Drizzle ORM is n object relationship mapper – basically it maps your relational databases and all it’s entitites to objects that you can interact with to make queries without necessaarily knowing SQL (but it definitely helps).

The first thing I typically do when setting up a project is to get Auth.js working, which involves setting up a database and a basic schema (your database blueprint)

The documentation was confusing so I wrote this to help guide you (and myself in the future):

Prerequisites: I’m assuming you have Next.js project setup and next-auth@beta installed and set up, if not – go here

Now for setting up the database.

1. Install everything you need:
npm i drizzle-orm pg dotenv
npm i -D drizzle-kit tsx @types/pg
npm install @auth/drizzle-adapter
   
2. Add your connection URL to your env variables:
   DATABASE_URL=
   
3. Set up your project structure:
   📦
   ├ 📂 drizzle
   ├ 📂 src
   │ ├ 📂 db
   │ │ └ 📜 schema.ts
   │ └ 📜 index.ts
   ├ 📜 .env
   ├ 📜 drizzle.config.ts
   ├ 📜 package.json
   └ 📜 tsconfig.json
   
4. Add your schema to schema.ts (this is just what’s required for authentication) – see bottom of post for schema
5. run npx drizzle-kit generate to generate migrations
6. run npx drizzle-kit migrate to apply them to tthe database
7. make sure your auth.ts file is set up with the DrizzleAdapter(db) where db is from schema.ts
8. That’s it!

/src/db/schema.ts
import {
  boolean,
  timestamp,
  pgTable,
  text,
  primaryKey,
  integer,
} from "drizzle-orm/pg-core";
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/node-postgres";
import type { AdapterAccountType } from "@auth/core/adapters";
import { Pool } from "pg";

const pool = new Pool({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
});
const db = drizzle({ client: pool });

export const users = pgTable("user", {
  id: text("id")
    .primaryKey()
    .$defaultFn(() => crypto.randomUUID()),
  name: text("name"),
  email: text("email").unique(),
  emailVerified: timestamp("emailVerified", { mode: "date" }),
  image: text("image"),
});

export const accounts = pgTable(
  "account",
  {
    userId: text("userId")
      .notNull()
      .references(() => users.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    type: text("type").$type<AdapterAccountType>().notNull(),
    provider: text("provider").notNull(),
    providerAccountId: text("providerAccountId").notNull(),
    refresh_token: text("refresh_token"),
    access_token: text("access_token"),
    expires_at: integer("expires_at"),
    token_type: text("token_type"),
    scope: text("scope"),
    id_token: text("id_token"),
    session_state: text("session_state"),
  },
  (account) => [
    {
      compoundKey: primaryKey({
        columns: [account.provider, account.providerAccountId],
      }),
    },
  ]
);

export const sessions = pgTable("session", {
  sessionToken: text("sessionToken").primaryKey(),
  userId: text("userId")
    .notNull()
    .references(() => users.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
  expires: timestamp("expires", { mode: "date" }).notNull(),
});

export const verificationTokens = pgTable(
  "verificationToken",
  {
    identifier: text("identifier").notNull(),
    token: text("token").notNull(),
    expires: timestamp("expires", { mode: "date" }).notNull(),
  },
  (verificationToken) => [
    {
      compositePk: primaryKey({
        columns: [verificationToken.identifier, verificationToken.token],
      }),
    },
  ]
);

export const authenticators = pgTable(
  "authenticator",
  {
    credentialID: text("credentialID").notNull().unique(),
    userId: text("userId")
      .notNull()
      .references(() => users.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    providerAccountId: text("providerAccountId").notNull(),
    credentialPublicKey: text("credentialPublicKey").notNull(),
    counter: integer("counter").notNull(),
    credentialDeviceType: text("credentialDeviceType").notNull(),
    credentialBackedUp: boolean("credentialBackedUp").notNull(),
    transports: text("transports"),
  },
  (authenticator) => [
    {
      compositePK: primaryKey({
        columns: [authenticator.userId, authenticator.credentialID],
      }),
    },
  ]
);

This guide will show you how to turn any computer into a server that can run your website, applications, or store your files.

