Vicente Valencia

🤔 Risk-Averse Renegade 💪 | Helping others take the leap of faith | Entrepreneur & Investor | Personal Growth, Business. 🐭 Join the free rat race 🐭

If you need PPP Advice or Training that you WON'T get from the World Bank go to: https://vicentevalencia.com.

I love infrastructure delivery and I have good reasons for that. 

I still remember my third day working in PPPs, around 20 years ago. 

I was put on a Board meeting, and my boss told the rest of the board members that "I was the new PPP advisor". 

Not bad for the third day. 

I didn't know what a PPP was, nor even a what a Board was, or shareholders, or construction contracts, or back-to-backs... and there I was. 

Now, after having tendered, managed, delivered, refinanced, sold, a few PPPs in Europe, North America and New Zealand, as a COO, CEO and Board Member, I can tell you many more stories... some of them, "terror stories": extra costs, claims, delays, incompetence, bad clients, terrible contractors, evil designers, etc. 

But I can also tell you many great stories about people. 

Happy people enjoying a new and fantastic piece of infrastructure. 

These assets have transformed for the better lives, cities and even countries. 

I’ll never forget the 15 December 2012, when I opened as the COO, the A30 Project in Montreal. 

I put my beautiful and very patient Spanish wife on a toll both to enjoy. 

Many nights working at night and she supported me all the way long, and I wanted her to live the experience. 

During a break to have diner – it was a long day – she told me that users thanked her saying “Gracias”. 
I’ll never forget the joy and happiness of thousands of people that wanted to cross the bridges that we built.
 
This is the power of great infrastructure, properly delivered. 

This is why, I love that business. 

I also have two secret passions: Real Estate Investing, and a popular newsletter. Everyday, I send a free tip about business, project management, investment, motivation and personal growth. All this comes with Spanish spice. Subscribe, join other +2k free minds and enjoy.

Co-Founder and Investor

Love the challenges, the design and changing spaces and cities for the better. 

We give a second opportunity to old buildings and houses creating unique homes.

Most PPP projects don’t fail because of construction issues.
Or financing.
Or KPIs.

They fail because people ignore the basics.
The fundamentals.

The principles nobody teaches you in those “PPP certifications.”
The laws I’ve learned after 20 years sitting on all four sides of the table:
government, contractor, equity, and operator.

So here they are.
The 15 Commandments of the PPP Movement.
The no-BS rules that separate a bankable project…
from a headline on the front page of the newspaper.

Swipe.

Learn them.

Break them at your own risk.

_
Enjoy this? Report it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#PPP #Infrastructure #PublicPrivatePartnerships #MegaProjects #ProjectFinance #Governance #PublicSector #RiskManagement #InfrastructureInvestment #Construction

PPP Executioner | Providing Clarity to PPP Professionals, Agencies and Investors | Join the PPP MOVEMENT for Infra tips and stories

The 15 Commandments of the PPP Movement

Most governments say they want world-class infrastructure.
But then they panic when world-class people show up.
The Ministry of Transport of Quebec didn’t.
They opened the door.
To foreigners.
To competition.
To courage.
The result?
A-30 Expressway. In my modest opinion, one of the most successful PPPs in North America.
Delivered on time. 
On budget. 
With pride.
I was there.
And I still remember the chaos, the cold, and that night before opening when we almost forgot to put live the tolling system.
Today's article is about courage.
Not the PowerPoint kind. 
The real one.

_
Enjoy this? Report it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#Leadership #PPP #Infrastructure #Courage #ProjectManagement #PublicPrivatePartnerships #Canada #Construction

View newsletter: PPP & Real Estate stories

Most governments say they want world-class infrastructure. But few have the guts to bring in world-class people. But the Ministry of Transport of Queb

Open article: Dark and Cold by Vicente Valencia • 2 min read

Do you want cheap infrastructure?
Then stop building one-offs.
Create a pipeline.
A few weeks ago someone told me:
“Madrid delivered the cheapest tunnels in the world… how did they do it?”

