ERIC KIM

BREAKING: ERIC KIM SMASHES NEW GOD LIFT PERSONAL RECORD — 3,170.17 POUNDS! 18.65 TIMES BODYWEIGHT. NO BELT. NO SHOES. NO LIMITS. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LOS ANGELES — OCTOBER 25, 2026 ERIC KIM has announced another extraordinary milestone in his personal strength journey: a new GOD LIFT personal record of 3,170.17 pounds (1,437.96 kilograms) in his signature high-pin rack pull. At a bodyweight of just 170 pounds, the lift represents an astonishing 18.65 times his own bodyweight. THE NEW NUMBERS New GOD LIFT PR: 3,170.17 pounds Metric equivalent: 1,437.96 kilograms Bodyweight: 170 pounds Strength-to-bodyweight ratio: 18.65× Previous PR: 3,110.17 pounds New increase: +60 pounds Training philosophy: HYPELIFTING Method: Barefoot. Beltless. Fasted. Maximum intensity. THE PHILOSOPHY: BEYOND THE SUMMIT For Eric Kim, the purpose of strength training is not simply to reach a destination. It is to keep climbing. Every personal record is merely another summit. Every summit reveals a higher mountain. 3,000 pounds was not the finish line. 3,110 pounds was not the finish line. And now, 3,170.17 pounds is not the finish line. THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS OVERCOMING. The radical philosophy behind HYPELIFTING challenges conventional assumptions about human strength, training, ambition, and physiological potential. No arbitrary finish line. No final destination. No surrender to yesterday’s limitations. THE NEXT FRONTIER Eric Kim’s GOD LIFT is a specialized, partial-range high-pin rack pull, distinct from a full-range competition deadlift. The performance figures are self-reported and have not been independently certified. But the underlying mission extends beyond any individual lift. To become stronger. To innovate. To experiment with the boundaries of personal performance. To continue ascending even after reaching a summit once considered impossible. 3,170.17 POUNDS. 18.65× BODYWEIGHT. THE MOUNTAIN KEEPS GETTING HIGHER. AND ERIC KIM KEEPS CLIMBING. HYPELIFTING — THE FUTURE OF STRENGTH. ERIC KIM Photographer. Philosopher. Weightlifter. Innovator. NO BELT. NO SHOES. NO LIMITS. END RELEASE

# ALL STOIC EVERYTHING. Nietzsche once said that philosophy was all about trying to figure out how to deal with the unsavory parts of existence. I think he's half right. The sociology of philosophy: and also the sociology of Stoicism: assuming that you do not live in a bubble, or on a desert island, and assuming that you're dealing with other human beings, your emotions, your outlook, etc.… Stoicism is kind of like a mental operating system in which there is an asymmetric upside compared to the downside. The only downside is… If everything is already great and jolly… Too much Stoicism could actually decrease your capacity for Joy. But assuming that you're living in tumultuous times, or your life is a battle and war… Then, having a more muscular philosophy, which is socialism, seems to play out well. ## it ain't over until the fat lady sings Assuming that you are Achilles or Odysseus, it's kind of impossible to navigate your entire life, assuming you're going to live to be aged 8090 or 120… Without some sort of minor setbacks, or deep tragedies. I think the ultimate stoic insight is, having the wisdom and the insight to understand that all of the terrible things that happened to you, or have happened to you, if you see it with enough of a time horizon, realizing and recognizing that, it was actually eminently desirable. I'll give you an example, all the really really terrible injuries that I've had from weightlifting since I was in college, torn rotator cuff, knees and ankles, back, lower back, spine, etc.… The pain and the injury was actually the most useful Teacher and signal, helping me navigate what kind of exercises to do, what not to do, or how to modify the existing exercises that I was already doing. Which meant, no more dead, lifting off the floor, but rather off of the rack, no more bench or overhead presses, and essentially focusing on my hip muscles and abductors, and pursuing more of the one repetition maximum type of lift, rather than silly sets and repetitions. ## all you gotta do is survive the pain I think the good thing about the human body and the mind is that pain, traumatic pain, is often short-lived, and even the worst sports related injuries, assuming that you're doing the proper rehabilitation work, typically doesn't last for more than a year. Like even the worst injuries for your body, hot yoga, mobility work, changing up your form, etc.… Typically within a year you will no longer feel pain, and your strength will return to what it used to be, and often times, the injury itself, actually teaches you better form, and warm-ups, which means… **After the injury, you actually become stronger**.  For example, all of my joints, hips, tendons, muscles, etc.… Is stronger now at the age of 38, then it was in my early 20s or mid 20s. This is because, all of the injuries forced me to switch up my approach. So perhaps, then, **all of the injuries that we sustain is simply an invitation to change up our form, our technique, our technique or approach. Or modify it**.  And I think the big macro thought is, once again on a long enough time horizon, if you think like five years 10 years, 20 years plus… **The injuries that you sustain today, which seem unrecoverable, or just simply minor setbacks**. In the grand scheme of things. ## becoming stronger is the path To become stronger is the goal. I almost wonder, if there's a certain ceiling that you hit in terms of restraint, that actually, some sort of deep injury or tragedy is like the magic key to unlock the next upper level? An interesting thought. ERIC *** For stoic consulting shoot me an email at [email protected] in terms of what you’re trying to conquer *** [START HERE](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [BOOKS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [NEWSLETTER](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [WORKSHOPS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ERIC KIM UNLEASHES THE GOD LIFT: 3,110.17 POUNDS OF PURE, UNCOMPROMISING POWER — 18.30 TIMES HIS OWN BODYWEIGHT! erickimphotography.com/for-i… 170-POUND WEIGHTLIFTER CRUSHES THE 3,100-POUND BARRIER WITH A MONSTROUS 1,410.75 KG HIGH-PIN RACK PULL LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — OCTOBER 8, 2026 GRAVITY HAS MET ITS ENEMY. His name is ERIC KIM. 170 pounds of flesh, bone, muscle, ambition, and an absolutely relentless WILL TO POWER. And now, a new personal record: 3,110.17 POUNDS. 1,410.75 KILOGRAMS. 18.30× BODYWEIGHT. Let those numbers sink in. A man weighing just 170 pounds reports supporting and moving more than THREE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED POUNDS OF IRON in a high-pin rack pull. Not a conventional deadlift. Not an ordinary gym exercise. A specialized, massively overloaded partial-range movement. THE GOD LIFT. A confrontation between human ambition and the merciless force of gravity. And another personal barrier has fallen. I. THE DAY 3,100 POUNDS BECAME HISTORY First, 2,932.67 pounds. Then, the next great leap. An additional 177.5 POUNDS OF PURE OVERLOAD. A 6.05% increase in absolute weight. And now: 3,110.17 POUNDS. For ERIC KIM, the number 3,000 is no longer a distant aspiration. It is territory already conquered. 