search

 It was suggested by Griffin that I look into "Vector search" in which a user can simply ask a question instead of entering one or two key words. First off, I am not a fan to the word vector. It has too many different meanings depending on context. And it sounds all sciency. And Semantic Search is a lot better, but still an unnecessary distinction. 

So I let ULTRA build that out. Here's the solution it came up with:

The idea is good, makes it easier for the user, except when it doesn't.  Why should a user have to decide whether to Search or Ask? Why do they need to know the difference. Another decision to make?  That's just one more thing to make the user think this is too complicated and stop using it. 

So a little more research and... Hybrid search! A two-fer.  No thinking, no distinction, just say what's on your mind. It's a testament to how even ULTRA gets blindsided by answering the question it was given. I asked for Vector search, and it built it, as a bolt-on feature. Leaving the regular search alone. And  giving the user the decision. Another block to progress.

Once you look at the solution it came up with, and you are on a crusade to simplify, you gotta ask: Why do I need to choose?  Why can't ToBeWise™ just know what I want?  So it's back into the code again for version 6 of simplified search.  So, with a nudge to ULTRA, using the word Hybrid, we get the much more simple user interface, and the underlying code that handles Search and Ask:

----------------------------

A bit of ToBeWise™  search history:

Version 1: searched only keywords, matching only on the 200+ list names

Version 2: searched for keywords in the context of each insight. That was a huge improvement, but it was feared that it would take so long for each search to go through 2,000 insights word for word, but it was amazingly fast. 

Version 3: included author names in the search.

Version 4: included operators (+, -, "", ",", ...) to really improve the power of the keyword search.

Version 5: Semantic search as a separate feature

Version 6: Hybrid search.

Oh, the joy of thinking/doing nothing (Silent Background Database Refresh)

Re: ToBeWise™ for Startups...

This morning I added a dozen or so insights by Peter Thiel, and turned my attention to another matter briefly, then went back to the app.  Holy cow, those insights were already there, in the database for everyone, and nobody had to do anything to get them. It was completely automatic. No decisions about should I or shouldn't I refresh the database to get a few more insights. No delay in loading the app to refresh the files. It already happened, in the background. Wow! No thinking involved, no delay, no decisions.

The less users need to think, click, and type, the easier it is for them. In all cases.

Rebranding self

While I'm going about rebranding ToBeWise™ for startups, I've been giving some thought to rebranding myself. Previously my tagline was "Advisor to Entrepreneurs", but "Startup Advisor" is shorter, uses the key word, more down-to-earth, and just seems more focused.  

I got distracted by an ad on Facebook for getting a personalized signature made by a real calligrapher, only 39 bucks. That seemed like a fun thing to do because my signature is awful, and then I thought that's something chatGPT should be able to do, free, right?  Check it out. This is the signature I would like to be able to do, if I could. But my advanced age has brought on what is called an "essential tremor" and I now can't even read my own handwriting.   

Not sure I'll use it, just experimenting with rebranding graphics and taglines. 

 

Who is the target user? What is the word?

I've been doing startups for a long, long time. Gotta be 60-plus years since the first businesses I started in college. Since then, I've done 7 of my own. And for the last 25 years I've been helping founder/CEOs with their startups. I'm not perfect, but I know a thing or two about startups. So when it comes to repositioning the ToBeWise™ product, there's only one word that comes to mind: Startup. 

Paul Graham, founder of Y-combinator advised founders to begin by “building something you yourself need” and summarized the principle as “founders are target users.”

I built something that I needed/wanted, I just didn't position it at the time as a product for Startups. As I mentioned in previous posts on this subject, I've wanted to reposition ToBeWise™ for a couple of years, but the stars needed some time to align. Now we have alignment.

Of course, it's not going to be a simple job of changing the App Store listing.  It's going to take some surgery in the app itself, and that's what's going on now. And I know that startup peeps are going to be techies, and unless my product is bulletproof and simple and powerful and professional... well, they will let me know about with more than frowny face emoticons. 