I did not know if that was true... but my answer was simple:

Do you know how many TBMs were working in Madrid at the same time?

For more than 10 years, Madrid had:
7–8 tunnel boring machines
Working almost continuously
Same operators
Same ground
Same learning curve... improving every single day

Mobilization costs? Almost zero.
Training? Zero.
Excuses? Zero.

The exact opposite of how most countries operate.

Because here’s the truth:
Repetition creates mastery.
Mastery creates confidence.
Confidence creates better, faster, safer and cheaper projects.

Madrid didn’t wait for “perfect timing” or “market conditions.”
They committed to building.
Pipeline. After pipeline. After pipeline.

Results?
They retained experts
They attracted capital and innovation
They built a competitive industry

You want better infrastructure?
You want lower prices?
You want to stop bleeding public money?
Create a pipeline.

Or keep paying the “one-off” stupidity tax.

Is your country building a pipeline? Or killing one?

_
Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#infrastructure #construction #megaprojects #PPP #tunneling #publicpolicy

It happens a few weeks ago. “Tell me about Madrid and Spain, how do you do it? I heard a business case that Madrid has been able to deliver the cheape

Open article: How to build infrastructure faster and cheaper by Vicente Valencia • 2 min read

How to build infrastructure faster and cheaper

Most people say: “It’s too small for a PPP.”

They’re wrong.
In fact, this one proves size doesn’t matter... clarity and discipline do.

When Nairobi (and Kenya’s counties) decided to overhaul street-lighting through a PPP, they weren’t chasing headlines. 
They were chasing reliability, cost-efficiency and smart governance.
Here’s why the “small” project deserves a place in the PPP Hall of Fame... and why you should be paying attention.

See all the change it brought with only 23 million US dollars. 

_
Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#PPP #Kenya #Africa #UrbanInfra #StreetLighting #SmartCities #ValueForMoney #RiskManagement #Infrastructure

Most people say: “It’s too small for a PPP.” They’re wrong. In fact, this one might be your best lesson yet. In Eldoret, Kenya, the local government p

Open article: The Street Lights Nobody Believed Could Be a PPP by Vicente Valencia • 2 min read

The Street Lights Nobody Believed Could Be a PPP

A $165 million PPP success story.
And the person who built it is now unemployed.

Imagine this. 

A $165 million Education PPP.
Funded by USAID.
Implemented in Sindh, Pakistan.
State-of-the-art schools.
A pioneering EMO (Education Management Organization) model.
A PPP toolkit still used today.
And yet…
The person who led the entire reform for a decade is now struggling to find work.

No headlines.
No recognition.
No consulting contracts.
No “thought leadership” invitations.

Meanwhile, governments keep paying millions to the usual suspects:
 - Big logos.
 - Shiny PowerPoints.
 - Generic frameworks.
 - Minimal local impact.

Look. 
This is why I've learnt after 20 years doing this. 

PPP success doesn’t come from branding.
It comes from people who actually built the system.
And most of them are invisible.

Eliminate PPPs if you want.
Any infrastructure project. 

Engineers, commercial managers, that guy that had the idea that save millions... 

In this case, it's the Director of the PPP NODE in Sindh:
- Designed an indigenous EMO model
- Launched one of the only unsolicited PPPs in Pakistan
- Built a full PPP guide for Education
- Led reform for 10 years

Yet today, he’s told:
“You’re not technical enough.”
“You’re not financial enough.”
“You’re not legal enough.”

As if one human being is supposed to be three consulting firms in one.
Come on!

Look. PPP contracts have:
 • Technical complexity
 • Financial structuring
 • Legal architecture

No serious project has ever been delivered by a single “unicorn expert.”
Mega projects and PPPs are built by teams.
But careers are judged like solo sports.

