A new innovation I’ve done at the gym is what Cindy coined a “squat walk”. Basically the general gist is that you just rack a very heavy weight, your attempt on racket, walk back a few steps, and then re-rack it.

Why?

The first question is consider, what is the point of doing this? My practical thought is that it is fun, interesting, and thrilling. Certainly just being able to even hold a very heavy weight on your shoulders is a quite transformative experience.

For example, my first iteration of this was doing what I called “micro squats” which was just put a very very heavy weight on your shoulders, step back a few steps, and then just squat down half a centimeter. And then put back the weight.

How low do you really need to go?

When it comes to weightlifting, it seems that there is this bias that with the squat, one must squat all the way down, at parallel, a little bit below parallel, or maybe a little bit above parallel. But why?

My first thought is that I think it has to do with competition. If you are getting a bunch of dudes in a room, and trying to figure out who is the strongest, do you need some sort of standardized rules and judges. It seems at least in powerlifting, the “rule“ is that your hips or knees or whatever must be at “parallel“. But who judges this? The judges. However, I am certain when you get a bunch of beefy dudes trying to squat over 1000 pounds, everyone’s definition of “parallel“ is different.

Is the goal to just get stronger, or to maximize your leg muscular growth?

Currently speaking, my thighs are out of control. I think I might have the beefiest thighs out of any dudes I’ve seen at the gym. My thighs are so buff I could even jiggle them on command. Kind of how bodybuilders on TV do the pec or the boob jiggle.

The first thing; muscular growth. My thighs are getting insanely buff, from even doing this “squat walk. Or micro squats.

We are the new street photographers. We disdain the old, and we throw mayhem and havoc onto past notions of street photography. No more John Szarkowski, no more Gary Winogrand, no more Henri Cartier Bresson, no more Alex Webb, etc.

Why have I never met a self-assured street photographer?

I think the funny thing about street photography is that it is such a small funny niche. The interesting thing is that a lot of new industries were born out of it, including Leica camera, and also Fujifilm, and also Ricoh.

Also, I love street photography because it is the most democratic. Literally anyone could just grab their iPhone, or camera, and just go outdoors and make photos.

Think about street photography as an aesthetic an ethos to life

One thing I love in Vietnam, like my friend Chu Viet Ha is they don’t really call it street photography, they call it “life photography.” I really like this, because I think that is ultimately what we are trying to capture is life. We love life, we love being alive, and we want to share our joy of life with others.

Pro life, or anti-life?

The reason why we have to be very very careful with artists is that some artists are anti-life, very few artists I have met are pro life.

For example, the reason why I think it is a good idea to be very very distrustful of artists who were either addicted to drugs or alcohol is that their artwork was simply a way and a means of bearing their pain, depression and sorrow. While I do think that making art is a good remedy to dealing with the maladies of life, the big downside is that if you ingest the artwork of a sick person, you will also become sick. There is a physiology to art, which means, the physiology of the artist is imputed into his or her artwork, and when you consume that type of artwork, you will also gain the physiological attributes of that individual.

For example, do not trust any artist who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, heroin etc. For example, don’t trust Jackson Pollock, because he was an alcoholic. He died while drunk driving, no respect should be given to that man. Because if you are drunk while driving, the potential of killing someone else in their family in a car.

Even Jean Michel Basquiat, he died of a heroin overdose. I don’t think we should trust his artwork either, I would only trust the artwork of the sober artist, more trust in Kendrick Lamar, whose only vice seems to be eating Cap’n Crunch cereal, rather than all these other rappers and artists out there who are perpetually drunk or high off of some sort of strange drug or alcohol concoction.

Also, the reason why I am highly distrustful of EDM, and all of these millennial music festivals is that everyone there is high on drugs. Can anyone really enjoy an EDM festival, or some sort of music festival without alcohol or drugs? Highly doubtful.

The best drug is coffee

Elon Musk said something very funny in the interview with Joe Rogan when he said that smoking weed is like the exact opposite of having a cup of coffee. I think the least bad drug out there is probably coffee, consume it straight black, with no milk cream sugar or fake substitutes. Also maybe green tea. But that is pretty much it. No drugs, no alcohol, no weed, etc.