Why?

Independence.

Having your own private server means your emails, data, movies and music don’t depend on any business or company, only on openly distributed software that anyone can access.

You can meet your technological needs without depending on companies that you will probably outlive. Like learning how to drive, it takes a little bit of work upfront. But it’s not hard.

1. Install ubuntu – you can install it standalone or dual boot it with windows
2. Install openssh-server
3. Check that it’s running ssh.service sudo systemctl status ssh
4. On another device, create ssh key if you don’t have one already: ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C “your-email@example.com” or “ls -al ~/.ssh” to check
5. Copy ssh key from device into authorized keys file on your server.
6. Restart ssh server: sudo systemctl restart ssh
7. Find the ip of your server using hostname -I, it’s the first set of numbers.
8. then do ssh -p <port number> user@<ipaddress> on the device that you want to connect to the server with.
9. Congratulations! You’ve connected to your ssh server!
10. Now you want to do a couple of things:
    • Set up dynamic dns – that depends on who you bought your domain with. I used IONOS. So I followed this guide.
    • Set up port forwarding on your router. You’ll need to access your router settings and add your devices local IP to it as well as the port you’ve set up for the ssh server.
    • Set up a static IP address for your device so that the IP address that you’ve set up in
    • Make it a service so that it starts automatically when the computer boots up.

I was working in a bookshop-cafe last week, and a poster above the urinal reminded me of a book I read 2 years ago. This book taught me something that changed the way I saw the world. 

It taught me that the easiest way to control a population is by force, but the most effective way is through pleasure.

“Brave New World” is a story set in a society engineered for stability and ‘happiness’. A world where advanced technology has enabled the easy mass production of food, products, and people.

Where people are flooded with superficial pleasure and endless entertainment…

Where children are genetically bred, born and raised hatcheries without parents, hormonally conditioned, and socially indoctrinated…

Conditioned for what?

To hate nature.

To view relationships as casual and superficial.

To crave comfort, pleasure, and materialism above all else.

Should any citizen feel the slightest negative emotion, there was always Soma, a drug readily available and its consumption encouraged, to suppress fear, anxiety, dissatisfaction or any other negative emotion. 

If only we had something like that? (Oh wait, we do. It’s served in restaturants and people think you’re weird if you don’t drink it)

The result? Disconnect.

Disconnect from their environment, and most importantly, from themselves.

Why?

To create consumers – always seeking the next, the newer, the more comfortable.

To create dependence.

“A love of nature keeps no factories busy.”

Seem familiar?

“Brave New World” was published 92 years ago – not sure what Aldous Huxley was on, but I’ll have what he’s having.

I spent most of my life chasing a comfortable lifestyle.

As a boy I hated playing outside, going in the sea if it was slightly cold, or anything that involved the slightest discomfort.

As a young adult, I would distract myself from the moment I woke up to the moment I fell asleep – literally, I would fall asleep with a TV show playing on a screen a foot away from my face.

I went to Uni to get a high paying job so that I could buy expensive things and have a comfortable life.

I was a creature of comfort. 

But I didn’t feel alive, I was disconnected.

The book changed the way I view the world, technological progress, and what it means to be human.

The biggest realisation I took away from it was this:

Comfort is achieved through disconnect from the depth of experience. 

The comfort of a warm house is because you’ve disconnected from your cold environment. The comfort of alcohol disconnects you from any negative emotions you might have. The comfort of pharmaceutical drugs disconnects you from the unpleasant feeling of being ill.

You don’t have to be uncomfortable all the time. Enjoy the warmth of a fire, the cosiness of a warm home, or the pleasure of an indulgent meal. These are part of the human experience just as much as discomfort is.

After all, if you were constantly connected to the cold and wet environment in the UK, you would probably die. Being barefoot is great – until you step on some glass. The right amount of comfort can be hugely beneficial.

But what’s the sweet spot?

The right amount of comfort lies right at the edge between feeling the full depth of the experience, and long term damage. Cold plunges are invigorating, hypothermia is not.