And here it is what I find like the real scandal:
Governments spend millions on advisory fees…
While the people who actually know how to make PPPs work are sidelined, underused, and undervalued.

We don’t have a talent shortage.
We have a recognition failure.

If you’re a PPP professional who has:
 • Built something real
 • Led reform
 • Delivered impact
 • And still feels invisible

You’re not alone.
And you’re not the problem.
The system is.

If you’ve built real impact and still feel invisible — speak up.
Comment “REAL” if you believe experience should matter more than logos.
Share this so the right people start paying attention.

_
Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#RealPPPExperts #BuiltNotBranded #ImplementationMatters #ConsultingIndustry #AdvisoryBubble #PublicMoney #ProcurementFailure #InvisibleLeaders #Unrecognized #WastedTalent #PublicPrivatePartnership #PPPProjects #InfrastructureReform

Most PPP evaluation processes have one thing in common:
They are way too complicated.
50 scoring criteria.
Subjective weighting.
Weeks of debate.
Appeals, disputes, delays…

And in the end?
Nobody understands why that bidder won.

A PPP evaluation is not a research paper.
It’s a decision that will impact your country for 25–40 years.

So why does the process look like a maze instead of a strategy?

Today I’m breaking down the 3 steps that actually bring:
Faster procurement
Clear accountability
Better value for taxpayers
Stronger competition
Less drama

Let me know if you have seen any of this. 

_
Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#PublicPrivatePartnerships #PPPs #Infrastructure #ProjectFinance #Megaprojects #PublicProcurement #GovernmentInfrastructure #RiskManagement #ValueForMoney #StrategicThinking #InfrastructureInvestment #Leadership #Governance

How to design PPP Evaluations

Most PPP evaluations look like this:
50 scoring criteria.
Subjective weighting.
Ambiguous definitions.
Committees arguing for months.

And in the end…
nobody knows why the winner won.

Look. 
A PPP evaluation isn’t / shouldn't be a science fair.
It’s a decision that will impact a country for 25–40 years.

So why do we keep making it so complicated?

So... How to design the perfect PPP evaluation
 → Faster
 → Fairer
 → Better value for money
 → Less drama

My proposal is simple:
Select only the top consortia
Pass/fail minimum technical outcomes
Award on price + lifecycle + risk

That’s it.
Three steps.
No noise.

_
Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#PublicPrivatePartnerships #PPPs #Infrastructure #ProjectFinance #Megaprojects #PublicProcurement #GovernmentInfrastructure #RiskManagement #ValueForMoney #StrategicThinking #InfrastructureInvestment #Leadership #Governance

Most PPP evaluations are designed by committees obsessed with checking boxes. Not with selecting the best partner. The result? Overcomplicated scoring

Open article: Stop Overthinking PPP Evaluations — Do This Instead by Vicente Valencia • 2 min read

Stop Overthinking PPP Evaluations — Do This Instead

In Latin America, a PPP that only increases +20% in cost is considered a success.

Yeah... 

Why does this keep happening?

Here are the usual suspects:
Half-baked projects rushed to procurement
Unrealistic bids designed to win… then renegotiate
Weak risk allocation and technical definition
Fiscal risks buried under future budgets

Result?
PPP prices go up, competition goes down, trust goes out the window.

I just broke down the real causes of the “+20% trap” and what agencies must do to stop it.

If we want PPPs to deliver real value.

We must stop pretending that a cheap bid today is cheap forever.

_
Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw

#PublicPrivatePartnerships #PPPs #Infrastructure #Megaprojects #ProjectFinance #GovernmentInfrastructure #PublicProcurement #RiskManagement #ValueForMoney #LatinAmerica #LatAmInfrastructure #StrategicThinking #InfrastructureInvestment #Leadership #Governance

Many people challenge my preferred RFP strategy for PPPs: “Pre-qualify strong consortia, set a minimum technical pass/fail, and award to the best NPV 

Open article: When +20% Is the Floor — The Latin American PPP Trap by Vicente Valencia • 2 min read

When +20% Is the Floor — The Latin American PPP Trap

January 5th.
Kids in Spain are waiting for the Three Wise Men.
Meanwhile, in Australia, a bridge collapses into the river.
Catastrophe has no calendar.

