It's 8:10AM on Sun, Feb 22nd, 2026. This post is supposed to go out in 3 hours, at 11:11am. And I'm just getting started.

When I began writing this blog back in Nov, it was all perfect.

15-30 minutes of writing every morning.

Mon, pick the topic. Tue, draft the first few paras. Wed, flesh it out. Thu, iron out the kinks. Fri, add a subtitle, schedule for Sun at 11:11. Sun, the post goes live while I relax.

Week after week, like clockwork.

But here's how it's actually turning out:

• Nov and Dec? Perfect.

• Jan? Almost. Hairline cracks. I delay my start to Wed, then hustle like crazy on Sat.

• Feb? It's Sun morning already. I have less than 3 hours left. And I'm only now putting down the first words.

Turning Pro

One of my favorite books is Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield.

He talks about the difference between an amateur and a Pro.

It's not about how talented we are. Or how skilled we are. Or how much we've already achieved.

It's about how well we've separated our actions from our emotional state.

Do we keep showing up no matter what? Do we choose what is "right" over what is "easy"?

When we can answer yes over and over again, until it's deeply ingrained in our DNA-that's when we've turned Pro.

I'll be the first to admit: I'm still on that journey.

It's hard to start a journey on a less-trodden path.

But it's harder to keep going.

Now that Spark is starting to crawl, people are taking notice.

Feedback is coming in. Feature requests are coming in…

A better user interface. Enterprise-grade security. Multi-language support. Assignments. Less verbose content. Bug reports.

And then there's our own internal long list of ideas that we want to build.

And that's just product. Then there's pricing. Marketing. Legal. Hiring. Training. Negotiations. Finance. Customer support.

Back in Nov, things were quieter. It was easier to "stick to the plan."

There was more time to write. Easier to post like clockwork every Sun at 11:11.

There was more time to work on product. Easier to keep shipping new features and updates.

There was more time to relax. Easier to invest in family time.

Now, it's a different story. Everything is getting harder. And the only way I can stay on track is by Turning Pro.

For me, that means planning my weeks more deliberately, not just my days.

It means saying "no" more often, even to good ideas.

It means protecting deep work, even when the pings feel urgent.

It means hitting publish when the work is honest and useful, even if it isn't "perfect" in my head.

It means improving my self-talk, especially on the days when I feel behind.

In other words: stepping up.

What a fantastic opportunity to grow.

This blog

When I first started this blog, my goal was to market Spark. To talk about how cool it is. To show off our 8-year journey. To tell the world that we'd arrived.

Now, I'm a tad bit wiser.

I realize we're just getting started.

What got us up to this little hill we're standing on is not the most interesting part. The real story is the mountain in front of us - and the climb ahead.

And that climb is as much about how we, as a team, mature and step up, as it is about Spark itself and how it impacts the world.

If you're building something of your own - product, practice, career - there's a good chance you're on a similar climb. Less like a launch party, more like a long, uneven ascent. My hope is that this newsletter becomes a travelogue from that journey, not a set of press releases from the summit.

Onward.

PS: It is now 3:30pm on Sun. I've just finished the draft. I missed my own 11:11am deadline. This post will go live - just not on time. But this is about our adventurous climb toward the mountain in front of us. We'll fall every now and then. But we'll keep getting back up.

PPS: If you've read this far, thank you so much for walking alongside us. ❤️