Anticodeguy

The Ikigai Blueprint: Finding Work You Love That Pays You Well Remember Steve Jobs standing in front of Stanford graduates, delivering that now-famous speech?

“You’ve got to find what you love,”

he said.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.”

It sounds so clean, so perfect. So inspiring. Steve Jobs delivering his 2005 Stanford commencement speech, often quoted in Ikigai discussions for connecting passion, work, and purpose But there’s a misunderstanding buried in this advice – one that’s left countless ambitious people confused when reality doesn’t match the smooth narrative. The “follow your passion and the money will follow” mantra might work for billionaires looking back on their journey from the mountaintop, but what about the rest of us who need to pay rent next month? When Jobs was searching for his spiritual path, did you know his employer Atari literally bankrolled his trip to India to “find himself”? He had the luxury of exploration without worrying about survival. Most of us don’t have multinational companies funding our self-discovery journeys. This is where we need to get real. According to Harvard Business Review research, a staggering 9 out of 10 professionals would willingly trade a portion of their lifetime earnings for more meaningful work. On average, they’d give up 23% of future income to have a job that feels purposeful. The desire to do what we love is a profound human need. But here’s the problem: passion without practicality leads to the “starving artist” scenario – talented, passionate, and broke. Meanwhile, practicality without passion creates the “golden handcuffs” trap – well-paid but deeply unfulfilled. What if there was a third path? A blueprint for creating work that energizes you and funds the life you want? The framework I’m about to share doesn’t require privilege, luck, or even knowing your “one true passion” upfront. This is about building your ikigai – the Japanese concept representing the sweet spot where what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for all overlap. And while finding it isn’t simple, there’s a clear path forward if you’re willing to play the game differently than most.

Creating Your Own Red Pill

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”

– Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher In conclusion, I would like to direct you to not let this become just entertainment content that you read, say: “Wow, cool thoughts,” but do nothing with it. Start with something simple, you don’t have to immediately do something complex. Come up with your goal. Try to draw yourself that lighthouse that will guide you through this field, even if you’re not planning to turn away from it yet. At the very least, you will be looking at it with your peripheral vision, sometimes turning your head and body in its direction, maybe at some point you’ll think that it’s time to turn from this well-trodden path. Set yourself some goal, ask what you want from this life, how you want it to go. Start creating something, bringing into this world, being not just a consumer, but also a creator. Do something that can be useful for another person. Even if it seems stupid, uninteresting, or no one will be interested, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that you share it. This is our main strength as a species on this planet. We know how to create, transmit information to other people, make decisions, think, create. Become a person who creates something, create your own red pill and finally get out of the matrix.

That's the final result. I mean, I get it, the post is controversial and sparks discussion, but why it did work on Thread and not on X?

Your Taste Matters

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

– Henry David Thoreau, writer (Thoreau 1854) So, this is the stage of switching your life paradigm from consumption to creation. Become a creator of anything. This absolutely depends on you. What instruments you will play, how you will select notes for your melody, how you will play them, at what speed, what sequence you will perform – entirely depends on you. Here your uniqueness already begins to play a role, because even if you will try to imitate other people, play their compositions written by someone else, quite soon you’ll want to bring something of your own, some of your own shade. Any cover performed by a cover band still sounds different. It sounds in the style of this band. They bring something of their own to it, making it better or worse, that’s another question. But the main thing is that they have their own audience, their own listeners, who like it. This is a very important point to understand: if you create something useful and interesting for someone else, it can turn out to be useful and interesting. You need to create something. You need to create a product, content, community, benefit, and value in this world.

Staring new book from one of my favorite authors

Read more about Money Buys Everything (Despite What They Tell You): The Uncomfortable Truth About Modern Freedom Watch more videos like that on my YouTube @anticodeguy