Tasman Bridge, Hobart — 1975.
A bulk carrier hits a pier.
The structure fails.
Cars fall into the void without ever seeing it.
Twelve lives lost.
A city cut in half for more than two years.

Nobody thought a disaster would arrive that night.
Because we humans believe the worst always happens Monday at 9 am…
…and only when everyone is in the office.

Wrong.

Mega-projects fail at the worst possible moment:
holidays,
evenings,
when teams are home with family,
when communications are messy and slow.

Every project needs a Crisis Management Plan.
Not because a client demands it, but because chaos doesn’t wait for approvals.

Who speaks?
Who acts?
What gets shut down?
Who protects the reputation when the headlines are brutal?

If these answers aren’t rehearsed…
...the disaster won’t just be physical.

Infrastructure, and in particular, big projects, doesn’t forgive naivety.
It doesn’t care about celebrations, weekends, or candy for children.

Be ready.

Always.

_
Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Vicente Valencia for more. 

Want to have a different perspective in PPP Projects?

Join my community of 2.000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/ghxxRBAw


 #Infrastructure #PPPs #ProjectManagement #RiskManagement #CrisisManagement #Construction #Engineering #LessonsLearned #MegaProjects #PublicSafety #PMO

January 5th. In Spain and many parts of the world, kids go to sleep excited because the Three Wise Men are coming with toys. Meanwhile… in Australia… 

Open article: Tragic event on January 5 by Vicente Valencia • 2 min read

In Latin America, PPPs that only become 20% more expensive are considered a success.
Yes, you read that right.
Why do so many projects go from “cheapest bid” to most expensive outcome?

Because when you:
Rush the RFP
Under-design the project
Transfer risks blindly
Reward the lowest fantasy number
…you don’t get value for money.

You get a renegotiation.

And citizens always pay.

Today I’m breaking down the real reasons why +20% is just the starting point in Latin-American PPPs and what governments must change if they want the best players to stay in the game.

Comment below if you have seen any of this. 

#PublicPrivatePartnerships #PPPs #Infrastructure #Megaprojects #ProjectFinance #GovernmentInfrastructure #PublicProcurement #RiskManagement #ValueForMoney #LatinAmerica #LatAmInfrastructure #StrategicThinking #InfrastructureInvestment #Leadership #Governance

The 20% Latin American Trap in PPP

In Latin America, more than 70% of transport PPPs are renegotiated... often within the first year.

And +20% cost creep?
That’s the floor, not the ceiling.

So let me ask you this...

What is the #1 root cause of PPP price blowouts in the region?

Comment below if your answer is “all of the above”

#PublicPrivatePartnerships #PPPs #Infrastructure #Megaprojects #ProjectFinance #GovernmentInfrastructure #PublicProcurement #RiskManagement #ValueForMoney #LatinAmerica #LatAmInfrastructure #StrategicThinking #InfrastructureInvestment #Leadership #Governance

What is the #1 root cause of PPP price blowouts in the region?

Conviene leer este post. Se va a entender mucho de las oportunidades para mejorar procesos de contratación en América Latina.

Aunque este reporte del BID es de 2017, sus conclusiones siguen siendo vigentes para los proyectos de infraestructura en América Latina.

La región enfrenta una brecha de inversión gigantesca, pero el verdadero desafío no es solo invertir más, sino invertir mejor. La evidencia es clara: los conflictos en infraestructura no son eventos fortuitos; son el resultado de fallas estructurales de gobernanza, planeación y relacionamiento social.

