Currently speaking, we live in an era and time of hyper abundance. I call it “insane abundance.” That is, the amount of abundance we have is astonishing.
For example, consider how we have the most abundance of all resources, energy and supplies known to man.
Some practical examples; I am so insanely grateful for the Costco business Center, for being my meat plug, in terms of beef ribs and beef brisket. I will never run out of meat. The reason why am so infinitely grateful for this is that it is my theory that the more highly nutritious beef I consume, the more myoglobin, the closer the meat is to the bone, for example like beef ribs, the stronger and more powerful I become. For example, when I was in South Korea, before simply too expensive, I had to settle with pork instead. While I do love pork ribs and pork belly, beef ribs and beef belly is superior.
America is great because literally anything you want is easily accessible, and the cheapest in terms of price globally. For example, it is very interesting that Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis cars are actually cheaper in America than they are in Korea. Why? The South Korea government imposes a high driving tax on Korean citizens, because the nation is so small. The South Korean government wants to discourage driving. Whereas in America, almost every single automobile is sold cheaper here than elsewhere.
I’m also really grateful for the gyms here, and just how cheap and easily accessible they are. For example, the local gym I just go to, my only cost maybe 20 or 30 bucks a month. Insanely cheap, with all the way to need to play around. Compare this with other countries where finding a gym is quite hard, especially a gym that is well equipped with power racks, for squat and deadlift etc.
Third, Amazon. Amazon prime is so insanely useful and helpful, even when I was in Japan, having to procure an SD card was both annoying and very expensive. I’m so happy that if I want to order an SD card or micro SD card, I know I could get it on Amazon so cheap and quickly, with the lowest price. For me I like this notion of “fair pricing“, whenever I buy something on Amazon, I know that I’m not getting upcharged somewhere.
Fourth, I think we should be more grateful for the Internet. Why? It is truly the greatest invention known to man thus far. Consider how the Internet has augmented our ability to do anything and everything. I am so grateful for digital photography, and the Internet, because it helped me become a self-employed entrepreneur, and help me make a living from my passion. My mom always reminds me — “Eric, you are so lucky to have been born in the air or the Internet. If it wasn’t for the Internet, there is no way you could’ve turned your passion into a living.”
What should you do with all of this insane abundance?
I think the best thing to do with insane abundance is share your abundance with others. That is, through your ideas thoughts, books resources, etc. Open source, abundance.
Knowing that the pie is not fixed. That when you help others, and the more generous you are with others, the more it actually end up helping you as well in the long run. That uplifting somebody else doesn’t tear you down. On the contrary, it is superadditive, everybody wins even more.
Invent and Wander
Lessons I’ve Learned from Jeff Bezos Invent and Wander Book
How to thrive during the wintertime
Maximal sunlight exposure during the day. Just get a really expensive down jacket, and spend the maximum time outside. For example, maybe buying a good Canada goose jacket is a better investment than buying a new iPhone Pro.
The Internet is key
One thing I learned from the Jeff Bezos invent and wander book was the notion that the Internet is free distribution. I really think that more people should start blogging. A simple heuristic, just stop uploading stuff to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter for a month. Just post it all into your own blog instead. Treat your blog like it’s on Twitter, it’s on Instagram, it’s on Facebook.
bluehost.com and install WordPress.org
Thinking 10 years out +
Another good thought from Jeff, just think yourself, what will not change 10 years from now?
For myself, I know that 10 years from now people will still want to travel, people will still want to find inspiration and motivation, and people will still find it difficult to find photo motivation.
Or even thinking 30 years out, I predict that 30 years from now, bitcoin and cryptocurrency will become more valuable, more useful, more easy to use. Also, certainly 30 years from now, we will probably use our phones more than less.
Will we still be using phones 30 years from now? I believe so. Why? It is the easiest concept, something that fits in your pocket, and you carry around with you everywhere you go. I predict 30 years from now, the next generation of kids will be not as interested in getting a debit card or a credit card, they will just use some sort of digital wallet they could just tap from their phone.
Will college really be useful 30 years from now?
Honestly at this point, college and university is more of a luxury for the rich. For example, if you’re a rich mainland Chinese person, or even a rich mainland Korean person, you will want to brag to your friends that your kid went to school at Harvard, or some other fancy Ivy League school.