Why do I not trust anybody who smokes weed, either regularly, or even recreationally? I think the reason why people like to smoke marijuana is that it eases their pain, or it makes them forget about themselves. The only philosophers we should trust are the sober ones, because in order to have real lofty thoughts, you must have 100% of your cognitive abilities with precision. Anything which intoxicates you is bad.

Back to street photography

If we assume that street photography is an aesthetic and ethos and approach to things, then you could apply the street photography methodology to anything I like. The way you photograph your kids and your wife and your family is a street photography approach. Either with permission, without permission, it doesn’t matter.

I think you could also shoot street photography in national parks. Like Joshua tree. That you could shoot a Street Photography aesthetic of natural places and things, in a street photography aesthetic. Also, you get extra bonus points if you get humans in it, which is often the case. The funny thing is a lot of people desire to go to all these nice national parks, thinking that they will be the only ones there. No. They are very very crowded and full of tons of people, Maybe as crowded as the mall. And this is a good thing, because even if you go visit Joshua tree, you could do street photography there of all the people trying to climb the rocks etc.

Think beyond street photography

When people ask you what you are, say that you’re like a big kid, and you like to run around with your camera.

Street photography is the future. Let us pave it together.

ERIC

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Innovation thoughts

1. My personal thought is perhaps the future of innovation doesn’t lie in tech, but clothing, fitness, health, etc. At this point, we have all the money, and all of the iPhones, etc. However, what we like is physiological health and strength. Currently speaking, my favorite clothing brand is Lululemon, their license to train shorts are quite phenomenal. Also, I’m very inspired by Outlier.nyc, they keep innovating and creating new products. A very good sign.
2. Why do I think that fitness clothing is so important? It makes a huge difference. Our clothes might be more important than our iPhones. Why? If you have the right pair of shorts or pants, it offers you greater freedom of movement, a very simple thing in these Lululemon license to train shorts I have is front zippers and a back zipper, which means I could play with Seneca in all situations without worrying about my stuff falling out of my pockets. This is quite critical. Also, when hypelifting at the gym, often times the clothes get in my way. I’m starting to think about trying to discover new clothing types in order for my shirts not to get in the way when I’m lifting.
3. All of the new Apple products are insanely boring. I stepped inside an Apple store the other day, and I believe that Apple needs a radical line of simplification. Way too many products, lame colors etc. For example, the new MacBook Air in the midnight blue is really ugly, it looks like an old Sony VAIO laptop. Also, I think Apple should just get rid of their big size iPad Pro, Steve Jobs would’ve hated it. Also, I don’t think Apple went hard enough with the deep purple color for the iPhone pro. In real life it’s not that impressive. Also, it looks like nowadays the Apple store is really empty. A very bad sign. Why? No more radical innovation in their product lineup, just boring iteration. Unless Apple does something radical, I think Apple will become the next Microsoft, a lame and slow decline.

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Street photography is not a definition, but an aesthetic. That means, approach street photography as an aesthetic, which means that anything and everything could be street photography if you just shoot it in a certain aesthetic style or form which you love.

Only trust the artwork of somebody who is muscular, not some skinny fat dude who is addicted to drugs or alcohol.

To become a street photographer means you like being on the streets, in public, outdoors, and you love human beings. Human beings are your art form, and also your artwork. The more connected you are with embodied reality, the happier you are.

How do you get started?

The first simple thought is just go out and start shooting photos. You could just shoot with your iPhone, or preferably your digital Ricoh GR camera.

Any camera is good for street photography, as long as it is comfortable for you. Ideally, the smaller, lighter, more compact the camera, the better. Ideally the camera should be able to fit in the front right pocket. Why? This way you will spot more photo opportunities, and also shoot more.

Black and white or color?

It doesn’t matter. Whichever aesthetic you prefer. I personally prefer black and white, as aesthetically I consider it more beautiful. I personally prefer to just shoot on small JPEG, on my Ricoh GR 3X camera.

