Off the back of reading the post about Apprenticeships (automoderator made me remove the link but it's on the homepage currently), I got to thinking about the lifestyle side of TRP and particularly wondering about how members here are living their independent lives. The reason I want to spark up a discussion is that the emphasis on strong independence within this community, in particular the resistance to taking the prescribed path in life (school, higher ed, job, wife, children, standard western enslavement) would seem to suggest that many men here are treading their own path in their career and lifestyle as well as their love lives. As an example of a more independent career route, the freedom that comes with certain less conventional wealth-building activities (for example, "lifestyle businesses" as promoted by Tim Ferriss and related entrepreneurs) seems to fit in well with the TRP philosophy of living life to serve your own goals and desires.
In other words, I think we should discuss what we, as members of this community, devote our time towards, besides women. I know much of TRP is focussed on sexual strategy, spinning plates, analysing feminism's effect on society etc but it seems like the lifestyle side is under served in other areas that I'd be really interested to learn about. If we really are meant to be enjoying the company of women as a side dish to living our own lives, then why aren't we talking more about how we are living our lives to the fullest?
To start with myself, I'm currently making the transition from full time employment to a business career. I'm starting to cut out unproductive habits (gaming, watching TV, porn) and am expanding my world by learning chess and Russian language. I'm starting to pick my way through some classic philosophical texts, starting with Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and Plato's "Republic", and am reading about the history of the Roman Empire to better understand the sociopolitical dynamics behind the world's longest lasting empire.
Feel free to push back on this topic if it doesn't fit well with the general community here, but it feels like a side of the Red Pill lifestyle that is in sore need of expansion and discussion.
dabrah1 11y ago
I'm currently living in a one bedroom apartment with my girlfriend. I just graduated college, and am in the process of interviewing for a job in my field ( I already have job with good pay and benefits). In my free time I work out, read different books about current socioeconomic issues, and watch informative tv like Bill Mahr, John Oliver etc. The only vice I currently partake in is watching sports. It gives me something I can always talk about with other guys.
jb_trp 11y ago
I've abandoned all creature comforts to pursue my mission in life. I've sold most of my belongings and live in a shed in my friend's backyard. I'm applying for graduate schools to earn a doctorate and become a college professor.
When I find plates I tell them I live a minimalist lifestyle and why I do what I do--my mission in life. None of them seem to mind. It's funny, when I was BP I put so much effort into my apartment, furnishing, decorating, etc, in hopes that women would come over. I live in a shed and I have more success with women than ever.
[deleted] 11y ago
check out
/r/digitalnomad
www.nomadlist.io
_the_shape_ 11y ago
Amazing. Another one that's led me to plenty of success, funny enough, is openly playing up the anti-marriage card. What's hysterical (or pathetic?) is how most go along with it ("yeah, what's the point of getting hitched anyway!?")
rp_valiant 11y ago
wow, living in a shed really is taking minimalism to the extreme - I can respect that. Have you heard about the college professor who converted a dumpster into a small-scale self-sufficient home?
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/the-simple-life-in-a-dumpster/379947/
jb_trp 11y ago
Well, to be fair we did remodel it (put in carpet/drywall, a coat of paint, etc.). It doesn't feel like a shed anymore. I have a space heater, and another heater for when it gets really cold. I have a couple bookshelves, a workbench to store my stuff, and I put up a rod to hang my clothes. All I own is a bunch of books, clothes, outdoor gear, and my car. It works for me.
I think if you want to do something great you have to make sacrifices and real changes to get there. In a few months I might move across the country for graduate school (or I might start online, I haven't decided).
That dumpster looks a little extreme.
laere 11y ago
With success comes paying the price, not in a negative way, but in your case you have to sacrifice something somewhere in order to further your mission in life.
Good on you bro. Being frugal and minimalist is the way to go.
rp_valiant 11y ago
it is pretty extreme, but I think that's because it's also partly a statement for the owner. I linked it in because I thought you might find the article interesting.
jb_trp 11y ago
Thanks, I liked it. I've been fascinated by tiny houses lately too. There are some that are pretty nice--albeit really tiny.
someguysomewhere321 11y ago
I'm living a nomadic life on semi passive income and legally don't pay income taxes this way (doesn't work for Americans).