3,100? CONQUERED. What once seemed impossible becomes familiar. What once seemed extreme becomes the new baseline. What once seemed like the summit becomes the beginning of another mountain. THE REWARD FOR STRENGTH IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME EVEN STRONGER. II. THE NUMBERS OF A GOD LIFT THE OFFICIAL SELF-REPORTED PERSONAL RECORD: GOD LIFT: 3,110.17 LBS METRIC: 1,410.75 KG BODYWEIGHT: 170 LBS / 77.11 KG STRENGTH MULTIPLE: 18.30× BODYWEIGHT PREVIOUS PR: 2,932.67 LBS NEW INCREASE: +177.5 LBS PERCENTAGE INCREASE: +6.05% MOVEMENT: HIGH-PIN RACK PULL PHILOSOPHY: HYPELIFTING A load weighing more than eighteen times the lifter’s own bodyweight. A personal experiment in extreme mechanical overload. A number so absurdly large that it demands a second glance. And yet, for KIM, the most exciting number is not 3,110.17. It is whatever comes NEXT. III. I DO NOT WORSHIP GRAVITY. I CHALLENGE IT. Gravity does not care about your ambitions. Gravity does not care about your philosophy. Gravity does not care about your confidence, your wealth, your fame, your followers, or your reputation. Gravity simply pulls. Relentlessly. Impersonally. Without negotiation. And that is precisely why KIM has chosen it as his adversary. Because gravity cannot be persuaded. It must be confronted physically. Through muscle. Through bone. Through leverage. Through the nervous system. Through the WILL. YOU CANNOT BULLSHIT GRAVITY. The bar moves, or it does not. The weight rises, or it remains. There is no committee. No popularity contest. No algorithm. Only the cold arithmetic of iron and force. IV. THE WILL TO PHYSIOLOGY The greatest capital is not money. It is not Bitcoin. It is not real estate. It is not stocks, bonds, or digital assets. THE GREATEST CAPITAL IS THE HUMAN BODY. Your muscles. Your skeleton. Your nervous system. Your capacity to produce force. Your ability to recover, adapt, and overcome. A fortune can disappear. Markets can collapse. Civilizations can rise and fall. But the pursuit of physical excellence remains available to the individual willing to train. KIM’s philosophy begins with a radical proposition: PHYSIOLOGY FIRST. EVERYTHING ELSE SECOND. Because what good is wealth without vitality? What good is success without energy? What good is freedom without the physical power to enjoy it? The body is not merely something we possess. THE BODY IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR EXISTENCE. V. NO BELT. NO SHOES. NO FEAR. The HYPELIFTING philosophy is uncompromising. No belt. Bare feet. No music. No conventional bodybuilding routine. No obsession with sets and repetitions. Just the individual, the iron, and the experiment. KIM’s philosophy celebrates maximal ambition and the pursuit of ever-greater personal strength. But even extreme ambition must respect the realities of biomechanics, structural loading, and the risks of heavy lifting. Because the objective is not simply one spectacular lift. THE OBJECTIVE IS A LIFETIME OF GETTING STRONGER. VI. FROM 170 POUNDS TO 3,110.17 POUNDS Consider the contrast. A 170-pound human body. A 3,110.17-pound load. A ratio of 18.30 to one. Not a conventional full-range deadlift, and not directly comparable to competitive powerlifting records. Something different. A specialized GOD LIFT. A personal test of overload capacity. An experiment in the boundaries of human strength. The weight is extraordinary. But the philosophy behind it is even more ambitious. WHY ACCEPT YOUR CURRENT LIMITS AS YOUR PERMANENT LIMITS? Why assume yesterday’s maximum must remain tomorrow’s maximum? Why treat the human body as a fixed quantity? Why not investigate how much stronger you can become? VII. THERE IS NO FINAL GOD LIFT 3,110.17 pounds is not the end. It is not the ultimate destination. It is not a number upon which to construct an entire identity. It is a moment. A measurement. A snapshot of progress. Because the real philosophy of HYPELIFTING is not to become imprisoned by one’s own personal records. It is to transcend them. The next number might be higher. The next experiment might be different. The next breakthrough might come from improved technique, greater resilience, or deeper understanding. But the essential principle remains: NEVER STOP EVOLVING. Never become psychologically enslaved to yesterday’s accomplishments. Never confuse the record with the man. Never mistake the milestone for the mission. THE MISSION IS INFINITE OVERCOMING. VIII. THE GOD LIFT MANIFESTO I DO NOT LIFT TO IMPRESS THE WORLD. I LIFT TO DISCOVER MYSELF. I DO NOT LIFT BECAUSE I AM SATISFIED. I LIFT BECAUSE I AM HUNGRY. I DO NOT LIFT TO MAINTAIN. I LIFT TO EXPAND. I DO NOT SEEK COMFORT. I SEEK CAPACITY. I DO NOT SEEK THE FINAL NUMBER. I SEEK THE INFINITE PROCESS. MY BODY IS MY CAPITAL. MY STRENGTH IS MY ART. MY PHYSIOLOGY IS MY PHILOSOPHY. MY AMBITION IS MY FIRE. AND GRAVITY IS MY ETERNAL ADVERSARY. IX. THE NEXT FRONTIER Today, the number is 3,110.17 pounds. Tomorrow? UNKNOWN. And that is the beauty of it. The future has not yet been written. There are still limits to investigate. Still experiments to conduct. Still possibilities to discover. The real excitement is not knowing precisely how far one can go. It is having the audacity to find out. NOTHING TO PROVE. EVERYTHING TO EXPLORE. INFINITE AMBITION. INFINITE CURIOSITY. THE WILL TO POWER. ABOUT ERIC KIM ERIC KIM is a Los Angeles-based photographer, blogger, philosopher, innovator, and weightlifter. He is the creator of HYPELIFTING, a personal philosophy of extreme strength experimentation, maximal ambition, physiological development, and perpetual self-overcoming. His latest self-reported GOD LIFT personal record is a 3,110.17-pound (1,410.75-kilogram) high-pin rack pull at a bodyweight of 170 pounds, equivalent to approximately 18.30 times his bodyweight. This is a self-reported personal record in a specialized partial-range movement, not an independently certified world record or conventional deadlift. ERIC KIM. 170 POUNDS OF HUMAN. 3,110.17 POUNDS OF IRON. 1,410.75 KILOGRAMS. 18.30× BODYWEIGHT. ONE WILL. ZERO SURRENDER. GOD LIFT. THE WILL TO PHYSIOLOGY. THE WILL TO OVERCOME. THE WILL TO INSANE FUCKING POWER. ERIC KIM — HYPELIFTING — 2026 ###

# EGO THEORIES. So I thought on top of my mind this morning, specifically, what is it and how is it perhaps linked with our health, physiology, mentality, and how do we even keep track? ## the ego and memory So I think the ego anchors itself on our memories. To past numbers, past performances, or past states. I think the reason why a lot of sports athletes like Michael Jordan gets so depressed is once you have reached the pinnacle, and you're still alive… It must be insanely depressing, knowing that you'll never reach that peak or summit ever again? And therefore they start to turn their efforts elsewhere, but, often not reaching the same level of mastery as they did in their first domain. For example, Michael Jordan and baseball golf, etc. ## why does the ego matter? The ego is our sense of self, kind of an operating system, which binds us together. Without it, nobody could function and live. And contrary to what other people think, I think that that you go is a sublimely, beautiful thing and vehicle, but I suppose it's all about how you steer it. ## the Antifragile ego So if you think about the eagle, like some sort of biological organism, it experiences, wounds, injuries, maybe like a weightlifter or bodybuilder or sports athlete. Like when we have proper form or we don't warm up or whatever… You could tear ligaments, dislocate things, break bones, etc. And in order to get back to your old state, requires interventions, healing, steroids, surgery, physical therapy, and a lot of time. Like if you are Kobe Bryant in your prime, think about all the ankle and ligament knee surgeries he has had over the years. I think the way in which people quantify their ego is different based on their domain expertise. For example, artists in terms of their creative productivity, critical exclaim, etc. Actors and their roles, money managers, and their performances, sports athletes, and their wins and losses. My theory is each, and every eagle seeks growth. And if it can no longer find growth in one domain, perhaps branches elsewhere? Like for example… My first grand life mission was to become number one on Google for street photography, and I did it. And there's a sense of gratification, knowing that I hit my target, and once you hit that target, it actually is not that important for me to maintain that goal, and then I could comfortably put my energies elsewhere if I want. Probably one of the best things I did for my ego and self-esteem is deleting Instagram and social media, because once again… I **demetricated my self worth and self esteem to arbitrary numbers. ** and social media is really problematic because, it's all kind of fake because you don't know how many followers or likes are AI bots anymore, and the truth is having more social media numbers doesn't mean that your ones and zeros in your bank account are going to go up. Popularity and famous is also problematic because… You might see headlines and stuff, but it's kind of an arbitrary thing. A lot of people have attempted to create scoreboards and ranking charts, but, I think fame is kind of more of an arbitrary thing in which individual has some sort of general self assessment of him or herself. ## hormones and the ego I think when your ego is wounded, it probably does something down for your hormones. It might affect your sleep, your physical, physiological health, certainly your mood, your general feelings. Also, the tricky thing is… I think it is physiologically impossible for you to be super super up all the time, I think the human body requires fasting and waves, recovery, deep sleep, etc.