Productive Photography

Some thoughts on how to become a more productive photographer:

1. Shoot small JPEG or extra small JPEG. This will give you less paralysis by analysis when shooting street photography, or any type of every day photography.
2. Strive to shoot 1000 “bad“ photos in a single day. There is no such thing as good or bad photos, all photos are equal.
3. When in doubt, just shoot it.
4. Shoot in P, program mode, and just use auto focus. Even if your photo is out of focus, or blurry, it could actually be accidentally beautiful.
5. Use an in camera JPEG processing setting, like the high contrast black and white mode on the Ricoh GR3X. Other good options include the cross filter process on the Ricoh GR camera, or the classic chrome settings on the Fujifilm cameras.
6. Strive to walk at least 30,000 steps a day. And just bring your camera along. If you walk 30,000 steps a day and just shoot whatever you see, how can you not be inspired to make photos?
7. Get inspired in the HAPTIC SHOP. HAPTIC PRESS books, and resources. All open source.
8. ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES or just attend anybody’s photography workshop, photography tour experience etc. Anything which involves traveling, a foreign place, a workshop experience will always be a productive one. Why? You will step outside of your comfort zone, you will learn new things, you will shoot more.

How to Become Insanely Productive

The point of life isn’t productivity, said all unproductive people.

I am the most productive person that I know. How do I do it? Some techniques and strategies:

1. Intermittent fasting: no breakfast, no lunch, only one massive dinner. And for dinner, beef ribs, top sirloin, bone marrow, beef heart, beef liver, etc. 100% carnivore diet. How is intermittent fasting so good for productivity? First and foremost, you save an insane amount of time. Secondly, you don’t get food coma. Third, you stay mean and lean. When you are in the fasted stage, you are far more focused, and have a keener awareness of things.
2. No music, no headphones, no AirPods: I think in modern day life, podcasts music etc are the ultimate distraction. Just think yourself; is the purpose of your life to glorify the works of others, or for you to just be focused on your own self and work?
3. No Reddit. It is hilarious that all these new modern day Silicon Valley folks praise the virtues of XYZ, yet they are all still addicted to Reddit. Quit Reddit. I actually think that Reddit is worse than porn. In fact, my funny thought is in order to become more productive, whenever you have a temptation to look at Reddit, just watch porn instead. Porn might actually be a better motivator than Reddit, which is essentially a bunch of random distractions. At least porn is motivating.
4. Just do it while walking outdoors. One of the most successful guys I ever met in Singapore, I still remember, he attended my workshop that I hosted with Leica Singapore, and had an M9 titanium, a $30,000 camera, and a .95 Noctilux lens, another $20,000 lens. I asked him how he was so successful, and he told me that he walked around 12 hours a day, doing all of his business meetings on his phones while walking. This stuck with me. I can corroborate with his theory in so far much as when I walk around a lot, I think more, I think better and I am also more productive. My strong feeling is that the future of productivity is iPad Pro, and iPhone. No laptop, no desktop. Laptops and desktops promote for nonmovement. Even if you do a standing desk, it is not good. Standing is better than sitting, but walking is better than standing.
5. Produce much, publish much. Productivity isn’t becoming an email inbox zero ninja. No. Being really good with email is not productive. When you send an email, you produce nothing. If you check your email for no reason you are a slave. Let us consider, productivity comes from the notion of producing. To produce music, produce beats, produce videos, produce blogs, produce photos, produce vlogs, any form of media.
6. Think digital and the internet: The path to the greatest productivity is digital and the Internet. With digital creations, your works are infinitely scalable and also, infinitely distributable around the globe. Instantly. Isn’t this amazing?

Arguments against productivity

You are not your productivity, said all unproductive people.

Why are some individuals so unproductive, yet care about their productivity so much? My theories:

First and foremost, I don’t know if they really like to do what they are actually doing. Maybe they do the work out of a sense of obligation, or self flagellating virtuosity. They believe that their self-worth and their virtue comes from how productive they are.

Second, I think these individuals are just unwell, sick, or physiologically depressed. Poor health, not enough natural light exposure, they don’t have a tan, they don’t go to the gym, they don’t do yoga, etc. I really do believe that if scholars or thinkers or academics or other creators want to become more productive, they should go to the gym at least once every single day, preferably twice. Even for myself, experimenting with going to the gym every single day, it has actually made me more productive and stronger. Also a new innovation is experimenting with working out twice a day, at noon going to the gym and doing weightlifting, and in the evenings doing CorePower yoga with Cindy. This has been actually surprisingly a very effective strategy, I sleep better at night, I have a more voracious meat appetite, and the next day I am even more productive.

Third, constraints of the system. They are still reliant on a sort of external system which requires editors, publishers, peer review, etc. This is not freedom.

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Productivity experiments

1. Uninstall email from your phone, uninstall Gmail from your phone, or your mail app. Instead, whenever you need to use email, just do it on your laptop or desktop.
2. Charge your phone in a different room at night.
3. Every day, uninstall at least one app.
4. When you go home after work or whatever in the evening — turn off your phone completely. If you need an alarm to wake up in the morning, buy a standalone alarm clock on Amazon and put it next to your bed.
5. If your passion is to create, but you have to spend a lot of time every day in the car, commuting to work or stuck in traffic, just get a GoPro and vlog yourself and your thoughts while driving, just mount it where you put your smart phone.
6. Don’t own a car or own a home: Hidden with every single type of ownership is some sort of maintenance. The more maintenance you got, the less productive you will be. Why? I would far prefer to make something meaningful, rather than wasting time trying to fix my water heater or plumbing.

Produce what?

Truth be told, I don’t think people care for productivity. What people care for instead is money, wealth, fame, legitimacy, recognition, respect, “meaningful contributions” etc. They don’t care to be productive.

Let us consider, if you want to be productive and produce much, what does it mean? It means that you make a lot of stuff, you publish a lot.

For example, it is my personal aspiration that whenever you visit the ERIC KIM BLOG, or refresh it, or check the bookmark, you’ll always see and discover and experience something new and fresh.

Don’t optimize for views, comments, likes etc.

I am the most prolific YouTuber that I personally know. I think I’m the only YouTuber who uploads several videos every single day, not just one. Certainly the more you upload, the fewer views and exposure you will get per video. Yet, if your real goal is productivity, why do you care how many views you get? I think if you care about views, it is a sign that you are insecure and you are hungry for external recognition and affirmation.

