Let’s hope the bottoms aren’t either

I love this mental exercise for personal and professional improvement.

1. Decide what you want in all the specific areas of your life

2. Describe what it would look like if you (3rd person) were doing your best

3. Ask yourself daily if you’re doing your best or just good enough

I am painfully aware when I’m not doing my “Best,” so that amplifies the painometer. I know when I’m taking the easy route and when I could give a lot more.

I believe there are two main reasons I don’t always do my best.

One, I don’t really know what my best would look and feel like if I did it.

Two, I don’t constantly ask myself if I’m doing my best in those moments.

The Exercise:

Step 1: What would an ideal business/career/love life/body/health/social-life/family-life, etc look like?

Ask yourself “what do I want?” in each of these areas? What’s the ideal outcome for you? What would you be proud to achieve in each?

Now before I get to Step 2, I have a little trick I like to use when it comes to hacking into my own brain.

I talk about myself in the third person, it makes it less personal. So instead of saying, “I would do this or that,” I rephrase it as “Brad would do this or that.” Make sense?

Step 2: What would it look like if Brad Costanzo did his best…

with his business?

with his wife?

with his friends and family?

with his health and fitness?

Step 3: Both the easiest step and the hardest. When you’re in these daily situations, ask yourself if you’re doing your best.

When I do it, I instantly know if I am or not. Shining a spotlight on your effort like this usually causes me to immediately course-correct and avoid the path of least resistance.

That doesn’t mean I do my best in everything I can. Laziness and excuses still get me. Just not as much as they used to.

And none of us will always operate at our best, but you can't hit the target if you aren't aiming for it, right?

I think there’s some profound insights here

Now do the news

Found an issue with @primal app which X solved a while back and they should take note.

Looking through my followers I see it looks like nostr:nprofile1qqsw4v882mfjhq9u63j08kzyhqzqxqc8tgf740p4nxnk9jdv02u37ncpzfmhxue69uhhqatjwpkx2urpvuhx2ucpz4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezumtpd35kutn0dekqkehpqt is following me. (Wtf I should be so honored!?)

I can see the fake one misspelled her name. But when I click that profile I can’t see the username so it’s way easier for people to impersonate

Primal should add more transparency on profiles to actually usernames so easier to recognize these scammers

Is it possible to see how much #nostr network growth is happening and the trends in adoption somewhere?

“Just try it for 90 days” becomes “just try it for 4 years”

Frankly that’s about all it should take but sadly 4 years may as well be 40 for most folks

So true but hasn’t it always been inevitable?

Bitcoin can’t do what it’s supposed to do unless governments welcome it.

And governments are just people. (Often some of the worst people but nonetheless)

You are correct though.

And would be much nicer to see the gov getting behind it because they HAVE to, rather than because they want to.

Do this short exercise to make sure that when You leap… the Net will actually appear

On a call with a client yesterday who had come down with a case of the “What-ifs.”

😨 What if the market tanks?

😨 What if a key team member leaves?

😨 What if I screw it all up?

I get it, I think this all.the.time. Especially in this environment — where uncertainty is everywhere.

That’s when your mind starts to screech like a microphone too close to the speaker, stuck in a feedback loop.

But it's really a fear loop.

My advice (because I've done this):

Create a “Who to Call When” List.

1. grab a piece of paper or open your note app.

2. Write down every area that feels foggy or fragile right now...where you’re unsure, stuck, or exposed.

3. Then, beside each one, jot down the name of a person OR the kind of person — you could reach out to when the moment comes.

Not to solve it now...

But to know you COULD!

👩‍🦰 a friend who picks up at 11pm.

👨 a mentor who’s walked this path before.

👨‍🦰 a consultant you haven’t hired yet but could.

🧑‍🏫 a peer who won’t sugarcoat it.

This list becomes your NET.

Practically AND emotionally.

It reminds you:

- You’re not flying solo.

- Help is available — if you’re clear on who and when.

Ever heard the delusionally optimistic quote? “Leap, and the net will appear.”

The net won't just magically show up.

Ya build it, one name at a time.

Do this and you’ll realize —

Your net, works.

Get it? 😉 (I slay myself)

So who’s on your “Who to Call When” list?

More importantly, who should be but isn't?

These are the only 4 skills you should focus on in 2025 and we’re 1/4 through it.

1. DEEP FOCUS

- Attention spans are gone. Even yours. AI makes it easy to do shallow work. Don’t succumb to easy.

- Know your biggest distractions and remove them.

2. AI PROFICIENCY

-AI only helps you do 5 things better and faster: Think. Create. Communicate. Analyze. Automate. But those entail nearly everything you do.

