16 Brutal Life Lessons for Ambitious People - Michael Smoak
In a Nutshell
High achievers struggle with hedonic adaptation, turning triumphs into obligations and fueling burnout; true fulfillment demands celebrating wins, processing pain openly (e.g., grief from father's death), and surrendering to trials that forge identity and resilience. Success stems from obsessive persistence—like 1,000 solo hours building a podcast—over discipline alone, paired with childlike play, vulnerability to heal, and rejecting scarcity mindsets for abundance. Defend reputation against false narratives with authenticity, lean on others during hardship, and prioritize service over status, as material pursuits chase fleeting feelings while spiritual purpose endures.
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High achievers have a hard time celebrating achievements because they view them as obligations. The group of people they hang out with makes the exceptional seem normal. Example: Conversation with a friend who ran 20 miles while speaker ran 16 miles; average person thinks that's crazy, but speaker remembers pride in first 10-mile run on Atlanta beltline, sunny day, hitting stop on Apple Watch and exclaiming "Holy shit I just ran 10 miles." Now it's normal. The carrot keeps moving.
Battle is learning contentment in achievements. Goal was sitting down for this podcast, listened for years, honor to be here despite host interviewing anyone. Line between pride, humility, graciousness, gratitude, and moving forward. Host forgot to celebrate wins, led to burnout. At four-way podcast with Sean and George, discussed romanticizing every thing in life so big achievements feel like victories, not obligations.
People that have high standards assume that they should always win. They should always succeed. And that turns success from a cause for celebration into the minimum level of acceptable performance.
Hedonic adaptation: New car or house exciting at first, then normal. Pernicious in personal growth: old PR becomes warm-up, status, precision, speed in tasks (salesperson, retail manager, blog writer). Standards outstrip ability, always feel like you suck, live in gap between where you are and where you want to be, not in the gain from where you were.
Alexander the Great quote: Wept because no more worlds to conquer (ambition outstripped reality). Actual quote: Realized infinite worlds, hasn't become lord of one, puny accomplishments. Ambition always outpaces reality.
If the higher I climb is the further I fall then why love anything at all. —from John Belion song "Why" with Luke Combs.
Our desire always outpaces reality's ability to meet it.
Jim Carrey: "I pray that everyone gets rich and famous and has everything they ever want so they can realize it's not the answer." Goal not money, status, authenticity (byproduct); stay tapped into inspiration. Realize minuscule nature, be grateful, serve others for fulfillment.
Material success without spiritual fulfillment can feel like the ultimate failure. —Tony Robbins. People at top feel empty, depressed, suicidal.
Memento mori for productivity: Never get on top of tasks (Oliver Burkeman). One day die, inbox keeps accumulating, people pissed not replying. Workload entropy defeats you. Liberating: Never get on top, pursue accolades but know they'll feel hollow by design. Quicker fulfillment: Have fun.
Advice to person with burning ambition: Become really successful, use the fuel, drive until run out.
Telling ambitious people ambition won't make happy like telling hungry man food doesn't matter as fat man; rug-pulling dream. More people speedrun careers, quarter-life crisis.
Objective: Treat achievements as game, fun (social media, podcast growth). Explore burning ambition, understand, decide identity.
Example: Host hit subscriber milestones, dangled carrot, burned out; maybe dinner. Million TikTok followers: Fun milestone, but not identity. People seek significance, seen, belonging, mattering, heard, understood.
If you can't talk about it, you aren't healed from it. You're only as healed from something as your ability to share it.
Speaker's dad passed January 19th, 2025. Long breakup, moved home to reset, spend time with parents before Florida. Dad not right, regressing over 7 months, no answers, epitome of helpless. Couldn't answer "How's your dad?" without chest/throat tightness.
36 hours before passing, gave presentation in Dallas despite fear; dad said "What, you're worried I'm going to die? So what? We've said everything. Go live your life." Hung on. In talk, discussed conviction, health as core message: Laundry list of problems until health problem, then one problem. Lived it. Picture of dad on slide, first time sharing story (day learned he was dying), broke on stage, silent 30 seconds in front of 300 people.
