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How To Be A Man - Part 2 (Advanced Version) https://youtu.be/PYRg1fQYyzY Revisiting Masculinity Concepts: Leo revisits his previous discussion about masculinity, emphasizing the advanced perspective he's sharing, which nuances the typical macho stereotype with a focus on embodying a broader spectrum of masculinity. Counterintuitive Insight on Masculinity: Leo presents a counterintuitive idea that to be more of a man, one should be more of a woman, challenging the alpha male stereotype and urging men to embrace their feminine traits to become more authentically masculine. Alpha Stereotype and Its Shortcomings: He critiques the Western alpha male stereotype—muscular, stoic, and popular—as an inauthentic cultural norm that can actually undermine a man's genuine masculinity and lead to feeling ungrounded and insecure. Developing an Authentic Identity: Leo emphasizes the importance of developing an authentic identity rather than aspiring to be the stereotypical macho male, noting that this requires courage and self-acceptance. Femininity and Authenticity in Men: Leo discusses the power and courage it takes for men to express their feminine qualities and argues that embracing these qualities is an essential aspect of true masculinity. Technique for Embracing Femininity: He proposes a technique for men to accentuate their femininity as a means of personal growth and to become more holistic by embodying both masculine and feminine traits, thus becoming more human and authentic. Impact of Authentic Femininity on Attractiveness: Leo suggests that women are drawn to men who are authentic and comfortable with their emotions and femininity, and that genuine self-expression is what truly attracts others, not a facade of hypermasculinity. Experimenting with Femininity: Leo encourages men to engage in traditionally feminine activities or express typically feminine emotions as a form of testing their comfort with their masculinity and moving towards an authentic sense of self. Authenticity Over Macho Standards: Leo illustrates that women can be attracted to men who may not fit traditional macho standards if those men are authentic. A man who is himself—whether he's insecure, less confident, or even a "crybaby"—can be more appealing than one who feigns confidence, as long as he's genuine in his behavior. Avoiding Inauthentic Strategies: He warns against using vulnerability as a manipulative strategy to attract women. Authenticity means embracing your true self, not performing certain behaviors to get a specific reaction. Personality Diversity and Attraction: Leo states that there's no single ideal personality to attract women; different personalities attract different people. Universal attraction cannot be achieved because not every girl is supposed to like you. Authenticity attracts, but neediness repels universally. Addressing Authentic Neediness: If a man is authentically needy, he faces a dilemma: to hide it or to own it. Leo recommends using authentic self-expression to understand and eventually solve the root causes of neediness, suggesting that true neediness stems from inauthenticity. Long-Term Solution to Neediness: The long-term approach for dealing with neediness involves self-exploration to deconstruct false identities. This process can lead to shedding neediness by aligning more closely with one's authentic self. Authenticity versus Macho Stereotype: Leo urges men to reject the macho stereotype, stressing that true manliness comes from doing whatever genuinely resonates with you, not conforming to society's expectations. Masculinity Redefined: He argues that masculinity should infuse any activity a man does—identifying the Prime Minister of Italy's response to being questioned about cooking as an exemplary attitude—a man’s actions don’t define his masculinity; his masculinity should define his actions. Charisma Through Authenticity: Leo asserts that both men and women will be attracted to individuals who are expressive and authentic. He encourages embracing authenticity and letting reactions from others fall as they may, remaining unaffected by approval or disapproval. Purpose of Actualized.org's Newsletter: Concluding, Leo highlights his newsletter, a resource for personal development and self-actualization, aiming to help subscribers live authentically and realize their potential in all aspects of life. Diffindo

The Paradox Of Developing Self-Trust https://youtu.be/ypSinz7WB3I Paradox of Self-Trust: Leo discusses the paradox of self-trust in personal development, highlighting the tension between needing to question one's beliefs and limitations versus the directive to trust oneself completely. This paradox is particularly challenging for beginners and those at intermediate levels of personal development. Doubting Limiting Beliefs: Personal development entails the critical task of doubting one's limiting beliefs, ideologies, and the structures of rationality that constitute one's worldview. However, individuals typically fall into the trap of blindly believing these constructs, which hinders growth. Misplaced Trust by Newbies: Leo points out that personal development newbies often mistakenly place their trust in their mind, fears, emotions, and ego. This misplaced trust leads them astray, causing neuroses and dysfunction. Lack of Faith in the 'Higher Self': Conversely, newbies fail to trust their intuition and 'higher self', terms which Leo acknowledges as abstract but important to understand precisely. Trusting these can guide one to better decision-making and personal growth. Trusting the Mind Too Easily: The problem for beginners lies in trusting their own mind and its deceptive features. He asserts that the mind's self-deceptive qualities can lead to misplaced trust and wrong life decisions. Trust Issues and Self-Doubt: Leo links trust issues and skepticism towards others to a deep-seated inability to trust oneself. He emphasizes the need for introspection and self-doubt to address these issues effectively. Self Biases and the Ego: Highlighting the need to doubt the ego, Leo draws attention to the pervasive self biases that favor the ego and create double standards in one's behavior and opinions. Deception of the Immune System: Analogous to a corrupted immune system, one's belief-filled mind can prevent growth and self-consciousness. He suggests a necessity for vigorous self-inquiry, especially regarding one's deepest and most cherished beliefs. Free from Beliefs Ultimately: The ultimate goal, Leo implies, is to be free from beliefs and ideologies, not merely categorizing them as good or bad or true or false, but rather assessing whether or not one is enslaved by them. Questioning Rationality and Logic: He counsels a radical questioning of rationality, logic, and the underlying reasons for one's beliefs, advocating a comprehensive skepticism towards all structures and frameworks of thought. Justifications for Beliefs: Every belief is built upon layers of justifications, which are commonly taken for granted. Starting from a surface belief and tracing it back to understand the underlying reasons leads to deeper introspection. This process can reveal a nested hierarchy of justifications that eventually form one's entire belief system. Doubting Rationality, Logic, and Science: Accepting rationality, logic, and science without sufficient questioning closes off the mind from experiencing deeper states of consciousness. These frameworks, while useful, are not infallible and should be subjected to skepticism to avoid limiting one's mental and experiential potential. Critique of External-Focused Skepticism: Skeptics often make the error of directing their doubt outward rather than inward. A genuine skeptic must also doubt their own skepticism, understanding that undirected skepticism can be a defensive tool of the ego to resist growth and new ideas. Questioning Religious Doctrine: As with science and rationality, religious beliefs and doctrines should be questioned. These often reinforce superficial understanding and prevent an in-depth exploration of the very concepts that religions aim to elucidate. Scrutinizing Emotions as Ego Tools: Emotions, both negative and positive, should be examined for their truthfulness and potential manipulation by the ego. Understanding that any emotion that controls you, be it happiness or love, can be destructive is crucial. Reexamining Positive Emotions: Positive emotions such as happiness, excitement, and love are not exempt from scrutiny. They can be as misleading as negative emotions and are capable of leading to self-deception and manipulation. Projections in Criticism: Criticisms are frequently projections of one's ego and insecurities, rather than accurate reflections of others. By dissecting these projections, one can gain self-awareness and mitigate the tendency to project onto others. Cultural Influence on Desires and Actions: A range of cultural influences shapes desires and actions, often covertly, leading individuals to mistake these externally imposed preferences for their own authentic desires. These influences must be questioned to uncover authenticity. Rejecting 'Should' Statements: Moralizing 'should' statements are restrictive and stem from a lack of conscious decision-making. These should be doubted as they can tether one to a limited set of behaviors, devoid of the complexity and nuance necessary for navigating life. Questioning Obligation-Based Motivations: Motivations arising from a sense of duty or obligation are often misaligned with one's authentic self and contribute to issues like lack of motivation and the development of neurotic behavior patterns. Self-Criticism and its Impact: Subjecting oneself to harsh self-criticism, against the instinct towards self-acceptance and love, leads to self-esteem issues and inconsistent behavior patterns. This self-imposed punishment should be questioned in favor of a more nurturing approach to personal growth. Dismantling the 'Web of Beliefs': The so-called 'web of beliefs', or one's overall conceptual model of reality, is largely based on fiction rather than direct experience and requires deep questioning to separate fact from fiction. Deconstructing Identity: Identity is largely a constructed concept rather than an inherent truth. To understand one's true self, one must question the very essence of their being, stripping away constructed identities and ideologies. Trust in Intuition and Your Higher Self: Intuition and the higher self, which is associated with being present, open, and playful, should be trusted more than the self-preserving and aggrandizing ego. Reconnecting with Childhood Inspiration: Revisiting one's childhood state, minus the traumas, can serve as a guide for rediscovering an original sense of self that may have been obscured by life's bombardments of beliefs and cultural conditioning. Ego and Higher Self Differentiation: In the pursuit of self-trust, one must differentiate between actions and emotions emanating from the ego versus the higher self, navigating both doubt and trust to discern authentic paths in life. Recalling Your Original Self: Leo discusses the importance of looking back at one's childhood to understand their original self. He urges viewers to remember how they behaved, expressed themselves, and related to others as children, recognizing that not all childhood experiences may have been positive. Distinguishing Healthy Traits from Dysfunctional Behaviors: He warns that even in childhood, there can be traumatic or negative experiences that may lead one to develop dysfunctional behaviors. It’s crucial not to mistake these as being part of one's 'original self.' Ego's Manipulative Tactics: Leo alerts viewers to be wary of the ego, which can manipulate and distort one’s viewpoints, including the idealization of the past. The ego can try to use past behaviors, like shyness, to justify current limitations, so skepticism is necessary. Trust in the Drive for Truth: He emphasizes that while everyone has a deep-rooted drive to discover truth, this drive can be hijacked by cultural conditioning. True pursuit of truth requires direct experiences of reality, not being distracted by beliefs or ideologies. Love, Compassion, and Gratitude: Leo advises that authentic emotions like unconditional love, compassion, and gratitude are trustworthy. However, one must be careful to distinguish these from ego-driven versions of these emotions, like selective love for one's own possessions or family. Silence and Solitude as Sources of Trust: He stresses the importance of silence and solitude, suggesting that many of life's answers are found in silent introspection, but most people distract themselves from this valuable resource. Navigating Emotional Signals: Leo explains that emotions are accurate indicators of psychological and physiological states. However, one must learn to differentiate between surface-level reactions and deeper emotional desires to use emotions as a trustworthy guide. Deep Desires Versus Lower Self's Drives: He contrasts the authentic desires of the higher self, like the need for connection and beauty, with the superficial drives of the lower self. Self-development involves separating these and trusting the deeper, more profound desires. The Process of Identifying Trust through Doubt: Leo describes the necessity for a rigorous doubting process to truly understand what can be trusted. He advocates for extensive inquiry to identify genuine aspects of oneself that can be relied upon. Trusting Your Creative Muse and Awareness: He encourages trusting one's creative inspirations and natural abilities, highlighting the importance of awareness and direct conscious experience over the mind's thoughts. Guidance from Trusted Aspects: Leo concludes by articulating that one should take guidance from the trustworthy aspects of oneself including intuition, higher emotions, and the higher self, especially when making significant life decisions. Misconceptions of Faith: Leo remarks that faith is often mistaken for blind belief by rationally-minded people, including himself. However, real faith is about discernment – distinguishing what can and cannot be trusted, then emotionally surrendering to the things one has identified as trustworthy. Trust versus Blind Belief: True faith involves deeply trusting and committing to those aspects of oneself that have withstood rigorous internal scrutiny. This is not about blind belief but rather rooted in emotional surrender, where the logical mind yields to deeper emotional understanding. Heart Over Mind: He asserts that the logical mind should serve the heart, not dominate it. This is because the heart is ultimately a more reliable tool for making important life decisions, contrary to the popular emphasis on intellect. Ego versus Higher Self: Leo emphasizes the importance of differentiating between the ego and the higher self. This process involves both self-doubt and self-trust and requires personal engagement to discern which parts of the self to trust. Growth Curve for Developing Self-Trust: He describes the growth curve for developing self-trust as starting with basic trust building for those with low self-esteem and moving towards doubting everything. This growth can be taxing but is vital for development. Stages of Inner Development: Leo compares personal growth to child maturation, explaining that inner work is required to trust oneself, similar to how we trust a mature child with responsibilities. This development can take years. Challenges and Payoff in Personal Development: The initial stages of personal development can involve regression and overwhelming self-doubt, leading to depression. Overcoming these stages leads to self-assurance and the ability to trust oneself more. Ultimate Goal of Complete Self-Trust: The ultimate aim is to reach a state of complete self-trust, where there is harmony within oneself. Achieving this level of trust makes life effortless and flowing but must be earned through personal growth. Staying on Track with Personal Development: Leo advises subscribing to newsletters like Actualized.org for guidance and reminders, and emphasizes actively applying what is learned to maintain progress and develop self-trust. Obliviate

