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How to Create Yourself
Dear friend,
You make you. Make a mold of yourself, put your two feet in your new wax shoes.
EMPOWER YOURSELF WITH ERIC KIM EXPERIENCE >
1. Be proud of yourself.
There is, and there only will be, one of you in the universe.
To me, true wisdom is getting to know who you really are… and not being ashamed of yourself, for who you are.
It means to be proud of who you are. To not desire to fit any other mold, or to emulate anyone else.
No— you just make you, and by building up yourself, believing in yourself, compromising less, and being more adamant about what is truly important to you.
a. Everyday is a blank slate.
First of all, consider yourself as a blank slate. Everyday when you wake up in the morning, it is a new day. A new day to make a new version of yourself.
An eternal return to the creative everyday. Don’t let no past versions of you hold you back. Rather, consider each day like wiping the chalk off the blackboard.
Start each day by asking yourself,
What is the one great task I’m going to accomplish today? What is one moon-shot I can attempt today? Given my time and resources, what mini magnum opus can I start working on today?
Your life is ripe with infinite potentiality and possibility. Why let today be the same as yesterday? Why not do something new today, why not create something new today, and do something epic today?
b. How to start your day
A practical word of advice:
Before embarking on your epic and heroic day, make sure:
1. You’ve slept enough (your body and mind functions best with ample rest and recovery)
2. You’ve started the day by not checking your email, or doing any “reactive” work
3. You’ve had a (strong) cup of coffee
4. You had a filling and nutritious dinner the night before (personally whenever I eat a lot of meat and veggies the night before, and sleep with a full and satisfied stomach, I sleep better, and have more energy the morning after)
5. You put on some empowering beats or music.
c. Daily moonshot
I like the idea of a daily moonshot — if you aim at the moon, and have high ambitions and goals, even if you fail or come short, you’ve accomplished much more than a small goal.
2. Don’t let your past or genetics define you
Another idea:
Never let your past or genetics or family heritage hold you back.
Some of us are defeatist — we think our past memories, past experiences and our DNA defines us.
I say fuck that. No. You make you. Nobody on this planet is built like you.
You’re strong. You’re hungry, ambitious, and want to do great work.
You have a monster of a task ahead of you.
Imagine yourself like a video game RPG character who is norm at level 0. You have the opportunity to train yourself, level up (your strength and mental abilities). With enough grit, endurance, training and discipline, you can accomplish anything.
All you need is willpower and belief in yourself.
3. How to build your willpower
To build your willpower, I am convinced that muscular strength leads to mental strength.
a. Muscular strength
Signup for a gym membership and start doing deadlifts, squats, and dumbbell press. It don’t matter your age or gender.
Or go to the local park, and do chin-ups and push-ups.
Or just buy a chin-up bar for your home, and do push-ups or yoga at home.
Whatever physical exercise and training is fun and empowering to you — do that.
It also needs to be fun, or you won’t have the motivation to keep it up. To me, deadlifts are fun, and I never have to “force” myself to go to the gym. Rather, I’m like an excited kid— I can’t wait until I go to the gym, my zen and playing temple.
b. Avoid pessimism
Avoid pessimistic bullshit. No media, news, movies, shows, books, or music that makes you depressed.
It is hard to “empower” and “motivate” yourself— it is much easier to avoid what disempowers or demotivates you.
That might also mean cutting out negative people from your life. Be ruthless.
c. Rest and recovery
Drink a lot of coffee and caffeine to get you going. Listen to empowering music to get you going.
But listen to your body. If you’re tired, take a break. Go for a walk. Take a nap. Sleep when you’re tired.
The strong sleep a lot. Your muscles only grow when you’re resting and recovering. Don’t forget that.
4. Create
Don’t define yourself by your possessions, your job title, or the money you make.
Define yourself by the things you create.
Why? You have control over what you can create. You cannot really control how much money you make, or the shit you own.
You are an artist. It is your duty to make art.
Art can be defined by you. By visual art (pictures, paintings, drawings), by music, writing (poetry, short stories, esssys, books, blogs, etc), or dance/theater/performance/teaching.
Whatever you consider your art, constantly make new art, and keep honing your skills.
As an artist, you are constantly in a “state of becoming.” That means, you will never achieve “perfection” in your art. But, everyday strive to BECOME YOU by making the art which defines you, how you see the world, and as a manifestation of your creative soul.
Never doubt yourself, and be strong.
ERIC