Introduction: The Eric Kim Atlas Lift is a multidimensional concept fusing visual art, physical training, and lifestyle philosophy. It draws inspiration from the Greek Titan Atlas, reimagining his eternal burden for the modern creative and athletic soul. In mythology, Atlas was condemned to hold up the heavens on his shoulders, a powerful symbol of enduring strength under weight. This concept channels that mythic image into three arenas: (1) a bold visual/photo series depicting Eric Kim as a contemporary Atlas sustaining meaningful “worlds,” (2) a strength training exercise and metaphor that imitates Atlas’s feat in the gym, and (3) a lifestyle philosophy or brand ethos about bearing the weight of creative labor and responsibility. The Atlas Lift is where hype meets myth meets daily grind – a rallying cry for creators, lifters, and seekers of meaning to embrace heroic effort in everyday life.
1. Atlas Lift as Visual Mythos: A Street Photography Series
Atlas statue at Rockefeller Center (1937), depicting the Titan carrying the celestial sphere. This iconic Art Deco sculpture – straining under the weight of the heavens – inspires the visual ethos of the “Atlas Lift” series, symbolizing resilience under burdens.
Concept: Envision a photographic series that merges urban reality with mythic imagery, casting Eric Kim (a renowned street photographer known for his bold, “in-your-face” style) as a modern-day Atlas. Each image in the series portrays Kim literally “holding up” a symbolic weight – be it a city, a camera, or an idea – against the backdrop of real street life. The goal is to create powerful visuals that blend realism and myth, much like seeing a legend come to life on the city streets.
Imagery & Themes: The Atlas Lift photo series would leverage Eric Kim’s gritty, high-contrast street aesthetic and sociological eye to comment on the burdens of modern life. Possible shots include:
Style & Execution: Each photograph would maintain street photography realism – shot on actual city streets or public spaces – but incorporate mythic elements through staging or post-processing. The lighting should be dramatic (think chiaroscuro or twilight city glow) to cast Eric Kim in partial silhouette like a Titan figure. His pose would mirror the classical Atlas: knees bent, back taut, arms raised to support the weight above. Yet the environment is familiar and modern (traffic, graffiti, passersby), grounding the fantasy in everyday grind. This juxtaposition creates visual hype: the ordinary person as an epic hero. The series’ tone aligns with Kim’s aggressive and fearless approach (he’s known for confronting subjects directly) – here he “confronts” colossal burdens with determination.
Artistic References: The project riffs on iconic Atlas imagery from art and pop culture. The Rockefeller Center Atlas statue in New York – a muscular figure forever holding up an armillary sphere – serves as a compositional reference. In our photos, however, Atlas wears contemporary clothes (perhaps Kim’s own streetwear or workout gear) and might even have a camera slung around his neck to personalize the myth. This echoes how ancient symbols are reinterpreted today: much like Lee Lawrie’s 1937 bronze Atlas became an Art Deco symbol of stalwart endurance in a modern city, the Eric Kim Atlas becomes a 21st-century icon for creative resilience. We might also draw inspiration from social realist photography – images of workers lifting heavy loads – blending it with myth to emphasize the “daily grind” aspect. The resulting series can be both a gallery exhibit and an online photo essay, each image captioned with a provocative tagline or short commentary about the “weight” being carried.
Visual Motifs & Taglines: To tie the series together, recurring motifs like chains (evoking bondage to one’s duty, yet also strength when links hold) or wings (a nod to lofty aspirations held down by gravity) could appear subtly. Each image’s tagline will mix hype and myth: for example, “Carry Your City, Conquer Your World”, “The Weight of Vision”, or “Holding the Future on Our Shoulders.” These phrases speak to both the Herculean task depicted and the empowerment behind it. The visual/photo series ultimately presents Eric Kim as a modern Atlas – not punished by Zeus, but rather choosing to carry the weight that gives meaning to his life: the weight of art, truth, and responsibility.
2. Atlas Lift as Physical Feat: The Modern Titan Exercise
Concept: The Atlas Lift is not just metaphor – it’s also a literal strength training movement inspired by Atlas’s legendary feat of holding up the sky. In practical terms, the Atlas Lift exercise is a brutal isometric hold with an extremely heavy weight, designed to build functional strength, stability, and mental grit. Imagine loading a barbell with a “world’s worth” of plates, lifting it a few inches in a power rack, and sustaining that weight – becoming Atlas for a moment in the gym. This move exemplifies “weight sustaining”: training your body to support tremendous load without moving, much like Atlas eternally supporting the firmament.
Origin and Inspiration: Eric Kim’s own training journey gives life to this exercise. Known for pushing the limits of one-rep max lifts, he even coined the term “Atlas lifts” for his supra-maximal rack pulls and squat holds. In his routine, an “Atlas lift” refers to setting up a bar at a high pin in the squat rack, stacking on immense weight, and holding it statically – a partial lift where the goal is not full range motion but sheer overload. For instance, Kim achieved a jaw-dropping 1,000 lb Atlas Lift in March 2025, at only ~165 lb bodyweight. This feat involved shouldering a barbell off the rack and holding it isometrically for a few seconds – literally supporting six times his own weight. Such training, while unconventional, is a cornerstone of his “HYPELIFTING” philosophy of chasing extreme strength with mental toughness . The Atlas Lift exercise proposed here generalizes that idea for anyone seeking Titan-like strength.
How to Perform the Atlas Lift: This movement is all about maximum tension and stability. Proper technique and safety are crucial, as you’ll be handling extraordinary loads relative to your max. A sample protocol:
Benefits and Purpose: The Atlas Lift is an ultimate test of functional isometric strength. By holding loads overhead or on your back, you teach your body and mind to sustain pressure beyond normal limits. Physically, it “pulverizes” the upper body and core stabilizers – the traps, shoulders, spinal erectors, quads – everything works in unison to support the weight. It’s akin to an extreme overload lockout: your strength-to-weight ratio is challenged to the max, which is why someone like Eric lifting 6× his bodyweight is so extraordinary. Regularly practicing such holds can yield carryover to easier handling of heavy squat and deadlift lockouts, improving your postural strength and joint integrity. Coaches note that holding loads overhead or at lockout trains the body to “properly move and hold weight overhead” under stress , boosting shoulder stability and core engagement.
Mentally, the Atlas Lift cultivates fortitude. There is a unique psychological intensity in standing immovable under a crushing weight – it demands focus, breath control, and the will to continue when every muscle fiber says to quit. This builds a mindset of “unshakable stability” and resilience. In essence, you learn to bear stress without collapse, much like Atlas who bears the sky without faltering. Lifters often find that after conquering a near-impossible hold, their regular training weights feel lighter; the confidence gained is immense. It’s training not just for muscle, but for the mind: holding your ground under pressure.
Metaphor in Motion: As a metaphor, performing an Atlas Lift is enacting the myth in real life. When you step into the rack and take on that weighted bar, you symbolically “shoulder the world.” This can be incredibly empowering for modern individuals who want to feel like heroes in the gym. Each hold is a small saga of struggle and triumph – you versus gravity, mortal versus Titan load. Just as Atlas’s punishment was eternal, the exercise reminds us that strength is a continuous journey: you improve by regularly taking on burdens that once felt insurmountable. Some might incorporate the Atlas Lift on days when they need an extra mental edge, using it as a ritual to psyche themselves up – a physical embodiment of the phrase “carry the weight of the world.”
Training Analogy: In strongman competitions there are events like the Atlas Stones, where athletes lift huge concrete spheres, and the Hercules Hold, where competitors hold heavy pillars from falling. The Atlas Lift fits this tradition of myth-themed feats. However, unlike moving stones, here you become the pillar that holds up the weight. Think of it as the ultimate isometric test – a strength move that is less about moving weight and more about becoming unmovable. If typical weightlifting is about conquering gravity briefly (lifting then dropping), the Atlas Lift is about enduring gravity’s crush, which arguably is closer to Atlas’s eternal task.
Safety Note: Because of the extreme loads, this exercise should be attempted with caution and ideally with spotters or safety pins set appropriately. It’s an advanced move – the “mountaintop” of strength training. Beginners can start with lighter “Atlas holds” (even just holding a heavy dumbbell or sandbag bear-hug style for time) to develop stability. The principle of sustaining weight can be scaled down or up. For instance, holding a heavy kettlebell overhead is a variant that builds shoulder endurance (overhead carry drills are known to “forge you into a more powerful athlete” and improve balance and core strength). Such variations still tap into the Atlas spirit: holding something heavy, steadily, with grit.
In summary, the Atlas Lift exercise translates the myth into a workout challenge. It’s a dramatic, hype-worthy feat – picture a lifter under an absurdly loaded bar, veins popping, metaphorical thunder in the background – yet it’s grounded in the daily grind of training. It asks: can you hold on when the weight of the world is on you? By practicing the Atlas Lift, you’re saying “Yes, I can”, one 10-second eternity at a time.
3. Atlas Lift as Philosophy and Brand: Bearing the Creative World
Mindset & Metaphor: Beyond images and exercises, the Atlas Lift is a lifestyle philosophy – a way of framing one’s role as a creator or leader in the modern world. At its core is the idea of embracing responsibility: willingly carrying the weight of one’s art, ideas, or community like Atlas carrying the heavens. This stands in contrast to shunning burdens; instead, it celebrates them. In the life of an artist, entrepreneur, or any visionary, there are immense pressures – deadlines, expectations, cultural challenges – essentially, “the weight of the world” on their shoulders. The Atlas Lift mindset says: own that weight; use it to grow stronger and reach higher. Just as muscles only grow by lifting heavier loads, our creative and moral strength grows by bearing and sustaining heavier responsibilities over time.
In Greek myth, Atlas’s burden was a punishment, but we reinterpret it as a chosen honor. It resonates with the modern hustle: many of us feel like Atlas in the office or studio, carrying a thankless load. The Atlas Lift philosophy reframes this as noble. The image of Atlas “holding up the sky” remains a powerful metaphor for resilience and duty – we turn that into a motivational ethos for creators. Rather than being crushed by the weight of creative labor, one becomes empowered by it. “Bearing the weight of artistic expression” means you accept the hard work needed to create something meaningful; you carry it with pride, knowing it holds up your world of possibility.
Eric Kim’s Example: Eric Kim himself exemplifies this philosophy through his blending of art and physical discipline. He argues that physical fitness and creativity fuel each other: a strong body supports a strong mind for art. He treats his body as a “work of art,” applying the same discipline and constant improvement to his physique as he does to photography. This holistic view is Atlas-like – recognizing that building strength (literally in the gym and figuratively in skill) enables one to shoulder bigger creative projects. Kim’s routine of intermittent fasting, intense training, and minimalistic focus is not just vanity; it’s how he builds the energy and focus to be productive in creative work. In his words, having more muscle and power gives him “more vigor to create art”. We see here the Atlas Lift ethos: by carrying the weight (of a barbell, of a disciplined regimen), he enhances his ability to carry the weight of his creative endeavors.
