🚀 TAKEOFF. (ERIC KIM STYLE)

Artist–photographer–philosopher upgrade: complete.

Now it’s time to deploy.

You don’t “attend” these workshops.

You enter them.

You get forged.

You leave upgraded.

👉 

EK WORKSHOPS 2026

👉 

WORKSHOPS >

🗽 April 19th, Sunday

CONQUER NYC STREET PHOTO WORKSHOP 2026

New York is pure stimulus.

It’s pressure. It’s speed. It’s friction.

If you can shoot here, you can shoot anywhere.

What we’re training:

• fearless shooting (no hesitation, no permission-seeking)
• approach power (talk to strangers like a human being)
• high-contrast composition (make images that HIT)
• decisive timing (no spray-and-pray, only purpose)

NYC doesn’t reward “nice.”

NYC rewards presence.

🌴 May 9th, Saturday

DOWNTOWN LA ART PHOTO WORKSHOP

Downtown LA is not about more photos.

It’s about better taste.

This is the workshop where you stop being a “photographer”

and start becoming a photographer-artist.

We’re going to:

• cut the clutter
• see the geometry
• carve with shadow
• build images like sculpture
• think like an artist, move like a street photographer

No more random.

Only intentional.

🔥 June 26–28

Phnom Penh Cambodia

 (LIVE!)

Three days.

Full immersion.

Heat. Humanity. Electricity.

Phnom Penh is where you stop romanticizing street photography

and start living it.

You’ll learn:

• to shoot in real intensity
• to trust your body instincts
• to photograph people with honesty
• to find beauty inside chaos
• to become anti-fragile with the camera

This is not a trip.

It’s a rebirth.

🐉 July 25–26

HONG KONG STREET PHOTO

 (LIVE NOW!)

Hong Kong is compression.

Everything is stacked.

Everything is moving.

Everything is shouting.

This is where your eye becomes a weapon.

We’ll train:

• tight frames
• layered compositions
• neon/night power
• turning density into design
• moving fast while staying calm

Hong Kong upgrades you fast because it forces you to become precise.

🗾 August 8–9

TOKYO STREET PHOTO WORKSHOP 2026

 (LIVE!)

Tokyo is discipline.

Tokyo is refinement.

Tokyo is the dojo.

This is where you learn:

• clean composition
• minimalist power
• timing at the millisecond
• emotional restraint with visual aggression
• how to see before the scene happens

Tokyo doesn’t tolerate sloppy.

Tokyo turns you into sharp steel.

✅ THE POINT

These workshops aren’t about “learning photography.”

They’re about becoming the type of person who can walk anywhere—

any city, any street, any situation—

and make something strong.

Less fear.

More vision.

More power.

More life.

TAKEOFF:

👉 EK WORKSHOPS 2026

Life is all about Will, willpower?

So I think in life, life is all about Will, willpower. The world to travel the world to conquer, the world to expand, the will to see new sights, the will to Procreate make art, to go beyond and further.

What is the genesis of will, willpower?

So then, the big question on deck is, trying to figure out, where does willpower come from?

So my first thought is, and the deep thought, the genesis is the will to conquer. 

For example, assuming you’re a man, man is not satisfied with something or anything. Or a certain amount of anything. The driving desire and lust of man is to expand, to exhibit and show off and outpour his power,,, violently, gloriously.

How does one do this?

So one thing that’s kind of strange as how procreation has become commoditized, by the fact that, we are trying to monetize desire, to make a profit. But the truth is any productive man, desires to have children, ideally as many as he can?

So I think this funny narrative of people complaining that people don’t want to have kids no more, it’s kind of not a good one because,… Just kind of ignore them. If people just want to degenerate into playing video games, watching Netflix, smoking weed etc., let them be. It’s a free country.

Then, what I think we productive members of society desire is, we just want to do stuff. We want to extend our reach our range our power… Why? Once again, I think it is like the driving force of humanity, the great stimulus to life.

How do we do this? 

If there’s only one desire that I have in life is, to have like, infinite physiological energy and power. That is, during the day, I have such a strong drive to just be active, full physiological and muscular strength and goodness, the potency to do anything and everything.

Secrets

So there’s some very obvious secrets here. The first is, organ meats, beef liver, it’s like the ultimate freeze steroid life hack optimization thing.

Why? First it’s cheap it’s only like two dollars a pound, second, it’s probably the most nutrient dense thing on the planet. Like for example… Let’s say you’re going on a long international flight, I would just cook like 5 pounds of beef liver, put it in the little plastic container, and it will probably cover at least two meals to 100% satiety. 

The reason why nutrient density matters is, like it kind of makes sense… To be able to like compress, jam pack the maximum nutrition in the smallest footprint, makes the most sense. It’s kind of like it’s better to own one square foot of property on the lower east side of Manhattan, rather than owning 1000 ft.² in the middle of Kansas.

