BestSelf

@Colin Awesome dude, thanks for sharing! Have not heard of that before but it sounds very promising!

@Outer What is DMN?

@Leo Gura I am through shadow work, self acceptance work, and yoga. Was just wondering if it would be a helpful supplement in this specific case or not

@Serotoninluv Would you mind going into a little more detail in this example of what is the "45 percent self improvement" aspect?

@SageModeAustin Agreed, this is why I dont think it HAS to be an either or type of thing. They can be synergistic imo

@Serotoninluv I realize to fully experience truth one has to completely transcend the mind and its web of beliefs, but I think in the beginning one can both improve their beliefs to more empowering ones while simultaneously increasing their consciousness/awareness. The "more positive" belief system may actually enhance ones rate of progress in terms of awareness because there wont be as much resistance and subconscious roadblocks. It could theoretically help you move up the levels of consciousness faster until you realize its limitations and then can drop it to further expand. Just my 2 cents anyway

@Leo Gura Would you recommend modafinil to those with anxiety? Could it help with overcoming it or aggravate it further? Thanks!

Can anyone that regularly experiences anxiety and used Modafinil share their experience? I have heard that it can actually INCREASE anxiety and thats the last thing I need....

I have been dealing with a VERY similar dilemma myself. Made a thread about it here. One of the forum members @Mu_ had some solid insight. What I myself and going to be trying to do is continuing to focus on my life purpose and the vision I have for it while simultaneously trying to continuing to expand my consciousness through things like meditation and shadow work. I totally understand your dilemma though as I am still conceptually finding it hard to balance the two.

So i've been kind of struggling with these two things lately. I developed this whole vision surrounding my life purpose and the kind of life I want to lead and person I want to be. I wrote it all out, and have been reading and visualizing it twice a day for a good while now. During this time I really started turning my life around and have made a lot of strides towards my different goals and have had more hope for the future than ever. However, as I have gotten more into this personal development work and specifically consciousness/ non duality type work, my mind has started to go all over the place and struggles with comprehending the two together. After learning about non duality and what increasing ones consciousness is supposed to ultimately lead to, it makes me question whether this life purpose and vision I have set out on is truly the right path for me. I'm wondering if this self concept tied into my purpose and vision would hamper the consciousness work and finding who I truly am at the core as well as seeing reality for what it really is. I don't want to give up this vision though as I feel like if I do I have no idea where I am going or who I am trying to be and get lost in negative thoughts. emotions and over analysis. My mind is just kind of all jumbled with information overload and what I should really be focusing on here. Does anyone have any advice on how one can go about balancing the two?

@Mu_ Thanks for all of the insight man, I greatly appreciate it! Starting to feel a lot better about the whole thing now

@Mu_ I got into it because I love learning about the whole realm of personal development and wanted to learn more about the spiritual side of things. So you think it is fine to strive toward being a certain ideal version of yourself? I cam do that while also expanding my awareness through things like meditation whiteout the need to actively try to "kill the ego" and not identify with a certain set of characteristics?

@Mu_ My purpose/ vision is essentially being the best version of myself and helping others improve their lives. That is the broad sense of it, but it includes many different things. I am a personal trainer, athlete, and affiliate marketer for some different personal development products. I want to help, educate, and inspire people to reach their unique fitness goals, be the best athlete I can be, spread information that can help others improve their lives, and live up to different attitudes and ways of being that I see my "ideal self" as. I basically had a whole story I wrote out incorporating all of this and more that I would read and visualize every day. Since I started diving into the non duality side of things this whole concept of my "ideal self" and other aspirations now just seems like things of the ego. It seems like by striving to be a certain way and do certain things I am just trying to cement my ego into a certain mold instead of seeing reality and my true nature for what they really are. So since learning this I have not been near as passionate about this vision and have lost some faith in it. Where as before even though I wasn't there yet with a lot of things I was excited at the process of striving towards those ideals. Now however, I feel like it might be false egoic ideals and this huge vision I was so excited and passionate about seems to have lost its oomp. I started trying to do away with the whole ideal self concept side of things I hard for myself, but I find it very hard to let it go as it makes me feel lost and not really sure how to go about things. Just been going through a bit of mindfuckery trying to figure out how to proceed forward.