For example, as I write this, Codex/GPT is banging away at the code to completely change the app to do silent background database updates, to replace the clunky old school method in use since before such magic was possible on the iPhone. Today's audience, especially techies, would be disappointed with that outdated methodology.  GPT says it will take 32 hours of engineering time to make it work, but it's worth it, especially since I don't have to do the coding, because if it were up to me... well I don't thing I would live that long. I just checked, and it finished the coding step in only 78 minutes. Insanity!  Of course now is the debugging phase; no telling how long that will take. (UPDATE: from start to finish, including testing and debugging was 6 hours, using Codex/chatGPT 5.6 Ultra.)

A side note: with all the vibe coding I've been doing, my old Macbook Pro from 2021, with the M1 chip and 16gb of ram was really slowing down progress so I upgraded to a new model with M5 chip and 48gb of ram. Wow! What a huge difference that has made.

Stay tuned for more on the rebranding adventure.

 

Is anybody out there?

Now that I can build anything, and can measure the effectiveness of product improvement as well as marketing activities, it became time to enter the dark and murky world of thinking more clearly about who is the target market, what they have to gain from the product. One of my most favorite insights on this is from good friend Roberto Monaco:

Up until recent changes, the app was positioned as a collection of quotations for people who might be interested in that sort of thing. I'm one of them, but who are the others? Tough to say, right? The audience is so broad as to not really exist. What word would you use to find them? (Crickets!). I'm reminded of the Pink Floyd hit "Is anybody out there?"

After lengthy chats with GPT, we came up with the following improvements to the app store listing, which would be the very first place to start with any repositioning. As you can see, it's still murky, even though it's the best GPT can do with its previous murky target market.

I put these notes together to memorialize the failure.

The great benefit of this exercise was to learn the ins and outs of the App Store, but it was only a trial run, a true learning experience for what was to come next.

Notes of a failed experiment in positioning in the App Store:

---------------------------------------------------------

The app has been substantially improved over the last several months, with greatly improved features and ease of use.

I feel it's finally ready for the "Go to Market" phase.

The very first step is to pay attention to how ToBeWise™ is listed in the App Store. Your feedback is most welcome.

Optimizing app store listing: 

1. Change the app's subtitle

from "The Right Words at the Right Time", which is passive. Moving to Think Clearly. Decide Wisely. which is Active and includes the user benefit.

2. For the 'what's new' section on the app store: Faster file loading - almost instantaneous on warm starts. Spectacular new features for sharing to Facebook, Instagram, X, text Messages, and email. About 150 new insights added to the database. We respond to user feedback!

This app is getting really very close to what we envisioned 10 years ago

3. In the app Description area

"The wisdom of the ages is humanity’s most valuable asset.

Now it’s yours.

Discover timeless insights from history’s greatest minds, in their own words.

Think clearly.

Decide confidently.

Act with purpose.

Discover thousands of carefully curated insights across more than 200 topics in life and business. Search by subject or author, save favorites, create private collections, schedule reminders, explore related resources, and share the insights that matter (to text messages, facebook, Instagram, X, email, etc).

ToBeWise™ — The right words at the right time." 

4. Replace the current Keywords entry with "wisdom,decision making,leadership,startup,insight,mindset,mentor,success,clarity,confidence,purpose"

What was there: "wisdom,inspiration,quotations,startup,entrepreneur,habits,famous quotes,business quotes".  (note the duplication of quotes/quotations here, but not even mentioned at all in the new one. We're not selling quotes, we're selling transformation.

5. Promotional Text

Transform yourself.
Think Clearly. Decide Wisely.
This is the system. Guaranteed.

Part Two: Measuring what matters

Only time will tell how these changes affect installs, and continued use.  

Apple provides very little in the way of metrics. And much of it is incomplete because users can opt out of having such data collected.

We get a weekly analytics email report from Apple for ToBeWise™ that shows this info: 

number of impressions, 

 app units (downloads?), 

 proceeds (sales, always zero), 

 sessions (opt-in only) and 

 crashes (opt-in only). Can you shed a little more light on each of these and how they are calculate, what is included in each category?

