ULFBERHT

As a pretext, I'd like to say I'm not trying to be a downer, nor am I looking for someone to commiserate with me. I'm trying to get practical, measurable results, I just feel like I haven't gotten any. It's actually a stretch to say that I'm not getting any results from PD. In order to get results you would have to make a sustained effort at something over a period of time and determine whether it's working for you or not and then adjust accordingly. My circumstance doesn't qualify. I feel like I have a hard time getting off the ground with any proposed changes I'm trying to make. It may last for a few days or at most a few weeks, but creating lasting, profound change is proving a tough challenge to meet. Listed below are some of the areas/ goals/ processes I'm struggling with. Any specific advice related to a certain issue as well as general strategic advice is more than welcome. 1. Firstly, I have been successful in installing a fitness and meditation habit. I've been lifting seriously for four years. I deadlift over 500lbs. I've been meditating for about seven months and have had little interesting insights here and there, but nothing seriously profound. 2. I have trouble starting new habits and staying "sharp" with them. By sharp I mean even though I've installed a meditation habit and have NOT MISSED A DAY , sometimes I'll meditate for four breaths, sometimes I'll meditate for and hour and a half without moving a muscle. I'd like to be more consistent with my habits. 3. I've been meaning to go through all of Leo's videos and take notes, study them, and look for ways to start implementing them in my life. I've been meaning to do that along with fifty other things I'd like to start doing. I've got a big problem with procrastination and resistance to taking action. 3. I'm not sure where to start with personal development. Do I work on career first, or my relationships? Spirituality or health? I know all of these areas should be worked on, but deciding which deserve most of my attention and how to balance them is beyond me at this point. How do I actually DO personal development? 4. Everything feels like an uphill battle. I'm okay with a challenge, but any goal or change I'd wish to see come to fruition seems like a huge task. 5. Negative self talk. I'm not smart enough, I'm not handsome enough, I'm not gifted enough in some way... sometimes the negative self talk exhausts me more than the thing I'm trying to do! 6. Giving 100% and kicking ass at life. I really, really like to half-ass stuff. Any way I can get by doing less work is my preferred method of going through life. Clearly, It hasn't served me because I don't have the life I want. 7. Digging deep when times are tough. Sometimes you need to retreat and recharge your batteries. Other times you need to dig deep and get shit done. I've made some progress on minimizing my instinct to throw my hands in the air and quit when things get hard, but I find myself retreating when I need to be strong and build my character. 8. Mastering my emotions. A lot of this list could probably be boiled down to that, now that I've written it out. ************** Here are my preliminary goals that I'd like to achieve 1. I'd like to continue my health and fitness journey and get as strong as I can, although right now I feel like quitting because I spend all my damn time in the gym. 2. I'd like to go to college and study chemical engineering and math. At this point I feel like that's the direction I'd like to head, but it stresses me out because I think I'm still going to have to work full time and try and study. I feel like I won't have anytime for lifting and meditation. Plus there's the potential strain on my marriage, as well as the cost. The negative self-talk comes in strong here as I hear myself saying that I'm not smart enough to achieve this goal. 3. I want to work on my enlightenment journey/ consciousness work. Thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to hearing good wisdom.

@Leo Gura Yeah. 1-4 are spot on. I think my fitness goals may be a little shallow, too. I do have the ability to create a plan, but how can I create a meaningful plan if I have no vision? I'm working on buying your life purpose course. I've just gotta sell some extra stuff laying around the house so I can scrounge up some money to do so. Thanks for everything!

Thanks! Yeah as I was typing all that out I started to think of a few of Leo's videos. I gotta go back over them and take some notes.

Hey Everyone! Check out my journal "Read Good Book, Lift Heavy Weight" if you haven't already. Anyway, as the title suggests, I'm feeling like I don't know what move to make. I don't exactly know what to do with my life. The thing is, once I find this thing, I know I've got all the right pieces to make it work. When I'm passionate about something I see it through to the end. I don't quit. Right now I know I'm laying the right groundwork to set myself up for success in the future. I'm very committed to personal development and I really want to make something happen. I just don't know what that something is! I've started working through a self-knowledge survey in a book called "What Color is your Parachute?", but its dragging me down because its really boring and I'm feeling uninspired by it. The book is mostly oriented for finding a good job, but I want more than that. I want a grand mission and a big journey. That's just the truth. I'm gonna finish it but I've just been putting it off. In the meantime, where do you suggest I start? I don't currently have the money for Leo's course. If I did, I'd just go there.

