To the obsessed,

Today, I ripped 16 miles through a downpour in Manhattan. It was chaos in the most beautiful way. On the first half, running down Bowery and 5th Ave, I saw one other human running. One.

It's important to do things that remind you you're not normal. Waking up, and running further than you've ever ran. Reading a book for 24 hours straight. Traveling alone. Saying hi to strangers. Reinventing yourself overnight.

In a world where uniqueness is rarer than effort, your edge needs to be sharpened. Daily. It's the only way out of the bloodbath of average.

Running like this would be hell for some, but for me (and many other savages) it's a spiritual experience. I recommend it.

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ONE UPDATE: TEN BULLETS IS GOING TO 2X/WEEK.

Every Sunday, I'll send out a longer essay on something I feel has to be said. On the same topics we cover here, and that I write about online- obsession, creativity, and building something only you can.

I'd like to publish one book a year, starting next year, so this is a good way to work through ideas in public.

One promise: I will obsess relentlessly to make sure every essay is worth reading.

Now, here are your weekly Ten Bullets. A list of ideas I can't stop thinking about- to help you build companies, create art, and follow your obsession.

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1. On obsession:

"if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was."

- Charles Bukowski (so you want to be a writer?)

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2. On lifestyle-first brands:

"What would it mean for brands to stop pointing to culture, and to start being it? To do so, they would have to go far beyond marketing, to offer meaningful modes of participation. Is it even possible for companies to be in service of something greater than themselves."

"Cultures have their own language, objects, and knowledge; their own stories, aesthetics, practices, people, and places that all make sense together in a coherent way. They have behaviors they condone and reward, and behaviors they deem unworthy. And each has its own moral sensibility."

"Because making culture is about more than making music and making graphic design: it’s about making people."

"As a consumer, you subscribe to one vision or another: what’s your version of hiking out doors? What type of vibe are you about? Purist? Gorpy? High intensity? Meditative? But in all cases, the branded subculture itself is the main thing, while the role of physical goods is diminished. Their job is not to drive value, but to add another layer of depth to the community, to enshrine the practices. In the case of larger corporate partnerships, the audience for the products does not have to be pieced together from various demographics; it is the participants in the already-existing branded subculture."

Great blog post.

The basic idea- brands are flipping from attaching/targeting specific lifestyles, to being lifestyle first. The religion comes first, the product comes second. Highly recommend this (long) essay if you're building any type of community-focused company.

- Toby Shorin, Life After Lifestyle​

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3. On risk:

"Leap, and the net will appear."

- Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way​

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4. On your Life's Task:

"Let us state it in the following way: At your birth a seed is planted. That seed is your uniqueness. It wants to grow, transform itself, and flower to its full potential. It has a natural, assertive energy to it. Your Life's Task is to bring that seed to flower, to express your uniqueness through your work. You have a destiny to fulfill. The stronger you feel and maintain it-as a force, a voice, or in whatever form- the greater your chance for fulfilling this Life's Task and achieving mastery."

"Eventually, you will hit upon a particular field, niche, or opportunity that suits you perfectly. You will recognize it when you find it because it will spark that childlike sense of wonder and excitement; it will feel right. Once found, everything will fall into place."

"You must understand the following: In order to master a field, you must love the subject and feel a profound connection to it. Your interest must transcend the field itself and border on the religious.”

- Robert Greene, Mastery​

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5. On building for forever:

"No one would have known Walt Disney's name if he started Disney and sold it five years later."

- David Senra (Interview with David, by Compound)

Great interview of David I haven't seen shared elsewhere. Loved this answer on his obsessive focus:

"I'm relentlessly focused. I won't allow myself to think about anything else but making the podcast. I'm not starting another company. I'm not running a fund. I am reading books and making podcasts. I have one focus. I found what I want to do and I'm going to do it for an excessively long time."

“The greatest entrepreneurs had one idea. They built everything around that one idea. There might be things that spawn off of that idea later on. There are other businesses that can grow out of that, other business lines, other products. But fundamentally, they start with an idea.”

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6. On ambition:

"Almost every person in your life will try to convince you to be less ambitious when you are young.

They will tell you to be realistic.

They will tell you not to take too much risk.

This will come from family, friends, and mentors alike.

Don't listen to them. They are wrong.

Ambition is the gasoline needed to live an extraordinary life."

- Anthony Pompliano (Twitter/X)

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7. On money:

"Money is the best video game ever created."

"If you neglect your children to play video games, it’s a nationwide news story. If you neglect your children to play the money game, it’s a Tuesday."

- George Mack (Twitter/X)

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8. On purpose:

"Every person is going to find in their life what they want to do, because they're going to have a hard time doing anything else."

​- Wendigoon Interview with the Backrooms Mastermind - Kane Pixels (YouTube)

This is what @Wendigoon8's dad told him when he dropped out to pursue content.

Obsession isn't what you want to do. It's what you can't not do.

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9. On winning:

"Make money by making concentrated bets on yourself.

Lose money by making diffuse bets on others.

Invest money by betting on people you would work with, running businesses that you could run."

- Naval Ravikant (Twitter/X)

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10. On obsession:

Obsession directed outward creates a magnificent fire, that the world watches in awe.

Obsession directed inward engulfs you in flames, and burns you alive. Direct your gift towards creation, not consumption.

Build a spectacle, but don't become one.

(Share on Twitter/X)​
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To read the Ten Bullets archive, click here.

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Stay obsessed,

Zach 🏴

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