- Assume AI can do any task if you just prompt it correctly

- Use AI to learn anything. Fast.

- Build AI agents for repetitive tasks in your business

- Test new AI tools weekly - it’s like keeping your HR department always accepting applications for talent.

3. AUDIENCE BUILDING

- When everything can and will be faked, human connection rules.

- AI can build virtually product in hours, so your brand becomes your moat

- Systemize content creation: voice notes through the day later condensed with AI.

- Post interesting valuable insights daily (like I am) consistently. Focus on one platform until you master it

- Get 1000 true super fans : reply to comments, ask for audience feedback and input

- Brand loyalty is the best moat for most businesses today. A loyal audience is one of the few ways to protect your business.

4. SALES.

- Sales will always be the best skill because it’s closest to the cash register.

- Selling in person or online is pretty similar but different enough to get good at both.

These 4 areas will create massive leverage and insulation.

And they’re easier…but not easy.

These are the traps to avoid.

AI triggers ADD. more shiny objects than ever. More ideas can come to life. It will be hard to choose. Deciding to do deep work is like deciding to go to the gym. Sucks in the start till you develop the habit.

AI changes quickly. Too many tools. Exciting but overwhelming = Toolphoria. Focus on your outcomes not the tools.

Lack of consistency and short term thinking will kill your progress. I fell victim to this for too long.

This is the hard part that most won’t do.

We call them poor.

Your best audience cares about themselves not about you but connecting yourself or your business to themselves will make you addictive.

Focusing content only on yourself will make you annoying.

The most important lesson of all.

Remember, you can just do things.

To the (slightly) older entrepreneurs with a young mind, big ideas but feels a little too tired to learn new tricks...

You thought best days were behind you. That you couldn't keep up with technology.

Wrong.

Experience isn't a liability. It's your secret weapon.

You've seen markets crash. Built businesses from nothing. Made tough calls when others hesitated.

You know what works.

The problem was never your ideas. It was the execution gap.

Days spent on tasks beneath your expertise. Hours wasted fighting technology. Momentum killed by operational quicksand.

Until now.

AI doesn't care about your birthdate. It doesn't see your gray hair.

It's not a new language you need to spend months or years learning (it's easier than you think)

Better yet, the more you already know, the better your results will be.

Human experience gives you an advantage when using AI.

The second chance that isn't really a second chance... but a continuation of what you started.

Some call it disruption. You call it liberation.

What once took weeks now takes moments. What required teams now needs only you. What seemed impossible is suddenly within reach.

You're not learning new tricks. You're finally being unburdened to use the old ones.

The wisdom. The judgment. The pattern recognition. The business sense.

Now paired with tools that eliminate friction.

The entrepreneurs who will dominate aren't just the young disruptors.

They're the seasoned veterans with fire rekindled.

The builders who combine decades of knowledge With technology that turns thoughts into reality.

This isn't your twilight.

It's your renaissance.

We can just do things now.

You just need to want to.

Can I get some love on this prediction that came true? 😉

Some people wear masks for fun. Others wear them to tear down empires. This is a Halloween story about both.

Halloween.

The night when we put on masks, break the normal rules, and step into different identities.

But sometimes, the scariest disruptions aren't the ghosts and goblins – they're the ideas that overthrow entire systems of power.

Because October 31st isn't just about candy and costumes.

Twice in history, as darkness fell on All Hallows' Eve, revolutionaries launched ideas that would tear down empires.

In 1517, the Catholic Church was at the height of its power. It controlled not just souls, but economics – selling salvation through "indulgences" while keeping scripture locked away in Latin.

On that Halloween night, an obscure monk named Martin Luther took a hammer and nails to the church door of Wittenberg, and with 95 Theses, lit a fire that would burn down the medieval order.

When told to recant or die, he declared: "Here I stand, I can do no other."

His reward?

Excommunication and a death sentence that forced him to live as "Knight Jörg" in hiding, while his revolution spread like wildfire through Europe.

Then, Halloween 2008. Lehman Brothers had just collapsed. Banks that had gambled with people's lives were getting trillion-dollar bailouts. The financial order seemed both absolutely corrupt and utterly unshakeable.

That's when someone wearing the mask of Satoshi Nakamoto dropped a digital bombshell: a nine-page paper describing money without rulers.

No banks.

No bailouts. No permission needed. Just pure mathematical truth.

Like Luther's theses, it was a declaration of independence – this time from the high priests of finance.