Hey guys, Ive noticed some solid results in the last few month of REALLY focusing hard on self development work. Im overall more relaxed, feel better about myself, and better able to express myself. One thing I still really struggle with though is caring too much what others think/seeking validation For example, on facebook when I post something and certain friends dont like it it still bothers me. I know rationally it shouldn't, but it still does. Also I find myself still very much like hungry. Im almost finished reading the 6 pillars of self esteem and while I feel my self esteem has grown from putting the knowledge in the book into practice along with other personal development techniques and I may be slightly less affected then i was before, I am still struggling with this issue. Is there any good book recommendations you guys have on the specific subject? Thanks!

Hey Guys, I have heard leo mention before that the only way to get true peace and happiness is through the death of ones ego. I was curious though as to the happiness levels of people that have reprogrammed their subconscious minds(or perhaps were raised in an environment which naturally lead to such beliefs) to have positive, uplifting and empowering beliefs about themselves and the world. Even if these people tell you they are happy and truly believe they are happy, are they not in fact happy? Or rather is their level of happiness not what it COULD be if they were to kill their egos and become enlightened?

@Moreira Very cool perspective! Thanks for sharing!

Cool, great insight!

This is great! Thanks for putting in all the time and effort to create it! So I am an athlete and really would like to avoid the potential slowing of reaction time effect. Do you think there is a way i can incorporate shamanic breathing and still get the positive effects from it WITHOUT the negative effect on reaction time? Like possibly shorter duration sessions(10-20 mins) as well as less frequently(every 2 weeks or month)?

Hey guys, So I have meditated on and off for a few years with little to show in the way of results, so i finally got serious and committed to starting a daily meditation practice 60 days ago. I have stuck to it all of the 60 days. I do a breath awareness meditation for 10-15 minutes in the morning and night, and 1 do nothing and or strong sit meditation mid day. I also started doing other self help practices like daily cold showers, visualization, gratitude list, and cut out addictions like weekend alcohol binges, netflix/tv, and cut WAY down on phone use/ social media. During this period I have been WAY more productive and am taking big steps towards making my life purpose my full blown career. Also during this time though I have noticed I am progressively struggling more and more with meditation as time goes on. During the first week or two of all these new practices i got into a more flow like state for a few days and it felt awesome. One of my big problems has always been being too stuck in my head and it felt so freeing to be more in the moment and able to freely express myself. It was like a big burden was temperately lifted from me. This only lasted a few days however. Once i was conscious of this new state fear crept in because it was new and unfamiliar to me which made me lose it. I have never gotten back to it and it has seemed like ever since then I have progressively struggled with meditation. Every session I am questioning whether I am doing it right or "in the moment". I try to remind myself to stop judging it and just observe but im having a hard time not doing it.I try to just focus on my breath or let go as in the do nothing meditation but these thoughts just keep arising. Its got to the point where now a big part of my day im all anxious about if im in the moment or not while just going around in every day life. Im afraid im both wrongly doing these meditations and the act of wrongly doing it is negatively affecting my neural pathways and making me all fd up in every day life, having dumb thoughts like "am i in the moment" and "i cant stay in the present" and an accompanying tight, burning feeling in my chest on and off all day. I have watched leos "dark side of meditation" video, but did not see anything specifically like this mentioned in there. Also I realize those are just possible side effects of CORRECTLY meditating while i feel like these may be from INCORRECTLY doing it. I dont know, maybe im just overthinking things and should just continue on and do my best. Its just frusterating though always wondering if im doing it right nor not. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone, REALLY appreciate all the feedback! Definitely makes me feel a bit better! @molosku That was a very insightful post! So after I Infinitys suggestion last night of ceasing meditation for the moment(I see you now have taken that suggestion back though) I noticed some immediate relief from the anxiety ive been feeling. I felt a lot more unburned this morning having NOT meditated. Having just read your post though it seems like my resistance and anxiety is a normal thing to experience and I should keep going and just try to allow whatever happens to happen, whatever thought patterns or loops or anxiety to just happen, and it will eventually subside with time. I like your idea of renaming the do nothing to not giving a fuck meditation. I think coming at it from that perspective may help me out. What would you suggest as far as daily time frame of doing this meditation/ frequency? Also what are your thoughts on seeking out a local meditation teacher as i infinity suggested? I found a TM center with many good reviews in my area and would be willing to give it a shot if you guys think that would benefit me. Once again thanks for all the replies and help! Really appreciate it guys!