Metric	What Apple counts	What it means for ToBeWise™
Impressions	Each time ToBeWise™ is visible for more than one second on the App Store’s Today, Apps, Games, or Search tabs. Product-page views are also included. The same person can generate several impressions.	Exposure. It does not mean the person opened your listing or seriously considered downloading.
App Units	A first-time acquisition: someone taps Get or Buy for the first time. Updates, redownloads, and downloads to another device using the same Apple Account are not new app units. It is counted at the acquisition transaction, not when the app is opened.	For a free app, this is your closest Apple measure of new downloaders, but it is not exactly the same as completed installations or active users.
Proceeds	Your estimated net revenue from paid app sales and in-app purchases after applicable taxes and Apple’s commission.	Since ToBeWise™ is free and apparently has no paid in-app purchase, zero is expected, regardless of downloads.
Sessions — opt-in only	Each occasion when the app is used for at least two seconds. If it goes into the background and is later used again, Apple counts another session. One person can create many sessions.	Usage frequency, but only among users who allow Apple to share analytics. It is not total usage and is not a count of people.
Crashes — opt-in only	Every crash event reported from opted-in devices. Multiple crashes by one user each count separately. It is not the number of users who experienced a crash.	A stability warning signal. Zero is encouraging, but it does not prove that no crashes occurred because non-opted-in devices are absent.

Important distinctions

App Units are not the same as installations. Apple’s separate Installations metric counts completed installs and can include redownloads, additional devices on the same account, and Family Sharing—but installation data is also based on analytics opt-in users.

Sessions and crashes are samples, not complete totals. Apple does not simply multiply them to estimate all users. Low-volume usage data may also be withheld because of privacy thresholds.

For Phase 1, I would read the report this way:

Impressions = seen
App Units = acquired
Sessions = used
Crashes = failed during use
Proceeds = earned

The most useful immediate ratio is App Units ÷ Impressions, but Apple’s better formal conversion metric uses downloads divided by unique-device impressions, because total impressions can include repeated exposure to the same person. 

About "Opt-in" metrics:

The user opts in at the iPhone system level, not inside ToBeWise™.

Go to:

Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements

There are two relevant switches:

1. Share iPhone & Watch Analytics — permits diagnostic and usage information to be sent to Apple.
2. Share With App Developers — permits Apple to share relevant app-usage statistics and crash information with developers such as you. If the first switch is off, developer sharing is automatically off.

So when Apple labels Sessions or Crashes as “opt-in only,” it means those totals include only ToBeWise™ users whose devices have analytics sharing with app developers enabled.

Apple says the information provided to developers is aggregated or otherwise structured so it does not personally identify the user.

This is entirely separate from Apple’s Allow Apps to Request to Track setting and separate from any analytics you have built directly into ToBeWise™.

For the first time, as of about July 4, 2026, we now have our own built-in analytics, separate from what Apple provides. We can measure the results of any marketing activities. Now all we need to do is take action on the actual marketing priorities, which have just started with the improvements to the app store listing, as above.

Feedback much appreciated.

M

Measure it to Manage it.

It was evident from the beginning of the ToBeWise™  adventure (ten years ago) that it would be important to be able to measure user metrics, that's just common sense. However, when we started with this project funding was severely limited and the timeline was tight. In order to stay within budget and achieve the deadline, some features that were wanted had to be eliminated. One of those major features was to be able to measure user engagement. And without that, any marketing efforts would just be a shot in the dark.  Reminds me of one of the more memorable insights on this topic:

I don't want to be in the position where I don't know how I'm wasting money. If there were going to be a new target market for the app, it would be imperative that we be able to measure the effectiveness of our efforts. And that brought the next big coding job: a Management Dashboard that would show me who does what and when.  What's amazing is that now I have a granular look at what users are doing with the app, what features they use, how long they spend on the app, how often they sign in... so much more. And it's instantaneous. The app "phones home" every time it's loaded.  So if I would do anything to juice the number of users, I would get immediate feedback. Beautiful.

I can build, and now I can measure. The world is mine!  Bwahahaha! (evil laugh).

That took about a month to get the Management Dashboard working, but still nothing done on the repositioning.  Stay tuned...

ToBeWise™ major changes afoot

 I have long planned to reposition the app, but the time required to do a proper job of it seemed a huge hurdle considering the resources available to do the job. But in the fullness of time, the stars have aligned and I am committed to the project. The driver for doing this is this excellent insight by Sam Altman:

The app had always had a rather bland positioning, a product without a clear intended user, and the only positioning was what could be mentioned in the App Store description, basically a list of features and focus on quotations, wisdom, etc. The marketing truism is that if you are talking to everyone, you are talking to no one, so nobody listens, especially in a very crowded marketplace for quote apps.