Guided Meditation - The Next Level Of Meditation https://youtu.be/7LscnZCzdak Guided Meditation Walk-through: Leo conducts a live exercise guiding viewers through a meditation session, encouraging actual practice over theoretical learning. Emphasis on Action: Leo stresses the importance of immediate participation in the meditation exercise and warns against dismissing practical steps in favor of solely absorbing theory. Surrender as a Key Component: He introduces surrender and letting go as critical elements for a successful meditation practice, contrary to focusing on thought control. Comfortable Seating and Stillness: Participants are guided to find a comfortable seated position, close their eyes, and bring their awareness to bodily sensations without trying to meditate or achieve anything. Non-Manipulative Approach: Leo highlights that true meditation is not about manipulating thoughts or striving for a peaceful state but about letting go and being aware without effort. Merging with Reality: Through the guidance, one learns to gently expand their consciousness beyond their body and merge with their environment, becoming all-encompassing without any conscious effort. Restful Mind, Absorption, and Alertness: Meditation is portrayed as a resting of the mind that does not require understanding or enlightenment; one's sense of self becomes absorbed into the surroundings while maintaining alertness. Letting Go Continuously: He suggests continuously letting go of control, resistance, and even the desire to release something, thus settling into a state of deep peace. Encouraging Regular Practice: Leo recommends daily meditation practice of 20-60 minutes for optimal results, to explore the state of unity with reality. Audio Guide for Regular Use: For those who need support, an audio guide is offered to use as a daily meditation tool, focusing on the experiential aspect rather than theory. Engagement with Actualized.org Content: Viewers are encouraged to sign up for the Actualized.org newsletter to stay engaged with future materials and practice consistency to achieve profound life changes. Transformative Power of Practice: Leo underlines that transformation comes through practice, not theory, and consistent practice is essential to grasp advanced concepts. Reparo

How To Use Psychedelics For Personal Development https://youtu.be/CuOIECQ5zag Definition of Psychedelics: Leo clarifies that when he talks about psychedelics, he does not include substances like weed, crack, meth, coke, MDMA, ecstasy, or Molly. Instead, he focuses on substances like psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, DMT, mescaline, ayahuasca, iboga, and the 2C-X class of chemicals. Methods of Psychedelic Use: There are four ways people typically use psychedelics: for fun or escape, for naive spirituality, for therapy or addiction recovery, and for personal development and awareness expansion. Leo emphasizes the last method, which aligns with his goals for education on safe and meaningful psychedelic use. Dangers of Naive Spirituality: Leo warns against the use of psychedelics to reinforce existing spiritual beliefs or dogmas, as this can lead to delusions and self-deception. Legitimate Uses for Therapy: Highlighting the research on psychedelics for therapy and addiction recovery, he acknowledges its effectiveness but explains that it isn't the focus of his discussion, which is personal development. Personal Development and Non-Duality Work: Psychedelics can serve as aids for expanding consciousness and working towards enlightenment, providing insights into personal issues, relationships, business, and other areas of life. Methodical Approach to Usage: Leo advises starting with small doses and gradually increasing to a breakthrough dose. This methodical approach contrasts with using substances casually or recreationally without understanding their potential. Importance of Education and Research: He emphasizes the need for extensive research and education before using psychedelics, understanding their effects, side effects, and proper dosing. Setting Serious Intentions: Before each trip, setting an intention, such as seeking truth or solving a problem, can guide the experience towards meaningful personal growth, with insights that last beyond the temporary psychedelic state. Studying Psychological Principles: To prevent bad trips and understand the mind, one should study human psychology, including topics like happiness, depression, addiction, ego, self-deception, and the nature of thoughts. Studying Non-Duality: Understanding non-duality or enlightenment can prevent getting lost in powerful visions and help focus on the workings of awareness and consciousness during a trip. Benefits of Meditation and Self-Inquiry: Establishing a meditation and self-inquiry routine grounds the individual during psychedelic experiences, motivating deeper practice and enhancing the transformative potential of psychedelics. Quiet and Safe Setting for Optimal Growth: A conducive environment is necessary for meaningful psychedelic experiences; noisy, social settings should be avoided to allow deep introspection and exploration of the subconscious, ego, and consciousness. Potential for Emotional Overwhelm and Delusion: Psychedelic experiences can evoke intense emotions and visions, but it's crucial to view these as reflections of one's subconscious rather than becoming deluded by them. Integration Time Post-Trip: Allocating time for integration following a trip is essential for processing the experience's impact on life areas like career and family, and to ensure permanent psychological change. Optimal Timing for Psychedelic Experiences: For those on a typical work schedule, tripping on Saturdays offers ample time for the experience and subsequent integration without work-related interruptions. Safety Preparations for Psychedelic Use: Conduct thorough research on substances, including dosages and potential adverse effects, and secure substances from reputable sources. Emphasize purity to reduce health risks and negative psychological impacts. Avoiding Pills and Research Chemicals: Stay away from untested chemicals and potentially dangerous substances like N-bombs, and use testing kits to verify purity and identity of substances before use. Starting with Small Dosages: To minimize risks of bad trips, start with small dosages and use a high precision scale for accurate measurement. Creating a Safe and Controlled Environment at Home: Initial use should be in a safe, familiar home setting, potentially with a trip sitter, and accompanied by preparation steps like a clean space, hidden dangerous items, and pre-stocked food and drinks. Medication and Mindset Prior to Consumption: Meditate to enter a calm state, set a clear intention for the experience, and consume the substance on a mildly empty stomach to reduce nausea. Eating Before Psychedelic Experience: It's recommended to eat something light, like fruit, to prevent hunger while keeping the stomach relatively empty to prevent discomfort during the trip. Optimal Timing for Psychedelic Use: Taking psychedelics around noon is ideal, as it allows for the full duration of the trip, without interfering with the normal sleep schedule and avoids feeling tired or hungover the next day. Pre-Trip Stimulation Avoidance: In the week leading up to a psychedelic trip, abstaining from TV, movies, and web surfing is advised to prevent the mind from being preoccupied with potentially negative themes that could surface during the trip. Psychedelics as a Personal Growth Tool: Psychedelics should be integrated into a personal development plan that includes detaching from harmful food, entertainment, and information, improving overall quality of life. Positive Mindset is Key: Ensure you're in a good mood and don't have looming stressful events or tasks before using psychedelics, as this can greatly influence the quality of the psychedelic experience. Tripping Without Distractions: Avoid having friends over, playing TV, or music during a trip to experience the substance in its pure form, especially for the first time, to fully understand its effects without distractions. Consequences of Mixing Substances: Mixing psychedelics with alcohol, weed, or other drugs can lead to a bad trip and is not recommended, especially if the aim is personal development rather than seeking an escape or recreation. Psychedelic Tolerance and Frequency of Use: To avoid cross tolerance, wait at least two weeks between each psychedelic experience and avoid using them more than once a week to prevent psychological addiction and to maintain their potency. Ensuring a Good Psychedelic Trip: Surrender fully to the experience, be assured of safety if guidelines are followed, and remind yourself that the experience is temporary and not real, providing comfort during intense moments. Psychedelics are not a Shortcut to Enlightenment: Recognize that psychedelics are not a path to enlightenment and avoid mistakenly interpreting powerful experiences as reaching an enlightened state, which requires deep self-inquiry. Staying Grounded to Prevent Delusion: Be cautious not to let psychedelic experiences validate pre-existing beliefs or delusions. Enlightenment is beyond the grasp of ordinary experience and can't be achieved through psychedelic use alone. Continued Learning with Actualized.org: Stay engaged with Actualized.org for more insights, research, and advice on psychedelics to keep grounded and avoid being led astray by fantastical experiences. Incendio

The Amazing Power Of Psychedelics - Leo Does Magic Psilocybin Mushrooms! https://youtu.be/ypDRRcMKj7E Power of psychedelics for self-actualization: Leo is exploring psychedelics, specifically magic psilocybin mushrooms, for their potential to enhance consciousness and aid in personal growth, rather than for recreation. Immediate meditative and awareness effects: Upon consuming mushrooms, Leo experiences a heightened state of awareness reminiscent of the clarity one might feel after a 10-day intense meditation retreat, causing an immediate sense of amazement and hyper-awareness. Visual hallucinogenic effects: About an hour into the trip, Leo observes vivid, saturated colors and patterns that emerge on flat surfaces, displaying complex, tribal floral designs that are both hypnotizing and beautiful, reminiscent of ancient civilizations' atmospheres. Frequency and nature of psychedelic trances: Leo experiences powerful trances that repeatedly consume him during his trip, causing him to lose consciousness and sense of self. Upon emerging from these trances, he is left with profound insights and wisdom. Integration of experiences and education: Leo attributes his positive experiences with mushrooms to his extensive background in various disciplines like meditation, psychology, metaphysics, and non-duality, suggesting that this groundwork is crucial to how one perceives and handles psychedelic experiences. Duration of psychedelic effects: Leo's psychedelic experience with magic mushrooms lasted about four to six hours, with trance effects fading after four hours, leaving behind lingering patterns and sensations. Animalistic behavior during trip: Leo felt like he was behaving like a primitive creature during the peak of his trip, mimicking animal-like movements and experiencing a sense of being a creature raised in the wild without any language. Contrast between typical behavior and uninhibited state: The trip prompted insights into Leo's everyday reserved behaviors versus the uninhibited, authentic animal-like state induced by mushrooms. He felt his movements were more natural, loose, and authentic during the trip, offering a refreshing contrast to his usual restrained and artificial actions. Delusional aspects of the psychedelic experience: Despite having profound insights, Leo recognized the delusional quality of his trip. He found himself laughing hysterically and talking to himself as though he were having the most profound thoughts, only to realize later that some insights, while interesting, were not as groundbreaking as they seemed during the trip. Amazement at the human body: Looking at himself in the mirror, Leo was astonished by his own human features, experiencing a childlike sense of wonder and amazement at his hands, face, and the existence of his body. Visual hallucinations and self-perception: Leo observed luminous, flower-like patterns on his face, similar to tribal tattoos, which made him feel like a native from the Amazon. This was accompanied by a