My post on failure a few months ago, speaking to the arrogance of those who think they're not prone to it, resonated with a lot of people.
\nToday, I look at the flip side -- those who are so afraid of being wrong that they freeze up and can't make a decision and won't take a chance at looking foolish in their failure.
\nMaybe it's the culture they were brought up in. Maybe they were ridiculed by peers or parents just one time too many. Maybe they're just not confident enough in their own abilities yet. Whatever the case is, their fear of getting a decision wrong is stopping them from taking the next step that may, or may not, actually lead to failure.
\nI think the only reason I've been able to grow into the person I am today is because I've been willing to look really stupid in order to learn from it. I somehow figured out early on that life is a series of lessons. We can't truly learn those lessons until we get them wrong at least once.
\nSo try to relax and let go of the fear of failure. Looking foolish will only last a little while. Being afraid to choose because you don't want to fail ends up lasting a lifetime -- and by then, you have failed.
\n", "date_published": "2026-04-21T15:54:50Z", "date_modified": "2026-04-28T12:04:55Z", "summary": "Fear of failure can paralyze people into being afraid to take action. Learning to accept being seen as foolish helps overcome that fear." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/04/16/some-thoughts-on-ai/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/04/16/some-thoughts-on-ai/", "title": "Some Thoughts On AI", "content_html": "Random thoughts on AI. Not comprehensive by any means. Just little musings that popped into my head at one time or another...
\nLike it or not, the AI revolution is here. Either fight it or begin embracinging it. Those who continue to fight will find themselves behind the eight ball once they realize it's time to finally accept the technology.
\nAs with any tool, what a user produces will reflect the skill of the person. A master craftsman will produce excellent results in a fraction of the time. The novice will produce janky unsecure slop -- also in a fraction of the time.
\nThe results of a novice will improve very little. Results of a master craftsman will improve quickly. To put it another way, AI will put a magnifying glass on the efforts of those who use it. Lazy people will forever produce slop and simply not care; thoughtful creators will intentionally spend time polishing their use of the tool.
\nAI will (does) allow for much faster application prototyping. This could have implications when it comes to writing design documentation. I see design docs being written after the initial prototyping happens, versus before, turning SCRUM methodologies on their head.
\nAt the same time, good design docs will become less common as project managers question why they're even bothering to create them. Heck, they might even begin asking ChatGPT to write their design specs based on the code of the prototype.
\nAI has the potential to help us wade through the noise of our day to day when used wisely. Every morning, I ask for a summary of what's in my work email inbox to focus on important items. This has saved me some time already, but, other important things have been missed. Because of that...
\nI do not see AI ever fully replacing the judgement of a human being -- but I could end up being very wrong about this. Time will tell.
\nMore thoughts to come.
\n", "date_published": "2026-04-16T20:09:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-04-20T19:39:10Z", "summary": "As a borderline boomer who's worked in tech for a long time, these are some random thoughts on AI as I continue to explore it." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/04/14/after-the-showers/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/04/14/after-the-showers/", "title": "After the Showers", "content_html": "![\"Fluffy](\"https://jimmitchell.org/media/img_6517_6546f049.jpg\" "\\"IMG_6517.jpeg\\"")
\n",
"date_published": "2026-04-14T11:58:13Z",
"date_modified": "2026-04-14T11:58:13Z",
"summary": "Fluffy clouds against a deep blue sky after morning showers have passed."
},
{
"id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/27/you-dont-have-to-dazzle/",
"url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/27/you-dont-have-to-dazzle/",
"title": "You Don't Have to Dazzle",
"content_html": "In today's hustle culture, you're not successful unless you're always wowing your audience with the next big thing. That kind of dazzle becomes a vicious cycle of needing to top the last big thing. Eventually you hit a ceiling and there's nowhere to go but down.
\nI've seen it happen dozens of times.
\nI like to think what matters most is consistency. Grinding it out, day after day. Silently showing up and doing the hard work when it matters most -- even on the days you don't want to.
\nJust like I'm feeling today.