Most people spend their lives consuming other people's creations. They stay stuck in jobs they hate, dreaming about freedom while scrolling through Instagram. Here's how to flip the script and become irreplaceable: --- You don't need perfect skills to start creating. Armin van Buuren - king of trance music with zero formal education - just started making music from childhood. Your first attempts will be awful. That's normal. The diamond needs cutting before it shines. --- The critical shift happens when you move from music listener to composer. At a campfire, who gets all the attention? Not the listeners. The performer becomes the center - even if they're average. Because most people never even try. --- Your unique combination of skills creates a melody only you can play. I'm an IT specialist who talks about personal development, psychology, and online business. This exact combination is mine alone. Someone out there will resonate with it. --- The most important thing: create for others. Your music needs to bring value to at least one person besides yourself. Feel what it's like to give something to the world instead of just taking from it. --- Pay attention to what puts you in a flow state. What activities make you lose track of time? What comes naturally that others find difficult? That intersection is where your unique genius lives. --- Forget about niching down. Write about all your interests in your personal blog. You'll attract a much wider audience than those who focus on one narrow topic. The most profitable niche is yourself. --- Business is the broadest canvas for your creativity. It allows you to play your unique melody on instruments that suit you specifically. There's room for everyone - just like in music genres. New bands emerge daily and find their listeners. --- Start small. You don't need to immediately perform on a world stage. Begin with simple guitar parts at home. The main thing is to start creating something - anything - that helps someone else. --- Set yourself a lighthouse goal that pulls you forward. Even if you're not ready to change course immediately, you'll find yourself looking at it. Eventually, you'll turn away from the well-trodden path. Ask what you truly want from this life. --- Become a person who creates something. This is our main strength as a species - we create, transmit information, make decisions. Create your own red pill. Finally get out of the matrix. --- Don't let this be just entertainment content you read and do nothing with. Set a goal. Start creating. Share it with others. No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. --- To read all three articles on the topic, follow the links: - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Highlights of the evening walk

This post went viral on Threads for some reason. Here are the stats for now. Keeping an eye on it 🧐

Don't Wait Until Perfect Nothing prevents you from coming up with your own music right from the start. A huge number of musicians had no musical education at all. One of my musical favorites, Armin van Buuren, an electronic music composer, the king of trance, a man who has been at the top of world charts of DJs, performers, and producers of musical compositions with a huge number of awards, has no musical education, and he learned everything on his own. All he did was write music from childhood. Naturally, he was inspired by other composers, other compositions, because at that time it was the dawn of electronic music. Instruments and ways to synthesize such music were appearing, which he, in fact, began to engage with, implementing all this in practice. Therefore, nothing prevents you from doing the same and trying to write your own music. At first, it will turn out pretty crappy. If someone listens to your first compositions, there won't be anything good there. Most likely, there will be some kind of cacophony, maybe traces of talent will be noticeable. It's important to determine to what extent this set of interests and skills that you use to write your life composition is your essence. That is, what comes from within you, what you don't need to force yourself to do, what happens on autopilot, what brings you pleasure, what puts you in a flow state. If you find such a combination, it's one of the most wonderful options. It's that very proverbial "do what you love," and the result won't keep you waiting. If you manage to find such a story, you're simply lucky. I think that eventually, if we follow the path I'm talking about, the result will be such an occupation. But this requires some effort.

Oracle considers this password weak. For real?

Read more about Money Buys Everything (Despite What They Tell You): The Uncomfortable Truth About Modern Freedom Watch more videos like that on my YouTube @anticodeguy

Ancient Hunters In Concrete Jungles When we have a task to focus on something, for example, on prey, if we need to get food, as happens with predators around us, everything else simply ceases to exist. The only goal is prey. Because your survival directly depends on it. Whether you will eat today or not. For humans, it’s about the same. When, for example, danger comes, the focus narrows very much, nothing else interests you. A huge portion of adrenaline is injected into the blood, which spurs your actions to preserve your life, protect yourself, find yourself in a safe situation, in a safe place, or get rid of the opponent. Narrow focus. Moreover, this happens even unconsciously, you don’t necessarily need to think about it consciously. The subconscious does all this work, it regulates the body, injecting the necessary hormones into the blood, regulating temperature, muscle work. Read my article about the “Hidden Superpower You Possess: How To Use Your Subconscious To Solve The Hardest Problems In Your Life”. Stories where, during an adrenaline rush or when your life or your child’s life is threatened, incredible strength appears that cannot be achieved in a normal state – this is not supernatural, it’s simple regulation of the body, which stores these resources and reserves of emergency energy needed precisely for such cases. We’re used to living in a fairly luxurious state in modern society, where we almost never have situations in life that directly threaten it. Of course, all this is relative, but if we take it as a whole, it’s much safer to live now than it was, for example, 20,000 years ago. I think this doesn’t need explaining, but the fact is that this is an extremely short period for changing human physiology evolutionarily. And the brain is quite plastic, but it’s still too little time to evolutionarily make it different. Therefore, all these tools remain functional.