El análisis del BID muestra que la raíz del conflicto está menos en lo técnico y más en lo institucional:
	•	Planeación deficiente y decisiones “aguas abajo”.
	•	Procesos de consulta formales pero poco sustantivos.
	•	Falta de transparencia y expectativas mal gestionadas.
	•	Beneficios comunitarios percibidos como insuficientes o injustos.

El impacto es profundo: retrasos de varios años, sobrecostos cercanos al 70%, cancelaciones de proyectos y un daño reputacional que afecta no solo a empresas, sino a países completos como destinos de inversión.

Esto conecta con una realidad más reciente: como señala Vicente Valencia , cerca del 70% de los proyectos de transporte APP en la región han sido renegociados, con una suerte de “rule of thumb” de 20% de sobrecosto. La renegociación se ha vuelto la norma, no la excepción. (Y aún así aportan valor por dinero)

El contraste con Europa es revelador. El estudio comparativo de Jörg Christen sobre APP en Alemania muestra resultados casi opuestos: menores costos de construcción, plazos más cortos, reducciones significativas en costos de ciclo de vida y mayor satisfacción de gobiernos y comunidades. Su conclusión es contundente: la aproximación de ciclo de vida alinea incentivos y corrige, en la práctica, las debilidades de los contratos incompletos de largo plazo.

La diferencia entre América Latina y Alemania no es conceptual —sabemos qué hacer— sino de ejecución institucional:
	•	Planeamos con menor profundidad.
	•	Construimos confianza de forma volátil, con señales de política contradictorias.
	•	No hemos consolidado una gobernanza efectiva a nivel territorial, especialmente con autoridades locales y comunidades.

Como ya advertía el BID, la hoja de ruta sigue siendo la misma: Planeación, Confianza y Gobernanza.

👉 ¿Es un problema de capacidades, de incentivos, o de economía política?
👉 ¿Cuáles lecciones de la experiencia alemana (y global) son realmente transferibles a América Latina y cuáles no?


#Infraestructura #APP #PPP #Gobernanza #GestiónDeRiesgos #Planeación #Sostenibilidad #AméricaLatina #Alemania

Conviction-driven proprietary futures trader with a focus on macro positioning, capital misalignment, and institutional flow. I specialize in identifying when asset managers or leveraged funds are offside, using tools like COT data, ETF flows, volatility indexes, and price structure to time entries with precision. I don’t chase noise—I wait for asymmetric setups where mispriced risk meets technical exhaustion. Every trade is a hypothesis tested with discipline, managed without fear, and sized to survive. My edge lies in patience, structure, and understanding where capital is blind. 

I am also a proud U.S. Army veteran with six years of service as an Infantryman, where I earned the Expert Infantryman Badge and the Combat Infantryman Badge for my courage and excellence under fire. My military background has instilled in me a strong work ethic, discipline, resilience, and teamwork, which I apply to my sales career. I am passionate about learning and growing in the field of business, and I enjoy reading books on coaching, philosophy, and sales. I believe LinkedIn is the best platform for authentic and meaningful human communication.

Theodore McIntosh

2016 me vs 2026 me…yikes!

Father time is really undefeated y’all!

Build that thing. Do those extra pushups. Read that book. Whatever.

If we have to weigh our hearts on the scales ⚖️ of time 🕰️ in the afterlife against a feather, what decisions can we make today to ensure the balance is in our favor?

No alternative text description for this image

You’re weak.



That’s what I used to tell myself every time I failed.

Injuries.
Break ups.
Mental health spirals.

So I scrolled.
Dopamine instead of direction.
Relief instead of responsibility.

It worked for a minute.
Then the emptiness came back heavier.

Here’s what changed everything.

When I stopped thinking about the men that didn’t make it or the mistakes I made, and I started thinking about what I needed to become.

The self is not found by dwelling on the past negatively.

It is built by acting.

When I had nothing to move toward, my mind turned on me.
When I chose a goal, even imperfectly, the pain had somewhere to go.