While the app had always had significant resources fit for startups, it was never the primary focus, so nobody in that segment really knew about it. And with zero marketing dollars, and a price for the app of zero, it was challenging, at best, to do anything significant to change that.

Up until about 6 months ago, all of the programming was delegated. And the delegatee for the last several years was doing the work pro bono, in exchange for my mentoring services. So it was always on the back burner and subject to his other priorities. 

What's that old saying: "If you want something done right, you're going to have to do it yourself."  Fair enough. But I wasn't really looking at getting addicted to coding again. I had pretty much left the world of hard core coding a long time ago, and I remember how it can take over my life completely. But now I'm retired and looking to enjoy my rapidly dwindling years playing freestyle frisbee on the beach, shooting pool, etc.

And then I got into chatGPT, and Codex... After the uncomfortable learning curve, it was amazing how I could get things to happen and never have to look at the real code at all. Vibe coding! What a game changer.  So I got into so many of the improvements that were in the backlog waiting for my only pro bono programmer to free up an hour or two to focus on the app.  Not anymore!  I got addicted again. 

And for the last several months, the app has steading improved to the point where it is bulletproof and looking like something I'm proud to put my name on.  Now it is ready for a new life as a product for its new target market: Startups, specifically founders of startups and their team. 

That repositioning requires a good bit of reprogramming as well as other supporting activities, and I'll get into them in subsequent posts.  For now, it's onward and upward; to infinity and beyond! Stay tuned as the adventure unfolds.

AI is going bonkers

Token maxxing

At Google’s recent I/O 2026, Google’s CEO shared some data on the explosion of token demand:

Google is now processing more than 3.2 quadrillion tokens per month–a 7x increase from a year ago.

The point being that token demand is growing a lot. More firms are using more AI, and the change is happening rapidly, and at massive scale.

It’s not just Google’s data that shows a surge in token consumption. According to Silicon Data (via Bloomberg), total token spending (i.e. dollars spent on tokens), has risen to new highs, and growth recently took the shape of a near-vertical wall.

Total token expenditure is now more than double what it was in just December of 2025.

So, more tokens consumed, and more dollars spent on tokens. That’s interesting so far as it goes, but the really interesting thing is the ongoing apparent relationship between token-pricing and demand: the cheaper that tokens get, the more demand appears to accelerate. In other words, this is a Jevons-like acceleration, whereby efficiency-gains expand the frontier of demand. 

source: A16Z newsletter, today

Good Advice

 

 

Just arrived this morning from the FAA.  The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. I feel like I’m a living example of the *exception* to the rule that “there are no old, bold, pilots”.

Client Meeting: Software Development Issues

 Client meeting 5/15/26, notes taken by Calendly

Summary The meeting centered on the challenges and philosophies of structured software development, particularly in the context of integrating AI and agentic systems. Client and Michael McCafferty discussed the limitations of AI in software architecture versus its strengths in code generation, emphasizing the persistent 'knowing-doing gap' in both human and AI-driven development. They explored best practices, such as the Lean Startup model, advocating for early and continuous user involvement to ensure software meets real needs and garners user buy-in. The conversation delved into the technical and philosophical aspects of teaching AI how to think, including the use of retrieval augmented generation (RAG) to manage context limitations in large language models. They also addressed the importance of structuring both the development process and personal life, with actionable suggestions like maintaining checklists and aligning life plans with work objectives. The meeting concluded with plans to review checklist data in the next session and a mutual commitment to ongoing collaboration and self-improvement.

Action items Client   • Next week, review and analyze the checklist data collected so far, and meet with Michael McCafferty to discuss insights and gaps between the life plan and current measurements.