You cannot heal what you cannot feel and you cannot feel what you are unwilling to reveal.
Managed emotion first: Angry at dad for not caring for health? "How dare I?" Burying emotions doesn't heal; what you bury buries you, runs subconscious. Gave full permission to explore anger, sadness, grief, guilt, happiness. Processed: Now tells story without pain, uses to help others.
Your purpose in this life is to take what God delivered you from and turn around and help other people do the same thing. —Christian creator.
Biggest fear was dad's death/grief; made it through, healed, no crying/choking. Suppression of expression leads to depression.
ACT therapy (acceptance and commitment therapy): Accept emotions happening, let move through. Denying creates regress: Shouldn't feel shame → bitterness → frustration. Partner makes feel agitated/envious/insecure: Allowed to feel, doesn't mean act on it. Insight from allowing.
Confuse suppression for strength. John Mulaney bit: Irish parents bury emotion, die. Intellectualizing: "I'm pissed, but shouldn't be" blocks clarity. Other side of processed emotion: Divine revelation, love/gratitude for dad.
Pain is suffering times resistance. Pain inevitable, suffering optional. —Arthur Brooks (on host's show). Eliminate resistance, let pain teach, move through.
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Friend Chris Turner (dad passed 8 months before): Tribes have coming-of-man rituals (kill lion, hunt elk). America lacks; Lion King: Mufasa dies, Simba journeys, becomes king. Dad's death/months of pain turned boy to man; shed kid parts.
Learned nervous system stress threshold greater than thought. Dad had orthostatic hypotension (blood pressure drops on standing, passes out; similar to POTS, from destroyed liver vein). Massive fall risk. Nights on edge; mom woke half-dozen times at 3am: Dad fallen, pick up, clean blood.
Taught capability under stress, dissolved ego. Internet hate comments irrelevant after carrying dying dad to bath. Raised stress threshold, more patient, empathetic, values hardship, appreciates relationship more now he's gone.
Peter Cohen on podcast: Stop saying "lost dad"; found wonderful relationship worth this pain.
Michael Smoak reflects on his father's death, noting there was great joy at one point. He feels incredibly blessed to have a man whose qualities he aspires to half-emulate as a dad, husband, and person. This experience taught him what really matters, especially as his internet career took off—he prioritized his dad's recovery over success.
He references a sermon from Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell at 2819 Church in Atlanta, picked randomly from two years ago during their rest period in December. The sermon addressed the tension between personal desires and God's will, which was painful. Mitchell's dad was dying while 2819, now the fastest-growing church in the world, exploded in growth. Mitchell wanted his dad to recover more than church success, staying grounded and detached from future outcomes. Now, it impacts millions worldwide.
This taught Smoak to stay grounded amid career achievements, overwhelmed with gratitude for opportunities like this interview, feeling like he lives in a video game he must steward properly.
Every hard thing makes us more of who we're meant to be, aligned with God's design. References James 1:2-4: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds. Because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance run its course so that you may be complete and lacking nothing."
Smoak feels more himself, rooted in identity and calling post his father's ordeal. Counting it all joy turns personal worst into others' breakthroughs—he's helped people battle, manage, feel grief, and emerge liberated.
Quotes Jocko Willink ("landerbot"): "The best men have been broken." Indicators: twinkle in the eye, humility, humbleness, recognition of limits even if high. Smoak sees this in himself after two years of health kicks, especially post-health struggles.
Adversity pushes scrutiny of behavior, patterns, motivations, goals under a microscope, unlike smooth times. Feels the texture of existence—like swimming against a river current versus lazy river—uncomfortable then, beautiful gift later.
Greatest accomplishments germinate from lowest points; adversity is a terrible thing to waste.
Smoak's vulnerable hospital videos (blood transfusions) empowered others, including the host to make an episode admitting constant poor feelings despite pretense.