That inner pressure you feel is not laziness.
It is unused energy.

Scrolling feels like rest.
But rest does not heal you.

The cure lives in:
	•	the project you keep avoiding
	•	the journal you stopped writing in
	•	the body you stopped training
	•	the future you are scared to claim

That is where the I forms.
In effort.
In direction.
In assertion.

You will falter.
You will hear the voice again.

“You’re weak.”

Prove that voice wrong. Seek direction over distraction.

Push, pull, write. Whatever it is you do.

Strength isn’t lack of failures.
Strength is returning to the direction anyway.

If this resonated, like this post.
Then close the app.
Add one sentence.
Do one rep.
Make one move.

That is how the self appears.

In 2026, any founder can build projects without writing a single line of code.
I built a Trader Intelligence Dashboard with 5 modules, live charts, dark mode, and real-time data visualization.
Zero coding experience. Just vibe-coding with Manus.AI.
The dashboard includes: ✅ COT (Commitment of Traders) positioning
 ✅ Options Open Interest + Sentiment analysis
 ✅ FINRA Short Sale + Dark Pool tracking
 ✅ Sentiment & News aggregation
 ✅ Insider & Senator Trades monitoring
My vibe-coding workflow:
1️⃣ Think first: Define what I needed (5 modules, specific data points, sleek UI)
2️⃣ One conversation: Manus.AI built the Next.js + TypeScript + Tailwind stack
3️⃣ Iterate fast: Asked for adjustments, got them instantly
4️⃣ Deploy: Pushed to Vercel in minutes
Time breakdown:
Planning: 20 minutes
Building with Manus.AI: 1 hour
Deploying: 10 minutes
Total: ~1.5 hours for a production-ready MVP
Real talk:
I don't know what I'm doing half the time. I'm in conscious incompetence, fumbling through, learning by breaking things.
But that's the point.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
Every small win, every working feature, every "holy shit it actually works" moment builds confidence.
The codebase is on GitHub, fully documented and open. I can read it, understand it, and extend it. That's progress.
Why Manus.AI is about to level up:
Meta recently acquired Manus.AI, positioning them as a leader in agentic AI.
With Meta's consumer data, imagine: → Apps that understand trending topics from billions of posts
 → UI/UX trained on how millions interact with Meta products
 → One-click Instagram/Facebook/WhatsApp integrations
 → Market validation using real consumer behavior
Building smarter with insights from 3+ billion users.
For non-technical founders:
You don't need to learn to code. You need to learn to:
Articulate what you want clearly
Break problems into pieces
Iterate based on what you see
Think product-first, not code-first
The barrier isn't technical anymore. It's clarity of vision and willingness to fumble forward.
If you're waiting to "learn to code first," stop waiting.
Start vibe-coding. Make mistakes. Have fun. Build today.
#vibecoding #AItools #founder #ManusAI #Meta #agentic #MVP

Most people are taught to shrink their “I”.

School trains compliance.
Jobs reward obedience.
Titles replace identity.

And nobody ever says it out loud.

Your sense of self slowly gets capped.

I learned this the hard way.

The military teaches discipline, structure, sacrifice. Powerful lessons.
But it also teaches you where your thinking stops and who decides for you.

Business looked like freedom at first.
Then I noticed the same pattern.

Pay bands.
Career ladders.
Invisible ceilings.

You are encouraged to “be yourself” right up until your self becomes inconvenient.

Over time, people stop authoring their lives and start managing permission.

Here is what recently changed everything for me.

One day I fell into a philosophical rabbit hole and found one of the lesser known German Idealists, Johann Gottlieb Fichte. His concept of the “I” was fascinating because he posits that it is an original activity. Kant limits reason by requiring an unknown external ground. Fichte’s point of view is that the “not-I” exists only as a limit posited by the “I”. 

