On the Time We Have

Hi {{ first_name | friend}},

It's November 3, and this is my third newsletter in three days.

I was planning to write about something else today, but some sad news has been on my mind since yesterday.

On Sunday night, I was watching videos of Adam Robinson.

I'd been following Adam for quite some time. He was the founder of Retention.com and RB2B , two companies I had been interested in.

A few months ago, I even tried one of his products and had an online meeting with someone from his team.

More recently, I was following his new venture, MoltSets.

I read his LinkedIn posts almost every day and watched his videos occasionally.

What I particularly liked about Adam was how openly he shared his entrepreneurial journey.

He was a strong advocate for bootstrapping businesses and building without relying on outside investment.

And he was genuinely building in public.

He shared revenue numbers, experiments, challenges, decisions, and even things that weren't working.

Sometimes it felt like following a journalist documenting his own entrepreneurial journey.

I learned a lot from him, although we never met personally.

Then yesterday, I learned that Adam, his wife Helen, their two young children, and five others had died in a plane crash in Florida.

It was difficult to believe.

Since then, I've come across hundreds of kind messages from people who knew him, worked with him, or simply followed his journey.

And that made me think about something.

Adam built successful businesses and achieved things that many entrepreneurs dream about.

But looking through all those messages, what stayed with me wasn't the revenue numbers or the companies he built.

It was what people had to say about him.

The people he helped, the knowledge he shared, and the kindness and generosity others remembered.

I think that's a meaningful part of the legacy we leave behind.

Not just how much money we make, what we own, or how successful we become.

But what people remember about us and whether we made a positive difference in their lives.

I've also been thinking about On the Shortness of Life by Seneca. (Storytel, YouTube)

One of his observations is that we protect our money and possessions much more carefully than our time.

We don't like losing money, but we regularly give away hours of our lives to distractions, unnecessary commitments, and things that aren't particularly meaningful.

And unlike money, we can't earn that time back.

I mentioned yesterday that I'd deleted LinkedIn from my phone while listening to Deep Work by Cal Newport.

It's a small decision, but I want to become more intentional about how I spend my time.

Not because every minute needs to be productive.

Quite the opposite.

I want more time for my family, running, reading, learning, helping others, and doing things that genuinely matter to me.

Today, I spent part of the afternoon with my daughters.

One had her swimming class, and I was there with the other.

There's nothing extraordinary about taking your child to a swimming class.

But spending time with them is extraordinary to me.

And I want to appreciate these moments more, rather than treating them as just another part of a busy day.

I want to devote more time to my family and make that time meaningful, as much as possible.

Of course, we still have responsibilities, jobs, errands, and bills to pay.

I'm not suggesting we can simply ignore them.

But sometimes we get so caught up in all these things that we lose our direction.

For me, there's also a purpose beyond what we achieve in this world.

I believe we're here for a reason, and that there is an eternal life beyond this one.

I want to live with that awareness, be a better person, help others, and make good use of the opportunities I'm given.

And sometimes, even small actions can make a difference.

On Sunday, I ran 14.44 km and started a fundraising campaign for Hayat Sende, supporting university scholarships for young people who grew up in state care.

I'm still raising funds, and if you'd like to contribute or share the campaign, you can find it here.

Despite the sad news that brought these thoughts together, I don't want to finish today's note feeling sad or afraid of the future.

I'm grateful for my family, my health, the people around me, and the opportunities I have.

I'm excited about the things I still want to learn, build, experience, and share.

And I want to spend more of my time on the things that matter, both in this life and beyond it.

I know I won't always get the balance right.

But I can keep trying.

We have so much to be grateful for and so much good we can still do.

I hope we can make good use of the time we have.

See you in the next one.

Selim