My personal ambition with videos is to create a video or a vlog which is insanely motivational and helpful to other people, irregardless of who they are. Also, I am not going for numbers. I am going for impact. I would rather radically change the worldview, thoughts, or life of one individual, than create a video which is only mildly interesting to a large base of people. I am seeking my elite spartan 300s, not trying to enlist millions of Persian slaves.

How many views is enough? 2. Why? If you watch your own video it may count as a single view. If you have two views on the video, it means that at least one other human being has watched and experienced the video.

What is the point of productivity?

We praise the avocado tree when it produces many avocados. We praise musicians when they produce much music, and we also praise chickens when they lay many eggs.

For myself personally, I am the happiest when I am the most productive. That is, I am the happiest when I am producing much, publishing much, etc.

Therefore my simple formula: in order to become happier, become more productive.

ERIC

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Productive Photography

Some thoughts on how to become a more productive photographer:

1. Shoot small JPEG or extra small JPEG. This will give you less paralysis by analysis when shooting street photography, or any type of every day photography.
2. Strive to shoot 1000 “bad“ photos in a single day. There is no such thing as good or bad photos, all photos are equal.
3. When in doubt, just shoot it.
4. Shoot in P, program mode, and just use auto focus. Even if your photo is out of focus, or blurry, it could actually be accidentally beautiful.
5. Use an in camera JPEG processing setting, like the high contrast black and white mode on the Ricoh GR3X. Other good options include the cross filter process on the Ricoh GR camera, or the classic chrome settings on the Fujifilm cameras.
6. Strive to walk at least 30,000 steps a day. And just bring your camera along. If you walk 30,000 steps a day and just shoot whatever you see, how can you not be inspired to make photos?
7. Get inspired in the HAPTIC SHOP. HAPTIC PRESS books, and resources. All open source.
8. ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES or just attend anybody’s photography workshop, photography tour experience etc. Anything which involves traveling, a foreign place, a workshop experience will always be a productive one. Why? You will step outside of your comfort zone, you will learn new things, you will shoot more.

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685 POUND ATLAS LIFT // HYPELIFTING INSANE LEG WORKOUT BY KIM — ZEN ZONE EYE CLOSED

7 plates on each side, and a 5 on each side.

EK TUBE

To gain, to seek? To win?

A thought on my mind this morning is in regards to conquer. What does it mean to conquer, to win, even, the notion of conquering the world?

First and foremost, conquering your body, and creating the most indomitable body. I believe this is key. For example, yesterday I went to the gym, did some trap bar farmers walks, and also later that day did a weightlifting yoga class with Cindy. At night age a new meat personal record (meat PR) — 2 full racks of beef ribs, and immediately passed out and slept like a god.

First theory:

In order to even have the chutzpah to desire to conquer the world, one must become like a demigod in the body.

It is often said in fitness circles that working out every day, or going to the gym every single day is bad. However, maybe it is a good idea to work out even twice a day? Hypelifting and powerlifting during the day, some more yoga stuff at night, just get a membership at CorePower yoga.

A simple thought:

Weightlifters should do yoga, and yogis should do weightlifting.

I really do believe that this is the perfect hybrid, between weightlifting and yoga. The more yoga I do, yoga moves, stretching, flexibility stuff etc., the higher all my lifts. Even now, after doing a seven plate atlas hold, or a squat hold, my spine feels like adamantine.

Workout twice a day.

Society Connection

Why is it that I am so much happier and more productive at coffee shops? My joyous interaction with other people, chatting with strangers, natural light, overhearing random conversations, etc. The path to the greatest amount of strength is social.

The road to the best life is the life with maximum social engagement and interaction. In praise of city living over suburban living.

Asia is the future?

America is old, crusty, and stagnant. Instead, we should seek Asia; I find Asia to be the maximally interesting place currently on the planet. Insane amounts of dynamism in Asia, even spending two months in Cambodia, Phnom Penh, I loved it. Also my time in Seoul South Korea, Hadong South Korea, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Saigon, Hanoi, Bangkok, etc.

Why is Asia so fascinating and why is Asia the future? My thoughts:

First and foremost, much more carte blanche when it comes to morals and ethics. For example, notions of labor in Asia are different; there is no notion of “dignity of work”, or the notion that you must “treat service workers with respect”. For example, I consider it a personal tragedy that college educated people in America end up becoming waitresses, servers at restaurants, etc. It doesn’t matter if you’re making $60,000 a year, $80,000 a year, $100,000 a year, or even $200,000 a year in the restaurant industry. To me, restaurant work should be reserved for either high school students, college kids, or, people who are not university educated. Essentially, if you are a server, the word server comes from the Latin servus, which means servant, or slave. Slave work is base and degrading.

Second, the youth. Speaking of Vietnam and Cambodia, because of the personal tragedies, war, death, and genocide, more than 60% of the population is under the age of 30. This is a great sign for a nation, to have more young people than old people. Compare this with America, in which it seems like nowadays, the majority of the population in America is old, diabetic, overfat, sick, and taxing the whole healthcare system.

Even South Korea, the average couple no longer really desires to have kids. They are like America 2.0, everyone just would prefer to have a dog instead. Or even worse, let us consider Japan in which people are not even interested in getting married anymore. Japan as currently experiencing a quick demise, the demise of South Korea will be slower, but considering that South Korea is essentially a new colony of America, America will continue to protect her investment in South Korea, for Hyundai/Kia, the car industry, as well as the semiconductor Samsung industry.

Personal conquering

The great thing about the Internet is that you yourself as an individual are infinitely scalable on the Internet. For example, if you make a blog post, an email newsletter, a video, a Vlog, a podcast, etc., in theory concurrently 1 billion people can consume it at the same time. I still think there is much innovation to be had in terms of solo entrepreneurship, and solo media creation. I truly do believe that media is the future, as it is much more empowering and universal. Everybody loves media. Everyone loves America because of Hollywood in the media industry. Everybody loves YouTube because of all the media personalities. The future is going to be all about you.

