Hi, I'm Hussain.

It's been 2 days since I removed my social media accounts and 1 day since deleting WhatsApp from my phone (thanks to my friend Shahid). Today while taking a long walk, a thought popped up on my mind, is this how true freedom feels like; having total control of my time and mind? I stopped and quickly scribbled it in my pocket notebook before I forget it. It was like my mind is starting to breathe again.

If the answer to that question is yes, I fuckin love it already.

I believe most people confuse freedom with total control or the absence of all limits. They think, if I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, with no restrictions, that's freedom. But that's an illusion. True freedom isn't boundless; it exists within necessary boundaries, like earth or any other planet in its orbit. Step outside those boundaries, and you don't gain more freedom but you destroy balance, yours and others.

Within the circle of what we can control, we have a choice which I'm going to call "Good Freedom" and "Bad Slavery". And which way we go I believe is determined by certain things which we can control and have the ability to control, when are controlled and taken into ownership give us a taste of freedom and if not taken in control gives us a taste of slavery. Social media, smartphones, endless entertainment, and even certain relationships are perfect examples of it.

As my friend Shahid said, "Why should everyone have access to me anytime?" A phone in my hand feels like power, but when it dictates my attention every few minutes, who's really in control?

Friends around you matter too. People who pull you toward distraction, drama, or shallow living drag you into slavery disguised as fun. Those who encourage depth, presence, and self-mastery help you taste real freedom.

So I request you guys to guard your circle please. Lead the kind of life so you can taste true freedom and push people around yourself towards good as well.

For years, I used to bounce around books, never retaining anything, partially because of ADHD. I'd jump from one book to another, frustrated by my inability to retain information.

Then, while listening to Robert Greene's interview with Chris Williamson, I had that aha moment. Greene's insights resonated so much more because I had watched his YouTube videos, his other podcasts with people, read all the books on Blinkist and the full books as well.

I then remembered a line from the Bill Gates documentary on Netflix that read: authors, not books.

Instead of jumping from book to book, I started focusing on authors. Reading their works, watching their interviews, and learning about their lives has created a profound shift in my learning. It's like connecting the dots, understanding an author's perspective makes their ideas more meaningful and easier to remember. This newfound approach has given me a sense of control over my learning.

A lot of people told me that "Republic" by "Plato" is going to be about politics. No it's not.

If you ever decided to read this book in hope of finding a political philosophy to follow or criticize, you are going to be extremely disappointed. Plato actually said it's very difficult to look inside a person's mind and see what is good or bad there. So he proposes to work with a political analogy, so morality will be easier to see if we construct a community, describe its political system and look for morality in this imaginary community.

He's not primarily interested in politics, he is constructing an imaginary community to serve as a paradigm.