All my belongings (basically just clothing and some consumables) fit in a small suitcase.
I'm usually not staying more than 90 days in a country (both for visa exemption reasons and eventual boredom) and mainly live in serviced apartments (recently started to try airbnb).
This keeps my mind fresh and out of daily routines associated with a place of permanent residence, although I probably have too many online routines these days.
My only serious interest aside from studying the truths of life are the teachings of the buddha, which are very red pill too. If I was poorer I'd probably be a buddhist monk.
Swallybongo 11y ago
I follow some Buddhist teaching and I can see some similarities but I'm curious as to where you see very red pill teaching from the Buddha?
someguysomewhere321 11y ago
You can find a summary here (skip to the buddhism part) http://palisuttas.com/2014/03/
The teachings also challenge the common perception of life, which is very red pill.
As everything was written down from oral transmission, which is not the most reliable, just take whatever makes sense to you.
Swallybongo 11y ago
Good read, I think there's a lot of philosophical similarities. The Buddha also said "So one, always mindful, should avoid sexual desires. Letting them go, he will cross over the flood like one who, having bailed out the boat, has reached the far shore."
So I think fundamentally the whole gaming women aspect to TRP teaching is in conflict with Buddhism. Conversely the stoicism, non involvement 'monk mode' attitude seems more in line with this.
rp_valiant 11y ago
this sounds great - you're living the travellers life that people dream of. Are you doing all this low-budget for kicks/the challenge, or do you make enough passive income that you can live and travel comfortably?
someguysomewhere321 11y ago
I regularly work on adding more income, as I've been broke often enough to know that nothing lasts forever (especially not nowadays), however I'm not working hard and I can just skip work for an indefinite amount of time whenever I feel like it.
My budget is low by US standards (I don't like spending much more than 2k a month on rent), but then again all the desirable parts of the US are really expensive.
I live very comfortably on my income, mainly in Asia.
kbrugger 11y ago
Can you tell us what do you work on?
someguysomewhere321 11y ago
Finding new investment opportunities and adding more royalties.
[deleted]
partylikeits1899 11y ago
Im not here for advice on how to pick up woman. I originally started reading trp way back in the day because it coincided with my self improvement philosophy. Work on your self, accept your self and the woman will come with that. You won't need any gamey shit.
Im in a fairly respectful career for 9 years. I quit that shit to live out of my backpack and hike all 2200 miles of the AT last summer. I get physical exercise everyday, lift or trail run. For fun I play guitar, rock climb, cook and read. I recently took my old job back because they offered me a big raise. I live super cheap in a one bed room apartment. I live very minimally. Don't own a couch or any shit like that. I pay close attention to my finances and investing is a hobby too. I have a really good net worth for my age (33). I save one paycheck a month and don't plan on being here more than a year. 2016 will be another epic adventure and then who knows. Maybe grad school, because fuck it... I like learning
instant_shaman 11y ago
What was your trail name? I hiked sobo in '13.
fancypants_ 11y ago
If you build it they will come? Essentially?
laere 11y ago
Got any tips on investing? I just got an ass load of tax money, and am looking into long term investing.
improvy 11y ago
Very good post.
Making more money. I am self employed and employ others. I am slowly starting to observe that my blue pill nature is affecting business. My goal is to make 100k a year in about three years, so 2018. I drive a shit car, have few savings. I truly believe that being self employed/own your own business is a fast track to red pill mentality. You are constantly and ceaselessly shit tested by everybody (your workers, your vendors and service providers and especially your clients). The better RP man you become in your personal and relationship life the better your business skills become. Its a synergy like that.
Lifting-Bulking up. I was always a skinny dude, and finally got into lifting. I am struggling in bulking up as am not accustomed in overeating to gain weight. This journey is for both self discipline and for subtly gained silent respect from other men.