Next time you feel uncomfortable and your instinct is to avoid it, pause and ask yourself, “What’s so bad about this?”. Most of the time you’ll realise that the answer is “nothing”.

Don’t be stupid and go roast yourself in a sauna until you feel sick the rest of the day or anything like that (as a personal example).

You might still choose to disconnect from the experience with some form of comfort, if it’s especially useful to do so – but doing so consciously is a freedom in itself. 

Comfort is not a goal to be chased, but a tool to be used. You can either use it intentionally or it will be used to control you.

The society that is easiest to control is one made up of an army of slaves that love their servitude.

The idea that you don’t constantly need to be comfortable, and that you can just accept the full depth of an experience, is one that I found incredibly freeing.

Hopefully you do as well.

I’ll end on this question, “In what ways does comfort control you?”.

Subscribe to my email list for ideas to help you live a free life.

Related post:

• Who benefits from your belief?

• How to set up Drizzle ORM with Auth.js in a fresh project
• How to turn your computer into an ubuntu server
• In what ways does comfort control you?
• What do you want your life to look like in the next 5 years?
• WMW: The Ultimate Chicken

How to figure out what to do with your life:

I just turned 24, this year I got made redundant from my first job (which worked out pretty well for me), begun pursuing a business opportunity with Wild Minds Community, and started a new Software Engineering job. That may seem straightforward, but I’ve found myself wondering, “What’s next?”.

The Odyssey Plan is a method to help you navigate these exact situations.

“A coherent life is one lived in such a way that you can clearly connect the dots between three things: who you are, what you believe, what you are doing.” – Bill Burnett ,Designing Your Life

Coming with your Odyssey Plan is an important exercise so you don’t spend your time living a life somebody else assigned to you (unless the societal conditioning is just that deeply ingrained).

As they say “No plan survives first contact with reality.”, but sketching it out will help you know which first steps to take.

How do you make an Odyssey Plan?

1. Write out, in detail, what your life would look like 5 years from now if you continued down your current path.
2. Write out, in detail, what your life would look like 5 years from now if you took a completely different path.
3. Write out, in detail, what your life would look like 5 years from now if money and social obligations were irrelevant.

Which one triggers the most excitement? That’s usually a good proxy for which path you should take.

I’ll be mapping mine out over the next few days/weeks

Hello beautiful people,

Last week we launched another set of resources to help you guys get some land, move off-grid, and start producing you’re own food. The response was heartwarmingly positive!

If you haven’t already, check out our e-book “The 12 Month Farm Method” if you’re not sure how to start building a life outside the mainstream system, OR if you specifically need help raising funding, check out our free guide.

Yesterday, I learned about yet another example of the inifinite brilliance of the Natural world.

Through answering an important quesetion, you’ll find out how living in accordance with Nature leads to the best outcome over time.

So, starting with a given flock of chicken, how would you create the ultimate population of chickens for your food security? This applies to any crop or livestock but we’ll use chickens because they have quick breeding cycles.

You’d start off by deciding your objectives. What are your most desirable traits? 4 come to mind:

• Large amounts of meat
• Large quantity of eggs
• High quality of eggs (based on yolk colour and viscocity of the egg white)
• Resilience (ideally they don’t die)

So how would you create a flock that maximises these 4 attributes without compromising the others.

In a nutshell:

From the current flock, select the chickens that maximise these traits.

Sort them into ranks, rank 1 would be the best chickens (according to our objectives), rank 2 would be the chickens that are only beaten by rank 1, rank 3 only beaten by rank 1 and 2, and so on…

Pretty straightforward right?

Now you need to breed them, but you can’t just breed the ones that are ‘best’ because they may be closely related (inbreeding).

So in addition to rank, how should we decide which ones to breed?

We need to see how genetically different they are.

So now we have a criteria, rank and genetic difference, we sort them based on lowest rank (highest quality) and genetic difference to maximise postive attributes and diversity.

Now we breed them to create a new flock that combine all the best traits from their parents. This new herd will naturally have some mutations that introduces more diversity.