\nLet me ask you this... Do the people in your life who count on you know you'll be there when it matters most? I'd like to think mine do, and I try to prove it to them every day. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I fail miserably.
\nConsistency is what's key. If you really want to dazzle the important people, showing up without expecting praise for it is what wows them, even if they don't say so.
\nYou can be all flash-and-dazzle in the things you do, but in the end, it makes no difference if you can't be relied on.
\n", "date_published": "2026-03-27T14:35:32Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-27T17:35:43Z", "summary": "Grinding it out, day after day. Silently showing up when it matters most. These are the things that wow the people around you." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/23/theres-free-and-then-theres-free/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/23/theres-free-and-then-theres-free/", "title": "There's Free, and Then There's Free", "content_html": "\n\nJust because you don't hand over any of your hard-earned cash, doesn't technically mean it is free. People have given a huge amount of their time to make your life more pleasant.
\n
There are two kinds of people on the internet; those who appreciate the efforts of indie bloggers & developers and choose to support them, and those who don't and feel because it's offered "free" it's theirs for the taking without giving any credit or support whatsoever.
\nI try my best to be one of the former.
\n", "date_published": "2026-03-23T14:35:45Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-23T14:53:56Z", "summary": "Just because you don't hand over any of your hard-earned cash, doesn't technically mean it is free. People have given a huge amount of their time to make your life more pleasant." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/13/i-really-hate-my-dumb-job/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/13/i-really-hate-my-dumb-job/", "title": "I Really Hate My Dumb Job", "content_html": "I'm frequently told what a great voice I have, and that I should have been on the radio. Personally, I don't think so, but it's really flattering when I hear it. Enough so that I've considered (I am considering?) doing a podcast of my own one day. I'm procrastinating though. I haven't come up with a topic I like yet.
\nAnyway, when I hear this from people, I'm reminded of the time I actually did audition for radio and was selected. But in the end, it wasn't quite what was advertised.
\nIf you're old enough, and lived in the Los Angeles area, you might remember hearing a spot on the radio in the mid to late '80's that had a line "I really hate my dumb job" in it. I wish I could find a reference somewhere on the internet, but haven't been able to yet. I recall it running in a heavy rotation for a while, and dreamed of trying out myself one day.
\nAfter quitting a stable job to grow my hair long and become a heavy metal rockstar in Hollywood during those years (that's a whole different post), I was looking for ways to make extra cash. They call it a side hustle these days. Back then it was just called keeping myself from starving. I called the number from the ad and signed up for the next round.
\nA couple weeks later, I made the hour drive to Hollywood on a rainy winter day. The address was on one of those sketchy side streets off Hollywood and Vine -- somewhere you wouldn't dare go these days. I remember having trouble finding parking, but eventually did and made my way to the space to where they were holding auditions. I was a few minutes late thanks to the weather.
\nThis was a typical Hollywood cattle call scene that had all sort of hopefuls in one big room hoping for a shot at a thing. Interesting was the word I'd use. If there was ever a place for people watching, this had to be it. There were all kinds of weirdos.
\nThey gave their spiel about the process, hyping what a great opportunity this was. Blah, blah, blah. Then they herded us into small booths to do two spots each. We had to come up with our own dialogue. I vaguely recall doing a spot I'd heard on one of the local stations. I can't remember what I did for my second spot. I do remember we got a cassette tape of our recordings.
\nAfter getting through all of us, they called the names of everyone who passed the audition. The rest were dismissed. Surprisingly, 80% of the crowd was good enough to be on the radio! A pretty incredible number if you ask me.
\nThat's when we got to hear the rest of the spiel...
\nThe real gig was to record several 10-30 second spots to go on obscure stations nationwide. The kicker of it all? We had to pay for our own booth time, and there was no pay for the spot running. But hey, it was a "great opportunity" to break into radio!
\nHearing this, I noped out immediately. I was disappointed it turned out to be yet another Hollywood pay-to-play type gig. As a musician, I had enough of those already. I wasn't going to fall for another one.
