My Favorite part about living in LA
Edition - 013
Welcome to The Obsession, glad you’re here.
I recently moved to Los Angeles, CA. Growing up outside of Chicago and then moving to Atlanta for about three years, the idea of moving to LA is mind blowing to a lot of people.
I got a lot of pushback. Or the classic: “Wow… that’s a big move.”
But behind their eyes, I could usually see the real question: “Why would anyone do that?”
And I get it. There are plenty of reasons someone wouldn’t want to live in California. The main one people bring up is simple:
It’s expensive.
They’re not wrong.
But I’ve started to look at it through a different lens, and that’s what I want to share today.
Side note: this is excluding all the outdoor wonders and adventures CA offers. That’s a whole separate post. I plan to take advantage of that as much as possible.
The lens I look through: people
The biggest reason LA is worth it to me has nothing to do with palm trees.
It’s the people I get to be around.
It’s expensive to live here… yet it’s the second-largest city in the U.S., and a lot of people live here very comfortably. My job allows me to talk to many of those people. And honestly, that’s one of my favorite parts of what I do, talking to people who are older and smarter than me.
Not a bad group to learn from. (Obviously you still need good judgment… but painting with a broad stroke.)
Being around high performers does three things for you:
it motivates you
it teaches you
it raises your standard
1) Motivation
Seeing successful people here is inspiring.
I want to know what they did. How they think. What they sacrificed. What they’re great at. What they’re still working on.
It fires me up because it reminds me that with hard work, it’s possible to build a life where you can provide for your family at a high level.
And I’m not saying money is everything, or even that it’s the point.
What I am saying is this: successful people usually know how to work, how to think, and how to execute. And there’s almost always something you can learn from that and apply to your own career.
Which leads to the second point.
2) Learning
I feel lucky to have a job where I get to sit across the table from people who have found a way to win in an incredibly competitive environment.
I’ve learned more from a drink or dinner with these people than any training could ever provide.
You hear the real stuff:
how they built their network
how they earned trust
how they handled setbacks
what they focus on (and what they ignore)
what they’d do differently if they started over
It’s not theory. It’s real reps, real experience, real scars.
3) Standards (this is the point that brings it home)
The biggest thing LA does for me is it raises the standard of what I think is possible.
When you’re surrounded by people who are playing at a high level, it’s harder to lie to yourself. It’s harder to coast. It’s harder to say “maybe someday.”
Not because anyone is pressuring you, but because the environment quietly challenges you.
It makes you ask better questions:
Am I actually growing?
Am I doing the work I say I’m doing?
Am I building the life I say I want?
That’s why I don’t really see this move as “moving to LA.”
I see it as placing myself closer to people and experiences that force me to level up.
The real lesson here isn’t “move to LA.”
It’s this: be intentional about your environment.
Because whether you realize it or not, your environment is coaching you every day. It’s either pulling you forward or letting you stay the same.
The Weekly 3
1) One Question I Asked Myself
Is my environment helping me grow… or helping me stay comfortable?
2) One Idea That Shifted Me
Proximity changes perspective. Being around high performers raises your standards without anyone saying a word.
3) One Challenge to Take Into Your Week
Put yourself in a room you’d normally feel slightly underqualified to be in.
A meetup. A dinner. A workout class. A conference. A coffee with someone ahead of you.
Just one. Then pay attention to what it makes you want to change.