	•	Kant: Reality exists beyond me, and I can only know its appearances (this is fine if you are willingly to be dependent on appearances, willingly to receive reality at all turns). This is part of why he is widely studied, his work is presented as conformity.

	•	Fichte: I am the origin of reality, and through my activity all else emerges. The world is not just received; it is co-generated by your activity. 

Fichte argued that the self is not a thing you discover.

It is an act.

The “I” does not WAIT for permission from the world.

It posits itself.

Meaning, you become who you are through action, through striving, through choosing to create in the face of resistance.

Most modern systems do the opposite.
They minimize the “I”.

They want predictability, not self-authorship.
Stability, not growth.
Output, not becoming.

That tension is why so many people feel restless even when they are doing “everything right”.

The solution is not quitting your job tomorrow.

The solution is reclaiming authorship.

Writing forces you to clarify your own thinking.
Publishing on social media is the modern form of self-positing.
Sales teaches you how real humans decide, not how spreadsheets assume they do.
Time-flexible pursuits like trading or art restore agency over your day and your energy.

These are not side hustles.
They are philosophical acts.

Your identity is the rough stone hewn with the chisel of actions, transformed into the sculpture of your design.

Every post is a declaration of “I am”.
Every project refines who you are becoming.

Every sale is proof you have empathy.

Every trade is another opportunity for you build resilience and shape why you make decisions.

You are not finding yourself.

You are building yourself.

So the real question is simple.

What will you author? What “I” am are you creating?

Enjoy creating yourself through Fichte’s “I”

THE SELF POSITS ITSELF ABSOLUTELY!

I am a slave to sin.

Not in the dramatic sense. In the quiet, modern sense.

Short-form content is an instrument of sloth, envy, and gluttony. The tecpatl that cuts into precious awareness. My phone is the altar upon which my focus is sacrificed to these sins.

These sins are subtle, they wear entertainment as a costume while quietly hollowing you out. 

Consumption disguised as staying informed. 

Comparison disguised as inspiration. 

Complacency disguised as rest. 

“I am just chilling, just catching up, just havin a few giggles, no biggie”. 

Swipe after swipe, focus degraded, awareness altered. 

This is the carousel 🎠 from hell 🔥 

It does not punish you. It indulges you. It feeds you novelty, validation, outrage, lust, and distraction in perfectly measured doses, just enough to keep you moving and never enough to let you arrive. 

Around and around you go, mistaking motion for progress, stimulation for life, and consumption for thinking.

I see it in the small moments. Between sets at the gym. Waiting for food. A pause in conversation. Any gap in experience is immediately filled, not with thought or presence, but with noise. And the more I give myself to it, the less capable I become of depth, patience, or sustained desire for anything difficult or meaningful.

Short-form content is not evil. The sin is surrendering to it. Allowing it to replace my own interior life, the internal monologue I developed over 34 years. Letting it train me to crave what is easy, shocking, and instantly gratifying while slowly losing my taste for wisdom, strength, beauty. Letting it undermine work that requires time. That is the true sin, the true price of the ticket to ride the carousel.

So I am trying to get off the ride. Not by pretending I am above it, but by building practices that pull me back into myself.

Here is what is actually helping.

1. Be ruthless with inputs. I remove content that feeds envy, lust, outrage, or idle amusement, not because it is immoral, but because it weakens me. The algorithm is a mirror. I teach it who I am by what I refuse to consume. Attention is finite. I spend it where I want to grow.

2. Transmute temptation into depth.
When something grips me, I stop scrolling immediately and move into creation. I write about it. I interrogate it. I follow the thread until it becomes understanding instead of sensation. Shallow inspiration must lead to deep work, or it becomes another empty calorie.

3. Replace indulgence with creation. I structure my days so that real effort crowds out easy pleasure. Long walks. Long reading. Long writing sessions. Creation satisfies in a way consumption never does. When I build, the hunger to escape diminishes on its own. This is not a moral stance, it’s W mentality.

