everyone's sleeping on how absurdly good 2026 is to start a company (even compared to 2024)
one person can now:
- ship full apps without engineers (cursor, replit)
- design without being a designer (v0, Claude Design)
- turn one video into 10 clips (opus, descript)
- push those clips to millions (X, Linkedin, TikTok)
- replace a support team (chatbase, intercom)
- literally watch exactly what their users do (Posthog)
- find + target perfect leads on autopilot (origami)
This is such a rare window. I just can’t imagine it being this easy ever again
If you are in your early twenties:
- Make your burn rate as low as possible
- Avoid attachment to material things (cars, clothes, apartment)
- Make yourself as uncomfortable as possible
- Get a job that either a) teaches you high value skills or b) allows you to learn/work on side projects while on the clock
- Cultivate your focus and creativity above all else
- Individuate. Don't try to fit in. Avoid crabs-in-bucket groups
- Take astronomical risks
You have a small window of opportunity to differentiate yourself. It will be exponentially more difficult the older you get. Do not waste it in a cubicle during the week and a bar during the weekend. Send it.
>take 2hrs
>print out the workbook
>fill it out
>read it every day (first thing in the morning)
>update it each quarter with your new vision (goals and ideas)
>read it with intention (not just to get it done..)
a simple and efficient way to update your mental models
If you actually want to change your life as fast as possible, this is the single most effective thing you can do, and you only need 10 to 30 minutes a day for it, ideally first thing in the morning the second you open your eyes, or at night the moment you get in bed before you fall asleep, because in both windows your brain is already drifting toward the exact state you want, it's halfway in trance on its own, that's when imagery actually sinks in instead of bouncing off.
Find a place where you won't be interrupted, lie flat on your back or sit in a chair with your back fully supported and your hands resting open, don't cross your legs or arms because crossing keeps tension in the body, close your eyes.
Start with the breath, in through your nose for four counts, hold for two, out through your mouth slowly for six to eight counts, do this for two or three minutes until your body starts feeling heavier.
Then move into the body scan, focus on your toes and silently tell them to relax and soften, then your feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hips, lower back, stomach, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, neck, jaw, face, eyes, forehead, and the top of your head, take your time, you're not trying to force anything, you're just lowering internal noise.
To go deeper, count backwards from 10 to 1 slowly, telling yourself with each number that you're going twice as deep, "ten, going deeper, nine, twice as deep, eight, even deeper still," and visualize something descending in your mind, a staircase you're walking down, an elevator going floor by floor, sinking through warm water, the image doesn't matter, what matters is the feeling of going down.
When you reach one you should feel a kind of stillness, your body heavy or strangely weightless, your thoughts slower and further apart, this is the working state.
Now pick one specific scene, not an abstract goal but a moment you can step into mentally.
If it's health, don't think "I want to be healthy," see yourself moving through a normal day with physical ease, walking without effort, breathing clearly, your body light and responsive.
If it's confidence, see yourself in a real situation where you'd normally hesitate, but now you speak steady and direct, things unfold without internal resistance.
If it's discipline, see yourself already inside the routine, doing the work without negotiation as if it's simply what you do.
Always stay in first person, through your own eyes, what's directly in front of you, the texture of the environment, the light in the space, then sound, voices in the room, the rhythm of your breathing, then physical sensation, the weight of your body, temperature on the skin, the way you occupy space when you're not resisting yourself.
Don't force excitement, allow the quieter states to appear, relief that things are simple, a sense of "this is already how I operate," a quiet internal stability that doesn't need justification, you're not building a fantasy, you're rehearsing familiarity.
Repeat the scene at least ten times, see the picture each time, feel the feeling each time, then sit in that state for a few minutes doing nothing and let it soak in.
To come back, count up from 1 to 5, telling yourself with each number that you're becoming more aware, "one, coming back, two, feeling lighter, three, more awake, four, fully present, five, eyes open," wiggle your fingers and toes, take a deep breath, sit up slowly.
The most important rule is don't try to force it, the harder you grip "I have to get into trance" the more your beta brain stays online and blocks it, treat it like falling asleep, you can only set the conditions and let it happen.
Don't judge the session either, some days you'll go deep and some days you'll barely drop in, both still work because repetition is what burns the new pattern in, do it daily for three to four weeks before deciding if it's working.
If winning was guaranteed &certain, you'd go 10x harder at it.
Paradoxically, if you went 10x harder, the win would almost be a guarantee, on a long enough time horizon, for any goal.
It's easy to mentally recognize this, but it ideally should be felt in the body as a fact.
Marcus Aurelius was right. You will lose friends you will lose lovers you will lose comfort but if in losing them you find yourself you have gained more than kings.
“Time will tell” is one of the realest quotes ever because time will eventually tell who put in the work, it will tell who was disciplined, it will tell who was playing the long game. Time will indeed tell.
Clearest sign that someone is undergoing the process that leads to psychological maturity is that they become more confrontational with those closest to them and less confrontational with strangers.
you’ll get rejected and dumped and fired and you’ll fail at things you were sure about, that’s just the cost of being alive. the question isn’t whether it’ll happen but how quickly you can get yourself back to swinging at the next opportunity. every day you spend hostage to what already happened is a day you’re not creating what’s next. reset fast.
from the 1600s through the 1950s, every american town had places that weren't home, weren't work, and weren't just bars.
taverns where town meetings happened. general stores with a stove and benches. lodges. soda fountains. 24-hour diners. barbershops where you'd sit for an hour without buying anything. libraries open till 9pm.
pay attention; exposure changes ambition and the right room can rewrite your entire vision. look, your circle determines what feels possible. start seeing more, start thinking bigger. i will tell you for free that some trips are investments, not vacations and proximity expands possibility. the world is actually bigger than your current perspective, one room can raise your standards for life so get that exposure as it is one of the fastest forms of education not school.