You new here? 28,000 came by yesterday and today to read “We don’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 per day.”
28,000. God that's a big number. What a headtrip.
So, the regulars here know what's going, but if you're new... then cool, welcome. Here, let's fix you a strong coffee and I'll show you around.
An Unapologetically Pro-Victory Place to Hang
I think the majority of the world is basically hostile to ambition and wealth and achievement.
Despite this, I think dreaming big dreams, building the world, taking action, and achieving is a fundamentally human drive.
You want to do amazing stuff. You daydream about it. I do. We all do.
But it's basically taboo to say it. You'll be judged and ostracized if you do. If you say, "I want to achieve as much as possible, I want to learn as much as I can, I want to get ridiculously wealthy, I want to be the best, I want to build an empire, I want to build my family into a virtuous dynasty that spans generations. I want to work harder, I want to do more, I want to be more, I want to have more, I want to serve more, I want to live more..."
Do you know what reaction you're going to get?
You're going to get, "Who the hell does this jerk think they are?"
Even when people do have massive dreams and goals, they bow and scrape and apologize for having them. "My goal is, umm, is build a little of wealth so I can be independent, but you know! Not too much! You know, I don't think I'm better than anyone or anything, umm..."
Pfft.
No bowing and scraping to mediocrity here.
Want more, build more, do more, get more, be more, have more, live more.
More. And no apologies.
Stuff that's here for you on the site
You mean aside from the entertainment value?
Because yeah, I do try to make it entertaining. If you have 10% as much fun reading the site as I do writing, you're going to have a lot of fun here.
I'm comfortable with being ridiculous and absurd and planting flags hard in the ground, so y'know, you'll get some of that.
But beyond the hubris and bravado, I hope to serve you with a lot of interesting experiences and exposure to different ideas, counsel and ways to build more and do more.
I believe the quality of your life becomes the quality of how you spend your minutes. Understand time, and have time serve you - instead of just slip away.
You'll get writing here on various habits, time tracking, paying attention to where your time and money goes, what your consumption is like, things like that. I spend a lot of time on that for myself personally, and I share observations on those.
You'll get some articles explicitly on history, but also a lot of historical anecdotes littered throughout posts on business or travel or philosophy or what-have-you.
I read a lot of books, and usually cover the best ones I read here. I try to go out of my way to review the obscure books, since obscure books are where you get rare edges and points of view from.
The [New? Start Here] has some of the greatest hits and most popular posts of the site on it, but there's been a few recent hits since it was updated.
If you're interested in wealth and money, The Knack for Getting Money was quite popular. Judd Weiss writes in some excellent insight with, "Who doesn’t like the cars and property and perks? But earning money is more about self-discovery for me" - definitely check that one out.
If you're salaried, "How to Get a Raise" might suit you.
The whole creativity category might be interesting to you if you're thinking about producing more and doing more creative work.
"The Creator's Curse" and "Passion Emerges From Action, Not Contemplation" were both well-received recently.
Again, "New? Start Here" is a great place to jump off from.
Hi, I'm Sebastian. I'll be your host for this journey...
Ah, coffee's ready. How do you take it? I'm having mine black - no milk, no sugar for me.
Who am I? Me, I work to be a servant of the strong and virtuous, protector of the weak and decent, and a visage of hell and misery to the rabidly mediocre...
I think "rabid mediocrity" is a pretty good way to describe people who want to drag everyone down to their level, who can't stand dissent, who can't stand someone who wishes to rise in the world. Later on I'll probably moderate my position a little, but in the meantime? Yeah, a visage of hell and misery to those who want to enforce mediocrity.
But the first part, that word - servant - I do take that seriously. My basic philosophy is out-compete by out-serving. Work harder, do more, be more valuable, make myself more useful, and cultivate fanatic levels of loyalt.
To that end, I always welcome people dropping me a line. I just got a huge volume of email and communication, but I'll get through it all shortly. You're always welcome to drop me a line with questions, comments, feedback, or if I can lend a hand with something, and I'll do what I can.
Why?
Well, why not?
This is how I try to spend my entertainment time - connecting with and serving good people. While others watch TV or play video games, I'm out trying to build and connect with good people.
Sooner or later, you'll come across a reference to me a strategist. What's that? Described here - "Me? I'm a strategist."
Silly amounts of ambition
I'm the most ambitious person I know.
I don't mean that in a cocky way. I mean, I want more. I don't know anyone that wants as much as I do. That's not a good thing or a bad thing... it's just a thing.
I love ambition, and ambitious people. It's kind of absurd and ridiculous and challenging to desire so much, and it definitely increases your neurosis. It's probably unreasonable. But this quote George Bernard Shaw sums up how I feel about that -
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
We'll see. Ambition, a desire to serve, and a willingness to work and persist - these are no guarantees of success. But I think they're pretty good predictors.
Going for a walk...
Put on my gasoline boots and walk through hell...
-From Wu-Tang Clan's "The Jump Off"
I always thought "put on my gasoline boots and walk through hell" is the best description of how to deal with adversity, critics, obstacles, and self-doubt.
Most people, when they're about to go through hell, they try to shield themselves and make it as painless as possible.
I don't think so.
I think, own it. It's hell ahead? Ah, let me stop for a moment then - to put on my gasoline boots.
So, if you're ambitious and ridiculous and into absurdity, then pull your gasoline boots on and come along. A warm welcome to you, and I would be honored if I could serve you in the process of building more, doing more, being more, living more.
Feel free to comment on any article, even older ones - I read all the comments, and reply to most. Drop me a line if you've got a question or I can help with something. Let's smash mediocrity in the mouth, let's swing back, let's build more and have more and be more and do more and live more.
Let's get on our gasoline boots and walk through hell. Drop me a line if I can serve or help in some capacity, and welcome to the site.