The "Exception", Poison of Resentment, and Avoiding Click Bait Reading — 6 Ideas

Six ideas that I’ve been thinking about this past week

Here are six ideas I’ve been thinking about this past week that are helping me improve my body, mind, and spirit. I hope that they help you as well.

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One quick thing:

• If there is a recent essay that has sparked your curiosity, given you a new idea, or in any way contributed positively to your daily life, let me know below in the comments. Write & Lift is a constantly evolving publication and I want to know what piques your interest. If you’re a writer, you are inclined, like me, to get lost down whatever rabbit hole you stumble upon. While I aim to vary the topics each week, I want this to remain something you look forward to reading and to do so I thrive on suggestions and feedback. So if you have a rabbit hole you think I should explore, let me know.

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1. The Exception vs. the Rule

The mistake most people make is studying the “rule” rather than the exception.

The rule is a place of comfortable mediocrity.

The rule is a defense mechanism for finding the edge of your capacity; physically, mentally, artistically, etc.

The exception breaks through the shield placed around them by society; a type of rare spirit that carries the needle of humanity forward regardless of any weight or doubt attempting to hold them to the standards of the “rule”.

This is why, for the young especially, you should be cautious about spending your time with those who place themselves in the confines of the rule; who haven’t developed the ability to listen to the voice compelling them out into the world.

This is why you should read about the exceptions; Napoleon, Earhart, Steve Jobs, Musk, Julius Caesar, Michael Jordan...

Talent is only one part of the equation to greatness.

The exception understands at a foundational level that they are different. And they’d be damned to let anyone convince them otherwise.

2. Henry Miller — The Present Moment

“The idea is, you know, you live from moment to moment...this moment decides the next step. You shouldn’t be five steps ahead, only the very next one. And if you can keep to that, you’re always alright. You see, but people are thinking too far ahead...you know what I mean? Think only what’s right there. Do only what’s right under your nose to do. You know? It’s such a simple thing and people can’t do it, you know.”

-Henry Miller

3. Avoiding “Click Bait” Reading

Reminder: If your reading consists of New York Times bestsellers or popular self-help books from big podcast guests, you're getting a carefully edited and curated selection that is within the lukewarm grey area of acceptable opinion.

Books that light a fire under you; that really challenge our preconceptions about human nature, are not found in a syllabus, a New York Times List, or on a self-help podcast.

Many books once considered to be non-negotiable reading in Western Canon have been lost to history. If and when these “problematic” authors are discussed, it’s typically through the lens of 21st-century moralism. We fear those who pick up a work and lean into it with an open and curious mind.

Additionally, you can read something with which you vehemently disagree and still find grains of wisdom in it. This is what it means to be a self-determined and curious individual. Not a state mouthpiece conditioned to think within the lines of acceptable opinion.

Have you ever heard of Joseph Conrad, Julius Evola, or Charles Murray? These are just a few of the profound thinkers that have been washed over or removed from bookshelves over the years. These are some of the authors of real banned books.

If you want to explore the edges of human thought instead of pretending to, look outside of the propaganda channels. Do your research. Find books that light an intellectual fire under you. Look outside the lines; browse the references of “dangerous” books you’ve read.

4. The Russian Revolution by Richard Pipes

The Russian Revolution by Richard Pipes is one of a handful of books I’ve read on the genesis of the communist regime in the Soviet Union. And it’s by far the most comprehensive.

What is most shocking about the revolutionaries is their incompetence. City-dwelling sons of aristocracy and landlords whose desire for “equality of man” made them blind to the intricacies of morality and human nature.

Fueled by resentment and the avant-garde Marxist literature of the time, the class struggle for the oppressed served as a convenient mask for a totalizing desire for power and control over the daily lives of every Russian: the peasantry, factory workers, nobility, and merchants.

This was a student-led revolution. And the weakness and flip-flopping from the Tsar enabled it. Universities capitulated. The police responded with force and then stood by their batons the next. The fervor grew into a firestorm that would eventually lead the Russian Empire to collapse and be rebuilt on a system of surveillance and state control that the world had never seen. If you are curious about the origins of the Soviet Union or just want to know more about how Marxist and Leninist thought is manifesting in our own time, pick up a copy of “The Russian Revolution” by Richard Pipes.

5. The Poison of Resentment

“While the noble man lives in trust and openness with himself, the man of ressentiment is neither upright nor naive nor honest and straightforward with himself. His soul squints; his spirit loves hiding places, secret paths and back doors, everything covert entices him as his world, his security, his refreshment; he understands how to keep silent, how not to forget, how to wait, how to be provisionally self-deprecating and humble. A race of such men of ressentiment is bound to become eventually cleverer than any noble race; it will also honor cleverness to a far greater degree: namely, as a condition of existence of the first importance.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Resentment is an easy poison to take.

