Sometimes you just have to eat shit.
Yesterday was one of those days for me.
And honestly, at the end of these types of days, all you can really do is laugh.
At yourself. At life in general.
Ultimately, I do realize as cliche as it sounds that these are the days that build character. Teach you lessons. Make you a better person.
Let me tell you what happened.
I’ve got to provide a bit of context.
So basically, I've been working on the 8AM app for the past 5 years *(formerly Maxi).
The first iteration of the app - I actually no-coded it myself during the pandemic in 2020.
Yes, I was vibe coding apps years before ChatGPT / bolt / replit.
I had this idea for a tool that could distill the thousands of hours I'd spent studying religious alignment techniques, personal transformation and personal development into something very easy and simple to use.
A tool that anybody could use - with no prior understanding of these deep teachings, no prior knowledge of these techniques - and get extremely high-level transformational results just by interacting with the app for 5 to 10 minutes a day.
I thought that this app could help thousands, millions of people potentially - with anxiety, depression, any sorts of mental issues.
And, beyond escaping the mental prison, it could then take them to their next level of evolution. Becoming a better person. More productive. More creative.
A very simple app that would help people in unlocking the highest level version of themselves that exists.
So during the pandemic, I spent a lot of time creating the no-code v1.
I launched it to a test group of 30 people. Got their feedback.
And the feedback was amazing.
People really seemed to like what I had put together, and it was really starting to help them.
And then, of course, throughout the pandemic, I just spent basically all my time on my laptop talking to my customers and people using the tool.
Improving it. Adding / testing / subtracting features here and there.
And of course, I was limited because I have absolutely no coding background or experience.
I was a film student in college. Zero tech background. You know, a retarded COM student.
But somehow, I seemed to be able to create a tool that people really liked and people used.
And I grew it to several thousand members throughout the next several years.
The feedback from it was amazing.
Fast forward to 2024, and since all the AI tools had dropped, I realized I really needed to revamp the tool.
What was interesting in this time period was the first sort of mental download and market messaging that I had dreamed up for the app was::
"Maxi, the AI personal assistant for your mind."
That was the original tagline.
And that was before I even really knew what AI was and before LLMs were even a thing.
Then, of course, ChatGPT-3 came out. Then 4. And now we're at 5 and probably 6 pretty soon.
And I thought that there should be an LLM integrated into the app, or at least something that feels like that. New and modern to handle user expectations…
So - I’ve actually been working on this in the background even all throughout 2024. Yes - even as I was producing the 8AM album... this was always a back burner project.
And I had several developers that were working on the 8AM app while i was making music.
And yesterday was finally the day where I was able to test the new app for the first time in TestFlight - the iPhone testing platform.
Here’s what happened.
It took 4 hours for us to even get from the Xcode file to the App Store. Just error after error.
And in that alone, I was like, I have so much respect for people that build apps. Like my good friend Hunter Isaacson. I texted him at the end of this day like, "Dude, I have so much respect for you."
So yeah, anyway, it takes us 4 hours to get this thing up onto the App Store.
Then I download it, and I just look at it, and I'm like…
Okay. .. well…
There's so many things that aren't working. So many things that are off.
And I just feel like I'm set back, maybe… 6 more months.
Now keep in mind I thought that this new 8AM app - at least the version that I had envisioned in my head, with the new LLM built in - would have been done in, like, 2 months. That’s what my dev had projected.
(Devs are always wrong about timeline).
And here we are, like, 7 months later, and now I feel like I'm set back another 6 months on it.
So it just goes to show you how difficult it is to actually build really good technology.
And why if you can code, and you also have the visionary mindset and the marketing and sales mindset—that's why people like Elon Musk are so lethal.
And why tech entrepreneurs are rewarded so heavily.
Because it really is just so challenging to build good tech.
And those who can figure it out and get to a product-market fit… It's just so impressive.
All that being said, the current version of the 8AM app that is live, that people are using - it works.
I mean, it actually works great.
I've been using it every single day, and it really does help a lot.
And you do notice a change in your life when you start using it… I mean, I poured thousands and thousands of hours into assembling the methodology.
When you download the 8AM app you’ll look at it and realize it's incredibly simple. You might even say, "This doesn't look like there’s much to it."
But that’s because simplicity is beauty and it took a lot to make it this simple.
So you just follow the process, and it really will create a drastic transformation for you.
So anyway, I ate a bunch of shit yesterday because I just felt like I was ready to unveil the new version of the app.
And now it's honestly probably not gonna be ready for another 6 months.
But that being said, the current version is still really amazing, and it works great.
And, you know, if you're an OG and you get in now, then you get the benefits now.
Sign up for the 8AM app here. Code 888 for first month for $1 : )
And it'll be even more exciting when the new one drops.
The point of this email was just to touch on the days where you just eat shit.
Like, you're doing a bunch of nitty-gritty work that's not very exciting. You feel like it's gonna pay off. And then all of a sudden… you just eat a full bag of shit.
And you find out you're a lot further back than you really thought you were.
And you realize it's gonna be a really long journey.
And you realize it's not gonna be easy.
And that's the kind of day that I had.
So you know, if you're having one of those days, I relate to you.
And I hope this message finds you well.
I'll see you in the next email.
- Arlin