Discussion AI and Software Development Capabilities and Limitations The participants discussed the strengths and weaknesses of AI in software development, emphasizing that while AI is highly effective at writing code within well-defined frameworks, it struggles with high-level architecture and design. Both agreed that AI lacks the ability to perform architectural work, and that structured software development principles remain essential regardless of AI involvement. The conversation highlighted the 'knowing-doing gap'—the difference between knowing best practices and actually implementing them—attributing this gap to human tendencies to seek immediate gratification from coding rather than following structured processes. Bridging this gap was identified as a key challenge for both AI and human developers. Software Development Methodologies Waterfall vs. Lean Startup The meeting compared traditional waterfall and lean startup methodologies, noting that waterfall involves building software before seeking user adoption, while lean startup emphasizes early user engagement and building to their specifications. Michael McCafferty advocated for the lean startup model, stressing the importance of understanding both the needs of project funders and end users, and involving users early to ensure buy-in and reduce resistance. The discussion also highlighted the value of rapid prototyping and ongoing user involvement to ensure the final product meets real needs. Challenges with Legacy Systems and COBOL The conversation explored the difficulties of working with legacy systems, particularly those written in COBOL. Client shared an example of integrating Notion with a hotel scheduling system in COBOL, highlighting the scarcity of training data for AI models due to proprietary codebases. Michael McCafferty, with extensive COBOL experience, noted that while COBOL is structured and English-like, its diversity makes it hard to train AI models, and traditional human programmers are still needed for COBOL work. They agreed there is a business opportunity in developing AI models that can handle COBOL, but neither participant is eager to pursue it. Best Practices and Structuring Agentic Development Client discussed curating a library of best practices for agentic (AI-driven) development, emphasizing the opinionated nature of software development and the need to break down best practices into atomic steps with checklists for each phase. Michael McCafferty recommended adopting the lean startup model and starting with understanding the needs of both funders and users, advocating for top-down design that begins with business goals and user needs rather than technical details. The discussion included the importance of constraining AI development with initial design and philosophy, and debated how much AI should mirror human thinking versus following structured approaches. Technical Constraints of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) The participants examined the technical limitations of LLMs, particularly their limited context windows and the challenge of teaching them to think stepwise. Client explained that LLMs can only process a limited amount of information at once, making it necessary to clear context and focus on specific tasks. Michael McCafferty suggested using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to avoid overloading the context window. They discussed breaking problems into smaller components and guiding the model through sequential steps, as LLMs cannot autonomously manage complex, multi-step reasoning. The conversation highlighted the need for careful orchestration and structuring of tasks for LLMs to be effective. Philosophy of Work, Life Balance, and Personal Development A significant portion of the meeting focused on personal development, work-life balance, and the philosophy behind both. Michael McCafferty reflected on his own career, noting that he was consumed by work in his 20s and neglected personal life, and advised Client to avoid this trap by thinking about life goals beyond work. The discussion included the value of checklists for both professional and personal growth, the importance of aligning daily actions with broader life plans, and the need to periodically reassess one's direction. They also discussed the benefits of seeking experiences outside work, using tools like calendars to schedule activities, and the role of reading and learning in personal growth, while acknowledging the challenges of motivation and the tendency to default to work for gratification. Meta-Philosophy Teaching AI How to Think and the Role of Philosophy in Agentic Systems The meeting delved into the meta-philosophy of agentic AI systems, with Client raising the challenge of teaching AI not just what to do, but how to think, given the limitations of current models. Michael McCafferty suggested that the way AI 'thinks' is shaped by how developers prompt and structure it, cautioning that AI will reflect the developer's own thinking patterns. They agreed that the real challenge is philosophical, not technical, and recommended seeking insights from leading AI companies and their developers. The discussion emphasized the importance of defining the philosophical framework for agentic systems and the need to look beyond technical solutions to broader questions of behavior and structure.

How to Change Your Life in One Day

I have personally experienced this, and highly recommend this video for all.

A personal favor?

 

May I ask you for a personal favor?

If you have an iPhone like I do, you might enjoy and get a lot of value from an app I started working on about 10 years ago, a labor of love... (certainly not doing it for the money, because it's free). For the last few months I've been updating the look and feel and adding some important features. It's on the Apple AppStore (free), and enjoys a 5-star rating, a good indication that you'll like it...

It's called ToBeWise™. Here's my value proposition:

Smart is good.

Genius is better.

ToBeWise™ is best.

It's great for all audiences, especially good for students, entrepreneurs, sales, customer service, pretty much *anyone* who wants to keep a positive mind set and who loves to learn.

Here's my ask, a personal favor:

Please check it out and let me know if you like/don't like & why.