My personal prediction is that 30 years from now, people will still be attending college and university, but not really certain why. For example, apparently you can make $15 an hour just working at McDonald’s, or even $20 an hour working at in and out burger. Assuming you work a 40 hour work week, a salary at $20 an hour is $40,000 a year, the same entry-level job that I got when I graduated from UCLA as an undergraduate. So the question, why will people want to go to college in the future? Either your first generation, and you just want to earn the stripes for your family, or your parents will pressure you, because it is a prestige thing.
Health and fitness will matter even more into the future
According to the CDC, about 42% of Americans are obese. Then a simple thought:
10 years from now, will that number go up or down?
Certainly it will go up. I’m almost 100% certain. Why? The prevalence of food delivery services, and also, more and more sugar or fake sugar additives being stuffed into our food.
Another thought, 10 years from now, are Americans going to be spending more time inside their cars or less? Hopefully if you could spend time working from home, you will drive less. However the trend that I personally see is that more and more people are buying more and more cars, and the population of America keeps going up. That means more cars in the road, there’s only so much you could extend or expand the 405 or the 5 freeway. That means more more traffic, more and more people being stuck inside a car.
Also, with social media we are becoming more and more image-conscious. More and more people want to look fit and sexy. Also they will want clothes that accentuate their fitness and sexiness. Therefore it is a good future for Lululemon, Athleta and other fitness related clothing brands.
Even though I am famous for photography in (Street Photography, diet health and fitness is something I am very passionate about. Why? Once being a fat kid, I know how much it sucks being teased for being fat. And then it became my quest to decode the secret of how to get buff, and how to lose fat. I think I’ve discovered some things, which include intermittent fasting, which means no breakfast or lunch only dinner, and adopting a high red meat beef rib carnivore diet. And lots of kimchi (no sugar added, be careful and read the label).
Photo Abundance
Personally speaking, I love the idea that we live in a time of insane abundance, not just for all resources, but also creatively and photographically.
For example, the greatness of digital. How with digital, you essentially are unlimited. No limits in terms of how many photos you can shoot, store, etc.
Also, with the internet– free unlimited distribution.
Once again — let us consider, isn’t the ultimate epicness being able to create … infinitely, with no limits?
Can you make a billion photos before you die?
Then the thought–
Can you shoot a billion photos before you die at age 120?
How I plan on living to be 120 years old >
Photo Thriving
Next– let us consider, that we don’t just want to thrive photographically, but also in life:
How to Thrive in Life
Life thriving is what I am interested in. Beyond survival; thrivival.
A better definition of happiness
First of all, I like the idea that happiness is not what we are interested in, but thriving. What does it mean to thrive? It means to flourish, to blossom, to grow, and to bear much fruit.
In ancient Greek, eudaimonia was the more precise notion of “happiness“. Eudaimonia means soul thriving, or soul flourishing. Your inner daemon (demon, soul spirit), or your inner spirit thriving. Not some sort of base happiness which is afforded to us through eating McDonald’s hamburgers and other base things .
What is the purpose of eudaimonia?
If your soul flourishes, so does everything else. If your soul flourishes, you could empower and uplift everyone around you. It is my personal thought that society is not zero sum, which means, we can all thrive together. That thriving is not only restricted to the select few, but is afforded to all, regardless of background, ethnicity, nationality, your socioeconomic status, your bank account, etc.
What do you need to thrive?
For me, the minimum viable tools necessary include a refurbished MacBook Air with an M series processors, a RICOH GR III or IIIX, even a Ricoh GR II would suffice, and a Wi-Fi connection.
What do you not need? You don’t need a phone, you don’t need a car, you don’t need to own a home, etc.
How to move the world
As long as you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can move the world! The more and more I think about it, the ultimate Archimedes lever for us solo entrepreneurs is the Internet. With the Internet, you can publish online for free, and essentially have unlimited free distribution.
Own the domain
Bluehost.com and install wordpress.org
What is the difference between a website and blog?
A blog is just a dynamic website which gets updated frequently. That means, imagine your own blog as your own social media. A simple thought:
Anything you would otherwise share or publish to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, snapchat etc — just share it to your own blog and publish it on your own blog instead!
Physical and physiological thriving
Not enough to thrive ‘creatively’, but physically, physiologically.
Some thoughts:
- SQUAT HOLD — I have an interesting theory that for squat, you don’t actually need to ‘squat’ down. Instead, just unpack the weight and hold it!
- HYPELIFTING: Get your adrenaline up!
- MEAT: The philosophy of meat eating. Meat thoughts— becoming more of a carnivore will make us stronger.