\nSo, that's the story of how I almost ended up on the radio. It was an interesting experience and makes for a good story whenever someone tells me what a great voice I have.
\nI sometimes wonder where it might've gone had I opted in...
\n", "date_published": "2026-03-13T15:54:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-04-20T14:57:50Z", "summary": "Everyone tells me what a great voice I have and that I should be on the radio. The funny thing is, I auditioned for a radio gig and was accepted, but it wasn't all it seemed to be." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/11/text-only-minimalist-news-sites-2/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/11/text-only-minimalist-news-sites-2/", "title": "Text-Only & Minimalist News Sites", "content_html": "\n\nText-only websites are quite useful, especially today, because web pages are increasingly filled with ads, videos, and bandwidth-heavy content.
\n
This may have been posted elsewhere a while back, but I'm reposting here for my own benefit.
\n", "date_published": "2026-03-11T16:05:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-17T11:41:33Z", "summary": "Text-only websites are quite useful, especially today, because web pages are increasingly filled with ads, videos, and bandwidth-heavy content." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/04/the-day-i-nearly-drowned/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/03/04/the-day-i-nearly-drowned/", "title": "The Day I Nearly Drowned", "content_html": "I am blessed with the gift of vivid memory recall. I can think of a random event that happened at some point in my life and remember the moment in time with great detail.
\nThis one is brought to you by six-year-old me, about the day I nearly drowned in an irrigation channel thanks to a half-cousin who thought he was being funny.
\nIt was an early fall day, perhaps mid-September. We lived in Arvada, Colorado, in a farmhouse. On this day, my wicked stepfather had taken me and a cousin who was visiting to a neighboring farm owned by someone he knew. My cousin's name was Lynn, and he was twice as old as me. He had a broken collarbone. I was wearing an orange and brown cowboy shirt (the kind with snaps), brown pants, and cowboy boots, and a white cowboy hat that I wore everywhere.
\nThe neighbor's name was Roland. I recall that he owned the farm we were living on and was our landlord. He always wore a tan leather work glove on his right hand with the fingers turned in. He did this because he had lost the four fingers of his hand at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints in a farm accident. His lack of fingers fascinated me. I don't know why.
\nWe were at Roland's place for a while. Naturally, cousin Lynn and I became restless, so we started wandering Roland's property. For reason unknown, boys always seem to find running water. The faster it's running, the sooner they find it too. It wasn't long before Lynn and I found the large irrigation canal running through Roland's farm. The canal was big with swift-running water. It wasn't a ditch you could jump over -- it was wide and deep.
\nWe walked along the bank, finding one of the canal's waterfalls. It dropped about six or eight feet. It was big compared to a six-year-old boy. We were standing at the top of the waterfall, throwing rocks and sticks into the water, watching them go over the falls. Lynn dared me to get close to the water's edge. I was scared but did anyway. I looked up to him, wanting to impress my older cousin.
\nFor some unknown reason, Lynn thought it would be funny to push me into the water. In an instant, I was going over the falls, feet first on my back. Fortunately, the instinct to take a breath on the way down kicked in. A moment later, I was in the plunge pool, deep under water looking up.
\nI can remember the darkness of the water and the blue of the sky that made its way down through the roiling current. I remember it being really quiet too. I know I was under water for just a moment, but it seemed like I was down there forever. A second or two later, I surfaced, floating down the canal that was too deep to touch bottom in.
\nI wasn't a strong swimmer at six, and I was struggling to stay afloat. It was then that Lynn, realizing what he had just done, made the decision to dive in and save me. I can remember seeing him throwing his own cowboy hat down on the bank and diving in after me, broken collarbone and all. He pulled me to the bank and out of the water.
\nThe memory kind of goes blank after that. I don't remember the ride home. I know we got in a lot of trouble for playing around the water. I guarantee the outcome wasn't pleasant for me and Lynn both.
\nI lost my white cowboy hat that day and never got another one.
\nThat made me really sad.