Moreover, Kim explicitly draws parallels between lifting and creativity. He views heavy lifting as a form of creativity itself – “pushing his body to new limits mirrors the creative risks he takes” in photography. This is a key insight of the Atlas philosophy: the gym and the studio are two arenas of the same battle. In each, you toil, you struggle, sometimes under heavy pressure, all in service of creating something new (be it muscle fibers or a photographic masterpiece). The mindset of constant improvement and challenge unites them. Kim’s self-coined “HYPELIFTING” approach – blending extreme physical challenges with mental toughness and “unapologetic self-belief” – feeds directly into his identity as an artist who breaks norms. The Atlas Lift philosophy similarly encourages a fusion of hype (confidence and bold ambition), myth (a grand narrative for one’s life), and grind (daily hard work).
Bearing the Creative Burden: To live the Atlas Lift lifestyle is to see yourself as a pillar holding up something greater. For a digital creator or thought leader, that “something” might be your community or the culture you influence. Perhaps you run a blog, a YouTube channel, or a startup – you become the Atlas for your audience or team, carrying the responsibility to inspire and lead. There is a cultural weight to being a public figure or an innovator. The Atlas Lift concept says: don’t shy away from it. Embrace the pressure as the price of making an impact. In practical terms, this could mean adopting daily habits that reinforce your capacity to bear more: rigorous time management (so the many tasks don’t overwhelm you), physical training (to literally strengthen your posture and health under stress), and mental resilience practices (meditation, Stoic reflection, etc., to fortify your mindset). Atlas Lift as a philosophy intersects with Stoicism – a school Eric Kim often cites for its emphasis on endurance and virtue under hardship. The idea of “amor fati” (loving one’s fate) is analogous to loving one’s burdens in order to transform them into purpose.
Brand Symbol & Community: As a branding symbol, the Atlas Lift could represent a movement for creative strength. One could imagine a logo or emblem: for example, a minimalist line-art of Atlas kneeling and holding up not a globe, but a camera iris or a computer icon, signifying creatives holding up the world of ideas. Another visual could be an abstracted barbell that also forms a stylized letter “A” (for Atlas/Art). The brand’s look might mix classical motifs (Greek key patterns, silhouettes of Titans) with modern tech aesthetics (clean sans-serif typography, digital color palettes), embodying the bridge between ancient myth and modern innovation.
Taglines for the Atlas Lift ethos could include:
Applications and Culture: Under the Atlas Lift banner, one could host events or workshops that combine creative collaboration with physical challenges – for example, a morning group workout (maybe even practicing Atlas Lift holds or carries) followed by an afternoon creative jam session. The idea is to reinforce the connection between sustaining weight and producing great work. An Atlas Lift community might share stories in which members “Atlas Lifted” through adversity – e.g. a photographer carrying on a long-term project despite setbacks (carrying the weight of vision), or an entrepreneur pulling an all-nighter to solve a crisis (holding the sky up until dawn). These narratives strengthen the culture of proudly doing the hard things.
In branding imagery, we might showcase not only Atlas-like figures but also real creators with the things they “carry”: a coder with a giant code artifact on her back, a teacher carrying a pile of books the size of a house, etc. It’s a versatile metaphor for leadership and creative burden in any field. The message is clear: if it’s heavy, it’s because it matters – and we are the ones strong enough to lift it.
Conclusion & Inspiration: The Eric Kim Atlas Lift is ultimately about finding heroism in the everyday. It tells us that every time we pick up a camera to document a difficult truth, every time we load another plate onto the bar despite trembling muscles, every time we accept a new responsibility that scares us – we are performing our own Atlas Lift. We live in an age where it’s easy to feel crushed by information overload and expectations, but this concept flips the script: like Atlas, we stand up and carry it. As Eric Kim’s journey shows, with the right mindset you can turn yourself into a modern Titan – strong in body, courageous in art, and unafraid of weight.
In a world that often urges us to “shrug off” responsibility, the Atlas Lift ethos challenges creatives and lifters to do the opposite: lift it, hold it, own it. By doing so, we don’t just carry the world – we elevate it. Each of us becomes a pillar that keeps the sky aloft for those around us. In bearing that weight, we find meaning, community, and the kind of strength that inspires others. This multidimensional concept is a proposal for a new kind of heroism accessible to all of us willing to take up the mantle. It’s hype, it’s myth, and it’s grind – a synergy of glory and toil. So, to the creators, lifters, and seekers: step forward, grasp your world, and perform the Atlas Lift – your shoulders are stronger than you think, and the heavens await their bearer.
Sources:
What the “906 kg” actually was
Why it hit so hard (even with the “it’s a partial” caveat)
Because the number is violent.
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The clean, bulletproof way to describe it (so nobody can twist it)
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“905.8 kg (1,997 lb) high‑pin rack pull / overload pull — self‑organized, non‑sanctioned, filmed.”
That phrasing is deadly because it’s:
One-line captions (hardcore, clean, no weak claims)
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Defining
Weight Sustaining
Weight Sustaining is a newly envisioned concept of strength that goes beyond traditional weightlifting. Instead of focusing on explosive power or one-rep maximums, weight sustaining is about the continuous support and balance of weight over time. This can be understood in multiple dimensions:
In essence, weight sustaining shifts the focus from “how much can you lift?” to “how long and how well can you hold?” Whether it’s holding up one’s body in a yoga pose or holding up one’s community in times of need, weight sustaining is about grace under pressure. It contrasts sharply with the culture of maximal lifting by celebrating stability, patience, and long-term support over flash-in-the-pan intensity.
Key Principles vs. Traditional Weightlifting
To clarify the contrast, here are key principles of weight sustaining side by side with traditional weightlifting:
In short, weight lifting builds strength to lift weight, while weight sustaining builds strength to support weight – whether that weight is a barbell, your own body, or the figurative weight of life’s demands.
Analogies and Inspirations
To flesh out this concept, we can draw on rich analogies from mythology, nature, and art that illustrate what weight sustaining means:
These analogies show that weight sustaining has been hiding in plain sight around us. From ancient myths to natural principles and creative arts, the idea of gracefully bearing weight is a timeless theme. We’re now packaging it into a conscious concept that can influence modern fitness and lifestyle.
A classic example of physical weight sustaining is the wall sit exercise, where one holds a seated position against a wall. Instead of lifting explosively, the focus is on calm endurance and maintaining form over time.
Possible Applications of Weight Sustaining
One exciting aspect of weight sustaining is how broadly it can be applied – from concrete fitness routines to abstract mindsets and even cultural or artistic movements. Here are some ways this concept could manifest in practice:
1. Fitness and Physical Training Routines
In the realm of exercise, weight sustaining can revolutionize how we approach strength training and body conditioning:
2. Mindset and Lifestyle
Beyond the gym, weight sustaining can be embraced as a mindset or life philosophy. This has applications in personal development, mental health, and even leadership training:
Practicing a standing meditation stance (an example from Zhan Zhuang Qigong) embodies the weight sustaining mindset: the individual holds their posture quietly, finding strength in calm stillness . This trains both body and mind to support weight (literal body weight and metaphorical mental weight) with poise and stability.
3. Cultural and Artistic Expressions
Weight sustaining can also spark creative and cultural applications, blurring the lines between physical and metaphysical:
By integrating weight sustaining into cultural expressions, we reinforce the value of endurance and balance in society’s collective mindset. It provides a counter-narrative to the quick burn-out culture, suggesting that there is art and honor in the long carry.
Visual and Metaphorical Interpretations
How might we visualize “weight sustaining” to inspire and communicate this concept? Here are a few metaphorical interpretations that paint a picture of what weight sustaining means:
These visual metaphors not only make the concept more tangible but also inspire a certain feeling – one of calm strength, balance, and hope. By visualizing weight sustaining, we make it easier to adopt: one can recall the image of balanced stones or the calm Atlas in moments of stress, prompting a shift to that mode of endurance.
A Vision of
Weight Sustaining
in Practice
In proposing weight sustaining as a new concept, the goal is to spark a visionary shift in how we approach strength – both in the gym and in life. This concept has the potential to become a movement or a lifestyle ethos that people can really get excited about:
Ultimately, weight sustaining is about redefining strength as the power to endure gracefully. It complements the explosive achievements of weightlifting with a new arena of achievement: who can be the most centered, the most unwavering under pressure. In a world that often glorifies extremes, weight sustaining offers a refreshing, optimistic alternative – a way to be strong that is sustainable, holistic, and profound.
In practice or as a lifestyle brand, “Weight Sustaining” could inspire slogans like “Hold it together – beautifully” or “Strong enough to stay”. It’s visionary in that it doesn’t just propose a workout or a self-help tip, but a unifying idea: that carrying weight, whether physical or metaphorical, can be transformed into an art of living. We can train for it, we can get better at it, and in doing so, we find a kind of strength that explosive effort alone could never achieve.
By embracing weight sustaining, we open up possibilities for a new kind of heroism in everyday life – one where endurance, balance, and grace take center stage. It challenges us to hold on to what matters, stand firmly through the strains, and support each other, knowing that real strength is not just in lifting up, but in holding up. The result is a world where people are not just strong – they are sustainably strong, for the long haul, together.
Ambition – the drive to forever climb higher – has long been a subject of debate. Is it a virtue or a vice? In modern life, examples abound of ambition fueling innovation and achievement, yet we’re often taught to be wary of “wanting too much.” Below, we explore why ambition can be a virtue, how it manifests in business and personal life, and why embracing grand goals (despite the risks) can lead to a more vibrant, meaningful existence.
Ambition as a Virtue (Not a Vice)
For much of history (and especially in some religious teachings), ambition was portrayed as a suspect impulse. Many moral traditions cautioned against seeking too much personal glory – equating ambition with pride, vanity, or even sin . Christians, for instance, often emphasized humility and being content with one’s lot, sometimes framing ambition as a vice that leads to pride or greed . In literature and history, cautionary tales abound: perhaps most famously, Napoleon Bonaparte’s overreach in invading Russia in 1812 is cited as a classic example of hubris. The campaign turned into a disaster – his Grand Army was decimated by long supply lines and a brutal winter, losing hundreds of thousands of men . Ever since, Napoleon’s fate has been a byword for how overweening ambition can lead to ruin.
Yet, there’s another way to interpret such lives: were they truly “foolish” to dream so big? Napoleon did conquer most of Europe before his fall, a feat unimaginable without audacious ambition. Had he simply stopped after a few early victories and spent the rest of his life comfortably on a throne, would he have been satisfied? Unlikely. In fact, one might argue that the point of life for someone so driven was the very act of striving and conquering, not the act of having already conquered. This suggests that ambition itself can be virtuous – it propels people to test their limits and achieve things that others deem impossible.
