10 Years of Wisdom in 10 Minutes

10 years ago, I was a foolish artist, desperately searching for answers. And here we are on After Skool's 10th birthday, and I'm still doing the same thing. So, take everything I say with a grain of salt. But today, we're going to cover the best lessons learned over the past decade.

First, prioritize a good night of sleep. Without proper sleep, everything else is a struggle.

Go to bed at the same time every night. Make it dark, quiet, and cool. And sleep on your left side for optimal digestion. Waking up early is a game changer. There's a calm stillness about the morning, but no matter what time you wake up, get bright light in your eyes first thing.

Don't consume caffeine for the first 90 minutes after waking. Otherwise, you'll likely have an afternoon crash. I like to do a strenuous workout immediately. Mark Twain said, "Eat a live frog

afternoon crash. I like to do a strenuous workout immediately. Mark Twain said, "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and the rest of the day will be easy. After a solid morning workout, all other daily drama seems to get the volume turned down. So, do hard stuff first."

This applies to life in general. If you voluntarily choose to do hard stuff, then all your pain along the way will have meaning. You're going to suffer no matter what you do. Eating cake

and binge watching Netflix eventually gets hard. So, you might as well choose something noble and suffer in pursuit of that. So many people I talked to don't know their purpose. This is the root of much of their misery. Eeky is a simple Japanese tool to pinpoint your life's purpose.

You take four circles. What you're good at, what you love doing, what people will pay you to do, and what the world needs. The intersection of these four circles is your sweet spot.

If you're miserable, you're probably not doing something you love. If you keep quitting, you're probably not good at it. If you're broke, then people aren't willing to pay for it.

And if you're feeling empty, then you might be a Tik Tok influencer. Heracletus said,

"No man steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man."

10 years ago, before I started after school, I was bitter and lost. I had so much energy and I just needed an avenue to direct it towards. And once I got going, it was exciting.

Neuroscience affirms this reality. For so long, we thought dopamine came from the pleasure of obtaining a reward. But now we know that the pleasure is in the anticipation.

It comes from making progress towards what you want. So focus on progress, not perfection.

It was Joseph Campbell who said that life has no meaning. It is up to us to bring meaning to life.

Strangely enough, the more we suffer for something, the more meaningful it becomes.

It is the privilege of a lifetime to find something worth suffering for and become who you truly are. On the topic of life's meaning is a grippa's trillemma.

There are three ways to answer life's mysteries. One is circular reasoning. Why is there a chicken because of an egg? Why is there an egg because of a chicken? Then there's infinite regress.

Why is there a chicken? Because of molecules. Why do molecules exist? Because of atoms. Why do atoms exist? Because of subatomic particles, etc., etc. It never ends. And third, we have an axiom,

atoms exist? Because of subatomic particles, etc., etc. It never ends. And third, we have an axiom, a source that explains it all, like God or the big bang or a simulation. I've come to find peace in God as the creator. There is a divine spark in everything. As Albert Einstein said,

there's only two ways to live. As though nothing is a miracle or as though everything is a miracle.

This doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good scientific investigation, but faith in God allows me to tread into these subjects with humility. I choose to see it all as a miracle, and no other experience has confirmed this more than the birth of my daughter.

Looking into her eyes for the first time was an experience that deeply changed me.

Becoming a dad has made me aware of how much early childhood echoes into adulthood.

In the first few years of life, all your behavior patterns are laid down. By 3 years old, your brain is about 80% developed. And by seven, your subconscious programs are fully formed.

Much of the addictive tendencies we see in adults are attempts to find attachment to a parental figure who was not there when it was needed most. Adults who struggle with romance and relationships are often replaying a trauma that happened before memory. This may not be the perfect analogy, but I see my kids as bowling balls, and I'm the bumpers. One side is discipline, the other side

is encouragement. Too much discipline will make one afraid [music] and too much encouragement can

is encouragement. Too much discipline will make one afraid [music] and too much encouragement can make one reckless. It's always about balance. Our subconscious programs dictate our life. It doesn't

matter what your goals are. It's your habits that determine your outcome. The good news is at any point in life, we can alter our subconscious programs through either hypnosis or repetition.

Change is difficult because it requires us to break deep neural pathways and then build new ones. It can be done, but it often involves a shift in environment, hitting rock bottom,

ones. It can be done, but it often involves a shift in environment, hitting rock bottom, or a jolt in consciousness, like a big psychedelic trip. But above all, it requires a practice of bringing awareness to your unconscious, the side of the iceberg that's below the surface.