Stuck following the same trodden path as everyone else in your career? Most people don't realize they're on autopilot, following the matrix script for their life. Here's how to escape replaceable employee thinking: --- Ever played that focus game where you close your eyes and then count objects of a specific color? At first you think "there's nothing green here" Then suddenly you see green everywhere. Your brain is wired to find what you focus on. --- This isn't some esoteric magic. It's simple neuroscience. When you implant a goal in your subconscious, it starts searching for paths to that goal - even when you're not actively thinking about it. Like ancient hunters, your focus narrows to what matters. --- Your subconscious is constantly working behind the scenes. It regulates your body, builds neural connections, and searches for the path to your intended goal. The clearer your beacon, the more efficiently your brain works to get you there. --- Education and careers are like pre-written songs. Following the same notes as everyone else? Your melody will sound just like theirs. Same university, same degree, same skills = interchangeable results. Predictable paths create replaceable employees. --- There are only 7 musical notes, yet we've created an infinite variety of songs. Similarly, there are countless skills and interests you can combine uniquely. The possibilities for career paths are practically endless. --- Your task is to transform from a listener into a creator. Stop playing songs written by others. Start creating your own composition with a unique combination of skills and interests that belong exclusively to you. --- We all start by imitating others. First you learn the notes, play other people's songs, develop technical skills. But at some point, you need to start improvising, adding your own elements, writing your own music. This is where irreplaceability begins. --- Set yourself a beacon, not a rigid destination. Your path might be thorny with obstacles - fields, forests, rivers, seas - but that distant light keeps you moving forward. Your goals can and should evolve as you do. --- The matrix teaches rigid thinking, but humans are flexible creatures. Our brains become rigid over time if we don't train them to adapt and learn. Remember: even Edison didn't invent the light bulb - he discovered 10,000 ways not to make one. --- Most careers are spent performing in someone else's orchestra, playing someone else's composition. But the most fulfilled people write their own music. They select unique combinations of skills that make them irreplaceable. --- What combination of notes will you play? What unique melody will you create? Your irreplaceable career starts with a simple decision: Will you follow the trodden path or create your own? --- Read the second article of the 3-part series: https://anticodeguy.substack.com/p/red-pill-your-career-from-replaceable-192?r=1m5hbt

Read more about Money Buys Everything (Despite What They Tell You): The Uncomfortable Truth About Modern Freedom Watch more videos like that on my YouTube @anticodeguy

The Neuroscience of Self-Direction The Power Of Focus I’m actually not a fan of goal-setting, such worn-out techniques. But from a neuroscience perspective, this thing is explained very simply and banally. I think you’ve heard, maybe played, a game about focus. You can try to play it yourself. Usually, it’s conducted at various trainings on different topics. But it consists of the following. You need to sit down, close your eyes, regardless of where you are, or stand up, anywhere you’re currently located, close your eyes and then on command. You can obviously command yourself. Wait for a moment, open your eyes and try to count the number of green objects or objects where there’s green color. Then close your eyes and wait for some time, think of a new color, open your eyes and count objects, for example, of red color, then blue and so on. Until it becomes obvious what’s happening now. If you’ve never done this exercise, I highly recommend doing it. Here’s what it involves: As soon as you close your eyes and you’re told to find specific colors, you think there are no green objects around me, there’s nothing green here. Where do I look for them? I’ll count, probably about zero. Then you open your eyes and somehow can find them. And so you find one, a second, a third, and objects become much more than you imagined. Then you’re given the red color. You say, well, there’s definitely no red. Most likely, the leader or whoever is running this game saw that there are green objects around, so they suggested it. Actually, it doesn’t even depend on the color you choose. The point is that as soon as you focus on something specific, your brain will be directed to find what you desire. What you focus on, it will begin to see. It’s a survival mechanism.