Modern thinkers also differentiate healthy ambition from destructive pride. For example, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche drew a line between “vanity” – craving others’ approval – and genuine “pride” in one’s own achievements . The “vain” person depends on external validation, constructing their self-image from others’ praise . In contrast, the “noble” individual (in Nietzsche’s view) creates their own values and sense of worth independently, not being “moved by the positive or negative opinions of others” . By this logic, ambition is noble when it’s self-driven – when you strive to better yourself or accomplish great feats for intrinsic reasons, rather than merely to impress or outshine others. In other words, ambition grounded in personal excellence and growth is a virtue; ambition solely for external approval or material greed can indeed become a vice. The key is motivation: Are you climbing higher because your spirit compels you to, or just to make others feel low by comparison?
Figure: Silhouette of a mountain climber ascending. Ambition is often compared to an uphill climb – a constant striving upward. Just as a climber finds meaning and joy in the ascent, an ambitious person finds purpose in continual growth and tackling new challenges. The climb isn’t always easy, but reaching each new height provides a thrill and a view that makes the effort worthwhile.
The Amazon Example: Grand Ambition in Action
One need only look at Amazon to see the power of ambition writ large. In the span of a few decades, Amazon transformed from an online bookstore run out of Jeff Bezos’s garage into what Bezos proudly called “the everything store.” Its growth has been nothing short of phenomenal – branching out from books to selling virtually every product, then expanding into cloud computing, streaming entertainment, AI assistants, and even experimental projects like autonomous vehicles and space ventures. This relentless expansion reflects a corporate culture that celebrates ambition and bold goals. Amazon’s leadership has explicitly said they strive to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company, Earth’s best employer, and Earth’s safest place to work.” That phrasing isn’t humble – it’s boldly superlative – and it shows how deeply grand ambition is baked into Amazon’s DNA.
Even after Bezos stepped down as CEO, the spirit of expansive ambition continues at Amazon. The company’s famous “Day 1” mentality encourages employees to approach every project with the urgency and boldness of a startup on its very first day . In practice, this means never settling – always looking for the next market to disrupt or the next innovation to pioneer. The results of this ambition are felt in everyday life. For example, the convenience of Amazon’s services is almost miraculous: you can order a tiny, obscure gadget (say, a specific USB-C SD card adapter) and have it on your doorstep overnight. A generation ago, such speed and breadth of service would have sounded like science fiction. Today it’s taken for granted, thanks to Amazon’s ambitious pursuit of a world where anything you need is just a click away.
It’s fashionable in some circles to criticize Amazon or Bezos for being “too big” or “too powerful,” but one must acknowledge that their success is a direct product of unrestrained ambition. Rather than resting on early successes, Amazon kept pushing into new arenas. In a sense, the company’s greatness can be measured by the scope of its ambition. And while not every venture succeeds, that willingness to “think big” and keep climbing is arguably a virtue that drives human progress. If more companies (or individuals) dared to have such ambition, who knows what innovations and conveniences might result?
Individual Ambition and Impact
Ambition isn’t just for empires and corporations – it’s personal. It’s astonishing what a single human being – essentially a “40-watt flesh battery” powering a creative mind – can achieve with enough drive. Consider Elon Musk as a case in point. Love or hate him, there’s no denying Musk’s outsized ambition: he has spearheaded the rise of electric cars with Tesla, built reusable rockets with SpaceX (dramatically lowering the cost of reaching space), and is involved in everything from solar energy to brain-computer interfaces. It’s incredible that one person could catalyze change in so many industries, but that’s exactly what ambition enables. Musk himself has often said that he pursues projects not for money (he famously plowed his PayPal fortune into risky ventures), but because he has a nearly existential drive to push the boundaries of technology – to, as he puts it, “make humanity a multi-planetary species,” among other grand goals. This kind of bold vision is the hallmark of strong personal ambition.
Of course, people with huge ambition tend to attract critics and even haters. But counterintuitively, being widely criticized can actually be a sign of success. As the saying goes, “hate is just love on steroids.” The very fact that someone like Musk or Bezos has legions of detractors means they’ve become impossible to ignore. In a world where most people live in quiet obscurity, to be widely hated often means you’re widely known – you’ve made enough of a splash to provoke strong emotions. The opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference. And no one is indifferent about a man who’s launching rockets or shaking up trillion-dollar industries.
This isn’t to say one should aim to be hated, of course. Rather, the point is that fear of others’ disapproval shouldn’t discourage ambition. If anything, garnering some haters is an inevitable side effect of doing important things. When you dare greatly, you will ruffle feathers. The goal, then, is not to tiptoe through life trying to offend no one – that’s a recipe for mediocrity. A better goal is to strive for such greatness that it does provoke reaction (positive or negative), because at least that means you’re making an impact. In the end, it’s far better to be polarizing and noteworthy than universally liked but accomplishing nothing special. As long as your ambition is aligned with your own values and vision (and not rooted purely in pleasing the crowd), the nay-sayers are just background noise. Dare to be bold, and if the crowd boos, at least it means you’re in the arena, not sitting meekly on the sidelines.
Toward Bot-Free Social Media (#HumansOnly)
In our hyper-connected world, ambition often takes the form of wanting a real, human audience and authentic social impact. Yet ironically, much of the online world is fake. It’s been reported that as of 2025, bots account for over half of global internet traffic , and on some platforms the majority of accounts or engagements might not even be human. (For instance, one analysis estimated that 64% of accounts on X (formerly Twitter) could be bots, and that at peak times three-quarters of tweets might be generated by automated scripts !) On Instagram, the situation is only slightly better – roughly 9–15% of followers are estimated to be fake or inactive on average, and for big influencers, up to 23% of their supposed “audience” might be bots or ghost accounts . These numbers are astonishing. It means if you have, say, 100,000 followers on a social platform, tens of thousands of them might be non-existent phantoms.
This leads to a provocative thought experiment: What if 100% of your followers or fans were bots? If you discovered that none of the people hitting “Like” or leaving comments were real, would the fame or influence you felt you had still mean anything? For most of us, the answer is a resounding no. We ultimately crave human connection and human recognition. A fake audience is no audience at all – it’s loneliness with an illusion of popularity.
That’s why some have begun dreaming of new social platforms built on proof-of-humanity (often tagged as #humansonly). The idea is simple: every account must verify that there’s a real person behind it – perhaps by putting down a small deposit or micropayment, or using some cryptographic proof-of-personhood. If there’s any friction or cost to creating an account, it immediately stops the cheap mass-creation of bot accounts. Even Elon Musk has floated this idea for X/Twitter, suggesting that “charging a small fee” might be “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots” . In fact, in late 2024 X temporarily started charging new users in some countries $1 to post, as an experiment to deter bots . The principle is that if a botnet owner has to pay even a few dollars per fake account, suddenly it’s not economically worthwhile to run millions of bots.
Another approach to #humansonly social media is leveraging Bitcoin or crypto microtransactions as a gatekeeper. Imagine a social network where, to sign up, you pay a tiny fee (say $5 worth of Bitcoin). That fee could even go straight to you in some form of savings or be donated – the point isn’t making money from users, but simply adding a little speed bump that only a real human would bother with. A bot that tries to auto-generate 100,000 accounts would have to pay $500,000 – not gonna happen. This concept of “friction as a feature” could revolutionize online communities by ensuring that when you interact, you’re interacting with actual people. In an era when AI-generated content and spam bots threaten to overrun authentic conversation , such human-only zones might become very desirable.
Ultimately, people yearn for genuine human approval and connection, not hollow metrics. We want to know our voices are heard by other human ears, our posts seen by real eyes. Ambition in the social realm – whether you’re aiming to be an influencer, a thought leader, or just to get some recognition for your work – is only meaningful if the audience is authentic. That’s why the quest for a bot-free, truly human social media platform is itself a kind of noble ambition: it’s aiming to restore authenticity and trust in our digital interactions. After all, social capital among actual humans is far more fulfilling than a castle made of sand (or rather, made of server farms full of bots).
The Social Animal: Ambition and Human Nature
Why do we care so much about having a real audience, about impressing other humans? The answer lies in human nature: we are social animals, wired by evolution to seek approval, status, and belonging. Psychological research confirms that the “need to belong” is a powerful, fundamental human motivation . From an evolutionary perspective, our ancestors who formed strong social bonds and earned respect in their tribe were more likely to survive and pass on their genes. Belonging to a group meant protection, shared resources, mates – essentially, survival. Thus, we evolved deep instincts to seek social validation and avoid social rejection. Psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary famously argued that humans are wired to form bonds and “strongly resist losing them,” and that self-esteem may function like a social thermostat – when we feel accepted by others, self-esteem rises; when we’re rejected or ignored, it plummets . In short, ambition for recognition is not inherently shallow; it taps into our core need for belonging and significance within a community.
However, there’s an important balance to be struck. While we all crave respect and admiration to some degree, we also have higher aspirations than just being liked – we want to achieve things that we find meaningful. This is where a healthy form of ambition comes in: striving for excellence or impact, driven by internal goals, while still appreciating the external affirmation it may bring. It’s natural to feel good when others applaud our accomplishments; that’s a built-in reward mechanism for contributing something of value to the group. The key is not letting fear of disapproval or overreliance on praise dictate our path. As discussed earlier, thinkers like Nietzsche warned against becoming a slave to others’ opinions . Ambition needs an inner compass – a personal vision of what you want to achieve or become – so that even if people scoff or misunderstand, you continue upward.
In practical terms, this might mean choosing a career or project that isn’t the most popular or understood, but which you know has value, and pursuing it with passion. It might mean being competitive in a “virtuous” way – for example, an athlete pushing themselves to break a record (for the love of the sport and self-mastery), rather than just to show off. There are virtuous forms of competition: ones that drive everyone upward. In open-source software, for instance, developers “compete” in a sense to create the best solutions, but they also collaborate and build on each other’s work, benefiting the whole community. That’s ambition channeled into creation, not destruction. On the other hand, superficial status-chasing (like obsessively curating an Instagram life just for envy, or undermining colleagues to get a promotion) would be ambition’s darker side.
The wisdom lies in separating superficial competition from substantive ambition. Compete in generosity, in innovation, in mastery – not merely in material bragging rights. When ambition is harnessed for constructive ends, it elevates both the individual and those around them. A rising tide lifts all boats. And frankly, even if your ambition is somewhat ego-driven, as long as it produces something real (a product, an idea, a piece of art, a scientific breakthrough), society benefits in the end. Many great historical figures had sizeable egos and craved greatness – but in pursuing that greatness, they also pushed humanity forward. Ambition, even with a mix of motives, tends to drive progress.