\n", "date_published": "2026-03-04T21:40:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-04-19T17:11:26Z", "summary": "As I reflect on another memory from my childhood, it becomes clear just how fortunate I was to have survived growing up at all." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/02/28/claude-code-blogging-engine/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/02/28/claude-code-blogging-engine/", "title": "I Let Claude Code Create a Blogging Platform for Me. You Won't Believe What Happened!", "content_html": "Yes, it's a clickbait title, but seriously, the results turned out to be pretty incredible.
\nI chose to lay out the $200 for a year of Anthropic’s Pro plan a couple of weeks ago with the intention of seeing how far I can push Claude Code for a couple of different projects.
\nYesterday evening, I had the brilliant idea and said to myself "Hey self, why not work with Claude to write yourself a new blogging platform?" So, after writing a really thorough prompt of my initial requirements, I let Claude create a plan. The results were well presented.
\nI literally started 24 hours ago...
\nWithin one day, I have a working CMS system running on a Hetzner VPS that does nearly everything I want it to. If I had developed it from scratch without AI's help, it would have taken months to get through it.
\nI tried the same experiment a little over a year ago, and the results didn't even come close. It's incredible just how far LLMs have come in a year.
\nThis is the first new post on my new blogging platform, Clodd CMS. I'll be sharing more details about it soon. In the meantime, check out the project's README to learn more about it.
\nWhy did I do this? Because I could, but mostly I wanted to wrap my head around Claude and IA as a whole. The more I work with it, the more there is to learn. It's time to embrace AI in our daily lives. The more you fight against it, the further behind you're going to end up.
\nMore to come soon.
\n", "date_published": "2026-03-01T06:33:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-04-19T17:09:56Z", "summary": "Yes, it's a clickbait title, but seriously. The results turned out to be pretty incredible if you ask me." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/02/17/a-battery-saving-macos-tahoe-feature-many-could-use/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/02/17/a-battery-saving-macos-tahoe-feature-many-could-use/", "title": "A Battery Saving Tahoe Feature Many Could Use", "content_html": "\n\nNow, macOS has gained the same battery-preserving capability, thanks to the first macOS 26.4 developer beta, released on Monday. The macOS Tahoe version of the feature works the same way it does on iOS, featuring a slider that lets users select a specific battery charging limit.
\n
Personally, I use Aldente to manage my laptop batteries, and will very likely continue to since its feature set will still be more robust. But for the average user, this should be a nice addition.
\n", "date_published": "2026-02-18T00:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-17T11:43:57Z", "summary": "This will be a nice feature for Mac users to help extend battery life." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/02/02/how-i-use-omnifocus-to-stay-on-top-of-things/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/02/02/how-i-use-omnifocus-to-stay-on-top-of-things/", "title": "How I Use OmniFocus to Stay On Top of Things", "content_html": "I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Andrew J. Mason on the OmniShow where I shared how I use OmniFocus to stay on top of everything from my personal projects and todos to the tasks I assign my direct reports.
\n[youtube id="af7k9O0FBmU"]
\n", "date_published": "2026-02-02T18:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-21T14:56:48Z", "summary": "My appearance for episode 169 of the Omni Show, where I share how I use OmniFocus in my day-to-day with Andrew J. Mason." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/01/16/dry-spell/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2026/01/16/dry-spell/", "title": "A Dry Spell", "content_html": "I learned long ago that life is a series of ups and downs. There will be good times when things flow without effort. And there will be dark times when no matter how hard you try, it feels as if you're sliding backwards down a muddy hill with each step.
\nI'm in one of those muddy hill valleys right now. It's a time when nothing excites me and the creative juices won't flow no matter how hard I try to force them. I feel as though I'm plodding along, one day after another, getting nowhere.
\nTo put it plainly, I'm bored with life at the moment.
\nThis is an exciting place to be, and I look forward to seasons like these. I know my mind is searching for something new to learn from. I'm bored with the status quo and I'm subconsciously looking for the next challenge. These have always been the times I've grown the most.
\nUntil I land on it, I can only keep putting one muddy boot in front of the other and climb the hill, all the while keeping an eye out for the new thing that sparks passion.
