Something I think about a lot:

What is truly holding us back?

Is it lack of time? Lack of resources? Lack of ideas and inspiration/motivation? Lack of money? Lack of intelligence? Lack of courage? Lack of the proper tools and devices?

What is it that we lack?

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1. Morality and ethics as holding us back

First of all, I think it is morality and ethics which holds us back. For example, too much obsession with being ‘selfless’ is bad. Also, I believe that Christian morality holds us back. To help others is good, but the problem with Christian morality:

Anything you devote for yourself is selfish and evil, and that makes you a bad and despicable person.

The answer:

Create your OWN NEW TABLE OF VALUES. Create your OWN new table of morality and ethics for yourself. Don’t be chained back by any morality or ethics from any society, religion, or mode of thinking.

2. How to think for yourself

Perhaps this is what is really holding us back:

Lack of self-thought.

The inability for us to think for ourselves. But what prevents us from thinking for ourselves?

Over-bombardment of external media and opinions.

To be the slave of the opinions of others– this is the ultimate shackle. Too much ‘political correctness’ policing. Too much noise from media.

How do we start to think for ourselves?

My suggestion:

Disconnect yourself from all external forms of media (TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, websites, news, etc).

This means:

1. Don’t use social media. No Instagram, no Facebook, no Twitter.
2. Don’t use reddit, or any other mainstream websites.

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3. Have the courage to share your own opinion

The problem of modernity:

Too much focusing on ‘facts’. No credence given to opinions.

You are free to posit your own opinion. And you should! And the best place to share your opinion is your own website/blog (self-hosted via wordpress.org). To NOT allow yourself to be censored.

This is what I’ve discovered:

Any external platform will (eventually) censor you.

Consider that YouTube, Facebook/Instagram, etc will censor, delete, or ban “extreme views”. Also, they censor nudity, or other ‘lewd’ materials.

If your goal is to thrive maximally, you cannot do it on the land of another. Don’t be a slave; become an owner. Own your own domain and website. Build your own platform!

4. Consumerism is holding us back

To consume is necessary for life. If we never consumed food or water, we would die.

But this is the problem:

When we get suckered into thinking that the purpose of life is to maximize our consumption.

The basic notion of consumerism is this:

Buy x, y, z to maximize your happiness, joy, comfort, and to minimize your pain and suffering.

I can personally attest to this. Even now, I always have this nagging thought in the back of my head:

Is my creative potential being held back because I don’t own device x, y, z?

So — what is holding you back? Only you know.

ERIC KIM