compelling visual of light rays emanating from behind his head, creating a halo effect. Ontological orgasm during the second trip: Leo describes experiencing an 'ontological orgasm' during his second mushroom trip, which gave him a profound sense of ego loss and the realization that his life's narrative was a complete fiction. Rapid onset and ego loss realization: With a quicker onset during his second trip, Leo felt a creeping sensation of ego loss, eventually leading to a powerful realization that his life's story was an illusion, culminating in a state of surrender to the psychedelic experience. Psychedelic narrative deconstruction: Leo discusses how psilocybin mushrooms can dismantle a person's life narrative, reveling in how the substance dismantles his own perceptions of existence, identity, and personal history, leading to laughter and a sense of absurdity. Meta-analysis of reality: Leo uses mushrooms to achieve a meta-state of consciousness, comparing his everyday life experiences with the hallucinatory mushroom state, leading to insights that transcend both realities and suggest neither is the ultimate form of truth. Ontological orgasm: Describing his philosophical insights as becoming tangibly real, Leo experiences what he calls an "ontological orgasm," a profound realization where the distinction between real and unreal, along with the concept of being born, dissolves into absurdity and laughter. Breakthrough to divine love: Leo details how his psychedelic experience culminated in a breakthrough into divine love and bliss, where tears of joy express his immersion into the infinite nature of existence. Non-dual perception and indiscriminate love: In his non-dual state of perception, Leo expresses love for mundane objects like a vomit bucket, treating them with profound admiration, and disregards conventional notions of cleanliness and impropriety. Time as an illusion: Leo views time as a human construct and an illusion, experiencing a permanent now that is disconnected from the traditional linear concept of time. Mundane transformed by divine love: Leo expresses profound love and beauty towards objects typically viewed as dirty or insignificant, such as a clump of pubic hair, lint, and dirt, perceiving them as manifestations of divine beauty. A prayer of profound gratitude: In a state of deep reverence, Leo's body becomes an instrument of gratitude, leading him to pray fervently, an action borne out of an overwhelming sense of the beauty and sanctity of existence. Experience of Praying: Leo felt a deep sense of the sacredness and beauty of existence during his mushroom trip, leading him to understand the true intention behind religious practices, which he believes are not about beliefs or rituals but about experiencing divine love and wisdom. Intense Non-Dual Awareness: Following his bathroom experience, Leo entered a state of thick non-dual awareness, feeling as though he had achieved full enlightenment and reached the wisdom of historical sages and saints. He felt that he had experienced nirvana and reached the pinnacle of enlightenment with nothing left to achieve. Feeling of Enlightenment Completion: During this phase of intense non-dual awareness, Leo had the sensation that his life was fully realized and that even death would be perfect. He was struck by the profound sense of completeness and perfection of existence. Desire to Share Insights: Despite feeling fully enlightened, Leo was overwhelmed with the need to share his profound insights with others, recognizing it as his life purpose. He was struck by a deep compassion to impart this wisdom to his audience. Challenge of Communication: Leo articulated the difficulty of sharing the ineffable, powerful insights of his experience with those unfamiliar with such states of consciousness, questioning how to communicate the experience effectively. Authenticity and Life Purpose Insights: From his psychedelic experience, Leo gained insights into the importance of authenticity and directions to take his work with Actualized.org to deeper levels, reinforcing his life purpose. Insignificance of Achievement: One palpable insight Leo emphasized was the realization that the concept of achievement and success is illusory and that nothing tangible needs to be achieved in life. Lasting Effects of Mushrooms: After his trip, Leo felt a lasting calmness, detachment, and increased resolve and motivation for enlightenment and meditative practices. His resolve was supercharged by the realization that such work is the only truly meaningful pursuit in life. Comparison of Existence Joy to Conventional Life: Leo experienced such profound joy and beauty in the state of enlightenment that it made all conventional life pursuits, such as business and family, seem meaningless by contrast. Psychedelics as Self-Actualization Tools: Leo believes psychedelics can offer a glimpse of the most advanced self-actualization concepts he has discussed, bolstering one's resolve for pursuing deeper work in meditation or self-inquiry. Depth of Societal Ignorance: Highlighting the pervasive ignorance in society, Leo suggests that most people live like a baby raised in a prison cell, never knowing there's anything beyond their confined reality, emphasizing the deep ignorance most people have regarding their own ignorance. Necessity of Direct Teaching: Leo defends his blunt and sometimes obnoxious teaching style as necessary to awaken people from their ignorance, suggesting that anything less would not be effective in encouraging the pursuit of true enlightenment. Understating the Significance of Enlightenment: Leo acknowledges that he might exaggerate the significance of enlightenment in his teachings, but asserts that anyone who has achieved non-dual awareness would see his statements as understatements, given the depth of most people's ignorance. Reaction to Enlightenment Teachings: Leo notes the defensive reactions he often encounters when challenging people's life values with his teachings on enlightenment, and laments that such reactions prevent the transformative potential of enlightenment from being realized. Teaching style of Zen masters versus Leo's approach: Zen masters may embody bliss and detachment without actively promoting their insights, often understating the experience of enlightenment. In contrast, Leo takes on the role of bluntly communicating the significance of these insights, aiming to provoke a shift in awareness in his audience. The challenge of overcoming ignorance: Humanity's primary obstacle throughout history has been ignorance, particularly regarding the truth of enlightenment. Sages and Zen masters have struggled to convey their knowledge to others who are deeply entranced by mundane life and dismissive of profound truths. Role of psychedelics in awakening: Leo points out that while psychedelics are not crucial for him due to his dedicated work in enlightenment, they can serve as a wake-up call for those indifferent to deeper realities, granting them a taste of what they're missing out on due to their limited vision. Responsibility and misuse of psychedelics: The misuse of psychedelics, whether for recreation, confirmation of spiritual beliefs, or as a shortcut, is often more psychologically damaging than physical. Psychedelics require a well-prepared mind and should be used responsibly, enhancing the work of self-actualization rather than replacing it. Misconception of psychedelics as an enlightenment path: Leo stresses that psychedelics do not lead to enlightenment and warns against the belief that they can be a substitute for the rigorous work required for true personal development. Psychedelics as tools for self-actualization: For earnest practitioners of self-actualization, psychedelics can be powerful tools that broaden their understanding and deepen their experiences, but should not be mistaken for the achievement of enlightenment. Harnessing psychedelics for therapeutic purposes: Beyond the quest for personal growth, psychedelics hold therapeutic potential for healing, addiction treatment, and providing insights into life, thereby kindling an interest in reality and truth. Anticipation for responsible psychedelic use: Leo announces an upcoming episode focusing on responsible psychedelic use for personal growth, promising to offer practical tips, discuss appropriate substances, and underscore the importance of self-actualization as the ultimate aim. Obliviate

The 3 Levels Of Personal Development Work https://youtu.be/chROpiJaOcw "Great wisdom looks like stupidity." - Laozi Introduction to Personal Development Levels: Leo discusses personal development as a spectrum divided into three stages—"newbies," "intermediate," and "advanced"—each stage requiring several years of work before progressing to the next. Role of Personal Development Advice: Understanding the stages is crucial to avoid confusion, as advice that is useful for one stage may contradict that for another stage. Leo's material is becoming more advanced, and he offers guidance on how to approach it based on one's stage. Characteristics of Newbies: Newbies feel deficient in areas such as relationships and finances and seek immediate results from personal development to fill these voids. Their approach to problem-solving is external, avoiding any changes in internal beliefs or identity. The Newbie's Motivation and Resistance to Change: Newbies, motivated by a desire to escape pain, aim for average success rather than excellence. They are resistant to questioning or changing their deeply held beliefs and self-concept. Newbies' Relationship with Truth and Mind: They are not interested in truth for truth's sake and are heavily identified with their thoughts, unable to distinguish between abstract concepts and direct experience which impedes their understanding of advanced wisdom. Action Taking for Newbies: Newbies resist taking action on self-help advice, often accumulating information without applying it, causing frustration due to the gap between what they know and what they experience. Newbie Misunderstandings of Psychological Concepts: They lack awareness of the deceptive nature of the ego, the impact of closed-mindedness on growth, and the distortions presented by societal norms. Newbies vs. Society's Psychological Health: Newbies incorrectly assume that society reflects healthy psychology and often hold history and contemporary society as the benchmarks for what is possible, overlooking the potential for self-actualization. Newbies' Misunderstanding of Humanity's Development Stage: Newbies aren't aware that humanity is currently in the "dark ages" of awareness and self-development. They mistakenly use society as a reference point for personal growth, which leads them astray from reaching their potential. False Attitudes Towards Spirituality: Newbies fall into two traps regarding spirituality: they either dismiss it as superstition or engage in superficial, non-genuine spiritual practices without understanding true spiritual work. Impatience and Shortcut Seeking: Newbies are characterized by their impatience and desire for shortcuts. They may gravitate towards quick fixes like psychedelics for enlightenment without realizing these do not lead to genuine personal transformation. Reluctance to Invest in Self-Development: Newbies are unwilling to invest in their growth, preferring cheap or free resources. They don't appreciate the value of wisdom and take for granted the transformative power it holds. Overly Narrow Focus in Personal Development: Newbies approach personal development with an exceedingly narrow focus, such as wanting to improve only their business or relationships. They disregard broader disciplines like philosophy or history which could enhance their pursuit. Complaints About Abstraction and Action Steps: Newbies struggle with abstract concepts from advanced work and often complain about a lack of practicality, not understanding how to derive concrete actions from these ideas. Newbies' Preconceived Notions: Newbies have preconceived notions about reality, truth, God, and the self, and are not open to questioning these ideas from a place of curiosity and open-mindedness. Newbie Skepticism and Argumentation: Newbies harbor a neurotic skepticism aimed at finding loopholes in teachings rather than genuinely understanding and embodying the wisdom presented. Ideological Armchair Skepticism: Newbies often adopt an armchair philosophy, critiquing new ideas from a place of defense rather than being open to life transformation through practical application. Demanding Scientific Proof in Place of Experiential Validation: Newbies desire scientific evidence for new ideas, showing a lack of willingness to test and validate these ideas' impact in their own lives. Black-and-White Thinking and Straw Man Fallacies: Newbies oversimplify complex concepts, creating straw man versions of them, which they then dismiss without truly understanding the nuances involved. Ego Protection and Shifting Blame: When faced with challenging teachings, newbies often deflect blame onto the teacher to avoid looking inward and doing the emotional work required for personal development. Newbies Unaware of Their Developmental Level: Newbies are often oblivious to their stage of awareness, get offended when their level is identified by others, and fail to recognize the growth trajectory required to advance in personal development. The Trap of Simplicity: Newbies fall into the trap of assuming that the most advanced personal development wisdom should be complex; they overlook the transformative potential of simple truths, mistaking them for being too elementary. Newbies’ incapacity for deepest wisdom: Newbies lack the capacity to grasp the deepest wisdom, as does society at its current stage, a fact unbeknownst to both. It isn't a lack of willpower but a developmental stage where an individual must grow through personal work to eventually handle profound truths. The surprise of realizing ignorance: For newbies, achieving advanced understanding involves the surprising and often emotionally shocking realization that they know far less than they thought. Progressing to an advanced level is not about accumulating knowledge but rather about the subtractive process of unlearning. Advanced personal development as radical open-mindedness: Advanced work in personal development requires radical open-mindedness to consider unconventional