Hey Reader,

So it's been a productive week. Got a lot of things going on and we're seeing some movement on the creative front. Excited to share this with you. Here's the rundown for the week:

What I've Been Doing:

🎙️ Podcast Recording: Not launched yet, but soon! On Monday, we recorded the first episode of We Should Be Working, our new podcast project. In it, my co-host Zach Hendrix and I go into the what it's all about and why we're starting a podcast. We're both excited and can't wait to officially launch it in the next week or two. Stay tuned!

🎹 Music Collab: On Tuesday, I spoke with all-things-80's enthusiast Joshua Blum about a music collab. He found a old Roland KR33 digital keyboard at Goodwill and it's got a nice retro sound. I was already working on an 80's pop tune and thought it'd be fun if he wrote something for it. Josh and I have done collabs before including the synthy pop punk track Arcade Days and some handpan tunes. He interviewed me on his podcast awhile back discussing astral projection and Brent Simon. Cool!

🏀 Women's B-Ball: This was just awesome. Yesterday, Cara and I watched Caitlin Clark make history. She broke the all-time women's scoring record, while also scoring 49 points (career high) and dishing out 13 assists. And she did it in incredible fashion. What a thrilling thing to witness since following her journey since 2020.

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Earlier this week, we went to see UCONN (our other fav team) play Xavier down in Cincinnati. It was a blowout, as expected, but we had great seats ten rows behind the UCONN bench.

✨ Feedback on AI Therapy Tools: I had a brief call with the developers of Refract, the AI-assisted IFS (internal family systems) self-therapy app. I hadn't used it for a few weeks, and they wanted my feedback. I took that opportunity to provide my honest thoughts on the complex nuances of using digital technology and AI to help us with our mental health.

On one hand, we all agree that getting away from screens is good for us, but the devs also want you to use their app. We talked about the business pressure to onboard more users and get paying subscribers and how it conflicts with the goal of a healthy userbase that doesn't need the app anymore. Kinda like how dating apps can't make any money if people are in healthy stable relationships.

Founder Brent Baum is aware of this paradox and I'm glad other people are thinking about it.

What Else I'm Into:

I'm still exploring the seedy underbelly of self-help and business. Just questioning the cult-like nature of work, making money, marketing, and the entire paradigm of "success".

It's complicated for artists ya know? We gotta eat. We gotta pay bills. But do we really have to sell out to do it?

• ​The Dream Podcast - Deep dive into the history of pyramid schemes, MLMs, and the wellness industry.
• ​Tangled Up in Abraham Hicks - A personal account of an Abe Hicks believer turned skeptic.
• ​LuLa Rich - A docu-series on the rise and fall of LuLaRoe, a wildly popular women's clothing brand that turned out to be a pyramid scheme.
• ​Sure, I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford - One of my favorite comedians released a memoir a few months ago and I got it on audiobook. She talks about living with mental illness and OCD. She's brutally honest and hilarious.

That's all for this week.

If you have any thoughts or questions about the nature of work, money, success, or self-help, I'd love to hear from you. We want to answer your questions on the podcast.

Can't wait to share it all with you when it's launched.

Have a good weekend ✌️

Jeff

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The Official Newsletter of Jeff Finley
​Designer, Author, Mystic

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