So that gives us 4 steps:

1. Sort chickens into ranks based on attributes and our objectives
2. Select chickens that maximise these attributes and are the most genetically different.
3. Breed them to create a new flock with that maximise the objectives and has some diversity from mutations.
4. Rinse and repeat…

Every repetition will improve the quality of the flock, and eventually you end up with the ultimate chicken.

How beautifully simple?

This is the fundamental process that the whole of the natural world is built on, Nature just chose a different objective – survival over food quality.

You just got a lesson about Computer Science in your newsletter. about regenerative farming and off-grid living. Surpise, bet you weren’t expecting that!

This is an example of the most fascinating (and relevant) branches of Computer Science called “Genetic Algirithms“. It’s the study of a group of algorithms (computer-speak for ‘process’) that look for solutions that maximise multiple objectives – like egg quality and resilience in our example.

These algorithms can be applied to problems in virtually every industry and business, from brick manufacturing to advertising.

As clever as we humans like to think we are, often, Nature has already presented us with the best answer (it’s been solving problems a lot longer than we have).

Hopefully you found that useful, because it’s already influenced the way I think about solving problems.

Until next time.

To your freedom and independence,

Rob
Wild Minds Community

As of a month ago, I’ve been considering doing a Masters in Artificial Intelligence, because I just loved being a student so much the first time. The thought of, once again, not having any money, studying for exams, and living in student accomodation (FYI, worse than a van) was something I just couldn’t resist.

Not quite. I want to do a postgraduate degree for 2 reasons:

• Artificial Intelligence will soon be prevalent in nearly every area of our lives and so being equipped with fundamental understanding in these technologies is super important to me. Oh, and I like it.
• Having a Master’s degree boosts credibility (help me get a job).

The downsides:

• Costs £20K
• Not being paid at the same time
• Move away from my lovely girlfriend (it’s only a year but still)

So, while I am filling out applications. I’m also looking at an alternative option.

Creating an MSc for myself.

How? Using AI, books, and projects.

I’ve found the units from all the best Master’s courses in the UK that interest me the most:

MSc Advanced Computing at Oxford

• Bayesian Statistical Probabilistic Programming (Oxford)
• Computational game Theory (Oxford)
• Concurrent Algoritms and Data Structures
• Graph Repsentation Modelling
• Machine Learning
• Quantum Processes and Computation
• Quantum Information
• Foundations of self programming agents

Didn’t apply because 1) Don’t meet the academic requirement 2) I could only provide 1 academic reference and they wanted at least 2

MSc Compututing (AI ML stream) at Imperial:

• Mathematics for Machine Learning
• Probabilistic Inference
• Reinforcement Learning
• Knowledge Representation
• Statistical Information Theory
• Software Engineering for Machine Learning Systems
• Distributed Algorithms
• Computational Finance
• Cryptography Engineering
• Principles of Distributed Ledgers
• Quantum Computing

Applied – got rejected (didn’t meet the entry requirement)

MSc Aritificial Intelligence at Edinburgh

• Accelerated Natural Language Processing
• Methods for Causal Inference
• Applied Machine Learning
• Computational Cognitive Neuroscience
• Algorithmic Game Theory and its applications
• Reinforcement Learning
• Computer Programming for Speech and Language Processing
• Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers
• Introduction to Quantum Programming and Semantics

Applied – still waiting. This course looks incredibly interesting and I spoke to a couple of people who had done it and it seems to attract an interesting and entrepreneurial stream of people so fingers crossed for this one.

I also applied for UCL Statistical Computing and Machine Learning – this course is a bit more specialised and wouldn’t allow me to study modules in wider areas of Computing but seems like a very rigourous course. Still waiting.

Now I didn’t want to completely outsource my education and rely completely on me getting into these courses to study topics that I want to learn about. So I’ve created my own curriculum.

ChatGPT aggregated the above list to come up with a list of 7 topics that cover most of my interests along with some elective units. I will do a project in each of them – it’s the best way for me to learn and develop practical skills.

