Building a Second Brain and Starting a Blog the Hard Way

I started a blog…..in 2024 (why you should too) - YouTube

  • Inspired by “Building a Second Brain” by Tiago Forte, the creator was motivated to start a blog to better express and share his ideas.

  • The book taught key lessons:

    • The mind is for having ideas, not storing them.
    • We are overwhelmed by information and often starve for wisdom.
    • Building a “second brain” helps capture, organize, and distill information.
    • True understanding comes from expressing and sharing ideas.

  • Main motivation for the blog: To communicate ideas to his children, grandchildren, and close community in a personal and meaningful way.

  • The overly-complicated blogging workflow (by design):

    • Write posts in Obsidian, using a designated posts/ folder to keep blogging content separate from personal notes.
    • Use Hugo (a static site generator) to convert Markdown into a stylish HTML blog.
    • Sync Obsidian’s posts folder to Hugo’s content/posts/ using robocopy (Windows) or rsync (Mac/Linux).
    • Handle embedded image links with a custom Python script that transfers images from Obsidian’s attachments directory to Hugo’s static/images/ and rewrites Markdown links.
    • Use Git to manage the site’s code and content, pushing to a GitHub repository.
    • Automate deployment to Hostinger using a GitHub webhook, deploying only the public/ folder built by Hugo.

  • Automation improvements:

    • Combined all steps (Markdown sync, image processing, Hugo build, Git commit/push) into a single script (update_blog.ps1 for Windows or .sh for Unix).
    • The entire process can be triggered with one script execution, optionally mapped to a hotkey.

  • Encouragement to others:

    • Start writing and sharing ideas, regardless of expertise.
    • Expression leads to clarity, understanding, and can provide unique value to others.
    • The technical setup can be simplified using tools like Hostinger’s AI Website Builder or WordPress integration.

  • Personal anecdotes:

    • The creator is a father of six, learning Japanese, with dreams of living in Japan.
    • Wants his blog to serve both as a creative outlet and as a legacy for his family.

  • Reference to Daniel Miessler:

    • Quoted a timely post encouraging people to start publishing now—highlighting how essential it is to know oneself, know one’s goals, and express them, especially in light of the anticipated emergence of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

  • Final thought: Express your ideas. Start your blog. Complexity is optional, but expression is essential.