Welcome explorer

You’re back in the Slipstream. Your weekly exploration into the way of entrepreneurship, self-improvement and lifelong learning.

You’re here because you believe one thing:

The better your ideas, the better your life

Today’s issue is here to help.

LIFE/ PRODUCTIVITY/ PROSPERITY

💊Worse than drugs - the dangers of infinite entertainment

In this video, we hear from David Foster Wallace on the dangers of the escape of entertainment, offered to us through the rise of television and even more so today through the internet.

I recently cleared out my hard-drive to make some space and deleted a bunch of movies and series I have watched over the years. What shocked me was not that there was so many of them, but that there were movies and even entire series that I had no memory of watching. The amount of time lost to pure in-the-moment pleasure is easily in the hundreds of not thousands of hours.

Did that time actually return value to me? Could I have used it differently? Could I have increased my experiences of the world, my skills, my wealth or my relationships.

Naturally, those would have improved if I had more time to dedicate towards them.

Entertainment is easy, and it feels good. But that does not mean it’s a bad thing on its own.

The problem comes when it is combined with an individual’s loss of control. Then it can become a pervasive and damaging drug of choice.

The problem is magnified by the following:

• Entertainment is dumbed down, catered to base needs and desires. It is meant to make people feel good, not to make them think and contemplate and become better humans

• Humanity is increasingly moving to a self-centered, pleasure focused society. Lack of self-control and the pursuit of sensory pleasure ensures we head down the wrong path and make short-term decisions instead of long-term ones

• Entertainment and media don’t look like drugs. They are so innocent looking and ubiquitous that you will be looked at as a weirdo if you don’t periodically numb yourself with modern entertainment and media

As a species, we confuse what we want with what we need. We are not the best at taking care of ourselves. Yet, this is what we need to do. We need to become parents, coaches, psychotherapists and teachers to ourselves.

Are we destined to be consumed by consumption?

Naturally, too much of anything is too much. If it feels better than real life, our preference for it is greater than our actual lives and it becomes addictive and destructive.

You needs to ensure that entertainment is kept in its place, and not as a way of keeping you from dealing with your issues and progressing in life.

Wallace removed the television from his home in order to combat his tendency to escape via entertainment. He was deeply affected by the media and the societal decay it signified and perpetuated. He eventually took his life.

You don’t need to be that extreme, since you’re probably not as deeply troubled as David was.

Introducing some restrictions on use (such as only after dinner) is important to prevent yourself from overindulging in this area.

More importantly, there is so much educational and uplifting content on the internet these days, that it is possible to use this tendency for good and to be somewhat productive.

If you’re going to “waste time”, you might as well do it in a way that makes you better at the end of it in some way.

Just like food for our bodies, we need to be conscious of what we consume for our minds.

Luckily, as a Slipstream reader, you have already taken that step in the right direction. 😃 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP, LIFE, WEALTH

💰Become a multi-millionaire in 10 years with this 4-step process

Another concise, clear and actionable guide by Alex Becker on how to build your financial kingdom, 1 step at a time.

The premise? That the process of building wealth happens at various levels.

At each level there is a key set of skills and ideas that provide the greatest chance of success. If you follow these, you will be moving along the path of highest probability.

Just a quick reminder, Alex took his company/ net worth from 0 to $170 million. Even a fraction of his success is a life-changing amount of money for anyone in the regular 9-5.

So let’s get to it - there’s 4 levels of wealth:

• Level 1: $0 - $100 k

• Level 2: $100k - $1 mil

• Level 3: $1 mil - $5 mil

• Level 4: $5 mil - $20 mil

Level 1 ($0 - $100k) - Focus is Cashflow

• At the first level, you want to be acquiring knowledge and skills, and then selling those skills

• Get good at Sales (a key skill in entrepreneurship).

• Other high leverage skills are writing, marketing, design and coding

• Freelance - Sell your time

Do not:

• Try to raise any capital (like I did)

• Try to build a big business (like I did)

• Get a mortgage to buy a house (like I did)

Level 2 ($100k - $1 mil) - Focus is automate and scale

• Now you can grow your business and start selling other people’s time

• For your service, focus on getting new leads and sales, while training a team to deliver the service

Level 3 ($1 mil - $5 mil) - Focus on building an asset

• eCommerce stores

• Building software (SaaS model, extensions, plugins, etc.)

Level 4 ($5 mil - $20 mil) - Focus on building equity

• Gain stakes in large companies

• Help to grow their valuation

While this may seem simplistic, it is a useful guide on what you should focus on. A lot of the popular success seen about in papers, is about people who are on their Level 2 or 3 journey of wealth building. It wasn’t their first successful venture.

This gives good insight that there are certain businesses that are best when starting out, whereas others have the deck stacked against you.

For example, my first startup was Grocerease, a software company that brings you on-demand grocery delivery from your favourite retailers. It was a Level 3 business and required us to raise capital to build it out. It ultimately fizzled and failed because we weren’t able to raise enough capital in time.

The idea for the business was (and still is) sound, but we were not ready as entrepreneurs to attempt it.

Now, I’ve gained a better understanding of the types of businesses out there and how one should go about starting a business based on the skills they have accumulated at that point.

Hopefully, this gives you some insight into that process as well.

P.S. This is why I’ve been leaning into the 1-person businesses as of late. If you would like to learn more and join a community of people who are working towards financial freedom - replay to this email with a “I’m interested!”

1. Wanna Be Rich? Use This 10 Year Path (Beginner Friendly)

   • Becker gives it to you as clear as can be. Use this framework to narrow down your next steps to financial freedom

2. Bruce Lipton: Listen to THIS EVERYDAY (Powerful Manifestation Technique!) - YouTube

   • Powerful advice and evidence on the power of the mind. Listen on repeat.

3. Do THESE 5 Exercises! (LIVE LONGER) - YouTube

   • Make sure you are training these 5 things. A nice reminder that fitness is not one-dimensional, and the purpose of it all is to live longer and better

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Till the next time,

- Karmsheel