AMA Vol. 1, 2023
If you’re a paid subscriber, we will also do a private AMA as well. Email me if you have anything you’d like to have answered.
I stopped doing Twitter AMA’s as the questions tended to get stale and repetitive. This was the first one we’ve had in a while, and while some people got blocked for asking me inappropriate or gossip-based questions, there are some good ones worth typing out.
Questions are in bold. My answers are below.
At which age did you start to be confident that you will be successful?
I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t grow up in suburbia with middle class parents. I was either going to, as 50 Cent said, “Get Rich or Die Tryin'.” Not really that extreme. I seek out material success much less than others.
But for me there wasn’t an age where I was confident. I knew what I had to do and didn’t sit around all up in my feelings like some spoiled brat who has a safety net.
What’s the primary reason one should NOT do psychedelics, And the primary reason one SHOULD
If you’re Christian, you can’t. “Psychedelics” are a form of pharmakeia. It’s not even up for debate. Prohibited.
Secular wise, if you have a family history of mental illness, a responsible facilitator would want to have a longer conversation about risk.
As for why one should, I won’t say. If it’s destined to happen, it will. Plant medicines aren’t a used car you buy. You feel a deep calling in your soul or you don’t. Anyone trying to convince you to explore these substances is up to no good.
What's the best internet marketing books to give someone who's "diving into the deep end" with no previous experience in the space?
Jeff Walker's Launch. Read some of my review in the article below.
Your SubStack is incredible. How can a SubStack writer differentiate themselves from the crowd? Especially if they’re starting from scratch in the writing scene?
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” - Benjamin Franklin.
Here is the issue with non-fiction writing that most people don’t want to tell younger writers, as it sounds arrogant. No one wants to be a dream killer.
Most people don’t want to write. They want to be the kind of person who writes. These are not the same.
Writing looks cool because writers center cool characters in stories who are also writers. John Boy in The Waltons was a writer. Stand By Me was narrated by a writer. That’s the image people have in their mind’s eye when they decide they want to be a writer.
Writing that people want to read results from psychological or spiritual trauma that you are prepared to share with the world.
Are you ready to talk openly about the worst events that have happened to you? Are you capable of channeling the pain to use it as a source of energy? If not, then why would anyone read you?
Writers can’t not write. It’s therapy. That’s why people who ask how to write are admitting that they don’t want to be writers. They’d already have a huge volume of work. It might not be that great. It may need an editor. But it would exist.
Writing is a terrible profession for people who are smart enough to do it well. That’s why only head cases are writers.
How do you talk about death when your children bring it up. My young girls see dead stuff in nature all the time and my 4 year old asked about it with humans. Struggle with this. I want to protect innocence but don't want to lie. Thank you.
We tell our children that we are going back to God. Which is what we believe. Even my more woo woo side believes we are all one. Which leads us to the same end. Life is a trip and then we return Home.
If you don’t believe in God, then tell you the secular truth. Life is a blessing because our time here is short. If we had unlimited time, we’d become bored. We should treat these lives as a gift we were given, and also a serious undertaking.
Is there a point where it would make sense to flee America / the west altogether?
This question is the male version of Eat, Pray, Love. You cannot escape yourself.
That’s why you want to flee. You’re not leaving “the West.” You’re trying to run away from your own issues.
Just how far away are we from being Men and Women again, without prefix. and will we ever get back to that place again?
If you’re a masculine man in today’s age, women will throw themselves at you. Feminine ones.
That’s why I tell men to focus on themselves rather than how, “Feminism is destroying the West,” or whatever trope is circulating.
The masculine men today aren’t on Twitter givin “pick-up” advice or ranting about feminism. They have multiple girlfriends willing to accept that state of affairs for the chance to be The One.
If you 30 yrs old today, single, had a remote job that paid 6 figures, where in the U.S. would you move? State and city/rural/suburb/exurb?
Why one place? Rent out a monthly in different cities and bounce around.
Questions like this tell me you imagine yourself to be adventurous. But you’re not.
If you have a true sense of adventure, move around. I’ve lived all over the country and world. Why settle in one place when you can find what you enjoy most?
Best way to go from small / medium profile to BIG account / influence.
Unless you have a larger account retweeting you, you have 0 chance of becoming a big account. Exceptions:
You go into riots and get good footage. Risk your life. That’s a young man’s game. If that’s you, then go for it.
You could also be an attractive woman giving “right wing” or “libertarian” hot takes. Or have a male ghost writer. (Most of those accounts are written by men.)
Those “How to Grow Your Twitter” courses are about having you pay for people to retweet you. If you’re just a regular guy, enjoy reading Twitter and making the occasional comments. Don’t waste your time with big dreams of having a big account. (Which is a stupid prize to win, anyway.)
Any non standard advice on dealing with loss (death)?
Peter Attia Episode #208. Sad and beautiful.
I am so glad you're writing here as well as Twitter - the more the better. Thanks.
i love your parenting posts. whats one of the top reminders you tell yourself each day as it relates to your kids? do you have a habit around this so you keep consistency with your messaging, disciplining etc?