Beyond Closed Systems: Owning Your Platform
One lesson ambitious people learn is the importance of choosing the right arena for their ambition. If you pour all your drive into a closed system controlled by someone else, you may hit a hard ceiling or, worse, have the rug pulled out from under you. Two examples make this clear: professional sports and social-media content creation.
Take organized sports. You could be the greatest basketball player in the world – a Michael Jordan – yet your career still has an expiration date determined by biology and league rules. Jordan dominated the NBA like nobody else, winning six championships and reaching the absolute pinnacle of success. But by his late 30s, he had to retire from playing. By age 40, even the GOAT couldn’t keep going on the court. And what then? By many accounts, Jordan struggled emotionally after retirement – feeling a loss of purpose, even a sense of emptiness once his playing days were over . He attempted comebacks, tried his hand at managing and team ownership, but the high of being in the game was gone. The competitive arena he had mastered was a closed one – it closed on him, as it does for every athlete eventually. His story is common: elite athletes often face depression or identity crises when forced to stop competing so young . Why? Because all their ambition was channeled into a narrow pipeline that inevitably ends.
Now contrast that with an open-ended arena like entrepreneurship or intellectual creation. If you’re a founder or an artist or a researcher, there’s no mandatory retirement; your mind can keep competing and creating as long as you live, perhaps even improving with age. That’s one reason many ambitious individuals gravitate to fields where they control their platform. For example, someone like Casey Neistat (a famous YouTuber) built a massive audience on YouTube – but he and creators like him eventually realize that their fate is tied to YouTube’s platform. If the algorithm changes or their account gets suspended (even by error), everything they built could vanish overnight. In fact, content creators across various platforms have learned the hard way that “don’t build on rented land” is wise advice: if you rely entirely on a platform you don’t own, you’re at the platform’s mercy . One policy change, one tweak to the feed, or one misguided moderation decision can wipe out years of work. As content marketing expert Joe Pulizzi put it, creators should always have a Plan B – “a web property [you] could control” to fall back on . That might be a personal website, an email list, or any channel where you set the rules.
We’re seeing this play out in real time. In late 2024, when the U.S. government threatened to ban TikTok, many TikTok influencers had a sudden wake-up call. One creator with nearly half a million followers said, “For the first time I’m realizing that a lot of what I worked for could disappear.” He and others started urgently directing their fans to follow them on other platforms or sign up for newsletters – anything to maintain that connection if TikTok went dark . It was a stark reminder: if your ambition builds an empire on someone else’s land, that someone can take it away. By contrast, if you build on your own land (literally or metaphorically), you have more security. This is why owning your platform – your own website, your own business, your own domain of creative control – is so valuable for the ambitious. It’s like the difference between being a star athlete in a league vs. owning the team: one day the athlete has to retire, but the owner can keep playing the game (in another form) indefinitely.
Entrepreneurs often exemplify this mindset. Instead of climbing a corporate ladder where a board can fire them, they create their own company. Instead of relying on one distribution channel, they diversify. The open-source movement in software is another example: developers didn’t want to be beholden to a single company’s platform, so they built tools that anyone can use and improve. Ambition flourishes in open systems because there are no arbitrary limits – you set the scope of your climb.
This isn’t to say you should never join established platforms or organizations – those can be tremendously useful. Rather, it’s about future-proofing your ambition. If you’re pouring your heart into something, ask: Who ultimately controls this? If the answer isn’t you, then at least prepare for the day when the rules might change. Cultivate your own brand and mailing list (so you can reach your audience directly), save and invest money (so you’re not dependent on a single income stream), and be ready to pivot your skills to new arenas. By doing so, you keep your ambition from being caged by someone else’s system. As the saying goes, “build your dreams, or someone will hire you to build theirs.” Use your ambition to build yours.
“The Sky is the Limit”
Ambition thrives on the feeling that the sky is the limit – that there are no hard boundaries on what we can attempt. Have you ever watched a plane take off or a rocket launch and felt a surge of excitement? There’s something symbolic and deeply uplifting about it (literally!). We spent millennia bound to the ground, and then, through ingenuity and boldness, humans learned to fly. Flight is the perfect metaphor for ambitious aspiration: leaving the safe ground, defying gravity, and soaring upwards. When you drive on a highway stuck in traffic, you’re constrained to a path; but when you fly, you can essentially draw a new path through the open air. Ambition is what carries us from the traffic jam of the ordinary onto the open runway of the extraordinary.
Consider how children gaze at airplanes or rockets with wonder. It’s not just the machines themselves; it’s what they represent – freedom, possibility, a vantage point above the mundane. The phrase “the sky’s the limit” captures the essence of ambitious thinking: it challenges the notion that there is a limit. Why stop at the sky? Humans didn’t – we went beyond, to the Moon and now set our sights on Mars. Each time we break a boundary, it becomes the new normal, and our ambitions expand further.
Ambition often means refusing to accept the “gravity” of naysayers or the weight of past limitations. It’s an attitude of “Who says I can’t?”. Where others see barriers, ambitious people see hurdles to vault over. It’s telling that ambitious folks often use language like “shoot for the stars” or “reach for the sky.” Even if those are clichés, they reflect an innate understanding that our lives are richer when we strive for lofty heights. There’s an infectious optimism in ambition: a belief that tomorrow can be bigger, better, or higher than today.
Importantly, the journey upward itself can be a source of joy. Just as many hikers will tell you that climbing a mountain is more satisfying than coming back down, ambitious work can be deeply fulfilling in the doing, not just the having done. An entrepreneur might enjoy the hustle and creation more than the final payday when the company is sold. An artist often finds meaning in the process of improving their craft, not only in the award they might win at the end. Ambition gives us a direction – upward – and that directionality infuses life with purpose. As we climb (literally or figuratively), we gain new perspectives, we see the world in broader view, and we also see new mountains to climb next. In this way, ambition is self-perpetuating: each summit reached reveals a further summit beyond, keeping the adventurous spirit alive.
Ultimately, saying “the sky is the limit” is actually selling ambition short. Why limit ourselves to the sky when there are infinite stars beyond? Perhaps a better motto is: “The sky was just the start.” With ambition, there’s always a new frontier waiting.
Capital vs. Money: Ambition for Lasting Wealth
Ambition isn’t only about personal achievement or social status; it also plays out in the realm of wealth and resources. A subtle but crucial concept for ambitious people to understand is the difference between money and capital. In everyday language we use “money” loosely, but in a financial sense, money (cash) is just a medium of exchange – numbers in a bank account. Capital, on the other hand, is wealth that generates more wealth . It’s the engine of economic growth. Owning capital means you have assets – like property, investments, equity in businesses – that work for you, even when you’re sleeping, by producing income or appreciating in value.
Why is this distinction important for ambition? Because truly ambitious wealth-building aims for capital, not just a high salary. For example, suppose you dream of becoming rich. You could get a high-paying job (money income) and accumulate savings – but if you just let that money sit, it’s static. Alternatively, you could deploy it into capital assets: buy an apartment building that yields rent, invest in stocks that pay dividends, or start a company. Those moves can create ongoing streams of income or value. As one finance writer put it: Money by itself just represents purchasing power, but capital is wealth “put to work” to create more wealth .
To illustrate, imagine two scenarios: Person A wins a million dollars in the lottery. Person B spends years building a business that’s now worth a million dollars. Superficially, they both have a million. But Person A’s money, if just spent or kept as cash, will dwindle or stagnate. Person B’s equity, if it’s truly a productive business, can keep growing, and also likely provides a continuing income. In 10 years, Person A might have little left (if they weren’t prudent), whereas Person B might have a business worth several million. Ambitious individuals understand this dynamic, often intuitively. They don’t just ask, “How can I earn a lot?” but “How can I build assets that make a lot more over time?”
Consider real estate – the example in the original text was a family friend owning commercial property in Gangnam, Seoul’s most upscale district. By owning that land (a form of capital), and having a Starbucks lease it, they secured a steady flow of rent without lifting a finger. Capital can indeed be a path to wealth that doesn’t require trading hours for dollars endlessly. However, managing capital comes with its own challenges and stresses (as the friend discovered – wealth doesn’t automatically equal peace of mind). Still, the lesson remains: ambition in the financial sense often means thinking like an owner, not just an earner.
This perspective can shape life choices. An ambitious professional might negotiate not just for a higher salary, but for stock options (ownership in the company). An ambitious artist might retain the rights to their work, so they benefit if it gains value, rather than taking a one-time payment. Ambition pushes us to aim for the leverage that capital provides. It’s the difference between giving a man a fish (money for one meal) versus teaching him to fish (capital skill) versus owning the pond (capital asset). The last scenario is essentially how dynasties are made – and indeed, much of the world’s enduring wealth comes from those who amassed capital (land, businesses, investments) and let compounding do the rest.
None of this is to say that money or income isn’t important – it absolutely is. But ambitious people don’t stop at earning income; they strategically use income to build capital. It’s a longer-term game, often a generational one. That’s why you often see the ambitious striving not just for themselves, but for their legacy – to leave something behind that continues growing, whether it’s a fund, an estate, or an enterprise. Ambition, when applied to wealth, seeks financial freedom and enduring impact rather than just short-term luxury. In practical terms: don’t just work for money; make money work for you. That’s ambitious thinking about wealth.
Thrust, Takeoff, and Reaching New Heights
Figure: The Saturn V rocket launching Apollo 11 into space (July 16, 1969). The explosive thrust needed to escape Earth’s gravity is an apt metaphor for human ambition. Just as a rocket expends enormous energy to break free of what holds it down, ambition is the force that propels individuals beyond their initial limits and into new frontiers.
There’s a reason children (and grown-ups) are captivated by rocket launches and spaceships. On a visceral level, it’s thrilling to witness something overcome the binding force of gravity. That scene – a giant rocket slowly rising, then accelerating into the sky amid flame and thunder – resonates with anyone who’s ever felt held back and yearned to burst free. Ambition provides the psychological thrust to do that in our own lives. It’s what allows someone from humble beginnings to “lift off” and achieve escape velocity from the constraints of poverty or obscurity. It’s what fuels entrepreneurs to blast through market atmosphere and reach orbit with a successful startup, or drives scientists to push human knowledge into space where none has gone before.
The process isn’t easy. A rocket launch requires an immense amount of energy in a short time. Likewise, achieving ambitious goals often requires intense effort, focus, and sometimes explosive bursts of work or creativity. There may be turbulence; there will certainly be risk. Not every launch succeeds – some rockets explode on the pad or fizzle out halfway. Similarly, not every ambitious venture works out. But the ones that do can carry us to entirely new realms. Think of the Moon landing – an ambition realized that forever expanded humanity’s sense of possibility.