How to conquer yourself

Things which are essential to conquer include self hesitation, self-doubt, self anxiety, etc. I think the simple solution to this is just adopting 100% carnivore diet, replete with beef ribs, bone marrow, beef liver, beef heart, etc. The more carnivorous and wolflike you become, the stronger and more courageous you will become.

Second, sleep. To sacrifice sleep is insanely shortsighted, the more farsighted solution is to prioritize sleep above everything. Prioritize sleep over seeing a friend, seeing family, being social, being productive, finishing up your work test, etc. In fact, to become demigod means to sleep at least 8 to 12 hours every single night, like a God. Read the Iliad, even the God sleep at night.

Third, work out twice a day. Become more social. For myself, the more time I spend at home, the more depressive and anxious I become. Once you go out, see all the beautiful people, chat with people, etc., the less anxious you will be.

Fourth, stoicism. Become more stoic. This means become more indomitable to fate, or like Nietzsche says “amor fati”, which means learn to love your fate, learn to love tragedy. Personal tragedy should be seen as a strengthening agent, not as a negative one.

For example, all of my personal scars has made me a stronger and more epic person. If I never experienced personal tragedy or sadness in my life, I think I would be a lot less interesting of a person, and also a more fearful one, and also a weaker one. Because of the difficulties I experienced as a young child, it made me a stoic even from the age of 11 onwards. By the age of 12, I already felt like a grown man.

That which attempts to destroy you will actually end up strengthening you

I don’t believe in the idea of conquering other people, or conquering other nations. To me, it is a waste of energy, time, and physiological effort.

Instead, better to conquer paralysis by analysis, indecision, self-doubt and fear, fear of the judgment of others, etc. What I desire is for you to become more free, more open, more courageous, more risk loving, etc.

What bold new fates await you?

The thought at hand!

Conquer on!
ERIC

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Conquering Experiences

EK CONQUER EXPERIENCES:

1. Conquer Fear in Boston
2. Conquer Innovation in Berkeley
3. Conquer Zen in HADONG SOUTH KOREA

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Conquer the holidays

This holiday season, a fun idea; ask other people to not give you anything, and also consequently, tell others to not expect a gift from you. The best holiday gift could just be a FaceTime call to a dear friend, family member, etc. Better yet, offered to take them out to a nice dinner, are you Korean barbecue, Fogo de Chão, etc.

Even for myself, the nicest present from somebody would just be $100 worth of beef ribs from the Costco business Center.

Gift experiences to others, if need be. Go with your friend and treat them out to a massage, you pay. Or, if you really care about your nieces and nephews, instead of buying them a toy or gifts, to spend the day playing with them, keep your phone at the house or in the car, this should be the best gift of all.

The gift of 100% undivided attention.

Also, starts taking a friend to the gym, and pay for the gym membership. Or take a friend to yoga, and pay for their yoga membership.

The gift of health. Even just go with them to CorePower yoga and gift it to them.

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More thoughts

1. Weightlifting barefoot is supreme
2. Atlas Lift — simply holding an insanely amount of heavy weight on your shoulders is a really good exercise, and strengthening workout. Atlas never skips leg day. Every day is leg day.
3. Following the instructor, we’re having “proper form“ is for suckers. Just do whatever you want, whatever the instructor says or does is simply a suggestion, not an imperative.
4. Becoming demigod is a noble goal.
5. From a marketing or branding perspective, perhaps to just transfer your name into a monogram, or an abbreviation is a good idea. For example, ERIC KIM is now EK. Restoration hardware is now RH. Calvin Klein is CK, and Louis Vuitton is LV.

More thoughts on blog.

Everything in life is a suggestion, not an imperative. Nobody could force you to do anything against your own will.

Even in America, the way that the law is structured is that nobody could ever force you to do something against your own will. The only thing you must do in America is pay your taxes, this is an imperative. Beyond that, everything else is fair game.

For example, if you’re doing a workout class, note that anything that the instructor does, everything they tell you to do is a suggestion. You have the choice and the power of whether to do it or not, whether to just go out for a water break, or just do “micro” reps, and “cheat”.

It is best to lift weights barefoot, why? Maximal engagement and connection with the ground.

For example, if Hadthor deadlifted 501 kilograms barefoot, shouldn’t you?

Go barefoot when doing any form of extreme weightlifting/powerlifting/hypelifting — deadlift, squat, squat hold, atlas hold, atlas lift, rack pull, etc.

I have a fun theory and interesting innovation; I call it the atlas hold. Basically the notion is that you just take the maximum amount of weight on the squat rack, and you just try to unrack it with your shoulder and your legs, and just see the maximum weight you can bear on your shoulders. The reason why I call it the atlas lift is because it is like Atlas; carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Or a squat hold.

The reason why this is such an interesting and innovative concept is that in order to unrack the weight, you still need to push up with your legs. Thus, it is a formidable leg and thigh workout. And by just holding the weight on your shoulders, it will build up your whole body strength. For example, after doing my epic seven plate plus Atlas hold/squat hold, I felt it in my wrists, my shoulders, my traps, my back, my spine, my hips, my thighs, even my feet.

I say so! Hypelifting during the day, yoga at night! Just get a local gym membership and a CorePower yoga membership.

Towards a more strongman concept:

Is this what each man seeks?

Nietzsche mentions Plato, in which he said something like, “each man would desire to become the master of all men.” Nietzsche asserts that this ethos in spirit should be made anew.

Always prioritize text.

The loudest car? And the most expensive and flashy colored one? And the most unusual doors?

Still probably a brightly colored Lamborghini aventador or any car with the scissor doors.

Or still, the biggest flex is to just walk around downtown topless, no shirt on. Show off your demigod physique.

Why media is the future:

Medyos— with + me.

A simple thought; media is just sharing yourself with others. I like the idea of being a solo media entrepreneur, that is, you create a cult of yourself, and everything that you do create and publish is all by you, about you, through you. At the end of the day, it is all about you.

CULT(URE)

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Why is everybody so fearful or reticent to talk about themselves, or to just do things themselves?

I have some theories; first and foremost, it seems that it is a moral ethical issue. Moralistically speaking, it is considered a sin or advice to talk about yourself. For example, the common word “selfish“, is akin to the word evil.

For example, if you tell other people to “stop being so selfish“, is that considered a good thing or a bad thing?

