ERIC KIM ₿

Some thoughts on my mind; why lift weights, and what is the point of lifting weights?

For me, I treat weightlifting light Zen meditation. I never work out with headphones on,

Something on my mind is in regards to the human body. Specifically, our own human body.

First of all, why is it that everyone is trying to control our body? Why can we not control our own body?

Conspiracy theorists screaming illuminati, they cannot imagine this much skill in a human body – JAY Z

What is interesting is that everyone is insecure about their own body, and their own human skill. When we see somebody who we see as superior to us, we try to figure out ways how they are “cheating“. How is it that they are so much stronger than me, or buffer than you? Certainly they must be doing steroids or some other weird stuff.

Or, how did that guy get so rich? He probably either has a small dick or cheated his way to earning that much money.

How people try to discount you

One of the funniest critiques that I’ve got of myself is this, Eric Kim is only successful because he is good at marketing. I find this to be a very funny thought, because in fact in today’s capitalist society, marketing is success.

I like the idea that we could all thrive together. That reality is not zero-sum.

For example, we can all get super strong and swole together. Just because I am super buff doesn’t mean that you are less buff. Everyone has different levels of buffness during different periods of time.

For example, after the birth of Seneca, I became a lot less buff. Why? Typical sleep deprivation the first six months of Seneca‘s life, until we sleep trained him by using the extinction method. Essentially just let your kid cry it out.

Now that Seneca is one year nine months old, and naps and sleep like a champ, now I could frequent the gym again, and get super super swole, hyper swole.

Why I support abortion

If I was born a woman, I would want to have the legal right for an abortion.

I think if men could give birth, the laws will be a lot different.

The tricky thing is it in America, we have the freedom of speech and expression, I don’t necessarily know if we have the freedom of body. That is, freedom of our own body.

I really really despise the notion that somebody else could control your body.

For example, I am a carnivore. Also, I do not eat carbs, sugar, starchy things or sweet things. I do not eat fruit, nor do I eat starchy vegetables.

I would hate if I lived in a society in which I was forced to eat vegan food, and it was illegal for me to eat meat.

This is the funny flipside of tyranny; why is it that vegans are trying to get everybody to stop eating meat, but no carnivores are trying to get vegans to stop eating kale and quinoa?

Body tyranny?

Nowadays we have notions of “body acceptance”, etc. I think this is a good thing.

What we must be careful of is when there are certain individuals who try to get everybody to look a certain way, or not look a certain way. People should be able to do with their bodies whatever they want to do.

For example, if people want to drink Coca-Cola zero and get fat, and get diabetes, and be or become overfat and obese, it should be their right.

What I am more concerned is the public aspect, should we allow evil corporations like Coca-Cola and Pepsi to put vending machines inside or public K-12 schools? I say no. Even the “zero calorie”, stuff, it is all a scam. It is my personal theory that even 0 cal sweetener drinks like Coke zero messes with your bodily hormonal and insulin signaling system causing you to store adipose tissue, a.k.a. fat.

Smoking is also another public concern. I think people should be able to smoke cigarettes inside their own home if they want to. This changes once they step outdoors. I do not ever want to take into secondhand smoke or somebody smoking outdoors or in public. This should be illegal.

Back to the body

I do not believe in the notion of an immortal soul. My personal belief is that when you die, your soul also dies.

Then what is the soul? My empirical view is that the soul is simply a mishmash of your blood, blood flow, bones and sinews, your brain, and the electricity flowing through your body. Your soul does not exist outside your body, your body is your soul.

Therefore, we should take pride in our bodies, our egos, and sense of self. Why? It is all that we got.

Also, I like to think that we are an instrument. An instrument for art and creation, and making stuff.

For example, I consider myself an instrument for making art, ideas, and things. And it is my self appointed duty to share it with the world.

Physiology

Can you do great things if you only sleep two hours a night? No. It is my personal thought that anything which is done during or out of sleep deprivation is not great.

Great things should be created out of a surplus of physiological energy and power. As a simple thought, what if you just went to bed every night at 7:30 PM, and woke up naturally in the morning when your body prompted you, instead of forcing yourself to wake up early in the morning with an alarm clock?

Why is it that we discount sleep so much? It is this foolish American notion that the more pain one suffers, the more virtuous one is. Is this the case? No. Pleasure in pain is a slave mentality.

