Aspiring creative polymath | Former college teacher | Building multi-dimensional brands and writing newsletters through multiple interests
Joined November 2021
- Tweets 32,577
- Following 550
- Followers 95,331
- Likes 83,509
1,311 Photos and videos
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Giving a shit.
That's the skill to develop.
People can feel when you care about the work you make. It carries love, attention, an earned point of view that can't be faked.
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We've built a culture where the goal is to do as little work as possible for as much money as possible.
There's another way to live.
Find work you can't not take pride in. Work you'd be ashamed to phone in.
Then let it shape you.
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Busy, loud, cheap, shallow, status-driven.
That's modern life at scale. You don't need more subscribers, a bigger house, fancier clothes, louder nights, or 10 more friends.
You need fewer things. The right ones.
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Every person who thinks for themselves is creative.
But they don't teach creativity. They tell kids to sit still, pick a stable path, and stop asking why. They reward the ones who fit the system and shame the ones who don't.
Creativity is your anti-virus.
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Most people are more ready than they think.
The skill's there. The taste is there. The thing they'd make if they trusted themselves is right there.
They're just waiting for permission that isn't coming.
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Every successful person I know learns from pain instead of distracting themselves from it.
Discomfort is nature's way of telling you where to put your attention.
But you've numbed yourself so much you can't hear the signal.
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The people worth following are rarely the biggest, the loudest, or the most polarizing.
They're the ones who found a small corner of the internet and changed the lives of everyone in it.
Find those people. Then become one.
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Most people can't defend their opinions without getting emotional because the opinions aren't theirs.
They're regurgitated news headlines and TikTok trends. Secondhand conclusions.
Books are different. You watch the thinking behind the take.
That's how you learn to actually think for yourself.
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It only takes one year to change your life.
True. If you count the four years of becoming someone who could.
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A rule that took me too long to learn: say no to almost everything.
The coffees, the catch-ups, the Zooms, the dinners, the quick favors. I can trace almost all of my lack of success to saying yes to things that weren't my thing.
Your focus is just the sum of your nos.
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All life advice basically boils down to this:
If it feels good now but hurts later, avoid it.
If it hurts now but feels good later, do it.
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Most of us start from zero.
No money skills, no network, and usually someone telling us it's all someone else's fault.
Most of us start there. A lot of us don't end there.
Life is unfair. You still get to decide what you make of it.
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Some of the most peaceful moments of my life were on long flights.
No wifi. No obligations. Nowhere else to be. Just a good book, a bit of music, and some much needed contemplation.
I forgot how good it feels to be unreachable.
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Since turning 30, I've seen more people my age give up.
They got the job and stopped trying. Or their big dream hasn't worked yet. And now they're retreating into something safer.
You don't have to follow them. 30 isn't the decade to stop striving.
Save that for retirement.
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Half the things you're trying to fix with discipline would fix themselves if you were just less stimulated.
The sleep you can't get. The focus you can't hold. The creative project you keep neglecting.
Overstimulation is the enemy.
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Something I can't stop thinking about: given enough time, all news degrades to maximum outrage to get clicks and revenue.
It's one reason I refuse to watch.
News doesn't inform anymore. It dysregulates.
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The AI counterculture is real, and I love it.
I got an in person event in 3 weeks. Retreat later this year. Enjoy writing without AI.
And I'm still using AI to study, learn, and assist with client work.
You're allowed to enjoy both.
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I'll admit, I enjoy playing with AI.
It's fun to argue with. Do writing exercises with. Study books with. Turn my ideas into visuals. Go down late-night curiosity spirals.
Shortcuts are one option.
They're not the only one.
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The question isn't whether you have the discipline to do your life's work.
It's whether you have the ruthlessness to remove everything that isn't it.
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Boredom is underrated.
It's where your real wants finally get the chance to speak.
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