and seemingly absurd ideas, balanced by a grounding in reality. Practice and inward action: Advanced personal development involves rigorous practice and action, focusing on introspective activities like meditation, shadow work, and self-inquiry, often in solitude. Every problem is self-created: An advanced student in personal development believes all problems are internally created and looks within for triggers rather than attributing them to external factors. Truth over goals: Advanced personal development prioritizes seeking truth and understanding reality through direct experience above achieving superficial goals. Awareness and rejecting the mind: Advanced students emphasize the importance of awareness over intellect and reject the obstructive thoughts produced by the mind. Pre-requisite for advanced work: According to Leo, a couple of years of meditation or self-inquiry is necessary to truly engage with advanced work, as it provides direct experience and insights. Self-inquiry and ego: Core to advanced personal development is the deep questioning of one's identity, motives, and reasons for emotional responses. Advanced students are unconcerned with success: Realizing the hollowness of traditional measures of success, advanced students prioritize personal growth over achieving success or meeting all their needs. Long-term commitment: Advanced students view personal development as a lifelong journey and approach it with patience and dedication, focusing on long-term transformations. Broad study across fields: A commitment to studying diverse fields like philosophy, spirituality, history, and science enriches the advanced student's model of reality and personal growth. Embracing simplicity and emotional labor: Advanced students can transform simple, abstract advice into actionable plans and willingly embrace the emotional labor required for deep personal growth. Readiness to change belief system: An advanced student is open to examining and changing deeply-held beliefs about the very nature of reality, life, and self-awareness. Thriving on confusion and paradox: Advanced students willingly engage with confusion and paradox, recognizing the intellectual richness in uncertainty, which would typically deter a newbie. Advice for Newbies on Initial Focus: Early stages of personal development should concentrate on achieving basic success, fulfilling fundamental needs like relationships and self-esteem before delving into advanced concepts like enlightenment. Significance of Habits for Personal Growth: Beginners must establish fundamental habits, such as meditation, exercise, and clean eating, to build a foundation for more advanced personal development practices. Approaching Advanced Topics with Caution: Leo advises beginners to be cautious with advanced topics, suggesting they listen and learn but focus on more immediate, practical areas of improvement first. Open-mindedness in Personal Development: It’s important for newbies to maintain an open mind and refrain from immediately dismissing advanced concepts as crazy or ridiculous. Understanding Personal Development's Depth: Personal development is a lifelong journey, with deeper wisdom often being cultivated by those who dedicate substantial and intense time to it. Inspiration through Advanced Work: Discussing advanced topics gives newbies hope and inspiration as they work through immediate issues, offering a glimpse of a more profound and positive future. Balancing Newbie and Advanced Advice: Even enlightened individuals may need basic advice in areas like business or relationships, showing that both newbie and advanced guidance can coexist in personal development. Importance of Addressing Inner Demons: Addressing inner demons is crucial; it enables individuals to enjoy life's offerings consciously, without being hampered by an unmastered mind. Continuous Growth and Evolution of Advice: Leo emphasizes the necessity of growing with him and appreciating the evolving nature of his advice, which will incorporate increasingly advanced concepts. Encouraging Engagement and Action: Leo calls for viewers to actively engage with his content, do the 'homework' he assigns, and not reject advanced teachings as they hold transformative potential when understood and applied. Invitation to Join the Actualized.org Community: Leo invites viewers to participate in the Actualized.org community, engage with the content, and remain updated on topics that can profoundly affect their lives. Expelliarmus

You're Not Happy Because You Don't Really Want To Be https://youtu.be/5a9q6yPiwP0 Acknowledgment of Unhappiness: Leo opens the discussion by questioning the viewer's acknowledgment of their own unhappiness, pointing out that some might even be hiding that fact from themselves. Denial of Desire for Happiness: Leo presents the possibility that people might not actually want to be happy, suggesting that this denial seems twisted but is worth exploring. Conditional vs. Unconditional Happiness: Leo distinguishes between conditional happiness, which depends on everything going one's way, and unconditional happiness, which is maintained regardless of circumstances. Challenges of Conditional Happiness: He explains that conditional happiness is unreliable because it requires a multitude of factors to align perfectly in an inherently chaotic universe. Uncomfortable Truth About Unconditional Happiness: Leo challenges the listener to truly consider if they want unconditional happiness, which would mean being happy even in the worst of situations, like personal or family tragedy. Rules and Conditions of Happiness: He discusses how most people set up rules for when they will allow themselves to be happy, like achieving certain goals, but argues that the true pursuit is happiness itself, not the means to it. Re-evaluating Motivation: Leo suggests that if one can be happy without their usual motivators (work, success, etc.), it forces them to question why they pursue those things and what truly motivates them. Inverting the Success-Happiness Relationship: He points out that many people work towards success in the belief it will bring happiness, but this approach often leads to success without fulfillment. Problematic Motivation Structures: Leo criticizes the carrot-and-stick model of motivation, which ties happiness to rewards and punishment, resulting in a system that inherently includes periods of unhappiness. Consequences of Conditional Structures: He argues that a motivational structure based on conditional happiness inevitably leads to dissatisfaction and the feeling of a life that "sucks." Reworking Motivational Foundations: Leo proposes that genuinely seeking happiness will require a fundamental change in how one understands their motivations and views life, even if it involves redefining personal happiness outside of societal norms. Assimilation of Identity and Motivation: Leo argues that individuals often assimilate actions into their identity to simplify motivation, leading to an alignment of their sense of self with roles like being a business person, family person, or health-conscious individual. This creates an issue when these roles don't actually lead to happiness but are prioritized due to their incorporation into one's identity. Struggle with Identity and Happiness: The conundrum lies in the resistance to relinquish parts of one's identity that are not fulfilling, for fear of losing oneself or facing significant life changes, which underscores the deep-seated prioritization of identity over authentic happiness. The Illusion of Happiness Through Lists and Rules: Leo criticizes the idea that happiness can be achieved by ticking off items from a list of conditions, such as income or relationship status. These rules, cemented since childhood and influenced by various factors like family and society, create a barrier to real happiness. Questioning the Foundation of Happiness: To achieve genuine happiness, Leo advocates for a fundamental questioning and letting go of the rules that dictate our happiness, realizing that the holes or deficiencies we feel are illusions and that we are inherently complete without external validations. Unconditional Happiness Requires Self-Actualization: Leo emphasizes the importance of self-actualization and internal work to accept unconditional happiness, encouraging viewers to understand that they can be happy regardless of life's ups and downs, successes, and failures. Experiencing Life Beyond Pleasure and Pain: The pursuit of unconditional happiness involves appreciating life's experiences for what they are, beyond the dualistic approach of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain; even negative experiences have intrinsic value. Purifying and Detachment Through Spiritual Work: Attaining true happiness may involve spiritual work to purify oneself of all needs, including the most basic ones like food and water, freeing oneself from attachments and fears, such as the fear of death. Overcoming the Fear of Death: Leo posits that genuinely overcoming the fear of death, not merely denying it, is key to detaching from basic survival needs like oxygen, and thus crucial for realizing unconditional happiness. Detachment vs. Abstinence: Leo clarifies that detachment from needs such as oxygen means not being emotionally reliant on them, not necessarily giving up these elements altogether. Self-Actualization and Consciousness: Leo asserts that an individual who is highly self-actualized and conscious would not be distressed by extreme isolation, illustrating this with the metaphor of living contentedly in a box—suggesting that the ability to enjoy mere consciousness is a sign of advanced psychological development. Valuing Detachment: He advocates for the power of detachment, which allows one to experience life more richly without the suffering caused by attachment to transient pleasures, using the example of eating ice cream and the associated anticipatory loss. The Challenge of Embracing Unconditional Happiness: Leo discusses the mental overhaul required to embrace unconditional happiness, which involves dismantling one's deeply ingrained rules and assumptions about what is necessary for happiness. Redefining Motivation: Leo encourages the audience to accept a temporary loss of direction as they let go of neurotic motivations and assures that healthier, more profound motivations will emerge as a result. Invitation to Self-actualization Journey: Finally, Leo invites viewers to follow his ongoing discourse on self-actualization and human psychology, suggesting that self-knowledge and perspective changes, rather than external achievements, hold the key to transforming one's life. Imperio

10 Important Things You Don't Know You Want https://youtu.be/iwE4NhPv8aQ Realization of Unconscious Desires: Leo suggests that deep down individuals have desires they are not consciously aware of, which can lead to a profound lack of personal fulfillment and self-improvement misalignment due to pursuing misguided wants. Existential Magic Desired: Individuals yearn to reclaim the childlike sense of wonder and magic they once experienced in perceiving every aspect of existence as fresh and enchanting, a quality typically eroded by societal conditioning and acclimatization. Yearning for Effortless Existence: Leo describes a deep-seated desire for life to unfold naturally and effortlessly, without resistance, guilt, or strict adherence to rules, contrasting sharply with the typical friction-filled daily experiences of most individuals. Authenticity as a Core Desire: There is a significant desire to behave spontaneously and uninhibitedly, being truly authentic in every situation, from personal relationships to professional ones, which often contrasts with current levels of inhibited and reserved living. Ideal of Uninhibited Spontaneity: The aspiration to live uninhibitedly and without internal reservations can be likened to a playful form of intoxication with life itself, meriting effort to achieve such an authentic mode of existence on a daily basis. Distinction Between Authenticity: Leo explains the difficulty in distinguishing truly authentic behavior from neurotically driven attempts to appear authentic. He suggests that although the idea of genuine authenticity is appealing, most people are actually preoccupied with inauthentic desires, such as pursuing money or success, which obstruct the pursuit of what they genuinely want at a deeper level. Understanding and Overcoming Inauthentic Desires: Leo asserts the importance of recognizing and overcoming inauthentic desires to uncover and strategize towards fulfilling authentic desires, warning that authentic desires are not typically at the forefront of one's mind. Craving a Dispassionate Mind: Leo introduces the idea that what people truly want, but don't realize, is a dispassionate mind. This mind is detached and treats all experiences evenly, but it is not void of emotion—an economist or equanimous mind. It's a challenging concept because people generally seek passion and tend to resist the idea of dispassion. Detachment from Ideology: He emphasizes the desire to be entirely unattached from any ideology or intellectual position, encouraging open-mindedness and highlighting the difficulty and resistance one might face when letting go of closely held beliefs or theories. True Sobriety and Lucidity: Leo conveys that people yearn for total mental clarity and lucidity, akin to becoming aware in the midst of a dream, yet in waking life. He notes the struggle in achieving this heightened awareness due to the constant activity of the mind. Desire for Mental Silence: He emphasizes the deep-seated desire for experiencing reality without the intrusion of thoughts, judgments, or theories—a silent mind, which he recognizes as difficult to achieve due to the incessant internal dialogue most people experience. Desire to be Nobody: Leo discusses the counterintuitive longing to shed all aspects of one's personal identity, history, and societal labels, aiming to return to the 'blank slate' state of being a nobody, reminiscent of early childhood before identities solidify, challenging the common view that self-development is about enhancing one's identity. Understanding Samadhi: He touches on the concept of Samadhi, describing it as an experience where there's a unity between the observer and the observed, and how achieving this state