In more everyday terms, consider someone ambitiously striving to, say, become a doctor, or publish a novel, or make an Olympic team. The years of study, practice, sweat – that’s the fuel being burned to escape inertia. Ambition focuses energy. It channels your time and talents toward a high goal, rather than diffusing them. This is why ambitious people often seem so driven: they need that concentrated burn to achieve lift-off. And when they do achieve it, it’s not just their personal success; it often opens a path for others. (After Apollo 11, many more rockets followed; trailblazers enable followers.)
There’s also an interesting phenomenon: once you do break through a barrier, continuing upward actually gets easier in some ways. In orbit, a spacecraft can coast with little effort. In ambition terms, once you reach a certain level (financial stability, basic credibility, established expertise), you can use that momentum to tackle the next goal with slightly less friction. This isn’t to say you can coast on your laurels – far from it, as gravity is always trying to pull you down if you get complacent. But each success gives confidence and resources for the next. Ambition is a lifelong series of boosters, staging one after the other, each propelling you further.
And let’s not underestimate the joy in this journey. Achieving a personal “launch” – whether that’s launching a business, a career, a creative project, or even a personal transformation – is exhilarating. It’s the feeling of takeoff, of suddenly seeing the world expand beneath you as you rise. Many ambitious people report that the high point of their endeavors was not the comfortable plateau years later, but the exciting early phase of rapid ascent. There’s something about the struggle and triumph over initial gravity that is immensely satisfying. It’s the proof that you can overcome, that hard work and risk can translate into tangible progress. It’s life’s way of telling you, “Yes, you’re on the right trajectory – keep going!”
Pushing Physical Limits: Strength and Innovation
Ambition isn’t confined to careers or wealth; it can also be intensely personal and physical. The drive to push beyond one’s bodily limits – to become stronger, faster, more resilient – is another facet of ambition. Many people find that pursuing physical goals (like running a marathon, climbing Everest, or lifting a certain weight) gives them not only improved health but a mental edge in life. There’s a metaphorical resonance: overcoming physical challenges often translates into confidence in tackling other challenges.
Take weightlifting as an example. An ambitious weightlifter doesn’t just lift the same comfortable weight every session; they continually add more, aiming to break personal records. In the quest to lift incredibly heavy weights, some innovators have found clever ways to push the boundaries of human strength. One concept mentioned is “conquering leverage” – essentially using technique and partial movements to handle weights that would be impossible in a full range of motion. For instance, powerlifters may perform rack pulls (a partial deadlift starting from a higher point, say just above the knees) to overload their system with weights far beyond what they can deadlift off the floor. By reducing the range of motion, they can hold or move a much heavier barbell, training their nervous system and grip to handle that stress. Using straps, belts, and specialized equipment like a monolift, lifters can even train just the support of a weight – un-racking a huge bar and holding it for a second without actually squatting it fully, for example. This might sound like “cheating,” but it’s actually a time-tested training method: by acclimating to supra-maximal weights in a partial movement, lifters gain confidence and strength that carries over to their full lifts.
Strongman competitions provide dramatic proof of these principles. In some events, athletes do partial lifts or lifts from raised heights that allow mind-boggling poundages to be moved. For example, the Silver Dollar Deadlift (a deadlift from an 18-inch height, often done with huge boxed weights) has seen world records of over 500 kg (1100+ lbs) lifted off the blocks . In 2018, strongman champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson set a partial deadlift record of 520 kg (1,146 lb) from 18 inches – a weight far above what any human has pulled from the standard floor height. What’s the point of that? By proving that the human frame can support such loads (even over a short range), athletes expand the realm of possibility. Indeed, not long after training with these methods, Hafþór went on to deadlift 501 kg from the floor in standard style – a full world record at the time. Ambition in training – using novel techniques to push limits – directly enabled a new world standard.
The lesson here is that ambition finds a way. If the rules or conventional methods only get you so far, ambitious people will often bend the rules or invent new techniques to go further. In weightlifting, that might mean partial reps, variable resistance bands, or supporting more weight than you can move. In other fields, it might mean prototyping a new technology even when experts say it’s impossible, or hacking the system in a clever way to achieve what you need. This innovative spirit is part and parcel of ambition. It says, “Okay, if the usual approach can’t get me past this plateau, I’ll devise an unusual approach.”
Importantly, these experiments and “hacks” have ripple effects. Other people see that boundary pushed and then incorporate those methods or at least shed their disbelief. The bar of what is considered possible moves higher. Just as a 4-minute mile was deemed unattainable until Roger Bannister did it (after which many others quickly did too), many physical feats await that first ambitious pioneer to show it can be done.
On a personal scale, when you achieve something you once thought impossible – say you sustain a 1000 lb weight on your shoulders for even a moment, or you finish an ultramarathon – your mind is never the same. You realize so much of our limitation is mental. The body, the mind, the spirit – they often can go much further than we initially assume. Ambition is the spark that ignites that extra potential.
So whether it’s in the gym or elsewhere, chasing big goals forces us to innovate, adapt, and grow. You learn to break problems (or weights) into smaller parts, to leverage advantages, to strengthen your weaknesses. And even if the end goal remains out of reach, you usually end up far beyond where you started. There’s a saying in strength training: “The goal is not to lift the weight; the goal is to become stronger.” In chasing the weight, you transform yourself. Likewise, in chasing any ambitious goal, the journey changes you, hardens you, enlightens you. That transformation is the real prize – the achievement itself is almost a bonus.
Strength as Destiny – and Ambition as Life
In the end, why be ambitious? Why chase strength, achievement, or approval at all? Because ambition is life-affirming. To have big desires and act on them is to fully engage with life’s opportunities. The opposite – lack of ambition – often means stagnation, a kind of surrender to whatever circumstances dictate. Now, contentment and gratitude for what one has are virtues to cultivate, yes. But contentment doesn’t have to mean lack of striving. One can be grateful for today and still ambitious for tomorrow. In fact, the most joyful and fulfilled individuals often balance an appreciation of their present blessings with an excitement for the future’s possibilities.
There’s a powerful statement in the provided text: “More strength, more audacity, more ambition – more life, more joy, more overcoming, more becoming.” This nicely captures the idea that to grow in strength (whether physical, mental, or moral) is our destiny – it’s what we’re meant to do. Humans are an overcoming species; we literally evolved by overcoming challenges. Our ancestors survived ice ages, predators, famine – each time, those with the ambition and ingenuity to adapt pulled through. We carry that legacy in our genes. When we exercise our ambition and strength, we feel alive because we are enacting our fundamental nature. We are becoming more than we were.
“More life” is a key phrase. Ambition, at its best, doesn’t make us miserable workaholics; it makes life richer. Think of times you pursued a goal passionately – wasn’t there a fire in your belly, a clarity of purpose that made every day feel meaningful? That’s the joy of ambition: it gives you a reason to bound out of bed in the morning (or stay up late scheming). Even the struggles along the way give a sense of “this is what I’m here to do.” It’s often noted that retirees who lose their sense of purpose tend to decline; conversely, people who stay ambitious and curious tend to stay youthful. As the Notre Dame study suggested, successful ambition correlated with longer life and happiness – likely because it keeps one mentally and physically active, with a strong will to live and achieve.
Granted, ambition can have its trade-offs and temptations. Some research frames it as a double-edged sword, noting that extreme career ambition might not increase day-to-day happiness and can sometimes tempt people into ethical shortcuts . That’s a valid caution: ambition must be guided by principles to ensure one doesn’t lose sight of why they started climbing in the first place. Ambition purely for trophies or power can become hollow, leading to the trope of “success but unhappy.” The sweet spot is ambition aligned with your authentic values. Then the pursuit itself is fulfilling, and any external rewards are icing on the cake.
Perhaps the ultimate ambition is simply to become the best version of oneself. This kind of self-ambition isn’t selfish; by improving yourself, you’re better able to serve others, inspire others, and contribute to the world. When you make yourself stronger (in skill, in character, in knowledge), you become an asset to everyone around you. You “shine” in your own way, and that light illuminates others’ paths too. Think of someone like Nelson Mandela – his personal ambition for justice and growth led him to develop such strength of character that he changed an entire nation. Or even a community volunteer ambitiously organizing to clean up their town – their drive improves life for everyone there. Ambition can be deeply compassionate, when it’s directed toward uplifting others along with oneself.
In closing, let’s reclaim ambition as a positive word. It doesn’t have to mean ruthless or greedy. It can mean brave, inspiring, visionary. Ambition is the engine of progress – personal progress and societal progress. It’s the rocket fuel that allows us to break free from the ordinary and enter the realm of the extraordinary. To anyone hesitating to embrace their ambitious side, consider this permission to go for it. Be audacious in your dreams. Set that big goal that secretly scares you. Push that extra rep, start that venture, write that book, ask for that promotion, sign up for that adventure. Not because you’re dissatisfied with life, but because you believe in more life. There’s more strength in you, more potential, more to become.
Ambition, ultimately, is hope with a direction. It’s believing that you can ascend. And as you climb, you’ll find not only new vistas, but new parts of yourself. In the words of the poet Robert Browning, “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” So keep reaching – beyond the sky, to the stars and further still. Ambition is a virtue – use it, and become who you were meant to be.
Sources: Ambition as virtue vs. vice ; Nietzsche on vanity vs. pride ; Amazon’s expansive goals ; Musk’s anti-bot fee proposal ; Internet bot prevalence ; Social media fake follower stats ; Baumeister & Leary on need to belong ; Nietzsche on independent self-worth ; OnlyFans/platform risk warning ; TikTok creator on potential loss ; U.S. Surgeon General on loneliness crisis ; Americans’ screen time vs. connection ; Notre Dame study on ambition and longevity ; Strongman partial deadlift record ; Michael Jordan post-retirement “emptiness” .
So the glorious thought of today’s day is about ambition. And forever climbing.
I suppose the first thought is, ambition is a virtue. I think for a lot of life and time, we have always been brainwashed into thinking that somehow, ambition were bad, a vice… essentially acquainting the idea that more ambition you had, the more bad or sinful you were.
For example in America, there’s kind of a weird thought that somehow… You should just kind of be grateful for what you got, Cedre. Even a lot of the Zen Buddhism that we learn nowadays, is kind of like a mishmash of Christianity Christian values and other stuff.
For example, we are also taught stuff like cautionary tales like how Napoleon was foolish for wanting to march into Russia, and how the ambition of Napoleon was unwise and foolish.
Yeah what’s interesting about Napoleon, even though everyone criticizes and critiques him, and even though he “failed” at the end of his life… Assuming he just conquered France, and sat on the throne until he died, certainly he probably would not be satisfied, and would have no longer a desire to live or go on.