If you shoot with an iPhone, I suggest just shooting with the default camera app. Why? It is faster, and more easily accessible from your lock screen.

What are the best technical settings for street photography?

In today’s world, auto focus is easiest and best. Why? In the past, digital cameras were too slow in auto focus, and thus manual focusing was better.

I personally just recommend using program mode, P mode, and auto focus. And start shooting before you think.

What should I photograph?

In Street Photography, you can photograph anything. You can photograph people that you met on the street, candid photos without permission, even photograph trash and rubbish on the floor, urban landscapes, etc.

The beauty I think about street photography is that it is limitless. Essentially you could shoot anything outside your house and it is “street photography”.

What makes a good street photograph?

For me, what makes a great street photograph is a combination of beautiful aesthetics, and also the subject matter you photograph, whether you care for it or not.

The hilarity; if somebody says that they are on “influencer“, they are not. Also, the true way to become an influencer is not through social media, but through your own website and blog instead.

I would actually say that the true way to become an influencer is to become number one on the Internet, or number one on Google for your given category or subject of interest.

What does it mean to become number one?

To become a street photographer means you like being on the streets, in public, outdoors, and you love human beings. Human beings are your art form, and also your artwork. The more connected you are with embodied reality, the happier you are.

How do you get started?

The first simple thought is just go out and start shooting photos. You could just shoot with your iPhone, or preferably your digital Ricoh GR camera.

Any camera is good for street photography, as long as it is comfortable for you. Ideally, the smaller, lighter, more compact the camera, the better. Ideally the camera should be able to fit in the front right pocket. Why? This way you will spot more photo opportunities, and also shoot more.

Black and white or color?

It doesn’t matter. Whichever aesthetic you prefer. I personally prefer black and white, as aesthetically I consider it more beautiful. I personally prefer to just shoot on small JPEG, on my Ricoh GR 3X camera.

If you shoot with an iPhone, I suggest just shooting with the default camera app. Why? It is faster, and more easily accessible from your lock screen.

What are the best technical settings for street photography?

In today’s world, auto focus is easiest and best. Why? In the past, digital cameras were too slow in auto focus, and thus manual focusing was better.

I personally just recommend using program mode, P mode, and auto focus. And start shooting before you think.

What should I photograph?

In Street Photography, you can photograph anything. You can photograph people that you met on the street, candid photos without permission, even photograph trash and rubbish on the floor, urban landscapes, etc.

The beauty I think about street photography is that it is limitless. Essentially you could shoot anything outside your house and it is “street photography”.

What makes a good street photograph?

For me, what makes a great street photograph is a combination of beautiful aesthetics, and also the subject matter you photograph, whether you care for it or not.

What do you lack in modern day life? Physical challenge, combat, hand to hand things.

I cannot speak for women, but for at least us men — the modern day man is like a sick animal. Anemic, lacking sun exposure to the sun, none of chutzpah, balls, and reckless audacity, preaches notions of sexual equality and women’s rights, yet watches pr0n in private, and doesn’t even lift heavy weights at the gym.

Why become a new Spartan?

Several reasons. First of all, ironically enough I think the Spartans were just happy. They lived a simple existence, full of martial training and combat, and they lived a simple ascetic life.

Also, anti-pampering. A soft lifestyle is bad, a hard lifestyle is good.

For example, let me talk to us tech nerds. What do we live for? We live for travel, exotic experiences, exotic foods, the newest Apple product which will revolutionize our lives, the new Tesla, buying a home, etc.

Yet, all of these life goals are superficial. They are soft. They don’t really require any sort of true innovation, they just require hard work and money.

What is in your control?

An interesting thought is one thing that we could control is what we desire. That this is actually something which is dictated by you. You can desire to want the Lambo, want to buy a home or own a home, have a certain amount of money, etc. But are these goals actually good? I think not.

My Stoic-Spartan ideal

And I think the ideal approach to things is a mishmash of stoicism, spartan, and zen.

That mentally, we have a stoic mindset to things. Which in short means we have a lofty insouciance to things, we are mostly unperturbed by things. That we take all of the good and bad in life in equal stride, and we realize that there is more in life we can control than not.