Why is this thought so persistent? Because in America, we are essentially a Judeo Christian, Protestant nation. The founding fathers of America were either Puritans or Quakers, essentially protestants that sought salvation, and virtue. Benjamin Franklin, although he seemed to be atheist, a lot of his life philosophies was a mishmash of Quaker ideals, and the glorification of labor and the virtue of hard work.

But a thought, if something is created, and it is not hard, is it still virtuous? Sometimes yes sometimes not. There are many things in life that you could do which are virtuous, which actually do not require much effort.

Once again, we must get rid of this bizarre equation that the harder you work, the more virtuous you are.

Virtue and the body?

Can you imagine a skinny fat Superman? No.

Despite what our current “woke“ ideology tells us, there are levels and a hierarchy when it comes to the human body. For example, having less body fat and more muscle mass will be superior to a body with more body fat, and less muscle mass.

Also, something which is not fair but true, the virtue of a man is highly contingent on how tall he is. Short men do not appear virtuous.

And this is what I have noticed, every man, if he is short, has some sort of insecurity bias. This includes Kanye West, Eminem, etc.

But if you were born short, what are you to do? Typically what men strive to do is to marry some really really tall and beautiful woman, typically models, and they have children with them. And then the hope is that their next generation of children will be taller than them.

I am around 5 foot 11, and it is my aspiration that Seneca is far taller than me. Also stronger, more muscular, and more self-confident.

What does it mean to be a man?

It seems that the notion of virtue and manliness go hand-in-hand. Virtue just means human excellence, typically reserved for men.

In ancient Greek times, what was the highest measure of virtue? Courage, strength, and skill in battle. If you were the king, it was your obligation to stand on the front lines, and be the first to charge into battle, regardless of whether you lived or died. The leader and the king and the hero actually put himself at the most physical risk.

For example, it is difficult to imagine a King Leonidas all the way in the back of his Spartan 300s, controlling some sort of drone.

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What do you desire to do with your body?

It seems that most people in modern capitalist society seek to prostitute their bodies and their minds in order to make more money. This is not just men or women, it is human.

For example, if you decide to join a bank, in the pursuit of making a lot of money, and you spend 12 to 14 hours a day in the office, clicking a mouse and pushing a keyboard, you are prostituting your body and your mind for money.
Or, if your existence has something to do with utilizing your bodily orifices to make money, one must consider the consequences.

In ancient Greek times, the peak condition wasn’t wealth, it was otium or leisure. Or battle.

In fact, nobody cares how many oxen or cattle king Priam owned, or how many tripods of gold he owned. We much more admired Achilles, and his bloodthirsty hunger for battle. Or we admire the virtue of Hector, sticking his own personal life to protect His people.

The very interesting thought is according to Homer, Achilles and Hector were both seen as equally virtuous. Even though Achilles was the superior fighter. And also because Achilles was a demigod, whereas Hector was a mere human.

So what can you control?

I think in life, the courage you’re willing to risk in order to further your own personal mission. Also, your own personal courage to remain tenacious in that which you care for.

ERIC

The point isn’t to just get swole, but to become hyper swole. Insanely swole.

If you want to become more “successful“, you must master marketing.

Entrepreneurship by KIM

Become the change which you desire to see manifested in the world!

Become you.

