Spikeball day

Another fun day at spikeball. Still the funnest day was the weekend before my birthday. I won so many games, laughed so much, and played so hard for 3.5 hours!

Today was pretty good. I wish my favourite people were there, which is actually just Suraj and Nicole. John used to be one but I learned now that he doesn’t laugh that much and he doesn’t want to play with me. Neither does Nick. Nick says I’m good but not when I’m on his team. Weird. I think it’s an excuse.

I’m playing better and better now. Better reflex, better ball control.

 

Paul Jackson video chat

Had a video chat with Paul today.

We planned a week before, and I have been nervous since.

I have been whitening my teeth, taking good care of my skin, adjusting the filter on my google meet, checking which direction works best for the call (most flattering face, best background).

And today was the day. I wrapped up the meeting with Evgenia 5 min before meeting with Paul. I went to the bathroom 3 times.

The meeting started. He was wearing a toque and a brown plaid shirt (exactly as I predicted he’d wear..he’s been wearing it a lot). He had a mountain bike hung on his wall. His eyes were amazing – sparkly. His nose was cute. His teeth were so white. He looked cute.

I blabbed on about things, different than what I thought I’d say. He was nice and helpful. We had some funny moments. At 1 hour, he said he had to go. That was it.

There was no flirty vibe coming from him. I don’t know if I sent any flirty vibes….but I was wearing just my thai-die hoodie, unlike what I had planned on wearing before, which was a cute pink gym top with bananas on it. Glad I didn’t!

It would’ve been wrong of him to be flirty. I respected that he wasn’t. But a part of me wished that I was able to catch some involuntary attraction vibe coming from him. I didn’t feel much of that. Maybe his wife was in the house!

I learned that he married his high school sweet heart. They’ve been together for 15 years! So since he was 16. Wow.

He said he is going to get his finger tattooed instead of wearing a ring. Wow.

So, that tells me that 1) he is off the market for life, 2) he’s probably never been with anyone else – which means he is probably a romantic or has a very small penis or some big insecurity.

I would’ve stayed with Norm if we were more compatible. He probably would’ve stayed with me if I didn’t break up with him? He would most likely have cheated though, I think. And he was just insecure for no real reason. He had a big dick.

I would’ve been so unhappy in that relationship. Having had all the fun sex experiences I’ve had, I can’t imagine being with 1 person my entire life. It’s like staying in 1 country, or eating one type of food.

I also learned that he is quite a red neck…more than I realized. I thought he was a metrosexual… I’m a little turned off by the red neck / country-ness about him…

Another thing about him is that he always wears his hat backwards, or is wearing his toque. I LOVE the hat backwards look, but, I’m 99% sure that something is up. Either receding hairline or alopecia.

I seem to remember that the first time I saw him, he wasn’t wearing anything….just his beautiful hair….but….I could be wrong.

He had such a beautiful head of hair at his wedding though.

In any case, it doesn’t matter.

He is in a committed relationship, about to get his ring tatted on. He is very country. Very redneck. He probably is balding and has a small dick lol. His upper lip is very thin, which is a turn off too lol.

Alas, he is also super smart, very responsive in chat, very cute, and quite funny.

After he said he’s gonna tattoo his ring finger, he said he can still wear a ring for his grandma. I said, “She’d probably want you to have a neck tattoo for her though”. He said, “Yeah and she’ll get one on her butt.” We both said something about matching tattoos, and he said it’ll be 2 halves of a heart and they can come together to make a full heart hahahha

I mean, if we met years ago, we can be similar people today. But we meet today, and he is a redneck while I’m a….city hippie? We have similar roots – analytical, artistic, love designing products, not big on jewelry, like to play outside and get dirty. But…we are not that compatible as we are already set in our ways.

Plus he is 12 years younger.

At the closing party, I deliberately turned my head and glanced over at him, twice. I’m pretty sure he noticed. When Brian reached out to touch my back, I’m pretty sure Paul looked to see what’s up. Soon after that, when I was by myself, he came over to take a photo together with me.

I look back on that photo, and, while it was not a great photo of either of us, our faces were so close together for some reason. He is tall enough that his face shouldn’t be so close to mine naturally….but our cheeks were basically touching.

The other thing was when we were laughing together, our arms were pressed against each other, for a while. There’s a natural physical closeness that we have.

I feel that he is sincere enough that those moments meant something.

But hey, let’s be realistic. He is telling me he is getting a ring tattoo. If that’s not the biggest sign of commitment and non-flirting, I don’t know what is lol. He seems like the perfect guy, but someone else already has his heart.

Also, during our meeting, he didn’t ask questions about me. That’s a sign of non-interest. He was just being polite probably.

