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To the obsessed,

Here are your weekly Ten Bullets. A list of ideas I can't stop thinking about- to help you build, create, and find your life's work.

PS- Ten Bullet is now at 17k subs. Massive thank you to everyone sharing it. Obsession is spreading. 🏴

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Now, let's get to the bullets:

1. On your life's gift:

"Can I just say one more thing to founders out there? Life is going to go fast - like, faster than you ever know. It's tempting sometimes to fall into the trap of just doing a startup, but that's not the path. The path is to do something that you think is going to be the expression of your life's gift to the world. And, you don't have many chances to do that.

[When I see founders spin their wheels, it's when they felt it was the right time to be an entrepreneur, but they weren't called to do something that was the greatest thing they could do in their life.]

And, so what I'd recommend to anyone who wants to start a company, start the type of company where if it works it literally becomes your life's work, and that your startup is the only startup, that you're all in, and that you're pursuing a mission bigger than yourself, that you'll fight for, that you would do even if you couldn't raise the money."

- Mike Maples on Seed to Scale Podcast (h/t Semil for sharing)

2. On what you're allowed to do:

These are just a few bullets from the blog post linked below.

• Hire a tutor
• Treat fines like payments
• ​Cold contact people Yes, even famous people. Or anyone who wrote something you like. Just make sure you have something to say or a good question.
• Dissect a cadaver
• Ask for free upgrades or coupons
• Charge more
• Market-test a mere idea by (1) setting up a landing page with an interest form and (2) buying a cheap social media ad campaign
• Pick a spot on the map that simply seems strange and just go there
• In general, just ask for things, even if you’ve never heard someone ask for them
  • It’s okay if the things are crazy. You can always mollify afterward by saying “I know that’s a crazy thing to ask for, but I have a rule that I always ask."

- Milan Cvitkovic, Things you're allowed to do [Blog Post]

It's easy to forget that life is a video game, and in most cases, we have 1000x more agency than we think.

PS- The link on 'cold contact people' above is an incredible blog post- 'What Should You Do with Your Life? Directions and Advice'​

3. On the extreme focus of Jobs and Gates:

Walter Isaacson on Steve Jobs:

"His strength and his weakness was his total focus of maniacal. 'I will pay attention to this and I won't pay attention to that'. You couldn't not get him to focus on things that he did not want to focus upon"

Michael Moritz on Bill Gates (h/t Frederik Gieschen):

“The most extreme desire to concentrate I ever encountered was young Bill Gates. After he had bought a TV to watch educational videotapes, he eliminated the temptation to watch shows or movies by disconnecting the tuner. He removed the radio from his car, lest news or music prevented him from thinking about Microsoft. For Bill and for Microsoft, the ability to shut off the outside world paid enormous dividends.”

Related- Keith Rabois on Peter Thiel's focus at PayPal.

4. On what makes content shareable:

"Give them something extra. Go above and beyond- that's the moment it becomes shareable."

"How do you have that other moment where they go 'Oh, I didn't expect it to go here.'"

"I think that's a critical thing a lot of people miss. If you go from value to immense value, or entertainment to immense entertainment, it becomes rewatch, and share."

- Oren John on Leader's Lens Podcast [21:00]​

Consumers obsess over what creators obsess over. That extra effort makes it impossible not to share.

5. On what to consume:

"I'm not a casual fan of anything. I'm a fanatic." - Quentin Tarantino

Life's too short to be casual.

6. On finding your obsession:

"It's more promising if you're creating something, rather than just consuming something someone else creates."

"It's more promising if something you're interested in is difficult, especially if it's more difficult for other people than it is for you. And the obsessions of talented people are more likely to be promising. When talented people become interested in random things, they're not truly random."

"If I had to put the recipe for genius into one sentence, that might be it: to have a disinterested obsession with something that matters."

'Disinterested' means selfless- done for it's own sake, not for money or status.

- Paul Graham, The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius [Blog]

I wrote more highlights on Twitter here. Highly recommend this post- all about the types of obsession that matter.

7. On happiness:

"I’m my happiest with a challenging project in front of me, a quiet room, and a blank calendar."

- Alex Hormozi [Twitter]

8. On 50,000 chunks, and voluminous productivity.

"It may require a full decade of arduous labor to acquire the expertise essential to distinction in any domain. Otherwise, one cannot claim the '50,000 chunks' of discipline-relevant knowledge and skills."

"Anne Roe concluded from her intensive interviews with 64 illustrious scientists that all exhibited a 'driving absorption in their work.' 'They have worked long hours for many years, frequently with no vacations to speak of, because they would rather be doing their work than anything else."

"The biography of the inventive genius commonly records a lifetime of original thinking, though only a few ideas survive and are remembered to fame. Voluminous productivity is the rule and not the exception among the individuals who have made some noteworthy contribution."

- Dean Keith Simonton, Greatness: Who Makes History and Why [Book]

9. On finding pain you love, and doing one thing:

"My nose is gushing blood. My legs give out. Sensory overload, everything is one giant blur. My body was shutting down. I felt like I was dying. And I fucking loved it. Some other element of me took over, animal instinct just kicked in."

- Jake Paul, Untold [Netflix Documentary]

Also interesting from this doc- the former CFO of UFC- Nakisa Bidarian, cofounded Jakes' promotion company with him. They've worked together since his first fight.

Bidarian told him:

"For you to achieve what I think is possible- you can't be a rapper, and a YouTuber, and a dancer, and a prankster. You gotta choose one."

Jake has been solely obsessed with boxing since.

10. On 'seeing where it goes':

"I often find when you don’t ‘let’s see where it goes’ with someone, it avoids situationships and temporary flings. When you date with intention and have expectations, watch how quickly people either fall off due to fears of commitment or step up because they desire authenticity."

- Nina [Twitter]

The danger of 'seeing where it goes' applies to more than dating, too.

I’d love to know what you thought of this edition. Reply toy this email, or tweet me at @zachpogrob.

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Stay obsessed,

Zach 🏴

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