1. NEWS: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
2. PVP (Player vs Player)
   How I became so influential
3. WE LOVE THE *SENSATION* OF RISK-TAKING
4. WHY HIGH PROFIT MARGINS?
5. INNOVATION THOUGHTS
6. OVERCONFIDENCE IS GOOD.
7. GARAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
8. PERHAPS IT IS GOOD TO BE “DELUSIONAL”
9. USE YOUR WEALTH TO BUY STUFF, OR TO BUILD AND INNOVATE STUFF?
10. HOW TO THRIVE
11. Target Demographic
12. Ambition Over Happiness
13. Anti Collaboration
14. The Will to Economy
15. Why New?
16. CHOOSE ADRENALINE.
17. No Looking Back.
18. 1000x Different
19. BECOME SPENDTHRIFT
20. THE BENEFIT OF JUST ONE.
21. EXTREME INNOVATION.
22. Practicality is Boring
23. BECOME YOUR OWN STANDARD.
24. NEVER STOP ITERATING.
25. CONDENSE.
26. Take Lots of Small Financial Risks
27. Control Over Convenience
28. Why Are Chinese Companies So Innovative?
29. INSANELY DIFFERENT.
30. Why Doesn’t Anything Ever Satisfy Me?
31. THE GREAT PASSION.
32. Perhaps Dissatisfaction is Good
33. ONE REP MAX.
34. WHAT DO YOU *REALLY* WANT IN LIFE?
35. LIFE IS ABOUT STRIVING FOR MORE.
36. NEVER STOP LINKING.
37. THE GREATEST.
38. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
39. THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
40. ERIC KIM CRITIQUE OF ROMANTICISM
41. COMPLACENCY.
42. JUST BUY IT.
43. ALL ABOUT YOU.
44. MOVE THE WORLD
45. Boring or Not Boring?
46. What if Your Past Self were Inferior to Your Present Self?
47. THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROGRESS
48. CULTURE IS YOUR ENEMY.
49. Difficulty & Interest
50. The Will to Expansion
51. What is Work?
52. SOUL IN THE GAME.
53. JUST START IT.
54. Not Boring
55. PRIDE IN YOUR OWN NAME / BRAND
56. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TOLERATE.
57. Speed is Paramount
58. TAKE IT BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
59. A Life With No Risk Taking is *NOT* a Life Worth Living
60. Dissatisfaction is Good
61. GREATER STRENGTH, GREATER CHALLENGES.
62. In Praise of the New
63. Uncorrupted Desires
64. You Cannot Fake Passion
65. SELF-OVERGOING
66. FORM YOURSELF.
67. Personal Entrepreneurship
68. RELENTLESS.
69. PUT YOUR NAME ON IT.
70. A Life of Expansion
71. SELF-ENTREPRENEURSHIP
72. YOU ARE THE EXCEPTION.
73. Use Your Life as an Experiment to Self-Develop Yourself to Heights Never Seen Before
74. Invest in New Developments
75. Investing Towards What End?
76. The 90%/10% Principle in Entrepreneurship
77. Speed Wins
78. The Philosophy of Happiness
79. When to Over-Estimate, When to Under-Estimate?
80. Never Stop Iterating
81. Money as a Tool for Life and Artistic Experimentation
82. Less But More Premium
83. Mainstream vs Low-Key Success
84. Why Dissatisfaction is Good
85. SEEK YOUR OWN PERSONAL MAXIMAL BENEFIT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING
86. Manifest Your Destiny
87. Is it Best to *Not* Communicate Your Inner Thoughts or Ideas With Others?
88. CREATE THINGS YOU WISH TO SEE MANIFESTED IN THE WORLD
89. How to Do More Work
90. CONTROL.
91. Competition is for Losers
92. Change.
93. Your Competitive Advantage with Insanely Fast Wifi and High Speed Internet
94. Pseudo Individualism
95. Natural Internal Promoting vs External Promptings

Think for Yourself.

1. Survival vs Thrivival
2. Become Rich
3. SECRETS.
4. Why it is Better to Beg for Forgiveness than Ask for Permission
5. Thinking About the Past Prevents You From Thinking About the Future
6. How to Predict the Future
7. Tools of Mass Distraction
8. So What?

FREEDOM

• On Leaving a Legacy
• I wanna be me!
• Productivity for personal freedom
• How to Purchase your Freedom

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Never stop innovating.

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Entrepreneurship Mindset

• What is Your Dream in Life?
• 8 Blogging Productivity Tips
• Why Be Normal?
• How Much Suffering Are You Willing to Endure to Achieve Your Dreams?

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Put a Dent in the Universe.

• Innovate for the Sake of Innovating!
• Reality is Malleable!
• Stoic Entrepreneurship
• Against Self-Preservation
• The Purpose of Life is to Make New Stuff!

What is entrepreneurship? A “divine dissatisfaction“ with the way things are, and the desire to change them (Jeff Bezos).

Entrepreneurship is a mindset

The first idea I propose is that entrepreneurship is a mindset, not a moneymaking thing or a business thing. For example, you can be entrepreneurial in any aspect of your life. In some ways we could consider Mother Teresa as entrepreneur, a courageous risk taker. Anybody who is willing to take an insane risk to further something they believe in is an entrepreneur.

What does it mean to think like an entrepreneur?

To think like an entrepreneur is knowing that physics aside, essentially almost anything is possible. What is more a matter is a matter of time, effort, and courage.