Health decline started 2.5 years ago pre-tour with James (post-COVID), noticing fatigue, less social desire, latitude (ill emotion), aversion to new foods/places, brain fog. 2023 felt like brain on fire, permanently on cocaine, like being 23. Worsened in 2024.
Example: Trip with Gymshark to New York, then Florida for Chris Bumstead and Ben Shapiro, arrived Boca Raton (not Baton Rouge, Louisiana). Recorded with Ben, at 6:30 p.m. went to bed, woke 7 a.m.; team did dinner/adventure, he felt on the outside, not himself, no mind access.
Continued worsening despite breaks—more gentle, more tired. Craved access to mind's texture, a lovely place.
Friend's dad, long ill with diminishing mental capacities: "This illness has taken everything from me, it's even taken myself." For competent/smart people with agency, relies on mental faculties. Humans fear chronic pain (suffering) and dementia (becoming burden unable to self-fix).
Hardest: not trying hard. Requires effort to be gentle; too much effort negates gentleness. Whipping self for insufficient gentleness compounds it. Tied to shame suppression, patterns, accustomed pace.
Hits at different ages (15 or 60); unfair timing, but reveals not bulletproof yet resilient/fragile—source of humility, empathy.
Develops chip on shoulder, something to prove. Past motivators (school doubters, bullies, unsupportive teachers/coaches) fuel young but fade. Nice to have existential enemy seasonally—like current health as bad guy, pit stop/lily pad to next level after dip.
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Mold affected brain area for word recall—purpose-built curse for his job (not for lumberjack). Biggest lesson: people around you want to help. Basic but vital, especially if competent/leader (podcast audience, gym-sorted, educating messy friends). Intimidates friends: "What can I tell Michael? He'll have it handled."
Leaning in, asking help: received more 2025 hugs than prior decade combined. Pre-live shows, Bennett hugged/prayed—stole nervous system/spirituality, felt nice. As only child, learned via instruction, not emergence (no sibling fights/makeups teaching team unity despite disagreement).
Ability to lean without feeling less-than crucial.
Terrified—finally arrived in dreamed U.S., own space/team, talking freely as desired; whipped away at foot-in-door moment. Felt unfair.
Many dying suddenly (car hit, shooting, mugging, fall) feel surprised/unfair in final moments: "This wasn't supposed to be me."
Slowly improving, one step; world provides new challenges. Got needed humility/ego-strip.
Disagreement on: "Words can only hurt you to the degree that you believe they are true."
Smoak didn't believe soft-cancellation accusers (diet cancel: Nazi, racist, MAGA). Didn't fear others believing—out of control, no fear. Threshold higher than left-wing creators' videos/photoshops (MAGA hat, clown with MAGA sign).
Pain from dad's sickness: Buddhism formula (Arthur Brooks)—pain × resistance. Argued doctors, forced 70-year-old dad's 20 pills. Like holding hot pan, burning; God: put pan down. Got supernatural peace surrendering to God's will—didn't mean stopped caring/helping (not passivity).
Blend agency/sovereignty with surrender; poor discernment makes surrender passive/nihilistic/lax.
Heat to speak on Minneapolis ICE incident killing someone (didn't watch news, algorithm-free; cancer/cortisol dump). Comments hammered him uniquely (friends none). Researched: awful murder unjustified.
Refused puppeteering. Prayed: does it honor God? Not attacking, loving; not fueling hate/division.
Video: "You don't want my opinion—you want first 5-8 seconds to enemy-label me. Murder/killing tragedy against God. Luke 6: love haters, offer other cheek, give robe too. Love blocks hate, changes hearts. Not political commentator; pressuring fitness/mindset creators unfair. Not party-aligned—fools/smart on both sides. Not your puppet; continue competent content. Love you."
Storm: 15,000 comments (split positive/negative). Hundreds stitched/attacked, evolved to Nazi/racist/MAGA (none said). AI edits good/funny.
Words didn't hurt as untrue. Insults hurt most when disbelieved but feared others believe—status besmirch, good name tarnished, false accusation pandemic. Pay costs without guilt.
Optics management key; repeated selective edits (omitted "any death tragedy," kept "not puppet" to seem arrogant) build narrative of consistent pattern.
