A Year-Long Voluntary Pause, and a One-on-One with AI
Henry Kim ·
I once voluntarily paused for a year. While some worried it was a career break, for me, it was a pivotal turning point that changed the trajectory of my life. It was, as if by fate, the moment GPT-3.5 was introduced to the world. I instinctively knew this was not merely a tool, but a new medium that would fundamentally transform how we communicate and create.
Just like my boyhood days, captivated by martial arts novels and staying up all night, I threw myself wholeheartedly into the boundless world of AI development. From morning until I fell asleep, I wrestled with AI, wrote code, and tested its limits. To others, I might have looked like an unemployed person whiling away time, receiving EI. But during that time, a new universe was being born in my mind every day. It was a continuous thrill as my capabilities expanded beyond imagination.
At the end of that intense year, I launched over 10 apps into the world. But the real harvest wasn't the deliverables. It was the overwhelming confidence that I can now bring anything I imagine into reality. That year was not just a break. It was a period of training, learning the language of the coming future and internalizing AI's way of thinking. I have now become someone who communicates most deeply with AI and understands the flow of technology. Precisely because I paused, I am now ready to run faster than anyone else.
That's why I absolutely recommend a period of rest and solitary focus to everyone.