Become all you can become with Sophie
He that won't be counselled, can't be helped
The above statement, in the title, may or may not be true.
I am most interested not in what is true and false, but what is useful or what is not useful.
Thinking, believing that the answers are within makes you search your memory banks for answers.
And it is never there… You never knew the answer, so it won’t be in your mind. Continue reading “The answers are not within… so how do you find them?”
Words are tricky. You think you understand them, and you think that everyone hears the same meaning when they hear it. They don’t… maybe ever!
The main problem with the Tree of Knowledge: we learn our world through words, instead of experience.
And you end up delusional, making mistakes, and never happy.
This is the main reason for unhappiness. The words create an illusion of being reality… but they aren’t… and moreover the inner map of reality they create is vastly different from reality itself. Continue reading “Yesterday I introduced the distinction “look with fuzzy eyes” on the Feelings webinar.”
Could, reading Charlie Munger’s favorite books be considered being mentored by Charlie Munger? 1 Or how to learn to do what people did through reading what they read… So you can do it too. So you can see what they saw.
People with humility and success quote a lot. They know where their views, where their knowledge comes from. And their knowledge is deep, instinctive driver of actions. Not book knowledge, not Trivial Pursuit knowledge. NOT Tree of Knowledge.
I read eclectically. The next few books that are on my list now come from Charlie Munger’s suggestions.
He sees things I don’t. He has wisdom I don’t. What he reads has something to do with it. How he reads, how he thinks… He says: “Becoming rational is a slow, arduous process.” You need to build up to developing that skill. Most of us have very small capacity to use our brains. But it can only be grown like a sculpture. So most don’t even start.
Continue reading “Could reading Charlie Munger’s favorite books be considered being mentored by Charlie Munger?”
Statistics show that nearly 100% of the population is addicted to the approval of others, yet few of us are aware of it. And for average person with modest goals, it doesn’t really matter.
The problem arises when an ambitious person decides to build a career, business or pursue dream that requires substantial exposure to rejection. Studies show that over 80% of these people abandon their ambition within the first 12 months due to the pain of daily disapproval.
This is how Approval Addiction shatters dreams.
Approval addiction comes from the misunderstanding and the distortion of what the Tree of Life need, the need to meet the expectation of others tells you. Continue reading “Approval Addiction: the main symptom of no self, no core, no courage”
Before I get into defining what this need is doing, and what is the extent of it, I’ll tell you what may be in your way…
In the movie Sling Blade, the main character is asked in an interview, just before he is released from prison: “Will you kill again?” He answers: “I don’t reckon I have a reason to…”
This is when you know he will…
Animals don’t kill their kind… or not often. And never from anger. Continue reading “Human survival need: Meeting the expectation of others”
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A fresh look at lack of humility… the lack that causes you to not be able to learn new things
I am reading a book that says: the purpose of life is survival.
It is clear that the purpose of the selfish genes is survival. Not the vehicle (for a human gene the vehicle is a human body) but itself. The gene. Long and short term survival. The gene actually doesn’t care whether that survival is noble, enjoyable, fun. None of that. Just survival long enough to produce another generation of vehicles.
The human vehicle, because of its consciousness, desires quality of life, liberty, and self-determination… the list is probably a lot longer, but the human vehicle, you, definitely considers a life without those not worth living. Not a life for a human. The history of humanity could be told through the struggle, resignation, stagnation, loss, of those values. From freedom to overt slavery to hidden slavery… this is where we are now.
So I am going to look at the issues that hold my students back through that distinction: survival. If what I find is true about my students, it is probably true for other people… as well, maybe even you…
Continue reading “Lack of humility that causes you not to learn”
The person who is most adaptable and willing to change is going to win in life
Changeability, adaptability: what prevents you from being changeable or adaptable so you can win?
Darwin may have said: The species that is most adaptable wins the genetic lottery. Humanity’s, society’s emphasis is on smarts, but smart people are often losers.
Groups of people survived in history if they could adapt to the changing environment, the changing of the world successfully.
This is also true for the individual who wants to be successful and live the good life. (Success in one area does not translate to the good life, where you are successful in health, wealth, love and happiness equally). Continue reading “The person who is most adaptable and willing to change..”
I thought I would share something I haven’t talked about in a long while… And that is your memories. Your pain memories… specifically.
We all have it. And they are, for most people, packed away, in some fat, or some muscle, joint… like any other toxin.
Life is smart. You cannot be very effective with life, very present, if you have to deal with pain that can’t be resolved… emotional pain.
Many people go to classes to rid themselves of the pain, but these classes don’t work very well. Why? Because when you retell the story, you get caught in the story instead of feeling the pain. You feel the “marker feelings” the words awaken, but not the original pain. 2
One of my students wrote to me:
Self-care. I perform the poorest and I’m not consistent. Not sure what one category it fits under, in a way I can see it being a part of all big four areas of life.
To me it’s like I need to steal it in order to get it, it doesn’t come naturally or where I don’t feel guilty. Even reading by myself I feel guilty of being selfish. It’s etched in me and so when I do want to take care of myself it feels like I have to fight for the right, when I really don’t.
Now, it should be obvious for anyone who has read the Feelings book that what she is talking about is the basic needs of a human. That the phenomenon she talks about is not personal, that most women, especially in different male-centered cultures will mistakenly behave like this: violently deny their own needs. Rights vs. needs. Continue reading “Violence: is it innate, or is it imposed on humanity?”
I have been watching youtube videos and movies for a few days now… The focus is becoming more and more on being who you are… being true to that… and inside that seemingly limited “arena” be the most you can be, the best you can be.
Don’t get all out of shape… I do believe we are all human. I do believe we are in this together. I do believe that only if we cooperate we can save our race and our Earth… But I also see that people who preach this are intolerant, uncooperative, and hateful. And I suspect if you got bent out of shape, then you are one of those..
Horse shit.
I am not same with you… I am the end of a blood line of thousands of years of persecution on one hand, sharpening the skills to live in a hostile environment on the other. A tradition where what is in your head counts… because it cannot be taken away. Everything else can be taken away, but who you are, and what you know cannot.
How could I be the same as you when you only care about your money. When you think you are your money…
This is just one example… but as you can tell, my pump went up.
