u/theJacofalltrades

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I was convinced I could still instantly recognize every Pokemon from the games I played as a kid. Then I tried some "Guess that Pokemon" minigames and it turns out there are quite a few I completely forgot existed.

It got me wondering, what retro game do you think you know by heart, but would probably struggle with if someone tested your memory today?

https://preview.redd.it/iuv0mdqf058h1.png?width=555&format=png&auto=webp&s=c44634b95fd3a69515a7d447771e10194ab48587

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https://preview.redd.it/3tjkiq65158h1.png?width=437&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ac910982aff3b6dbad0dd92fa6147b3281f51c9

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A few years ago, I was one of those freelancers refreshing Upwork every few minutes, sending proposal after proposal and getting ignored and losing all my connects and having to wait MONTHS to apply again.

Back then, it honestly felt like a race to the bottom. Ang daming talented freelancers fighting over the same projects, and minsan mapapaisip ka talaga kung worth it pa ba.

There was a point where I was stressing over basic expenses. Not "I can't buy a new gadget" stressed. More like "I hope I have enough left for my meds this month" stressed. (I have psychological conditions that I really need medicated to be stable)

So instead of chasing every job, I started focusing on building a portfolio. I took small projects and some paid poorly and a lot of clients were difficult. Some projects went nowhere and projects cancelled with no pay and most made me question my career choices . 😂 But each one that I completed added a little more credibility to my profile.

Then eventually, I landed one really good client.

Not a unicorn by any means and not some millionaire startup founder. Just a good client who paid fairly, respected my work, and kept sending projects. His great reviews led to better clients.
and better clients led to higher rates and those higher rates led to fewer headaches.

Fast forward to today I'm officially Top Rated Plus on Upwork.

The funny thing is that the badge wasn't the real reward. The real reward was finally having breathing room and being able to say no to clients I have a feeling would be bad. Not panicking every time an invoice was delayed and having confidence that I could replace lost income if needed.

And now I'm working on something I never thought I'd be doing when I was desperately sending proposals for scraps: diversifying my income outside freelancing.

I'm currently buying a vending machine and starting a small business venture on the side. Nothing glamorous. No "quit your job and become a millionaire" story. Just trying to build multiple income streams so me and my family aren't dependent on a single income stream.

To everyone in r/buhaydigital who's still grinding through proposals, getting ghosted, or wondering if it's worth it: kapit lang.

You don't need one hundred clients. Sometimes all it takes is one good client to change your trajectory.

Wishing everyone here more wins, better clients, higher rates, and a little less stress this year. We all start somewhere. ❤️

Hi guys, mangutana lang ko asa pinakadabest place for Anniversary Lunch? Sige mi'g adto sa Tadakuma so ayaw lang na to i suggest.

Best for both estetik and flavor. Thank you!

I think I've reached the point where I automatically build the same team every playthrough even on nuzlockes

The most fun I've had recently was forcing myself to use a completely random team and just dealing with whatever I got. Some of the Pokémon looked terrible on paper but ended up carrying the run.

What challenge runs you guys have done that were actually fun and not just frustrating?

Been trying a bunch of AI time tracking/billing tools lately because I absolutely hate reconstructing my week from memory.

AJAX was impressive at first but after a while I noticed I was constantly babysitting it. Felt like I kept having to correct stuff, rename things, clean entries up, explain context etc. Smart tool but sometimes it felt like another thing to manage.

One Point felt more corporate to me. Very process-heavy. I can see why teams would like it but personally it gave me “now I have to maintain the productivity system” energy.

Billables AI was the first one that felt closer to what I actually wanted which is to just quietly figure out what I did without making me think about it.

Not perfect obviously but it felt less intrusive.

Big thing I noticed is most tracking tools still somehow create work and how you end up tracking the tracking.

Billables felt the closest to disappearing into the background which honestly might matter more than having 1000 features.

Would love to know what tools have been absolute game changers and have greatly elevated your streaming

Are there any changes? I've found that I can listen with more intent and am overall more present with my friends.

I was listening to a podcast recently and the funny part was the guest basically saying people should probably listen to fewer podcasts lol. Or at least stop constantly filling every quiet moment with input. Made me realize how little silence most of us actually experience now. Phone out while eating, videos while walking, music while driving, scrolling before bed.

The idea of being alone with your own thoughts for a few days sounds both horrible and kind of appealing at the same time.

Feels like we might be slowly losing the ability to just sit there and exist without stimulation.

I was watching Lynn Hill talk about constantly chasing bigger goals and how easy that turns into burnout after a while. Made me wonder where the line is between improving and just turning the whole thing into pressure.

How do you stay motivated without sucking the enjoyment out of it?

Curious where people draw the line between “work” and “supporting work.”

Example:

answering Slack
reviewing context
fixing misunderstandings
switching between projects
waiting for renders/uploads

None of it feels productive in the moment but it absolutely drains time and energy so do you track it or just absorb the loss?

I'm looking for something that can help me instantly create reports to my clients, something that I don't have to check every 15 minutes or so if the tracker is on or not and something that won't go crazy every time I switch a tab or when I use several monitors.

Would love to hear if anything has changed

Just finished a podcast that featured Ed Viesturs and I've gotten a good sense of how he believes ones goals should evolve with age.

Ed set an enormous goal in his youth, to climb all 14 of the 8,000.00 meter peaks without oxygen. This undertaking consumed nearly 20 years of his life. But instead of setting bigger goals, something changed.

He told me that he now finds fulfillment coming from simpler things like guiding people safely through mountains, staying strong enough to be the first guy into camp, going on more adventures with his wife, keeping touch with old friends and just moving every single day.

It's incredibly grounding to hear that from a person who has literally stood on top of the world's highest mountains.

Maybe the point of aging well isn't to keep escalating forever, maybe it's learning how to redirect the same passion and discipline into a quieter kind of life.

I’ve been thinking about this since a podcast I had recently listened to featuring climber/powerlifter Natasha Barnes.

One thing she said that really stuck with me was that when researchers compare men and women with the same lean muscle mass, the strength difference mostly disappears.

Which sounds obvious in hindsight, but I honestly had never heard it framed that way before.

She also pointed out that a lot of women simply don’t have the same training history because culturally we get pushed toward “light weights/high reps/cardio” way earlier, while guys are encouraged to lift heavy from the start.

What I appreciated was that she wasn’t doing the whole “women should train exactly like men” internet thing either. It was more: women respond really well to strength training, and a lot of us are leaving strength, confidence, bone density, muscle, and long-term health on the table because we underestimate what’s possible.

What are your thoughts on this?

I’ve started generating teams before playthroughs/battles because it gives me a clear shopping list of Pokémon to hunt/trade for instead of randomly catching stuff forever.

IDK why but it makes team planning weirdly addicting honestly!