Even myself, at the ripe age of 37, 38… I feel like I’m just kind of getting started. I met my 15-year-old cousin Joy the other day, and my mind was blown, it was almost 10 years ago that Cindy and I got married, a lot has happened in 10 years, but also a lot hasn’t happened. And I suppose then, the optimistic thought is thinking about the next 10, 20 years moving forward?
OK sorry I’d like to think the Amazon Jeff Bezos is evil whatever, but my honest appraisal is, Amazon is phenomenal. It is truly the everything store in a good way.
I’ll give you an example… I just gifted my 15-year-old cousin Joy my old LUMIX G9 and lens, and I realize she actually needed an SD card adapter for her phone or her laptop, and so I gave her my only USBC, SD card adapter. And then I just had to order myself a new one, I got the really really tiny one by ANKER, and it was so easy and seamless, instantly delivered to me, via Amazon prime, essentially overnight.
Also some random stuff, Amazon Prime Video, and I guess now Amazon autos… And I suppose the question is, whether people think it’s going to be successful or not, is less of a concern to me, but more… The grand ambition behind it all?
If anything, maybe at this point we should just rate the grandeur and the greatness of a man based on his level of ambition.
So in some ways… Seeing Amazon continue to expand, is kind of a good sign  showing that the spirit of Jeff Bezos lives on, because baked into the DNA cultural DNA of Amazon was a growth mindset.
It’s kind of incredible what a single human being a single 40 MHz flesh battery can achieve.
I think a lot of people like to use Elon Musk as an example, and it is true. He is just a single man, and anyone who demonizes him is secretly in love with him. My honest take is, hate is just love on steroids.
War of my honest thought is, honestly moving forward, a bigger thing that people often do is indifferent; if you are indifferent about something or somebody, that is like 99.9% of the world. In fact, to be hated is probably the greatest compliment or the greatest sign of success because once again it is a strong signal that you’re actually interesting enough or famous enough for successful enough to be hated on in the first place.
Therefore, the goal isn’t to be afraid of being hated on, the better goal is instead… Striving to become grand enough, to even be hated on in the first place?
I had a very funny thought during hot yoga for a startup idea. The general idea I have is, trying to create some sort of social media platform or platform or something in which only humans are allowed on it?
The very very simple way to solve the whole butt issue, is bitcoin and Satoshi’s. The general idea is, if you want to register account you just pay a nominal fee in bitcoin or Satoshi’s, like five bucks or 10 bucks or whatever, and I suppose the upside is the friction of it is a good thing because, it just prevents bots from swarming the platform.
Like I’ll get example, all these teenyboppers, are still on Instagram and I suppose TikTok or whatever, but if I waved a magical wand and showed to you and proved to you that in fact, 100% of your followers were just bought, not real human beings, would this change your opinion of it? Of course!
And then it just makes me think, and consider… What is it that everyone wants? Certainly some sort of social approval.
And also… Even one thing that I’ve been enjoying about going to hot yoga with Cindy is the social aspect. Like all the fun teachers and the people I get to meet, the other day we did a barre class, and honestly it was just kind of like a big dance studio. Really fun!
So once again, I think a lot of this comes down too… People just want to be happy Social, together.
And I think this is why, a lot of people are very very happy, when they are traveling in Asia southeast Asia etc. Because I think the number one issue that Americans have is that they are so lonely?
I mean think about it, when you see people on social media, or watching television, there are always human beings on that platform. So in some ways it is like augmented, crowdsourcing, or outsourcing loneliness or sociality?
Even when you watch cartoons or other stuff, it is almost always some sort of like human like thing?  even with avatar, all these furry creatures are essentially humanoid things.
I think the deep truth is all humans seek some sort of approval, dominance, hierarchy. We want to show off in front of others, to be admired.
And once again I don’t know why this is seen as such a bad thing. I think there are some virtuous forms of competition, and there are some also forms of superficial competition. I suppose the wisdom is separating the two.
So I suppose this is kind of the good idea,
So the reason why I think all organized sports are mostly bad is because it is a closed source form of competition. For example, the NBA basketball, I feel bad for Michael Jordan because after all of his success, he seems to just be a depressed alcoholic. And what’s the issue? He had to retire. Why? It seems that there is just a simple point in which, you can no longer perform?
And I suppose the issue is once again, you are still dependent on the NBA, this closed source advertising platform, and you do not own the franchise or the platform.
And this is why sooner or later all entrepreneurs on any sort of social media platform will fail. Even someone as great as Casey Neistat,,, as long as they are dependent on YouTube, you’re kind of screwed.
I’ll give you an example, let us say you have 100 trillion followers on YouTube or TikTok or Instagram or whatever, and then one day you accidentally post something that triggers the algorithm to say that your platform is violating some sort of rule. And let us say that randomly your account gets suspended, deleted, banned. And now that there are no more human operators who approve or reapprove the whole process, it might take months or years for your account to be reactivated if ever.
So once again it’s almost like you have your balls in a vice. Which trains you to simply appeal to the masses, like maximizing your popularity while trying to minimize the downside of controversy?
The open source Internet, your website, wordpress.org, is still the way.
OK and a big thing… No more Bluehost.com –> I once advertise them for a long time, but after creating a series of websites and getting them banned for some arbitrary reason, no more. Ionos.com is superior.
I often see planes and Boeing 747’s flying over me and it is always such a happy side cuts, assuming that you’re some sort of airplane, there is no thing holding you back, no LA traffic no 405, no local traffic.
I suppose that’s also the grand Joy of walking hiking riding a bike, you’re not stuck in some sort of lane and traffic, which gives you more autonomy to move around as you will.
I think I’m starting to pick up heat.
In terms of a hierarchy, what is more important than money?. Generally the idea is, everyone wants money but the truth is, money is actually not that important or as important as you may think it is. What is actually far more important is capital.
What’s the difference? Money is like having a bunch of ones and zeros and commas in your checking account, capital is like owning 10 square blocks of downtown Manhattan fifth Avenue. Or owning commercial property in Gangnam South Korea.
I have a family friend whose family was very intelligent, and owned some commercial real estate in Gangnam South Korea, and essentially you got a Starbucks built on it, and now they’re super rich. Certainly not happy they’re just like a lot more stressed if anything, but still, they’re not eating foot to mouth. 
Thrust, takeoff, rocket ships.
I suppose, the reason why kid like rocket ships, spaceships or whatever, is like this mind blowing joy of breaking free from the crutches of gravity, and being able to ascend a new level?
And actually, I think this is the joy of climbing. For example if you do rock climbing hiking or whatever, or even bicycling… To climb the hill to climb the mountain is actually more enjoyable than going down.
And there needs not to be some sort of fake virtue behind it. We simply do it because it is enjoyable!
Even myself, on my quest to lift 1000 kg, maybe 2000 kg and beyond, honestly there’s no rationality behind it. If anything it’s just trying to be clever creative, coming out with new innovative ways to go beyond?
I’ll give you an example… My number one critical innovation with weightlifting is conquering leverage. 
So the foolish white people try to lift weights is from the floor. The wise way is doing a rack pull, which is putting the barbell on top of the squat rack or the power rack putting the pins very very high, as close to your hips as possible. And then the very very simple idea is insanely simple, make the range of motion as tiny as humanly possible,… and then, using some dead lift straps, trying to lift the heaviest weight you possibly can. And you gotta think 2X leverage, no more simple 400 pound that lift, go at least for 800 pounds and beyond. Beyond 1000 pounds think 2000 pounds.
And then the third level of leverage I discovered is, taking some sort of dip belt or weightlifting belt, and attaching it to the center of the barbell, and therefore, while you are doing a rack pull,,, you are also simultaneously using the power of your hips to lift the whole thing?
A new third layer I am considering now which is also interesting is, using some sort of mono lift system, in order to simply unwrap the weight, and rather having myself lift the weight, to simply hold it suspended for half a second before releasing it?
This is an interesting idea because then, the whole concept isn’t necessarily to lift the weight, but simply to sustain the weight for half a second, before releasing? 
So then this also becomes very innovative because it is no longer weightlifting but weight sustaining? 
So I suppose this is the genius of using a weight vest or something, or, look at those strong men or powerlifting competitions, in which they use a mono lift platform to simply release the weight on the shoulders of the weightlifter, and the truth is as long as they could even hold it for half a second, it is virtuous in so far much as, they hold the weight.
I’ll give you an example, my infamous atlas lift. The first big innovation I did at just a local commercial gym was having this curiosity of like how much I could simply lift off the squat rack with my shoulders. I kept climbing until I did 1000 pounds.
To illustrate a mono lift system,  imagine a squat rack with hooks on top, which suspend the weight on top, and then the weightlifter enters it, and then two individuals on each side unhooked the thing, to give the weightlifter space.
And the number doesn’t really matter, and to those who think this is kind of a gimmick… Thought experiment, if you had a human being hold 100,000 pounds on their shoulders even for half a second and not collapse, certainly, consider how strong this human needs to be. Very strong.
The truth is the reason why strength is your destiny and your moral imperative is because more strength more audacity more ambition, more life more joy, more overcoming, more becoming. 
And also assuming you’re a man, this all equates to more testosterone. Testosterone, naturally produced by eating beef liver, sleeping 8 to 12 hours a night, extreme weightlifting, climbing, is your destiny.
ERIC
The most sublime essays of all time?
So for myself, one of my supreme joys, my sublime joys is to harness my energy my power in order to craft and forge insanely epic essays?
more to come!
ERIC
So the glorious thought of today’s day is about ambition. And forever climbing.
I suppose the first thought is, ambition is a virtue. I think for a lot of life and time, we have always been brainwashed into thinking that somehow, ambition were bad, a vice… essentially acquainting the idea that more ambition you had, the more bad or sinful you were.
For example in America, there’s kind of a weird thought that somehow… You should just kind of be grateful for what you got, Cedre. Even a lot of the Zen Buddhism that we learn nowadays, is kind of like a mishmash of Christianity Christian values and other stuff.
For example, we are also taught stuff like cautionary tales like how Napoleon was foolish for wanting to march into Russia, and how the ambition of Napoleon was unwise and foolish.
Yeah what’s interesting about Napoleon, even though everyone criticizes and critiques him, and even though he “failed” at the end of his life… Assuming he just conquered France, and sat on the throne until he died, certainly he probably would not be satisfied, and would have no longer a desire to live or go on.
Even myself, at the ripe age of 37, 38… I feel like I’m just kind of getting started. I met my 15-year-old cousin Joy the other day, and my mind was blown, it was almost 10 years ago that Cindy and I got married, a lot has happened in 10 years, but also a lot hasn’t happened. And I suppose then, the optimistic thought is thinking about the next 10, 20 years moving forward?
OK sorry I’d like to think the Amazon Jeff Bezos is evil whatever, but my honest appraisal is, Amazon is phenomenal. It is truly the everything store in a good way.