is deeply fulfilling but not well known or pursued by most due to lack of awareness. Samadhi Experience: Samadhi is a state of consciousness where one becomes one with the object of observation, experiencing no division between observer and observed. It's a direct experience that transcends intellectual understanding or ideology, feeling natural and complete. With practice and meditation, varying degrees and intensities of Samadhi can be achieved, each bringing an intense sense of fulfillment, surpassing common joys like orgasms or social events. Desire for Ultimate Truth: Leo speaks of an inherent, yet unrecognized, desire for truth (with a capital 'T'), which differs from beliefs or ideologies. It is absolute truth, discovered personally and independent of any conditions. Recognizing this truth can supersede all false desires, but it requires an openness and commitment to seeking it without precondition. Being a Benevolent Force: Beyond the superficial wants, there's a deep desire to contribute positively to the world. This contribution is highly individualistic and relates to one's life purpose, whether through art, teaching, medicine, or other expressions of giving. It's about transforming from focus on self to emphasis on being an outpouring force of generosity and love. Shift from Taking to Giving: Shifting life's focus from self-gain to selfless giving is a fundamental but often overlooked desire. Most people are caught up in acquiring status, material wealth, and personal achievements, unaware that true fulfillment lies in the act of giving and positively impacting others' lives. Desire for a Simple, Natural Lifestyle: There's a yearning for a simplified, uncluttered lifestyle that reconnects with nature and reduces dependence on modern technology and culture. Simplifying life by removing unnecessary distractions can lead to healthier living, a relaxed schedule, and a deeper appreciation for life's basic joys. Appeal of Simplicity: Leo underscores the beauty of a simple life, comparing it to being alone on a deserted island where existence is reduced to its bare essentials: eating, washing, and finding joy in the mundane like sunsets or the scent of flowers. He reminds us that, when reality regains its magic, even a seemingly dull life is full of wonder. Challenge of Hedonistic Pursuits: Leo criticizes the pursuit of hedonism—maximizing pleasure—as counterproductive. He clarifies that true fulfillment isn't found in chasing pleasure, which is often mistakenly believed to be the ultimate goal. Irrelevance of Superficial Desires: He points out that many common desires—money, sex, relationships, good looks, success, and even self-actualization—are not what we truly want. Leo argues these are distractions from the deeper, more meaningful desires he has listed. Tragedy of Not Realizing Being Lost: Leo suggests that many people are unaware of how lost they are in the pursuit of misguided goals, enveloped in layers of denial and delusion that prevent genuine self-development. True Self-Development and Shattering Illusions: Leo's approach to aiding in self-improvement is unconventional; rather than enabling delusions, he aims to help individuals realize their goals may be immature and misguided, leading them away from real growth. Societal Blindspots: He observes that society rarely challenges individuals on their life path, allowing them to continue in potentially wrong directions without questioning if it's truly right for them. Personal Predictability and Common Mistakes: Leo emphasizes everyone makes similar life mistakes, running "predictable software" which leads to recurring problems, and how understanding this helps him recognize these patterns in others as well as himself. Fear and Resistance to True Desires: He notes a paradox where people are often frightened of realizing their true desires, and it could take years to overcome the resistance to accepting and striving for what they truly want. Potential Futility of Avoiding Wasted Life: Leo ponders whether, despite offering the wisdom of ages from various teachings, some may be too deeply set in their ways to change, leading to wasted decades of life due to stubborn resistance. Staying on Track with Self-Development: He closes by inviting viewers to sign up for his newsletter as a way to stay consistent with their self-actualization goals, emphasizing the risk of veering off path and the potential to waste years of life without continual focus on personal growth. Nox

The Psychology Of Small Business Success - Top 5 Errors Of Aspiring Entrepreneurs https://youtu.be/ME50xt3ONuQ Error #1 - Overemphasis on the "dream product": Leo highlights that newbie entrepreneurs invest too much emotion and hope in creating their dream product, service, or invention while neglecting the crucial element of sales and marketing. Success in the marketplace is less about having a perfect product and more about gaining visibility and converting interest into sales. Lack of Market Strategy: Many entrepreneurs fail to develop a realistic and practical strategy to attract attention to their product. In a crowded market, simply having a good product isn't enough. Entrepreneurs must discover effective ways to capture potential customers' attention and persuade them to purchase. Testing the Business Model Early: Leo points out the common mistake of not testing the business model early enough. Many spend years perfecting their product only to find no market interest. Testing the 'cash flow engine' or business model early on can prevent this pitfall and help establish practical cash flow. Error #2 - Insufficient Experimentation and Creativity: Businesses often stumble because entrepreneurs lack the strategic creativity needed for problem-solving. Unlike aesthetic creativity, business creativity involves continuously coming up with strategic solutions for practical challenges and flexibly adapting when initial ideas fail. Requisite Variety in Business: Leo introduces the concept of requisite variety from cybernetics, explaining that an entrepreneur must have a more extensive set of strategies and solutions to adapt to business challenges. More nuanced and clever responses are necessary than what the problems present. Unique Positioning in the Marketplace: Entrepreneurs must find unique angles to enter their niche successfully. This could involve a compelling value proposition, such as being the most cost-effective, offering the highest quality, first to market, or having patented features that distinguish their business from the competition. Understanding Business as a Power Play: Leo describes business as a struggle for power in terms of money, influence, and visibility. Success requires finding a 'leverage point' that provides a distinct advantage in the competitive business landscape. Identifying Unique Leverage Points: Entrepreneurs must find their business's unique leverage point that differentiates them from competitors. For Leo, his personal style and approach in self-help advice is his leverage point, setting Actualized.org apart from others. Understanding the Cashflow Engine: Leo emphasizes the importance of discovering a mechanism for generating cash flow to sustain the business over time. Seeing a business as a research project or an evolutionary process involves trial and error as well as a high tolerance for failure. Trial and Error Process: Business development is characterized by trial and error, similar to scientific research or natural selection. Failure is common, and entrepreneurs must search for the single success among many attempts that can be focused on to drive their business forward. Error #3 - Not Taking Enough Action: Leo identifies the lack of action as a critical mistake. Successful entrepreneurs implement their ideas rapidly instead of procrastinating, sometimes seeing results within months rather than years. The Seriousness of Business Commitment: Treating the startup process as a life and death situation in terms of commitment, despite not being literal, creates a mindset that does not entertain the option of failure and is willing to try anything to make the business successful. Error #4 - Lack of Self-Governance: Self-governance is a central issue in business failure. The emotional difficulty of sustaining motivation and focus over the long term is something most people struggle with, leading them to prefer steady employment over entrepreneurship. The Emotional Aspect of Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs face a range of emotions when building a business from scratch, including dealing with harsh truths such as realizing that good products may not sell or having to kill off one's beloved ideas due to their impracticality. Psychological Themes of Business: Common themes in business include competition, the necessity of discarding ideas (killing one's babies), and emotional isolation during the early stages of business development. Isolation and Entrepreneurship: Starting a business is generally a solitary journey filled with doubt, fear, and various practical and emotional challenges, which can be very isolating and daunting for many individuals. Self-Governance and Emotional Labor: Leo discusses that self-governance and emotional labor, while challenging, are not fixed qualities and can be developed over time. He suggests that actualized.org is a valuable resource for cultivating these skills and coping with emotional labor, which are critical for rising to the top in business. Harsh Truth About Business: Leo reflects on the nature of business, concluding that historically it's a more civilized form of tribal warfare such as raiding and pillaging. He explains that in the past, survival meant direct confrontation and resource acquisition, which has since evolved into the more structured but still competitive world of business. Business Evolution and Survival: The progression from brutal conquest to modern business practices is highlighted as Leo explains how aggression has been replaced by economic competition and how business is now deeply tied to survival, much like tribal conflicts were in the past. Juxtaposition of Business and Violence: Leo illuminates the idea that contemporary business has its roots in humanity's violent history but has been moderated by laws and societal structures to become less overtly harmful while still being driven by a survivalist mentality. Pragmatism in Entrepreneurship: Leo emphasizes the need for entrepreneurs to approach their ventures with sobriety, understanding the ruthless nature of the business environment, and the necessity to be as competitive and pragmatic as dictators in their pursuit of success. Life and Death Seriousness of Business: He points out that in some parts of the world, business success directly correlates with survival, and he challenges entrepreneurs to approach their businesses with the same level of seriousness, even if they come from more comfortable environments. Action Steps for Successful Business: Leo outlines several actionable recommendations for aspiring entrepreneurs: conducting extensive market research, testing ideas quickly to gain proof of concept, focusing on practical value to the consumer, proving at least one marketing avenue to attract attention to your product or service, and demonstrating the ability to make at least one sale as evidence of a viable business model. Emotions as a Barrier: Continuing with the theme of self-governance, Leo asserts that one's emotions are often the greatest hurdle to business success and urges the audience to take psychology and emotional regulation seriously. He again points to actualized.org as a resource that can help entrepreneurs manage their emotions and develop necessary business skills. Mastering Self-Governance: Mastering your own mind and emotions opens all possibilities, making tasks easier. Without this mastery, it's like fighting with arms tied behind your back. Misconception About Abstract Concepts: Entrepreneurs might dismiss philosophical or spiritual talk as irrelevant to business, but eventually, they'll understand its importance in mastering self-governance. Advanced Trap of Successful Entrepreneurs: Successful entrepreneurs who ace all aspects of business may fall into the trap of losing themselves in materialism and success, forgetting to run a conscious and visionary business. Running a Business with Consciousness: The true challenge is running a profitable business without losing its soul, creating something that leads, shows what's possible in business, and raises consciousness. Purpose of Business: The purpose of business isn't just to make money but to promote a cause and improve the world by raising awareness through various channels like technology, education, and advice-giving. Visionary Leadership in Business: Visionary, conscious businesses will survive long-term in the 21st century, while unconscious businesses will not, as society and markets are evolving. Joy in Conscious Business: The joy of running a sustainable business that also improves the world in a meaningful way greatly surpasses the pleasure derived from a business focused solely on profitability. Avoiding Materialism and Success Trap: To avoid this trap, remain vigilant, self-aware, and recall the purpose of your business, balancing material success and visionary goals. Promotion of Conscious Business: Visionary businesses will become the norm, surpassing profit-driven models. It's imperative for future entrepreneurs to contribute to this evolutionary process. Personal Transformation and Business Evolution: Leo discusses his own shift from profit-driven to visionary business and underscores the need for constant self-awareness and adaptation to societal changes. Role of Actualized.org: Leo's platform offers resources to understand one's mind and life purpose, promoting personal growth and aiding in the evolution of both the individual and their business endeavors. Stupefy