Social Circle. Due to my upbringing, and a bit unique circumstances I both have atrophied social skills and a very small social circle. To be honest, this is my biggest challenge and the one I dread the most from. I don't know if I have aspergers or some shit like that, but its very hard for me to make lasting and meaningful friendships. I am also judgmental as fuck to who I will "allow" to be my friend. I realize its probably some kind of defense mechanism. I wish this sub would address creating and maintaining a robust social circle from scratch.
Looking long term, I think that gaining financial independence, and not HAVING to work ever again, but choosing to do so is probably on a lot of aspiring RP's list. I personally want to buy some acreage and create my small and personal heaven on earth, travel extensively during the summers and do the occasional work that is dear to my heart and of my choosing.
rp_valiant 11y ago
your comment really hits home for me. When I was in school I was pretty social with a lot of people but only had like 2 close friends. Since moving to the other end of the country I don't see them very often and my social skills have gone to shit (had to learn them consciously in the first place) so it's pretty hard to rebuild a social circle. One thing I can suggest is to pick up a hobby that allows you to regularly meet a small group of people.
If you're anything like me you might take to programming, and it's a great route to building a fast-growing business.
AntixD 11y ago
spanish and french are two easy languages to learn,similar to english,learn those as well
rp_valiant 11y ago
je parle un peu francais - learned it in high school, and being across the water from France, it's pretty handy. Once you learn one Romance languages, the others are very similar. Plus what girl doesn't love it when a guy whispers french in her ear?
AntixD 11y ago
exactly,I learnt the basics in both of them as well but forgot it,wish i didn't,will take a course soon in both
[deleted] 11y ago
I'm a big fan of meditation and spiritual growth as well as living minimally. I exercise on the regular currently doing more strength training than body building coupled with eating as healthy as possible. I'm reading 48 laws of power then i will start reading 'mastery' by the same author, Robert Greene. My mission being here is to learn about social dynamics to succeed in everthing i partake in but it's interesting to read about women, always learning about them. One day soon i will start coding starting with learning HTML, CSS, PHP and on.
Porn? I'm on a No Porn No Masturbation and No orgasm for 26 days now and i plan on doing it until i feel i'm fully 'rebooted'.
rp_valiant 11y ago
give me a shout if you run into any questions with the web development - I've been coding for about 10 years at this point and PHP is one of my mainstays.
you might also find node js to your liking - it's something of a minimalist development framework and lends itself well to web app development.
[deleted] 11y ago
I asked this question and there was conflicting answers, whether i should do self-learning or go to school.. what's opinion on this debate?
rp_valiant 11y ago
have you heard the phrase, "those who can't do, teach"? This applies very strongly in programming - by going to school to learn to code you'll be learning from someone who has been out of the industry for a while, or worse, was never in the industry in the first place.
My recommendation would be to set goals and then learn the requirements to beat them. Start with a simple project - a web page with a "hello world" hosted on a server. From there, keep stepping up the next project in terms of complexity until you can build everything you could want to. There comes a point in programming, like with many technical pursuits, where it "clicks" and you can intuit the answer to most questions and that's the point where you're perfectly situated to launch a business.
[deleted] 11y ago
Trust me i agree, plus all the money i'll be putting down the drain. I guess i'll stick with my plan then. Thanks brother.
the99percent1 11y ago
65% of my time goes to my career and making money. I've a decent paying job that I enjoy thoroughly, I use my income to invest into businesses and stocks via exchange traded funds. Returns have been good. I'm happy continuing this for 20 years, I can easily retire before my 50s.
15% of my time goes to healthy activities that maintain my well-being. Golf, swimming, gym, cycling, kite surfing, snowboarding. My body gets a good workout every day. High impact activities give significant energy boost. Despite sleeping less (6hours), I feel more energy during the day. Staying active helps. Even when I'm tired, I still force myself to complete 30 laps in the pool. The sense of accomplishment drives me to complete the task. Set goals and achieve them.
5% of my time goes to reading, learning and self improvement. With my busy schedule, I still find the time to read one book a week.
5% of my time goes to socialising. It's important to maintain and build relationships with people who can help your Mission.
8% of my time goes to rest. I get a full body massage every weekend to loosen those knots.
2% of my time goes to my plates. Of course, that's just time spent meeting them in person. I maintain them by sending an sms every other day.