\nNow that I've recognized the valley, the something will be right around the corner.
\n", "date_published": "2026-01-16T15:48:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-22T16:03:20Z", "summary": "I am in a creative slump right now. This is awesome, because it is times like these that I make new discoveries..." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2025/12/29/ai-slop-is-easy-money/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2025/12/29/ai-slop-is-easy-money/", "title": "AI Slop is Easy Money", "content_html": "\n\nNot only are more than half the articles on the web created by AI, but over 21% of YouTube videos being shown to new users is "AI Slop." That's according to a new report, which also found that the US is in third place when it comes to consumption of these low-quality generated videos.
\n
I am not surprised by this. As a long-time YouTube viewer I’m seeing a good amount of AI slop myself. But this is what worries me most about the rise of AI; people and/or companies wanting to make a quick buck with the least amount of effort possible are going to increasingly generate low-quality content with AI-based tools…
\n\n\nIt's estimated that the Three Minutes Wisdom channel, which accounts for almost a quarter of the country's view count, earns around $4 million annually from ad income.
\n
That's easy money...
\nI believe this will spill over into software development. I’m confident it already has. Companies that care more about the bottom line than they do bug-free applications will hire inexperienced developers to create enterprise apps using AI tools, leading to major security flaws.
\nI think we’ll start seeing more reports of data breaches as novice “developers” increasingly copy and paste AI-generated code without fully understanding what it does, much less vetting it for accuracy.
\nLazy is as lazy does, and some developers I've known over the years have been very lazy...
\n", "date_published": "2025-12-29T23:54:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-17T11:43:29Z", "summary": "Lazy is as lazy does when it comes to making a buck or writing code." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2025/12/26/one-simple-goal/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2025/12/26/one-simple-goal/", "title": "One Simple Goal", "content_html": "As I look back on the lost year of 2025, I learned a lot about what's important to me; health, family, and close friends. This led me to give serious thought about what I want 2026 to look like now that I've been given a new lease on life.
\nI want 2026 to be a year of renewal. Spending less time online and even more time present with those around me. Less time working crazy long hours and more time focused on my emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical well being. Less money spent on frivolous things and more time investing that money into the future.
\nThe break I took in October was liberating. I enjoyed not spending as much time online trying to be relevant in some way and just living a simple life, one day into the next.
\nThat's what I'm shooting for in the coming year. No pressure to do or be anything for anyone outside of my close circle. If it goes as planned, you'll see less of me.
\nWhy share this? No reason really. It's more for my own benefit than anything else. I wanted to memorialize the goal on my blog, since that's what a blog is supposed to be for. I feel I'm at a point in my life where it's simply best to step back and slow down a little.
\nThanks for reading. There will still be posts, but probably less noise.
\nHere's to a simpler 2026 for all of us.
\n", "date_published": "2025-12-26T21:06:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-03-11T17:27:27Z", "summary": "I have just one goal for 2026... To simplify as much as I can." }, { "id": "https://jimmitchell.org/2025/12/16/failure/", "url": "https://jimmitchell.org/2025/12/16/failure/", "title": "Failure", "content_html": "You've no doubt heard at some point in your life that failure is not an option. There are times this holds true; definitely when someone's life is on the line, or maybe -- but only maybe -- if there's a large sum of money at stake.
\nBut I think there are times failure should be the only option.
\nFailure can be one of the best teachers we have -- as long as we're willing to listen to her lessons.
\nFailure always shows us truth. Sometimes gently, other times brutally.
\nWe need to openly welcome failure's lessons into our lives in order to grow.
\nFailure will never lie to us. She shows us where we are wrong about our belief systems and how they may need to change.
\nIf we're willing to fail in the most spectacular ways, failure will bless us with wisdom and humility in return.
\nBut, if you think you have nothing to learn from failure and that you already have it all figured out, well then my friend, you've already failed in the biggest way you possibly could.
\n", "date_published": "2025-12-16T15:19:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-04-23T01:57:38Z", "summary": "Sometimes failure should be the only option..." } ] }