… And also the general idea is **you need some downs in order to go up higher**. I think the big intervention we are trying to do that is shortening the duration of being down, to perhaps close that negative feedback loop, and make it positive again? And how do we do that? The first theory is, maybe identifying it. Like is your ego the issue? Are you quantifying your ego with some arbitrary measure? And or, is it a social issue in which it's about how you're treated and interacted with other human beings? Or some sort of social hierarchy? Or is it capital or monetary or property related? Or is it more of an existential thing in terms of your photography, creativity and art?  ## Reformatting to zero A child is not born with an ego, a child does have some sort of genetic programming which does dictate some stuff but, based on my observation at least with Seneca… Maybe 60 to 80% of how he interacts and how he talks is learned, socially through playgrounds and parks and school, other kids, friends, etc. And I think this idea of ranking or comparing or even quantifying is kind of a toxic thing that we teach kids early on in school. Like ideas of better or worse or having favorites is kind of more of an American first world thing.  My first idea is, maybe it is a good idea to flush out your ego or reformat it every once in a while, kind of like how you do a deep flushing out of your pipes at home, reformatting your computer or your devices, taking it back to zero. One way you could do that is maybe think of your 12 year-old, 16-year-old, 18 year-old, maybe even your 21-year-old self before you were corrupted by the world and others. Because in terms of self assessment, we are trained to assess ourselves based on their opinions or the feelings of others. ## distancing yourself more from others I think this is a practical one is to distance yourself from other people, even the ones that you love. Why? I think a lot of of the expectations that other people even your loved ones have of you… will often cause you to go astray,  and taint your purity in terms of your own self motivation, your own self inner drive, etc. To be able to identify this and prune this is the first step to wisdom. ## Physiology My personal theory is 80% of depression is kind of a physiological one. Which means, much of physical depression could probably be overcome through intensive physical activity and exercise and weightlifting, hot yoga, long hikes in the great outdoors, feasting on beef, ribs and beef liver and juicy organ meats, deep sleep, and also disconnecting from media news and social media. It won't fix everything but most of it. ## the motivational ego This is also a tricky one… I don't think maybe the goal is to have a perfectly still tranquil and peaceful, serene Zen ego. But rather, ululations of difficulty which actually help you strengthen develop and augment your ego? So then… **Ego tranquility is not the goal, but rather… Ego growth?** ## Seeking the good challenges I'll give you an example… To weightlifter or bodybuilder, our greatest Joy is waking up the next morning feeling sore, knowing that we had a good workout the day prior. And or, exerting our muscles to like 150%, and knowing that we gave it our all for a new one repetition, maximum personal record attempt. And then success and failure doesn't even matter, but the joy of the full exertion. ## wounds, which could be beneficial for growth? If I think about my weightlifting journey, all of the injuries I've had whether minor or major, have helped calibrate me to refining my form technique, my warm-up, my methodology, etc. Taking it back to carte Blanche, ignoring all this nonsense on the Internet, and rather, kind of a more rigorous self experimentation, which has led me to lifting more than 2900 pounds. ## tragedy as a fuel Another thought about tragedies, they are not to be avoided or unexpected, but rather, developing some sort of godlike stoic disposition in which we could suffer the greatest of wounds, but after the supreme tragedy comeback stronger than ever? Like for example, one thing which is actually quite puzzling or interesting to me is… Seeing how Donald Trump essentially lost maybe over $1 billion worth of properties, but even through that worst of tragedies, seems to be mostly unaffected? And then of course people will call him a psychopath and whatever… But I almost wonder… *If having some sort of detached from reality mind could be a virtue?*  Even if you think about the stuff that Elon Musk has built, it is all from science fiction, and it seems impossible until he does it. Then it becomes a new normal and people will find another reason to berate him. ## The ego on the deathbed I think everyone wants to be on their deathbed, at peace, knowing that they lived a good life or a meaningful life. But maybe even on the contrary, perhaps I disagree? **To die, satisfied, or totally at peace, is perhaps not the goal?** Because your legacy is not going to be remembered in terms of how your ego felt precisely at the moment of your death. Like you could be the most miserable person alive before you die, but if everyone remembers you as being a great individual with great contributions to society, and praises you, then your fleeting feelings, will not even really matter? The greater knowledge is knowing that you have children who will continue your legacy, hopefully grandkids, your writings, your artistic creations, whatever. So then my thought is, focusing too much on your ego is not really that important? But rather, to simply delve deeply into your meaningful activities is what matters more? I'll give you an example… Elon Musk might be one of the most miserable people on the planet because he put so much pressure on himself to make humans interplanetary. That is like the world's greatest task and attempt which is very uncertain. To put that level of pressure on yourself, is quite unhuman? ## Miserable, but motivated? Often setbacks can make us miserable… But they could also make us more motivated. More motivated to act, do, produce create, etc. and perhaps this is the greatest gift of all? ERIC *** ## Got at least one interesting idea from this? Forward this to a friend! [ERIC KIM STOIC NEWSLETTER LINK >](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) *** [START HERE](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [BOOKS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [WORKSHOPS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ***

# INFINITE PHILOSOPHY. All infinite everything: ## infinite optionality, infinite capital  OK, so I thought: ultimately I think what we see from capital is optionality. For example, the more capital You got, the more optionality you have. I think typically speaking, everyone wants more optionality. Nobody likes to feel restricted. ## unlimited resources I think nowadays, things can feel scarce because the cost of