Be Fucking Patient! - How To Deal With Lack Of Results https://youtu.be/Ie8olvmaZug Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law." - Douglas Hofstadter The Irony of Abandoning Goals Just Before Success: Despite being on track for significant accomplishments, many people abandon their goals just inches from the finish line due to impatience, a common obstacle to success. Emotional Mastery of Patience: While logically understanding the need for patience, most struggle to grasp it emotionally, leading to frustration and stress when immediate results don't materialize in various life projects. Misjudging Time and Effort for Success: People often set unrealistic expectations, overestimating what can be achieved in a short time while underestimating their potential over a longer period, which leads to disappointment in business projects and personal growth endeavors. Understanding Exponential Growth in Results: Success typically doesn't unfold linearly; it follows an exponential curve, starting with minimal visible progress despite substantial effort, then escalating rapidly after reaching a critical point. Patience Adjusted to Project Significance: The patience devoted to a project should match its importance; significant endeavors like writing a transformative book may take longer, but perseverance can lead to impactful results worth the extended effort. Commitment to Worthwhile Endeavors: Projects like mastering meditation are seen as worthwhile investments even if they extend beyond initial timelines because their lifelong benefits are considerably valuable. Patience's Role Through Setbacks and the Long Haul: Considering the length and significance of a project can dictate the requisite level of patience, ensuring one is prepared for delays and a longer journey to ultimately reach satisfying accomplishments like business or relationship success. Significance of Patience for Beginners with Deficiencies: Leo underscores the utmost necessity of exhibiting extra patience for individuals who are at a deficiency, such as being in a state of depression, while starting practices like meditation or self-actualization. With absolutely no foundation or being in a negative state, immense patience is needed during the initial stage where the results are not visible despite heavy emotional investment. Patience Visualized as a Soothing Ointment: Leo compares the principle of patience to applying an ointment over a wound, suggesting beginners should liberally apply this mindset to alleviate their need for immediate results, akin to temporarily soothing a burning itch until it can naturally heal. Irony of Neediness Hindering Progress: Leo identifies a paradox where newbies stuck at ground zero who crave immediate results are often hindered by their neediness, which can repel potential successes in relationships or business because desperation tends to lead to repulsion and shortcuts that do not result in long-term sustainability. Meditation and Enlightenment Work Requires Patience for Relief from Suffering: Leo cautions that initial meditation or enlightenment practice can initially exacerbate anxiety and restlessness. Patience is needed to persevere through this uncomfortable stage to reach the subsequent peace, which is essential for long-term emotional improvement. Self-Talk and Patience: Leo advises altering your inner dialogue by focusing on future successes rather than immediate setbacks. Reassuring oneself that current struggles are part of a significant process and that perseverance will eventually pay off can help maintain a positive attitude. Creating Strategic Planning Time: Leo recommends setting aside time weekly for strategic thinking to view day-to-day setbacks within the larger context of one's goals. Good strategizing aligns daily work with broader life objectives and big-picture thinking can promote patience. Slowing Down the Work Pace to Address Impatience: Leo suggests decelerating the work pace rather than seeking shortcuts to achieve results quicker. Understanding that true results take time and that important projects merit a slower, more deliberate pace helps to prevent self-sabotage. Consistent Actions with Patience to Avoid Complacency: Leo emphasizes that patience should be coupled with consistent efforts towards goals. The risk of becoming complacent and lazy while passively waiting for results can be mitigated by actively engaging in the process and being patient while doing so. Action Coupled with Patience: Patience alone is not productive; Leo emphasizes taking concrete action toward goals while exercising patience. He illustrates this with the analogy of being stranded in the Sahara Desert, where taking steps to find water represents action, and dealing with setbacks such as ineffective methods represents the need for patience. Application of Patience Principle: Leo advises applying the patience principle after ensuring that one is already engaged in action, such as meditating, working on a business, or addressing personal issues. This principle is important to maintain morale when facing challenges during these actions. Recognition of Effective Methods: Assessing if a method is working is crucial, as patience should not be applied to ineffective strategies. Leo stresses looking for small signs of progress which indicate that a method might yield substantial results over a longer period. Patience Across Varied Domains: Leo outlines that patience is beneficial across many life areas, like business, personal development, and skill acquisition. Despite the potential delay and emotional investment required, results pursued patiently are often highly rewarding. Adjustment of Expectations: He warns that goals may take significantly more time and emotional effort than initially expected. Leo urges adjusting expectations to respect the significance of endeavors and approaching them with the understanding that mastery takes years, not just months. Assessing One's Pace: Leo presents questions designed to help individuals assess areas of impatience in their lives. The questions aim to challenge the necessity of rushing, evaluate the worth of goals even with extended timelines, and distinguish between lazy, impatient, and wise pacing. Self-Actualization Journey: Highlighting the journey of self-actualization, Leo calls for immense patience and suggests regular reminders through his content to maintain perspective on this journey. He also advocates signing up for his newsletter to receive weekly updates, fostering inspiration, motivation, and perseverance. Alohomora

Awareness Alone Is Curative - How To Auto-Correct Unwanted Behaviors https://youtu.be/qy_INVm_Pw0 Awareness as a Path to Changing Unhealthy Behaviors: Leo Gura describes how awareness, rather than willpower or forced action, can naturally correct unwanted behaviors. By simply observing these behaviors without judgment, the individual can allow them to dissolve over time. The Principle of Awareness Over Action: Leo explains that neurotic patterns of behavior come from a conflict between the desire to change and the resistance to change. He suggests a reframe of this dynamic by introducing the principle that "awareness alone is curative," meaning observation without action can lead to change. Understanding and Trusting the Awareness Method: Instead of actively seeking solutions to problems like overeating or lack of confidence, Leo advocates for shining awareness on the issue. The trust is in the power of awareness to naturally dissolve the problem without needing to force change. Autocorrection through Observation: The idea is that any unhealthy behavior will auto-correct merely through observation. Full consciousness is cited as being unable to coexist with an unhealthy behavior. This principle is credited to being learned from Bill Harris of Centrepointe. Challenges of Maintaining Constant Awareness: Leo acknowledges that for awareness to be effective, it must be constant and sustained throughout the entire behavior, which can be challenging in terms of patience and consistency. Practical Application with Junk Food: Leo gives a practical example of how to apply awareness to the habit of eating junk food. Instead of restricting oneself through guilt or willpower, he suggests fully engaging in the process of ordering and consuming the food, but with complete awareness of every aspect and consequence. Non-judgmental Observation: Leo emphasizes the importance of observing the behavior and its effects, such as feelings of nausea or bloating after overeating, without any judgments or moral self-criticism. Simply observing the entire experience silently and mindfully. Observation of Daily Life: By observing without judgment all aspects of daily life, from waking up feeling unwell to noticing physical imperfections like a gut sticking out, awareness becomes a natural part of one's routine. Natural Results of Ongoing Awareness: Consistent observation of oneself and the behaviors that cause personal suffering can result in a natural inclination to avoid those behaviors without the need for force or guilt, such as declining greasy food without effort. Unconsciousness and Unwanted Behaviors: Engaging in unwanted behaviors, such as binge-watching TV while eating ice cream, occurs because awareness is deliberately distracted or surrendered, allowing these behaviors to take place with little resistance. Awareness vs Logical Knowing: People often confuse logical knowing, such as knowing smoking is bad, with awareness. Awareness is an in-the-moment observation that is different from stored knowledge or logical understanding. Awareness Muscle Development: Awareness is likened to a muscle that needs consistent exercise to remain strong. Losing awareness is compared to a muscle going unused, resulting in unconscious behavior. Awareness as Observation: True observation, or awareness, involves passively noticing everything, akin to a scientist studying birds, without any moral judgments or attempts to control the situation. Moralizing Is Not Awareness: Moralizing, such as judging one's own eating habits, is a behavior to be observed and released through awareness, not by moralizing further. Releasing Control for Awareness: Ego-driven behavior is akin to micromanaging and needs to be released in favor of passive awareness, which operates on a deeper level than conscious desire. Awareness Is Not Suppression: Leo clarifies that awareness practice does not involve suppressing desires but rather involves being fully conscious of the desires and actions without trying to manipulate them. Passive Practice of Awareness: The practice of awareness is passive and scientific, like a scientist recording observations without interfering. This requires trust in the effectiveness of consistent application. Versatile Application of Awareness: Awareness can effectively address a wide range of unwanted behaviors, from overeating to psychological issues like shyness, depression, and anxiety. Dealing with Shyness Through Awareness: An example application is for overcoming shyness—by observing one's thoughts, physical reactions, and surrounding environment, it's predicted that shyness will naturally subside with consistent awareness practice. Awareness in Handling Depression: Leo advises to practice full awareness during periods of depression, acknowledging thoughts and feelings without trying to escape or change them. With patience and consistency, one can become conscious of how they perpetuate their own depression, ultimately leading the depression to become 'impossible.' Dealing with Fear Through Awareness: Leo suggests confronting fears, such as the fear of children using drugs, by observing the fear itself. Full awareness of the thoughts and images that accompany the fear can, over time, lead to a natural resolution of the problem, removing the need for forceful action. Thoughts and the Belief Network: Leo describes the mind as a vast network of thoughts and beliefs that constantly trigger each other, shaping one’s personality and actions. This complex system is self-sustaining, aimed at maintaining homeostasis, and challenging to change from within. Awareness and Systems Change: Leo highlights that awareness is the key to deep systemic change; trying to change beliefs with other beliefs is likely to fail. As awareness is cultivated, the network of beliefs restructures itself naturally, leading to genuine transformation. Leveraging Awareness for Change Over Force: According to Leo, using force to change one's network of beliefs is a self-defeating approach, as the force is generated from within the same belief system. True, effortless change occurs as a natural byproduct of raised awareness, not through exerted force. Conceptually Accepting External Forces and Surrendering: One must conceptually understand that forces outside of one’s control exist, and surrendering to these forces can be a powerful catalyst for change, facilitated by an acceptance that emerges from within one's belief system. Practical Steps to Develop Awareness: Leo advocates creating a daily meditation habit as an effective way to strengthen the 'awareness muscle.' This, coupled with absorbing the right concepts about the nature of awareness and reality, can lead to profound improvements in overcoming life's challenges. Transformation Through Awareness and Truth: All real change aligns with reality and truth, achievable through the development of awareness. Persistent practice of awareness can lead to a significant transformation in one's experience of life, resolving long-standing issues. Lumos