This is ChatGPT’s course:

MSc in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science

---

Core Units

1. Foundations of Machine Learning:
   • Resources: Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning by Christopher Bishop; Deep Learning by Ian Goodfellow et al.
   • Project: Image classification using CIFAR-10 with a deep neural network.
2. Mathematics for Machine Learning and Probabilistic Inference
   • Resources: Mathematics for Machine Learning by Marc Deisenroth et al.; Bayesian Reasoning and Machine Learning by David Barber
   • Project: Bayesian classifier for stock price trend prediction.
3. Reinforcement Learning
   • Resources: Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction by Sutton and Barto; OpenAI Spinning Up
   • Project: Lunar Lander
4. Quantum Computing and Quantum Information
   • Resources: Quantum Computation and Quantum Information by Nielsen and Chuang; IBM Quantum Experience
   • Project: Implement the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm on a quantum simulator.
5. Statistical Information Theory
   • Resources: Elements of Information Theory by Cover and Thomas; MIT OpenCourseWare lectures
   • Project: Analyze information gain in a dataset using information theory.
6. Knowledge Representation and Computational Cognitive Neuroscience
   • Resources: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Russell and Norvig; Computational Neuroscience by Dayan and Abbott
   • Project: Develop an ontology or knowledge representation system for medical diagnostics.
7. Concurrent Algorithms, Distributed Systems, and Blockchain Technology
   • Resources: Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms by Tanenbaum and Van Steen; Mastering Blockchain by Imran Bashir
   • Project: Create a simple blockchain with transaction verification and consensus.

---

Elective Units

1. Natural Language Processing

• Resources: Speech and Language Processing by Jurafsky and Martin; Hugging Face NLP Course
• Project: Build an LLM twin to create content.

1. Algorithmic Game Theory

• Resources: Algorithmic Game Theory by Nisan et al.
• Project: Simulation of a multi-agent auction, analyzing outcomes using game theory.

1. Software Engineering for AI and ML Systems

• Resources: Designing Machine Learning Systems by Chip Huyen; Coursera MLOps Course
• Project: Deploy a machine learning model using Docker and Kubernetes.

---

Capstone Project Options

1. Healthcare Predictive Modeling: Bayesian predictive model for health outcomes.
2. Quantum Cryptography: Develop a quantum key distribution protocol.
3. Multi-Agent Simulation: Build a market simulation with game-theoretic strategies.
4. NLP for Social Good: Create a legal or medical document summarizer.

Based on all of the above. I’ve come up with 4 projects that I can complete that combine multple modules and should give me a solid grounding in Artificial Intelligence, and Dsitributed Computing (blockchain).

MSc Artificial Intelligence By Me

1. Build and deploy LLM twin to write content – This will teach me software enginering for machine learning systems and integrate aspects from NLP.
2. Build a blockhain for facilitating trade and investment in decentralised communities – this will teach me about ditributed algorithms and blockchain technologies
3. Build a reinforcemnt learning agent to trade cryptocurrency futures – this will likely also involve a lot of data analysis and I can explore statistical information theory.
4. Build a Bayesian Classifier to predict what weight you should train at next based on past performance

These are small-scale projects with the most practical applications I can think of. Units that weren’t inlcuded were too theoretical to do a feasible project on that would create value.

I’ll start with the first one – building and deploying an LLM twin, we’ll see how this goes. I’ll also be writing posts explaining interesting concepts I come across.

October 23rd 2024

Hello beautiful people,

You’ve probably noticed, winter is coming. The days are getting shorter and the winds colder. The hedgehogs are foraging frantically to prepare for hibernation, squirrels stockpile their winter stores, and foxes scavenge with more urgency as food grows scarcer. Across the country, animals are adapting their behaviour for the coming months.

But there’s one that doesn’t.

As the days grow colder, we sit comfortably in our homes with central heating, protected from the sharp chill that’s appeared in the air. As they grow darker, we switch on our artificial lights and continue as if nothing has changed.

Our technology has allowed us to disconnect from our natural environment and our body’s natural rhythms. Our incredible ability to produce heat and light allows us to stay warm and grow food no matter the season, and if we can’t grow it, we can always import it.

Your body is constantly receiving and responding to information from your environment, that dictates how it functions. Over millions of years, nature has fine-tuned you to respond to the seasonal ebb and flow of plants, temperature, and sunlight (depending where you live). Light is one way your body receives information, temperature is another, but there is one more that is crucial to your health.

