Paul's 10 Commandments (Aug. 6, 2021)

On the verge of my 28th birthday, I’ve decided to write down 10 pieces of advice that live rent-free in my brain. Enjoy, engage, and please add your own.

1. Thou shalt entertain thyself.

Ever run the thought experiment of what you’d do with unlimited cash flow? What would you actually do? I’m on a forever quest to rack up as many experiences as I can in my short time on this planet, and I ask myself this question all the time. The bucket list is long and my time is short.

Life gives us responsibilities. Responsibilities in return, give us meaning and also, something to do. But what about priorities? Physical, mental, and spiritual health is the ultimate priority and entertaining yourself is the critical ingredient. Prioritize doing that which you like!

We are all uniquely gifted. You are 1 out of 7.46 billion. Life is too short to be constantly “shoulding yourself”. Eliminate that word to the best of your ability and do that which you like as often as possible.

Skills, talents, abilities, quirks, or whatever. What do you find yourself doing and loving and enjoying? I find that doing things I like to do is an easy way to meet friends and friends lead to more life experiences :)

2. Thou shalt gas thy friends up.

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.” — Anonymous

“Naval Ravikant mentions a theory called “The 5 Chimp Theory” in the book Tools of Titans. It says that in zoology you can predict the mood and behavior of one chimp by observing which five chimps they hang out with the most..” Interesting…

I don’t know bout y’all but… I need gas CONSTANTLY. I’m just making it up as I go along and I need all the support and gas I could possibly get! I love to see when friends are getting into new creative projects and subjecting themselves to the world and possible failure. Even if it fails, love them through it. Also, a good friend is your biggest fan and greatest critic. Keep your feedback honest and support their decision.

3. Thou shalt not f*** thy older self.

Honesty is the best policy. Seriously. Whether it’s promising yourself something and sticking to it, or simply saying you’re going to call someone later and actually doing it. I know my conscience keeps an honesty tally. If I don’t keep it clean, my brain starts beating me up and I am prone to negativity.

Long-term thinking saves me a lot of trouble. You see, it’s all about sleeping at night. I can’t sleep at night if I’m in some risky investment or if I’m trying to figure out how to get out of a dinner date.

All benefits in life come from compound interest. Short-term thinking ruins your life. It makes you fat and poor. It optimizes for pleasure, destruction, and distraction.

4. Thou shalt make stuff.

Humans are creative animals. The beautiful thing about today is the various mediums through which we can create. Creating also just feels good, it’s weird.

Creating is almost a bit selfish for me. If I have an idea, it’ll just linger there until it manifests itself into a video, blog, or adventure. That idea blocks other ideas from coming in until it’s created and unleashed. It feels good to unleash my ideas or videos or whatever it is into the ether. It’s freeing, and after I unleash one “project” another idea pops into my head and the process starts all over again. Which is entertaining.

5. Thou shalt expose thyself to the Elements.

SUN. GOOD.

I am no scientist, but I know sun =good. Cold exposure = good. Outside = good. Insert science here and here. Thanks, Rhonda Patrick. Get out into nature. Personally, I love da saltwataaa.

Furthermore, here is an interesting study exploring hygiene’s upsides and downsides. Exposure to germs, disease, bacteria etc. strengthen us. Also, I go barefoot a ton which some nerds call “earthing”. Apparently, it’s healthy. Cool.

6. Thou shalt sweat.

Workout! There’s gotta be some kind of movement that you like to do or captures your fancy. There are no rules. Bogging yourself down in science gets you nowhere (in the beginning). Just sweat! One does not need the perfect shoes or gear or arrangement to move da body. Go barefoot ;)

I find that if I’m in a brain funk, a simple workout floods my brain with chemicals that get me right out of it. I love it.

Start today and let the progress compound.

7. Thou shalt find the border of chaos and order. (And then find it again…and again)

Humans are comfort-seeking robots. What’s funny is, right after we achieve a new level of comfort we’re searching for the next level, often leaving our finances on that border of chaos and order. This is no way to live. You can be twice as rich if you decide you need half as much (not my words). Living under your means is the only way to freedom.

Anyways, finding the border of chaos and order is scary! But how will we self-improve, level up, get promoted, or even enjoy life if we aren’t constantly growing? I get bored and depressed if I’m not challenging myself. Society glorifies the easy, leisurely life. That’s what we all think we want, an easy life. But nah, that’s boring.

The great danger is that we give in to feelings of boredom, impatience, fear, and confusion. We stop observing and learning. The process comes to a halt. — Farnam Street Blog

We love trouble, drama, and overcoming that which we previously thought was impossible. I’ve written on this before when I was surfing large waves, check it here.

DO HARD STUFF!

This commandment is inspired and engrained in me by Dr. Jordan Peterson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2saWWo6T9xo

8. Thou shalt do that which will bring the most luck.

“Luck is a function of surface area” — Julian Shapiro

Luck = Doing x Telling. Wow. I just stumbled upon this formula and it rings true. I’ve been experimenting with this. If I want to try something, I tell my followers that I’m going to do it, and therefore I stick to it. What are the limits of this? Idk, but I’ll personally be putting it to the test to accomplish that which I want to (what entertains me) while I’m here.

Full write up by Jason Roberts here.

Unfortunately, we can’t just lie around and watch Netflix and become overnight successes.. (at least not all of us) So get up and go! Who knows what’s under that rock or through that door. Who knows what opening your mouth to that cute guy or girl can bring. A whole new life may lie on the other side. Open your mouth. Shoot shots. Fail. Create. Entertain yourself.

9. Dress to feel yourself. Always.

This just clicked in my head recently. I noticed that I walk around with more confidence when I’m feeling my outfit as opposed to worrying that people smell my dirty clothes or see my stain. Sometimes I like crazy pants, other times I like to wear special socks. Sometimes walking around in a fresh pair of shoes ups my vibe, and the majority of the time walking around barefoot is even better. Having my hair did also powers me up. High vibe = more luck. Also, I have a couple of go-to outfits now that I just dig for whatever reason. Note, there are no rules here except, DON’T GO BROKE ON FASHION!

10. Love

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(11) Honorable mention — Thou shalt HODL Bitcoin to give to your great-grandchildren.

See y’all on the moon!