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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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Read the second article of the 3-part series: https://anticodeguy.substack.com/p/red-pill-your-career-from-replaceable-192?r=1m5hbt

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.

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

Oracle considers this password weak.
For real?

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.

Highlights of the evening walk

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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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To read all three articles on the topic, follow the links:
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Part 3

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

Staring new book from one of my favorite authors

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.

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?

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.

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.

The "follow your passion" advice sounds great from billionaires with safety nets.
For the rest of us who need to pay rent next month it's a complete BS.
Here's how to actually find work you love that pays well:
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Jobs had Atari literally bankroll his trip to India to "find himself."
Most of us don't have multinational companies funding our self-discovery journeys.
The truth: passion without practicality = broke artist. Practicality without passion = golden handcuffs.
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The world doesn't pay you for your passion.
It pays you for the value you create for others.
As M.J. DeMarco puts it:

"Stop thinking about business in terms of your selfish desires. Instead, chase needs, problems, pain points..."

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Passion often follows success rather than preceding it.
Make your first $100 trading stocks and suddenly your brain lights up with dopamine.

"I did this with my intellect" → Success → Interest → Genuine passion.

The success created the passion, not vice versa.
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Step 1: Map your energy.
For one week, note what you're doing every 15 minutes during work.
Is it giving you energy or draining you?
This is how I discovered I'm energized by explaining tech to non-technical people, not by coding itself.
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Step 2: Create value others will pay for.
No one pays for talent. They pay for results.
Jiro Ono charges $300+ per sushi meal because he created an experience others value enough to pay for.
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Step 3: Develop skills that intersect with your interests.
Being terrible at things isn't fun.
But as you develop skill, you start experiencing small wins.
Those wins trigger dopamine that makes you want to continue.
Eventually, what started as just a job becomes passion.
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Step 4: Learn the game or create your own.
PewDiePie and Marie Kondo didn't follow conventional paths.
They identified gaps, created their own rules, and built systems aligning their passions with market demand.
What unique skills + interests could you combine?
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Step 5: Accept the grind behind every dream.
Olympic athletes pursue passion at the highest level.
Yet their path involves brutal training, injuries, sacrifices, and countless boring repetitions.
The glamorous moments we see represent maybe 1% of their journey.
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Every dream job includes unglamorous elements:
- Bestselling authors deal with deadlines and marketing
- Successful chefs spend hours on inventory
- Digital nomads handle inconvenient client calls
These tasks are worth it when connected to your purpose.
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Your ikigai is the sweet spot where:
- What you love
- What you're good at
- What the world needs
- What people will pay for
All overlap.
Finding it requires experimentation and time.
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"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

- Maya Angelou
The goal is work that feels aligned with who you are.
The path won't be linear, but now you know how to find the way.
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Read the big article on finding your ikigai: https://anticodeguy.substack.com/p/the-ikigai-blueprint-finding-work?r=1m5hbt

The Passion Paradox: Why “Follow Your Passion” Is Terrible Advice (For Most People)

When some tech billionaire or celebrity tells you to “just follow your passion,” it’s worth remembering they’re speaking from a position where failure has virtually no consequences. It’s easy to preach passion from a mansion with millions in the bank and a team handling all the boring stuff.

Think about Jobs again. Yes, he followed his spiritual passions at one point – by taking that trip to India. But who funded it? His employer. He had a safety net that most people starting out simply don’t have.

M.J. DeMarco, author of “The Millionaire Fastlane,” cuts through this bullshit perfectly:

“Stop thinking about business in terms of your selfish desires, whether it’s money, dreams or ‘do what you love.’ Instead, chase needs, problems, pain points…”

The harsh reality is that the world doesn’t pay you for your passion – it pays you for the value you create for others.

The truth is much more nuanced than “find your passion.” Sometimes passion follows success rather than preceding it. Let me explain.