Become a fully realized photographer
To become a fully realized photographer is to break out of all the categories. No glass ceiling. No limits on the black card.
Digital is the way. Why? Film is not the way.
Also, JPEG is the way, not raw. Raw is too cumbersome and slow. Shooting RAW is like driving an old Toyota Camry, shooting JPEG is like driving the new Tesla model S plaid.
Also in terms of photo size or resolution, small JPEG seems to suffice. I’ve experimented with extra small JPEG, which almost seems too small. Small JPEG, around 3000 pixels wide hits the sweet spot, not too big not too small.
The test is how good does it look like on your 11 inch iPad Pro. Even shooting small JPEG on the Ricoh GR3X, 3000 pixels wide resolution, looks insanely great on the iPad Pro.
Also some thing I realize that in America, Wi-Fi and 5G speeds are still insanely slow. The more your resolution, you will still be capped out in terms of both speeds to your own website blog, etc. Even when it comes to video, 720 P is better than even 1080 P or 4K. Why? Once again in America, our Wi-Fi and Internet sucks. Even if you have the worlds fastest Internet connection, like let’s say in South Korea, the time for YouTube to process 4K videos or even 5K videos is too slow. Not only do you want to upload your videos quickly, you also want them to process quickly. 720P is the way.
Share your abundance with others
Teach photography. You could just teach it to your kid, your partner, your nieces and nephews, your mom, etc. Or you could even volunteer at the local community center and offered to teach photography for free.
Share your abundance on your own website and blog. Make it open, open source open access and easy to download, share, remix, etc. You’re rich enough.
Share your resources with others. Ironically enough, when we share gifts or money with others, it actually brings us more joy than if we spend it on ourselves.
The ultimate thing to share is your time and your soul. This is 1000 million times more important than money, as money is infinite, but your hours in a day and energy are limited.
Become more abundant
Become a more abundant photographer, thinker, and creative. Embark on an epic ERIC KIM EXPERIENCE in 2023:
- March 25, 2023: BOSTON CONQUER YOUR FEARS IN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
- April 15, 2023: BERKELEY INSANE INNOVATION WORKSHOP
- June 19-23rd, 2023: HADONG SOUTH KOREAN ZEN PHOTO RETREAT // Register intent here.
More abundant thoughts
- Ironically enough, at least in America, meat is cheaper than vegetables, fruit, vegetarian/vegan stuff. Apparently there are lots of undernourished families in America, I would say that the most ethical thing would be for the CDC, or any other American organizations to promote more meat eating. That is, it seems that the best bang for the buck in terms of meat is pork ribs. And, it should be promoted that you should cook it without any barbecue sauce, or other sauces which contain insane amounts of sugar in a toast corn syrup. You could just rub it down with old bay seasoning, and call it a day. If the family is Halal, then beef ribs. I also think it would be a good idea if the American government could help poor families by giving them a free Costco membership, or even a free Amazon prime membership.
- Black and white is infinite, it still amazes me how many gradations of black and white I can see and perceive. Especially on the Ricoh GR 3X, on my iPad Pro, and small JPEG, the detail blows me away. For the high contrast black and white in camera processing for the RICOH GR digital camera, put the contrast, and sharpness to max.
- Just think to yourself, if in your life, you didn’t desire to own a home, you didn’t desire to own a car, or even desire to own a phone, how much could this unleash you?
Share your photos
Upload to Arsbeta.com
Don’t get the iPhone Pro
Honestly, the new iPhone Pro is lame. If you need a new iPhone, just get the cheapest iPhone SE instead. Real men have iPhone SE’s, only poor people own iPhone Pros. And if you’re really really rich, you don’t even own a phone. Because if you own a phone, there’s somebody else out there who owns you.
What now?
- Start publishing more blog posts to your own blog, and also, start uploading more videos to YouTube, and share the YouTube videos to your own blog. Don’t monetize your videos, your purpose of sharing videos and blogs to YouTube is simply a fun thing. Treat vlogging as a fun hobby, and the way to philosophically flush out your thoughts, rather than making money. Because truth be told, even if you get 100 million views on a single video, you might only earn $8000 USD on it with ads. This is not much.
- Hit the gym. I don’t think it’s necessary to go to the gym every single day, but it is a great luxury. If in fact, do you want to live the richest and most luxurious life, going to the gym every single day, whenever you want, is the ultimate flex. Literally and metaphorically. ERIC KIM FITNESS
Create your ideal future
Become the entrepreneur you desire to become!
ERIC