You’re not the strongest, smartest, or most capable. You’re defective by nature. The road you currently struggle down will be eclipsed by another adversity.

The economy is out to “get you”. Your genetics are insufficient. If only the world understood you! If only people could just see how special you are!

Nietzsche describes resentment as the most insidious of all mental poisons.

It is a castration of our will to power; our self-determination. Our natural inclination is to impose our energy and talent on the world. This is the foundation for what Nietzsche called, “master vs slave morality.”

Master morality values power, nobility, and independence: it stands “beyond good and evil.” Slave morality values sympathy, kindness, humility; veiled behind a thin veneer of desire to neuter those who live beyond the dictates of the herd.

Naturally, the resentful seldom spew publicly about their perceived inadequacies. To them, the world as it’s constructed could care less. So this poison manifests through a philosophy aimed towards an “egalitarian” equalization.

“There are no jobs for my degree so I demand my unskilled job pay me more!”

“White men control too much so we should hire black trans kweeeens instead!”

“I’m a high-value man and all women today are all sl*ts and b*tches!”

To acknowledge or take responsibility for weakness is the first step in self-determination. But it also means acknowledging that a significant time you’ve spent on Earth has been a lie.

Most simply dig in their heels and project their resentment onto others. This, as Nietzsche describes, is the true evil of the resentful mind. We become tricksters, overthinkers, hiding in the backdoor, waiting for the opportune moment to jump out and grab what is “rightfully” ours. The self-determined do not engage in such behavior. They speak and act honestly; per their nature. They aim up instead of looking back or down.

The strong have always dominated the weak. This is a law of nature. The strong act as a conduit to their individual will and energy. The weak question and create systems and frameworks in an attempt to structure the behavior of their fellow man.

Our conception of “self” is both our greatest strength and our deadliest cancer. We intellectualize ourselves away from the truth. Instead of imposing ourselves on the world and reaping its rewards, we become addicted to questioning “why” the rain clouds are above us instead of simply moving through them.

Our culture and technology have made violent and hateful resentment commonplace. In some circles, it’s even a virtue.

Behind anonymous pseudonyms, you see the real hatred of the world manifest. Women hating men. Men hating women. Children hating parents. Parents hating children. The weak cry crocodile tears and scheme about how to take revenge. This is, of course, is often cowled under a language of empathy and understanding. The resentful hate those who have what they don’t, but they also hate those who simply don’t care about their specific cause or belief.

If you have the stomach for it, spend 5 minutes on Reddit browsing through the r/fuckcars, r/parenting, and r/trans forums to see how abuse, violence, and manipulative behavior have been twisted and justified by resentment.

We all lack power. But it’s up to us which road we take to attain it.

We can become self-determined, and autonomous, and listen to the truth that tugs at the back of our ears. The truth that says “you know what to do, now do it.” Or we can drink the poison of resentment. We can become trickers, walkers in the shadows, and hateful of those who act as masters in the world.

The resentful claim power in the only way they think they can. By digging at the structure and virtues of those who have built the “unfair” world for them.

6. Physical Training as a New Dad

Few things disgust me more than seeing a new Dad willingly decide to become a pudgy blob.

As a man, becoming a father is an opportunity for you to take stock of your habits and values and make necessary changes. Your kids are going to look to you for an example of how to live. And if you’re a physical mess, you’re sending a clear message.

Fatherhood is an opportunity. Not a curse. And if you’re not making time to train, you’re choosing to lower the standard for your family and children.

With that being said, it is difficult to keep the same schedule you had before your first child. I know. So you have to make time.

That might mean getting up an hour early or staying up an hour late. It might mean modifying your training; focusing instead on the low-hanging fruit instead of an ambitious training goal.

When our daughter was born in October, I went from a 5-day “bro split” lifting routine, and cut my lifting days to 3-4 days depending on the week. Ninety-minute gym session turned into sixty, and I incorporated different training methods to balance cardio and strength training.

If you’re a new parent or a parent who is looking to get back into shape, pick up a set of kettlebells or free weights. Focus on full-body training instead of individual muscle groups. If you do find time for a standard gym session, make the most of it. Get off your phone, track your sets and intervals between sets, and focus on heavy weight. Take at least two thirty-minute walks a day (babies love walks), and turn passive screen time into an opportunity for stretching and mobility.

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As always, thanks for reading

-Joe