been a week, hm. been a good week. hope it went well for you as well.
you know you can talk to me anytime - it's only fair. if you are hearing me out, I hear you back.
sorry, but I think there was some confusion between us. obviously, I didn't make myself completely clear on why we are even talking.
you just saw my 2 photos and were probably worried about what happened to me. thank you. but let me make something very clear - these letters are not meant to show a fat loss journey. that would be such a waste of time for you and for me.
talking about fat loss feels like such a low-level conversation. what is even there to talk about? you burn more calories than you intake - so work harder and eat less. that's it.
easy to say, difficult to do? okay then, I'll talk about it slightly in the next chapter.
so what is all this about then?
well my friend, this is about ecdysis.
you know ecdysis? well, you know. I just wanted to sound smart. it is when a snake sheds its skin to allow growth and let go of the old and damaged self.
what I mean is - this is a total reset. a metamorphosis. or what people are calling it nowadays - THE GREAT LOCK IN.
don't think 'lock in' is just about going to your gym or doing a skin routine. it's much more than that. it's about mindset. get it in your head - MINDSET.
Chapter 2 - My Soldiers Don't Die, My Soldiers Don't Cry
war is all about mindset. don't have to read Sun Tzu to know that. Mr. Tzu had a few ideas about The Art of War. I have a few as well. let me go through those one by one - in no ranked order.
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
— James Clear
did you understand what this even means?
let me make it simple for you. for every sucka' like you and me, there are countless more suckas who have the exact same goals and yearn for the exact same things as we do.
so what makes the actual difference?
system.
it is knowing exactly what your next 3 things are the moment you wake up, what exactly you're going to order as soon as the menu is handed to you at a restaurant, and how exactly you're going to destress yourself when the workload gets unbearable.
habit is going to the gym. system is knowing exactly what you'll do when you get there.
a system is as much science as it is art. art of knowing thyself.
like when I wake up - I know I'm going to fix my bed, go to the gym, take a cold shower, cook an omelette and have it with a cup of coffee while I read the Mint through my AI.
these are not just habits. this is a system. like dominoes - one after another.
by the way, this is the same morning routine I've followed for the last 7 days. no mystery. it has been a good week.
system was never a big issue for me. I've been working on building systems for myself for the last 5 years. my problem is more fundamental. I just don't give a shit about stuff, and that shit is hurting me.
my biggest problem was, and slightly still is, finding that maniacal sense of urgency. to get shit done. to not just plan, but execute. move my legs, pick up the phone, get the actual work done. maybe you are like that as well.
I think we cannot build urgency, but there is something much deeper we can tap into. have you heard this story?
a reporter put a mic in Michael Jordan's face as he had just become an MVP and asked - "how does it feel to reach the top of the mountain, to become the best in the world?"
his only response was...
"relieved."
you know why "relieved"? why not ecstatic, or at least happy?
because these people operate on fear. and winning from fear brings relief, not joy.
it's not something controversial I am saying - being fearful has proven to be the greatest motivator to get something done.
the key is not to be brave, but to be fearful.
a fearful person runs on urgency.
a simple analogy I usually give is to be like a pregnant woman.
just think about the situation of a pregnant woman - it doesn't matter if she feels ready to give birth, it doesn't matter if the doctor is there or the operation theatre has all the equipment. if the baby wants to come, it comes. and the world must be prepared for that.
similarly, it doesn't matter if you don't feel like waking up, or the weather is too bad, or your boss said something unkind to you, or you had a fight with your girlfriend. if the task has to be done, it must be done.
the baby must be born.
so now you know about system and urgency. with both of these you have a sharpened axe to work on mind and body.
but you might miss the third leg of this tripod. and that is - your soul.
soul is quite tricky. you and I have very different ones. what works for me might not work for you.
but here's a framework to think about.
most of us are either take the position of a protector, builder, or a seeker.
a protector is one who protects different elements of his life - family, community, ideology. a builder, as the name suggests, builds different elements in his or her life and cares about what they leave behind. a seeker is on the path of truth.
what do you think you are?
if I'm being honest - I don't think I'm a protector or a seeker archetype. I relate very fondly to the builder, or what I simply call a creator.
being a creator is what fuels my soul. and thus, this great lock in requires me to be on the path of a creator.
let me tell you something though - most of us are not creators. we are merely consumers.
we just consume what's happening around us. daily news, shit-talking from others, reels and Netflix, the situations we are placed in by things outside us.
I am changing that. and maybe, you should too.
but there are 2 problems you might face.
one - you have not yet acquired the skills to be a creator. two - the effort feels just too large.
the key is not directly jumping from consumer to creator, but a third substep I call the curator.
yes, every creator is a curator first.
a curator is someone who holds multiple ideas in their head from various domains, distills them down to the essence, knows what is signal and what is noise.
a curator is someone who has built their taste. they now operate on that taste. people appreciate their taste. they are the final sovereign on the decision of when the art is ready for the world. art becomes intuition by then. they can create any art in their mind. but actually creating it requires the knowledge of craft.
well, by now you must have connected a few chains. if not, let me help you.
taste is what matters. so start building your tastebuds.
welcome to Tastebuds by Kovind.
Chapter 3 next week.