Download it at this link:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tobewise-pro/id1156018700

while you're there, check out the 5-star reviews.

Thank you!

Sales isn't what you fear

with thanks to Griffin!

Time, and enjoying the passage of it

Time is what happens while something changes into something else.

For example the duration it takes bare metal to rust.
Or for a pretty girl to fall in love with you.
Or for the splitting of an atom.

Time is the changing of future into now into past.

Past is unchangeable,
of no consequence
except that which we give it.

Future is all potential
and of no reality
except that which we make of it.

Now is that little grain of sand
that just slipped through the hourglass of Time,
as future became past.

Unlimited future.
Unlimited past.
Totally limited now.

Now just got here,
and there it goes...

But here comes another now...

Ooops, another now bites the dust.

Ya gotta be ready for the nows.
They disappear really fast.
Like morning fog evaporating in the rising sun.
It seems so real and then it's completely gone.

It is said that the secret of Life
is enjoying the passage of Time.

How can it be argued?

Time is all we have.
It's a wasting asset.

If we aren't using it to our advantage,
we'll never get another chance at it.

The nows are slipping away...

The coming nows, the future,
are filled with potential, infinite promise,
all they need to fulfill that promise
is a little guidance from us.

After all, it is our future,
so what are we going to do with it?

There goes another now...

What am I doing with it?

I'm reading these words,
because it seems I might learn something
about how to fully enjoy the passage of Time.

So what's the secret to enjoying the passage of Time?

Deciding.

Just start enjoying it.
Right now, if you like.

It's called Gratitude.

Recognize the positives in your life.
And while you're at it
push your life in the direction of more of it
and away from less of it.

The future will change with or without us.
It's better, of course, if the future changes
with our influence
than without our influence.

The future will change without us
in ways that may be good,
but probably are either not good
or indifferent.

Why let my Life, my Time,
be the result of random events?

It makes sense to have my Life, my Time,
be the product of my choosing.

And so I do choose thusly:

My Time will be of my choosing.

As the moments of my Life evaporate,
very few are of my choice completely.

I have responsibilities, family, friends, work, health, laundry…
and so on ad infinitum.

Very little is My Time, completely.

My Time is so rare and precious
that I have found ways to have more of it.

I am infinitely greedy about My Time.

During My Time I allow no interruptions.

I focus fully on the moments of now
savoring each for its beauty and peace and perfection,
and let it slip away while welcoming the next one.

Like breaths of fresh air.

I have become adept at using now
to make future nows even more perfect than now.

I have so much to look forward to!

If I look back over the past,
I am filled with awe at what I have wrought.

But I also see where I can do better.

Looking forward and back is only one way to spend now,
and I try to keep that to a minimum.

Right now, it's one breath in, and then one breath out.

My being is calm, and smiling, and focused,
because that I can do at any time,
just by deciding that's who I am.

From there I feel the Gratitude for all that is.
And envision more of the good,
and let the other drift away.

Be like clear water.
Be still, and let the not-water fall away.

It's effortless, really.
It just takes the decision, the commitment, the action.

The action of stillness; it sounds like a paradox.

The action for me is to sit on my yoga mat,
then lie down on my back,
and to close my eyes,
and to breathe intentionally, slowly,
and fully experience each breath
from start to finish,
letting each breath take its own time,
while I let my body relax completely.

At some point in my Time, I stretch.

My body loves a good stretch,
especially when I add my breath to the moment.

It doesn't get much more enjoyable than that,
and I can do it almost any time,
so I try to do it several times during the day,
even if only for a few moments of now.

Sometimes when I'm enjoying the passage of Time,
I imagine all the billions of people who are not,
and I wish they could,
and how different a world it could be
if only they had some of my Time of their own each day.

Just once a day — that's the least we deserve.

Each of us is unique;
there never was, and never will be another just like us.

We were born into this world,
and somewhere between then and now
we get so caught up in it
that Time slips away without thought.

We become robots on a stage,
playing out some program written long ago,
and not by us!

We are on auto-pilot
going from here to there
from future to past
with no stops in between,
without thought or appreciation,
just passing through.

No! I will not be that robot.

I will not let my life evaporate.

I must have My Time,
at least once a day.

I must have that to look forward to.

