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@zachpogrob

@zachpogrob

Obsession beats discipline - go all-in on your craft until you either die or get reborn.

Back to Mental Models

Creation Over Becoming

Life is not about what you want to BE, it is about what you want to CREATE. Identity emerges from creation rather than preceding it. What you create, creates you.

Decision Rule

Stop asking 'what do I want to be?' and start asking 'what do I want to create?' Do not aspire to be a filmmaker - just make films. The making creates the identity.

How It Works

School teaches identity as destination (be a doctor). Reality is identity as emergent property. Your work shapes who you become. Waiting to 'become' something before creating is backwards.

Failure Modes

Avoiding necessary credential-building in regulated fields

Creating without direction hoping identity emerges

Using this to justify not developing underlying skills

Example Decision

Instead of spending years 'becoming a writer' through courses and identity-building, just write daily for a year. The identity follows the output, not the reverse.