Food.

It’s especially now, as we begin to rely more on our technology that controls our environment to keep us comfortable, that being minful of the signals you’re giving your body becomes even more important.

What information does your food contain?

The answer is simple.

How is it that plants are able to grow?

It all comes down to…

The sun 🌞

The sun is our body’s biggest source of information in our environment. The length and intensity of your sunlight exposure is as set of instructions that tells your body how to function.

At the most basic level, food is stored sunlight. Light energy is absorbed by the plants we see around us, and works its way up the food chain. It’s stored information that tells our body how to behave, that’s why it has such a huge impact on how you feel and how your body works.

“In nature nothing exists alone.”
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Every element of every natural system contains information about it’s environment.

So, we’re receiving information from the light and temperature around us, and the food we eat. Our incredible bodies take in and process this information and is adapting to it every second.

Now I ask you, when it’s warm outside and there’s loads of light, what thrives?

When it’s cold and the days are short, what withers?

What should be abundant in the spring and summer, and scarce in the winter?

Fruits and vegetables.

Some vegetables still grow; Kale, Spinach Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, Leeks, etc. But fruit becomes more scarce as you move through autumn into winter.

So before our incredible inventions like the fridge, LED lights, and central heating, carbohydrates were not easily found in the winter. Our diets consisted mostly of protein and fat (because most animals can live through the winter).

What happens now?

The days grow colder and shorter, signalling to our body that it’s time to prepare for winter. Yet, carbohydrates are easily accessible, grown on the other side of the world, and central heating keeps our artificially lit houses at a comfortable set temperature. So now, our body is receiving completely different signals about what’s going on.

I’m not going to tell you that it definitely leads to poor health outcomes, that’s for you to research and decide. But what I will say is that, eating food that was grown under artificial light or on the other side of the world IS giving your body mixed signals, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt you to eat in accordance with your environment and natural rhythms. It’s definitely worth considering.

So how can you do that?



It’s simple, ask yourself what would naturally be available at this time of year?

How far away is my food grown?

Food that is grown in your local area will provide your body with information that is in line with your natural environment.

The closer your food is grown, the better.

It would also make sense to consume animal foods all year round, but limit most of your carbohydrate intake to the lighter and warmer months.

Of course that’s just the general idea, and I’m by no means an expert but that is what I try and do (after a mind-blowing conversation I had with a health optimisation practicioner at MyLittleFarm).

Thinking of food as stored information from the environment, that acts as instructions for your body, is yet another reason why farming and eating in harmony with nature is so crucial.

One of the best things you can do for your health is sourcing your food locally, not just because of the quality of the food, but what that food tells your body.

If you want to read more about this, these are some great sources:

If you want to read more about this, these are some great sources:

Dr Max Gulhane

Dr Jack Kruse

@zaidkdahhaj

The health optimisation specialist I spoke to at MyLittleFarm: Dr Ed Caddye

Circadian health and the idea of living in accordance with natural rhythms is hugely interesting to me, and seems to be the missing piece of a lot of modern health issues.

Now this is not to say you need to freeze yourself to death and only eat food that was grown solely in the cold and dark winter. But there is a relationship between your food and your environment, and it will dictate your body’s natural rhythms and there is a balance to be struck – as you’ll find out with the hens that have just arrived. This is one of the reason I believe One Tree Farm is so important so you’ll probably hear more about it from me as I dive deeper.

Hopefully you found this useful and perhaps it will inspire you to get as much of your food locally this winter.

Until next time.

To your freedom and independence,

Rob
Wild Minds Community

October 10th 2024

Hello beautiful people,

The year is 2030, you walk down the aisles of the supermarket.

You go into the meat section to get your quota for the week. You pull a packet of grey mass out of the fridge. “Grain fed beef – now with crickets for extra protein!”. Your stomach churns in disgust, but at least your doing your part to fight climate change. Your family is nutritionally drained. But the good news is your carbon footprint is below the weekly limit so you’re also allowed some almond milk. Life is good.

