This document works as an expanding work log: I take notes as I go and organize until I find something interesting to study, opportunities, or anything else worth pursuing. It is the document of explorations, research, and ideas. I keep it updated and organized so I can always copy, paste, add a search, modify it, and use everything together as context.

What am I looking for in general? Quality information and input that enters my mind to give me insights, ideas, and improvement, and to leverage the right decisions. That means continuously acquiring knowledge, understanding the problems in the sectors that interest me, the skills worth developing for the future, and spotting ideas and opportunities that not many have seen yet.

Along this path I try to keep everything organized while tracking questions and notes that I may put in order or revise later. In this perspective, the questions and research you do to uncover all of this become important. Research should lead to deeper inquiry: books, articles, or quality sources that bring insights, information, knowledge, and opportunities, and help improve your life, your economic condition, and your personal satisfaction and happiness in an exponential way.

One open question: how to keep track of results to discard. A separate file?

A starting point: problems to solve that today afflict humanity or small niches of people or sectors, or that could be relevant to solve and would bring value if addressed.

This is a methodology for three connected questions: how to discover topics that might interest you, which problems to understand, and what to do to increase the probability of having ideas or finding opportunities.

Discovering Topics of Interest

Topics that interest you rarely announce themselves. You discover them through exposure and reflection.

When you don't know which domains exist. If you feel stuck, unable to expand, start from what you already touch: your work, your hobbies, the questions that pop up during the day. Then branch out. Follow a footnote in a book you like. Check what books sit next to the one you enjoyed. Look at the "people also read" or "related" sections. Ask someone whose taste you respect what they're reading or exploring. Use one interest as an anchor: if you like X, what else is adjacent? Domains are not a fixed list. They reveal themselves when you follow one thread and see what connects.

Broad exposure with light filters. Once you have a few entry points, read, listen, and watch across them. Follow curiosity without forcing it. A book, a conversation, or an article can spark interest. The goal is to cast a wide net, then notice what pulls your attention.

Track what sticks. Keep a simple list of topics that recur: things you keep returning to, questions that linger, or areas where you want to know more. Review it periodically. Patterns emerge when you see what you keep coming back to.

Connect to your direction. Not every interesting topic deserves deep investment. Filter through your 10-year direction: does this topic move you toward something meaningful, or is it just noise? Interest alone is not enough; interest aligned with direction is.

Which Problems to Understand

Not all problems are worth your time. Focus on problems that matter to you and to others.

Problems you feel. Start with problems you experience or observe closely. Personal friction, inefficiency, or frustration are signals. If you feel it, others likely do too.

Problems at the intersection. The most valuable problems often sit at the intersection of your skills, your interests, and real demand. Map these three and look for overlap.

Problems with feedback loops. Prefer problems where you can get feedback quickly: build something, talk to people, run a small experiment. Problems that take years to validate are harder to learn from.

Problems that scale your thinking. Some problems, once understood, unlock many others. Foundational concepts, mental models, and first-principles thinking compound. Invest in understanding these.

Increasing the Probability of Ideas and Opportunities

Ideas and opportunities are probabilistic. You cannot force them, but you can increase the odds.

Create input variety. Ideas come from combining existing knowledge in new ways. The more diverse and high-quality your inputs (reading, experiences, conversations), the more raw material you have for combinations.

Maintain an idea log. Capture ideas as they appear. Do not judge them in the moment. Review the log regularly. Weak ideas often lead to stronger ones when you revisit them later.

Act on small ideas. Acting creates feedback. One small experiment, one conversation, one prototype can open a path you could not see from thinking alone. Action increases the surface area for opportunities.

Be where opportunities form. Opportunities often appear in communities, projects, and conversations. Participate in spaces related to your direction. Contribute before you ask. Visibility and trust create access to opportunities that never appear in job boards or feeds.

Leave slack for serendipity. A packed schedule leaves no room for unexpected conversations, spontaneous exploration, or following a thread. Protect some unstructured time. Serendipity needs space to work.