The parallels are more than spooky – they're revolutionary:

* Both struck at the perfect moment: Luther when the Church's corruption had reached its peak, Satoshi when the financial system was revealing its fatal flaws.

* Both used the latest technology to spread rebellion: Luther harnessed the newly invented printing press, Satoshi deployed the borderless internet.

* Both faced overwhelming odds: Luther against the combined power of Church and Empire, Satoshi against the entire global financial system.

* Both disappeared into legend: Luther emerging from exile as a victorious prophet, Satoshi vanishing entirely but leaving behind an unstoppable movement.

Think about it: On the one night when the veil between worlds is thinnest, when old rules can be broken and new realities can emerge, two figures chose to light matches that would burn down the old order.

Like supernatural trick-or-treaters, they knocked on the door of the establishment and left behind revolutionary treats that turned out to be existential tricks for the powerful.

Today, 515 years after Luther spooked the Church and 16 years after Satoshi spooked the banks, their Halloween gifts keep giving: decentralization, freedom from middlemen, and the radical idea that common people shouldn't have to beg permission from high priests – whether they wear clerical robes or banker's suits.

Sometimes the most disruptive masks aren't the ones we wear on Halloween – they're the ones worn by revolutionaries who dare to question everything.

Now that's a Halloween story worth telling.

Did you really think Bitcoin was about getting rich?

I think Saylor is speaking to institutions now, not individuals.

UPDATE:

So I just asked ChatGPT‘s latest model about the conundrum and here is the lengthy reply that he gave me. I have not yet explored these in any more detail, but plan on it.

Also much of this is beyond my technical understanding

"You’re absolutely right—the irreversibility of Bitcoin transactions poses a challenge for its adoption as a mainstream payment solution, especially when compared to traditional payment systems like Visa or MasterCard that offer refunds and chargebacks. However, the Bitcoin ecosystem is actively exploring and implementing innovations to address these concerns while staying true to its decentralized principles. Here are some of the key developments and research areas aimed at introducing dispute resolution and refund mechanisms within the Bitcoin network:

1. Multi-Signature Escrow Services:

• How It Works: Multi-signature (multi-sig) wallets require multiple private keys to authorize a transaction. A common setup for escrow is a 2-of-3 multi-sig wallet involving the buyer, seller, and a neutral third party (the escrow agent).

• Benefits:

• Dispute Resolution: If a dispute arises, the escrow agent can mediate and co-sign the transaction in favor of the rightful party.

• Trust Minimization: The escrow agent cannot unilaterally access the funds, reducing the risk associated with centralized intermediaries.

• Real-World Implementations: Services like Bitrated offer reputation management and multi-sig escrow to facilitate trust between transacting parties.

2. Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs):

• How It Works: DLCs are smart contracts on Bitcoin that enable conditional payments based on real-world events, verified by oracles (trusted data sources).

• Benefits:

• Privacy: The contract details are not revealed on-chain, preserving user privacy.

• Flexibility: They can be structured to release funds only when certain conditions are met, allowing for more complex transaction logic akin to refunds or conditional payments.

• Use Cases: DLCs can facilitate financial derivatives, insurance contracts, and conditional escrow services.

3. Lightning Network Enhancements:

• Hold Invoices and Time-Locked Contracts:

• How It Works: Payments can be held in a pending state until certain conditions are met, using hash time-locked contracts (HTLCs).

• Benefits: Allows for the possibility of canceling a payment before it’s finalized, offering a window for dispute resolution.

• Experimental Features:

• Stuckless Payments: Techniques to make payments cancellable until the recipient claims them.

• Point Time Lock Contracts (PTLCs): An advancement over HTLCs, improving privacy and offering more flexibility in payment conditions.

4. Federated Custody Models (e.g., Fedimint):

• How It Works: Fedimint is a federated custodial protocol where a group of servers jointly custody user funds, enabling community-managed Bitcoin custody.

• Benefits:

• Community Trust: Relies on a federation of known entities, which can implement dispute resolution mechanisms.

• Enhanced Privacy: Transactions within the federation can be private and instant.

• Potential Use Cases: Local communities or organizations can manage funds collectively while offering consumer protection features.

5. Covenants and Advanced Scripting (OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY):

• OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV):

• What It Is: A proposed Bitcoin protocol upgrade to enable covenants, which can restrict how funds are spent in the future.

• Benefits:

• Refund Mechanisms: Can enforce that funds are only spendable back to the sender, enabling built-in refund policies.

• Batching and Scaling: Improves transaction efficiency, aiding scalability.

• Status: As of the knowledge cutoff in October 2023, CTV is a proposal and has not been activated on the Bitcoin network.