For example, I am quite confident that any able-bodied man could deadlift at least six plates. Certainly five, and certainly four. What is instead of necessary is time, courage and effort. If you attempt a one rep max deadlift once a week, for 10 years, And always attempt a higher weight, how can you not become stronger?

An entrepreneurial mindset can be taught

To me, the American mindset is a conceptual framework which can be exported. To innovate like an American.

Some of my practical thoughts include no shame for risk taking, and elimination of the notion of “failure“. Instead of failure, we should think of attempts and “assays” (essays, attempts).

The upside of having a day job

Money, and monetization is overrated. What is more important is simply having enough physiological strength and bandwidth in order to pursue that which you care for.

For myself, one of the huge upsides of having a 9-5 job when I first graduated college was that it allowed me to do more radical experimentation with street photography. I was not stressed, because I knew that my bills would be paid for through my 9-5 job. And so this is why I do think, it is a good idea to start building your empire while you are still fully employed, and maybe for even some people, barbell your passion and your work might be a good idea. That means, maybe it is a good idea for you to just hold onto your boring programming job, and pursue your passion on the side, rather than trying to make your passion your living.

You don’t need to make a living from your passion

There is nothing wrong with trying to make your passion your living, but the danger is when we think that being able to make a living from your passion makes it more legitimate. That is not the case. For example, Albert Einstein came up with a lot of his theories of relativity while holding a boring 9-to-5 job at the Swiss post office. Also, Nassim Taleb was able to write his first book while still being employed at a very stressful Wall Street job.

Even myself, I was able to start up my blog while I had my 9-5 tech start up job. I would simply wake up a little bit more early in the mornings, blog and write a little bit in the morning, and then either bike or drive to work. And at work when I had some of time, I would build up my social media presence. Also during my lunch breaks, I would do funny random YouTube street photography GoPro POV videos.

Working from home is the ultimate life hack

I remember when I was 21 years old, a thought that arose in my mind, why do I need to show up to the office? It made absolutely no sense. Also, when I was done with my day’s duties, why do I have to still physically be there? I much rather desired instead to just work from home, something that was just seen more as a fantasy back then.

One of the the great upsides of COVID-19 is that it shifted the culture, and now, it is not considered strange to work at home anymore, either part-time or full-time. I still do think there are many benefits to go to the office, like socialization, ping-pong, stealing free amenities from the office, etc. However, showing up to the office should be a choice, rather than an imperative. Nobody should ever be forced to shop in real life to an office, only if they wish.

If you are in a lucky position that you could work from home, or work partly from home, leverage that to build up your own entrepreneurial empire. That means, do the minimum amount of work at your day job in order to not get fired, and dedicate the rest of your energy is towards building up your own empire.

Once again, do the minimum amount of work necessary in your day job, and no more. Don’t seek promotions, or good reviews. Just don’t get fired. And then milk your corporation and use your financial security to innovate radically.

Why stoicism is good for entrepreneurship

When you are no longer afraid of death, there is really no more scary risks in life. Certainly you do not want to do stupid things like texting and driving, or go bungee jumping, but in terms of financial concerns, or even social concerns, don’t worry about success or failure, simply focus on the attempt.

Also something that’s very useful for me is lifting very very heavy stuff at the gym. I no longer call it powerlifting, I call it “hypelifting.” What is the difference? Powerlifting is too focused on competition, and “proper form“. Instead what is more interesting is the amount of hype, courage, and chutzpah you are willing to exert when attempting a new very very heavy weight.

To attempt a new weight that you have never attempted before is very entrepreneurial in regards to the fact that you may succeed, or you may fail. But it doesn’t matter, what matters is your courage.

Ia it useful to read books on entrepreneurship?

It depends. It actually is very useful to read books on entrepreneurship if it revolves around the life, thoughts or the philosophy of one individual. Ideally, the entrepreneur him or herself writes the book. Not a commentator or digester of the information.

Also the problem is that you could read 1 trillion books on entrepreneurship, and 99.9% of them may never come in handy.

Oh the first simple thought is study entrepreneur is for a dead. Why? The life has come to a close, and typically, all of the skeletons are out of their own closet. For example, read the Walter Isaacson biography on Steve Jobs.

The second idea is study the hero of your heroes. For example, Steve Jobs was very inspired by the inventor of Polaroid, Edwin Land. Therefore it is very useful to study Edwin Land if you admire Steve Jobs.