There's a consistent pattern of behavior attributed to Michael. Even if you can refute it with evidence, indignation arises from being misrepresented. Imagine a false accusation without proof, like hearing Michael say something at a live event with no recording. Words hurt to the degree you believe them true and to the degree you believe others will believe them true, sideswiping your good name undeservedly.
If built on a false identity, you'd be nervous. A video feels authentic to true watchers who know you in real life; they'll support you more. Casual viewers or TikTok news consumers will unfollow and say nasty things, but those aren't the desired audience. Not here to appease or maximize fans, but to impact those prepared to listen. People thinking negatively based on an 8-second doctored video aren't prepared to listen anyway.
As you grow a platform, audience differs vastly. Cancellation can limit access; e.g., how many turned off Joe Rogan initially, though he reversed it during COVID. Chris Pratt faced backlash for being Christian; people avoid his movies assuming beliefs he doesn't hold. People make snap judgments on character, muddying the pitch, forcing an uphill climb undeservedly, creating indignation.
Identity in Christ as a believer; if actions honor God, stand on that. Built relationship with God, saw positive fruits from the video. Got nods from top industry people calling it reasonable. People respected intellectually affirmed it. > "If you're not pissing anybody off, you're probably not doing anything very important." - Oliver Ebenezer
Prefer radical authenticity aligned with character, ethics, morals over controlling narrative to win everyone. Avoid building success on false identity risking collapse if mask slips. Post-video, business and page improved; got love defending against hate. Advantage: Smoak's Razor - when asked to speak on a topic, they're asking you to agree with their position. E.g., "Speak on Iran" means say what they think about Iran; if opposite, unhappy.
World has contradictions: not Iranian or from Minneapolis but expected to comment; yet told men shouldn't talk about women's bodies (unless supporting contraception). Can't comment on gay rights (not gay), PETA (not chicken/cow), Ukraine (not from there), save oceans (not whale). Platform duty vs. only commenting on own group restricts everything. Better to say "I don't know" than add uninformed noise. Avoid positing as authority without expertise; don't hamstring others with agendas. Deprive world of mid-20s/early-30s white dudes with opinions by shutting up.
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Number one fear holding people back: fear of being perceived. Operate from deep trust/abundance, not fear/scarcity. Slogan: Where your fear is, there your task is. Lean into fears to build desired life. Not fear of failure/success (who will I become?), but fear of perception - middle schooler asking "What will they think? Will I be cast out?"
Levels vary: posting online (cringe/corny), public speaking (#1 fear ahead of death). Body reacts even if practiced. Friend said he'd rather die than speak to 2,000. Hits walls progressively: posting, cancellation, bigger audiences, public speaking. Fear confirms deepest fears: not enough, incompetent - childhood echoes.
Everyone hits perception wall: new content style, pushing jokes, vulnerability. View as fight to overcome? No - stay tapped into inspiration. Content flows until wall (e.g., cancellation from fat joke; big creators lied, blocked inspiration fearing perception).
Shift to dance: not maximize potential, but know parts resisting it deeply. E.g., seminars - explore "What if nobody shows?" like kid fearing empty birthday party. Understanding these parts makes fear fall away. Exponential curve; new level, new devil. Secret: familiarize with part saying you don't deserve it, process vs. run by it. Leads to different decisions.
Stay tapped into inspiration/God's messages. Content diverse: grief from father's death, then Oreo-flavored Coke Zero review (most viral). Ignore conventional rules; built business following inspiration. Dance with fear of perception.
George Mack embodies abundance: 30th pair AirPods, all in Bluetooth/Find My. Pairs lost worldwide - UN building, Kandahar, ocean, Deans dinner. Plays sound to beep them remotely.
Glass half full: things improve, take risks, spend, treat self. Many need opposite - pump brakes on risk. Needed Die with Zero by Bill Perkins to avoid scrimping. Never arrive if hoarding from scarcity.
Four-way podcast (with Indian man on diabetes/breastfeeding) as authenticity act, diversifying from interview/solo advice. Frictionless, relational - what people want.