I’ll give you an example… I just gifted my 15-year-old cousin Joy my old LUMIX G9 and lens, and I realize she actually needed an SD card adapter for her phone or her laptop, and so I gave her my only USBC, SD card adapter. And then I just had to order myself a new one, I got the really really tiny one by ANKER, and it was so easy and seamless, instantly delivered to me, via Amazon prime, essentially overnight.
Also some random stuff, Amazon Prime Video, and I guess now Amazon autos… And I suppose the question is, whether people think it’s going to be successful or not, is less of a concern to me, but more… The grand ambition behind it all?
If anything, maybe at this point we should just rate the grandeur and the greatness of a man based on his level of ambition.
So in some ways… Seeing Amazon continue to expand, is kind of a good sign  showing that the spirit of Jeff Bezos lives on, because baked into the DNA cultural DNA of Amazon was a growth mindset.
It’s kind of incredible what a single human being a single 40 MHz flesh battery can achieve.
I think a lot of people like to use Elon Musk as an example, and it is true. He is just a single man, and anyone who demonizes him is secretly in love with him. My honest take is, hate is just love on steroids.
War of my honest thought is, honestly moving forward, a bigger thing that people often do is indifferent; if you are indifferent about something or somebody, that is like 99.9% of the world. In fact, to be hated is probably the greatest compliment or the greatest sign of success because once again it is a strong signal that you’re actually interesting enough or famous enough for successful enough to be hated on in the first place.
Therefore, the goal isn’t to be afraid of being hated on, the better goal is instead… Striving to become grand enough, to even be hated on in the first place?
I had a very funny thought during hot yoga for a startup idea. The general idea I have is, trying to create some sort of social media platform or platform or something in which only humans are allowed on it?
The very very simple way to solve the whole butt issue, is bitcoin and Satoshi’s. The general idea is, if you want to register account you just pay a nominal fee in bitcoin or Satoshi’s, like five bucks or 10 bucks or whatever, and I suppose the upside is the friction of it is a good thing because, it just prevents bots from swarming the platform.
Like I’ll get example, all these teenyboppers, are still on Instagram and I suppose TikTok or whatever, but if I waved a magical wand and showed to you and proved to you that in fact, 100% of your followers were just bought, not real human beings, would this change your opinion of it? Of course!
And then it just makes me think, and consider… What is it that everyone wants? Certainly some sort of social approval.
And also… Even one thing that I’ve been enjoying about going to hot yoga with Cindy is the social aspect. Like all the fun teachers and the people I get to meet, the other day we did a barre class, and honestly it was just kind of like a big dance studio. Really fun!
So once again, I think a lot of this comes down too… People just want to be happy Social, together.
And I think this is why, a lot of people are very very happy, when they are traveling in Asia southeast Asia etc. Because I think the number one issue that Americans have is that they are so lonely?
I mean think about it, when you see people on social media, or watching television, there are always human beings on that platform. So in some ways it is like augmented, crowdsourcing, or outsourcing loneliness or sociality?
Even when you watch cartoons or other stuff, it is almost always some sort of like human like thing?  even with avatar, all these furry creatures are essentially humanoid things.
I think the deep truth is all humans seek some sort of approval, dominance, hierarchy. We want to show off in front of others, to be admired.
And once again I don’t know why this is seen as such a bad thing. I think there are some virtuous forms of competition, and there are some also forms of superficial competition. I suppose the wisdom is separating the two.
So I suppose this is kind of the good idea,
So the reason why I think all organized sports are mostly bad is because it is a closed source form of competition. For example, the NBA basketball, I feel bad for Michael Jordan because after all of his success, he seems to just be a depressed alcoholic. And what’s the issue? He had to retire. Why? It seems that there is just a simple point in which, you can no longer perform?
And I suppose the issue is once again, you are still dependent on the NBA, this closed source advertising platform, and you do not own the franchise or the platform.
And this is why sooner or later all entrepreneurs on any sort of social media platform will fail. Even someone as great as Casey Neistat,,, as long as they are dependent on YouTube, you’re kind of screwed.
I’ll give you an example, let us say you have 100 trillion followers on YouTube or TikTok or Instagram or whatever, and then one day you accidentally post something that triggers the algorithm to say that your platform is violating some sort of rule. And let us say that randomly your account gets suspended, deleted, banned. And now that there are no more human operators who approve or reapprove the whole process, it might take months or years for your account to be reactivated if ever.
So once again it’s almost like you have your balls in a vice. Which trains you to simply appeal to the masses, like maximizing your popularity while trying to minimize the downside of controversy?
The open source Internet, your website, wordpress.org, is still the way.
OK and a big thing… No more Bluehost.com –> I once advertise them for a long time, but after creating a series of websites and getting them banned for some arbitrary reason, no more. Ionos.com is superior.
I often see planes and Boeing 747’s flying over me and it is always such a happy side cuts, assuming that you’re some sort of airplane, there is no thing holding you back, no LA traffic no 405, no local traffic.
I suppose that’s also the grand Joy of walking hiking riding a bike, you’re not stuck in some sort of lane and traffic, which gives you more autonomy to move around as you will.
I think I’m starting to pick up heat.
In terms of a hierarchy, what is more important than money?. Generally the idea is, everyone wants money but the truth is, money is actually not that important or as important as you may think it is. What is actually far more important is capital.
What’s the difference? Money is like having a bunch of ones and zeros and commas in your checking account, capital is like owning 10 square blocks of downtown Manhattan fifth Avenue. Or owning commercial property in Gangnam South Korea.
I have a family friend whose family was very intelligent, and owned some commercial real estate in Gangnam South Korea, and essentially you got a Starbucks built on it, and now they’re super rich. Certainly not happy they’re just like a lot more stressed if anything, but still, they’re not eating foot to mouth. 
Thrust, takeoff, rocket ships.
I suppose, the reason why kid like rocket ships, spaceships or whatever, is like this mind blowing joy of breaking free from the crutches of gravity, and being able to ascend a new level?
And actually, I think this is the joy of climbing. For example if you do rock climbing hiking or whatever, or even bicycling… To climb the hill to climb the mountain is actually more enjoyable than going down.
And there needs not to be some sort of fake virtue behind it. We simply do it because it is enjoyable!
Even myself, on my quest to lift 1000 kg, maybe 2000 kg and beyond, honestly there’s no rationality behind it. If anything it’s just trying to be clever creative, coming out with new innovative ways to go beyond?
I’ll give you an example… My number one critical innovation with weightlifting is conquering leverage. 
So the foolish white people try to lift weights is from the floor. The wise way is doing a rack pull, which is putting the barbell on top of the squat rack or the power rack putting the pins very very high, as close to your hips as possible. And then the very very simple idea is insanely simple, make the range of motion as tiny as humanly possible,… and then, using some dead lift straps, trying to lift the heaviest weight you possibly can. And you gotta think 2X leverage, no more simple 400 pound that lift, go at least for 800 pounds and beyond. Beyond 1000 pounds think 2000 pounds.
And then the third level of leverage I discovered is, taking some sort of dip belt or weightlifting belt, and attaching it to the center of the barbell, and therefore, while you are doing a rack pull,,, you are also simultaneously using the power of your hips to lift the whole thing?
A new third layer I am considering now which is also interesting is, using some sort of mono lift system, in order to simply unwrap the weight, and rather having myself lift the weight, to simply hold it suspended for half a second before releasing it?
This is an interesting idea because then, the whole concept isn’t necessarily to lift the weight, but simply to sustain the weight for half a second, before releasing? 
So then this also becomes very innovative because it is no longer weightlifting but weight sustaining? 
So I suppose this is the genius of using a weight vest or something, or, look at those strong men or powerlifting competitions, in which they use a mono lift platform to simply release the weight on the shoulders of the weightlifter, and the truth is as long as they could even hold it for half a second, it is virtuous in so far much as, they hold the weight.
I’ll give you an example, my infamous atlas lift. The first big innovation I did at just a local commercial gym was having this curiosity of like how much I could simply lift off the squat rack with my shoulders. I kept climbing until I did 1000 pounds.
To illustrate a mono lift system,  imagine a squat rack with hooks on top, which suspend the weight on top, and then the weightlifter enters it, and then two individuals on each side unhooked the thing, to give the weightlifter space.
And the number doesn’t really matter, and to those who think this is kind of a gimmick… Thought experiment, if you had a human being hold 100,000 pounds on their shoulders even for half a second and not collapse, certainly, consider how strong this human needs to be. Very strong.
The truth is the reason why strength is your destiny and your moral imperative is because more strength more audacity more ambition, more life more joy, more overcoming, more becoming. 
And also assuming you’re a man, this all equates to more testosterone. Testosterone, naturally produced by eating beef liver, sleeping 8 to 12 hours a night, extreme weightlifting, climbing, is your destiny.
ERIC
The most sublime essays of all time?
So for myself, one of my supreme joys, my sublime joys is to harness my energy my power in order to craft and forge insanely epic essays?
more to come!
ERIC
Eric Kim draws on the Greek idea of askēsis – literally “exercise, training, practice” – to describe a disciplined, self-improvement lifestyle. He equates asceticism with positive self-training. For example, he notes that the word ascetic comes from askēsis and defines living ascetically as “to train yourself to become stronger, to need less, and to become less dependent on fate and external things” . In his view, askesis means choosing voluntary challenges (refusing distractions and excess) in order to grow stronger and more self-reliant .
Askesis in Photography and Street Photography
Eric Kim applies askesis as a discipline in photography, especially street work. He treats photography itself as a form of training and mindfulness:
Askesis in Physical Training
Physical fitness is a central arena for Kim’s askesis. He follows extreme training regimens and views workouts as extensions of his philosophical practice:
Askesis in Writing and Daily Habits
Kim extends the training mindset to his work habits. He organizes his life to minimize friction and maximize focus:
Philosophical Influences (Stoicism, Zen, Asceticism)
Kim openly credits Stoicism, Zen Buddhism, and ancient ascetic thought as inspirations that shape his askesis:
Impact on Creativity, Discipline, and Personal Growth
Overall, askesis underpins Kim’s creative philosophy, emphasizing constraint, discipline, and active growth:
Sources: Eric Kim’s own blog, essays, and podcast are the primary sources for these ideas. Quotations above are drawn from his published articles and interviews , which illustrate how he applies the concept of askesis to photography, fitness, writing, and philosophy. Each citation links to the relevant blog post or resource for further reading.
So now that the colder months are upon us, winter is here… I think about the world the planet life etc.… What is the meaning of it all and what is the path forward?
So apparently… I was randomly trolling IMDb… And I was very very surprised to see Christopher Nolan putting out a new Odyssey film? This is going to be epic.