Also, try to resist reading new books. Why? It is difficult to ascertain whether the new book will last for even another three or five years.

Another suggestion is read books on philosophy instead. Why? Reading Seneca‘s essay on the shortness of life was a better motivator for me to pursue my passions in photography, and conquer fear, more so than any motivational book out there.

What do you desire to achieve?

Once again, I don’t think it is necessary to make money from your passion in photography. Instead, what matters is for you to simply pursue the thing you are passionate about, and have the courage to pursue it.

A simple goal can be to just create something and just put it out there. You can make it open and free, open source.

Certainly you could try to create it, and sell it for money. But that is optional.

Promoting yourself and your creations

Let us assume that you are already retired, already made your millions, etc. Then what? Then it might be a more fun pursuit to simply focus on your artistic and creative work, and focus on just putting your stuff out there. To me this is a fun pursuit, as you are no longer incentivized by money. Instead, you just want to share your love.

For myself as a blogger, there are so many things I blog about simply because I wish people had access to that same information or ideas or knowledge. It is some thing intrinsic within my soul and DNA, I cannot explain it. If I cannot share the thing I wanted to share, it feels like I am choking.

How to put yourself out there

I believe the most critical one is start blogging. What is the difference between a blog and website? I think a blog is just a website that you update frequently, ideally several times a day.

A simple way to pursue it is think to yourself, how many times do I post something to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter every single day? And instead of posting it on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc., just post it to your own website and blog instead.

However, the reason why a lot of people seem reticent to put on their own website or blog is that they desire more exposure, and more eyeballs looking at their stuff. However, the truth of the matter is that nowadays with social media, the organic news feeds are becoming very antagonistic towards creators, For example, if I have 80,000 Facebook fans on my fan page, and I post something, only 100 people might see it organically. In order to get more people to see it, I need to “boost“ it, throwing in more money. If I give Facebook $25, maybe 1000 people will see it. Currently the statistics are grim.

Why is it this way? Simple, Facebook/Instagram/meta-is not doing too well financially, and they need to maximize their earnings, in order to keep their stock price high, and to also avoid layoffs. Truth be told, I do not see Mark Zuckerberg as an evil villain. He is a nerd with good intentions. When Facebook recently had to lay off a bunch of people, I could generally see the remorse in his face.

Email newsletter is the way

The most old-school yet the most effective marketing tool is an email newsletter. How do you get people to subscribe to your email newsletter? Simple, offer free information or free ideas that will actually help them.

I call these “turbo thoughts“, thoughts that could motivate you, and super charge and turbo charge you. A combination of a little bit of motivation, encouragement, and some ideas.

It seems nowadays, nobody likes email. Email is the bane of our modern existence. Yet, if you could use this underappreciated channel in a meaningful way, it is a good strategy.

The simplest way you can start an email newsletter is to just collect email addresses in Google forms, and then send out emails from your Gmail account using BCC. A more sophisticated way to setting it up the sendy.co (what I use) and integrating it with Amazon email services. I now prefer this approach over mailchimp.com, as it is 1000 times cheaper, simpler and more effective.

Forward thinking

How do we advance? To think forward. Not to think about the present, or the past, but forward, the next day, and into the future.

The difficult thing with this approach is that there are lots of great things to draw from the past. Much great inspiration innovation and motivation from the past. Well, I am very grateful for the stoics, and the past philosophers and thinkers and entrepreneurs, to help inspire and motivate me. Yet the danger happens when you start to simply kowtow to them, and only do as they do, and never disobey them.

For example, rather than thinking what you should do, you think to the past and you ask yourself, but what would person XYZ say?

As a rule of thumb, never trust anybody who quotes any German or French thinker or philosopher from the past 300 years. Even Nietzsche.

Thinking on your own two feet

Currently, what does the world lack? Free independent thinkers.

After my experiences in the bay area, truth be told, I don’t think I have ever met a free thinker in the bay area in the flesh. Also in Silicon Valley, the only freethinker I have ever met was Ryan from backyard brew in Palo Alto. Everyone else is just a lemming.

How about the East Coast or New York? What I have discovered is that nobody who lives in New York or Brooklyn is actually from New York or Brooklyn. Everyone is either transplants from the West Coast, or grew up in some New York suburb. No independent thinkers in New York.