The cult of you

Let us consider the most dominant video platform out there, YouTube. Tube as in TV, you as in you. The basic idea and just of YouTube is that it is TV all about you.

Even twitch, was initially known as justin.tv, I believe it was just a live stream of this dude named Justin and all of his mundane life activities. Imagine the Truman show movie.

Why it is good for you to go solo

I don’t like the idea of gate keepers, or anybody holding you back from anything. I like the idea that we can do anything we want without having anybody stop us.

For example, I truly despise the notion of having an editor or a publisher get in your way. If I have a certain idea thought or something, I hate the idea of having anybody have to “approve” it, before publishing it. For me the ultimate freedom is being able to publish whatever I want, however I want, whenever I want. And also how frequently I want.

And this is the ultimate freedom of the Internet, websites and blogging, etc. No more gate keepers.

Yet, the pitfall that we fall into is that it seems that nowadays people don’t really care about freedom, they care more for popularity and “success”, money, fame recognition, followers and likes, etc.

All you need is 300

How many followers, subscribers, is enough? I said 300 is sufficient. Why? Imagine King Leonidas and his elite spartan 300s. That is all you need.

What kind of media should you create?

Anything and everything. For example, just go pro or document your every day Monday in life activities. Whether it be eating, working out, or just share your thoughts on anything.

It seems that in today’s world, more media is better than less media. Simply put, more is better.

Why? With digital media, it seems that people have a voracious appetite, and there is really no limit to how much media a person can consume. Let us consider the average modern-day man, who listens to podcasts, listens to music, watches movies, watches TV shows, watches TV series, etc. Let us also consider the apple AirPods phenomenon; the new frontier of sound, audio things.

Also let us consider the fact that traffic is getting worse and worse. This means, more and more people stuck in a car, wanting to listen to something to entertain them during their hateful commutes and time stuck in traffic. It seems safety wise, audio, podcasts are safer to listen to while driving then having to watch videos while driving.

Just do it all

So the question is, what kind of media should you create?

I said create it all. No limits to your creative expression. I see the best way to think about it is create things in a spirit of fun and experimentation, and just have fun with it. Don’t take it too seriously, don’t get too caught up with editing, etc. Create media that you would like to see.

For example, something that’s really interesting to me is trying to figure out the behind-the-scenes of peoples day to day behaviors and activities. I’m curious about how people eat, and what they eat. Thus, I started to do some GoPro videos of me eating meat, what I call my meat meditation.

Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any vlogs on people talking about more philosophical topics, ethics, etc. Thus I started to create more Vlogs of me talking about philosophy, stoicism, etc. as a means to create information and knowledge that I wish I had access to when starting off.

It’s not really a big deal

I am not quite sure why people take what they create so seriously. They strive to make it so nice by editing it so well, maybe it is a byproduct of our K-12 educational system, or even our college education. We strive to make things tiptop perfect, editing it to please some sort of third-party intelligent constipated reader, etc.

Hilariously enough, I make my living from blogging, vlogging, etc. Yet, I have extremely poor grammar, “writing style,” etc. Yet, out of all the people that I know, I am the most successful blogger and vlogger that I personally know. Also the one with the most money in the bank.

The origin of inspiration and motivation

I cannot speak for you, but I could speak for myself. What is the origin and the root of our inspiration and motivation?

For me, it is fun, adventure, play, etc. I am personally driven by curiosity, and I like to be able to delve deeper into ideas which are personally interesting and meaningful to me.

For example, whenever I blog about something that I am interested in, as I’m blogging and while I’m blogging, I gain deeper inside to the topic at hand. Blogging as a form to flesh out my own thoughts for myself, and the upside is I could also share those thoughts with others.

I see blogging as meta-thinking. Same for vlogging.

Therefore, blogging and vlogging is great because you’re killing two birds with one stone. It benefits yourself, and it also benefits others.

Criticism?

You know you’re successful once you have people start criticizing critiquing you etc. Consider it a good sign. For example, nobody ever publicly criticizes or critiques somebody who is boring. Boring people never get talked about.

Also, boring people are never hated on either. Thus, it seems that the root of success is to actually seek to become more hated.

Philosophically speaking, I think hate is just love in disguise, via Nassim Taleb Bed of Procrustes.

Anti-comments, anti-stats

I have never gotten a useful comment in my whole life, whether positive or negative. For example, certainly nobody likes getting negative comments, but also, the funny thing is that positive comments can actually hurt you more. Why? If somebody gives you a positive comment on some thing, it trains you to create more things that will get you more positive comments. Thus the road to mediocrity.

The most robust way to deal with things is either disable comments on your blog or website, disable comments on your YouTube channel, etc., or, if the platform doesn’t allow to disable comments, just don’t read them.

Also stats. Statistics are depressing, they are not motivating. Thus, disable stats on your own website, and also, refuse to look at them.

What is the point of media?

The bias in modern day society is that people just want to do things in order to make a lot of money. If that were really the case, better to be a plumber, they can easily make $200,000 a year. But do you want to be cleaning somebody’s poop for a living? Probably not.

For me, creating media is my passion and my soul project. It is what I am best at, which is effortless to me, and also fun and interesting. I never need to be motivated to create something, because I just create what I’m interested in. If you live a life full of inner motivation for yourself, isn’t this the best life?

A formula

Spend 90% of yourself blogging, writing things out in text, or just using iA Writer and markdown to voice dictate your thoughts. Why? Text has better longevity than video, is much more easily indexable, searchable, and accessible. Video is great, but video has many downsides. For example, Even with modern day algorithms, to decipher all of the words that occur in a video is still a difficult task, even for YouTube and Google text and sound recognition.

Also, lightness. A text file is a few kilobytes, whereas even the smallest video is hundreds of megabytes. Even in today’s modern world, Internet speeds, download speeds, upload speeds, and bandwidth is still a huge problem. Even the promise of 5G is weak; 5G is not real, it is fake 5G. You almost never get 5G anywhere, maybe the only place you get it is in South Korea. But in America, I feel like we are just restrained to either 3G or 4G.

1 billion blog posts, 1 billion photos, 1000,000,000 videos?

There are some things in life you can control, and some things you cannot. One thing you cannot control is how rich you will become. For example, even if I used all of my effort, heart and soul, to become a trillionaire, I may never attain it. However, focusing to create a lot, this is actually something which is attainable.