Meditation For Beginners https://youtu.be/fXmG1x1ih1U Reiteration of Meditation's Importance: Leo reemphasizes the unparalleled value of meditation in self-improvement, expressing concern that people may not fully appreciate the transformative potential they've encountered, much like mistaking a gold mine for a single gold nugget. Thinking vs. Awareness: Meditation involves distinguishing between thinking and awareness—a lesson not grasped through contemplation but through the practice of meditation itself. Leo stresses the importance of becoming aware of this distinction, rather than just thinking about it. No Manipulation Technique: Leo introduces a 'no manipulation' meditation technique, instructing to observe and accept the current experience without altering posture, breathing, or thoughts. This includes allowing all thoughts and feelings to surface without resistance. Setting the Habit: He advises starting a new habit of daily meditation, suggesting a 20-minute session with a timer, in a quiet place, with no interruptions. Leo views this routine as a non-negotiable, everyday commitment for life, rather than a temporary endeavor. Expectations for New Meditators: Leo warns newcomers to expect frustration and a feeling of inadequacy during the first year of meditation. He clarifies that skill in meditation is not innate and urges patience with the process, highlighting that effort should be focused on the habit, not on controlling the meditative experience. Meditation Learning Curve: Meditation has a steep learning curve; initially, it may not deliver the expected stress relief and happiness, leading to premature quitting. As one persists, the practice becomes profoundly rewarding. Inability to Control Thoughts: Leo clarifies a critical meditation realization: the inability to control thoughts is not a deficiency, but a fundamental aspect of the human mind. Value in Bad Days: Bad meditation sessions are seen as the most growth-oriented, comparable to challenging workouts; such days are an essential part of the practice’s natural up and down progression. Every Session Counts: Leo reassures that every meditation session counts, regardless of the content of one's thoughts. The intention and the act of sitting down to meditate define the practice, not the ability to control awareness. Keeping Meditation Simple: He advises against overcomplicating meditation with questions about timing, posture, or technique, as simplicity and focus on the daily practice are paramount. Gradual Increase in Meditation Time: Leo recommends gradually increasing daily meditation time, aiming for 60 minutes by the end of the first year to solidify the habit. Exponential Benefits of Consistent Practice: Sharing personal experience, Leo emphasizes the exponential benefits that consistent meditation practice can bring over time, including a profound sense of satisfaction surpassing conventional entertainments. Future Satisfaction and Freedom: Meditation can ultimately offer a level of satisfaction and happiness beyond what one gets from external pleasures, leading to freedom and the beginning of genuine self-improvement. Self-Actualization Through Meditation: Mastery over one's mind and awareness through meditation is key to self-actualization, which enables extraordinary achievements in life. Encouragement to Start the Habit: Leo motivates viewers to commit to meditation as a crucial self-improvement habit and to explore further resources on actualized.org for advanced techniques and deeper practice. Alohomora

How To Stop Moralizing - Removing The SHOULDs From Your Life https://youtu.be/eg7us76XBEQ Impact of Should Statements: Leo highlights that common 'should' statements impact our quality of life, causing feelings like guilt, shame, bitterness, and blame, and he suggests that eliminating these can lead to happier lives. Backstory to Illuminate Moralism: Leo recounts an experience with an ex-girlfriend who was heavily influenced by moralistic 'should' statements from her mother, leading to a constrained and unhappy life, highlighting the negative effects of rigid beliefs. Understanding Should Statements: Leo defines 'should' statements as directives we tell ourselves or hear from others about what we ought to do or not do and proposes that these often well-intentioned rules can be more limiting than helpful. Examples of Common Should Statements: He lists typical 'should' and 'shouldn't' statements, such as "People should be nice to me," or "I should not be lazy," illustrating how pervasive these statements are in our daily lives. The Magical Insight: Leo's central theme is the radical notion of stopping the use of 'should' statements, emphasizing that it is not a 'should' but an option for living a more liberated life. The Problem with Should Statements: He explains that 'should' statements are grounded in our ego and survival instincts, which skew our perception of reality and create unnecessary resistance. Reality vs. Expectation: Leo stresses that reality is precisely how it should be, no matter our personal preferences or societal norms, and advises us to accept reality rather than resist it. Childhood Indoctrination of Shoulds: He discusses how from childhood, we are taught what we should and shouldn't do, leading to a black-and-white mindset that seldom aligns with the complexities of real life. Reassessing Moral Foundations: Leo encourages viewers to critically reassess the origin and validity of their moralistic beliefs and rules, implying that many of these are arbitrarily created rather than grounded in absolute truth. Conscious Living Over Simplistic Rules: He advocates for a nuanced approach to life that requires conscious assessment of situations rather than adherence to oversimplified, rigid rules. The Arbitrary Nature of Societal Rules: Leo suggests that many societal norms and moral imperatives are arbitrarily constructed and should not be accepted unquestionably, promoting a flexible and conscious reevaluation of these norms. Questioning the Origin of Rules: Leo explains the need to deeply question where the "should" statements we adopt come from and gives examples, such as questioning why one believes their business "should" be making more money. Influence of Ancient Philosophies: He discusses how Confucianism in Asian cultures and Islam in the Middle East have profoundly influenced current societal norms, pointing out that these often unquestioned norms take on the force of law in people's lives. Reassessing Cultural Norms: Leo urges listeners to reassess long-standing cultural norms that mandate behaviors and values, suggesting that even deeply rooted beliefs such as family loyalty should be open to questioning. Flipping "Should" Statements: Leo encourages flipping "should" statements to their opposite to uncover underlying resistances and realize the nuanced reality of life's situations. Living in a Gray Scale Universe: He promotes abandoning the black-and-white, moralistic model of the universe and embracing a gray-scale one that acknowledges complexity and the relativity of "should" statements. Overcoming the Fantasy of "Should" Statements: Leo argues that insisting on "should" statements is often rooted in fear and insecurity, contrasting this with the self-assuredness of a self-actualized individual who does not need rigid rules. Realism vs. Cartoon Reality: By presenting flipped versions of common "should" statements, Leo demonstrates that our expectations are frequently disconnected from the complexities of reality, leading to oversimplified and unrealistic perspectives. Accepting Bitter Truths: He challenges listeners to accept difficult truths, like the possibility of being treated poorly or cheated on, explaining that these realities exist and our attitudes toward them do not change that fact. Confronting Denial and Hypocrisy: Leo confronts the listeners' potential denial and hypocrisy, especially when it comes to expecting behavior from others (like children not doing drugs) that does not align with reality. The Sole Proof of Reality: Finally, Leo emphasizes that the only proof of what should occur is what actually happens in reality, dismissing fantasies and opinions of "should" as mere illusions. Acceptance of Imperfection: Leo explains that "should" statements create an idealized image of perfection that is not aligned with reality. He suggests redefining perfection to match reality and thereby avoiding the frustration of unmet expectations. The Illusion of Obligation: "Should" statements, Leo argues, cause us to act out of obligation rather than desire, leading to resistance, motivation problems, and a lack of personal integrity. Reality vs. Ideal Expectations: Leo highlights the discrepancy between an idealized version of reality and the actual reality that causes bitterness and guilt. He advocates eliminating such expectations to alleviate these negative emotions. Resistance Reinforces Problems: He explains that resisting temptations due to moral obligations often reinforces and submerges the issue in the subconscious, potentially leading to catastrophic outcomes. Dropping 'Should' Statements: Leo invites the audience to envision a life without 'should' statements, leading to a non-moralizing yet effective and rational approach to problems, including serious issues like terrorism. Reactions to Real World Problems: Leo clarifies that dropping 'should' statements does not condone harmful behaviors but promotes an understanding and common-sense reaction to issues such as terrorism. Redefined Evil and Wrongness: Leo challenges the concept of evil and wrong as constructs of the human ego and invites viewers to reflect on the fact that judgments of right and wrong are based on personal bias rather than objective reality. Natural Desires vs. Moralistic Ideals: Leo asserts that life is about following natural desires rather than moralistic ideals. He suggests that moralistic ideals can repress desires, which in turn can lead to negative outcomes. Changing Perspective on Laziness: Leo contends that true motivation emerges from embracing desires rather than following 'should' directives, which he blames for feelings of laziness and the lack of progress. Authentic Desires Over 'Should' Statements: Leo explains that letting go of 'should' statements allows individuals to connect with their authentic desires, leading to passionate, high-quality motivations that improve personal effectiveness effortlessly. Misinterpretation of Changing Paradigms: He addresses potential misconceptions about his message, clarifying that he's not promoting a new set of 'shoulds' but advocating for a shift to self-acceptance and a move away from moralistic paradigms. Making Reality Better: Leo advocates for accepting reality first, then acting on authentic desires to facilitate positive change, like ending slavery or combating harmful ideologies, without leaning on moralistic judgments. Raising Emotionally Mature Kids: In parenting, Leo suggests educating children on consequences and implications of actions rather than imposing rigid 'should' commands, fostering their ability to make informed and conscious decisions. Intent Behind 'Should' Statements: Emphasizes that the problem is not the word 'should' itself, but the moralistic and absolute beliefs that often accompany its use. True change comes from eliminating the belief in moral imperatives behind 'should' statements. Conscious Decision-Making over Rule Following: Leo encourages listeners to empower themselves and others to live more consciously and make wise decisions unencumbered by rigid rules and should statements. Authentic Desire Leads to Real Change: He explains that embracing one's genuine desire to be healthy, as opposed to being bound by obligations, leads to natural and effortless choices that align with that desire, such as avoiding unhealthy foods or going to the gym. Avoiding Victim Mentality and Acknowledging Consequences: Leo cautions against using his teachings as an excuse for victim mentality or to avoid consequences, and stresses that removing justifications from actions promotes authenticity and personal responsibility. Destiny vs. Freedom: Leo argues that knowing whether or not to go to work cannot be pre-determined; whether it 'should' happen will be known only when the moment arrives. This highlights a concept of freedom rather than destiny, where you trust your desires and act accordingly. Limitations of Rules: He warns that a rigid framework of rules is not an ideal approach. If the only thing preventing negative behavior is a strict rule, one might not be ready for a freer paradigm that requires trust in one's intuitive desires. Readiness for Advanced Techniques: Leo urges caution with his advice, noting that some may not yet be ready to drop certain societal or moral rules, especially if these rules are the only deterrents from harmful actions. Growth and Mindfulness Required: Implementing the proposed paradigm shift requires personal growth, consciousness, self-awareness, and a trusting relationship with one's desires, as opposed to following externally imposed rules. Practical Steps for Applying New Concepts: Leo advises against abruptly dismissing all rules; instead, he recommends beginning with awareness and then gradually questioning and experimenting with less critical rules. Handling High-Stakes Rules: For more important rules, Leo suggests caution and not experimenting rashly, as the consequences could be significant and lead to regrettable outcomes. Building Self-Trust in Stages: He encourages starting with less consequential rules to build confidence in one's ability to trust their own judgment, suggesting a gradual progression towards full self-trust and freedom. Embracing Authentic Desires: Leo asserts that learning to trust oneself is a gradual process that begins with acknowledging authentic feelings and desires instead of adhering to rules that may not align with one's genuine self. Releasing and Training the Self: The process, as described by Leo, is analogous to rewilding a domesticated horse—teaching oneself to function authentically and naturally, without the coercion of rules. Assignment of Counter-Should Exercise: Leo asks viewers to write down their top 50 'should' statements, flip them, and observe the resulting resistance and emotions, encouraging mindfulness about how these statements affect their daily behavior. Enlightenment and Truth: Concluding his lecture, Leo links the shift in paradigm to enlightenment, suggesting that this perspective comes from seeing reality clearly, without the distortion of the ego, and that it has practical, everyday benefits. Lumos

