Introduction 

I avoided social media for the past 6+ years.

Instagram was deleted. Tik Tok was never downloaded. Facebook is only checked to stay connected with two groups. And LinkedIn felt obligatory because of my corporate job.

But as of 2024, my stance on social media changed.

Previously, I viewed social media only as a method of consuming highlight reels of other people’s lives. Something I had very little interest in. While there is some truth to this, I’ve realized this narrow view has blinded me from learning about the positive side of creating content.

It started by joining Twitter/X with a commitment to create content, not consume it.

However, I had no idea where to start, so I began looking for inspiration. The more I engaged in areas of interest like entrepreneurship, online writing, and business, my view on consuming content evolved. I found there is a way to consume that is thought-provoking, inspiring, and insightful.

This led me to Sahil Bloom.

My first introduction to him was on the My First Million podcast. I immediately vibed with the guy. The way he spoke, his perspective on life and business. He had a casual, light hearted demeanor but I could tell he was an intelligent thinker.

Sahil played baseball at Stanford, spent 10 years in Private Equity, then during Covid starting writing on X. Over the past 4 years he has grown his X following to over 1M and sends a weekly newsletter to 600,000+ people. He left his corporate job to write full time, build out a personal holding company, and invest in startups.

Sahil’s journey has inspired me and his writing challenges me to make improvements in my life.

I could write 10+ newsletters about lessons from him, but today I'll just highlight 3 contrarian views that I enjoyed applying to my life.

Let’s dig in…

3 Contrarian Takes from Sahil

1. Add friction to our lives, don’t eliminate it

When all friction is eliminated in life by optimizing and taking the easy route, we lose self worth.

We should run away from dopamine hits that come from easy things. Think drugs, porn, or doom scrolling. Whereas dopamine from hard things are great. Think solving complex problems or completing a difficult physical feat.

Adding challenges to our lives will lead to beneficial outcomes.

I relate this to pushing outside my comfort zone.

I’ve done this on several occasions. I moved to new cities where I didn't know anyone. I wake up at 5 AM and do my miracle morning routine even when I'm tired. I sign up for triathlons that push my limits of physical exertion.

All of these things are not easy, but they lead to growth and new opportunities.

My next addition of friction: creating and publicly publishing content.

Sharing my thoughts on the internet is scary. On Thursday, I updated my LinkedIn and published my first post. Majority of my connections know me as the EY Consultant.

But now I’m announcing that I am a writer, an entrepreneur.

What if I fail?

What if my content sucks?

Will this ruin my reputation if I need to go back to corporate?

I don't know the answers to those questions. But I do know that growth happens by doing hard, scary things. I’ve felt that dopamine hit of accomplishment after jumping into the unknown and coming out the other side.

So I’m not going to let those questions of doubt stop me from trying.

2. We can succeed by being average

Sahil admits to not being the best at any one thing.

He's not the smartest thinker, most gifted copywriter, or best runner. But he found activities that he enjoys, does them every day and that compounds over time.

It's the consistency and intention that differentiate him and lead to success.

This shows up in my life constantly.

I was not the best basketball player, but I showed up consistently, worked hard, led by example and was named team captain.

I was not the smartest person at EY, but my bosses could rely on me. When I said I’d do something, I did it with high quality. This quickly got me promoted.

I am not the most social person, but I’m in constant communication with friends and family. I intentionally check-in regularly, which has led to an incredible group of people surrounding me.

I am not the best at any one thing. But I can be consistent. This will help me win the long game.

3. We can be both sides of extreme - we don’t have to choose

Most people choose sides: morning or evening person, right or left wing, jock or nerd. But in reality there are shades of grey and dawn vs dusk.

Sahil believes we should embrace internal tension and find our balance.

I spent a good amount of time thinking on this one.

I feel like most times our natural inclination is binary thinking. We are either X or Y, but not both. How can I be someone that one day loves drinking with my friends on the weekend, but another day hate socializing at a party and prefer staying home to watch TV alone?

Last week I battled with this dilemma.

Some friends were going out day drinking on Rainey Street. Every time I hang with this group, I have a great time. Part of why I love living in Austin is doing things like this. But on that day all I wanted to do was stay home, work on my writing and finish watching The Bear.

I felt this internal tension. Go have fun or miss out and enjoy some solitude.

I chose solitude. I had a lovely day. It’s ok for me to be both social and alone. As Sahil states, I just need to constantly battle to pick my spots.

Final Thoughts

I love Sahil's writing and thought process for producing content.

He provides frameworks to help his audience think. He shares lessons and things he's struggling with in his own life. Digesting his work and applying his frameworks to my life is not only fun but rewarding.

I'm still early in the first quarter of my writing journey but Sahil has inspired me to develop my writing skills and contemplate my own frameworks so I can one day impact others too.

Thank you for reading! As always please reply and let me know what resonated, what didn’t, or what you question. I love chatting about this stuff!

Cheers,

Andrew