But isn’t quality more important than quantity?

I think the thought that “quality” is more important than quantity is a weak modern notion. Even in ancient Greece, I think Epicurus actually wrote at least 300 or 400 books in his lifetime. That is a lot.

My personal thought is there are academic and scholarly types who are unproductive, and they look at productive creators with petty resentment and envy. They wish that they could be productive, and prolific, and therefore, they have created that aphorism that quality is better than quantity. That they believe that their quality is superior than the other person’s quantity.

However, even in show business, there is the saying, “Your best film is the last one you’ve produced.” or, “You’re only good as your last book.” This means, you always want to be modern and recent. That, you always want to keep producing, creating, publishing.

For example, even Google search: they prioritize freshness. That is, they prioritize the information which was created most recently. There is a recency bias.

Now what?

Start your own solo media empire today.

Go solo.

Own your own platform. This means, you must pay for it. The rule of thumb is this; if it is free, you don’t own it.

If you use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc., you are partaking in digital sharecropping. You are an Instaslave.

Even, don’t put faith in YouTube. Sooner or later, your account will probably either be removed, banned, or inaccessible, etc. Even with my Facebook and Facebook Fan page, I have long forgotten the credentials for it, and I can no longer access it. Access denied.

Instead videopress.com — via the WordPress.com premium jetpack plugin plan. The simple thought is this:

Could you upload sexually explicit videos without having it flagged or removed?

This is the secret to platform freedom.

Web platform

Bluehost.com and WordPress.org — this is the key.

To create your own open source media empire, own your own digital domain, and also your own digital tools.

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Make more media, consume less.

I like the idea that you could spend 99% of your effort, time and energy creating media, and only spending 1% of your time energy and force consuming media. Certainly we must have inspiration from somewhere else, however, we should limit it. Better to draw upon instead from your own life experiences, your own lived experiences, etc.

Now what?

1. Just write something, and post it to your blog.
2. Just record something, and upload it to YouTube.
3. Start your own podcast with anchor.fm — insanely easy.
4. Create your own platform. For example, Arsbeta.com as my brain child.

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Make more, be more

MAKE WITH EK:

1. BOSTON
2. BERKELEY
3. HADONG South Korea

EK WORK

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More thoughts

1. Entrepreneurship by KIM
2. Modern Photographer

More in EK SHOP

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Sources of inspiration

1. Ancient Greek philosophy. The best philosophers to read are the ones who came before Socrates, the “pre-Socratic‘s.” This includes Heraclitus, Democritus, etc.
2. The Iliad
3. Nietzsche — The Will to Power as one of my favorite books.
4. Movies and cinema: the matrix, the movie 300, John Wick, fight club, etc.

Or anything on EK BLOG

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EK NEWS

All open everything. Open shop.

If you don’t pay for it, you don’t own it.

We love the recent, we disdain the old.

Squat rack push up the weight and hold — isn’t this “weight-lifting”?

EK TUBE

Crudus — raw meat. *krewh– raw blood. Blood outside the body — a wound. Or raw meat.

Krouo — to strike, to smite. Krura — bloody, raw, harsh.

Aggression.

In terms of ethics, is it unethical, or morally evil to be cruel? Also, philosophically, what does it mean to be cruel?

ETHICS by KIM

Your Own Personal Code of Ethics

1. Why Are We So Into Other People?
   Just focus on yourself and your own life
2. Perfect morals and ethics is following your own gut
   WHY ETIQUETTE?
3. NO BLAME, JUST CAUSE AND EFFECT.
4. Ignorance Takes Courage
5. TREAT OTHERS CARTE BLANCHE
6. Don’t give people what they want or what you *think* they want, give them what you think they *should* have.
7. Anti Small
8. Disdain or Admiration?
9. Beware Those With Good Intentions
10. STUBBORN x FLEXIBLE
11. ETHICS ARE VIA NEGATIVA
12. OBEDIENCE & DISCIPLINE
13. The Motive of Criticism
14. Ethics are Social
15. Anti Role Models
16. What is Greed?
17. On Having the Courage to Make Your Own Decisions
18. How *NOT* to Get Duped or Suckered
19. Why Help Others?
20. The Duty of the Strong
21. Why I’m So Intolerant Towards Intolerance
22. The Ethics of Criticizing Others
23. Consult Your Own Conscience
24. The Ethics of Shit Talking
25. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
26. I’m Easily Distracted
27. On Forming Your Own Opinion
28. ERIC KIM Philosophy of Tolerance
29. Tolerance
30. Aesthetics are Ethics
31. Morality and Ethics

Perhaps more creators should use the iPad Pro, as a good video capturing device, using the Ultra Wide mode, whether in selfie mode, the front facing camera, or the back facing camera.

The uber flex:

Why? ZEN OF ERIC FACEBOOK MESSENGER CHAT BOT.

How to go demigod:

“I know I’m not the most high but I’m on a close high.” — Kanye West YEEZUS Album

What would a demigod do?

Just think to yourself; if you were in fact a demigod, what would you do, what would you not do?