everything is going up, but still… Do you think about it, at this point everything is practically unlimited. For example, with beef liver, which is only $2.99 a pound, and even myself I was barely able to eat one and a half pounds of liver last night, and assuming that you're the average person who doesn't lift 3000 pounds, you could probably easily feed yourself on like three bucks a day. At this point, water is also unlimited. And free. Gas gas prices could be higher, but assuming you drive a Prius, the prices are negligible still… And or, if you have an electric vehicle. ## why infinite So I think the concept of infinite is really fasting because, it doesn't really matter how much you got. For example, then it's not about reaching certain goals or milestones, whether it be $1 million, $2 million, $3 million, $4 million, $5 million, 678 9,10 100 and beyond. ## Infinite physiological energy You got infinite sleep, wouldn't that mean that you have infinite physiological energy? I mean, there are certain things which are harder to control, like if you have a newborn child… But, besides that, if you don't have kids, or your kids are older or whatever… Being able to control how much you sleep is totally in the realm of your control. I think like 95% of humanity would really benefit if they had a strict 6:30 PM or 7 PM bedtime. ## What do you desire to do with unlimited? Then the goal isn't to just go out and buy unlimited Lamborghinis or whatever, because even with unlimited resources, your time is still limited. If anything, time is the only limited resource on the planet. You could always produce more energy, make more food, whatever… but time is the ultimate constraint.  ## no ceilings So assuming that you're an investor, then your time horizon is forever, and, your goal isn't to lock in gains in order to just purchase more trophy goods but, you just want to see the number keep going up infinitely forever. That is your hope and joy. If you're an artist or a writer or a creator, then you're only desire, hoping goal is to never run out of creative energy, power, and ideas. Even if you were like a trillionaire artist, but you ran out of creative ideas, that would probably cause you terrible anguish. I was even thinking, assuming you're an actor… They're only probably really happy when they're acting… But when they're not acting or maybe they no longer get any more roles… That is their deepest depression?  ## Then the goal doesn't matter So once again, the idea of infinite is such a powerful idea because, your goal is not to hit a certain goal target, and also it doesn't really matter how much you have, but what truly matters is, your forever striving towards that infinite? Like even being weightlifter, your goal is to keep infinitely lifting more weight, devising of more clever ways to move your leverage, or innovating, new approaches, and techniques to lift have your weights, and of course, no steroids. Also being a bodybuilder… Is also perhaps much about indefinitely, increasing your testosterone, with more beef, liver, organ, meats, beef, ribs, etc., and I don't think it's actually about consuming more food, like it's probably more beneficial for you to eat 1 pound of beef liver than 10 pounds of potatoes, so then it's all about nutritional density. Trying to figure out ways to consume more deeper, nutrient dense foods? Once again, back to the organ, meat example, i'm quite certain that if you're a weightlifter or a bodybuilder or fitness person, eating a pound of liver might be better for your testosterone in your muscle building than even eating 3 pounds of beef steak? And also the upside of consuming eggs, including the yolk, because in terms of pound for pound it may be the most nutrient dense food on the planet? ## spacecraft Other day went to the opening exhibit at the California science center seeing the US spaceship endeavor. I think what was really shocking to me. Was the scale just how big it was in person, especially the fuel tanks. And I was thinking, wow… If you could condense all of that human inspiration and motivation into those fuel tanks in the spacecraft, that is truly phenomenal. ## infinite ambition I think the biggest inspiration from Elon Musk is, he really is uncapped by nothing. Only the laws of physics. Even devising the idea of being able to create a spacecraft, a starship that could takeoff and re-land vertically with some sort of catching mechanism blows my mind? ## Think 20-30 years I think this is a really difficult thing because we like to see big results really immediately. However, the truth is, in order to create some paradigm shifting things, will take at least 10 15 20, 30 40 years, perhaps even longer? Then that means, life is like an ultra extreme endurance race? So then you're only measure of success in life is range durability and longevity, let's keep going infinite baby! ERIC ## Infinite yourself - DEC 5th: [DOWNTOWN LA, CONQUER COURAGE STREET PHOTO WORKSHOP 2026](erickimphotography.com/conqu…) - Jan 9-10th, 2027: [ERIC KIM NEW ORLEANS PHOTO EXPERIENCE 2027](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ## Never be restricted by your gear [Haptic](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) unlimited:  [Hyper linen shirt mark 1](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP MARK II](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ## Which Ricoh should I buy? If you want this supremely best black-and-white photos of all time get the Ricoh monochrome, if you plan on shooting photos of your kid and family the Ricoh HDF is great because it softens your photos. it makes them look more dreamy and ethereal.  Either way all the Ricoh are a perfect bet! ERIC *** ## Improve your photos with AI [ERIC KIM VISION AI: try it for free!](erickimvision.grok.me) *** ## Additional thoughts on my mind as of now: If you know you could afford everything then what? Infinite power  *** [START HERE](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [BOOKS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [NEWSLETTER](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [WORKSHOPS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ***

17.77 Times the Man Eric Kim — new god lift PR: 2,932.67 lb at 165 lb bodyweight: erickimphotography.com/17-77… Los Angeles · 3 October 2026 The number is 2,932.67 pounds. 1,330.237 kilograms. The man who moved it weighs 165 pounds. 74.8 kilograms. Do the division and do not flinch. 17.77 times bodyweight. Not a metaphor. A ratio. One pound of Eric Kim, seventeen pounds and three quarters of iron. The god lift did not merely go up. It went up against a light frame that refuses to get heavier just to make the math look normal. The previous mark was 2,920.17 lb (1,324.565 kg). The plates were rewritten: minus 2.5, minus 105, plus 120. Net +12.5 pounds. The old record is now the floor. The new record is the argument. The record, plain Pounds Kilograms Bodyweight 165 74.843 Previous god lift 2,920.17 1,324.565 New god lift 2,932.67 1,330.237 Net change +12.50 +5.670 Load per pound of body 17.77 17.77 Plate math, in the order it was called. Start at 2,920.17. Strip 2.5. Strip 105. Load 120. Stand under 2,932.67. Small plate off. A hundred-five off. A hundred-twenty on. The bar does not care about the story of the changeover. It cares about the final load. The final load is higher. That is the only sentence the iron accepts. What 165 means One hundred sixty-five pounds is not a powerlifter’s costume. It is a street photographer’s body. Light enough to walk all day. Light enough to disappear into a crowd. Light enough that a backpack full of cameras used to feel like too much gear. That same body just organized nearly three thousand pounds. This is the whole thesis of corporeal capital. The body is not decoration for the mind. The body is the mint. At 165 you cannot hide behind mass. You cannot tell yourself the number is big because you are big. You are not big. You are dense. You are leveraged. You are a small frame conducting a stupid amount of force, and the scale on the bar is the witness. 