Power of Obliquity: Having the Right End Goals

The definition of Obliquity is an indirect approach.

I admit I read and listened to many of the Manosphere guys. The so-called Pick Up Artists (PUAs). Their goal and only goal is to get girls. It’s fascinating And It’s just plain dumb. They get it absolutely wrong. The real goal is to be interesting, fit and build enough personal value that girls will be interested in you. I loved reading “the Game” but I was a dumb kid at that time. I’ve learned some stuff since then.

It’s the same with the goal of getting rich and having lots of money. The goal is not the money. The goal is freedom, learning a lot and meeting great people. And being able to use money to get more time. Also Having resources to give to causes, people and business you care about.

The Journey is destination. What’s the point of being rich if you did not enjoy getting there or worse traded all your time, family and health to get there. Or for me even worse, these people now have the time and money but are so plain boring no one wants to hang out with them. Trust me, I live in Silicon Valley. Nothing worse than a untraveled, semi-austistic introvert nerd with lots of money but no social skills.

There are so many (multitudes of) wealthier people in the world but I would never trade my life with theirs regardless of their resources. I swear the only billionaire who seems to be having fun is Richard Branson or Larry Ellison. Well, maybe Jeff Bezos post-divorce. The others, not so much.

I travel wherever I want & get to spend time in some of my favorite places in the world (Kyiv, Tbilisi, Vancouver, Lisbon, Tokyo, Mexico & Taiwan among other awesome places). I get to hang out and only do business with people I want. I control my own schedule and have time to read and write. I get to spend time with my amazing kid. I buy whatever books I want and have lots of cool weapons. I get to pursue fun hobbies like tactical shooting and martial arts. I work in venture capital and startups where I get to meet & invest in some of the smartest driven people in the world. How bloody lucky am I? But I also spent 20+ years of hard work and learning from screw ups to get here. Lots of deliberate action, design and crafting of my life. I want to live my best life. I plan on being better and making every year better than the last one.

Obliquity and having the right goals is key.

If you want to meet girls, have fun hobbies, travel, be an interesting, physically fit, ambitious person with passions and a different perspective in the world. If you want to make money, focus on solving a real problem for as many people as possible. Quoting game winning football coach Bill Walsh, if you focus on the basics, “the score takes care itself.”