How about San Francisco? Once again, nobody who lives in San Francisco is actually from San Francisco, let alone the bay area. It looks like most people who live in San Francisco now are either from San Jose, or got some tech job.

What about Los Angeles? Los Angeles is interesting, as here in LA, you actually do have a little bit more independent thinkers. However the focus tends to be more around culture, music, art and fashion. My critique of LA is that they are all chasing money and fame, yet nobody knows why?

Critical thinking

If there is one thing I desire to help nurture in Seneca, and others is critical thinking. To brutally keep asking yourself the question why?
This is where philosophy is the way.

Never stop thinking

What is the best way to think? I think as you blog something, write something out, or Vlog something, you begin to get a better sense of things.

A simple thing you could do is just use the voice recorder app on your iPhone, and use that as a way to start your own audio podcast. Download the anchor.fm app on your phone, and you could start immediately publishing your podcast.

Also, YouTube. If you have the YouTube app on your phone or your iPad, just open it, and press the little plus button on the bottom of the app, and start immediately uploading your videos.

The most titanic way you could share your thoughts is your own blog. Register your own website and domain on bluehost.com, install wordpress.org, and start publishing blog posts. As a simple suggestion, I recommend turning off all statistics, comments, etc., as it is a dismotivator. The days where you have more page views you’re happy, but the days where you have none or less, you get depressed. This is not good. Also, the reason why I am very suspicious of wordpress.com is that I am not certain if there is a way you could actually disable your site statistics. Statistics are bad.

More resources

1. Entrepreneurship by Kim
2. Photography entrepreneurship 101
3. PDF PRESENTATION SLIDES

My favorite books

1. Zero to one by Peter Thiel
2. Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson

Books by KIM

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Christmas thoughts

What should you ask for, or buy yourself this Christmas season? My thoughts:

1. iPad Pro M2 chip
2. Outlier.nyc merino wool shirt in black
3. A website domain. If you haven’t already, go to bluehost.com and register your own website and domain.
4. Muji down vest for men
5. Vibram five finger shoes, the EL-X model
6. A faster internet connection.
7. RICOH GR IIIX // ERIC KIM NECK STRAP XX ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP
8. Kinesis ergonomic keyboard. This is how Cindy was able to turn out her dissertation in record time, and also cure her carpal tunnel.
9. HENRI SHOULDER STRAP: GO HEAVY!
10. Gym membership

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Forward the thoughts

If any of the thoughts here interested you, feel free to forward it to a friend!

ERIC KIM NEWS

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ERIC KIM WORKSHOPS

Still churning out more details for my first ever Hadong South Korea Zen photography retreat 2023.

Pertinent details:

• Dates: June 19-23rd, 2023 (Monday to Friday).

People seem to already be planning out their summer. I suggest take a good look at June of next year, 2023, and figure out if you could take time off of work, travel, etc. Ideally you would try to takeoff at least two weeks from work, or you could just takeoff one week from work and attend the workshop. The fortunate thing is that flights to Incheon ICN international airport South Korea are very frequent and cheap.

Pro tip: this new airline called Air Premia is very good if you plan to directly fly from LAX to ICN international airport South Korea.

Otherwise, check out kayak.com or just use Google flights.

In the interim, if you have any questions about the workshop, feel free to email my workshop coordinator, a.k.a. my mom, Lea Chung lea.s.chung@gmail.com

If you’re slightly interested and want to keep in the loop, feel free to fill out this register intent form.

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What now?

I suggest going to the gym, and get a quick pump. Attempt a very very heavy micro squat, in which you just unrack the weight, and squat down half a centimeter. And then put back the weight. My new theory is that the squat is more of a weight bearing exercise, something to strengthen your spine.

Another fun thought is check out the Porsche experience center, and drive a new 9/11 really fast. Shout out to my friend Jose and Eric.

Also, a thought from my friend Stan Hudecki, take your photos and remix them in the Procreate app either on your iPad or iPhone. This is a very good creative exercise.

Now go forth and make art!

And if you’re not sure what to do with your photos, just upload them to arsbeta.com

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Open source

This is open source, which means you could feel free to repost it to your own website or blog, translate it, no attribution necessary.

If you are new, Start Here.

BLOG

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First of all, ignore all the information on the internet. Why? All of the dudes are on steroids, human growth hormones, testosterone injections or other strange supplements.

