Quaker

@Rilles It's also survival because as Leo has explained, suicide is dying so that, in a twisted way, one's ego and beliefs can stay intact and "survive".

@Max_V Once you mature to a certain point (for me it was age 24 and beginning to run my own business), it will amaze you that you ever listened to a single word these guys said, and you will feel stupid/angry about having fallen for their marketing. This "deep" material is a sign they're finally running out of content and realizing that instead of paying actresses to create more fabricated videos and lying their way across North America and Europe, it's much easier to just pretend that they've transcended stage orange and offer made-up quasi-spiritual advice instead of made-up dating advice.

@theking00 MGTOW is about bucking the trends and norms around what it means to be a man in the West today. It asserts that men should be able to live independently. That's it. What's so unique about it is that it pulls both from traditional ideas of masculinity (men should be self-reliant and assertive) as well as progressive, liberal ones (men should be sexually free).

@ajasatya What's your evidence or reasoning for saying this? If you're going to tell him it's toxic, you at least owe him your personal definition of MGTOW and why you find it repulsive. Saying anything has zero benefits is a strong statement, given the nature of reality as non-dual and the fact social movements are highly nuanced.

The dating/PU industry overcomplicates this process and convinces you that it's difficult, so that they can continue to market unnecessary products that teach you irrelevant, contrived strategies that actually contradict one another. Don't think about it as a romantic or sexual endeavor. Just think about it as introducing yourself and starting a conversation with a person (in this case a girl) you think is interesting. Because I can guarantee you that's how the girl thinks about it for the first few seconds. I recommend John Anthony's channel (formerly JMULV).

Leo has devoted himself to pursuing knowledge, so he makes time to devote to gaining that knowledge through books, in addition to his other interests and spiritual practices. Even if he only reads 100 pages a day (which takes a few hours), that's 3,000 (10-15 books) in a month, 120-180 books a year.

I am a young freelancer who does academic tutoring and college admissions consulting. I would like some advice on navigating the market and determining my own value in it. The tldr version is this: I want to start charging clients more, but I am afraid of losing business and realizing I'm delusional about my own worth. It's an incredibly shitty feeling to pitch a price to a potential client that seems so reasonable to you, only to have someone never call you back and implicitly communicate that "You're not worth it". I'd really appreciate the advice of anyone who has run a business or been a successful freelancer. After 6 years of higher education, two degrees (a BA and an MA), and a prestigious government fellowship abroad for a year, I have finally returned home to the US and begun my career. I decided that, at least for the next few years, I want the flexibility and liberty of being a freelancer, so I decided to start finding clients doing a service I've done for years - academic tutoring and test prep. I have always enjoyed working with students of all ages (although I probably get along best with high schoolers), and I know that there is a huge demand for my skillset, being that I went to VERY good universities. I find it so rewarding to share my knowledge, inspire my students, and have a hugely positive impact on the entire rest of their lives by getting them into the best possible universities. I also know that tutoring can easily be done remotely, which is perfect, since my dream is to live abroad and work remotely with clients living in the US. I decided that in order to attract new clients, I would only charge $25/hour for lessons on Skype, when in reality I believe I should be paid at least $50. However, I have to admit that the low rate was also because I was afraid I wouldn't find any willing clients if I charged more. I'm actually pretty happy with $25/hour at this time; there's the convenience of not having to leave my bedroom, it's far more than I made at my $8.25/hour summer job in college (and the $15 per hour I charged for tutoring before I had my degrees), and on an hourly basis, it's about as much as most young people in finance make (they just work A LOT of hours). So to me, the goal was getting more hours, not finding out how to charge more for each lesson. And to be honest, I feel good about offering so much value at such an affordable price, and I feel like my clients really appreciate it. The reason I'm conflicted is that while I'm content with the current rate I charge, and even feel fortunate to get it, it's still far below what others in my industry are paid, including those less qualified than me. My mom told me about a colleague of hers who is a college guidance counselor and tutors on the side for $75 per hour. She actually has a Master's from the same university where I went to undergrad. When my mom tells me I should charge more because I'm way more capable than her colleague, I just say people are willing to pay her colleague $75 because she's older. It's hard to imagine anyone being willing to pay $75 to a 25 year old, even if they went to great schools. Moreover, local tutoring companies charge as much as $200/hour! I do plan to split my time between freelancing and working for such companies, though they only pay tutors with my experience about $40, and the commute is a pain. I am so confused about how these companies are able to convince parents to pay that much, but I as a freelancer am afraid to even try to charge what seems to me like such an insane amount. There have been some bright spots, such as getting on the roster of a boutique company based in a major city that pays $50 per hour to tutor on Skype. It seemed like a dream gig. The problem is that they offer almost no hours right now. In fact, I don't even know why they were looking to hire new tutors (They reached out to ME). I remember being amazed that they pay $50 for Skype, and being really disappointed to find out they offer almost no hours, at least not for new employees. (Probably some irrelevant details in this paragraph, sorry): In spite of my conflicted feelings, most of the endeavor has been going well; I have 3-4 loyal clients, who will likely give me referrals in the future, and another 3 or so in the pipeline. These clients give me steady hours, never cancel, and pay on time (mostly). Many freelancers struggle finding clients, but in my view that's mainly because they don't take advantage of all the online resources at their disposal (They focus on Upwork instead of thinking outside the box and posting ads on places like Care.com or even Craigslist). They also overestimate how many clients they need to find to sustain their business (I'm actually thinking of writing an article about how freelancers don't actually need that many clients, they just need ones who will give them enough hours). I actually find that I love the hunt of finding new clients, of marketing myself and the rush of hearing a client say they want to refer me to others. And when I hear "thank you" from clients, it really means something to me. I do have to admit, however, that it can be hard to get as many hours as you want right off the bat; I started out only getting 10 hours of work per week, and it's gradually approached closer to 20. With the 20-25 hours per week I'll get once I join a company, I'll have a full-time schedule, though the goal will still be to break out fully on my own, eventually. I want to get into a position where I can charge $50 (or more) per hour to clients working over Skype and $75 per hour for working in-person. As someone with fantastic academic qualifications and 500 hours of experience, I feel so qualified and so worthy of getting paid far more than what I currently am, but I feel like my age and perceptions about my experience level are holding me back. How do I prove myself as a freelancer? Do I just need to grind for a while at a lower rate in order to get referrals, or should I start charging more right now and take whatever comes? Thanks in advance for your responses.