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

Essays by KIM

1. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
2. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
3. Imperfect Beauty
4. The Philosophy of Pleasure
5. What Interests You?
6. Anti Theory of Everything
7. Become?
8. STRONGER OR NOT?
9. Carte Blanche Ideals
10. CHOOSE JOY
11. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
12. On Becoming Less Human
13. COWARDICE.
14. The Philosophy of Futurism
15. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
16. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
17. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
18. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
19. RETRO IS BAD.
20. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
21. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
22. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
23. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
24. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
25. What Consumption Takes Skill?
26. OFF THE GRID.
27. REALITY IS CRUEL.
28. Pain is Information
29. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
30. AUTOTELIC.
31. UNPLUG.
32. How to Become a Philosopher
33. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
34. THE LUST FOR MORE.
35. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
36. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
37. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
38. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
39. Is Hope a Vice?
40. MOVE MEAN
41. Carte Blanche Ideals
42. One Interesting Thought
43. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
44. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
45. Children & Purpose
46. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
47. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
48. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
49. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
50. Differentiation vs Equalization
51. My Passion to *Become* Something More
52. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
53. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
54. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
55. How to Decide
56. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
57. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
58. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
59. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
60. Why or How Does it Matter?
61. The Philosophy of Time and Events
62. How *Not* to Resent
63. FORWARD LOOKING
64. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
65. The Miracle of Human Growth
66. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
67. Why Plan?
68. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
69. The Philosophy of Ego
70. True vs False Passions
71. How to Achieve Tranquility
72. On Making Your Own Philosophy
73. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
74. Think On!
75. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
76. Congruency
77. My Thoughts on Meditation
78. The Philosophy of Purpose
79. Emulate Yourself
80. Good Fear, Bad Fear
81. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
82. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
83. Why Culture is Your Enemy
84. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
85. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
86. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
87. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
88. What is the Purpose of X?
89. UTILITY.
90. Philosophy is a Luxury
91. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
92. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
93. Effectiveness Over Happiness
94. Self Actualization
95. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
96. Life & Pain
97. On Living Every Day with No Regret
98. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
99. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
100. Self-Determination
101. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
102. HOW TO LIVE MORE
103. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
104. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
105. Supreme Repose
106. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
107. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
108. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
109. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
110. What is the Best Life?
111. The Philosophy of Thinking
112. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
113. Conspiracies
114. Growth
115. Skepticism.
116. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
117. Seem or Be?
118. Learn Through Pain
119. Respect Yourself
120. In Praise of Elitism
121. Why Independent Thinking?
122. I Will Never Die
123. Bitter is Better
124. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
125. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
126. Good vs Not Good
127. Punished by Privilege
128. Abstinence Over Moderation
129. Just Leave Others Alone
130. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
131. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
132. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
133. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
134. Virtue is a Privilege
135. What Are Your Life Goals?
136. Honesty
137. Why I’m Anti Moderation
138. No Spite, No Malice.
139. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
140. Double Edged Sword
141. Ignorance.
142. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
143. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
144. Selfish Isn’t Evil
145. Wisdom is the Goal
146. YOU ARE KING.
147. MASTER YOURSELF
148. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
149. Care.
150. BITTERSWEET
151. ONE REP MAX
152. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
153. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
154. Insanity is Good.
155. Think Deep.
156. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
157. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
158. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
159. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
160. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
161. What is the Purpose of Life?
162. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
163. Elitism.
164. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
165. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
166. Happiness vs Freedom
167. The Birth of a Hater
168. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
169. Walking as an Existential Thing
170. Why I’m So Tolerant
171. Mortal Gods
172. THE HUMAN SPECIES
173. Why I’m So Skeptical
174. Just Follow the Money
175. Why Selfish?
176. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
177. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
178. What Actually Interests You?
179. How to Become Yourself
180. SELF HATE
181. Optimistic Fatalism
182. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
183. FLUX.
184. How to Think for Yourself
185. FLESH
186. How to Live the Best Life
187. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
188. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
189. Self Respect
190. Hypocrite vs Contradict
191. Ideals vs Reality
192. Spaceship Philosophy
193. What is Your Ideal Life?
194. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
195. Critique of Utilitarianism
196. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
197. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
198. Elite Asceticism
199. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
200. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
201. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
202. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
203. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
204. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
205. Self-Wisdom
206. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
207. INDIVIDUALISM
208. Why Live Forever?
209. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
210. Why Education?
211. How to Become Yourself
212. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
213. Why Am I So Cruel?
214. The Great Joy of Existence
215. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
216. NO DISDAIN.
217. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
218. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
219. BITTER IS BETTER.
220. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
221. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
222. PAIN.
223. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
224. Tomorrow is Never
225. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
226. EMBODIED REALITY
227. BLACK SWAN
228. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
229. What are you *really* afraid of?
230. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
231. Philosophy is King
232. Why is Selfish Evil?
233. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
234. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
235. NARCISSISM
236. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
237. WHY FREE WILL?
238. OBEY YOUR OPINION
239. EGO IS GOOD.
240. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
241. Seek the Good Pain
242. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
243. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
244. WHY I LIVE
245. Why I Hate Decline
246. Why I Eat
247. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
248. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
249. Never Stop Gaining
250. TRUST YOURSELF
251. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
252. What Do You Desire to Become?
253. What Do I Want from Technology?
254. Stratified Society
255. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
256. On the Brian, Body and Mind
257. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
258. Care over Fame
259. ACTIVE NIHILISM
260. Never Stop Subtracting
261. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
262. A Risker Life is a Better Life
263. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
264. How to Maximize Your Happiness
265. Influence
266. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
267. Meditations on Meaning in Life
268. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
269. Is Hope a Vice?
270. EGO
271. Why Be Unique?
272. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
273. You’re the Hero
274. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
275. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
276. The Joy of Uncertainty
277. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
278. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
279. Free or Unfree?
280. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
281. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
282. Why Think?
283. The Eternal Return
284. Only Do What is Best for You!
285. Truthiness
286. Why Be Happy?
287. Permissionless Living
288. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
289. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
290. Happiness
291. Beyond Freedom
292. Idolize People, Not Stuff
293. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
294. Why Hate?
295. The Secret of Happiness
296. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
297. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
298. Anti-Nihilism
299. First, Do What is Best for You.
300. Live Dynamic
301. How to Prosper
302. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
303. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
304. How to Become more Idealistic
305. Thrivival 101
306. Create Yourself
307. Non-Small
308. Inspiration
309. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
310. Human Augmentation
311. Prune
312. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
313. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
314. Modern Slavery
315. Kill the Leeches
316. Wisdom Augmentation
317. Why We Need Friction in Life
318. Straight Line Philosophy
319. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
320. Create Your Own Happiness Today
321. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
322. Try the Impossible
323. SELF-RESPECT
324. Anti-Social Extrovert
325. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
326. Human Flourishing
327. Simpler, Not Better.
328. How to be Free
329. Embrace the Extremes
330. Cultivate Your Own Culture
331. COURAGE.
332. Thrivival
333. Inner Power
334. How to Live a Purposeful Life
335. My Definition of Happiness
336. Why Change is Good
337. Why Work?
338. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
339. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
340. You Always Have Another Option!
341. INFINITISM
342. Never Stop!
343. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
344. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
345. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
346. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
347. Live Life to the Fullest!
348. In Praise of Selfishness
349. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
350. Why I Love Walking
351. Live Life Like a Video Game!
352. Simple Luxuries in Life
353. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
354. Only Prove it to Yourself
355. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
356. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
357. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
358. How to Find Inspiration in Life
359. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
360. An Active Life is a Happy Life
361. My Simple Joys in Life
362. Never Stop Striving
363. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
364. How to Be Optimistic in Life
365. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
366. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
367. PURPOSE.
368. How to Enjoy Life
369. Photography Therapy
370. How to Conquer Regret
371. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
372. How to Prosper
373. Memento Vivere
374. Destroy in Order to CREATE
375. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
376. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
377. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
378. The Purpose of Human Life
379. How to Overcome Impedence
380. Why I Love Death
381. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
382. How to Be Happy
383. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
384. Why I’m Happy
385. Why?
386. Why I’m So Prolific
387. How to Reduce LAG in Life