Second, lift very very heavy things, as often as you can. a very pragmatic suggestion I have is lower the range of motion, increase the weight. For example, instead of doing deadlifts, better to do rack pulls instead. Also with squat, you don’t need to go that low. Just do a micro squat.

Third, no carbs, alcohol or sugar. No marijuana. Only lots of black coffee, green tea, and eat a shit load of meat. Also intermittent fasting— no breakfast or lunch or “pre-workout” stuff. No protein powder. Only beef ribs, beef liver, heart, brisket.

What is entrepreneurship? A “divine dissatisfaction“ with the way things are, and the desire to change them (Jeff Bezos).

Entrepreneurship is a mindset

The first idea I propose is that entrepreneurship is a mindset, not a moneymaking thing or a business thing. For example, you can be entrepreneurial in any aspect of your life. In some ways we could consider Mother Teresa as entrepreneur, a courageous risk taker. Anybody who is willing to take an insane risk to further something they believe in is an entrepreneur.

What does it mean to think like an entrepreneur?

To think like an entrepreneur is knowing that physics aside, essentially almost anything is possible. What is more a matter is a matter of time, effort, and courage.

For example, I am quite confident that any able-bodied man could deadlift at least six plates. Certainly five, and certainly four. What is instead of necessary is time, courage and effort. If you attempt a one rep max deadlift once a week, for 10 years, And always attempt a higher weight, how can you not become stronger?

An entrepreneurial mindset can be taught

To me, the American mindset is a conceptual framework which can be exported. To innovate like an American.

Some of my practical thoughts include no shame for risk taking, and elimination of the notion of “failure“. Instead of failure, we should think of attempts and “assays” (essays, attempts).

The upside of having a day job

Money, and monetization is overrated. What is more important is simply having enough physiological strength and bandwidth in order to pursue that which you care for.

For myself, one of the huge upsides of having a 9-5 job when I first graduated college was that it allowed me to do more radical experimentation with street photography. I was not stressed, because I knew that my bills would be paid for through my 9-5 job. And so this is why I do think, it is a good idea to start building your empire while you are still fully employed, and maybe for even some people, barbell your passion and your work might be a good idea. That means, maybe it is a good idea for you to just hold onto your boring programming job, and pursue your passion on the side, rather than trying to make your passion your living.

You don’t need to make a living from your passion

There is nothing wrong with trying to make your passion your living, but the danger is when we think that being able to make a living from your passion makes it more legitimate. That is not the case. For example, Albert Einstein came up with a lot of his theories of relativity while holding a boring 9-to-5 job at the Swiss post office. Also, Nassim Taleb was able to write his first book while still being employed at a very stressful Wall Street job.

Even myself, I was able to start up my blog while I had my 9-5 tech start up job. I would simply wake up a little bit more early in the mornings, blog and write a little bit in the morning, and then either bike or drive to work. And at work when I had some of time, I would build up my social media presence. Also during my lunch breaks, I would do funny random YouTube street photography GoPro POV videos.

Working from home is the ultimate life hack

I remember when I was 21 years old, a thought that arose in my mind, why do I need to show up to the office? It made absolutely no sense. Also, when I was done with my day’s duties, why do I have to still physically be there? I much rather desired instead to just work from home, something that was just seen more as a fantasy back then.

One of the the great upsides of COVID-19 is that it shifted the culture, and now, it is not considered strange to work at home anymore, either part-time or full-time. I still do think there are many benefits to go to the office, like socialization, ping-pong, stealing free amenities from the office, etc. However, showing up to the office should be a choice, rather than an imperative. Nobody should ever be forced to shop in real life to an office, only if they wish.

If you are in a lucky position that you could work from home, or work partly from home, leverage that to build up your own entrepreneurial empire. That means, do the minimum amount of work at your day job in order to not get fired, and dedicate the rest of your energy is towards building up your own empire.

Once again, do the minimum amount of work necessary in your day job, and no more. Don’t seek promotions, or good reviews. Just don’t get fired. And then milk your corporation and use your financial security to innovate radically.

Why stoicism is good for entrepreneurship

When you are no longer afraid of death, there is really no more scary risks in life. Certainly you do not want to do stupid things like texting and driving, or go bungee jumping, but in terms of financial concerns, or even social concerns, don’t worry about success or failure, simply focus on the attempt.

