Never complain in life— just find solutions.

I like to complain, yet it doesn’t change anything.

Rather, we should seek solutions, not problems for our misery.

Do I not have enough money? Then I need to find a solution to make more money. That might mean picking up another shift at work, it might mean being an UBER driver after work, it might mean picking up a second job, or working weekends. Or better yet— build up a side-business (that has little or no startup costs).

I started this blog with little investment. Starting off, I registered for this domain and wordpress.org for only $10 a month. Now my hosting costs around $120 a month — but it is still cheap. I don’t pay for no office space, and my living expenses are low. Therefore, my income is high, and expenses low — I am able to add more zeros and commas to my bank account.

If you want to become a business, register your own website with bluehost.com and install wordpress.org. Make a domain (firstnamelastname.com) and figure out what you want to start selling.

You can start selling your services. Consulting. When in doubt, charge 25% more for your services than you think you should.

If you like teaching, start teaching photography workshops. Start off by charging $295 a student, and limit it to 12 students. As time goes on and you become more popular, charge more money.

If your passion is writing or blogging— start blogging and giving away a lot of free information. Then, as time goes on and you build your audience, starting selling e-books or self-printed books. Design your own books with InDesign, and have a local print shop print it out. Then use PayPal to accept payments, and ship them individually.

How to build a following

Create things that you would like.

I wanted to find information about street photography, because I couldn’t find anything on Google. I found a ‘hole in the market’ — because I found something that I wanted.

I also wanted to find more personal photography or philosophical ideas on photography — and couldn’t find nothing online. Therefore, I started to write ‘personal photography’ articles, and eventually published PHOTO JOURNAL.

The same is now— I wanted practical philosophy. All the stuff online made no sense to me. So I learned for myself, and then just wrote practical tips on philosophy to share with others.

I couldn’t find any practical information on the business side of photography. I have therefore started to write tips on making money with photography, to satisfy my own curiosity, and to also help others.

The more you help others, the more you will receive

The more value you create for others, the more you will receive.

I have a crazy dream, to create a $$$TRILLION dollar company. To me, that means creating a trillion dollars worth of value— whatever that means.

That means, never stop hustling to write information that I find useful in society. Articles on how to overcome depression with photography, how to conquer your fears in street photography, and practical philosophy. Articles on design, cinematography, and life lessons from movies.

I’m also trying to pursue random interests, such as:
– Watch design
– Car design
– Branding/marketing philosophy
– Fashion
– Architecture/interior design
– Physics

So the lesson is: FOLLOW YOUR OWN CURIOSITY.

What are you curious about?

You will never know what others are interested in. But you know what you are interested and curious about.

I recommend you to be like a kid; just follow your curiosity down the rabbit hole. Don’t censor yourself. And don’t need the approval or permission of nobody.

It is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission

Don’t ask for permission from nobody before you decide to do something.

Just follow your own gut. Do what feels right to you.

My buddy Paul Yan told me— be wise in following your own heart. And to cultivate wisdom is to study the masters of philosophy, to follow your own code of ethics, and to study the ancient masters (and to ignore most of modern philosophy and thought).

CROSS-POLLINATE

If you want to find solutions in life, cross-pollinate. Study every single field that you are interested in to find answers.

For example, a lot of physics principles has helped me solve issues in my life.

I hated commuting. Therefore I wanted less ‘friction’ in my life. I’m lucky that I no longer commute, I just walk to the coffee shop. Less time commuting means more time writing and creating information I find meaningful.

I hated my consumerist tendencies of always desiring more stuff. I studied Zen/Taoism philosophy via books— and learned that happiness is achieved through subtraction, not addition.

I wanted more self-confidence. I then listened to empowering hip hop music— JAY-Z (WATCH THE THRONE), KANYE WEST (YEEZUS), and KENDRICK LAMAR (DAMN.).

I wanted to create art when I couldn’t make photos. I started to study Picasso and cubism, and made ‘photo cubism’ of my old photos— to re-interpret my images.

Inspiration from your loved ones

Cindy inspired me to start writing poetry, as a way for me to better self-express myself.

If you want practical solutions to your life— tell your problems to your loved ones (your partner, friends, family, etc) and seek SOLUTIONS to your problems. Don’t complain. Never complain. That will never help direct you towards achieving your dreams.

Be strong

Life is hard. You will have bullets shot at you. But like NEO from the Matrix— you can learn how to move faster, in order to dodge the bullets. Or better yet, learn how to control your own perceptions about life, to stop the bullets with a wave of your hand — before they even hit you.

Or be like WOLVERINE. Have infinite patience. When Wolverine gets shot, stabbed, or attacked— he still feels the pain. But he re-generates from his Adamantine Armor. He has a steel spine. The lesson is this: we cannot prevent ourselves from being attacked, but we can make ourselves physically and mentally stronger to with-stand attacks from others or fate.

To learn how to find solutions to your life— write a list of shit you hate about your life, and practical solutions. Then follow your own advice for a month and a year— and see how your life will transform.

Be strong,
Eric

Learn more: STOICISM >