Hello again my friend,

We’re not waiting for January.

There’s a movement happening. No resolutions, no resets. It’s called “The Great Lock In,” it’s trending, it’s exactly what we need, and I love it.

Instead of waiting until the new year to finally start working towards your goals, people are starting in September. Ditch resolutions. Set goals.

Video after video over the last month has created an explosive movement on TikTok and Instagram.

More focus, hard work, and discipline.

Less distractions, parties, and time wasted.

This is especially awesome because economies are (mostly) terrible, job markets are weak, and social pressure (or competitive pressure), is very high. You want more? I do. But times are tougher than they used to be. How are we supposed to get more? By working…less? The same? No. Locking in makes sense. A movement encouraging people to do so is so welcome.

But not everyone agrees. And so this post isn’t just about a new way to tell people how hard work is good.

There’s more at play. How do we reach a place where anything but locking in makes sense for hardworking, ambitious people? What happened to being great?

Let’s get into it.

Let’s lock in.

Trends on social media are often set by younger people, because they’re the ones who scroll and post more often. Younger millennials and Gen Z especially. For context, people born in the year 2000 are 25 years old now (feel old)?

They were raised in the peak era of political correctness in the west from 2012 to 2022. Formative years for a huge portion of the younger workforce.

They grew up seeing:

It kind of makes sense how starting careers after all this might consider “locking in” revolutionary. That’s why many young business people may not realize that having the right priorities and just outworking other people might be the answer. It makes even more sense why professionals over 35 might be even more likely to miss it, for the same reason.

When corporate politics becomes the norm, it’s easy to forget the tried and true basics that work. It’s the same reason why “founder mode,” another (similar trend) in the tech industry took off. Same idea, but for founders to get into the weeds and really “work” in their business, instead of always letting hired staff (who don’t care as much) do it for them.

We love diversity. We also love ourselves and our goals.

The elastic was stretched too far in the other direction. This is a correction.

Taylor Lorenz is a journalist and online critic who completely disagrees with me, more or less. The claim is that it’s toxic individualism, overkill, and reminiscent of the 9-9-6 culture in China (the last of which is true).

The 9-9-6 culture refers to how young workers in China typically work from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. That one’s true. Locking in is about staying focused, working harder, and often working more until the job’s done.

If you want more, doing the same won’t get you there, especially if the world’s getting worse.

She’s right about one thing, though: there is a slippery slope. At what point do people cross the line between locking in to get more done, or just posting about it because it feels like they have to (performative). I can see people working 10 hours on a task that needs only 2 hours, because they feel like more time is better, when it’s not.

Growing up, being great at something was valuable. It meant something.

But from 2012 to 2022, actively pursuing greatness made you a “try-hard.” Pushing the boundaries with time and energy was “toxic.” The idea that you wanted to be great, instead of giving your opportunities to someone else was “selfish.”

Let’s call a spade a spade. Who’s calling us selfish while people out there are earning millions and billions actually being the most selfish people alive? What’s wrong with prioritizing success, and then providing opportunities to others after?

Fact is, as long as you’re not hurting anybody, there’s nothing wrong with pursuing your dreams, your way. Whatever label people give you, or what they call you, there really isn’t. Your life, and you can do what you want. You don’t need me to tell you that. I wish someone said it to me.

There’s an actor, Timothée Chalamet (from Dune) with a video that went viral in February. In it, he gives an acceptance speech for some award. He nailed all of this.

For context, Timothée has been a professional actor for over a decade. His career is already on track to land him in a Hall of Fame (if Hollywood has one of those). He’s just under 30, but already prolific and well respected in his industry.

Here’s what he had to say (highlights):

“I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats; I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there. This [award] doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more fuel, a little more ammo to keep going.”

Great speech, especially for a guy who’s already on track to be one of those greats. Give it another 20 years. You’ll see.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always hated resolutions. It’s just that I’ve never had much else to offer. Nobody liked hearing: “you don’t need a new year to finally get off your ass,” (even if it’s true). Now I have something to offer. I can just look and say “better lock in.”

For what it’s worth, I hope you lock in. If it’s not for business or money, make it for your health and fitness.

It’s not going to be perfect, or pretty. There’s burnout, and it’s hard to isolate and grind. There’s pressure from relationships, pressure from family, and not much consolation. Self-doubt doesn’t go away. You’ll feel the same fears. The struggle will be more intense. The stress will get worse. You can expect absolute chaos.

But…maybe it’s 3 months until you’re that much closer to your dreams.

Or that much further away from a life you hate.

More focus, hard work, and discipline.

Less distractions, parties, and time wasted.

Thanks as always for reading.

All the best,

Darwin