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How to Achieve Your Dreams in Life

‘Don’t worry about looking good— worry about achieving your goals.’ – Ray Dalio

A lot of us care more about looking good, rather than winning.

There is a legendary basketball player who had one of the highest free-throw percentages— because he had an ‘ugly’ shot — he threw his free-throws underhanded. It looked stupid, but he had a high free-throw percentage.

Shaq (one of the lowest free-throw percentages in the NBA) would often get fouled, and miss his free throws. Even though he could have thrown his free throws under-handed, he would rather miss his shot than look dumb.

In photography, don’t think of looking good with your camera or shooting technique. Worry whether you get the shots you want or not. Don’t care whether you look cool or not.

In life, don’t care whether you look cool or not. Just achieve your dreams.

Why do you care to have expensive clothes, when cheap clothes from UNIQLO suffice? Spend less money on your exterior (clothes, watches, bags, cameras, cars) and more money on building yourself — building your mind with books, through travel, having novel experiences, and meeting new minds.

In investing, seek to make money. And the best thing to do in investing is this advice from Ray Dalio:

Make sure your risk of ruin is nil (zero).

That means, make sure your risk of losing 100% of your money is 0%. That means, never dump 100% of your savings into 1 investment. Always diversify.

In business, have a diverse income stream. I make money from workshops, through Haptic Industries (Cindy runs it 100%) by selling STREET NOTES, PHOTO JOURNAL, and through Amazon Affiliates.

I know nothing lasts forever. So I need to diversify— not just focused on street photography, but travel photography, personal photography, all photography, and through life philosophy, through writing about entrepreneurship and business, through psychology, design, and anything that interests me.

Diversify or die.

The point of life is to win, not to look cool. And not to ‘win’ by ‘beating’ anyone else. Rather, to achieve your personal dreams.

My dream is to help empower others through art. I do that through blogging, teaching, and traveling and meeting others.

My basic needs are met. I have all black clothes. I have my laptop, phone, digital camera, headphones, wifi connection and eggs + coffee. What else do I need?

Happiness

To me, happiness is doing meaningful work. I define happiness as ‘human flourishing’ (Greek word: EUDAIMONIA) rather than just a feeling. Otherwise, if I just wanted to ‘feel good’ I would be high on heroin all the time.

To me, true happiness is being active. Through writing, doing creative work, through making images, teaching, and making a social impact.

Whatever you do in life, don’t care about how others perceive you. Only judge yourself. Judge yourself whether your actions in life accord with your personal philosophy.

I once learned that wisdom is following your own advice.

I often advise others to not care about what others think of them by ignoring comments and not checking likes. That is what I do.

I often advise others to just create art that is 80% ‘good enough’ and hit publish. I don’t believe in perfection. And 2,000+ blog posts later— I have become much more ‘successful’ through just putting myself out there (2011-2017).

Progress in life. A tree will continually grow until it dies. But the growth is gradual.

How long does a redwood tree take to go from a tiny seed, until it becomes an elegant behemoth that blocks out the heavens? Thousands of years.

Of course we probably cannot live that long. At best, the (so far) known maximum extent of human life is 120. So at best, we can live to be 120. But realistically, most of us will live to be 80-90 years old.

With death creeping on your shoulder, and the grim reaper tapping you on the shoulder— why do you delay? You need to be a sprinter — you need to quicken your pace for living out your dreams. You need to jump in the Lamborghini Huracan (blacked out) and put the pedal to the metal. Don’t cruise around in your highway of life like a Prius. Rather, bolt on the twin-turbo, and go fucking fast.

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Now, I am the only judge of myself. I like to write about what interests me, and in the hope that it will help others. If I can help just 1 other human being in the world with my writing or art, it is worth it. So I keep doing it.

No limits. Don’t let no algorithm control your life.

Facebook and Instagram penalizes you for ‘posting too much.’ I say fuck that. Just post whenever and however much you want. Don’t wait until 12pm everyday to get the ‘optimal number of likes.’ Don’t fear people unfollowing you. Just ask yourself:

Would I follow myself?


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How to achieve your dreams

Some ideas:

1. Achieve your dream today

Is your dream to become a novelist or writer? Just write today, and hit publish in a blog post. Everyday finish just one chapter, and hit publish. Publish it as it is a work in progress. Because life is a work in progress.

Is your dream to become a full-time photographer? Make your own website (firtnamelastname.com) via bluehost.com — and install wordpress.org, and put up your portfolio of your best 20 photos, and put in your email as a contact. Then start promoting yourself on social media, through Craigslist, or through asking friends if they know any people who need a photographer.

2. Is your dream to travel?

Want to travel? Start local. Just jump in your car, and travel to the next town. Want to travel internationally? Visit Hanoi or Bangkok.

Traveling doesn’t need to be expensive.

I’ve learned I prefer traveling locally to New Orleans in America, than going to Paris.

I also prefer traveling to Mexico City (went there on my Honeymoon) instead of going to Tokyo.

Travel to places where your money goes further.

3. Do you want to be a full-time photographer/artist?

Want to be a full-time artist and give the middle-finger to the ‘man?’ Live in Hanoi in a nice studio apartment for $380 a month, and your food/living expenses will be another $200 a month. You can live comfortably in Hanoi for $580 a month — and if you are frugal, even less.

4. Exhibit

Exhibit your work as an artist. Hit up a local coffee shop, and print out your best 5 photos 12×18. Hit up my buddy Brian Milo from MILOPRINTS (based in Chicago, email him at brian.milo@gmail.com), and frame them with some cheap IKEA frames. Offer the coffee shop free art, and ask for an opening night. Buy some cheap Trader Joes $2 wine. And invite friends, family, and the local community.

5. What is your dream?

And of course— before you achieve your dreams, know what your dream in life is.

So write your dream-list, and ask yourself— how can I achieve that dream today?

Conclusion: DO OR DON’T DO, there is NO TRY

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Be like YODA— ‘Do or don’t do, there is no try.’

Don’t try nothing you don’t want to do. Only do what you want to do.

STREETTOGS

What are your dreams? Take your first step to achieve them today.

No excuses— only opportunities in life.

Be strong,
Eric

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