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I didn't have access to a computer. Training Log: Hit a 260 Front Squat max last week. I wanted to hit 275 but I'm still ahead of schedule for my 315 goal by October/ November or so. Day 1:Deadlift 385 4x3, Romanian Deadlift 255 4x10, Upright Row 145 6x10 Day 2: Front Squat 170 4x8, Rack Deadlift 410 4x4, Bench 140 2x10 135 1x10, Tricep Ext. 155 4x10, Curls 70 4x10 Day 3: Deadlift 375 5x4, Deficit Deadlift 330 4x6 Day 4: Barbell Row 235 4x5, Front Squat 185 4x5, Dumbbell Row 90 6x10 Sedona Method: Alright, so as I mentioned last week I'm working my way through the Sedona Method course chapter by chapter and am posting my gains on this log. This week I had an interesting, albeit small, breakthrough. I was feeling very depressed at work and I started working myself through the releasing questions introduced in the first chapter of the book. As I began asking myself the questions and allowing myself to feel the depression, to welcome it, and ultimately to let it go, I found myself sort of realizing that, in a way, the feeling was there whether I liked it or not. I had this sense that I could CHOOSE to submit to the feeling or not. The line of thinking I found myself running through was something like "Well, here I am, feeling this feeling, and I'm noticing it here and I'm feeling bad about it. But, somehow I can still step back and see it for what it is and realize that sooner or later I'll come out of it, and me coming out of it is again almost irrelevant from whatever feeling I'm adding on to the experience. I'm depressed, but so friggin' what?" And in that moment it kind of dissolved just a little bit. In that small way it almost became a non-issue. Like, yeah I'm depressed, but the feeling carries no weight with it at this point. I also felt a kind of small, physical release from it. The experience is somewhat difficult to explain because it was rather small and nuanced, but the idea that I could simply observe a feeling and not be subject to it was very real and I would encourage you all to look into this with earnest. As of right now I'm engaging in a sort of continuity of practice by working myself though the questions every hour on the hour and completely immersing myself into this emotional mindfulness. Its a little trying at times but I'm confident that it will yield good results. The Greatest Salesman in the World: I'm really happy with this book but I'm almost done with the first scroll and I'm very happy about that. I'm looking forward to reading something different three times a day for thirty days lol. HOWEVER, the first scroll has worked its magic. I'm fully immersed in this habit of reading more so than any habit I've tried to implement in the past year! Everything I've tried to start has fell by the wayside until I read this book. Now, not only am I in the habit of reading, but I'm getting up earlier, eating better food in the right amounts, and generally making small but measurable progress!

I wrote my response before I saw yours lol

@Sigma Well, you're socializing here, aren't you? Claims of complete self-sufficiency, social or economic, are generally crap. Now, I support that you seem to want quality over quantity in terms of social opportunities, but saying that socialization is an indulgence alienates you from people who might otherwise have a positive influence on your life. Sometimes a mundane positive influence is as good as a profound one. There's a reason why people in solitary confinement go insane. There's a reason why people who socialize more have better cognitive health. Hermits are an anomaly. If you're a hermit, I support you, but don't conflate "hermit" with "introvert". Furthermore, sometimes people are generally asocial. That's cool. Just be careful not to project your ideals onto other people and then wonder why they can't meet them. Talking is good, if you ask me.

As for my habits: Getting in the gym, reading, working on my emotional imperturbability, visualization and affirmation, getting my macros in, continuity of mindfulness practice (if I can't sit down and do it formally).

I know this thread is about good habits and I don't want to distract too much from that, but I'd like to caution the men here on the NoFap phenomenon. I'm not necessarily condemning its practice, because I think it could be good as a discipline test, but 1) a lot of the evidence surrounding its benefits are anecdotal (speaking strictly of the NoFap Reddit page) 2) To some degree, "if you don't use it, you lose it" is true. It's important to get erections regularly because its been suggested that infrequent erections can harm sexual potency. http://www.medicaldaily.com/use-it-or-lose-it-how-age-hormones-and-masturbation-predict-sexual-health-329366 Granted this is probably more relevant to older men, but why risk it? 3) Some evidence shows that regular ejaculation can help ward off prostate cancer. http://www.harvardprostateknowledge.org/does-frequent-ejaculation-help-ward-off-prostate-cancer 4) (anecdotal) I pound my clown all the time and I'm still a beast in the gym, I'm productive at work, my test levels are fine, and I'm able to lay down the law with my wife for as long as she wants because I have many opportunities to practice. Giggity, giggity, aaaalll right. Take care of your dick, gents.