The spartan one is to become the overman. That means do not see yourself as a mere human being, but as something beyond. Certainly DNA wise you are just an ordinary human, however, your own ideals for yourself are so insanely lofty and beyond. That you set yourself insanely high standards, because you see yourself as different.

Zen in terms of our personal aesthetics. A Wabi Sabi aesthetic that the more used and worn something becomes the more beautiful it becomes. Also, to seek a sublime simplicity to things.

Spartan philosophy

If you read a lot of the sayings of the Spartans, they are poetic, hilarious and deeply philosophical. For example, the saying in the movie 300, which was actually based on real life — when the Persians told king Leonidas and the spartan 300s that their arrows would blot out the sun, and then one spartan said then we shall fight in the shade. I find this to be so insanely beautiful as a thought, because it takes something that was seen as fearful, and transforms it into fuel and fire to become even more courageous.

Also, a philosophical thought; would you trust the thoughts of an individual who is skinny fat to philosophize and more lies on matters of beauty, bravery, courage, and masculinity? No. I would rather trust the thinking and saying of a spartan then a modern day male academic.

Applying a spartan mindset to Street photography

I think I am the most courageous street photographer that I know. That I love people, and I am really good at talking to people, and strangers. All of the other street photographers why have met in the past seem to be timid, soft, and anti-human.

What do I mean by that? A lot of these weak street photographers try to augment their own low self-esteem by trying to tyrannize their own personal aesthetic and approach to things. They are very close-minded. They think to themselves, “it is either my way or the highway!” They lack independent thought — they cannot even think that everyone could do things a little differently.

To bridge the gap, let us think about not just spartan philosophy, but also, the philosophy of risk.

The Philosophy of Risk

Greater risk, greater futures. The greater the risk, the better.

Something I haven’t really heard people talk or write about is the philosophy of risk. What is risk, what is the significance of risk, and what are practical ways we can leverage risk in our every day lives in order to become more?

Avoid death and possible permanent disfigurement

The practical thing I learned from the Nassim Taleb is that one should never take any risks in life which might cause possible death, or potential disfigurement.

For example, never in any circumstances text while driving. This can lead to your death, and also to the death of your child, your wife, or even cause you to kill somebody else in another car, their children, etc.

When I am in taxi cars, Uber’s, or have a private driver, something which I was on the fence about was when they would text while driving. I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, so I would just stay quiet.

But now that I got a wife and a kid, and if they’re in the same car as me, I have a zero tolerance policy for people texting while driving. One of the proudest moments is when we were in Cambodia and we had a private driver drive us to Angkor Wat Siem Reap, and half the time he was texting while driving. I then mustered up the courage to ask/command him to not do that anymore. Why? Even if there was a one percent chance of potential death in a car accident, I need to muster the courage to defend my family.

Other risks I would never take include skydiving, bungee jumping, etc.

Double safety

The most critical thing I learned from Boy Scouts was the notion of safety first. This is very true.

For example, I think the intelligent thing is to expect yourself to fail, or potentially hurt yourself or others, and therefore, the safe thing to do is create a double safety barrier, in order to prevent bad things from happening.

For example, when I am handling a very very sharp knife in the kitchen, I commend everybody to leave the room. Why? I do not want to accidentally stab or cut anybody.

Or, when you were attempting very very heavy squats at the gym, both have safety pins in the correct position and ask somebody to spot you. Why? When you’re handling a very heavy weight, let us say six plates on each side, or 605 pounds, your chance of not being strong enough to either move the weight, or re-rack it is very high. And therefore, having a spotter will give you 1000 times more security and safety. Once again, when it comes to powerlifting style one repetition maximum attempts, when should always expect to fail, and have a contingency plan.

Why real life loves risk

How do you know if you are really alive? If your real life involves taking some sort of risks in real life. What does that mean? That means life, if you were just stuck in a virtual reality simulation would be boring. Why? There are not real risks involved with virtual reality.