Creator uses content as exposure therapy to people-pleasing: posts freely across topics. Three pillars:
- Informational: Authority teaching (creatine, public speaking tips, filler words).
- Relational: Goofy/human (Oreo-flavored Coke review, brain rot jokes).
- Aspirational: Overcoming hardship (Leo Skeppy: abusive relationship to wealthy/healthy; get-ready-with-me feels like FaceTime).
Combine for bought-in audience: teach, relate, inspire overcoming. Not ivory tower - human. Childlike expression breaks perception fears, makes interesting life/person.
We don't want the thing, want the feeling. > "You don't want the Ferrari. You want everyone to know you have the Ferrari and they can't." - Andrew Tate
Getting things
Having things isn't fun. Getting things is fun. We don't want the thing; we want the feeling it gives us. Pastor Philip Mitchell says everybody has a God-shaped hole in their heart and they try to fill it with the things of the world. Biblically, idolatry is a sin. Sin is God's way of protecting us from hurting ourselves because we're stupid, we make mistakes. To idolize something is to put it on a pedestal, implying it can never let you down. But things of the world are imperfect and will always let us down. Material success like a nice watch, nice car, status, success, money makes us feel significant, seen, heard, understood, important. It never does. It's the hedonic treadmill: you get the dopamine hit, then the Ferrari just becomes your car.
There's a more pernicious version: developing yourself with traits, skills, knowledge to appear smart. Naval wanted to appear smart, so he memorized tons of stuff, giving the illusion of being smart without actual understanding. Impressing people at dinner, being the most interesting person, or getting a black belt chases the same feeling. It's cringey to think a Ferrari fixes self-worth, but less obvious with 1,000 hours of meditation, black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, reading classics, Hoffman process, internal family systems, Joe Hudson's Art of Accomplishment podcast, transcending the Wilberian ego. It's the arrival fallacy: I will be when I do something else.
There's nowhere to get. It doesn't mean you don't achieve or build accolades—it's fun—but there are just levels to climb. Zero is death, when life is over. This takes the weight off, makes it more fun, easier. At the end of life, hopefully done a lot of cool shit. Ultimate mission: my dad, four weeks before he died, said all he hoped to hear is "well done, my good and faithful servant. You fought the good fight. You've run your race. Here's your crown. It's time to rest." That's scriptural. A man who lived fully, stories of adventures, great husband, dad—yet at the end, wished for three things:
- Spent more time at home with your mom, less on golf course with buddies.
- Been here for you guys more when growing up (though I perceived him as always there).
Achievements are fun. Gratitude for sitting across from you. Told my boy today: we do downloads on Modern Wisdom, got walks together in college. God's not going to say "well done, my good and faithful podcast host, content creator, business owner, husband, father, brother." He's going to say servant. If what I do glorifies God and I receive confirmation, that's the mission for all of us. Open heart to that possibility: still have fun pursuing, getting, having the thing, but understand the only arrival is the end, and it's all just fun. It's fun and service.
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The path to being the best version of yourself should be lonely. Loneliness is a benchmark you're on the right path. Everything has true opportunity cost. Cutting people, things, habits off is uncomfortable, but something incredible fills the gap.
At 22, had one friend, Will (best friend, still is). Felt lonely wondering why care so much about resistance training, progressive overload, hormesis, heat exposure, Dr. Rhonda Patrick on Joe Rogan, Chris Williamson, Andrew Huberman. Friends said "sick, dude" but no shared interest. Can't expect everyone to care about what you care about.
Lost 60 lbs at 21 when overweight, kept it off. Life got better: people treated better, energy up, clothes fit, felt better. Look good, feel good, play good. Passion grew: grandma died of Alzheimer's, interested in cognitive decline via exercise/lifestyle. Consumed podcasts/info obsessively for 7 years, just for own benefit. God preparing for this—use it daily in job. Spent 6 years alone walking, listening 1,000 hours. That's what it takes. Felt like for nothing; now in this room because of obsession with no visible payoff. Hormozi: do the work without promise of payoff. If you've outgrown old group without new one, it's a barometer you're on the right path. Seen in high performers.