Imagine you start trading stocks. Initially, it feels overwhelming – complex charts, market jargon, information overload. Not particularly enjoyable. But then you make your first successful trade and earn $100. Suddenly, your brain lights up with dopamine. “I did this with my intellect,” you think. The success creates a direct correlation: your actions led to tangible results. Now you’re interested. A few more successful trades later, and suddenly you’re developing a genuine passion for trading.

The passion didn’t lead to success – the success created the passion.

This reversed pattern plays out everywhere. As Mark Cuban bluntly puts it:

“Follow your effort, not your passion. No one quits anything they’re good at.”

Cal Newport’s research confirms this: “Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before.”

For many people (myself included), the path doesn’t start with some burning passion. I’ve gone through periods where I had no idea what I truly loved doing. I had to take what paid the bills, build skills, and gradually discover what energized me. This is the normal path for most people – not the romantic “I always knew what I wanted” story we’re fed.

And honestly – I’m still searching. Sharing this framework with you is a part of that journey, since I want to discover if I like that path of content creator.

Deloitte’s research confirms this reality: only about 13% of workers feel genuinely passionate about their jobs. The vast majority are still searching or settling. If you’re in that boat, you’re not alone.

What complicates things further is that many activities we love don’t automatically translate to market value. Consider the struggling artist stereotype – someone with immense talent and passion creating beautiful work that simply doesn’t sell. I remember seeing an incredibly gifted painter selling sketches on the street for a fraction of what they were worth. His passion and skill were undeniable, but he hadn’t figured out how to make the market value his art.

This is where the ikigai framework becomes crucial. It’s about finding the intersection of:

1. What you love
2. What you’re good at
3. What the world needs
4. What people will pay for

When all four overlap, you’ve found your sweet spot. But there’s often a gap between personal passion and what others value enough to pay for.

As Oscar Wilde wryly observed,

“When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss money.”

We all seem to want what the other has.

The Three-Body Problem: Why Your Business Dreams Keep Crashing into Reality

If you’re not yet familiar with this famous theory that inspired an entire series – it’s the three-body problem. We won’t delve into scientific details now; it’s better if you look into what it is yourself, but I’ll briefly explain the essence.

When we calculate the trajectory of two bodies in space that orbit each other, such as our planet around the Sun, we account for parameters of these two bodies. With high probability, we can predict where one body and the other will be after a certain period of time.

However, if we add a third body that affects the first two with its gravitational field, predicting their future position in space and time becomes virtually impossible. The variables involved in this interaction become immeasurably numerous, and calculating their values so that everything is accurately matched is not possible, at least not now.

There are simplified methods for calculating the state of these bodies, based on simulating various scenarios and approximation – averaging all these variables. This is not an exact calculation, but it allows for determining the location of bodies with sufficient accuracy. But the essence remains unchanged: it’s impossible to precisely determine where one body will be relative to another.

Beyond Just Celestial Bodies

This concept, in my view, extends beyond the study of celestial bodies and science to life itself. When you have only two variables, such as two people or the relationship between them at a certain point in time, you can more or less predict them if you have the values of all these variables.

But as soon as a third person appears, the number of variables that need to be considered when all three interact increases disproportionately more than just plus one or multiplication by the number of people. The same applies to any aspect of life, which is why it seems so unpredictable and unexplored.

Despite the fact that we, as a human species, have gone through so much and achieved a lot, life remains a mystery for each person. What will happen to them is mostly unclear and impossible to predict. Using the principle of approximation or calculating only two bodies doesn’t work because there are many more bodies in each person’s life that influence and contain variables that need to be considered.

The same applies to business. If everything were as simple as calculating the position of two bodies, we would have templates, blueprints, or step-by-step instructions on how to create a business and become rich, taking into account initial conditions, capital, location, and the presence of other things.

But business is also something that doesn’t involve just two bodies, such as a seller and a buyer, but much more. This problem, by the way, is called the n-body problem in science, meaning the number of bodies is not three, but undefined, yet more than two.

Okay, sharing a screenshot of my server's console obviously (now) was a mistake.
I am a noob at dev-ops and obviously missed one critical signal to hackers.
A couple of hours later, my server was hacked.
Don't make my mistake.