If I regret anything from my past, it’s not living more authentically.
Living authentically means living honestly, doing what you want to do, and speaking your mind honestly.
This doesn’t give you a license to treat people like sh*t and tell her she looks fat in that dress, but it does mean talking about what you want to talk about and giving your raw honest opinions.
You might lose some friends, but those are the fake friendships you didn’t enjoy anyways.
On the other hand you’ll attract the people you’re more compatible with, and those friendships will be more authentic and genuine.
Overall you’ll probably find that people will be more drawn to you than before because authenticity and confidence to speak one’s mind is attractive. Sadly authenticity has also probably become less common in an increasingly politically correct world where more and more people are insecure, wearing masks, and playing it safe out of fear of offending people.
For example I generally find small talk pretty boring. Talking about surface-level bullshit is boring. I like to cut to the meat and talk about more interesting things that expand my world and shift my perspective – things like controversial topics, etc. I’ve had some pretty great conversations and developed some close connections because I dove headfirst into the interesting topics. You’re not going to enjoy yourself or develop real connections talking about trivial surface-level bullshit.
Living authentically also means doing what you want to do in life. It means having the courage to work on some project you’ve always wanted to do. It’s having the courage to leave a miserable soul-sucking job or career to do something else you’d rather be doing. It means moving to that city or country you’ve always wanted to live in, and asking out that girl you’re interested in.
In the spirit of authenticity, I’m going to say some random maybe slightly controversial hot takes
- Humans are not biologically sexually monogamous. It can be done, but it’s a choice rather than some natural law. Biologically couples are wired to be attached to each other just long enough to procreate and raise the kids to a certain stage of self-sufficiency, then the hormones (”drugs”) wear off and the drive to diversify the gene pool kicks in.
- Domination is inherent to sexual attraction. Although individual preferences vary, in general men like to dominate, and women like to be dominated – a truth that can lead to cognitive dissonance in feminists.
- Virtual reality will never become mainstream until it is as frictionless as putting on a pair of sunglasses, contact lenses, or via some neuralink type thing that connects to your brain. “Metaverse” is a buzz-word used mostly to shill crypto Ponzi gaming shitcoins.
- Tik-Tok is a cancer to society similar to cigarettes, with the additional feature of enabling the Chinese government to mind control the Western youth via their ownership of the algorithm. Tik-Tok has reduced the attention span, discipline, and intelligence of the youth, while increasing degeneracy, vanity, and depression.
- Most people are boring, float through life submissively, don’t think critically or deeply about anything, insecure, and lack courage. This is largely by design – the education-industrial complex is designed to breed disposable, obedient workers.
- Universal basic income (UBI) or something resembling it is inevitable as AI automates away most of the workforce. Without UBI, inequality will just increase until it reaches a breaking point. To me the big cities in the U.S like NYC, SF, LA already look a bit post-apocalyptic in terms of the blatant homelessness and poverty juxtaposed with such staggering wealth – but I suppose it’s not yet at “breaking point” levels.
London
I’ve been in London the last week. I love London, minus the weather. It’s way cheaper and more livable than NYC. Lots of greenery, beautiful architecture, great international food options, and extremely cosmopolitan.
I think people have the impression that London is expensive but it’s way cheaper than NYC, LA, Miami, Paris, or Rome. Tech salaries in London suck though, which is a real shame. If I were in charge of London or any city for that matter, I’d be trying to turn it into a tech hub as that’s where the wealth will be in the long-term.
I like the music here in the UK, it’s much better than the cheesy top 40 crap in the U.S. Here there’s more electronic music (eg. drum and bass). DJs seem to put more effort into actually being creative instead of just putting on the same pop crap.
London is awesome, but I’ll admit the grey rainy cold weather has gotten kind of old. Definitely ready to go somewhere sunnier and warmer.
I wish there a city like London, but with better weather. Asia of course has the best cities, but the time zone difference makes it a bit of a non-starter for those needing to work / wage slave for U.S companies.
Flying to India
Tomorrow I’ll fly into Amritsar, India. It’ll be my first time in India. I’m expecting a culture shock, which is exactly what I want.
Stuff I’m working on
I’ve been brushing up on crypto fundamentals, things like merkle trees, in preparation for interviewing for crypto jobs. Since I’m heading to Asia tomorrow, I’ve been admittedly taking it a little easier though. Will try to get some work done on personal projects / startup ideas as well.
Tech-wise I’d like to do more challenging work. The AI revolution will definitely automate away a lot of the mundane work, so the most secure position to be in will be possessing difficult and valuable knowledge.
Wanting to do something more creative as a hobby – maybe making videos again or something along those lines. I guess writing is a creative outlet, but who the hell reads blogs anymore.
Mental Health / Personal Development
Trying to be more present – in the sense of not being as lost in useless repetitive mind chat, and more focused on whatever I’m doing, of course while working towards long-term goals.
Trying to constantly push my boundaries and evolve, while enjoying and appreciating the process/journey.
I think if one is too comfortable, then one is probably not evolving and reaching their full potential.
My fulfillment comes from constantly pushing myself, evolving, and becoming a better person every day. This is a continual process that must be constantly practiced. By default people don’t always move up in a straight line – people can regress. Don’t take progress for granted, keep at it, and be grateful for the journey.
As one gets older, it’s common to get jaded. Screw that. Don’t be that jaded person who’s lost their enthusiasm for life. Jadedness is just a pessimistic perspective. Find things to be enthusiastic about, look outside your comfort zone, and develop the habit of seeing the glass half-full.
Ok enough self-help BS, go out and crush it.
J. Savage 