Again Tim. You hit the nail square on the head with honesty and insight. Its a shame that "hacks" are not easy for most people. It takes dedication and belief. As Tom Hanks says in "A league of their own" Its supposed to be hard. The hard is what makes it great. If it weren't hard, everyone would do it." Don't be a mediocre everyone. Step out and take charge of your life.
These are great hacks. I would also add having a sense of urgency. If you don’t live like your life is on fire and you have to extinguish it, you won’t have the urge to take action towards your dreams
'Big Magic' is, indeed, a magnificent book. I've read it two or three times, so far. It strikes a wonderful balance between playfulness, insight, and practical tips.
Haha I was one of those expecting to hit $20k in a couple of months. Now I know the amount of work I should put in is larger than that. The cheat code? Put in more work after my day job.
Yes, and I can understand the discomfort - it's a mindset shift. It took me time as well to get started. But now that I look back, a decision, even a bad one, was better than no decision.
I loved them all, but especially resonated with two:
Make bad art every day - I’ve been a Perfectionist with pesistent feeling of not doing good enough. After reading the article, I am so inspired by
“Better to do a poor job than it is to never do it at all and drown in overthinking and “one day, someday, mayday!”
Build things, break things.
- Always be willing to walk away. This is exactly what I did several months ago when I closed my work computer and said goodbye to my new boss. I did not see myself doing this draining and meaningless job anymore. It inspired me to go crazy and finally change my career.
I love your statement “ Choose hard goals and let people call you crazy.” Goals can be hard but need to be meaningful for me.
The Silicon Valley elite think humans are passé and their strange bedfellow is the Christian right in the U.S., which are convinced that Trump is ushering in the end of times as described in Revelations. Here is more explanation:
Aside from that, the level of surveillance advanced by Elon Musk and enabled by Palantir and related entities will enable fascists to snatch people off the street who resist, or at the very least prevent them from getting a mortgage, having their vote counted, or getting their social security check. Aside from that, Mate, no worries!
It is very rare for me to find a person (even more than a writer) who I immediately connect with and almost agree on 100% of what he is saying.
I could probably use every paragraph as a quote for social posts.
Thank you so much for your sharing and will keep your thoughts to enlighten me as I progress in my new entrepreneurial career (after 30years corporate waste).
I wish I could have more time to catch up on all the backlog writings you had…
pretty much everything in the post deeply resonates with me.
i was made redundant from my corporate bank after 15 years of spitting blood just because some managers could not do their job properly (ever heard of Credit Suisse bankruptcy?) and i have been 9 months almost up to desperation on the market.
After i read your "“The ultimate goal is getting paid to be yourself” it clicked.
It was a turning point for me.
So thank you for leading the way to my transformation (at 54).
"I don’t want you to agree or disagree with my opinion. I simply want to make you think. When you think deeply your entire life changes." It did :)
Just FYI - I am new to Substack (only 3 weeks in), and in Linkedin (where i quoted you as well!).
But i founded my new freelance consulting company and wish to use my backlog expertise to help others doing the transformation. About PMO, Project management and Portfolio leadership with the upskilling of AI.
> The way I stay in a great mood is I expect things to go wrong.
I call it "The Power of Positive Pessimism." You assume things will go poorly. When they do, you're not disappointed. When they go well, you're pleasantly surprised!
Only building and selling? What about teaching? Healing? Are those fall into the category of building? What about maintenance? Power plants, sewage treatment plants, dams etc. Is it building? Entropy is a fact of life. Any worldview aiming to have any practical value has to acknowledge that fact. Properly maintaining critical infrastructure is more efficient than letting it rot and then being forced to rebuild it over and over again. Overemphasising the novelty value in decision-making is frankly a juvenile attitude.
I enjoyed this but by the end, I felt that some important elements were left behind, namely anythjng having to do with others, with values or with spirituality. As a set of career hacks, terrific, but personal success is a modest realm.
Even though I’m working a labor job, I’m starting sell products on eBay again and finding ways to write. I may have to do some stupid to get things really started.
Thanks, Tim, for another insightful post. I was most taken by #12: Be a Synthesizer of Information. You're right about that. I find myself most attracted to content that "connects the dots," as yours does. Keep up the good work.
Again Tim. You hit the nail square on the head with honesty and insight. Its a shame that "hacks" are not easy for most people. It takes dedication and belief. As Tom Hanks says in "A league of their own" Its supposed to be hard. The hard is what makes it great. If it weren't hard, everyone would do it." Don't be a mediocre everyone. Step out and take charge of your life.
These are great hacks. I would also add having a sense of urgency. If you don’t live like your life is on fire and you have to extinguish it, you won’t have the urge to take action towards your dreams
Where did you get your sense of urgency from Aleem?
Great share as always Tim. A little vulgar but I always love your authenticity.
I'm going to make "bad art" every day and share way more of it!
A great read on this topic is 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 - 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Checking out this book now Irene. Who recommended it to you?
I've been following the author for years. I love her book "Eat, Pray, Love" too. Although, it's kind of a chick flick. It's also a movie.
But a friend recommended "Big Magic." ✨🪄 I've listened to it at least 3 times already.