As Carl Young famously stated, "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate." It takes about 3 weeks to develop a new habit, but once it's habitual, the desired behavior happens automatically. Remaining conscious has become more difficult in our age of over stimulation, gambling, porn, AI, junk food, and social media. The attention

economy has flattened everyone's personality and incentivized people to act like machines.

On YouTube, there is no more discussion about what the viewer wants or how to connect with your audience. No, today it's all about the algorithm. What does the algorithm prefer?

your audience. No, today it's all about the algorithm. What does the algorithm prefer?

What does it want? Content creators speak of the algorithm like it's some sort of almighty deity.

In trying to cater to the algorithm, many content creators fall into the trap of doing the same talking points in the same format with the same thumbnails. What's up, guys? Be sure to smash that like button. 67 skippy toilet. Am I right? But I'm highly optimistic because what is revealed through

like button. 67 skippy toilet. Am I right? But I'm highly optimistic because what is revealed through every philosophy, myth, spiritual tradition, and scientific field is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So the more we rot our brains within shitified slop, the more space there

is for something beautiful to emerge on the other side. It's time to lean into what makes us human.

This looks different for everyone. For myself, I have embraced a sketchy, loose, artistic style.

No more straight lines or smooth gradients. I let the energy from my heart flow through my arm when I draw. I scribble, smear, smudge, letting the ink dry where it pleases. As Bob Ross said, "We don't make mistakes, we have happy accidents." This brings a new level of freedom to the artwork.

In our age of sanitized AI holograms, it is the human soul that we must revive.

We spent the last century optimizing for convenience. Now we're rediscovering depth.

Other valuable insights. Never act on your first thought. When something happens, our first thought is reactionary, impulsive, [music] or vulgar. Am I right, fellas? The second or third thought is your conscious telling you what is right. Anything beyond the third thought is often overthinking. So

much of our energy is crippled by indecision. Make decisions yourself, then take decisive action.

Inaction is a slow death. Seek wisdom from those you admire, but do not outsource your decisions.

Make a [music] choice and own it. You'll either be victorious or you'll learn a valuable lesson, aka around and find out. If all you do is correct your mistakes, then you make tremendous progress in whatever you do. You have free will. The more you exercise it, the more you enjoy.

When free will is suppressed, it gets expressed later in ugly ways.

A spiritual paradox I think about every day comes from Rahm Doss.

He says that the world is filled with so much suffering that your heart breaks.

War, famine, disease, injustice, innocent kids getting cancer. When you really think about it, the sheer amount of suffering is unbearable. But at the same time, it's all [music] perfect.

If you zoom out, everything is balanced in perfect harmony. Within our bodies right now, there is a war happening between bacteria and our immune system. But here you are peacefully watching the best video on YouTube. We have the ability to witness this perfect divine order at any time.

For me personally, it's useful to see all my struggles as part of God's plan.

It was all meant to be exactly as it unfolded. But when I'm dealing with people in daily life, I need to remember my humanity. If someone falls in front of me and hurts their ankle, I'm not going to say, "Hey, it's all perfect." No, you have to get down on your knees and share their pain. So, I'm always tossed back and forth between feeling my humanity and seeing it all as perfect.

pain. So, I'm always tossed back and forth between feeling my humanity and seeing it all as perfect.

In social situations, people have three basic emotional needs. To be appreciated, to feel important, and to be sympathized with. Infuse these into everyday interactions. For instance,

just remembering someone's name can make them feel seen and special. As Maya Angelo wrote, "I've learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. On the other hand, don't shy away from brutal honesty.

In order to [music] tell the truth, you have to risk offending. As Thomas soul said, "When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear." The 18th century enlightenment thinker Emanuel Kant set out to distill morality into a single sentence. And I think he did a pretty darn good job.

He said to never use other people as a means to an end. This is the root of unethical behavior.

Only use them as your end. So basically, if I get my wife a burrito to make her happy, she is my end. That is ethical behavior. If I get my wife a burrito so she'll do favors for me, I'm using her as a means to an end. That is manipulation. This idea of not treating people as

a means to an end is a thought I keep at the front of my mind every time I make a video. I'd like you to walk away from each video feeling like you gain something of value. The topics covered on After School may seem random, but underneath it all, it's about life-changing ideas and unquenchable curiosity. Curiosity is a superpower. As long as you stay curious, every interaction is a gateway.

curiosity. Curiosity is a superpower. As long as you stay curious, every interaction is a gateway.

Every obstacle is an opportunity. Every day can be a thrilling adventure. So stay curious, my friends. It's been an honor creating these animations for you. The best is yet to come.

my friends. It's been an honor creating these animations for you. The best is yet to come.