Tim Denning Profile picture
Jul 3, 2024 21 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Zach Pogrob's work will change your life forever.

His writing on obsession takes 100s of hours to read. I've gone through it so you don't have to.

19 ideas. 19 opportunities to become obsessed. Image
"It tastes sweeter when it takes 10 years."

• We're trained like monkeys to chase short-term rewards

• When you play in decades there's no competition

Decide to follow your obsession for 10 years. Image
"Creation cures anxiety"

• Most people spend their lives stuck in consumption

- They own nothing

- They build nothing

- After hours they just drown in comfort

The obsessed do the opposite.
"No one is more anxious than an ultra-ambitious person with nowhere to go."

• Ambition is bullsh*t if you don't use it

• When would now be a good time?

• Some people talk. Successful people do.

Just shut up and get to work.
"If you don't want a normal life, don't always expect to feel normal."

- Normality is a curse

- Normal people get paid the worst. They're oppressed and manipulated by news/politics

Get the hell out of the hell of normal.
"You should spend time where time disappears"

1. If you're watching the clock you're doing BS work

2. The best work doesn't feel like work

Change your perception of time.
"It's important to do things that remind you you're not normal."

• When people say "that's weird" it's a green flag

• Obsession isn't normal. It's the best choice.
"Never apologize for being weird in a world full of normal."

- Social media craves authenticity

- We're tired of having normal people say that success is BS & we should lower our standards

Mediocrity makes everything in the world worse.

We must win the war.
"Focus more on your 5-9 than your 9-5."

• 9-5 equals level 1. Starting a business equals level 2. Get the f*ck off level 1.

• The only way to have time is to start a 5-9 first. Build after hours

One day your 5-9 will out-earn your 9-5.
"How to feel alive: work on something that takes over your life."

1. Obsession is chaos. It's work-life imbalance.

2. The best way to feel dead is to drown in comfort. Later in life you'll get regrets.

Obsession is what you can't stop thinking about.
"While you make plans, someone else makes progress."

• Plans are overrated

• Plans are useless because entropy runs the world

Turn your 5 year plan into 30 days of action.

You'll create 5 years of progress in 1 month.
"Fear tells you to run from the exact place you're meant to go."

- Fear is a compass. If you don't know what to do then now you know.

- What you fear IS the opportunity

Fear = Untapped Potential
"Some people stop because it's hard. Some people start because it's hard."

If it's not hard it's a bullsh*t goal.

"Easy" and "hacks" are where potential goes to die.

If it were easy everyone would do it. Choose what few people will do.

That's how you get wealthy.
"You won't get wealthy day trading."

You won't get wealthy trading days."

1. Gambling is a scam
2. Crypto trading is a scam
3. A 9-5 until you retire then die is a scam

Wealth is created in the mind.

If you think like crap you do stupid crap.
"The best decisions aren't made.

They just happen. Don't trust a choice you have to 'think' about."

• Overthinking is often a sign you don't really want it. But you think you want it.

• Decisions attached to obsession feel effortless

Obsession automates decisions Image Credit: Zach Pogrob
"Delusional optimism is the only way out"

- If you're pessimistic you'll never be successful

- Obsessed people see the world better than it is and they're creating this brave new world. Image
“When you truly follow obsession, flow state never ends.”

• Forced flow states lead to bad work

• Real flow is a practice that feels effortless because you've chosen the right goal.

Every day in flow leads you to live in a higher state of consciousness (pure euphoria).
"Obsession turns average people into outliers."

"One year of obsession can save you a lifetime of regret."

Obsession is simple:

1. You put more effort into it than feels normal.

2. You set deadlines that end in today.

3. You love the process, not the outcome
"You're a hyper-conscious primate with 4000 thousand weeks to live. Stop overthinking it.

Stop scrolling for happiness. Start creating it."

• All you have is today. A near-miss with cancer taught me that. Cancer motivation is powerful.

Maybe you need to face death?
"When in doubt, do what makes for a better story"

Your life is a movie

Habits turn your life into a video game

If you want to attract opportunities you must start sharing your story on social media

The more rock bottoms, the better the story & the better the opportunities.
If you want to build something in public and write about it to attract people to it...

Then get my free email course: How to Start Writing on Social Media. timdenning.com/startonsocial-…

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More from @Tim_Denning

Jul 29
Carl Jung once said:

"Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge."

Here are 11 things I learned from him: Image
1. “Where your fear is, there is your task”

This is why the work-life balance & self-care movements help people become losers.

Discomfort is where the opportunity is

Find what you fear & look it in the eyes

...otherwise you become mediocre and the rewards are terrible.
How to apply it:

• Figure out what you fear
• Set challenges to face the fear

As you face more fears, your confidence increases
Read 21 tweets
Jul 28
Charles Bukowski's work will change your life forever.

His work takes 100s of hours to read. I've gone through it so you don't have to.

11 ideas. 11 opportunities to upgrade your mind. Image
“Find what you love and let it kill you."

I gave up my corporate career to let online writing kill me.

Find the thing you want to kill you. Take the subject you’re crazy about & make it your entire life.

Work on it after hours. Then have this wild task take over your career.
“People are strange: they are constantly angered by trivial things,

But on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.”

The biggest debate we should have is with ourselves. What the heck are you doing in life?

Stop majoring in minor things.
Read 13 tweets
Jul 26
Keanu Reeves once said:

"I’m at the stage in life where I stay out of arguments. Even if you say 1+1=5, you’re right. Have fun."

Here are 9 things I learned from him: Image
1. “I'm Mickey Mouse. They don't know who's inside the suit.”

– Keanu Reeves
2. “Multi-culture is the real culture of the world — a pure race doesn’t exist.”

– Keanu Reeves
Read 11 tweets
Jul 21
I'm 39.

When I was 29 I worshipped identity politics, went woke & believed in the fantasy of equality.

Then I discovered Albert Camus, and he changed my life forever.

11 lessons from France's most controversial & unknown philosopher: Image
Albert Camus won a Nobel Prize

He pissed people off by not supporting Algeria's independence from France. His decision didn't age well. Algeria won.

He wrote 2 novels that changed history & made him famous, then was murdered at 46 in a car crash caused by soviet spies.
1. “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

The goal in life should be to reach personal freedom as fast as possible.

Being free is how you say F U to a corrupt system designed to enslave people.

Get wealthy then get free asap.
Read 14 tweets
Jul 18
The most dangerous, oddly glorified, yet overlooked problem in the world:

No sense of urgency

It's why you're stressed, lack opportunities, depressed & your life is always in chaos.

Here's Robert Greene's 10-step protocol to escape the hell of moving too slow: Image
Most people have goals but they never achieve them. They...

• Overthink
• Wait for the right time
• Rely on "passion"

Without urgency all you have is a fantasy.

Codie Sanchez: "It's better to die with memories than fantasies."
Step 1: You've gotta be desperate

If you don't want it badly then nothing will happen.

We make our "musts" come true, not our nice-to-haves.

- You must want it badly.
- You must do whatever it takes.
- You must ignore people's excuses.

Desperation is a superpower. It makes you do things your comfortable self would never dream of
Read 14 tweets
Jul 16
The currency of life isn’t money. It is not even time. It’s attention.

– Naval Ravikant

A thread on ethically gaining more attention online:
There is a formula for ethically gaining attention online without using ragebait or clickbait.

It's been passed down through generations and much of it is pre-internet.

Let's break it down.
1. Understand human nature

People don't give a f*ck about you & your brand, they care about themselves.

Appeal to their selfish desires and they'll shower you with their attention.
Read 20 tweets

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