Not romantic, steeped in uncertainty, self-doubt. Not sexy. Rocky training montage 3.5 minutes in movie; 4 years in reality. No promise of success. Constantly questioning progress: am I doing this right? Lost conviction: more yoga? CrossFit? Meditate? Read classics or philosophy or evolutionary psych? Self-generating education.
In Newcastle studio (first not in house), ex-garage extension in village near primary school. Spent 1,000+ hours on leather couch with salt/lemon water, Kindle, blanket, cushion. After decade as club promoter (sent/received 8 million WhatsApp messages), body twitched for dopamine from black-and-white Kindle. Learned lower stimulus, meditated, experimented. Coolest period: thousands of hours alone. Hormozi slept on gym floor hearing cars, partying kids. Heard families drop kids at school, still there later. Loneliness, self-doubt, lack of belief part of course—breaking mold requires weird path few self-select for. Born in towns, often only one in 5-year age bracket into this.
No, didn't think this would happen starting on that couch. No grand plans. Emergent, failing forward. Adulthood like pushed down stairs at 18, catching feet till death.
Two degrees: bachelor's business management, master's international marketing, year in industry (5 years uni, left at 23). Master's dissertation: started/finished in 36 hours on Red Bull, three bags questionable cocaine. Watched housemate's party degenerate while doing lines, finished wired. Walked it to town (couldn't drive). Got one of highest marks. Cocaine's a hell of a drug.
Should've done philosophy/psychology; wasn't fired up about business but thought functional (what job for philosopher?). 15 years later, remember nothing. Got to create own university course. Goal: respected by people I respect, seen as peer. Mount Rushmore of guests to turn idols into rivals/peers. Fuel: discerning person says "I love your work, like this approach." Still need Rogan (skittish, elk hunting). Managed most. Now forge something new, enjoying show, speaking to people like you, new generation of creators.
Collaborates with young talents like Joe Folly, Alex O'Connor, Dillanos Sullivan, Chris Griffin, Elliot Buick—10-15 years younger, an entire generation in internet terms. Becomes a platform for others after riding coattails of more successful people early in career. Eventually pays it forward, e.g., invited Angelo Summers, one of the best video essayists, criminally undersubscribed, to Austin for a talk. Not yet a kingmaker but getting there.
Would sit down for these conversations for free; did so before anyone listened. Took 2 years (150 episodes) to hit 10K subs, 3 more years to 100K (300 episodes). At 250K subs (450 episodes) when moved to America; now nearly 1,000 episodes, 50% done before move and under 250K. Stuck at 7K for nearly a year but loved it. Still prefers chatting at 5:20 p.m. Central over anything else.
If you want exceptional things, you have to be willing to work toward them for exceptional periods of time. 90% of people who didn't get where they wanted stopped too early.
90% of success can be boiled down to doing the obvious thing for an extraordinary period of time without convincing yourself you're smarter than you are. — Alex Hormozi
Obvious thing for podcast: not stopping. For social media: post every day for 6 months; 90+% wash out after 90 days. Hasn't missed an upload in 2.5 years. Extraordinary success from doing boring stuff consistently. Can't package it virally: get jacked by not stopping workouts/eating well/walking; successful podcast by uploading 1-2 episodes/week. People at top just kept showing up, even at 10% capacity that day—better than nothing. Many stop right before breakthrough (social media pop, gym flow state, sustainable eating). Would still do it for free even without sponsors/platform.
People mistake discipline (forcing it) or motivation (wanting it) for obsession (can't not do it). What looks like discipline is remnant of prior obsession. Gym obsession led to staying in to read bodybuilding.com forums (e.g., blueberry extract for gains); now a hardened habit.
90% of podcasts don't past episode 3; of the 10% that do, 90% don't past episode 20. 21 episodes puts you in top percentile of all podcasters.