Masters of Philosophy Â»

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy Â»

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism Â»

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons Â»

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

How to become invincible:

What is stoicism? Reaping the upsides of life, and creating a framework in which anything which attempts to damage you actually benefits and strengthens you.

For example, let us assume that real life was an RPG or a video game, Diablo II analogy to real life. Imagine as if your character was a Paladin, and whenever an enemy attacked you, your hit points, and your skills would actually increase. This is my notion of stoicism.

Why stoicism?

To me, stoicism is the best philosophical framework to deal with the maladies of life. For myself personally, studying stoicism, and reading the letters of Seneca helped me tremendously become more confident, and epic.

However, we must know and acknowledge that stoicism is not the end goal. Stoicism is simply a path, a technique and a means toward something greater.

What is the end goal?

To me, life experimentation, human physiology, philosophy, entrepreneurship, innovation, art creativity photography, digital things, the Internet, etc.

For example, stoicism will greatly help you in street photography. Why? I believe the 99% of street photography is simply conquering fear and hesitation. If you could apply a stoic mindset to street photography, you will thrive.

Stoicism and entrepreneurship

Another application is towards entrepreneurship and innovation. I believe the 99% of entrepreneurship and innovation is conquering the fear of risk and failure. If we could stoic strategies to become more risk loving, we are wise.

What is the end goal of stoicism?

It seems that Seneca and the Stoic philosophers were obsessed with virtue for the sake of virtue. What is virtue? For men, it means to become the apex manliness.

However, this is where I feel that stoicism falls short. To seek virtue for the sake of virtue seems to be inconsequential. Once again, stoicism should be seen as a means toward a certain desired end, not the end itself.

So how do I become a stoic?

Simply put, if you’re interested in building your mind and body to become unconquerable, you are already a stoic. To borrow the words of Anna, you have always already been a stoic.

What should I do with my invincibility?

Imagine like having a bulletproof vest for your chest, and also your mind and your soul.

My simple thought is channel and harness your stoic power to go even harder on your publications on philosophy, whether it be email newsletter, blog, vlog, etc.

Anger?

I thought; better to be angry than sad. Why? Anger is an affirmative, stimulating emotion, whereas sadness is a depressive one. Even like Eminem said —

I hate to admit this, but I think I’m actually happier when I’m angrier.

If you get angry, or you’re angry, assuming you have high testosterone, low body fat percentage, and high muscle mass, anger is actually one of our most wise tools. Why? When we get angry, we perceive an injustice, which teaches us between right and wrong.

For example, I think it is actually very very wise to become aggressive and combative when necessary.

For example, in modern day life, we are taught that it is bad to be “defensive”. However, to be defensive, and to focus on defense might be one of the most intelligent strategies.

For example in football, American football, I think it is true that defense wins games. Or, when it comes to the US military, there is a reason why they call it the department of defense, not the department of offense. Even their website URL is Defense.gov.

Even the notion of “avenger”, comes from the notion of being a defender. To defend yourself, your family, your nation could be one of the greatest things one can do. For example, if we think about the spartan 300, their goal wasn’t to just go out and conquer every other nation. Their simple goal was to defend Sparta from king Xerxes and his Slave army. Sparta just wanted to be left alone.

Should you defend yourself?

It depends. For example, imagine like you were the dragon from the Lord of the rings, and there is this annoying poodle which keeps barking at you. In situations like that, maybe it is best to just ignore the poodle, or, you might not even hear it.

Therefore a simple stoic strategy:

Become more deaf to others.

For example, if somebody says something that super annoying, or triggers you, maybe the best strategy is just pretend like you didn’t hear it. And if they ask you whether you heard them, just lie and say you didn’t hear them. And just walk away.

What should I do if I’m just sad?

My thought is a lot of sadness is physiological. For example, let us assume that you sleep 8 to 12 hours a night, spend a lot of time outdoors in the direct sun, go to the gym every day, chat with your buddies, make new friends, lift heavy weights, hype yourself up, and eat lots of meat, How can one be sad?

Another thought: I have never met a depressed person who walks 30,000 steps a day.

Theory:

Depression as a physiological phenomenon which originates in the body, not the mind.

Mental depression is simply an offshoot of bodily physical depression.

Because let us consider, people who are clinically depressed literally cannot get out of bed. Therefore, this is a physiological phenomenon.

Stoic exercises

We all know that in order to become stronger, one must lift heavier weights, and exercise regularly. I say daily is best.

Some stoic exercises:

1. The next time you get really angry, whether it be your wife, your partner, etc., wait at least 24-48 hours before responding. I I learned this concept from Plato, who said that he would wait at least 24 hours before beating his slave.
2. What would a demigod do? This could be a good line of thinking when it comes to life situations.
3. The next time you get really really angry, just walk to the local gym, and proceed to lift very very heavy weights. Don’t go home until you’ve calm down.
4. Seek to empathize with other people, which means understand their mind and situation, and don’t hate or resent them for it. Give them the cold shoulder. However you’re not giving them the cold shoulder out of punishment, rather, just to protect your own zen stoic calm.
5. Whenever you hear bad news, or something bad happens to you think yourself, how can this benefit me 10 years from now? Is this misfortune, actually may be one of the most fortunate things which has happened to me in my life? For example, me getting laid off and made redundant from my first job out of college, actually was the stimulus which helped me pursue my passion full-time for a living.

Which stoic philosophers should I read?