@Kelley White Hey Kelley. Re-post this for our friend. Its all right here.

@Markus I advise that you do SMR before you do any kind of stretching, period. Dynamic, static, banded distractions or what have you. Foam roll or lacrosse ball and then stretch to see if that makes a difference in restoring external rotation capacity in your hip. Stretching alone won't do it, regardless of the mobility tools you've got at your disposal. For ankles, in my experience Voodoo bands have always worked the best. They are kind of an all-in-one tool and you can work through full ranges of motion while still loosening up the tissues.

@Ryan_047 You're probably depressed, friend. In fact, Anhedonia is a classic symptom of depression. They are virtually one and the same, which is why depression is so debilitating. You've gotta find a way to attack the issue from both the physiological and psychological sides, otherwise you're not going to get a strong grip on the issue.

@Yourreputationisoutthere.c Putting on size is completely contingent upon being in a caloric surplus, provided that you are doing appropriate exercises to force muscular adaptation (strength training, bodybuilding, Olympic lifts). Go to http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ to start or you can use the calculator that I've attached. Buffinator Mass Calculator.xls

Yeah, do that.

@Matej The best kind of exercise is the one you'll do. If you like lifting weights, go lift. If you like yoga, do yoga. If you like to swim, swim. Start with a small, manageable habit, and strive to do a little more over time.

@Markus Becoming a Supple Leopard is one of the best resources you can buy! It is not just for athletes! Its for everyone. If you don't know where to start, start with every exercise in that book and listen to what your body is telling you. What, specifically, are you dealing with? What hurts and when? How is your meditation posture suffering? What exercises hurt to do in the gym?

