lessons in creative philosophy

A philosophical discussion I see going around:

“What drives humans more: fear or desire?”

Have a moment and think about that.

It’s a trick question.

Fear and desire are two sides of the same coin.

You don’t fear death without desiring life.

You don’t fear failing without wanting to win.

You’re not scared of boredom if you don’t want action.

The greatest issue (and advantage) of this polarity is that it’s subconscious:

— When you fear death, you don’t actively think about desiring life. But that’s what you’re doing.

— When you desire success, fearing failure isn’t always on your mind. But that’s the whole point of your desire.

— When you feel bored, your mind and body crave activity - even though your focus might only be on your boredom.

Most countries go to war over this concept alone. Their fear of treason outweighs their desire for peace between nations - and they naturally crave action.

Last winter, my desired state was in front of me at all times. I had a horrible fear of living a mediocre life, which was what was being pushed around me everywhere.

And in that timeframe alone I made the most progress in my personal growth - when I had the stress of a feared state always behind me.

Why am I telling you this?

It’s because I figured out 3 new creative cheat codes.

Fear and desire are two of the most natural human tendencies.

What would happen if we could leverage them?

- More creativity
- More productivity
- Higher impact ideas

Here are 3 ways to use this concept to boost your life/business:

1/ Eustress

Stress isn’t a bad thing.

Double-check anyone telling you to accept, ignore or mope about stress.

Stress is a sign you need change.

It’s a sign you need action.

You need to be putting yourself under eustress, not distress.

Eustress is the pressure put on you to complete a task or achieve a goal.

Distress is anxiety - it’s pain.

You need to realize the feared state (not accomplishing the goal) is closer then you think. When you do, your desired state will be compromised.

With the eustress - you’ll gain a burst of energy/motivation unlike any other to complete whatever’s on your list.

Daily/timely deadlines rarely work for me.

It has to be ACTUAL stress put upon you by a higher force; it needs to be life or death, win or lose.

Here are some practical examples I’ve went through:

“If I don’t write that email today, I won’t have one for tomorrow, and my audience will get bored. (fear of abandonment)

“If I don’t meditate today, I won’t function better and have a clearer mind, so I can’t get my work done. (desire of completion)”

“If I don’t finish that project, I’ll have nothing to show my teachers, and I’ll be given a bad grade. (desire of success, fear of disapproval)”

The higher the stakes, the more creative and productive your brain gets.

You can finish the task no matter the time. You just need some good pressure.

2/ Self-Discovery

The more you know about yourself, the better entrepreneur you’ll become.

My biggest issue in life was always my lust.

I’m a very envious, possessive person.

Even at my best of times, I ended up hurting those around me (and myself) with that one singular trait.

So, I got to the bottom of it.

I asked myself three questions:

1) Why am I like this?

2) If I desire love, lust, possession and control; what do I fear?

3) What can I do to help myself?

I’ll give you answer #2.

I feared emptiness.

If I didn’t have a woman I could control, use or empathize with very frequently, I entered an agonizing state of loneliness.

Once I figured this out, everything clicked.

I started understanding myself and my desires more. I knew what made me tick, I knew what I was really chasing.

I used that as leverage.

I digged into my past for stories to use for emails and posts.

I found what I liked and didn’t like as a man, and used that to carve out my brand identity and life vision.

The more you know about yourself, the more leverage you have.

And business is a leverage game.

3/ Anti Vision

Hating yourself is an underrated tactic.

It’s what starts the chain reaction of incredible change and improvement.

But you don’t even have to hate YOURSELF. You can hate a fiction version of you.

Imagine yourself 15 years from now. Picture the single worst position you can be in - like, literally. What’s the most uncomfortable position you can be sitting down?

Imagine your career. Think of the single worst employment you can take on.

Not because it’s time consuming. But because you hate it.

Imagine your relationships socially and romantically in the worst condition possible.

Is there any specific factor you see between all of them that’s similar?

Is there anything that weighs all the anti visions down especially?

For me, there’s always one constant that has been with me for most of my life: chronic boredom.

Take all of your negative visions of your future and turn them into one big life. One big anti-vision.

Your goal should be to get as far away from that vision as possible.

Focus your energy on building a life that is nothing like your painful, boring and stressful anti vision.

Desire the fulfillment of your true vision. The future worth building.

The desire will - once again - act as a powerful motive.

You WANT the good life. Not the bad one.

Right?

Thanks for reading.

From now on, there’ll be two emails a week, one on the longer side like this, and another a bit shorter.

This is so I can focus on giving you all the best value each and every week.

See you soon.

Z2