Is Western civilization doomed?

I am a borderline hermit. There, I said it. I don’t like going into town, I don’t like going to stores, and I don’t really want to talk to my neighbor. And yes, I know this is awful. I should be more outgoing and love my fellow man. But the truth is, I don’t really want to leave my 20-acre paradise.

A couple of days ago, I found myself out in polite society for the better part of the entire day, and I know less by myself. Now, those who know me know that I have a lovely wife and six children. I am never by myself unless it’s very early in the morning or I’m lifting weights.

But I’m gonna be brutally honest: what I saw was not encouraging. I’ve seen all the graphics on Twitter about obesity rates going through the roof, and I already know that everyone is addicted to their phones, but going out for the whole day was kind of jarring. The amount of children that are really obese is astonishing.

The amount of adults who show the signs of serious health problems that are my age and younger is horrifying. But this is no black pill look; I’m actually sympathetic to these people because the path they are going down is horrible, but I’m also realistic and that I can’t really do much for them until they want to do something for themselves.

But it was also obvious to me that the bar is set very low. You don’t have to do a whole lot to be in the top 5% in terms of your physical fitness and I mean, when I was a teenager or a young adult to be in the top 5% you still had to work really, really hard. But times have changed.

But this carries over to a whole lot more than physical appearance. This carries over to every type of competency. Look, I am not that talented of a writer. But finding anyone who can just give good answers and provide a baseline decent level of service is really hard.

Look, I know it’s hard to get started in this. There’s a ton of opportunity out there, but uncovering it and sifting through all of the garbage to find the gold nuggets is not easy. I wish I had a better answer. It is really hard, but as I talked about yesterday, you need to start thinking in terms of decades, putting yourself out there for years at a time, even when it sucks. Yes, I am talking to myself here. I let this newsletter go after a couple of months. I’d convince myself. I just didn’t have time for it.

But the truth is, I don’t have time NOT to do it. That decade of planning will take ten years, whether you start it right now, one year from now, or a decade from now. I personally would rather be a decade farther down the road.

I would love to help you get yourself in the top 5% or so. No, I am not a fitness coach. I mean, in terms of building a sustainable, self-sufficient income as a freelancer. No, it is not easy. No, I can’t guarantee you anything. But I can talk you through my exact process and how it worked very well for me.