This week of training was a test week. I'm preparing for a deadlift meet in June, so I'm trying to get a calibration on what I could possibly hit for that meet. Day 1: Deadlift (AMRAP) 370, hit for 8 reps, Romanian Deadlift 2x10 285, Upright Row 4x10 145, Ab Wheel 5x8 Day 2: Front Squat (5 Rep Max) 225, Rack Deadlift 2x2 435, Bench 2x10 140 1x10 135, Tricep Pushdown 4x10 145, Bicep Curl 3x10 70 1x10 60 Day 3: Deadlift 2x4 325, Deficit Deadlift 2x6 285 Notes: Normally I train at least four days a week, but on Friday I had a minor procedure done at the hospital which barred me from hitting my final training day of the week. I'll be hitting that tomorrow. It includes a Front Squat max along with some rows. I'll post that up next week. This week was a little tough. My biggest struggle pertaining my strength training is actually not the strength training at all, but the EATING. If you want to lift big, ya gotta eat big. My problem is that for so long, and even until this day, I've battled with severe depression (more on that in coming posts). When I get depressed, I don't eat, and when I don't eat, I lose some performance in the gym. Getting my macros in is the one thing I haven't mastered completely, so if any of you have any ideas as to changing my ideas about food, developing strong habits, etc, I'm all ears. That's going to be one of the biggest things going forward with me- mastering the nutrition aspect of my training. The Sedona Method: As I mentioned above, forming a good eating habit and sticking to it is the biggest challenge I've faced thus far in achieving my strength training goals. I've noticed that in large part, I'm painfully subject to the whims of my emotions. Sometimes I'm simply too lazy to eat, sometimes I'm too depressed to give a shit- whatever the case, its my emotions that are dictating how strongly I adhere to my routine. Enter the Sedona Method. At the moment I don't feel like going into too great detail, but the basic premise of the Sedona Method is that you can train yourself to become emotionally imperturbable by the process they call "letting go" or "releasing". It works like this: you notice yourself feeling/ experiencing an emotion that maybe isn't resourceful. Upon this observation, you ask yourself a series of questions designed to lead you to a point of "letting go" or "releasing" the negative emotion. In so doing, you allow yourself to feel the emotion and notice it, without it completely taking hold of you, either by unhealthy suppression or inappropriate expression of said emotion. Do you remember the video in which Leo talks about becoming an emotional superconductor? I believe the Method is what he was talking about. The beauty of the Method is that its really a mindfulness practice in disguise. The magic is that by noticing our emotions and letting them pass through us seamlessly, we begin to become more mindful of the nature of our emotions and can thus manage them appropriately. Again, its not about suppressing our feelings or pretending we don't feel them. Actually, quite the opposite. The goal is to notice our feelings, notice that there is really no reason for them to be controlling us in the first place, let them go, and attain emotional mastery. The questions themselves are actually quite simple. You can do them anywhere, at anytime, and as I go further in depth into the book we'll begin exploring the deeper and deeper layers at which we can let go of limiting beliefs and negative emotions. I've actually read the entire book, but I'm starting back at chapter one and I'll be focusing on one chapter a month. I'll post my gains/ experiences here every week. Buy the book! The Greatest Salesman in the World The self- help classic by Og Mandino! I began reading this book over two weeks ago and I really like what it's doing for me. The story is about a lowly camel boy named Hafid who was given a set of scrolls by his mentor containing ancient wisdom about the art of salesmanship. As you read, however, you discover that the principles contained therein are not just for salesmen, but for anyone from any walk of life who wishes to make more of themselves and take their life to new heights. Each scroll is a few pages long and contains affirmations and wisdom pertaining to the personal development of the virtues it takes to achieve great things in life. From forming good habits, to developing strong self esteem, to staying resilient, each of the ten scrolls is a pillar of strong wisdom for your personal development journey. However, the point of the book is not to just read it, but to read it until every bit of wisdom is ingrained in your psychology. From the first scroll onward, you are commanded to read the scroll three times a day, everyday, and only then should you move to the next scroll. In all, it should take you about ten months to read the book! Don't let that put you off, though. The book in its entirety could easily be read in an afternoon, but the point is to affirm to yourself the principles contained in the scrolls so that they become a part of your operating system, as it were. Its affirmation and auto-suggestion at its finest. Buy the book. So far I'm only on the first scroll. However, I feel that its already doing wonders for my motivation. Not only that, but the messages contained in the book are so uplifting, every time I read I keep my chin up and keep pressing on towards my goals. In fact I'm looking to get into my first sales job this year and I'm looking forward to putting the lessons to the test. As a side note, there is a companion source for TGSITW called The Greatest Secret in the World, which is basically just a success recorder that you use to track your progress with and adherence to the principles presented in the book. I will be using the companion source and I suggest you do as well.

An online journal of intellectual curiosity, strength training, and personal development... I originally started this blog on WordPress, but I'm officially switching it to this forum as I am a very big fan of Leo's work and am actively engaged in finding like minded people with whom I can share this journey. I will be updating at least once a week with my strength training journal, at the very least, and will also include posts about what I'm reading and learning, followed by ruminations about my journey. Check by every Sunday! Starting next week I'll be posting my first strength training log as well as an introduction to my journey into emotional imperturbability as taught by The Sedona Method. I am a relatively experienced strength athlete and am doing my best to gather information all the time on lifting and nutrition, so feel free to ask me anything related to those topics and I will do my best to be a sound resource to you. Lifting has been a huge catalyst for personal growth in my life and I would love to share its physical and psychological benefits with anyone who is interested.

@The Alchemist I'm actually training as a powerlifting competitor at the moment. I did strongman briefly but getting access to equipment is a little difficult. Not only that, but the only way to make anything of yourself in the sport is if you're the biggest and strongest in the world. Powerlifting is a little more democratic in terms of access to equipment and more opportunities to compete with people in your age group, weight class, and competition preference (raw, single ply gear, multi ply gear, etc). I don't know who either of those two guys are lol.

@Jackthelad Hey hey! Nice to meet you. I would love to share whatever I know with you in order to aide your journey in becoming stronger/ more fit. I'm not an expert, but I do have some experience. At the very least I can point you in the right directions and help you to avoid traps and pitfalls along the way. And yes, I wold love to correspond with you in the future and help motivate each other to achieve our goals.