Met with Russell over lunch. We ate, chatted, and got into some good discussions. Here are some of my notes. See attached for scans of my handwritten notes.

- Russell recommended some books to read. Good source of learning. Author - Robert C. Martin - "Clean Coder", "Clean Code", and "Clean Architecture"

- Ideas on project management, saying yes, saying no, and some time management concepts.

- We talked about the addiction of "progression" and the pros and cons of that addiction.

- Provide the stable (for you, your family, and others) - then go from there. As a side note, this word "stable" kept coming up throughout our conversation.

- What if it fails? Are you going to be ok? How many eggs do you have in one single basket? Asking yourself questions like that sometimes helps you get a better, more rounded perspective.

- Consistency over small pushes. It may be better to be consistent than push like crazy all at once. Similar analogy to floods vs drips (water).

- Little bitesize pieces

- Dedicated "Lunch" time or some other dedicated time. Carving out something that is special and time for you.

- If it is your project, you will care for it and make it happen (see it through). On a different note, if you can get others to buy in and give them ownership and let them make parts of the bigger project their dream, it becomes more stable over all.

- A good testing strategy is needed. It will build confidence by the bucket load.

- Lots of talks about expectations - Testing and getting everything built out.

- Efficiency - That sounds great, and it has its place, but sometimes there are more things than just pure efficiency. You almost have to play this little balance game.

- Russell was talking about the book and podcast "The Working Genius". He was telling me what some of his strengths and weaknesses were. Fun topics. It helps you get your vision of who you are and how you work and/or interact with others and other tasks.

- Over time, it is interesting to watch strengths and weaknesses playout over time. Letting things play out (both naturally and forced - at times).

- "Keep the stable" - Russell Moore - We kept coming back to this. I think he was trying to get me a subtle message of sorts.

- Continuing education time - make the time for it.

- Not only consistency, but consistency patterns

- Planning out the details of the journey. Looking and planning ahead.

- Russel and I were talking about my wife Heather. She has said over and over again that we are chasing too many things or trying to be too much for everyone. She's probably right and correct.

- Chasing the dragon - (the dream, the final or finished product) - It can be really fun but it could also be really dangerous (both mentally and physically). Just for fun, we were talking about the thrill of it and also the long term phycological effects of that chase. True on all accounts. I love the chase but sometimes it really does affect me (burnout, stress, anxiety, etc.). There is a cost to what we do.

- There is so much more than just building it - That is one of the pieces of the puzzle (the whole).

- Marketing - Pushing it to the next level

- Technical debt - it can crush you! This is when you have so much older code that needs to be updated, maintained, and adjusted. It is called technical debt. It can crush you, it may also crush your soul, your spirit, your will. It can be a huge burden.

- Minimal on the heavy lifting. Who is doing what and what kind of time commitment does that take? Where and what is your job? Don't get sucked into the jobs around the job (whatever that job is).

- Sharing your knowledge. That is fun and it pays dividends.

- If you don't take the time to do continuing education, the world will move on without you.

- Spend an hour a week with Russell.

- Ideally, if you can swing it, 5 hours a week on continuing education. This is your future. You have to future proof yourself.

- Lots depends on the funding... If not, either bail out or keep chipping away at it. Exploring options. Usually it is not just black and white, there are options if you will look for them.

- The dream is awesome but be ok with the maintaining of it as well. It not just the new building of a certain project. Sometimes, you have to pull back and either do some upkeep or be willing to maintain what you have. Here is a link to a small flower gardener (image) with the same question - plan more or take care of what I've got?

- Why does a designer or dreamer code? I'll tell you why, we don't like being stuck. We'll get in there and figure it out in order to make our dreams and ideas come to life.

- From Russell - what is your best path? His answer - Produce features and be able to get revenue (quickly).

- Russell also recommended a video called "Minimal Viable Architecture" by Randy Shoup.