Riley Lamont
Weekly(ish) thoughts about life, business, and the world.
why won't you stop lying to yourself?
A few weeks ago, I packed my suitcase and moved onto my brother Jake's couch. You know Jake, he runs Irrational Optimism. The purpose of the move was twofold: 1) To hyperscale IO to where it needs to be. My marketing brains lights up whenever I find a truly bulletproof offer that I know could crush it. I've never come across something better than what's inside IO. 2) To get over my biggest fear. My biggest fear was not working hard enough. No matter how many times I read Deep Work...
learning to like the taste of your own blood
Chewing glass. I'm not sure if it's a real term or if I came up with it. I probably heard it from someone's dad at some point. It's how I explained what this past month felt like to my friends today. Last email was about how hard my month was. Naturally, that means every single fibre in my body wants to make this a really happy upbeat the world is great I AM HAPPY one. But, in pursuit of making these emails some of the most vulnerable writing you read during your time spent on that soul...
failure is impossible (here's why):
Missed you. This past month, any opportunity I had to be stable, comfortable, at ease, was ripped from me. Thank God. Now, full transparency - I am not the guy who's writing you want to read if your goal is to feel motivated. I am not going to sit here and go all Jocko Willink "RAH RAH I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE HARDSHIP" on you. No shot. Gratitude journalling never worked for me. Trying to find 3 things I was grateful for when you've got nothing good to feel is a humiliation ritual to yourself....
If you feel behind on AI, read this:
I am not in the tech world in the slightest. I can't write a single line of code, I have no idea what Python does, and my computer monitor is still horizontal. This, fortunately, has nothing to do with my access to the latest tech. When I first got started in the business world, I was completely alone (like most were). I felt like an outcast - everyone was using crazy lingo and casually throwing around numbers I didn't even think we're possible (they are). I had no one to ask "hey man,...
how do you *know* that you know what you know?
The past few emails have been fairly coherent and put together. So let's ruin that today. I'm getting a double-edged sword tattooed soon. I genuinely say the term every single day. It's not a great thing -- Sometimes I wish I could be more convicted in what I say. But as an overthinker, everything is truly a double-edged sword. I can never just do. Wake up yesterday, in a deep rut. Remember I have free will and a bit of cash and can just book a flight to somewhere cheap in LatAm. Maybe I'll...
Why I wasn't happy in 2024 (and why you might not have been either)
I dropped a Tweet a few days ago that I want to expand on: riley. @lamxnt As we kick off the New Year, I am focusing primarily on my biggest single mistake in 2024: Not operating from a place of SHEER abundance. I was pretty heavy on Optimism (obviously, @IrrationalOpt), but I was always operating from a place of LACK. I am OPTIMISITC about where I… https://x.com/i/web/status/1874833860548043016 10:3 AM • Jan 2, 2025 0 Retweets 23 Likes Read 2 replies Now, I have been a self-proclaimed...
Don't be too cool to be better
It might truly just be a byproduct of ADHD, but I COMPLETELY lose grasp of routines. Not routines as in 17 step morning checklists -- I mean I can literally forget that the human body needs food and accidentally fast for 72 hours. Most recently, I completely forgot that absolutely everything in my life improves 10x if I wake up early. I love waking up early. Early to me is 7-8, usually in the middle of that. EVERYTHING improves. I get more time to wake up and get my mind right before jumping...
We are entering the Roaring 20s
Sorry for going MIA... again. Hyperbolic time chamber is in full effect and I could've sworn I just sent an email. I just wanted to jump in here and say: You need to be more optimistic. You need to ask yourself "How would I spend my time tomorrow if I was GUARANTEED to win?" And then you need to act like that immediately. Confidence can be faked. It is not enough to "feel confident" that you'll be successful. You need to know it. It needs to be so obvious that you don't even think about it....
my thoughts on the election (as a canadian)
Total nasty clickbait on the subject line there. You know damn well I'm not talking politics. Well... Not exactly. I want to talk about the absolutely undeniable energy shift that's happened over the past 24 hours. Politics is the one topic I do genuinely try to avoid. Not because I'm scared of the confrontation, or because I'm one of those guys who "doesn't really pay attention..." But because I think it's literally pointless. My political views are pro humanity. I want the best for myself,...
if I hear this one more time I swe-
"It's about the journey, not the destination" SHUT UPPPPP You may as well say "Live Laugh Love." I hate when people let that fly casually like they're quoting a suburban mom $65 wood burned quote sign. Not just because it's cliché, but because if you repeat these little mantras enough they get burned into your subconscious. And this one, in my opinion, is wrong. Out of all the quotes I steal from thought leaders and drugged-out poets, I have one I use frequently that (as far as I know) came...
Weekly(ish) thoughts about life, business, and the world.