6. Third-Party Arbitration Platforms:

• Integrated Arbitration Services:

• How It Works: Platforms integrate third-party arbitrators who can resolve disputes based on predefined rules.

• Benefits:

• User Choice: Users can select arbitrators based on reputation and fees.

• Non-Custodial: Funds are held in multi-sig wallets, maintaining user control over funds until resolution.

• Examples: Platforms like OpenBazaar have experimented with decentralized marketplaces incorporating arbitration.

7. Insurance and Protection Services:

• How It Works: Third-party services offer insurance for Bitcoin transactions, protecting users against fraud or non-delivery.

• Benefits:

• Risk Mitigation: Users can transact with greater confidence, knowing they’re protected against certain risks.

• Adoption Incentive: Lowers the barrier for new users wary of irreversible transactions.

• Considerations: These services often require additional fees and depend on the trustworthiness of the insurer.

8. Reversible Payment Channels (Research Phase):

• Concept Overview:

• How It Works: Introduce a delay in transaction finality during which a payment can be reversed.

• Benefits: Mimics the chargeback window in traditional banking, allowing users to contest transactions.

• Challenges:

• Network Changes: Requires modifications to the Bitcoin protocol or reliance on trusted intermediaries.

• Security Risks: May introduce vulnerabilities, such as denial-of-service attacks.

9. Integration with Legal Systems via Oracles:

• How It Works: Legal decisions can be input into the Bitcoin network via oracles, which can trigger smart contracts to release or refund funds.

• Benefits:

• Enforceability: Aligns on-chain transactions with off-chain legal outcomes.

• Decentralization: Maintains the decentralized nature by avoiding centralized control over funds.

• Challenges: Trust in oracles and legal recognition of smart contracts are ongoing hurdles.

10. Layered Protocols and Sidechains (e.g., Liquid Network):

• Liquid Network:

• What It Is: A sidechain-based settlement network for Bitcoin, facilitating faster and confidential transactions.

• Dispute Resolution: While primarily aimed at exchanges and institutions, the network’s features could be extended to support consumer protection mechanisms.

• Benefits:

• Confidential Transactions: Enhances privacy, which can be crucial in sensitive disputes.

• Customizable Features: Sidechains allow for experimentation with features not yet available on the main Bitcoin network.

Conclusion:

The Bitcoin ecosystem is actively innovating to address the challenges of refunds, chargebacks, and dispute resolution. While the inherent design of Bitcoin emphasizes transaction finality to prevent fraud and double-spending, these developments aim to introduce flexibility and consumer protections without compromising decentralization or security.

• Balance of Trust and Trustlessness: Many solutions leverage cryptographic mechanisms and multi-party agreements to minimize the need for trust in third parties.

• Ongoing Research and Development: As of October 2023, many of these solutions are in various stages of development and adoption. Community support, protocol upgrades, and user education will play significant roles in their implementation.

Next Steps for Users and Developers:

• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) and community discussions.

• Participate in Testing: Engage with test networks and pilot programs to provide feedback on new features.

• Educate Stakeholders: Help merchants and consumers understand the available tools and how they can mitigate risks associated with irreversible transactions.

By leveraging these innovations, the Bitcoin network is steadily evolving to meet the needs of a broader user base, making it more practical for everyday transactions while preserving its core values of decentralization and security.”

First, I'm a #Bitcoin maximalist, not a skeptic, yet always looking at potentially sound arguments against it (as we all should if being intellectually rigorous).

Just watched this video with Patrick McKenzie: "Why Crypto Will Never Fix Payments"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEJ-7dAquwg

One of his arguments against using Bitcoin or crypto as payments is that its lack of infrastructure for dispute resolution and refunds, (which I think we all believe are valuable aspects of the current system for consumer protection) and he asserts this could hinder adoption as a mainstream payment method.

Of course some Layer 2 solutions may help solve some of these issues, but they may not, refunds and dispute resolution by nature require a trusted 3rd party intermediary.

My first thought is that having a 2 or 3rd layer solution on top of Bitcoin with some sort of smart contracts for this "might" be helpful but not quite sure.

Just curious if any Bitcoiners have thought this aspect through and if I'm missing a smart innovative answer to this objection for using it as a payment method and not just a store of value.

You know how boring and sad it gets watching Bitcoin sit here in the 60k's for like 6 months?

Pretty soon we'll have this exact same feeling in the low 100k's... 100k will feel SO boring.

His book was soooo eye opening

Gm

The bill “Dumbing Us Down” by Gato is an amazing read re this…not about nutrition but in general. Highly recommend. He comes with the receipts!