I want someone who is curious about me.  Cute, smart, playful, funny, sincere, high EQ, communicative. Around the same age as me, youthful, rich, loves spikeball. A successful e-commerce entrepreneur. Great dick. Great in bed. LOVES me.

I think he is a people pleaser. An ENFP or ENFJ. That’s another reason why I like him. I like people pleasers! They are kinder with their words and intentions.

Fun Day – Spikeball

Ah my biggest joy of life at the moment: Spikeball!

I can honestly say that it’s just so much fun, EVEN if I’m not buddies with the players.

So many people (older people) watched us play with envy, and even asked us what the game is called. I mean, we really did look like we were having a ton of fun! 😀

I haven’t played so hard in my life. Got there at 4:30, and finished playing at around 8pm. 3.5hours of play! No break either.

I’m what John called rinsed, and it feels good!

I’ve realized that it’s just so fun to be active! Playing spikeball is the best, volleyball maybe second.

This coming winter, I’ll for sure be somewhere where I can stay active! Maybe Costa Rica or Thailand or Bali.


I won a lot today! Another reason why I had so much fun today!

I won maybe 8 out of 10 games.

The official game started at 5:30. I got there at 4:30, then Nicole arrived, then Pranav. We played for a while, then Sid came maybe around 5. I was surprised, but not thrilled.

If it was last year, I would’ve been thrilled! I would’ve hugged him and he would’ve picked me up and spun me around.

But he has proven to be not worthy of my affection. Last Noveween, he didn’t come to my party and didn’t tell me that he wasn’t coming. He said he was coming to the cold plunge, and he didn’t.

So this year, he gets the cold shoulder from me. And not even super obvious. Just enough to make him feel uncomfortable, and for me to not feel awkward.

The funny thing was Nicole asked me when Sid arrived, “Who is that?” Ahahahha

I just can’t believe that I found him attractive.

He is the only person there without major ug, but he is really not that cute. His features are plain. He doesn’t wear his hat backwards these days and that makes him a lot less cute. His face is so tiny. His legs super skinny. His skin not great. His nose a bit crooked and pointing downward. His movement – which I used to find cute – is not cute anymore.

He doesn’t have an audible laugh. He hasn’t been making jokes. He hasn’t been funny!

I noticed that he doesn’t compliment on my serves but complimented on Nicole’s serves. I wonder why. I’m just as good, and most likely better. Today I was standing near the nets, drinking some water. He stood somewhat near me and but didn’t talk to me.

I enjoyed playing with Toby today, because he has long arms like Suraj and can make some cool moves. But, he was one of the people who didn’t come and didn’t tell me.

Andrew wants to go have a beer as a group one day. I didn’t wanna. I don’t like these people enough to socialize. I just like to play spikeball!

Playing so hard I’m exhausted atm…that’s life! I want to do it often, and throughout the year 🙂


Oh and I had a video chat with Suneal today. It was good! I like chatting with other entrepreneurs. It’s the equivalent of hanging out with good friends!

I want to hit Paul up for a video call. But I’m a little afraid to find his flaws when we talk. Right now he is perfect.


I started putting medical tape on my face as of about 3 days ago.

It’s for smoothing out wrinkles, keeping my face moist, and preventing me from puckering up my face. Also it’s been working as a mouth tape for me.

I don’t know if it is going to be dramatically helpful. It’ll do for now, until I find a facelift surgeon!

 

 

 

Love Life More! 20 years from now, I’d think now is amazing young time of my life!

It’s indisputable. 20 years from now, I’d look back to today and think, wow, I was so young in 2024!

What I want is to be able to look back and say, well done! Well done at life! Well done at making the most of it!

What would be the coolest things for me to do for the upcoming 10 years?

  1. Travel and see more of the world with people I love
  2. Meet more people, make friends who are genuine, kind, funny, smart
  3. Get really good at something – spikeball, volleyball, surfing, surfskate
  4. More freedom and less stress – have a team, mentally be more free and relaxed, physically too!
  5. Make good use of my healthy body – have fun! Be active! See the world!

The thing is, as I get older, I feel that travelling is overrated. People are what matters. But then, I feel that people are overrated, friends are overrated, and so is a boyfriend. I feel that there’s no point in making an impact on the world. People are not worth it.

 

John is now a millionaire!

6 years ago, at 40, he lost almost all his money (2018). I had about $1.4M

5 years ago, he started investing for me, $100k.

4 years ago, COVID hit. I listened to his advice and tried to short Shopify. Made a mistake, bought 10x the options. Lost $150K. Revenge traded for a while, made $20K back in 4 days. Bought some stocks based on his advice and surf-traded daily. Fat fingered again, bought 10x the SPG than intended. This turned out to be the best mistake.

3 years ago, the money I made, $3M – he started managing it.