@Jamie Universe I could see how that mindset would be extremely beneficial. @aurum Thanks man!

Hey guys, So I have been into the whole realm of personal development for years now, but really didn't start taking hardcore action on it till over a month ago. Before then I would dabble with different techniques here and there, but would never really stick with anything for long enough to make any real impact. So a little over a month ago I got to the point where I was just fed up and tired with the way i felt. It was time to man up and do something about it. So i started actually implementing leos advice, cut out addictions like alcohol, cut out Netflix, cut way down on social media and phone time. Have been meditating for 30-60 minutes every day, watching videos on theory and taking notes, ordered a bunch of books on leos book list and started reading one, have been working more towards my life purpose, and have just all around been getting shit done and checking all my daily goals off the to do list. After about a week in of doing all this I got into this more relaxed in the moment state where things were just flowing. I could better express myself and my thoughts(Normally have trouble doing as i tend to overthink and am stuck in my head making self judgement) After a few days of this new state however I thought to myself "Holy shit I have really changed fast" and then all of a sudden anxiety and fear started to sink in and I lost this state. I have kept up with all of these habits but never got back to this state. Now I am closer to the same as I was before I started all these new habits, perhaps slightly more relaxed and in the moment at times,but nothing near what i was after that first week in. Still mostly anxious and in my head. Sometimes its even seemed WORSE as of late. Now im questioning if what I am doing is working, wondering if i am meditating right or in the moment or not in day to day life. I just watched leo's be fucking patient video which helped put things into perspective however. I now realize this process is going to take a Whole lot more time and effort than I originally expected. I also realize that things can get worse before they get better. Im just kind of wondering what was the deal with that first week in? Was that state a fluke? Can I get back there in the not too distant future or will it take awhile? I mean its not like I was enlightened and everything was perfect or anything, but compared to my normal state it was definitely a noticeable improvement.

@Moreira Well actually I really wasn't under that impression until I just watched leos video yesterday. I think rather than having the belief that change is hard and takes time the fear of change and going into the unknown is what pulled me out of my improved state of mind.

Hey Dan, First off I want to say I think its awesome that you are dedicating so much time on here to helping people out with their issues. We all really appreciate it and admire you for it! Keep up the awesome work! My biggest issue is constantly judging myself/ being self conscious. I judge the way my voice sounds when talking to others, how I look/act during interactions, the way I speak and not being able to clearly verbalize my thoughts ect ect. Its like there is always a critical camera turned towards me that wont turn off. Its something ive struggled with for a long while now and it is a frustrating thing to contend with. I have been into self improvement for awhile now and tried many different things like affirmations and meditation ect ect, but the issue always seems to persist. Ill have certain times where my voice comes out sounding completely confident how I would like it to or im in the moment and able to clearly state my thoughts but those times are rare. Its kind of like I have a split personality where in my mind i think I should be this completely confident guy that sounds charismatic and is easily able to talk to anyone and verbalize his thoughts effortlessly. Thats the guy I THINK i should be but most the time in reality I feel self conscious and judgmental towards myself for not being that guy. I actually think most people perceive me as being a confident and content guy as that is how I try to portray myself and what I have been refereed as by some people, but it is not how I feel in reality. What would you recommend I do to resolve this issue for good and finally be free of self judgementf? Thanks in advance for your help!