Lonely chapter: uncertainty if doing it right, especially in UK culture disparaging of ambition, leading to 'millionaire flight'/brain drain. Has 'lifestyle-wide praise kink'—encouragement fuels him.
Early content sucks: MrBeast says create 100 videos knowing they'll suck to get good. Old content cringeworthy but necessary; suspend ego for skills to catch up. Inspirations are 15-100 steps ahead, not one step. British boys' top jobs: Premier League footballer (good sign), YouTuber—need resilience/patience in impatient culture.
Grown men love pro athletes because they're kids who never gave up dreams. Childlike wonder lost; retain it for easy content creation (e.g., open tabs episodes, playful stories). No strategy—treat like kid in sandbox building castles; all ideas are content. > Proverbs 13:12: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Fulfilled dream = inspiration flowing. Encourage adults to have fun.
Clarity and conviction is perceived by those who hear it as confidence and competence.
Communication is top skill; built career on storytelling. Not static—trainable muscle. Speak clearly, enunciate, with conviction → perceived as competent/intelligent/confident; people follow. Politicians like Barack Obama elected for this (best presidential speaker). > Bible: life and death in the tongue.
Public Speaking Challenge: Record 60 seconds unbroken on front camera phone (no topics, minimize fillers like um/you know), 30+ days minimum. Started organically: kid Brandon's video got 5M views overnight (0 to 40K followers), Gymshark/Cincinnati Bengals commented. Now #hireupwellnesschallenge: 28K Instagram posts, 60-70K people; some on day 381. Transformations huge; e.g., Jet Franen 0 to 500K followers, philosophical takes. Proof skills buildable: clarity, conviction, stream-of-consciousness speaking.
Duality: all style no substance criticized, but all substance no style ignored. > James Smith: "On my podcast, I speak to people far smarter than me but much more boring."
Everything worth saying has been said before, but nobody was listening, so it has to be said again with more clarity and conviction.
Great ideas need packaging/promotion. Protectionism ("too cool/progressive, people don't get it") avoids competition. Underground heroes sexy for that. Play the game to change rules—earn keep first; breaking rules without knowing them = not playing.
If you cannot do something as simple as return the shopping cart to its designated area, I'm going to assume you're a degenerate and your life is in shambles.
Litmus test for self-governing society member (Reddit greentext). Indicates shambles in home life/health. Jordan Peterson's "clean your room" for Walmart generation. Test of self-agency. Also: how you treat waiters/waitresses, dogs, service workers.
Americans rudest drivers, treat lanes like property (e.g., Atlanta: third worst traffic; eyes peeled, 15 over/under, angry). UK: if in front when indicating, car behind slows/flashes to let in—bad form not to. US: speeds up/slows to block. Driving equivalent of shopping cart theory: how nice if can't let someone in lane ahead?
Unless in a hurry, it's fuck you. Everybody's just in a hurry. Driving is a big culture shock—driving quality here is horrendous. Had to take the test, which explained why. Not necessarily stupid Americans, just distractable, caffeine-fueled WhatsApp messaging. We don't use WhatsApp over here, iMessage whatever. Using WhatsApp would probably fix it.
Tipping culture massive. In the UK, if you tip, you're being generous; 10% is insane. People don't. At Moody Center for Jelly Roll play, fully automated self-serve checkout kiosk for beers and snacks asks for a tip. No human—who am I tipping? Barista for black coffee in six-second interaction flips screen and stares. Service workers paid poorly in US, but for a robot? Not paying robot assistants. Sam Altman, sorry, not paying your downstream progeny. Boston Dynamics, not paying your robot assistants.
We got to go to dinner with Trigonometry and Richard Reeves. Where should people go? Higher Up Wellness on all platforms, Higher Up podcast. Just got news: Marathon Weekend in London, first live show at Bush Hall Theater, April 25th. Tickets go on sale this week, promoted on social medias, link posted to Instagram story soon.
I think I'm top 10 least formally educated guests you've ever had on the show. To you community college grads, there's hope.
Ranked in the most fucked Modern Wisdom guests. Appreciate you. Goodbye everybody.
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