2 year ago, set up Mom’s IBKR for him to manage too.

1 year ago (2023), at 45, his net worth is $1.4M, and mine is $7.1M ($6.5M after paying him $600K)

Amazing!

He is gonna soar from here!

He’s bought a Porche. He is moving into Kengo building in the West End with $4800/month rent.

I’m so happy for him!

Now I just hope that his health improves.

 

Being Friends with Brian

After saying Merry Xmas to Brian, we started talking again.

He is visiting Taiwan and Thailand these days.

I learned that he went to see a doctor in Taiwan for a. mild hernia, and a dentist in Thailand for root canal. Wow. Very unsexy haha.

I’m definitely a lot less attracted to him this time around. If last April he kept the convo going, I would’ve felt a lot for him. Let’s revisit reasons why I would never, ever make out with him or date him:

  1. Not reliable / bad etiquette – Didn’t show up to my Noveween 2022 party and didn’t say anything.
  2. Bad temper / blunt – When I joked about it months later, he got mad and expressed it without holding back
  3. Not a thoughtful person – Didn’t warn me about crossing the border for ECF Live in 2023
  4. Not a grateful person / took my idea without acknowledgement – Used my idea of hiring an agency while doing things in-house to speed up TT success, and totally forgot that he copied my idea
  5. Conceited – thinks he is smarter, thinks he is a visionary
  6. Negative / cynical
  7. No affirmation / no compliments – dismissive
  8. No physical touch
  9. No quality time – never wants to hang out one on one
  10. Hardly laughs or smiles
  11. Cold personality
  12. Doesn’t seem to have a strong sex drive
  13. Wants kids
  14. Wouldn’t dedicate time for a relationship, from the looks of it
  15. Has a ton of health issues, including bad eye sight, root canal, hernia
  16. Disappears when there’s discomfort/conflict between us
  17. Doesn’t take much of an initiative to show that he is interest – not asking me out, invites me to his event and doesn’t talk to me

Smart, funny, successful – but how undatable he is!

Jan 1, 2024

New Year is here!

Day 1!

I’ve been seeing a lot of New Year Manifest New Life type of content on social. Who do you have to be, to get the life you want? That kind of stuff.

The cool thing is, I have what I want, and if I don’t, I can get it. I feel very blessed.

For example, I’m looking forward to going to Costa Rica. I don’t need to save up money for it. I don’t need to ask my boss for permission to take time off work. How amazing!

If I like Costa Rica, I have the money to buy a place there. How amazing!

And if I want to take 3 months a year to stay in Costa Rica, I can! Mom wouldn’t like it, but maybe she can visit!

 

Home; Planning for the New Year and Growth

  1. How many sales does Minimalist Caitlin do? Check its traffic too, and if it’s growing
  2. Should I just acquire a custom jewelry company? Are there local ones for sale?
  3. Should I expand into customization? Seems to be very unscalable. 150 staff for $75M a year. Study what that Hamptonites’ 3 websites are about
  4. Comb through Hampton and ECF for people in jewelry
  5. Biz opportunities: What are the things I need and want in life? Wig with tacky but glue-free underside
  6. What kind of lifestyle do I want? What does the end game look like? What kind of business is best for that?
  7. What trends are rising? Moissanite
  8. Any downside / risks / threats to my idea of breakable rings?
  9. Opportunities for breakable rings? Who would I market to at first? How can I test this out?
  10. Are there better businesses to go into? What are the best businesses to be in right now?
  11. Is there anything that I have an advantage for? For example, I have better insight into what a small DTC biz owner needs. Or aging as a woman. Or being an female entrepreneur. Being an Asian female. Being an alopecian. Aspiring nomad. Someone wanting to be ready for another mandate.

 

 

Thing I want to do in the new year

  1. Drink collagen and other good stuff daily
  2. Check calendar daily
  3. Time block time to work out (or stretch) daily
  4. Skin and hair routine daily
  5. Infrared daily

New Year 2024

My favourite moments in 2023

  • Talking to Brian (having a crush at the time) (Q1)
  • ECF Live (Q1)
  • Fun with the VAs in the Philippines (Q2)
  • Experiencing the hotel in Thailand (Q2)
  • Riding my e-scooter (Q3)
  • Playing spikeball and laughing LOTS! (Q3/Q4)
  • (Very brief) Encounters with Sid (Q3/Q4)
  • Getting a porcelain Frenchie from Bunny (Q4)

Somewhat fun:

