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What’s up, Reader? Itās my first month of being my own boss again. āLast issue, I talked about how I got my employer to hire my business. Now itās official, and Iāve been able to dedicate serious time to building my personal brand. And since Iām free, I can afford to tell you the truth: I never actually intended to be a photographer. It just happened. I first picked up a camera in 2016āI was a trippy boy, doing a lot of psychedelics. Most of the time, it wasnāt even recreational; it was a way to explore and understand myself. (Note: not recommendedāwhile there were some great times, I also encountered nightmarish sh*t in my psyche) Anyway, Iād take a tab, go into the woods, and just see what trippy pictures I could bring back. It was one of the most creative times of my life, honestly.
And Iāve been taking pictures ever since (without the LSD). It didnāt hurt that photography was a great way to meet girls either. So, now you know the truth. š When I got cancelled, I was so done with the medical establishment (which I was a part of) that I wanted out entirely. The woke mob took my voice, so I had to create a job for myselfāone that would let me leave the twilight zone. Back then, photography felt like my genuine interest. But what I really loved was the freedom the camera gave me. I was just following my interests. And for some reason, it always felt like the right thing to do. I guess my intuition didnāt let me down. Iāve been reading The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, the book based on Navalās ideas. Naval is a Silicon Valley legend worth over $600M. He was an early investor in companies like Uber, Notion, and Twitter. Heās famous for his Twitter thread on wealth, happiness, and self-realization. You can check it out here:
ā One of his big ideas is about having specific knowledge. Specific knowledge is that skill or insight you alone can bring to the table. No one can teach it to you, but it can be learned. If you can figure out your unique knowledge, you can leverage it in ways no one else can duplicate. Naval says thatās how you create real value and build wealth. I hope heās right because, unknowingly, Iāve been doing this my whole life: just following my genuine curiosities. The goal has always been pretty simple, even if I couldnāt put it into words: Build a business around my self-development, interests, and skills. The personal brandāaka, the freedom hack. And itās working. Iām starting to see what my specialized knowledge is. Iāve sat on this knowledge for a while, and maybe thatās why I havenāt been afraid to keep experimenting, failing, and pushing on. By following my genuine interests over the years, Iāve cultivated a unique set of skills and knowledge. This combination allows me to create value for others in ways that are authentically me. āAuthenticity has no competition.ā – Naval
Up until now, I havenāt shared much about my background or the training I left behind for photography. But Iāve realized I need to go back to itāitās part of my specific knowledge. It might be the most unique part of my skillset, actually. Iāve been a corrective exercise specialist for years, though I stepped back for a bit. Hereās a thread I wrote on the basics of corrective exercise:
ā DISCLAIMER: this is some nerdy sh*t. Iāve been studying corrective exercise at Brookbush Institute to become a human movement specialist, and Iām working on my own imbalances along the way. Over the past five years, Iāve had two big setbacks: 1ļøā£ Grade III ankle sprain (basketball injury) 2ļøā£ Inguinal hernia surgery (my core hasnāt fired the same since) Basketball and the surgery wrecked my posture, leaving me with asymmetrical dysfunction throughout my body. This is the hardest kind of dysfunction to correct because you canāt use a symmetrical solution. If both my knees bowed in or out, I could use a balanced approach. But with an asymmetrical weight shift, one knee bows in while the other bows out.
Here are the fixes for each issue:
As you can see, itās a nightmare to correct, but Iām learning a lot as I go. Iāve been working on this asymmetry for about two weeks now. Iāve been working with my dysfunctions overall for about 3-4 months. Turns out, I was doing my assessment wrong. (I didnāt have my feet close enough. In retrospect, my body was compensating to hide the asymmetry.) The asymmetry didnāt show up on my initial assessments, so I was using symmetrical solutions instead of what I actually needed. When I finally did the assessment correctly, the asymmetry was obvious. After applying the right corrections, I definitely got better results this time. Thereās still some dysfunction, but thatās normal. The important part is the asymmetry is gone, and now I can address the rest of the dysfunctions more effectively. The asymmetry is the biggest indicator of injury risk, so itās pretty important to correct it first. Iām excited to get back into all of this. I love lifting and movement in general, but Iāve been mostly sedentary since 2020, other than walking and playing drums. I stopped working out because I kept getting hurt. Even though I was a NASM corrective exercise specialist, I didnāt have the knowledge back then to work through it all. Honestly, I thought I was good. But every time I worked out, it just didnāt feel right. It felt like I was going to break in some areas. No wonder, look at my assessments! Imagine loading that under a 400lb deadlift. Thatās what I was doing. š¤¦āāļø Iām documenting all this as I go. My goal is to get back to lifting heavy in the next few months. But for now, Iām just excited to do these simple exercises that target my imbalances. They feel good because they hit the muscles in my body that need the most work. The workouts arenāt much, but thereās no better feeling than being straightened out and ready to do whatever kind of workout I want. The next step is to keep correcting and maintaining good posture while slowly moving into compound movements with a light load. Itāll look something like this: Day 1: Corrective Work + Light Lower Body Lift Warm-up (10-15 mins):
Corrective Work (20 mins):
Light Lifting (20-30 mins):
Cool down with light stretching Day 2: Active Recovery + Mobility Active Recovery (30-40 mins):
Stretching/Mobility Work: Focus on any tight areas Day 3: Corrective Work + Light Upper Body Lift Warm-up (10-15 mins):
Corrective Work (20 mins):
Light Lifting (20-30 mins):
Cool down with stretching and foam rolling Day 4: Lower Body Stability Warm-up: Dynamic movements for lower body Stability Work (30-40 mins):
Corrective Work (15-20 mins): Self-releases and stretches for any tight spots Day 5: Total Body Circuit Circuit (3 rounds):
Finish the week with 15 minutes of corrective workāself-release and stretching for any tight areas. Day 6: Reassess and Write Corrective Program for the Next Week So here I am, back at square one but with a bigger goal and the tools to make it happen. Corrective exercise isnāt just stretching and foam rollingāitās eliminating barriers to physical freedom. As a freedom junkie, thatās probably why Iāve been obsessed with it for so long. And thereās a more mystical side to this tooāit opens the chakras š¤Æ (if youāre into that sorta thing). Every tweak to my posture, every step in the gym, every project I take onāitās all about building a life where my mind, body, and spirit are free. And the work I do on myself, I will help others with too. Hope you have a good week, E Get at me on Twitter; Iām focusing on building there because itās easier than video. TOOLS I LIKEWebsite Builder (WordPress Plugin):ā Hosting Service:ā Productivity App:ā Creator Email Marketing:ā WHERE TO FIND ME
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š You wonāt believe how it all started
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