Hello!
As a clinical psychologist, I specialize in the psychology of ambition.
This is not a common specialty among psychologists. So uncommon, in fact, that I believe highly ambitious people are an underserved population within the field of psychology.
If you’re someone highly ambitious—that is, you take your life and work seriously, you approach your life entrepreneurially (whether or not you’re an entrepreneur), you care about doing something meaningful and important with your time on earth—then you probably have some unmet psychological needs.
Traditional therapy and self-help tools get you some of the way, but they prescribe a lowering of ambition as part of their cure.
Meanwhile “hustle culture” celebrates and encourages (some generic forms of) ambition, but at the cost of your mental health and wellbeing.
This Substack, formerly Building the Builders, offers you a radical third alternative: a framework for channeling your full ambition into the project of building and relishing your best life, with meaningful work as its rightly load-bearing central pillar.
Principles of this framework include:
The best way to build yourself is by building.
Human nature is such that self-creation is inextricable from creation.Good psychology includes moral character as a target.
Great therapy or coaching isn’t (just) a toolkit, but a framework for taking your life seriously and cultivating self-honesty.The builder’s mindset is for everyone.
The healthy mind is governed neither by the barking of drill sergeants nor by a Zen acquiescence, but by a desire to build one’s own awesome, fully-lived life.
Free subscribers have access to:
Long-form essays that integrate psychological science, moral philosophy, and stories from my work with hundreds of VC-backed startup founders and other ambitious builders/creators to offer a fresh perspective (e.g., on motivation, thinking and decision-making, anxiety management, relationships, money, or life design)
Shorter “Fantastic Builders and Where to Find Them” spotlights that showcase these perspectives through the stories of ambitious people who exemplify them
Discussion threads and announcements about my forthcoming book, upcoming events, and other updates of interest to ambitious builders
Paid subscribers receive all free content plus:
A one-on-one 30min Zoom call with me (Gena)
Occasional paywalled content (e.g., full transcripts of my conversations with Fantastic Builders guests) that goes beyond the free spotlight or synopsis
My sincerest gratitude, because being a paid subscriber means you’re directly supporting me and my work
Either way, welcome, and let’s get building!
About me
I’m Dr. Gena Gorlin, a licensed psychologist, founder coach, and faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. I specialize in the moral-psychological needs of highly ambitious people—particularly those who are or aspire to become "high-agency humanists." I co-host the Founder's Mindset podcast with Alice Bentinck (cofounder and CEO of Entrepreneur First) and have a forthcoming book with Penguin on the psychology of ambition.
I’m also the wife of Matt Bateman and the mother of Alice and Adam, whose own ambitious (to say nothing of adorable) building projects are periodically featured in this newsletter.