  • Flowrider in Thailand
  • Surfskate
  • Cold plunge at Kits beach

My biggest wins / Pivotal events in 2023

  • $7M networth from investment!
  • $2M USD revenue from biz!
  • Hired Bryce/Bena, Kateryna, Paulina, Aref, Madhavi. And Daniel for Google Ads and Harry for Amazon UK and CA. Now have a team of 10 ppl.
  • Bought a new Lexus for Mom
  • Helped John buy his Porsche
  • Completed 11 week cold plunge challenge
  • Have been having a commitment coach since July

My favourite new ppl in 2023 and why

  • Nicole Yu – fun, sincere, laughs lots, reliable, funny
  • Suraj – fun, sincere, laughs lots, reliable, thoughtful, funny
  • Sid – funny, playful, flirty, charismatic, attractive
  • John from Spikeball – fun, sincere, funny
  • Brian – interesting to talk to, funny, seemed interested
  • Braedon (Nicole’s bf) – easygoing, kind, sometimes funny
  • Ronnie – sincere when I was in Thailand; though seemed to favour Brian when visiting. Didn’t like that.
  • Carly – new friend! Successful, likes me.
  • David (ECF) – invited me to MDS dinner; can be quite nice and funny

My least fave moments in 2023

  • Getting ghosted repeatedly on Bumble
  • Feeling insecure about aging
  • Losing Brian, Sid, and Alex
  • Getting locked out of FB, my laptop, and my apartment
  • 7 consecutive issues with Speedy and production
  • Scared to travel to ECF Live because of vax status
  • 3 consecutive issues with car right after getting it from Mom
  • Dale messed up on price change and several other things while I was travelling, and then she asked for a raise.

My biggest challenge in 2023

  • My huge price change in March set us back on SEO ranking and sales for a while

What I want more of

  • LOVE
  • Friends who adore me and laugh at my jokes
  • Smart / interesting / playful / inspiring / funny / loyal / wise / kind friends
  • Rizz
  • Abs, good skin, toned body, younger face
  • Focus
  • Energy, vitality
  • Fun gatherings at home
  • Fun adventures
  • New experiences
  • High quality crushes (who reciprocate)

What I want less of

  • Low mood
  • Stress

What I will gain

  • A project manager
  • A routine that optimizes happiness and productivity
  • More SODA
  • Momentum
  • Add more love when I think about people
  • Help people, give more to others

What I will cut out

  • Saying non-constructive negative things about people or events
  • Thinking negatively of people
  • Comparing self to others

 


Want to do

  • Visit Costa Rica
  • Go to a surf camp (with Hampton Group)
  • Go to a retreat to relax and reset (can be a surfing retreat, or a yoga one, or an all inclusive with flowrider)
  • Play spikeball with people I like
  • Play volleyball with people I like
  • Surf
  • Surfskate
  • A theme park – Disney? Universal? The one in Japan? Pikachu one or Mario one

Want to have

  • More friends that I love that love me, make me happy, energize me.
  • Less stress
  • 10x biz growth

Action:

  1. Study how people maintain good and long lasting friendship and apply it
  2. Learn to let go of negativity, stress, frustration by meditating
  3. Give myself lots of encouragement, validation, love.
  4. Recite my desires and goals daily, many times, with emotions and visualizations
  5. Meditate daily for a clear head, less stress, and for more vitality
  6. Use the spreadsheet method to track progress of meetings, life, team KPI
  7. Establish a very advantageous routine
  8. Make time for friends, for social events; use the adventure book
  9. Before attending an event, be mindful about what I want to get out of it. e.g MDS – could’ve made more friends! Could’ve asked Kevin about his engraving team.

Want to be

  • Good at spikeball, surfskate, volleyball, surfing
  • More youthful and toned
  • Rizz Goddess

Action:

  1. Mindful practice and learning of each sport; goal setting and time blocking
  2. Anti-aging routine
  3. Workout routine
  4. Healthy eating
  5. Mindful practice of rizz techniques one at a time

(How I) Want to live

  • Sunny and warm
  • Good friends
  • Great sex life
  • Lots of time outdoor, laughing
  • Not stressed

Action:

  1. Plan trips during cold months
  2. Make an effort with existing friends, and make new friends
  3. Manifest great sex
  4. Actively SODA out stressful tasks
  5. Time block rejuvanation time

Break the year down into 4 quarters (ie. 3-month year)

Gratitude

I’m grateful.

I’m grateful for so many things.

I want to really make the most of my time on this planet.

Be happy. Spread joy. Inspire love.

Live a great life. Amazing moments. Cool experiences. Love love love.

A couple big things on my mind:

  1. Is growing Knot Theory the best path forward? Or is there a better way of spending the rest of my life? Or is there a better business to be in? More free time, more money, more location freedom, less stress?
  2. How would I grow Knot Theory in the wedding niche?
  3. What does my ideal life look like in 5 to 10 years? Potential things of concern? Mom’s health, my apartment, etc