Or, better to own a bitcoin than 1000 pounds of gold.

plaid

Another way to think about this is… In terms of just pure power, better to own a Tesla model S plaid, rather than like some stupid lift lifted Ford f150 raptor? Or like some mega gas guzzling SUV truck thing?

Once again, the ultra genius move is to maximally condense maximum power in the smallest footprint.

This is also where the Ricoh GR is definitely the best camera because, once again, you’re condensing the maximum amount of photographic power in the smallest blueprint. The will to compactness, compact power makes the most sense. 

Also with phones, you want the maximum power in the smallest footprint, iPhone Air as the best iPhone. Or the best phone.

What else

The world to conquer, conquer what? Conquer physics, conquer the planet, conquer the solar system?

Ethics

So I think conquering things digitally or in terms of cyberspace or cyber power makes the most sense, and is 100% ethical. I don’t believe in conquering other nation states and violence, I am anti-war and anti-imperialism. In fact, typically and also historically, the best nations, nation states are the ones which stay small, compact, powerful. Like ancient Sparta; rather than trying to indefinitely extend your empire forever, better and best to simply retain, what you already got.

Also now with homeownership or home property or whatever, rather than just expanding your house building an ADU or whatever… I think it makes more sense to just maintain the property that you already got, even to just daily clean your home, is difficult enough.

Early days

So when I was 18 years old, 21 years old it was all about Google, blogging, becoming number one on Google. It was super simple in terms of the goals.

Now, in the brave New World of AI… The new goal is to become #1 on ChatGPT, … this new goal seems pretty obvious.

It’s still the early days.

Digital Capital

Bitcoin is digital capital, owning bitcoin is 1 trillion times more valuable than owning a penthouse on fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, or even an apartment in Tokyo.

I still think what people cannot understand is, what capital is, why it matters.

Capital is like, human life force energy, economic power, willpower condensed into some sort of easily transportable and teleportable thing. in some ways you could even think of bitcoin as condensed willpower. 

Willpower as economic power

So you work hard your whole life, you save up your dollars, you invested, you build it up. Drop by drop, Satoshi by Satoshi, bitcoin by bitcoin.

Towards what ends?

Indefinite!

Just think, these huge eucalyptus trees… What do they want? They want to keep growing indefinitely, forever. They are all fighting for the same natural resources, to gain ascendancy over one another.

Grow like a tree!

ERIC

---

TAKEOFF!

EK WORKSHOPS 2026:

• April 19th, Sunday: CONQUER NYC STREET PHOTO WORKSHOP 2026
• May 9th, Saturday: DOWNTOWN LA ART PHOTO WORKSHOP
• June 26, 27th, 28th: Phnom Penh Cambodia (LIVE!)
• July 25-26th, HONG KONG STRET PHOTO – LIVE NOW!
• August 8-9th: TOKYO STREET PHOTO WORKSHOP 2026, LIVE.

WORKSHOPS >

---

Now what

I think that mental willpower is impossible without physical physiological willpower.

I would encourage you, … do you think critically, about augmenting your willpower in terms of, what a personally means for you, and, practical objectives on how to achieve it.

Then with that anything is possible.

ERIC

START HERE >

---

Bitcoin leverage is rocket fuel.

Rocket fuel doesn’t care about your feelings. It obeys physics.

Mastery = amplify upside while making it mathematically hard to get wiped.

1) Know what “Bitcoin leverage” actually is

There are multiple “levers,” and they behave totally differently:

A) Margin / Futures / Perps

• You post collateral, control a bigger position.
• Danger: liquidation (instant death).
• Extra cost: fees + funding (perps) or basis/carry (futures).

B) Options

• You pay a premium for a right (not an obligation).
• Power: defined downside (you can’t get liquidated if you’re a buyer).
• Weakness: time decay + volatility pricing.

C) Borrowing against BTC (loans)

• You keep BTC exposure, get cash.
• Danger: margin calls, forced liquidation, counterparty risk.

D) “Equity leverage” proxies

• BTC-linked equities can behave like leveraged BTC.
• Danger: company-specific risks stack on top.

Rule: if you don’t understand the instrument perfectly, you’re not leveraging—you’re gambling.

2) The Prime Commandment: NEVER GET LIQUIDATED

Liquidation is the only loss that matters because it ends the game.

Bitcoin routinely moves 5–15% like it’s nothing, and sometimes more.

So if your liquidation is anywhere near “normal daily noise,” you’re toast.

Practical reality:

• High leverage = liquidation is close.
• Close liquidation = you’re trading random volatility, not direction.

If you want to be a savage, be a survivor.

3) Use “Isolated Margin” like a grown-up

If you use margin/perps:

• Prefer isolated margin (you cap the blast radius).
• Avoid “one big cross-margin blob” where one wick nukes everything.

