What I believe:
Why is there this bias that more is better? My thought is that actually, better is less.
Some examples
For example, fewer repetitions and weight lifting is superior to more repetitions. Also, with design, more features and more functions is inferior.
Also, with life and lifestyle, having fewer options, is superior to having more options.
What is luxury?
Spartan luxury is this: less is a luxury. For example, if you step in to a Ross or an H&M, there is a quadrillion options, which suffocates you. I far prefer going into a small Balenciaga store, where there is only a very few options.
Curate less
This is the tricky thing; a lot of people strive towards having nothing. This is the big problem with too much emphasis on Zen or Buddhism; essentially you become a beggar. I would prefer to be instead, to look like or seem to be a billionaire beggar.
How to make better photos
On the path to making better photos, show less. Feature fewer details and show less. I think this is also why black-and-white is superior to color; by shooting in black-and-white, you strip out options.
Also, the reason why I like very high contrast black-and-white is that it also strips away the midtones. I don’t like mid tones, as I don’t like middle or medium things.
Better to lose it all, when you clip the downside at only 10%
For example, one thing Nasim Taleb says is avoid “medium risk†investments at all costs. Better to put 90% of your money in boring, cold hard cash in your savings account, and invest 10% and extremely risky speculative things, like cryptocurrency, where the value can go to zero. The reason why this is intelligent is this:
Rather than having a boring 3% return, year-over-year, it is better for your 10% investment to 1000X, or potentially go to zero.
For example, let us see you have $100,000 in savings. Or your net worth for your money totals $100,000 USD. Better to keep $90,000 of your money in a boring savings account, and keep it in liquid cash, and put the other 10% into a highly volatile and risky cryptocurrency investment. Because at worse, you lose 100% of your $10,000, but at best, your $10,000 investment could 1000x, netting you $10,000,000.
Or, if you are a solo bachelor and you have nothing to lose, just put 100% of your fiat currency into cryptocurrency. This is how I met a guy who is a whale, who invested his $50,000 life savings into Chainlink, when it was only at about three cents a Chainlink, and it made him so rich that apparently, he has to pay $10 million in taxes this year.
This is where I currently am, between the net worth of me and Cindy, I put 10% of our savings simply into Bitcoin. I plan to HODL (hold onto dear life), until Seneca becomes 18, and he could just do with it whatever he wants.
At worst, Bitcoin goes to zero, and we have only decimated our savings, which is only 10%.
10% is the ideal number
This is apparently what the ancient Roman Empire Army used to do; if they lost a battle, in cowardice was suspected, they would at random kill 10% of a squad. Why 10%? If you lose 10% of your army, it is not enough to seriously injure you, but it is a strong enough motivator to keep your army from acting like a bunch of sissies.
Also, if you have a manager, or you are doing some sort of profit-sharing scheme, which I believe to be a good idea, best to give your manager or employee 10% of the profits, as it will give them some sort of skin in the game, and be a positive motivator for them to work hard and maximize profits.
Less frequency
A lot of people try to get rich by high frequency trading, but, not only is this bad for your health, but it is bad for your wealth. I say it is better to invest at the decade level; just think to yourself:
Do I believe this investment to go up 10 years from now? Or down?
Nobody could predict the future, but, when do you think at the decade level, certain trends are quite obvious.
For example, a decade from now, do you think more people will have more access to smart phones, or less?
Also, do you think a decade from now, bitcoin and cryptocurrency will be adopted more, or less?
Lessen your load
In order to become more productive, and then enact more impact on the world, I say, rather than the naive idea of “doing more“, better to do less, but to intelligently leverage your strengths.
Why is it that we try to emulate the virtues of a machine? As so thinks Nietzsche and so does I.
What is the difference between man and machine? Man is superior to machine, as man is the ultimate measure of all things. Yet the reason why we strive to emulate the virtues of a machine is this:
We are currently living in the cult of quantification, and in order to become more virtuous, and happy, you must produce more, make more money, do more, sleep less, etc.
At the end of the day, what would you prefer; the worlds most expensive Lamborghini, or the worlds most beautiful women? I think the latter.
Or another thought, if you had the option of being a billionaire but 400 pounds and overfat and sick, or, do you have the worlds most beautiful muscular physique, what would you choose? I would choose the latter.
Cut it out
For example, in order to get ripped and shredded, or to lose fat, it is very simple; cut out all sugars, starches, fruits and vegetables, etc. Cut out anything which is sweet or starchy.
Or, if you strive to be happier, or more focused, just cut out all of your distractions. You know what your distractions are; be like Ulysses and tie yourself to the mast. For example, I know that I am personally distracted by social media and Instagram, that is why I deleted my Instagram in 2017.
Also, when I was in the process of quitting certain websites, I installed a website browser plug-in that literally forced me to block these websites, even if I had these nervous twitches to access them.
Also, the funny irony is that if you desire to quit porn, my thought is this: watch it, but you’re not allowed to fap. Is it still porn if you don’t fap? I don’t think so.
How to live your best possible life
If you desire to live your best possible life, just think:
What can I cut out, and what can I do less of?
ERIC
Lessen your doubts
Conquer your fears, and thrive as a photographer:
Less but the best
- CONQUER THE STREETS: HENRI MARK IV
- ERIC KIM NECK STRAP MARK II: Shoot with your soul
Random things on my mind
- Digestion and mood: if your digestion is poor, so will your mood. I think I have finally realized that being of East Asian dissent, Korean, I really cannot digest Indian food, or south Asian food well. I cannot tolerate dairy products, coconut products, etc. Therefore be very wary about the ketogenic diet; I don’t think a lot of Asians can tolerate coconut, milk, or butter very well. Even ghee.
- I wonder if there is some truth to eating Halal; I don’t think I could process or digest pork that well. For me, beef is much better and easier on my stomach.
- Think at the day level. Not the week or the month or the year level.
- Genesis, Hyundai Genesis is the new king of cars in car design; superior to Rolls-Royce, which is essentially an expensive BMW, and also superior to Maybach, which is just a watered down Mercedes.
- The best pair of shorts is the Lululemon license to train shorts. Get them in black. Why I love them is that the zippers sit flush, and also are not scratchy. Especially when traveling, being in transit, or being in a taxi Uber, I love the peace of mind I am not worried that my shit will fall out of my pockets.
- Perhaps overhydration is a good idea; I don’t like having to pee all the time, or having to track how much water I drink a day, but especially being in hot Southeast Asia, maybe overhydration is a good strategy. Even my brother-in-law when he was in the military, stationed in Afghanistan, The US military would force feed their soldiers a shit load of water before going out on missions, or training. If the military does it, maybe we should as well.
- Apple iCloud private relay is the game changer; I have been having some connectivity issues here in Cambodia, and it seems after enabling the Apple iCloud private relay feature on my iPhone, these issues have vanished. I am very bullish on the Google VPN thing for their phones as well, but, the problem is it is not accessible everywhere in the world. It seems that Apple iCloud private relay is.
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If this sparked any creative ideas within you, or any Zen thoughts, feel free to forward to a friend!