Notes on the explored topics

Writing about software engineering, architecture, philosophy, finance, physics, product decisions that hold up over time and much more.

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Lens: Everything

12 / 12 visible posts

Oct 20, 202612 min read

Portugal Is Its Own Worst Enemy

Portugal has the talent, the resources and everything it needs to be a better country. The problem is that, far too often, it seems determined to make its own path harder.

Portugal
Society
Opinion

Sep 27, 20264 min read

Don't Bleed on Who Didn't Cut You

Sometimes the wounds other people leave behind end up shaping how we treat people who never hurt us.

Relationships
Trust
Healing

Sep 01, 20265 min read

The dark side of ambition

The less visible side of ambition: when believing we're capable of more stops us from enjoying what we've already achieved.

Ambition
Mindset
Perspective

Aug 16, 20263 min read

There's Someone on the Other Side

Communicating well isn't just about knowing how to express what we think. It's also about having consideration for whoever is on the other side.

Communication
Relationships
Consideration

Aug 01, 20264 min read

Be Grateful

Ambition helps us grow. Gratitude reminds us how far we've already come.

Reflection
Mindset
Perspective

Apr 22, 20265 min read

Rich people don’t have a company. They have a system.

For a long time, I thought the goal was simple: make more money. More clients, more revenue, more profit. But there’s a big difference between making money and structuring money — and that difference changes the game completely.

Finance
Business
Entrepreneurship

Mar 25, 20265 min read

Startup investing: explained simply (really simply)

For a long time, hearing about funding rounds, VCs, seed or Series A felt like a completely different language. It all sounded complex, closed-off, and only for people already inside the ecosystem. The truth is, the concept is much simpler than it looks. At the end of the day, it's just people putting money into ideas with potential.

Startups
Investing
Finance

Mar 20, 20263 min read

We Never Know the Full Story

We judge fast, react fast, and forget something essential: we never truly know what others are going through. The irony? We also expect people to understand us… without knowing our story.

Empathy
Compassion
Reflection

Mar 10, 20263 min read

Not everything is depression

These days, it feels like everything is labeled as depression. Any difficult phase, any moment of sadness or lack of motivation quickly gets that label. But are we using the term correctly? This is a reflection on the difference between real suffering and clinical depression, and how overusing a serious term may be distorting how we understand ourselves and others.

Depression
Mental health
Reflection

Feb 25, 20264 min read

Socialism, Reality, and Playing the Game

Living in Portugal, I’m constantly surrounded by left-leaning ideas and discussions about fairness and inequality. Over time, I started questioning how much of that vision actually works in the real world. This post is a reflection on the gap between idealism and reality — and on the different ways people choose to respond to the system we live in. From fighting it, to complaining about it, to accepting it and learning how to play the game.

Philosophy
Politics
Mindset

Feb 18, 20263 min read

Anxiety, uncertainty, and lack of clarity

For a long time, I thought the problem was anxiety. My mind felt constantly busy, overwhelmed, and unable to switch off. Over time, I started noticing a pattern: most of the time, it wasn’t anxiety in the clinical sense. It was uncertainty. It was lack of clarity. It was being stuck in a future I couldn’t define. This is a reflection on that distinction and how, in many cases, anxiety can be a signal — not of weakness, but of lack of direction.

Anxiety
Mental health
Self-improvement

Feb 10, 20264 min read

Stoicism and ideas that were already part of my life

For years, I’d heard about Stoicism without ever really understanding what it was. I brushed the term aside and moved on. Recently, I came across it again. This time, I decided to explore it. The most curious thing? I realized that many of the Stoic principles were already part of the way I think, make decisions, and deal with challenges. This text is a reflection on that rediscovery and on how, sometimes, we just need to put a name to who we already are.

Stoicism
Philosophy
Self-improvement