For example, let us say that you are doing a rock climbing simulation in virtual reality. If you fail, slip and fall, there is no real downside. You just push a button and start over. However in real life, let us assume you’re doing free solo, if you slip, you’ll probably die. There is no restart button in real life.

However with matters with entrepreneurship, business, etc., the upside is that there aren’t that big risks involved, at least in regards to life and death. For example, let us say that you attend some sort of entrepreneurial thing, if it fails to takeoff, you’re not gonna lose a limb, or die. At worst, you might have difficulty paying rent that month.

Therefore, what is the most intelligent way to think about risk at least in the context of business and entrepreneurship? That is, it seems the only thing people really are afraid of is this fuzzy notion of “failure“, or some sort of social stigma or social ostracization that happens with “failure“.

Conquer the social fear

Then my practical thought is in the context of risk, the only thing you gotta fear is the fear of looking like a fool, the fear of looking like a “failure”, or losing “face“.

For example, in East Asian cultures, which follow Confucianism, the greatest fear is the fear of losing face or prestige or rank in front of your peers or in society. This is a horrible concept, because your whole life is spent trying to get other people to “respect” you, or see you as “successful. It revolves nothing around doing what you really want to do.

So how do we become a spartan?

First of all, watch the movie 300 by Zack Snyder. I think it paints a very vivid image of what true manliness looks like.

Or better yet, read the original 300 graphic novel comic by Frank Miller — Amazon.

Philosophy is aesthetic

What does it mean to become a philosopher? Becoming a philosopher simply means to think more critically, and to become what you desire to become.

Spartan exercises

1. First, go to the gym, and attempt to rack pull the heaviest weight you possibly can. Just buy some weight lifting chalk on Amazon, the one which comes in a tube, and when attempting your maximum lift, use the mixed grip, which means one hand is overhand and the other is underhand. How do you know which way is proper? It doesn’t matter. Just do what feels comfortable to you. Why rack pull, and not deadlift? My practical thought is assuming you were not competing, having to do a full range of motion for a dead lift doesn’t seem necessary. By doing a rock pool, in which I am lowering the range of motion, it is more thrilling and fun. Also, I theorize it is actually making me much buffer — currently my traps, back and biceps are out of control.
2. Second, start intermittent fasting. This means no breakfast no lunch. Only a massive dinner. Just think of yourself as a warrior, or a hero, in which during the day it is about battle and combat, and it is only the evenings in which you celebrate and feast, eating endless oxen. Just read the Iliad, I actually find the most fascinating part in the books are the evening feasts. Even in ancient Greek times, once the sun went down, there was an acknowledgment on both sides to cease battle, for both sides to feast, and then resume fighting the next day. Perhaps in modern-day times, just imagine, can you imagine an ancient spartan 300 getting “hangry” during the day, and having to eat some sort of granola or protein bar? No.
3. Cold showers. The last seven years I might have only taken five warm showers. It is my personal ritual to only do cold showers, maximum coldness, even in the winter time. Why? It is the best way to wake yourself up in the morning, and also ironically enough, the best way to relax yourself before going to sleep at night. I’ve actually discovered that when you take a really warm or hot shower in the evening, your body remains hot, and it is more difficult for you to fall asleep at night. When your body is cold, and you step into a warm bed, it actually promotes a better sleep. Also the reason I like the notion of a cold shower is that it is a very very low hanging fruit where you could become more manly in soft modern day times.
4. Say what is on your mind. Really. Never censor yourself, and even if you’re going to say something politically incorrect, just say it. See how people cringe, and smile. What is the thing we should feel most ashamed about in modern day times? Self-censorship. The ultimate courage of the Spartans was to say what was really on their minds, without fear of retribution.

Why is everyone in Silicon Valley so scared?

It seems that Silicon Valley is full of subservient nerds, who know how to do good things with computers or email, and are good at collecting a high salary, in the range of $300,000 a year to $500,000 a year. Yet, what they lack is courage.

If I were still in tech, my personal strategy would be this:

Do the minimum amount of work necessary at your job to not get fired, and milk your company and your employer, and use all of your extra free mind space and time to do things you really care about.