This is an interesting question. Interviews are cool, and generally people like being interviewed because it makes them feel important and, if their words are published, gives them something of their own to exist in perpetuity. While I don't have filmmaking experience per se, I do have an abundance of journalistic and interviewing experience. And I can say this much: editing is your best friend. Filmed interviews, both those used in documentaries as well as journalistic interviews on YouTube (such as for GQ, Vogue, or Entertainment), are heavily edited for length as well as for content in order to be optimally informative and entertaining. But, of course, it's meant to give the appearance of continuity. So with that in mind, don't feel like you have to be a perfectionist when it comes to finding the perfect questions. For every hour you spend interviewing people, you're lucky to get 10-20 minutes of good content. That means that only one or two of every ten questions you ask will make it in, and you get to decide which those are. You as the filmmaker have a say over the final cut and which parts of the interview you want to keep depending on what you want the thematic focus to be. In my experience, the hardest part is actually finding someone willing to let you interview them. It can be easier than you imagine, but to me it's still the hardest part to me. In terms deciding which questions to ask, they should come from a place of natural curiosity on your part. What is it you (or audience members) would truly want to know about a particular person? Also, thinking of one good question will likely spark more that are along the same train of thought. Likewise, you may spontaneously have another followup question based on an answer the respondent gives you. Getting into that rhythm is a matter of practice. So you should treat it a bit like a conversation ideally, as long as you stay on track. In fact, an interview is really a type of conversation, just one that is a bit more contrived and artificially focused on one person for the purpose of them sharing information.

I hear you. But can't following your intuition limit your long-term perspective? Or does such perspective begin to not matter? I'm just thinking of how following one's intuition could lead to terrible mistakes...thought it could also prevent terrible mistakes. Can you give any examples of decisions (especially major ones) you've made on the basis of intuition?

Intuition is not something I thought about much in the past few years, and certainly not something I ever thought I'd be making such a seemingly corny post about. Intuition was always something I thought should be resisted instead of embraced, because I saw it as some kind of vague internal manifestation of primitive emotional drives instead of some divine, higher-consciousness compass for life. It's not that I'm not intuitive, in fact I am. It's just that since I've become an adult I've considered intuition as more of an irrational impulse, something that should be resisted in favor of discipline. In short, I haven't trusted my intuition. But now, being at a crucial crossroads in my life, I have to come face-to-face with the fact that my intuition is leading me away from a path that both my own mind and those around me have been motivating me to pursue. It is a path I've spent years preparing years for, but in spite of that, something that just does not feel intuitively right. What exactly is this force of intuition and how much credibility are we to give to it? How do we reconcile the apparent need to follow our intuition with the need to think strategically and critically? What's the difference between intuition that is leading us away from something and simply fear of that thing? Has there ever been a time when you're extremely thankful you listened to your intuition?

Social media marketing is definitely a great skill to have. But having attempted to promote my own business on Facebook and Instagram, I've come to find social media marketing and promotion really difficult, with a big investment upfront. It's better to help someone else promote their page, at least in the beginning. It does come naturally to some people, but not to me. There's also a lot of overlap between copywriting and social media marketing, since copywriters put together a lot of the posts for Fortune 500 companies. This guy is a good example: https://evanbenner.com/

Hey all, Lately I have had the strong desire to teach myself some practical technical skills related to sales and marketing. My ultimate goal is to become a consultant for one of these areas and be able to work remotely. I have familiarized myself with the basics of all three, and even completed a short course on copywriting, but I can't decide which to focus on. I would appreciate anyone who works in marketing, sales, or SaaS to offer their feedback. As of now, my top choice is CRM, as I'm amazed at how much it has transformed business in the past decade. Is it possible to learn all three? Here are some considerations I've made for each skill: Copywriting Pros: Can be creatively fulfilling; Relatively easy to learn and get started (requires only basic knowledge of writing and sales); Plenty of informal courses on Udemy and YouTube; Can be very lucrative (as demonstrated by Dan Lok) Cons: No formal accreditation available; Usually requires unpaid work in the beginning to build a portfolio; Very competitive, which can make clients and jobs difficult to find. A flooded market also means lower pay per project; Can be a bit spiritually deprived, since it involves the inherent manipulation of advertising and empty commerce CRM Pros: Involves interacting with customers and clients, which is a plus for me; Can be analytical and mentally stimulating; Involves working with cutting-edge tech; Very high in demand and will continue to be in the future Cons: Software for CRM such as Salesforce or Zoho isn't accessible online, and requires working on-site with a company to build hands-on experience; Can be a bit overwhelming, since it involves lots of moving parts and problem-solving SEO Pros: Tons of free coursework and certifications available (mainly through Google Academy for Ads) Cons: Can be quite complicated and unpredictable in terms of results; Can be monotonous, since it deals with technical minutiae Thanks in advance. I hope this post can be useful to others interested in digital marketing and sales.