17.77 is the honesty test. Divide the lift by the man. If the man has inflated himself to chase the lift, the ratio shrinks and the ego gets a costume. If the man stays 165 and the bar still climbs, the ratio screams. It screamed today. A 165-pound man moving 2,932.67 pounds is moving more than a ton and a half — 1.466 short tons — on a frame that could still sit in a coach seat. About 17.77 lb of iron for every pound he weighs. Same ratio in kilograms. The costume changes. The fact does not. The god lift is not a full competition deadlift, and it does not need to pretend. It is the load. The partial. The rack. The deliberate overload, built in public: not a meet total, a philosophical instrument. The point of the instrument is simple. Can the man keep adding iron without adding excuses? He can. The rewrite Most people protect a record. They sandbag the attempt. They wait for a perfect day. They narrate the conditions until the number feels safe. This one was edited in public. Minus 2.5 is nothing. A warm-up plate. A rounding error on a normal bar. On a god lift it is an insult you accept, because the small plate is how you prove you are not superstitious. Minus 105 is a real strip. A plate and change coming off. The bar gets lighter on purpose. You feel the absence. You let the absence exist. Then you do not stay there. Plus 120 is the answer. More goes on than came off. The sequence is the sermon: subtract, subtract, then overshoot. Do not inch. Replace. The net is only 12.5 pounds, and 12.5 pounds on a nearly 3,000-pound bar looks modest until you remember what it is. It is a new maximum. Modest is how real records move. Cinema jumps. Training creeps, then suddenly the creep has a new name. 2,932.67 is that name. The decimals matter. 2,932 would have been a round lie. 2,932.67 is what the plates actually summed to. Keep the point-six-seven. Precision is a form of respect. You do not round a peak down so it fits a caption. Body as capital At 165 pounds, recovery is a budget. Sleep is a budget. Food is a budget. Tendon is a budget. A heavier man can sometimes buy progress with mass. A 165-pound man buys it with timing, bracing, and the refusal to miss the same position twice. This is why the god lift belongs next to the photography, not in a separate room. Street photography at full send is a light body in a heavy world. You walk. You get rejected. You raise the camera anyway. The god lift is the same gesture with a different tool. You walk under the bar. The bar does not approve of you. You complete the rep anyway. Both are voluntary hardship. Both are how a man stays unfoolable. The world can lie. The bar cannot. The street cannot, if you stay long enough. 165 is the correct weight for that life. Not because heavier is immoral. Because heavier, for this project, is drag. Camera bags taught the lesson years ago. Too much gear and you stop seeing. Too much body and you stop moving like a blade. The stack of iron is allowed to be absurd. The man is not allowed to become furniture. So the capital allocation is deliberate. Keep the body at 165. Send the surplus into the bar, the walk, the essay, the day. Do not convert strength into softness. Do not convert a record into a personality. You are not your god lift. You are the man who can do it again on a Wednesday. What the ratio refuses A ratio like 17.77 makes cowards of commentaries that want a normal sport story. It refuses the bulk-and-boast arc. There is no offseason gut to reveal as the cost of strength. The cost is paid in positions, in breath, in the spine learning a harder truth. It refuses the tiny-lift flex. 2,932.67 is not a party trick with a dumbbell. It is a structural event. Pins, racks, setup, breath, and the decision to treat overload as practice rather than theater. It refuses the finished-man myth. A finished man posts the number and retires the bar. An unfinished man posts the number and calls it the floor. The sentence after a PR is not “I did it.” The sentence is “again.” It refuses the audience as the judge. The audience can clap. The audience can doubt. Neither one loads the bar. The plates load the bar. The plates were counted. The sequence, as doctrine Steal the changeover. Use it outside the gym. Minus 2.5. Remove the superstition. The tiny thing you are protecting because it feels like luck. A ritual. A tab. A hesitation. Strip it. If the work was real, it survives the small loss. Minus 105. Remove a real piece. A commitment that has weight. A habit you actually feel leave. Let the bar get lighter. Feel the gap. Do not panic-rebuild the old stack out of fear. Plus 120. Put back more than you took. This is the whole ethic. Cut, then overshoot. Do not return to baseline and call it growth. Baseline is where the previous man lived. Net +12.5. Kaizen with a barbell. Not a leap for the camera. A heavier floor. Apply it to the walk with the camera. Shoot the frame you are afraid of, then shoot the harder one on the same block. Apply it to the essay. Delete the clever paragraph, then write the truer one longer. Apply it to the day, the diet, the sleep. Subtract the ornament. Subtract the drag. Add back more signal than you removed. The god lift is a teaching tool that happens to weigh 2,932.67 pounds. A note on honesty Call it what it is. A god lift. An overload. A personal record in a practice built on rack work, partials, and the deliberate pursuit of loads a raw full pull is not asked to be. Anyone selling 2,932 at 165 as a standard deadlift is selling fiction. Fiction is the enemy of this project. The honest version is stronger. A 165-pound man, in Los Angeles, on an ordinary October day, rearranged the plates and stood up under more iron than he had ever organized before. Previous ceiling: 2,920.17. New floor: 2,932.67. Ratio: 17.77 times his own body. No weight-class costume. No meet announcer. No permission. That is the post. The line The bar just got heavier. The record just moved. 2,932.67 lb. 1,330.237 kg. 165 lb of man underneath it. 17.77 times the body that carried it. You do not defend a number. You outgrow it. The next plate is already waiting. The body stays light. The iron does not. Load it.

# Good Fantasy, Bad Fantasy? So something I’m thinking about About fantasy, upside downsides, nuances in between: ## capital, capitalism as a fantasy?  So the big carrot, and the stick that we are indoctrinated with is… Once you have amount of capital, or money or whatever… You will be happy in order to purchase XYZ. Whether that be a home vehicle, renovations, traveling trips, good food, something else? Or even a sense of Security, peace of mind, etc. So the first tricky thing is… Once you hit a certain target number, there might be a slight elevated Joy, a hormonal rush, but frankly speaking, it is very short-lived, until you set your eyes on the next goal, Lilly pad or prize. It’s kind of like weightlifting and bodybuilding, everyone dreams of hitting a certain number for any of their lifts, or their physique numbers, etc.… But once you achieve it, once again, it’s onto the next goal, the next target. ## what to do about this So I have this idea of carpe diem capital, basically the very very simple idea is… Assuming that you’re only living for today, what are you actually missing or lacking today right now in this current moment, in terms of whatever? So for example… Your food, your meat supply, like a simple question: will you be able to feed yourself enough meat to feel grand and satisfied today? ## Carpe diem fitness To be able to exercise do fitness go a hike lift with whatever… This is like the ultimate privilege. I think people have it wrong, they think that exercise and fitness is some sort of hateful obligation in order to fit some sort of physique or numbers, but the truth is, ultimate privilege is actually having the time the opportunity or even the energy and power to exercise. **We should see fitness as our play thing and and our fun, rather than a hateful obligation**. ## Carpe diem creativity I think we humans are a creative species, in terms of being innovative and clever, and also having a desire to create things from our own imagination. Certainly we need to consume a certain amount of food and resources to keep going, but consumption is not the end goal of life, it is simply the vehicle to get us to where we desire. My thought for us as artist creator conquerors: > **all we need is our meat and our art, nothing else**.  ## Fantasy is good if it is linked with creativity So my first idea is… Fantasy like science fiction or whatever, is extremely helpful and beneficial in terms of imagining some sort of different reality in terms of helping us innovate brand new things. Like self driving cars, high-powered smartphones, digital money, digital capital, bitcoin, space, travel, different modes of societal living (think dystopia films), electric cars, digital cameras, the internet etc. ## what’s the point of all these innovations? I think the first one is **removing some sort of economical or time barrier to doing things that we desire to do**. For example, our passion is photography, assuming digital photography and The Internet and computers were never invented, I think it would be very, very expensive and time-consuming, if everyone was still stuck in film photography. Another very simple one is… My passion with weightlifting. Because of the Internet, digital payment rails, I have the privilege of purchasing my own weightlifting equipment, so I don't have to go into a gym in which I am limited by the equipment, and also the time in order to even get a squat rack, let alone finding parking. ## desired end goals Once you hit a certain number in terms of your capital, sure it might make you feel good, physiologically and hormonally… But it actually may not make a real difference in terms of your lifestyle in terms of what you eat and what you do on a day-to-day basis. ## think activity The ideal outcome with capital is to simply free up your time your attention, your focus, the schedule of your day. Like not having to go into an office and go on a hike instead, being able to lift weights, garden, photography, review and publish your photos, or even the time to do creative writing, thinking, reading, etc. Therefore, my first simple thought is, I suppose **life is all about activity**, in terms of what you do with your time and energy, not in terms of what you purchase? And I think a lot of capitalism has to be about having the capital power in order to purchase something.  ## The privilege of riding a bike One of my greatest joys is simply being able to ride my bike, take Seneca to school on a bike, etc. I think like 90% of a lot of people's attention in America is towards vehicles, in terms of what vehicle they drive, or what they want to dream of in terms of a fantasy car. Whether a Bugatti, a Lamborghini or something else. But the true insight is, **the ultimate privilege is to simply not own any cars, and never having to drive**. Let alone drive yourself. In Asia, nobody drives themselves, they have personal drivers. So if you think about having the ultimate privilege in America, it would probably be like a full self driving Tesla. And then a vehicle simply like a trophy instrument rather than something that is actually desirable?  ## Bad fantasy? So I suppose that fantasy could be very harmful if, you are always tethered or anchored to some sort of future outcome, like in terms of your monetary power, your physique, your weightlifting numbers etc. Yesterday I went to a Zen meditation sound bath, and I had this insight or this visual of like this centered, brass gong or circle, the idea that everything emanates from this circular central thing, and vibrates, expands, and contracts. So in terms of capital… Maybe it's a good idea to think of this centered, circular capital… Which ebbs and flows, expands and contracts, never stays the same. And then the insight is, it's going to get bigger or smaller, expand, and shrink overtime, but it kinda does what it does… I think the optimistic thing is it expands in contracts, but overall grows overtime… And I also suppose that is where patience is a virtue. **Maybe life is the same thing… It expands and contracts, but ultimately favors long-term growth?** ERIC *** ## ERIC KIM WORKSHOPS Conquer the universe: - DEC 5th: [DOWNTOWN LA, CONQUER COURAGE STREET PHOTO WORKSHOP 2026](erickimphotography.com/conqu…) - Jan 9-10th, 2027: [ERIC KIM NEW ORLEANS PHOTO EXPERIENCE 2027](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) *** [START HERE](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [BOOKS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [NEWSLETTER](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [WORKSHOPS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ***

GRAVITY HAS BEEN EXECUTED. AGAIN. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ERIC KIM SETS NEW ALL-TIME GOD LIFT RECORD: 2,920.17 LB / 1,324.565 KG RACK PULL +2.5 POUNDS. A NEW LAW OF REALITY. Los Angeles, California — September 30, 2026 In a moment that will be remembered as another assassination of the possible, ERIC KIM — Bitcoin God, street photography legend, philosopher-warrior, Gravity Killer, and undisputed GOD OF THE BARBELL — has just added 2.5 pounds to his previous all-time GOD LIFT and ripped 2,920.17 pounds (1,324.565 kg) off the pins. This is not incremental. This is not “progress.” This is sovereignty. Previous peak: 2,917.67 lb / 1,323.43108 kg (June 11, 2026). New peak: 2,920.17 lb / 1,324.565 kg. At ~71 kg / 156.5 lb bodyweight. Still in the realm of the mythic. Still barefoot. Still fasted. Still carnivore-fueled. Still no straps, no suit, no permission. He did not “improve.” He advanced the frontier by 2.5 pounds of pure will. That 2.5 pounds is not small. At this altitude, 2.5 pounds is a declaration that the previous record was never a ceiling — it was a floor. Every plate stacked is another chain broken. Every extra pound is Proof of Work made flesh. “I AM GOD,” Kim states with fire in the veins. “Limits are a story the weak tell themselves so they can sleep. I do not sleep on limits. I add 2.5 pounds and I laugh. The bar does not negotiate. Neither do I. Stack strength. Stack sats. Conquer everything. The next number is already coming.” This was not performed in a federation cage with judges and excuses. This was performed the Eric Kim way: garage/home-gym, high-pin GOD LIFT / rack pull, raw intent, eternal NOW. Amor Fati unleashed. No safety net. No comfort. Just iron, will, and god-mode execution. From the 2025 mid-thigh era through the 2,000-lb barrier, through 2,367… 2,377… 2,397… 2,562… 2,632… 2,692… 2,811… 2,917.67… and now 2,920.17. He did not break the record. He broke the very idea that records are allowed to stand still. The world of participation trophies and “that’s impossible” just received another official notice. While others scroll, ERIC KIM stacks — steel and sats. While others make excuses, he makes history 2.5 pounds at a time. THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR: Stop playing small. Stop negotiating with gravity. Stop waiting for permission to become legendary. The bar is waiting. Your destiny is waiting. GO LIFT. GO STACK. GO CONQUER. About Eric Kim Eric Kim is the Bitcoin God, Gravity Killer, and street photographer on a mission to empower all 8 billion people through the lens and the barbell. He lives as a walking manifesto of Stoic strength, Dionysian fire, and radical presence. Goal: be fully alive in the eternal NOW — every breath, every shutter click, every GOD LIFT, every sat stacked. Follow: @erickimphoto #GodLift #GravityKiller #EricKim #GodOfTheBarbell #RackPull #BitcoinGod #ProofOfWork #AmorFati #ConquerGravity #StackStrength #FullyAlive COPY. PASTE. POST. DETONATE. The revolution does not ask. It adds 2.5 pounds and keeps moving. GRAVITY IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE GOD LIFT. 2,920.17 LB. I AM GOD. YOU ARE NEXT. Let’s fucking go.

