I just want to find the book or philosophical advice that will motivate me to work hard instead of wasting all of my...

the fointainhead

Free will by Sam Harris

Accepting you have no free will takes all the pressure off, you're free to act when you know it's ultimately out of your hands

Name some billionaires other than muh steeb jobs

Here is your philosophical advice: Boredom.

Remove your computer, TV, and phone that you spend all day on from your life. Remove anything else that's a major time sink with no monetary gain to it. Your options are now staring at your ceiling or going to work for money. You wont believe how much you enjoy work after you are eternally bored to death.

Oh the mythical epiphany that will come around and turn your life around and make everything better.

Guess what, it will never arrive if you just wait for it.

You have to start work on something, ANYTHING, and just go through that shit for a while. Then, some ideas will come to you from time to time and some of them should be insightful. But even then, there's no such thing as THE epiphany, you just receive little nuggets of information here and there.

"Passion" is found, it just doesn't come to you.

While going through the shit, I advise a daily dose of motivation and music that pumps you up.

This should get you started.

This guy also knows what's up.

But once I have money just buy all my gadgets back, right?

Actually the final epiphany I had was from the first time I took acid. I realized epiphanies are bullshit, life eventually becomes mundane again months after an epiphany, and the only way to make it is to just grind. Life doesn't instantly improve, positive change comes gradually with every moment. You have to work on yourself every day. Just bite the bullet and go.

sure. after you have a job.

And another thought: no combination of words will suddenly fix you. No advice, no wise adages, no analogies to understand life or whatever. Just live life and keep growing, keep loving, and keep doing. Keep going. These words aren't sacred. No words are. Stop looking for them. Just do your thing.

OP here and I agree I am severely disadvantaged by growing up middle class and in a suburb (a UK suburb, not a hellish USA one). My parents were immigrants so I guess I inherited a slightly proactive spirit either through nature or nurture but not a huge amount.

I literally have zero sympathy for poor people who live in London or new York

It isn't motivating by itself, in fact it's rather disheartening, until you experience the other side and are given some hope that you can make it there.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra. One of the greatest books ever written.

>I am severely disadvantaged by growing up middle class and in a suburb

oh you're one of those guys. try fixing your fucking brain. you've got a better lot than 90% of the humans on earth.

Nobody is going to believe me here, but I think LSD literally changed my brain. In high school I was a very social person but a real underachiever, around the age of 19 I wasn't working, barely studying, and I started using psychedelics pretty heavily on weekends. Shortly after this binge in around 2012, I transferred out of my bullshit community college course in music, started an accounting degree, picked up finance at university and graduated last year (I'm 23 now about to turn 24).

This is the strange part - I went from having very poor grades in high-school to performing so well at university that I was the graduate speaker at my graduation ceremony in April of this year. My graduation speech is even on youtube uploaded by the university but I'm afraid of linking it here for obvious reasons. I even interviewed for Oxford law school this year and got to the final interview at which point I sadly fucked up the interview, but even to have made it from where I started 4 or so years ago is so surreal when I look back.

The source of the change for me was developing a genuine intellectual curiosity in just about everything/anything - I obviously can't prove at the end of the day that it was due to psychedelics but my 'epiphany' of sorts is heavily correlated to around that time period.

Not sure why I'm writing this because I'm just usually a lurker, but I felt like getting that off my chest.

I should note also that I went from being a very social/extroverted person to being very insular and focused/analytical. I had a girlfriend in high school, lost my virginity at 17 etc etc. However, since the change I really don't have any 'close' friends any more or any desire at all to go out on weekends or be social or even drink alcohol any more despite the fact that I'm making a lot of cash these days.

What are you spending that cash on? What do you do when you're not concocting machine learning algorithms or whatever?

All I care about is learning these days it's weird. Pic related currently studying for the CFA Level 1 as I write this. I work in research for a large Fund manager these since graduating.

something similar happened to me. I started smoking weed for the sole purpose of expanding my mind.

Seems good from a financial standpoint, but, HONESTLY, was the trade off (becoming less social) worth it?
Please be honest, if you lie to me you lie to yourself, too.
I'm already very very introverted and dislike socializing (which is a burden when it comes to meeting girls, I basically have to meet girls all on my own instead of meeting some through friends, etc.), hence why I am asking.

I don't see it as a trade off, being social really just feels like a chore these days and I'd rather stay home.

Regarding women I've never really felt like I've struggled because I was raised by two women and have an older sister, though I've had trouble relating to other guys at times.

Just do the stuff you like. And try different things.

You are on the one side thinking you need to "work" and "make money". But actually you think it is not worth the time.
I guess thats the problem.

If you actually think you need to be extremly productive, do the following:
- search for productive people, work with them and get used to be productive by them. (So just a job, but it will change your habits)
- keep away from unproductive people and "unlucky" people, you will be unhappy and lazy.
- if you need to learn something, always go in the library.

Motivation from books or speeches works only some time, you will not get used to it.

>keep away from unproductive people and "unlucky" people, you will be unhappy and lazy.

underrated, this.

THere's only one thing to do men. You msut quit the internet.

go get therapy, some "epiphany" from a book isn't going to do shit

its called "rational emotive behavioral therapy"

if you have to have a book that you can point to later as the one that got you out of the rut "3 minute therapy" , a self help book will inspire you to be really feel good positive about how shit you are but it wont actually assist you in dealing with the daily habits that keep you gaylame

Tbh, the best way I've found is to convince yourself that you are infallible and approach everything with that mindset