The funny thing I’ve actually realize that in tech, even if you’re a horrible person, it is actually really difficult to fire somebody. I assume you’re not that much of an asshole, therefore, your likelihood of getting fired or laid off is actually quite low.

Let us say that you are going to get laid off. It’s not really that big of a deal, because you could just jump to another big tech company, maybe even get a raise and a promotion.

Let us consider all of these potential employers which include Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc.

So I would say go harder. Break out of the cubicle, and your house. Spend more times outdoors, chatting with beautiful people, and lifting heavy weights at the gym, getting loud and making a ruckus. Hypelifting.

Next steps

1. Write out your thoughts, or Vlog out your thoughts, and just upload them to YouTube, anchor.fm, or your own website blog.
2. When you vlog something, just do it in one take. Don’t feel like the need to edit out your “ummms“ or “likes.” I think one of the worst impediments to speaking out your mind is this notion that one must speak proper, like a boring news anchor talker, or even worse, a TED talker. In order to be more interesting, or to share more interesting thoughts, do NOT talk like somebody doing a TED talk. In fact, if you want to become more innovative or more courageous, don’t watch any TED talks, they are all boring and generic.
3. With writing, write it out like you speak it out. A good pro tip is using the voice dictation function on the iPad, or iPhone. This is the best way to conquer writers block. Also, it is more natural to write out your thoughts using voice dictation, then just doing it on the keyboard or laptop. Also, do not feel the need to write “proper“ like boring New Yorker articles, or the New York Times. Anything owned by Condé Nast makes writing more generic, boring, and lame.

CONQUER IT ALL.

What can you conquer in 2023?

1. BOSTON WORKSHOP 2023: Register intent here // March 25th, 2023 (Saturday) — New!
2. April 15th, 2023 (Saturday): BAY AREA BERKELEY CREATIVE INNOVATION WORKSHOP. Register intent here.
3. June 19-23rd, HADONG SOUTH KOREA ZEN PHOTO RETREAT // Stay updated here.

Good movies to watch

1. FIGHT CLUB
2. 300
3. NINJA ASSASSIN (the one with the Korean singer Rain)
4. John Wick, all of them.

Cinema by KIM

Share the thoughts!

Pump it up! Feel free to share this with a friend, or family member who you like.

Never lose the new: ERIC KIM NEWS

The road to failure and shame is self censorship.

Who is your audience? People who think like you!

Even with thoughts, I have zero interest in people with anemic thoughts — no blood.

Haima.

I am currently theorizing that a rack pull might actually be superior to a deadlift, in terms of overall muscle activation, and also Zen focus, fun, and also muscular gains.

630 POUND RACK HYPELIFTING PULL ERIC KIM SUPER SAIYAN

Greater risk, greater futures. The greater the risk, the better.

Something I haven’t really heard people talk or write about is the philosophy of risk. What is risk, what is the significance of risk, and what are practical ways we can leverage risk in our every day lives in order to become more?

Avoid death and possible permanent disfigurement

The practical thing I learned from the Nassim Taleb is that one should never take any risks in life which might cause possible death, or potential disfigurement.

For example, never in any circumstances text while driving. This can lead to your death, and also to the death of your child, your wife, or even cause you to kill somebody else in another car, their children, etc.

When I am in taxi cars, Uber’s, or have a private driver, something which I was on the fence about was when they would text while driving. I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, so I would just stay quiet.

But now that I got a wife and a kid, and if they’re in the same car as me, I have a zero tolerance policy for people texting while driving. One of the proudest moments is when we were in Cambodia and we had a private driver drive us to Angkor Wat Siem Reap, and half the time he was texting while driving. I then mustered up the courage to ask/command him to not do that anymore. Why? Even if there was a one percent chance of potential death in a car accident, I need to muster the courage to defend my family.

Other risks I would never take include skydiving, bungee jumping, etc.

Double safety

The most critical thing I learned from Boy Scouts was the notion of safety first. This is very true.

