@zachpogrob
Obsession beats discipline - go all-in on your craft until you either die or get reborn.
The Hill Test for Obsession
Find your calling by searching for work that feels downhill despite being objectively difficult. The never-ending downhill that others see as a grind is your obsession.
Decision Rule
Climb various professional hills through serious engagement, not dabbling. Notice which ones feel like grinding uphill versus which ones feel like rolling downhill despite difficulty. The downhill is your path.
How It Works
Resistance to work is information. When something is your obsession, the difficulty remains but the resistance disappears. You still get tired, but you do not want to stop.
Failure Modes
Mistaking novelty (early excitement) for sustainable downhill
Giving up on hills too quickly before finding the flow
Expecting ALL aspects to feel downhill when some maintenance is always uphill
Example Decision
“Person finds coding feels like grinding but building consumer products feels like play despite 14-hour days. The distinction reveals that product creation, not engineering specifically, is the obsession.”
Related Knowledge
Obsession vs Discipline Framework
A distinction between two modes of sustained effort where discipline is externally motivated forcing function requiring willpower, while obsession is internally driven compulsion that generates energy rather than depleting it.
Obsession vs Discipline Framework
Two fundamentally different modes of sustained effort - discipline is externally motivated forcing function that depletes willpower, while obsession is internally driven compulsion that generates energy.
Obsession as Time Dilation
True obsession makes external time irrelevant - clocks have no time, calendars have no days, phones have no notifications.