We live in a world designed to keep us distracted, indulgent, and fragmented. Choosing depth, presence, and creation is an act of quiet rebellion, and if you have ever found yourself mindlessly scrolling, trust me you are not alone.

Meet Warren.


Warren is a cat. He’s obese, striped, and sometimes nice.

But when he’s overstimulated, he’s problematic.

The weird thing? If I pet him for too long, he bites. 

If I STOP petting him, same.

Not because he’s malicious (hopefully), but because he can’t regulate himself.

He wants more. He needs more. Even when more is overstimulating him.

Sound familiar?

This is you demanding the market soothe your ego and placate your animalistic emotions of fear and greed.

You’re up $1,500 on the day. You should stop. You don’t.

“Just one more trade.”

Or worse - you’re down $800. You think the market owes you. Your setup isn’t there. Volume is low. You’re close to your daily loss limit.

You trade anyway.

CHOMP.

Some platforms are great and have daily loss limits, lockout features, profit factors so you have a gauge on when to cut winners and losers. Risk management parameters that physically stop you.

But here’s the thing: 

we should be in control of ourselves

Daily loss limits and win limits are great. They’re necessary. But what happens when you fail? When you break the rule? When you blow past your limits? 

What happens when you break your rules, trade outside of your setups, and win?

Because statistically speaking, it’s going to happen.

How do you rehabilitate your mind after that?

How do you rebuild your identity back to someone who follows their edge?

It’s not about better strategy. It’s not about more rules.

It’s about what happens when you become Warren - overstimulated, unable to regulate, biting when you know you shouldn’t.

So I’m asking: How are you managing your emotions through wins and losses?

How do you rebuild discipline?

How do you stay consistent?

Let me know. I’m genuinely trying to figure this out.

(And if you’ve never struggled with this… Warren and I are very jealous of you.)

What is the most useful mental model you’ve discovered in the last 12 months?

Sales Architect | Applying Futures Trading Risk Logic to Local AI Agents (Moltbot) | Building Secure B2B Sales Pipelines

What gets measured gets improved.

Is this the case always?

No, not always.

But the Hawthorne Effect was observed in the 20s’ and 30’s where workers in the Western Electric Factory in Cicero, IL became more productive upon receiving the awareness that they were being observed and studied.

If I watch myself and track my actions I improve them.

Can this get out of hand and cause negative consequences? Sure, but I’m not a factory where observed workers might skew data with illusory actions or fake productivity.

It’s me in the moment vs me in the past, just trying to be better for the future me.

James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits said that we don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the levels of our systems.

My system is to check each day how many steps I’ve taken.

I know a guy who doesn’t track it at all, but everday he walks the exact same route, same time, no headphones just raw.

That’s his system.

I like to create voice notes and listen to books. Sometimes I walk in the mornings, sometimes the evenings, different days, different routes.

That’s my system.

What are your systems?

I’m a loner…
And I’m ok with that.

As an INFJ, I trend toward solitude and introspection. I read, write, and look for patterns that reveal a bigger picture.

The mannequin in this photo is my companion of silence. Quiet, still, present. Being by yourself can bring immense clarity.

It is inert, devoid of spark. It reminds me: revelations shouted into empty tunnels return only echoes of your own mind.

Solitude is an energy source, not a deficit. I engage with two ears and two eyes. After clarity, I speak with one strong, steady voice. I live my truth, not the world’s script.

Are type indicators full of 💩 or do they stand the test of ⏰? 

Drop the emoji that matches how you feel, I’m all in on type indicators ⏰🕕🕦

taplio

The Battle

Vicente Valencia

Theodore McIntosh

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreVicente Valencia's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreTheodore McIntosh's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Vicente Valencia

Theodore McIntosh

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Vicente Valencia's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreTheodore McIntosh's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreVicente Valencia's LinkedIn Performance