For example, I think the intelligent thing is to expect yourself to fail, or potentially hurt yourself or others, and therefore, the safe thing to do is create a double safety barrier, in order to prevent bad things from happening.

For example, when I am handling a very very sharp knife in the kitchen, I commend everybody to leave the room. Why? I do not want to accidentally stab or cut anybody.

Or, when you were attempting very very heavy squats at the gym, both have safety pins in the correct position and ask somebody to spot you. Why? When you’re handling a very heavy weight, let us say six plates on each side, or 605 pounds, your chance of not being strong enough to either move the weight, or ReRack it is very high. And therefore, having a spotter will give you 1000 times more security and safety. Once again, when it comes to powerlifting style one repetition maximum attempts, when should always expect to fail, and have a contingency plan.

What do you lack in modern day life? Physical challenge, combat, hand to hand things.

I cannot speak for women, but for at least us men — the modern day man is like a sick animal. Anemic, lacking sun exposure to the sun, none of chutzpah, balls, and reckless audacity, preaches notions of sexual equality and women’s rights, yet watches pr0n in private, and doesn’t even lift heavy weights at the gym.

Why become a new Spartan?

Several reasons. First of all, ironically enough I think the Spartans were just happy. They lived a simple existence, full of martial training and combat, and they lived a simple ascetic life.

Also, anti-pampering. A soft lifestyle is bad, a hard lifestyle is good.

For example, let me talk to us tech nerds. What do we live for? We live for travel, exotic experiences, exotic foods, the newest Apple product which will revolutionize our lives, the new Tesla, buying a home, etc.

Yet, all of these life goals are superficial. They are soft. They don’t really require any sort of true innovation, they just require hard work and money.

What is in your control?

An interesting thought is one thing that we could control is what we desire. That this is actually something which is dictated by you. You can desire to want the Lambo, want to buy a home or own a home, have a certain amount of money, etc. But are these goals actually good? I think not.

My Stoic-Spartan ideal

And I think the ideal approach to things is a mishmash of stoicism, spartan, and zen.

That mentally, we have a stoic mindset to things. Which in short means we have a lofty insouciance to things, we are mostly unperturbed by things. That we take all of the good and bad in life in equal stride, and we realize that there is more in life we can control than not.

The spartan one is to become the overman. That means do not see yourself as a mere human being, but as something beyond. Certainly DNA wise you are just an ordinary human, however, your own ideals for yourself are so insanely lofty and beyond. That you set yourself insanely high standards, because you see yourself as different.

Zen in terms of our personal aesthetics. A Wabi Sabi aesthetic that the more used and worn something becomes the more beautiful it becomes. Also, to seek a sublime simplicity to things.

Spartan philosophy

If you read a lot of the sayings of the Spartans, they are poetic, hilarious and deeply philosophical. For example, the saying in the movie 300, which was actually based on real life — when the Persians told king Leonidas and the spartan 300s that their arrows would blot out the sun, and then one spartan said then we shall fight in the shade. I find this to be so insanely beautiful as a thought, because it takes something that was seen as fearful, and transforms it into fuel and fire to become even more courageous.

Also, a philosophical thought; would you trust the thoughts of an individual who is skinny fat to philosophize and more lies on matters of beauty, bravery, courage, and masculinity? No. I would rather trust the thinking and saying of a spartan then a modern day male academic.

Applying a spartan mindset to Street photography

I think I am the most courageous street photographer that I know. That I love people, and I am really good at talking to people, and strangers. All of the other street photographers why have met in the past seem to be timid, soft, and anti-human.

What do I mean by that? A lot of these weak street photographers try to augment their own low self-esteem by trying to tyrannize their own personal aesthetic and approach to things. They are very close-minded. They think to themselves, “it is either my way or the highway!” They lack independent thought — they cannot even think that everyone could do things a little differently.

Towards a more open minded approach to street photography:

The overman — beyond man.

First of all, become insanely strong. The gym is essential for this, as it is very expensive to build a serious gym in your garage, and having to buy over 600 pounds of weights.

Second, philosophy. That means gain new lofty thoughts and insights to life and to think at least 300 years beyond yourself.