'Big Magic' is, indeed, a magnificent book. I've read it two or three times, so far. It strikes a wonderful balance between playfulness, insight, and practical tips.
It does! ❣️
Haha I was one of those expecting to hit $20k in a couple of months. Now I know the amount of work I should put in is larger than that. The cheat code? Put in more work after my day job.
Couple of months is fine. One week is not. Most people wait too long to monetize or they delay it because it's uncomfortable. Have you seen that too?
Yes, and I can understand the discomfort - it's a mindset shift. It took me time as well to get started. But now that I look back, a decision, even a bad one, was better than no decision.
Turn the nasty voice off. My 5-word mantra for now.
BTW, Tim your session in Write of Passage was really good. Thank you.
Haha thanks. I had such a good time doing that session. David is a legend as well.
Great post to ponder on it.
What action can you take away?
I loved them all, but especially resonated with two:
Make bad art every day - I’ve been a Perfectionist with pesistent feeling of not doing good enough. After reading the article, I am so inspired by
“Better to do a poor job than it is to never do it at all and drown in overthinking and “one day, someday, mayday!”
Build things, break things.
- Always be willing to walk away. This is exactly what I did several months ago when I closed my work computer and said goodbye to my new boss. I did not see myself doing this draining and meaningless job anymore. It inspired me to go crazy and finally change my career.
I love your statement “ Choose hard goals and let people call you crazy.” Goals can be hard but need to be meaningful for me.
I’m not sure I’d quack about the protégé of Thiel, the world’s top techno-fascist, if I were you. Unless you’re willing to lose half your audience.
You've got me curious. What's wrong with Peter Thiel?
The Silicon Valley elite think humans are passé and their strange bedfellow is the Christian right in the U.S., which are convinced that Trump is ushering in the end of times as described in Revelations. Here is more explanation:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk
Aside from that, the level of surveillance advanced by Elon Musk and enabled by Palantir and related entities will enable fascists to snatch people off the street who resist, or at the very least prevent them from getting a mortgage, having their vote counted, or getting their social security check. Aside from that, Mate, no worries!
In case you’re curious for more information:
https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/this-is-how-the-broligarchy-is-planning?r=110at&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=audio-player
Dear Tim
It is very rare for me to find a person (even more than a writer) who I immediately connect with and almost agree on 100% of what he is saying.
I could probably use every paragraph as a quote for social posts.
Thank you so much for your sharing and will keep your thoughts to enlighten me as I progress in my new entrepreneurial career (after 30years corporate waste).
I wish I could have more time to catch up on all the backlog writings you had…
Best,
Pierpaolo
Means a lot. What stood out in this piece the most for you?
pretty much everything in the post deeply resonates with me.
i was made redundant from my corporate bank after 15 years of spitting blood just because some managers could not do their job properly (ever heard of Credit Suisse bankruptcy?) and i have been 9 months almost up to desperation on the market.
After i read your "“The ultimate goal is getting paid to be yourself” it clicked.
It was a turning point for me.
So thank you for leading the way to my transformation (at 54).
"I don’t want you to agree or disagree with my opinion. I simply want to make you think. When you think deeply your entire life changes." It did :)
Pierpaolo
Just FYI - I am new to Substack (only 3 weeks in), and in Linkedin (where i quoted you as well!).
But i founded my new freelance consulting company and wish to use my backlog expertise to help others doing the transformation. About PMO, Project management and Portfolio leadership with the upskilling of AI.
Thank you for sharing your journey Pierpaolo.
I am at the cusp of quitting my 9-5 and starting my own AI business as well so reading your post is serendipitous!
Wishing you the best of luck in your pursuits!
> The way I stay in a great mood is I expect things to go wrong.
I call it "The Power of Positive Pessimism." You assume things will go poorly. When they do, you're not disappointed. When they go well, you're pleasantly surprised!
It reminded me of what Charlie Munger used to advise - "have low expectations"
I’m grateful for this piece of writing. I always come back to it when I feel overwhelmed
Only building and selling? What about teaching? Healing? Are those fall into the category of building? What about maintenance? Power plants, sewage treatment plants, dams etc. Is it building? Entropy is a fact of life. Any worldview aiming to have any practical value has to acknowledge that fact. Properly maintaining critical infrastructure is more efficient than letting it rot and then being forced to rebuild it over and over again. Overemphasising the novelty value in decision-making is frankly a juvenile attitude.
Become the synthesiser of information! I naturally do this at work and only learning on how to implement this in my creative writing 🙏
I enjoyed this but by the end, I felt that some important elements were left behind, namely anythjng having to do with others, with values or with spirituality. As a set of career hacks, terrific, but personal success is a modest realm.
I agree with everything.
Even though I’m working a labor job, I’m starting sell products on eBay again and finding ways to write. I may have to do some stupid to get things really started.
Thanks, Tim, for another insightful post. I was most taken by #12: Be a Synthesizer of Information. You're right about that. I find myself most attracted to content that "connects the dots," as yours does. Keep up the good work.
I make it a point to read your weekly posts, and usually I'll be motivated for a few hours and it's all forgotten.
This post, however struck something deep inside.
The way you framed trying to have a 'balanced' life just hit me hard.
"They don't write biographies of people who have balance."
– David Senra (Founders Podcast)
That was powerful, Tim.