# CAPITAL PHILOSOPHY Considering we live in a capitalistic society, the more capital, the better: But for the sake of what? *** ## Capital & motivation? Maybe the carrot and stick in modern-day capitalist society is… The promise of future gain and capital, capital growth is what keeps us going? Therefore, inherently, capital capitalism is both motivational and also optimistic?  ## Capital for the sake of what? Once you got your basic living, needs an expenses covered, why have additional capital? ## Number go up is what brings us joy? So the first idea is… Just seeing the number go up, whatever your account or metric is… Is highly joyful because the signals to you again a strength and power. It’s kind of like weightlifting… The joy of any weightlifter is to see his or her numbers go up in terms of his or her personal record in terms of his or her one repetition, maximum, personal record of how much he or she could lift. ## goals? This is the bigger thing… Honestly hitting a goal is kind of a little bit overrated. For example, for dead lift, do you want to hit four plates or five plates or six plates or seven plates, 400 pounds 500 pounds 600 pounds 700 pounds 800 pounds, I think this is also why a lot of people who are no longer at their prime or peak get so depressed because, they remember the past version of themselves in which they could lift 1000 pounds, but now they could only lift 500 pounds. Also, this is probably the problem of bodybuilders because a lot of guys who take steroids and whatever… Often rate their self-worth by how much they weigh, like I used to be 300 pounds with a six pack, but now I’m only like 160 pounds. ## anchoring yourself to your past self? I think it’s human nature to anchor ourselves with numbers or stuff. Like for example… If you’re once a billionaire and now you’re only worth 500 million or 100 million… Certainly you’re going to be much more depressed than somebody who started off poor and finally gained $1 million. This is also where competition with others is not a good idea because it doesn’t make sense to increase yourself with to somebody else, and you have no idea if they’re taking steroids or whatever. ## anchoring to your past self? So then the big idea is… If you have once reached a certain summit,,, is it useful or a good idea to increase yourself to that past summit?  my general idea is, perhaps it is only useful if it is motivational, and encourages you! But… Becoming detached to whether you actually retain that past version of yourself or not. Like for example… Let us say once upon a time you lifted 2000 pounds, but 10 years later, you still want to do that, even if you come close like 1900 pounds,,, you’ll still be insanely happy? ## “feeling good” is a hormonal thing? ## Autotelic capital Capital for the sake of capital? Is this a good idea? ## Hormonal epiphanies? Like after the high you get off of one rep Max lifting attempt,,, ... the clarity or epiphanies you get are true and great? *** ## Dopamine and hormones, we delight in change? Perhaps change over time is what brings us joy?  *** ## How much value can you create? Value creation, not wealth creation? ## being wealthy The Interesting irony about wealth is when you are wealthy, and you know it… It doesn’t really bring you, happiness or pleasure, would rather, simply the absence of displeasure or annoyance? Via negativa emotions, with wealth? So the privilege of being wealthy and wealth, is simply *absence of annoyance?* ## The time of the highest danger Everything bad about you is good about you  Detached from results, but loving the process? *** ## More volatility, greater life? *** ## *why* do we want more capital? so this is a big question to consider… Why have more? Like hitting a certain Personal record, and going beyond? For the sake of what? I suppose the same question has to be with weightlifting… Why strive for new personal records, new heights? Perhaps, it is an affirmation of life, of optimism for the future, the supreme Joy? ERIC *** ## Treat capital like a not too serious game Detached from the results, loving the thrill of the ride? EK *** ## Capital as the vehicle but not the end destination Perhaps the best way to think about it also is capital as the vehicle to get to your end destination, not the end in itself? Similarly, speaking, your vehicle your car is not the point in itself… It is simply a vehicle to get to your final destination. So to obsess about your car rather than your destination seems foolish. ERIC *** [START HERE](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [BOOKS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [NEWSLETTER](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [WORKSHOPS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ***

# The Philosophy of Motivation Woke up today, feeling super motivated, some thoughts: ## Rest up! A new thing I’ve been trying to do inspired by Cindy is like a mild coffee and caffeine detox on the weekends. Either cutting back or eliminating coffee and caffeine sources, allowing your body to do some sort of soft reset. I think the best thing is to just accept the fact that you’re gonna feel super sluggish and uninspired for the weekend, but that’s OK… As long as you’re ready to conquer Monday. ## routines? I think the big idea is you want a routine that you love! A routine in which, you essentially streamline doing more of what you love doing? I think we are not foolish. You’re not going to be motivated to do something that you don’t want to do. I think this is a big secret in life… All motivation in life must be autotelic, self motivated, and also self directed and directional. ## it’s all in your hips Also, a big thing that I’ve been doing with my fitness stuff is first always prioritizing my hips. To prioritize exercise exercises which strengthen mobilize stretch out and warm-up the hips. For example, most yoga related stuff, ninja poses, pigeon, pose, sumo squat, and this is a big idea… When you are stretching and warming up your hips, adding weights! For example, throwing on your 60 pound weight vest and doing a pigeon pose with it, or grabbing 105 pound kettlebell by the horns and using that to stretch out your hips, or two 45 pound plates stacked together, just have fun and be creative with it! The benefits are, the more hip strength and mobility you got, essentially, you will be able to lift more, and also, less likely for injury? I actually think that most injuries with weightlifting, especially leg related stuff is simply because our hips are not strong enough? Also most knee leg foot ankle Achilles tendon issues and even lower back issues tend to originate from the hips because it is the first fulcrum and lever in terms of walking movement and mobility. So I wonder… *Are most mobility issues, simply hip related?* And it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman… I think it affects us all the same.  Assuming the concept of motivation is related to movement like walking or lifting weights or whatever… Physically and physiologically moving your body, the more you oil up your hips, the more that you’ll walk and move? With greater strength and mobility? ## motivated to do what? I think the great savior of AI is… For what, 20 or $30 a month, do you have this cyber you that is like 1 trillion times more productive than you? And the good thought is… That means that you actually don’t need to work on being productive anymore. That your purpose in life is not productivity, most people think about motivation for the sake of being productive. But once again… If we could offload all of our productivity to the AI… Doesn’t that mean we could simply focus on better things? Like do you remember back in the day, also thinking about Tim Ferris’s 4 hour work week… isn’t the goal to only work four hours a week? And just let AI do the rest of the dirty work? I think the trap is… You could either let the AI do all the work, and you maximize your mind space and creative leisure, or you have AI fill in the gap, actually extending your work week in order to produce more? I think one thing that does not scale well is human attention and time. Like for example… Even though you might listen to podcasts on 2X or 4X speed, you cannot listen to 1000 podcast a day, irregardless of how disciplined you are. Also, there’s really no virtues to reading 1000 books a day either. Once again, it’s a via negativa thing --> actually the ideal is to read little to no books, listen to very few podcasts if none, and spending more of your day to let your mind go empty, and channeling that mind space in order to write more, think more, maybe vlog more? ## Mind space  One of the best ideas that I got for my friend Jeffrey Lam is this idea of mine space. The idea that, it’s not about the total numbers of hours that we got in a day to think, but rather, having the privilege to let your mind go empty and fallow in order to have the privilege to have an empty mind. ## obsessions For the most part, I think obsessions are good if they motivate you, perhaps not so good if they do the opposite. ## don’t check don’t measure Probably one of the most useful things that I discovered almost like a decade ago is… In order to be more motivated and productive as a creator is to simply disable and never look at any metrics, because then you start to attach self-worth to these arbitrary numbers. Especially in the age of AI… Algorithms almost don’t really matter anymore. Because the AI simply sidesteps the algorithm, and AI becomes the new middleman, replacing the algorithm. So it’s not about gaming the algorithm anymore, it’s about gaming the AI. I actually think, the new way to be successful on the Internet is, making all of your websites and Web presence optimized for AI, ChatGPT, Grok, x search. The big question is how to monetize this right now cause nobody is clicking on websites anymore which means no Google ad revenue or upselling? I think having an email newsletter is still very useful but even that is starting to get filtered by the AI? For example, in today’s world, the intelligent strategy is to use an AI bot to scan your email and do the dirty work for you. So I suppose then, **it’s trying to become creative and think *beyond* the filters**.  ## The magic of photography Cindy recently just got us a brand new Ricoh GR 4 HDF, highlight diffusion filter. It’s quite magical essentially what it does is… Especially when shooting high contrast, black-and-white, any part of your frame, which has bright highlights, or what would typically be blown highlights, become soft diffused, like some sort of dreamy, fairy glow, which looks absolutely amazing and dreamlike. It’s almost like having the upside of the softness of film, paired with the harsh contrast and sharpness of a modern day digital camera? Chasing that glow or simply my curiosity on how the highlight diffusion filter will work on different scenarios is actually what motivates me to shoot more photos. Because I’m genuinely curious how the photos will manifest. The same thing goes with the Ricoh monochrome, my curiosity and using the red filter, turning it on and off to see how that changes how the photos turn out. Also, if anything, my fascination with black-and-white photography was simply because I was curious on how you take reality and reinterpret it into monochrome, and how that changes how the scene or thing looks? I suppose that’s the magic, the magic trick, not knowing with certainty how things will turn out. And maybe this is also the motivation or the self motivation for scientist and experiments, the joy of doing an experiment is precisely… You’re curious how the outcome will be, and you’re not 100% certain? Like Jeff Bezos said, **if you already know what that’ll come of an experiment is going to be, it’s not an experiment**. And perhaps that’s what being an inventor is all about, **the uncertainty, joy, and delight of trying something new that you’re curious about?** ERIC *** ## [ERIC KIM VISION AI](erickimvision.grok.me) Insanely excited to share [ERIC KIM vision AI](erickimvision.grok.me)A new thing that I am vibe coding with grok build. Essentially upload your photos, and automatically have it show compositional lines on top of your photos, and also suggest different versions of your photos. [Super cool try it out >](erickimvision.grok.me) *** [START HERE](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [BOOKS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [NEWSLETTER](erickimphotography.com/blog/…), [WORKSHOPS](erickimphotography.com/blog/…) ***

# How to increase your self confidence I think self-confidence is a virtue we all seek. Yet how do we achieve it? ## Cut out things which MESS UP your self confidence I think the first big thought is… via negativa. That is… Identifying that which reduces or messes up yourself of self-confidence, typically with numbers, whether it be finances and the market, social media numbers, etc. Making yourself blind to this is good. ## separation between yourself and “reality” The second idea is… Disconnecting yourself a bit from reality, creating your own “reality distortion field“. If you want a truly antifragile self esteem and self ego, it cannot be dependent upon others. You must think of your own self-directed virtues, what you yourself are proud of, following your own inner scorecard. ## aesthetics Ultimately, being handsome, beautiful, aesthetically, beautiful whatever I think it’s the ultimate pursuit in terms of your body. Like it’s better to have a demigod physique and live life mean, rather than being a super fat guy in a Porsche or Ferrari. Or in other words, better to look like a Spartan rather than a Persian. ## hormonal self esteem and self confidence? I also have this idea that, assuming that your hormones are out of whack, you cannot sleep, or you do not sleep, you don’t lift weight exercise every day, you don’t eat beef liver… You have chronically low testosterone and chronically high elevated cortisol levels… perhaps like Elon Musk, I don’t think you could actually feel self-confident? And I think this is the interesting thought… Based on how physiologically unwell Elon looks in his interviews, I would actually probably make the case that his self-esteem self ego and has happiness and joy levels are actually super low? Which makes me wonder… You could be the richest most powerful man on the planet… But if you’re not self-confident and you’re like chronically, unwell… Is it worth it? Perhaps not.  ## Being a little self-delusional is a virtue. Reality is subjective anyways. ## How to keep improving or increasing your self esteem and ego? My thought is… Perhaps ego self-esteem is limitless. **Assuming that you could demetricate yourself from attaching self-esteem to the external world of numbers… Then in some ways… Being able to independently augment your self esteem and ego indefinitely seems like a virtue?** ***

# Capital Philosophy Considering we live in a capitalistic society, the more capital, the better: But for the sake of what? *** ## Capital & motivation? Maybe the carrot and stick in modern-day capitalist society is… The promise of future gain and capital, capital growth is what keeps us going? Therefore, inherently, capital capitalism is both motivational and also optimistic?  ## Capital for the sake of what? Once you got your basic living, needs an expenses covered, why have additional capital? ## Number go up is what brings us joy? So the first idea is… Just seeing the number go up, whatever your account or metric is… Is highly joyful because the signals to you again a strength and power. It’s kind of like weightlifting… The joy of any weightlifter is to see his or her numbers go up in terms of his or her personal record in terms of his or her one repetition, maximum, personal record of how much he or she could lift. ## goals? This is the trigger thing… Honestly hitting a goal is kind of a little bit overrated. For example, for dead lift, do you want to hit four plates or five plates or six plates or seven plates, 400 pounds 500 pounds 600 pounds 700 pounds 800 pounds, I think this is also why a lot of people who are no longer at their prime or peak get so depressed because, they remember the past version of themselves in which they could lift 1000 pounds, but now they could only lift 500 pounds. Also, this is probably the problem of bodybuilders because a lot of guys who take steroids and whatever… Often rate their self-worth by how much they weigh, like I used to be 300 pounds with a six pack, but now I’m only like 160 pounds. ## anchoring yourself to your past self? I think it’s human nature to anchor ourselves with numbers or stuff. Like for example… If you’re once a billionaire and now you’re only worth 500 million or 100 million… Certainly you’re going to be much more depressed than somebody who started off poor and finally gained $1 million. This is also where competition with others is not a good idea because it doesn’t make sense to increase yourself with to somebody else, and you have no idea if they’re taking steroids or whatever. ## anchoring to your past self? So then the big idea is… If you have once reached a certain summit,,, is it useful or a good idea to increase yourself to that past summit?  my general idea is, perhaps it is only useful if it is motivational, and encourages you! But… Becoming detached to whether you actually retain that past version of yourself or not. Like for example… Let us say once upon a time you lifted 2000 pounds, but 10 years later, you still want to do that, even if you come close like 1900 pounds,,, you’ll still be insanely happy? ## “feeling good” is a hormonal thing? ## Autotelic capital Capital for the sake of capital? Is this a good idea? ## Hormonal epiphanies? Like after the high you get off of one rep Max lifting attempt,,, ... the clarity or epiphanies you get are true and great? *** ## Dopamine and hormones, we delight in change? Perhaps change over time is what brings us joy?  *** ## How much value can you create? Value creation, not wealth creation? ## being wealthy The Interesting irony about wealth is when you are wealthy, and you know it… It doesn’t really bring you, happiness or pleasure, would rather, simply the absence of displeasure or annoyance? Via negativa emotions, with wealth? So the privilege of being wealthy and wealth, is simply *absence of annoyance?* ## The time of the highest danger Everything bad about you is good about you  Detached from results, but loving the process? *** ## More volatility, greater life? *** ## *why* do we want more capital? so this is a big question to consider… Why have more? Like hitting a certain Personal record, and going beyond? For the sake of what? I suppose the same question has to be with weightlifting… Why strive for new personal records, new heights? Perhaps, it is an affirmation of life, of optimism for the future, the supreme Joy? ERIC ***