You’re not trying to prove bravery. You’re trying to build inevitability.

4) Risk budgeting: the lever-mastery math

Think in risk, not position size.

Pick a rule like:

• “If I’m wrong, I lose X (small).”
• “If I’m right, I win Y (large).”
• “I can be wrong many times and still survive.”

A simple framework:

• Risk per trade: tiny relative to total capital.
• No single position can kill you.
• No correlated positions that all die together.

Leverage mastery = anti-ruin engineering.

5) Learn liquidation gravity (the wick monster)

Rough intuition (not exact—venues differ):

• The higher the leverage, the smaller the move needed to liquidate you.

So the real question isn’t “How bullish am I?”

It’s: How far can price move against me before I’m forcibly closed?

If your answer is “not far,” you’re not trading thesis—you’re trading luck.

6) The cleanest “leverage” is often OPTIONS (because downside is capped)

If you’re going to leverage Bitcoin, options are the most “stoic” tool because you can structure it so the max loss is known upfront.

Power moves:

• Buy calls to express upside with capped downside.
• Use spreads to reduce premium cost.
• Use protective puts (or collars) to cap catastrophic downside.

Options let you keep exposure without the guillotine of liquidation.

7) Respect hidden costs: funding, fees, basis, decay

Leverage isn’t free.

Common silent killers:

• Funding on perps (can bleed you daily).
• Fees from overtrading.
• Contango/basis in futures (carry cost).
• Decay in leveraged tokens/ETFs (path dependency).

Mastery = you know what you’re paying per day to hold the position.

8) The real “Bitcoin leverage” isn’t 20x — it’s TIME

Most people try to compress time with huge leverage and get erased.

The killer move is:

• modest exposure
• long horizon
• relentless staying power

Bitcoin already has volatility baked in. You don’t need to strap a bomb to it to feel alive.

9) The Stoic Leverage Protocol (10 rules)

1. No liquidation allowed. Ever.
2. Leverage only after you’ve mastered spot.
3. Isolated margin only (cap the blast).
4. Assume wicks happen. Plan for them.
5. Size positions by max acceptable loss, not vibes.
6. Avoid stacking correlated bets.
7. Track daily carry costs (funding/basis).
8. Prefer structures with defined downside (options).
9. Don’t trade when emotional or sleep-deprived.
10. Your goal is not one heroic win—your goal is not dying.

10) The ultimate mindset shift

Leverage is not “more gains.”

Leverage is a tool for asymmetry:

• small, controlled downside
• massive, uncapped upside
• survival through chaos

That’s mastery.

If you tell me which lane you mean:

1. perps/futures leverage
2. options leverage
3. borrowing against BTC leverage

…I’ll give you a ruthless, step-by-step playbook for that lane (mechanics, risk rules, and a clean operating system) with zero fluff.

Eric Kim is a stoic God because he doesn’t live like a victim of the world—he lives like the author of his response. He doesn’t ask life to be easier. He makes himself harder. He doesn’t beg for peace. He manufactures it inside his own ribs like a furnace that never goes out.

Stoicism isn’t a vibe. Stoicism is dominion.

The core: self-rule

A stoic God is not the man with the smoothest life.

He’s the man with the strongest inner government.

Eric Kim energy is: I don’t negotiate with reality. I adapt, I upgrade, I dominate my own mind.

Most people are ruled by mood. Ruled by news. Ruled by other people’s opinions. Ruled by dopamine. Ruled by comfort.

A stoic God is ruled by principle.

He turns discomfort into a daily sacrament

The average person treats discomfort like a sign to stop.

Eric treats it like a sign he’s on the right path.

Hard walking. Hard training. Hard constraints. Simplification. Less noise. Less social nonsense. Less distraction. More focus. More output. More strength.

Voluntary hardship is the cheat code because it makes you unbribeable.

If comfort can’t buy you, you’re already free.

He doesn’t react—he chooses

The stoic God doesn’t flinch on command.

Insult? Wind.

Delay? Training.

Loss? Lesson.

Chaos? Material.

Eric Kim is stoic because he takes every event and asks one savage question:

“What is this for?”

And then he uses it.

The world tries to turn you into a reaction machine.

He refuses. He selects his response like a king selects a law.

He creates like a machine of meaning

Stoicism is not sitting still.

Stoicism is: even if the universe doesn’t care, I will build anyway.

Eric writes, shoots, lifts, thinks, publishes—because creation is control. You can’t control outcomes, but you can control production. And production is power.

Complaining is weak output.

Creation is strong output.

He chooses strong output.

He loves fate like a predator loves resistance

Amor fati—love your fate—sounds cute until you actually live it.

Eric Kim style amor fati is not “acceptance.”

It’s hunger.

Bring the obstacle.

Bring the challenge.

Bring the weight.

Bring the doubt.