I say: Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Epicurus, Diogenes the Cynic, Heraclitus, Democritus, etc.

Stoicism by KIM

Now what?

If you have any mental melodies, or things you want to discuss, have a chat with Zen of Eric Why App? Facebook messenger chat bot.

For anybody who criticizes Facebook, I still think that Facebook is a net positive for society, as it has allowed me to build this.

WHY APP?

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Conquer it all

EK:

1. Conquer Boston
2. Conquer Innovation in Berkeley
3. Conquer Zen in Hadong South Korea

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Stoic Equipment

1. Weight lifting chalk, both the powder form which comes in a ball, as well as the liquid chalk. Just buy whatever is cheap and convenient on Amazon.
2. License to Train Lululemon shorts // Metal Vent Lululemon T-shirt: Think of your clothing as armor. Also, this will allow you to lift weights and go heavy anytime anywhere.
3. Vibram 5 finger shoes — EL X model
4. No car
5. No home
6. iPhone SE: You don’t get afraid of it scratching, or someone stealing it. Use and abuse it.
7. iPad Pro (smaller one)
8. RICOH GR IIIX x ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP MARK II
9. HENRI SHOULDER STRAP
10. HENRI WRIST STRAP PRO

Moar in EK SHOP

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Stoic sayings

1. “Perhaps one day we will look back at this misfortune event, and look at it with delight and laughter.” – Odysseus in the odyssey, after half his men got eaten by the Cyclops
2. “I am so grateful for all the wonderful conversations we’ve had in our life“. (Epicurus talking to one of his best friends, near the end of his life.)
3. “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” – Nietzsche

More philosophy >

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“Ars longa, vita brevis.” – Seneca

ERIC

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Share the thoughts!

Feeling strong? Feel free to forward this to a friend!

EK STOIC THOUGHTS

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STOICISM 101

Become invincible:

1. How to Ignore
   Pretend like you didn’t hear them
2. Bad Stoic Strategies
3. The Stoic Way of Dealing With Unpleasant or Miserable People
4. HOW TO BECOME A STOIC
5. Stoicism Stunts Our Power?
6. Stoicism is Mental Resistance Training
7. STOIC STRATEGIES.
8. How to Become Fearless
9. Extreme Stoicism
10. Ethics are Aesthetic
11. Indifference to Pain or Suffering
12. When is Stoicism Good? When is Stoicism Bad?
13. Why Others Criticize or Insult You
14. True Difficulty
15. What if Covid Never Goes Away?
16. SUPER STOIC
17. Anti-Hedonism
18. HOW TO CONQUER FEAR
19. ANTI FEAR
20. It is the Duty of the Strong to Help the Weak
21. The Goal is to Become Stronger
22. HYPER STOICISM
23. HYPER HERO
24. TRANSFORM EVERY DOWNSIDE INTO AN UPSIDE
25. STOICISM x Child’s Mind
26. The Art of Manly Virtue
27. Resistance Makes Us Stronger!
28. DON’T LIVE IN FEAR
29. Emotions are Good
30. Conquer Your Anger
31. BLACK EAGLE
32. DIFFICULTY AWAKENS YOUR INNER-GENIUS.
33. STOICISM IS ARMOR FOR THE MIND
34. The Spartan-Stoic Lifestyle
35. How I Conquered Fear
36. HOW TO CURE FEAR.
37. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
38. The Upside of Poverty
39. How I Became Me
40. THE WILL TO POWER, OR THE WILL TO FEAR?
41. ATTACK REALITY
42. Living *THROUGH* History
43. How to Fear Less
44. Fear is the Ultimate Contagious Disease
45. STOICISM FOR DUMMIES
46. Don’t Be Scared!
47. WHAT CAN YOU CONTROL, WHAT CAN YOU NOT CONTROL?
48. HOW YOU CAN CONQUER FEAR
49. YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE.
50. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
51. WHY AREN’T THINGS WORSE?
52. My Philosophy on Masculinity
53. A Riskier Life is a Better Life #philosophy #stoicism
54. How to Creatively Flourish in Life
55. Introduction to Stoicism
56. How to Become Stronger
57. How to Conquer Depression With Photography
58. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
59. How to Respect Yourself
60. How to Believe in Yourself
61. How to Steer Fear
62. How to Conquer Pessimism
63. How to Conquer Anxiety
64. How to Overcome Your Fear of People
65. How to Be Optimistic
66. Why I Don’t Take My Anger Seriously
67. HOW TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL
68. POSITIVITY.
69. HOW TO BECOME SUPERHUMAN
70. How to Give a Fuck Less
71. ALL IN.
72. Why I Cut My Dad Out of My Life.
73. Your iPhone Only Has 5% Battery Left.
74. How not to give a FUCK about your REPUTATION
75. WHAT IS A HUMAN?
76. HAPPINESS.
77. The Regret Minimization Framework in Photography and Life
78. How to Be a HERO
79. Conquer Your Fears by Making Fear Your Slave
80. Rule Circumstances; Don’t Let Your Circumstances Rule You
81. How to Love Yourself
82. How to Turn Shit into Gold
83. Your Parents Fuck You Up
84. Immortality
85. What Kills You Makes You Stronger
86. How to Be Patient
87. How to Conquer Anger
88. How to Bounce Back in Life
89. How to Overcome Resistance
90. Nothing Unlimited is Good; Nothing Good is Unlimited
91. You Have No Limits
92. Can 1’s and 0’s Hurt You?
93. The Envious Moment is Flying Now
94. Tomorrow We’ll Sail the Wide Seas Again
95. How to Forgive Others
96. Focus on Your Actions, Not the Results
97. Everything Will Be Alright
98. How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
99. How to Be a Spartan Photographer
100. How to Overcome Your Fears in Life
101. How to Stop Worrying in Life
102. How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
103. How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance
104. 3 Stoic Techniques that Can Help You Gain Tranquility
105. Can People Weaker than You Hurt You?
106. Does a Doctor Get Angry at a Crazy Patient?
107. Own Nothing

The Stoic Masters

Learn from the master stoics:

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Epictetus
• Publilius Syrus
• Heraclitus

See all philosophy >

How to go demigod:

(6 Plates + 35), Mixed Grip Chalk Zen Zone Mute

Zen zone:

EK TUBE