Also something that’s very useful for me is lifting very very heavy stuff at the gym. I no longer call it powerlifting, I call it “hypelifting.” What is the difference? Powerlifting is too focused on competition, and “proper form“. Instead what is more interesting is the amount of hype, courage, and chutzpah you are willing to exert when attempting a new very very heavy weight.

To attempt a new weight that you have never attempted before is very entrepreneurial in regards to the fact that you may succeed, or you may fail. But it doesn’t matter, what matters is your courage.

Ia it useful to read books on entrepreneurship?

It depends. It actually is very useful to read books on entrepreneurship if it revolves around the life, thoughts or the philosophy of one individual. Ideally, the entrepreneur him or herself writes the book. Not a commentator or digester of the information.

Also the problem is that you could read 1 trillion books on entrepreneurship, and 99.9% of them may never come in handy.

Oh the first simple thought is study entrepreneur is for a dead. Why? The life has come to a close, and typically, all of the skeletons are out of their own closet. For example, read the Walter Isaacson biography on Steve Jobs.

The second idea is study the hero of your heroes. For example, Steve Jobs was very inspired by the inventor of Polaroid, Edwin Land. Therefore it is very useful to study Edwin Land if you admire Steve Jobs.

Also, try to resist reading new books. Why? It is difficult to ascertain whether the new book will last for even another three or five years.

Another suggestion is read books on philosophy instead. Why? Reading Seneca‘s essay on the shortness of life was a better motivator for me to pursue my passions in photography, and conquer fear, more so than any motivational book out there.

What do you desire to achieve?

Once again, I don’t think it is necessary to make money from your passion in photography. Instead, what matters is for you to simply pursue the thing you are passionate about, and have the courage to pursue it.

A simple goal can be to just create something and just put it out there. You can make it open and free, open source.

Certainly you could try to create it, and sell it for money. But that is optional.

Promoting yourself and your creations

Let us assume that you are already retired, already made your millions, etc. Then what? Then it might be a more fun pursuit to simply focus on your artistic and creative work, and focus on just putting your stuff out there. To me this is a fun pursuit, as you are no longer incentivized by money. Instead, you just want to share your love.

For myself as a blogger, there are so many things I blog about simply because I wish people had access to that same information or ideas or knowledge. It is some thing intrinsic within my soul and DNA, I cannot explain it. If I cannot share the thing I wanted to share, it feels like I am choking.

How to put yourself out there

I believe the most critical one is start blogging. What is the difference between a blog and website? I think a blog is just a website that you update frequently, ideally several times a day.

A simple way to pursue it is think to yourself, how many times do I post something to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter every single day? And instead of posting it on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc., just post it to your own website and blog instead.

However, the reason why a lot of people seem reticent to put on their own website or blog is that they desire more exposure, and more eyeballs looking at their stuff. However, the truth of the matter is that nowadays with social media, the organic news feeds are becoming very antagonistic towards creators, For example, if I have 80,000 Facebook fans on my fan page, and I post something, only 100 people might see it organically. In order to get more people to see it, I need to “boost“ it, throwing in more money. If I give Facebook $25, maybe 1000 people will see it. Currently the statistics are grim.

Why is it this way? Simple, Facebook/Instagram/meta-is not doing too well financially, and they need to maximize their earnings, in order to keep their stock price high, and to also avoid layoffs. Truth be told, I do not see Mark Zuckerberg as an evil villain. He is a nerd with good intentions. When Facebook recently had to lay off a bunch of people, I could generally see the remorse in his face.

Email newsletter is the way

The most old-school yet the most effective marketing tool is an email newsletter. How do you get people to subscribe to your email newsletter? Simple, offer free information or free ideas that will actually help them.

I called them “turbo thoughts“, thought that could you go in, and super charge and turbo charge you. A combination of a little bit of motivation, encouragement, and some ideas.

It seems nowadays, nobody likes email. Email is the bane of our modern existence. Yet, if you could use this underappreciated channel in a meaningful way, it is a good strategy.

The simplest way you can start an email newsletter is to just collect email addresses in Google forms, and then send out emails from your Gmail account using BCC. A more sophisticated way to setting it up the sendy.co (what I use) and integrating it with Amazon email services. I now prefer this approach over mail chimp, as it is 1000 times cheaper, simpler and more effective.

Always day one.