🏴 On single-mindedness, solitude, and finding your purpose. Ten Bullets.

To the obsessed,

Here are your weekly Ten Bullets.

Ten ideas to help you build companies, make art, and fuel your obsession.

1. On meeting your heroes:

2. On single-mindedness:

"The thing that set Ralph apart was his single-mindedness of purpose.

Everybody else moved from place to place, from trend to trend.

He wasn't trendy.

He stayed with it.

It's the single most important thing about him.

To this day there are people walking around saying Ralph Lauren isn't that special, I could have done it. It's the weirdest thing.

They couldn't be more wrong. Ralph is the most special guy in the apparel business"

— Founders Podcast #288 (Ralph Lauren), Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind the Mystique by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

P.S.- One of my favorite documentaries is Very Ralph, showcasing the origin and obsession of Ralph Lauren. He’s a true example of world-building and unstoppable focus.

3. On obsession:

“The most interesting things are usually produced by someone working, and leading a team, relentlessly for a long time. The best source of relentlessness is obsession.

Many people ‘have that dog in them,’ but it won’t come out until they’ve embraced their obsession.

David Remnick reflected on the best New Yorker profiles:

‘One quality that runs through nearly all the best Profiles is a sense of obsession. So many of these pieces are about people who reveal an obsession with one corner of human experience or another…In every great Profile, too, the writer is equally obsessed. It's often the case that a writer will take months, even years, to get to know a subject and bring him or her to life in prose.’

Mike Moritz found that underneath great leadership was obsession:

‘Great leadership has many different attributes, but it starts with knowledge of a particular pursuit, because without the knowledge and mastery of that particular pursuit, I don’t think you have the authority to convey it with conviction to others. It usually is associated with an obsession, because to be a great leader, you have to be obsessed by something, otherwise everything seems false and hollow. You have to then be able to convey your obsession to people in a manner that inspires and encourages and motivates them to perform at a level they didn’t think they were ever capable of performing at. All of those, when knitted together, help to define what separates a great leader from a very capable manager.’

Sometimes I’ve had this feeling like someone is so much smarter than me and therefore I have no hope of competing. But usually what is really going on is that they are just more obsessed than me. Intelligence is good, and some amount is required, but the obsession is better.

So of course the question becomes: what are you obsessed with?”

— Patrick O’Shaughnessy

I get unbelievable energy when people I really admire- like Patrick- talk about obsession.

This tweet reminded me of this quote:

“At the pinnacle of any discipline, all you see is obsession.” - Brian Norgard (click for full video)

4. On anxiety:

Putting stuff out to the world will solve all your problems.

5. On finding what you’re meant to do:

When you're already doing it, and not asking this question.

Obsession hits you- some day- somehow- and it becomes obvious it's what you're meant to do.

Then you start doing it- without a 'decision' being made.

So the only 'way to find it'- is to live a life of extreme output and serendipity- until it falls in your lap.

The challenge is- sometimes this thing is obvious to you- but you put it on such a pedestal- putting so much pressure on your results- that you never start.

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6. On branding:

Books are always judged by their cover.

One thing I take pride in is obsessing over names- for ideas, projects, products- more than anyone else I know.

7. On AirPods:

“AirPods have only been out for 7 years, and the average person now defaults to throwing their headphones in as soon as they’re alone in public.

Walk through the grocery store, everyone has their headphones in. Same with the gym, or just walking around town.

This feels like a dystopic tech trend that will only accelerate as AI improves and new products like the Vision Pro continue to come out.

A million little conversations never happen because one or both parties are tuned out.

I’m guilty of this too. Was listening to a podcast while grabbing groceries at Trader Joe’s. Got to check out line, guy was bagging my groceries.

Suddenly, I felt super self-aware of the ridiculousness of the whole thing. Popped out the headphones, ended up chatting about the Super Bowl for a few minutes. It was nice.

Idk, it’s weird how we have normalized anti-social behavior.”

— Jack Raines

Jack’s a great writer and explained this really well. It’s such widespread, obvious madness, that no one talks about it.

For me, it’s wild all I need to do to have the best day ever- is take my headphones out.

8. On uniqueness:

"I try to make my music where there's nothing like what I do. A lot of times I lose out because of that, because I'm always trying to be so creative, that sometimes I could create something, and a whole bunch of people can go run with it and make a lot of money, but I'm feeling like I want to give the public something new. So, when other people capitalize off it, and I just hope that's not my downfall. I just hope I can keep creating."

— Kanye West, 2004

9. On categories:

10. On solitude:

Solitude is oxygen for the obsessed.

In the early days of a new obsession- you enter wonderland alone. The rabbit hole fits one. And when you fall down it, you never want to leave.

You go to class, scribbling notes and plans on the corner of your notebook.

You go to family parties, tuning everyone out, reading about your obsession on your phone under the table.

You go to weddings, watch your relatives cry at a first dance, while you play out scenarios of your dreams and visions in your mind.

The Dark Place is a single player game.

No one understands you, and they have no reason to.

You haven’t done anything.

You haven’t shown anything.

You’re still in your old reality.
You’re still with your old friends, in old places, surrounded by people who only the know the old version of you.

They can’t enter your world. And they’ll try to pull you back to theirs.

Resist. At all costs.

When this was me- spending years in that place, where no one understood what I was doing- I had one mantra I repeated, over and over and over:

“Live in your own world.”

“Live in your own world.”

“Live in your own world.”

You spend 1000 nights alone in your head, kept company by dreams and delusions, and one day, your life changes overnight.

The things you create, create things for you.

New friends.

New places.

New opportunities.

On the other side of the rabbit hole, you’ll find home for the first time. With friends that become family, and make you feel normal for being extreme.

But to get there, you have to get through The Dark Place, crawling all alone, shouting into the void, until you get to other side.

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