So I put My Time on My Checklist™
because then I know I won't forget it,
and because it's just that important.

Every pilot has a checklist, and uses it.
Or they will die.

Flying taught me that.

So now, when I want something to happen,
I put it on My Checklist™ and it gets done.

It's not a to-do list,
although I do have a to-do list
as one of the things on My Checklist™.

My Checklist™ is my superpower.

It guides me on the path to enjoy perfect days
every day.

It's something I've built
over years of continuous improvement.

And it's built on a long life of experience,
a life of less and more,
and learning what causes
the greatest enjoyment as Time goes by
— and with the least effort, that's key.

To maximize return on investment of Time
where the return is enjoying Time my way.

Life according to me.

I learned a long time ago
that we can do pretty much anything
we set our minds to.

So I set my mind to it.
Just to see if that proposition were true.

And it is.

So I continue to set my mind to it.
And it continues to be true.

I've shared this method with others,
and it works for them too.

It makes me wonder
when the rest of the world will catch on.

It seems like I should let more people know,
and maybe I should add that to My Checklist™.

But right now
I'm breathing in and breathing out
fresh cool spring air
just off the surf
in Del Mar, California...

All because of a decision I made 40 years ago
to move from Chicago,
where I learned I needed to be warm
as a basic building block of each perfect day.

And that decision has paid dividends for 40 years:

40 × 365 × 24 × 60 × 16 = 336,384,000 breaths so far
in a space of my choosing.

My Space is a lot like my Time.
It has everything to do with how
I enjoy the passage of Time.

So I spend a lot of my Time perfecting my Space.
That's another thing that's on My Checklist™.

If you want to know more about My Checklist™,
look for me here.

Chatbot for DoubleM

Try this chatbot, to ask it anything you would like to ask me.

I can't see your questions, or the answers!

That's why I need your feedback.

Let me know how it goes, and how it can be improved.  

ToBeWise™ major update #77

There is a new look and feel to the app ToBeWise. 

For iPhone users only (for now) and available at the website: https://tobewise.co/

Check it out, Version 77.3.0 (April 11, 2026).

Keep us humble and tell us about bugs, typos, inconsistencies, etc.

And please share your suggestions for improvement. 

Thank you!

5 Hacks to Use ChatGPT So Well It's Almost Unfair

This is excellent.  Notice the part about using GPT as an executive coach.

Now that you are in the zone for using GPT better than ever, watch this one below:

AI Advises Me On How To Enter Flow State Quickly

 

Rapid Flow Entry Protocol (5–10 Minutes)

1. Physiological Reset (2–3 min)

Flow is state-dependent. Start with the body.

• 5 slow nasal breaths

  • 4 sec inhale

  • 6–8 sec exhale

• Drop shoulders deliberately.

• Relax jaw and tongue.

• Soften gaze.

This shifts you from sympathetic (threat) to parasympathetic (engagement readiness).

---

2. Define the Target (1 min)

Flow requires:

• Clear goal

• Immediate feedback

• Challenge slightly above skill

Write one sentence:

For the next 30 minutes, I will ______.

Make it specific and finishable.

Not: “work on chapter.”
Yes: “rewrite the opening two paragraphs of the racing story.”

---

3. Remove Cognitive Friction (1–2 min)

• Phone out of room

• Close all tabs except the one task

• Timer set for 25–45 min

• Physical posture adjusted for engagement

Flow dies in ambiguity and interruption.

---

4. Single Decisive Action (Immediate)

Start with one bold move, not a warm-up.

Examples:

• Rewrite the first sentence aggressively.

• Sketch the core argument in 5 bullet points.

• Shoot the hardest shot first.

• Open with the most emotionally intense memory.

Flow favors commitment, not hesitation.

---

5. Challenge Calibration

If you feel:

• Bored → Increase difficulty.

• Anxious → Narrow the scope.

Flow lives in the narrow band between the two.

---

Fast Trigger Method (Under 60 Seconds)

When you want near-instant entry:

1. Stand.

2. Take one deep inhale.

3. On exhale say internally: Now.

4. Sit and begin immediately.

Condition that cue daily. It becomes Pavlovian.

Pilots do this before takeoff. Athletes before serve. Programmers before a hard build.