You know that the foundation of freedom is food security.

But what’s the best way for you to get that?

If you had to start producing your own food, if you had to invest your resources into one food source that would feed you and your family, what would you choose?

You have limited time, money, and skills.

You need a food source to do three things:

• Meet all your nutritional needs so that you can physically thrive
• Busy easy for you to maintain, you’re busy enough as it is
• Be weather-resistant, imagine starving because it rained too much or too little.

What would you choose?

Potatoes? Tomatoes? Rhubarb?

While these are all excellent choices for a garden, you would find it very difficult to meet all your nutritional needs growing vegetables in your garden.

It’s probably clear to you by now that the solution cannot be grown, it must be reared (unless you’re a good hunter). You need livestock.

But what type?

Chickens are accessible and easy to maintain. Many people start with chickens, and that’s better than nothing. But what do they eat? Grain, which you’ll need to get from somewhere else. How easy are they to maintain? Super easy unless they get killed by a fox. So while they’re a good source of eggs and meat, and an excellent addition to a food production system, they’re not resilient enough to rely on completely.

Pigs aren’t a bad option. They’re easy to feed, eat anything and everything, and are very nutritious. They’re also very resilient as I found out when I had to chase one down. Good luck leaving them in more than one place for longer than a week though. At the rate that pigs turn soil over, you won’t come back to very much land.

I think you know where this is going…

The best solution for food security is this magical animal.

A passage from The 12 Month Farm Method:

“Ruminants like cows play a crucial role in food security. Their ability to convert grass into nutrient-dense beef and dairy products cannot be overstated. Cows offer “food security on the hoof,” essentially a cow is a walking freezer, but without the need for electricity! As long as your well has water and your grass is growing you’ll have cows and you won’t starve in a food emergency. One cow can provide nutrient dense calories, in the form of beef, for a family for several months. A small herd of beef cows is therefore years’ worth of food security for your family and community. ”

Now to be fair, cows are not the only solution. Ruminants as a whole are a great foundation for a food production system. These are animals that are able to turn grass into highly nutritious and bio-available food. They’re hardy, and in the UK, are not a target for predators. They also help you fertilise your soil and so have a compounding effect on your farm.

At One Tree Farm, cows are the foundation of our food production, they provide us with the highest quality beef and milk, and improve our soil. Our regenerative grazing system is built around them. We’ve never lost one to bad weather, which we can’t say about the chickens sadly. All we have to do in return is top them up with water and hay, and they do the rest.

Hopefully you found this useful and inspiring (get a cow).

Until next time.

To your freedom and independence,

Rob
Wild Minds Community

Check out my related post about why your light environment is important

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In this post we’re going to explore one of the most important traits I have sought and still seek to develop since I learned about it. High-agency. But what does it actually mean?

“Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.” – Steve Jobs

A high-agency person lives as if they have no concept of what their life “should” be. In other words, they do not passively accept the story that they are told about how their life should play out.

Essentially this means you:

• Challenge conventional wisdom. Ask “why?”. “Why do I actually need a house?”
• Are a source of energy rather than a drain. Everyone has that friend that drains them of energy and they need to recover from afterwards, be the opposite. Fire up your friends to do cool shit.
• Have unconventional interests. You pursue your interests unphased by what other people think.
• Contradict stereotypes. Are you a bodybuilder that can read?
• Don’t know the meaning of a limiting belief.

“When you’re told that something is impossible, is that the end of the conversation, or does that start a second dialogue in your mind, how to get around whoever it is that’s just told you that you can’t do something? So, how am I going to get past this bouncer who told me that I can’t come into this nightclub? How am I going to start a business when my credit is terrible and I have no experience?”
— Eric Weinstein

A high-agency person takes a first-principles approach to creating the life they want. Most decisions they make, they understand the foundational reason for making that decision.

This is a great thread by George Mack about high-agency people.

1/ HIGH AGENCY

Once you SEE it – you can never UNSEE it.

Arguedbly the most important personality trait you can foster.

I've thought about this concept every week for the last two years since I heard @EricRWeinstein discuss it on @tferriss' podcast.