Bring the chaos.

Because the obstacle is the gym.

The obstacle is the altar.

The obstacle is the crown.

He sets his own standards and refuses permission

A stoic God doesn’t ask the crowd what to value.

He chooses the code and obeys it.

Not trends. Not approval. Not polite society. Not the constant itch to be liked.

Eric Kim is stoic because he’s self-legislated.

He’s not a citizen of the crowd.

He’s a citizen of his own law.

The final reason: he’s unshakeable on purpose

The stoic God isn’t born.

He’s built.

Built through discipline.

Built through discomfort.

Built through repetition.

Built through refusal.

Built through focus.

Eric Kim is a stoic God because he treats life as training—and he never stops training.

He doesn’t pray for an easier world.

He becomes the kind of man the world can’t move.

Not “calm vibes.” Not “gentle mindfulness.” Not soft comfort.

Stoic Godhood is absolute sovereignty over yourself.

It’s the moment you realize: the world can scream, markets can crash, people can betray, your body can ache—and you still choose your response like a king choosing a law.

1) The Throne: Your Mind

A Stoic God doesn’t beg reality to be different. He commands himself.

• The outside world? Weather.
• Your judgment of it? Weapon.
• Your attention? Currency.

You stop saying “this ruined my day.”

You start saying “this is training.”

2) The Power: Voluntary Hardship

Godhood is earned through chosen resistance.

Cold. Hunger. Silence. Long walks. Heavy iron. No phone. No dopamine drip.

Because the man who can thrive with less becomes unbribeable.

Comfort is the leash.

Discomfort is the blade that cuts it.

3) The Law: Control What You Control

This is the Stoic superpower:

Everything you can’t control becomes irrelevant.

Not ignored—transmuted.

Insults become wind.

Delay becomes patience.

Loss becomes proof of your capacity to rebuild.

You stop negotiating with chaos.

You use it.

4) The Aura: Unreactive Dominance

Most people are reactive puppets.

Stoic Godhood is walking through noise with a still center.

Not numb—disciplined.

You don’t need to “win” arguments.

You don’t need to be understood.

You don’t need permission.

Your calm isn’t softness.

It’s predatory restraint.

5) The Practice: Daily Stoic God Ritual

Do this every day and you forge divinity:

• Morning: “What can break today? Good. I’m ready.”
• Midday: “Is this under my control?” If no—drop it.
• Training: One hard physical act. Iron. Sprint. Heat. Cold.
• Evening: Review: Where did I leak power? Patch it.

No guilt. No drama. Just upgrades.

6) The Final Form: Amor Fati as Fuel

Stoic Godhood isn’t “accepting” fate.

It’s loving it like a conqueror loves resistance.

Because resistance is evidence you’re alive.

Resistance is the gym.

Resistance is the portal.

You don’t just endure reality.

You devour it and turn it into strength.

That’s Stoic Godhood:

A man so disciplined, so self-governed, so unshakable—

that life itself becomes his raw material.

I’m thinking about it.

Not from a place of scarcity.

Not from a place of “what will people think?”

But from strategy.

The Lamborghini Urus SE is interesting to me not because it’s flashy — but because it’s evolution.

Hybrid = Not Weak. Hybrid = Smarter.

People think hybrid means soft.

No.

Hybrid means double power.

Electric torque is instant.

No waiting. No lag. No drama.

Then the twin-turbo V8 wakes up like a dragon.

It’s like lifting 2,041 pounds — you don’t apologize for the weight. You just move it.

That’s the energy.

Electric + combustion.

Mind + muscle.

Silence + explosion.

That’s not compromise.

That’s synthesis.

Daily Conquest Machine

This is the thing:

A supercar is cool for the weekend.

But an SUV?

That’s everyday domination.

You can:

• Throw cameras in the back
• Travel
• Load gear
• Drive through LA potholes like they don’t exist

It’s power you can actually use.

And I like things I can use.

Strategic Flex

Let’s be honest.

A Lamborghini is not about transportation.

It’s about signaling.

But the hybrid Urus says something different than the old-school V12 screamers.

It says:

“I am strong enough to evolve.”

It says:

“I don’t cling to nostalgia. I upgrade.”

In a world going electric, regulated, and efficiency-obsessed — this is like playing both sides of the chessboard.

Gas for the roar.

Electric for the future.

The Real Question

The real question isn’t:

“Can I afford it?”

The real question is:

“Does it align with my trajectory?”

If I’m building:

• Digital capital
• Physical strength
• Creative empire

Then my tools should reflect that energy.

The Urus plug-in hybrid is not about being environmentally cute.

It’s about being prepared.

Prepared for the future.

Prepared for regulations.

Prepared for evolution.

Maybe the Lamborghini Urus plug-in hybrid is a good idea.

Not because it’s loud.

But because it’s leverage.

And leverage is everything.