---

What Blocks You Most Often

For someone like you — high agency, high competence — the usual blockers are:

• Overthinking structure before beginning.

• Wanting the work to be excellent immediately.

• Allowing mental drift toward “bigger picture.”

Flow does not begin at altitude. It begins at taxi speed.

---

My View

Flow isn’t mystical. It’s mechanical.
It responds to:

• Clarity

• Constraint

• Commitment

In your case — especially writing about aviation, racing, or pool — the fastest trigger will likely be sensory recall. Instead of thinking about flow, re-enter a cockpit moment or a tight table shot in detail. The body follows the image.

Instant Flow: Achieving Optimum Human Performance At Will

 

Instant Flow: Achieving Optimum Human Performance At Will

(a book by Michael McCafferty)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents

Introduction

The State of Being Where Everything Works

---

Part I — Recognizing the State

1. The State Where Everything Works

2. Calm Under Intensity

3. Mental, Physical, and Social Flow

4. Productive and Non-Productive Flow

5. The Scarcity Problem

---

Part II — The Conditions That Create Flow

6. Narrowing Attention

7. Eliminating Internal Interference

8. The Power of Immediate Feedback

9. Environment Design

10. Physiological Alignment

11. The Pre-Flow Ritual

---

Part III — Entering Flow on Demand

12. What Hypnosis Really Is

13. Self-Hypnosis for Performance

14. Installing a Trigger

15. The 5-Minute Flow Protocol

16. Using Flow Before High-Stakes Moments

---

Part IV — Applied Flow

17. Flow at the Keyboard

18. Flow in Competition

19. Flow in Mentorship and Leadership

20. Flow in Critical Conversations

21. Flow as a Professional Advantage

---

Conclusion

Imagine

Bibliography

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Chapter 1

Flow: The State of Being Where Everything Works

Imagine...

Imagine if you could live at nearly one hundred percent of

your mental and physical capacity.

Zero anxiety.

Fully focused, yet relaxed and confident.

Imagine having moments that are optimized.

Imagine your attention so completely absorbed in what

you are doing that nothing extraneous enters your awareness.

No internal narration grading your performance.

Just clarity.

Your movements are efficient.

Your perception sharp.

Your breathing steady.

Your decisions immediate.

There is no split between thinking and doing.

There is only execution.

This is flow.

Flow is calm under intensity.

The environment may be demanding.

The stakes may be real.

Your heart rate may rise.

But internally, you are steady.

Mind and body align.

Performance is perfect, almost easy. 

You have pre-seen the outcome and allow it to happen.

Here are a few of my personal experiences in the state of flow.

At the pool table. 

The room grows quiet.

You approach the table smoothly, with confidence.

There is no rush and there is no waiting.

The angles are obvious.

You feel the stroke before you release it.

You see where the cue ball will go before you shoot.

The sound of contact is clean.

You became the cue ball, the stroke, the game.

Landing an open cockpit biplane. 

There is a challenging gusting crosswind on final approach.

Perfect conditions to trash your wood and fabric vintage airplane

Your hands and feet respond on the controls before thoughts form.

You hold off landing until the the last moment, then flare.

The wheels tickle the grass field for a second or two then touch down so gently, imperceptibly.  

You are inside the ever-changing process of landing. 

At speed on the track.

Tires at the edge of grip.

Micro-corrections occur instantly and continuously.

Fear is replaced with focus.

Time stretches.

You and the car become one and move as if in a dream.

Across the table from a startup founder/CEO.

Revenue uncertain. 

Cash runway shrinking.

Product and personnel issues are many, and pressing.

You listen with full attention and intention..

You ask one or two questions.

You know the answers before the words escape their lips.

There are a few moments of silence.

Then founder breathes out, anxiety evaporates. 

The path ahead is clear.

They know the solution without you having to tell them.

Your questions alone reveal the truth.

Moments like these feel accidental and rare.

But they can be created.

Imagine.

Imagine if you could create this state at will.

Before a critical meeting.

Before writing something important.

Before making a high-stakes decision.

Imagine beginning your day in that condition.

Imagine conducting your business from that level of

clarity.

Imagine the compound effect of operating that way

consistently.

Imagine what that would do for your success in life and

in business.

That is where we are going.  

Read on...