THREAD…

— George Mack (@george__mack) November 29, 2018

Why uncertainty is important and how to deal with it.

It’s a bit of a weird time in my life. There’s a lot of change and there is no clear path.

My girlfriend and I have made a pretty big decision, we have no idea how it will turn out and what we will come back to. I don’t have a job currently and don’t have a permanent place to stay. I’m effectively a traveller but in the country I live in.

For now and for the next few months, the objective is to save up more money, get a business venture to a place where it’s generating consistent income, and sell the van.

I’m applying for jobs, doing interviews, and working on Wild Minds Community. I have no idea how any of these things will go. I don’t know where I’m going to be based the next weekend, I’m living on a week-to-week basis.

How exciting!

Three years ago the idea of that would have made me throw up. I’m the type of person who gets far too comfortable in routine. It’s addicting to make predictable progress in a pursuit. There is a place for that. But often the most life-changing moments, ideas, and decisions come as a complete surprise.

This is not for people who have trouble sticking to a routine and never progress in any one direction, that’s a separate issue. It’s for people who enjoy the comfort and predictability of routine a little too much.

In my daily indulgence in the algorithm, I came across a video that really resonated with me. What caught my attention was the idea that the people who need the most security and certainty, do not live very comfortable lives. He wasn’t talking about comfort in the material sense, but rather the spiritual sense. How calm is your mind?

You can watch the video here.

People who have their whole lives planned out, with a solid routine to follow, knowing exactly what’s coming, are not very spiritually comfortable. Unless everything goes exactly according to plan – so rarely, they’re very uncomfortable. Either they never learn anything new, because they already know exactly where they are going to be, or they get upset because something didn’t go to plan. This was me. If something dared to interrupt my routine, it felt like my day was ruined. This is a very fragile way to go about life.

The best things in my life have come after periods of uncertainty. In his book, Becoming Supernatural, Dr Joe Dispenza talks about the importance of existing comfortably in the unknown and how this creates the space for the things that are truly meant for you to enter your life. The reason being, rather than avoiding uncertainty by thinking about the past or the future, you bring your attention to the present moment. Where you place your attention is where you place your energy. By bringing your energy to the present moment, you’re in the best position to create the life you want. You can check out his book for a deeper explanation about how this can help you create the reality you want.

Important questions to ask:

• In what ways is my routine holding me back?
• How can I break my routine to have a deeper life long term?
• How can I create space for novelty in my routine?
• How predictable is my current lifestyle?

There was a point in my life where I would have found this far too hippie dippy. But as I’ve learned more and more, through both reading and experience, I’ve realised the importance of creating space in your life for the unknown.

This is not to discount the value of consistency and routine. I LOVE consistency and routine.But there is an element of safety and comfort in that. I do think it’s important to force yourself out of it from time to time.

While that sounds pretty far out, I’ve realised upon reflection that the best periods in my life have been the result of dealing with a certain amount of uncertainty. Before I bought Victor (my van) I had 2 months of limbo, not knowing whether or not I would find one that I was able to afford and met all my needs, where I didn’t have a permanent place to stay. If I had been less tolerant of uncertainty, I would have given up and fallen back on the more secure option of renting a place. I would have missed out on A LOT.

After getting made redundant, while fun at first, soon an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and insecurity crept in. The fear that comes with not knowing what I would work on next, not knowing what my life would look like in 3 or 4 months, not knowing whether I’d be able to keep living in the van. It’s scary living off savings and watching your bank account slowly tick down. If I had been less tolerant of uncertainty, I would have scrambled for another job, one that most likely would not allowed me to be so flexible and free for the next 4 months. And yet again, I would have missed out on A LOT. My life has been so much richer than it would have been, just because I tolerated a bit of uncertainty and kept moving forward.

There is a balance to be struck between security and freedom, risk and reward. So if you want reward, you’ll just have to accept that there might be some risk involved.

“The quality of your life is determined by the amount of uncertainty you can comfortably live with.”

Tony Robbins

One of the great freedoms is being able to deal with uncertainty. Once you accept this, uncertainty begins to feel exciting.