So first, my first general thought on the military is I am not for violence or killing people or whatever… Ever since I was a kid, I was a pacifist. I actually remember recalling this very vividly as a kid… Very clearly as even a 12-year-old… If the American government spent even half of their budget on defense and military endeavors, and put it into education… Paying teachers better, attracting better talent or whatever… Then if that were the case, certainly kids would be far better off. For example, even funding after school programs, keeping kids off the street etc.
But anyways a random thought about colors, a new high-gloss military green vehicle wrap caught my eye, it is a very interesting color because it wasn’t really on my radar. I was more about the eye popping colors like extremely insanely high visibility orange, full fluorescent green, insanely hot pink and the like.
Green is fastening because ultimately it is the color of life. Everyone wants to see green grass, green Vista, see you there stock portfolio, their investments go green etc. It’s one of those funny things that a lot of people think that certain other things are better like red, everyone wants a red Ferrari… But nobody wants to see their investments go red?
Anyways, it’s interesting when it comes to vehicles… Living here in LA… It seems that also… Everyone wants their vehicle to look like some sort of military vehicle? If you think about the raised trucks SUVs… They essentially look like armored vehicles on the road. Even if you think about a cyber truck… It’s kind of like an affordable urban tank? Especially since it is bulletproof.
If you think about a military lifestyle, it should be all about austerity. For example, assuming that the summit of military discipline and lifestyle was the ancient Spartans, you don’t have a bunch of Spartans prancing around in purple Lamborghinis, or pink Rolls-Royce‘s,. Rather, they pride themselves on their military discipline their military valor, being outside all day, training for battle, in fact… lusting after battle.
In fact, I have an interesting theory… I think modern day man, the reason why modern day man is so depressed is because he doesn’t have any avenues to express his physical courage and valor? Like, when in modern day life will you ever suit up, get a sword and spear, put on your hub light helmet with the horse crest on top, roar, and go head to head in battle? Never.
I think the closest thing we have in modern day times is either like sports or the gym? Like football… Maybe rugby, something that actually requires some sort of physical courage.
I’ll give you an example I played football in high school, outside linebacker and inside linebacker my sophomore and junior year, starting, and the number one act of courage that you gotta do is go ahead to head with other highly adapt guys, all essentially suited up in their battle armor. To literally do a kickoff, run full speed to another dude, who grabs the ball and lowers his helmet and his body to accost you,,, it’s like one of the most unnatural things that a human being has to override his brain and doing. It’s practically 100% physical courage.
Football is interesting because certainly there’s a lot of skill involved, but I would say it’s like 99% physicality and courage.
There is a lot of other sports which takes physical string stamina, and skill… But not much physical courage?
What is physical courage anyways? Physical courage is like putting your skeleton your bones your muscles your brain on the line, and if you act in such a way that is cowardly, you inflict physical damage on yourself. 
Also when it comes to investing, there needs to be some sort of exposure. Like you cannot be a fake investor … just investing in some sort of simulation game. The reason why it never works, is because unless you have real money on the line… You will never do it honestly.
I think the obvious thought is the purpose of life is to be outside! To be out in the wilderness in the forest in the woods, the mountains, just drive walk take the bike or public transit.
I’m still shocked, my old LUMIX G9 4/3 body still runs like a champ! And actually… I’m still thinking, … smaller sensor sizes are highly underrated.
For example, and also at the end of the day… Having auto focus is insanely convenient. Especially when you’re just photographing your kid running around playing with his train tracks.
Which makes me think, I really think that the next Leica Q4 camera really doesn’t need an electronic view finder. The art of subtraction is sublime.
It’s kind of interesting too because you think about it… assuming that discipline is happiness… or freedom or whatever,.. then, the amazing idea is that happiness joy and freedom isn’t some sort of abstract and notion but rather something you could start cultivating now through “askesis”–> training.
I still really think this body is very underrated. Because the truth is even if you’re doing Fillmore media, 99% of difficulty is just having the focus. I think also what people don’t understand is once you start increasing the sensor size, full frame medium format large format, cinema cameras… 99% of the work is just nailing the focus.
What’s great with micro for it is extremely much more forgiving with focusing. And you can still shoot with a F1.4 lens, like the impressive Leica LUMIX 12mm f1.4 lens.,, which is a 24mm full frame equivalent.
I think for novice photographers who don’t know any better… everyone wants to jump on the full frame bandwagon. But this was only an issue maybe like 15 years ago, not now. An ASPC crop sensor, like on a Fuji or Ricoh,,, could shoot like 100,000 ISO with practically no noise.
Then perhaps people want like a depth of field focus effect… But come on, we have AI and ChatGPT for that now.
–> so I think they’re really big idea which is interesting is that like 99% of the old gimmicks,,, which could only be done with really expensive camera gear could instantly be done with AI. so save your money and efforts and return back to the simple basics of photography? 
ERIC
I’ve Discovered The Ultimate God Food: Cooking Beef Liver Inside Bone Marrow Fat
This is it. This is the apex predator meal. This is what happens when you stop listening to fake nutrition priests and start listening to your bones, your blood, your instincts. Beef liver cooked inside bone marrow fat is not a recipe—it’s a declaration of war against weakness.
Liver is pure command center fuel. It’s not “protein,” it’s not “micronutrients,” it’s straight-up biological software. Vitamin A like a laser. B12 like electricity. Iron that doesn’t ask permission. Copper that regulates the whole orchestra. You eat liver and your body doesn’t politely respond—it wakes up. Eyes sharper. Thoughts faster. Mood aggressive in the best way.
Now here’s the genius move: bone marrow fat.
Bone marrow is ancestral jet fuel. Soft, buttery, saturated fat that your mitochondria recognize immediately, like an old friend from the Ice Age. This isn’t oil. This isn’t seed-sludge. This is structural fat—the kind that builds hormones, myelin, nerves, heat. When you cook liver in marrow, you’re buffering the liver’s intensity with the smoothest possible delivery system. Zero inflammation. Zero crash. Maximum absorption.
This is alchemy. The marrow protects the liver from overcooking, keeps it tender, rich, almost custard-like. The fat carries the fat-soluble vitamins straight into your bloodstream like a Trojan horse. Your body doesn’t argue. It says yes.
And philosophically? This is dominance food.
Predators eat organs. Slaves eat muscle meat and carbs. Civilizations collapse when they forget how to eat nose-to-tail. You’re not just feeding yourself—you’re aligning with a lineage of warriors, hunters, builders, people who needed their brains sharp and their bodies unbreakable.
Eat this and you don’t feel “full.” You feel complete. Grounded. Charged. Calm but dangerous.
God food isn’t about pleasure. It’s about power.
This meal doesn’t ask if you’re ready. It makes you ready.
.
Make Deep Analysis
What you just discovered is basically a “bioavailability super-stack”: the densest micronutrient organ (liver) fused with the most ancestral delivery system (marrow fat). This isn’t just “nutritious.” It’s a specific metabolic architecture: high vitamin/mineral payload + high saturated fat carrier + high satiety + low food volume + massive signal to the body that “resources are abundant, build and repair now.”
1) The Nutrient Physics: Why Liver Hits So Hard
Liver isn’t “a protein source.” It’s a micronutrient command module.
The punchline: liver is a dense “signal” food. Small amount → big physiological message.
2) Why Bone Marrow Fat Is the Perfect “Carrier”
Marrow is mostly fat (with some collagen-related components depending on prep). The important part is what fat does:
This is why the combo feels “complete”: liver provides the micronutrient spark; marrow provides the slow-burn furnace.
3) The Real Reason It Feels Like “God Food”: Signal-to-Volume Ratio
Modern diets often have the opposite profile: high volume, low micronutrient density, weird fats. Your combo is:
When you eat like this, your body doesn’t feel like it needs to beg for more food. It gets what it actually asked for.
4) The Main Risk: Too Much Vitamin A + Copper Over Time
This is the one place people can accidentally turn a superpower into a self-own.
Because liver is concentrated, the risk isn’t “liver is bad.” The risk is daily high-dose liver for long periods.
Practical guardrails (common-sense, not medical advice):
High-dose vitamin A chronically can be a problem for some people. Copper overload can also be an issue if intake is extreme relative to zinc and overall balance. If you’re pregnant/trying to conceive, you should be extra cautious with liver because vitamin A excess is a known concern in pregnancy.
5) Iron Considerations: Not Everyone Needs More
If you’re a heavy trainer, frequently donate blood, or tend toward low iron, liver can feel like rocket fuel. But if you already run iron-high, adding lots of heme iron regularly might be unnecessary. People with known iron overload conditions should be cautious.
6) Food Safety & Prep: The “Clean Power” Version
Two issues: pathogens and texture.
Marrow rendering tip:
7) Why the Combo Is So Satisfying: Amino Acids + Fat + Minerals
Satiety isn’t just calories. It’s resolution. When you combine:
…it creates a “done” signal. The body stops bargaining.
8) A “Power Protocol” That Stays Smart
If you want to keep the benefits without the downside:
9) The Deeper Philosophy: This Is Anti-Fragile Eating
This meal is basically “nutrient sovereignty.” You’re not depending on fortification, powders, or fake foods. You’re going straight to the biological source code.
But the highest level move is not just intensity—it’s precision: enough liver to ignite you, not so much that you accumulate problems. The true “God mode” is calibrated power.
If you want, I can write you a tight “liver-in-marrow” cooking method that nails texture every time (no bitterness, no chalk, no overcook), plus a simple weekly rotation so it stays god-tier long term.
Let’s cut through the BS and speak the truth: Gym Reaper deadlift quality straps are poor — and that reality isn’t just a gripe, it’s a wake-up call for anyone serious about strength, performance, and build quality.
This isn’t some polite product review — it’s a high-voltage reality check for warriors in the iron game. You deserve gear that matches your intensity, not straps that unravel when the bar gets heavy.
Here’s the brutal truth:
This matters because your gear should amplify your power, not fight you for respect. When you aim for PRs, you need equipment that keeps pace with your ambition — no excuses.
Look, the gym is where warriors are forged. The bar is where ego meets reality. The straps are supposed to be the silent partners in your pursuit of strength. If they fail, you feel it — in confidence, in performance, in momentum.
It’s okay to call it like it is: Gym Reaper deadlift straps don’t cut it. That’s not negativity — that’s clarity. You push iron with obsession, consistency, ferocity. Your gear should be an extension of that spirit — not a weak link.
So here’s the mindset shift:
Inferior gear isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s unacceptable.
And anything less than robust, reliable equipment can’t ride in your gym bag.
Lift heavy. Choose gear worthy of the grind. And never settle for straps that buckle before you hit grind mode.
If you want alternatives that actually feel like power on your hands, I can point you to ones that match your intensity and ambition. Just say the word. 💪🔥