Whoa, oh hey there! Long time no see! It’s been a while and I’m sure we’ve both been up to a lot…let’s reconnect! I’ll start by answering a question you might be asking: “Where the hell did you go?!” A valid question, to be sure, and I’ll explain in detail.
How GPT-4 and AI Took Me By Surprise
Let’s take a step backward in time to March 2023. What released around that time that shook the world? ChatGPT’s most powerful consumer product, GPT-4. This single-handedly upset the world, with angel investors throwing their money at AI startups to catch a piece of the golden goose. Since then AI has been on a sprint to disrupt…everything really, from writing and creative work to generation of images and videos that could fool even expert eyes in many cases.
As a self-professed nerd that actually works in IT, I had to dive in. I experimented with AI tools, from ChatGPT to Claude and Perplexity, even feeding my entire catalog of blog posts into a chat and asking it to write something in my voice. To my complete surprise, the result was wholly convincing. It wasn’t just a coherent blog post – it wrote in the same way that I would.
I was rocked – shocked by the unbelievable ability of this thing to write in a way that was so similar to my writing, but infinitely faster. I was also mortified, instantly seeing the writing on the wall: the dead internet theory really is going to come true, and quickly. The idea that AI-generated content would flood the internet to the point that genuine human voices are drowned out felt very, very real. All desire to write went out the window as I realized that AI could replicate the personal touch I try to put into these posts in seconds.
Recovering My “Why”: Writing as a Legacy For My Kids
AI also kicked me hard enough to realize that I had drifted away from why I started this blog. FIThinking was never intended to be a side hustle; at its core, it was meant to be my legacy for my kids. After living through Mom’s cognitive decline and passing, and learning that I have a 50% chance to get the same illness she had as early as my 30s (that’s now, by the way), I was compelled to get my thoughts and learnings down for them to see one day. If anyone else can benefit, that’s fantastic, but it started off as a gift to my kids.
Over time, though, I found that I really loved the activity of writing while at the same time finding that I really didn’t like the role I had at the time. Side hustles were a huge thing then, and I started to see the blog as a way to push for a side stream of income: affiliate links, primarily. This is where I lost my way and started putting out posts linking what I thought were really great deals on fitness equipment on Amazon for Black Friday sales, etc. I lost my focus on gratitude and instead shifted to what so many of us fall victim to: the pursuit of money.
Getting Back on Track: The Joy of Writing Without the Pressure
After some time away, I’ve found that I’m really missing the act of writing in the first place. I don’t think that AI is going to “replace” what I’m doing, because I’m not trying to amass a massive audience that I can spin products off to. Instead, I want to keep learning, share my findings and revelations, and just enjoy the process as a whole. So here we are, the crest of FIThinking’s return!
What’s Next: Fitness, Finance, and FIRE Goals
I won’t lock myself into a schedule, but I’m back with a renewed sense of purpose. Together, let’s dive back into fitness goals, financial independence and my FIRE journey, and life—one post at a time. I’m really excited about the strides I’ve made since we last connected, whether it’s hitting new fitness milestones (yep, I’m running now!) or getting tantalizingly close to achieving millionaire status. The FIRE journey continues, and I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned.