The Path

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist You need to turn off the beaten path of that same conventional scenario, which is pre-written by the same society I was just talking about above. If you follow it, the path is definitely predetermined. There’s simply no other option here. But as soon as you turn off it, many other options appear. And here lies the most interesting part. The number of these options is infinite. And your task becomes to find your own path, find your own road that will lead you to the desired result, not to the result desired by other people. And you need to start here with setting a goal to exit this matrix, to find that same red pill or, in our case, to create it yourself. It’s like in the movie “Limitless,” which shows a similar theme but from a slightly different angle, where the main character already received a magic pill that unlocks his mental abilities and allows him to use his brain at a much higher percentage of its real capabilities. But then, as the hero becomes dependent on this pill, his enhanced mental abilities allow him to realize that if someone invented this pill, he can synthesize it himself. Which is what he does. And this is the very solution that ultimately leads him to success. All of this is very allegorical and metaphorical. Maybe someday we’ll invent such pills, but the point is that you need to at least try to find another path that differs from the one where all the answers to questions already exist. You need to figure out how to do roughly the same thing he did. That is, invent your own pill, build your own path, blaze your own trail in a field where no one has walked yet. And in order to at least understand where to go in this field, if you’re not following the road that was built by other people, you need to understand the direction. And this direction is that very goal. The proverbial one.

My morning road

Specialize Or Die You’d like to change this situation exactly in the opposite direction, so that all this happens exclusively according to your desire. Traditional education is structured in such a way that it implies a certain program. That is, there’s a template, schedule, and list of specific disciplines you need to learn and master. These disciplines are done in a specific order, and from the combination of different disciplines, a specialization is formed – the profession you’ll get, for which you’ll receive a diploma once you finish your education. A specialization you’ll be tied to for the rest of your life, or until you get another education, when another one will appear. And then your choice will be whether to follow this discipline, work in it, or go somewhere else. Of course, the combination of this education, your existing skills, and acquired skills can change this trajectory and direct you in different directions. For example, my specialty is systems analysis. But since I’ve been interested in computers, IT, web development, and so on since childhood, my career was built immediately in the IT field, and my first paid job was as a programmer. Since then, that’s how it’s been set. Although most of my classmates, even those who went to work in their specialty, started working in logistics because there was a specialization in systems analysis in that field. But for some reason, I always saw it differently. Systems analysis is an area that is used very widely and deeply specifically in information technology, and for me, it was always a path to IT. But the other guys saw it as a direct guide to action – that is, logistics is the specialization and, accordingly, the discipline of systems analysis. Okay. Determine your future

“I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

– Mark Twain, author. Well, please answer me this question. How are you supposed to know what you want from life or which interests you want to pursue, what goals you want to achieve at 17-18 years old? How are you supposed to make this choice at 17 when all you want is to hang out with friends, go to parties, build relationships, and basically learn about life? How are you supposed to answer a question that essentially determines your fate – how your life will unfold? Because if the choice is made incorrectly, in a decade (put your own timeframe), some new technology appearing on the horizon might replace you. Hello, artificial intelligence. Studies show about 27% of jobs in OECD countries are at high risk of automation by AI, especially those involving repetitive skills. Indeed, jobs that follow a conventional template (the ones “thousands of people have done”) are exactly those AI can easily replicate. A Reuters report notes 60% of workers fear losing their jobs to AI. How are you supposed to see the future and understand that you could be easily replaced, that your life will simply be predetermined this way? You can’t, because the education system was built in an entirely different time, when everything was fairly predictable – much more predictable than now. When technological progress wasn’t changing the global landscape at today’s speed. When it was assumed that society’s development followed a certain trajectory, and it was clear that its advancement depended on human effort, on the direct impact of human labor, and how people invested their resources of time, strength (physical and mental), and intellect into societal development. However, even back then, science fiction writers speculated about how, at the very least, part of human labor would be replaced by robots, also created by humans but automated, and that humans wouldn’t need to perform complex physical tasks, for example. Well, now it’s the turn of intellectual tasks as well. We can delegate all this to machines, robots, AI. Attention, this opens up a dilemma about how I can restructure my life so as not to end up being replaced by robots, machines, or AI. And the answer here is actually very simple.