A Rant Against Morality - Very Foundational https://youtu.be/RLqFrF-QTCI Leo Gura's foundational view of morality: Leo emphasizes that conventional models of morality, consisting of what is deemed right or wrong, good or evil, actually inhibit personal growth and fulfillment by fostering unconscious obedience to external rules and internalized judgments. Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development: Leo introduces Kohlberg's three stages of moral development: preconventional, conventional, and post-conventional, which outline the evolution of moral reasoning from basic punishment/reward principles to internalized principles. Leo adds a fourth stage, transcendent morality, characterized by a conscious realization of unity and unconditional love for all aspects of existence. Problems with traditional morality: He criticizes traditional morality for promoting moralism – a black-and-white, dogmatic view of reality, which applies to both religious and secular individuals and ideologies and tends to cause suffering by fragmenting one's perception of reality. Sources and examples of moralization: Leo gives examples of moralization from various sources such as religions, political ideologies, and family dynamics, pointing out that it affects interpersonal relationships and social interactions through the imposition of cultural etiquette and rules. The challenge of profound moral transformation: The transition to transcendent morality, which Leo argues for, requires abandoning judgmental views and accepting reality as it is, but is typically resisted because it is counterintuitive and requires a significant evolution of consciousness. Belief-induced Suffering: Holding rigid beliefs such as "nobody is supposed to ever cut me off in traffic" can lead to personal suffering due to resultant anger when expectations are not met. Personal Moralization: Leo discusses the internal rules created during adolescent growth and how these benchmarks lead to self-judgment as well as judgment of others' actions. Problems with Moralism: Leo identifies the issues with moralism as its mechanical and unconscious nature, where life is expected to follow oversimplified rules, often leading to immoral outcomes in complex real-life situations. Conscious Morality versus Mechanical Rules: True morality, according to Leo, should arise from a conscious awareness of the situation rather than blind adherence to fixed rules which may not suit every context. Ego and Fear-Based Morality: Morality models are often fear-driven and constructed to defend an ego's identity, which creates a rigid and fragmented sense of self. Parental and Societal Morality Indoctrination: From early childhood, rules about right and wrong are deeply imprinted on individuals by parents and society, influencing foundational perceptions of reality. Extrinsic Motivation and Integrity: External rules can cause a fragmented sense of motivation and self, where actions are obligated not by desire but by fear of punishment or societal norms, resulting in psychological neurosis. Ego and its Shadow: Leo explains the shadow aspect of the ego—denied parts of oneself—which leads to hypocrisy and denial of reality, causing life issues as reality ultimately asserts itself. Self-Righteousness Derived from Moralizing: Those who moralize frequently experience a secret ego-driven pleasure in their perceived righteousness, while judgment and denial of reality lead to inevitable loss and suffering when confronted with the true state of things. Pleasure Derived from Moralizing: Leo discusses how individuals experience ego gratification through moralizing, feeling self-righteous when condemning actions or people deemed morally inferior. This moral indignation inflates the ego's sense of superiority and self-worth. Hypocrisy Exacerbated by Moralism: Leo points out that moralizing often leads to hypocrisy, as exemplified by figures like corrupt preachers or politicians, whose public stances clash with their private indiscretions. Moralism can accelerate the very vices it denounces by causing individuals to hide and deny aspects of reality and parts of themselves. Negative Emotional Outcomes of Moralization: Moralizing results in feelings of guilt, shame, judgment, and self-hatred. Leo emphasizes that these feelings are not only directed towards others but are also self-inflicted, leading to a lack of integrity and self-esteem. Subtlety of Moralizing: Moralizing isn't just about overt judgments; Leo suggests that even small daily decisions or thoughts, such as feeling guilty about not going to the gym or judging a friend's behavior, are forms of moralization that deeply impact our psyche. Victimhood and Two Forms of Moralization: There are two forms of moralization – self-aggrandizing, where people tell others how to live, and self-victimizing, where they apply moralistic judgments to themselves. Both forms lead to a victim mentality and unnecessary suffering. Morality and Historical Atrocities: Leo links rigid adherence to moralistic rules with many atrocities throughout history. By demonizing individuals through judgment and moralization, societies have justified inhumane treatments and mass horrors. Transcendent Morality as Consciousness of Reality: Leo introduces transcendent morality – a pure consciousness of reality without the imposition of moral rules. He describes this as openness to being and existence devoid of judgments like "good" or "evil." Rejection of Reality: The core problem with moralization, according to Leo, is the rejection of reality. By failing to accept reality and attempting to fragment it into good and evil, we create suffering and societal chaos. Integrity as Opposite of Moralism: Integration of both light and dark aspects within oneself leads to wholeness and integrity. Leo argues that this unity allows for spontaneous and natural action without guilt or shame, transcending traditional moral paradigms. Transcendent Morality versus Traditional Morality: Leo contrasts transcendent morality with traditional morality, which relies on external rules. He poses that religious moral codes stem from an understanding of transcendent morality, which is naturally aligned with being and existence, advocating for a shift towards embracing this deeper conception of morality. Critique of Traditional Morality: Leo suggests that historical figures like Jesus or Buddha would reject the rigid moral doctrines attributed to them if they witnessed the negative consequences those doctrines have fostered over time. Counterintuitiveness and Threat of Transcendent Morality: The concept of transcendent morality, which lacks externally imposed rules and is based on an acceptance of reality, may seem radical and threatening to mainstream thought because it challenges established notions of morality. Creation of Good and Evil: The concepts of good and evil are mental constructs introduced during childhood, serving as a utility for navigating life. However, the problem arises when these fictions, like lies, return to haunt the creator, leading to fragmentation and denial of reality's unity. The Illusion of 'Shoulds': Leo emphasizes that the notion of 'should' is an illusion; what exists is precisely what should exist. This is a foundational concept, challenging to accept, that suggests the reality we experience is the only one that could be—without any alternative possibilities. Moral Narratives vs. Reality: Common moral statements asserting that certain things 'shouldn't exist', like crime, political factions, or behaviors, are in fact fantasies that do not impact actual reality. Accepting reality without these fantasies eliminates the perception of problems. Transcendent Morality and Judgment: In transcendent morality, one acknowledges the unity and reality of existence, leading to the realization that judgment of others, no matter the act, is rendered preposterous and a form of denial. Free Will Illusion: Accepting that there is no free will is integral to transcendent morality. Reality is a unified flow without alternative possibilities, thus what occurs is the only outcome that could've happened, reflecting total surrender to what is. Suffering from Control Struggle: Leo notes that the struggle for control over an uncontrollable reality is the root of suffering, stress, guilt, and victimhood. Acknowledgement of lack of control can lead to radical freedom. The Paradox of Freedom Without Rules: The shift to a paradigm where anything is permissible is radical, especially for those accustomed to moralizing. However, for the consciously aware, no mechanical rules are necessary to dictate behavior. Leo’s Personal Morality: Leo professes his moral and ethical behavior without the need for explicit moral rules. He posits that increasing one’s consciousness allows one to tap into higher wisdom without needing external moral constraints. The Mystic's Experience and Rejection: Leo describes how mystics, who have transcended reality, have historically been ostracized or persecuted because their profound understanding and expression of morality often contrast with societal norms. Moral Responsibility and Consciousness: True morality, according to Leo, requires an individual to be deeply conscious and take full responsibility for their actions. This level of morality is self-managed rather than being enforced by external rules or societal pressures. Leo's Rejection of Fixed Morality Rules: Leo doesn't adhere to strict traditional rules like the Ten Commandments; instead, he practices a form of morality that doesn't rely on stringent rules against severe actions like murder or theft. Detachment from Standardized Morality: He finds it more liberating not to follow a codified morality, noting that he doesn't feel the temptation to commit heinous acts and rarely experiences anger, contrasting with the frequent anger he observes in others over minor provocations. The Rarity of Transcendent Morality: Leo acknowledges that transcendent morality is not mainstream due to the high level of consciousness and self-actualization work it requires, emphasizing that this approach is often counterintuitive and ego-threatening. Societal Rejection of Transcendent Morality: Transcendent morality is not publicly or politically promoted; Leo suggests that openly advocating such views could result in severe backlash or misunderstanding due to society's lack of advanced consciousness. Handling Objections to Transcendent Morality: Leo addresses concerns regarding evil acts, stating that integration and understanding, not moralistic judgment, reduce "evil." He rejects calling actions evil as an arrogant ego judgment. Personal Reaction to Harm and Emotional Maturity: He admits he would be distressed by harm done to him or his family but would not demonize the perpetrator; instead, he aspires to view such events within the broader universal motion, as an indicator of emotional maturity. Advocacy of Self-actualization over Traditional Morality: Leo promotes transitioning to transcendent morality through self-actualization, encouraging listeners to consider that their current paradigms may not lead to further success and might need reassessment. True Morality Is Unconditional Love: He concludes by asserting that true morality stems from unconditional love for all reality without exceptions, challenging viewers to ponder the strength of a morality reliant on external rules or authorities. Promotion of Actualized.org: Leo invites viewers to engage with his content and announces an upcoming episode on practical approaches to overcoming the negative impacts of moralizing, which he believes will significantly enhance life quality. Legilimens

How To Stop Being A Victim - Part 2 - What All Victims Fail To Understand https://youtu.be/cIeQ2a8WmTc Selection of Victimhood Area: Leo encourages viewers to choose an area of their life where they feel victimized, characterized by thoughts like "I can't," "It's impossible," or "I've tried everything." Victim Belief in External Obstacles: He points out that a victim's primary belief is that external factors are greater obstacles than themselves, a profound and foundational principle that must be understood. Grasping Levels: There are different levels of understanding the notion that one's mind is the only true obstacle, ranging from intellectual acceptance to deep personal insight. Deep Influence of Mind: Leo clarifies that overcoming victimhood is not about mere positive thinking; it's about understanding the deeper and vast ways the mind can become an obstacle through various mechanisms. Victims' Neglect of Self-Deception: Victims often do not take the potential for self-deception seriously, which is crucial, as they attribute adversities to external factors rather than internal misperceptions. Focus on Internal Obstacles: Leo lists things like mental filters, limiting beliefs, and lack of introspection as the aspects victims should really focus on instead of external factors. Reality as a Mind Projection: Leo describes reality as a reflection of the internal world, suggesting that victims fail to recognize the significant role their psychology plays in shaping external experiences. Deceptive Nature of Beliefs: Victims tend to underestimate the significance of their own thoughts and attitudes, which leads to a deceptive pattern of focusing on external problems rather than internal reflection. Active Creation of Problems: Problems are actively created and sustained by the mind, and understanding this is key to stopping victim mentality. He likens problems to a creature in the mind that must be fed. Understanding Over Action: The primary goal of the episode is not to take immediate action but to understand at a deeper level how problems are self-created, facilitating a shift away from victimhood. Thought Experiment: Leo invites viewers to imagine a reality where the inner world is the only thing that matters, suggesting that changes in the outer world wouldn't solve recurring problems since they are likely a manifestation of internal issues. Recurring Problems and Victim Mentality: He notes the parallel between the thought experiment and the actual experiences of individuals with a victim mentality, where problems persist despite attempts to change external circumstances, hinting at the necessity of internal change. Projection Analogy with Movie Theater: Leo uses the analogy of cleaning a smudge on a movie screen that originates from the projector lens, illustrating that problems in our outer world are reflections of our inner state. Fearing Ourselves Over External Problems: He argues that one should fear their own mind more than any external problem and stresses the importance of not gullibly believing one's own deceptive mind. Mind's Frame Control: Leo explains how the mind frames situations, sets reference points, and can distort reality just as advertisers manipulate perceptions, emphasizing the need to examine and understand this process. Importance of Psychology and Self-Awareness Topics: After grasping self-deception, fields such as psychology, meditation, mindfulness, and truth become significantly relevant and vital for personal growth and liberation from victimhood. Exercise for Understanding Victimhood: Leo suggests a writing exercise to help viewers articulate areas where they feel victimized, identify both internal and external aspects of their problems, and explore the underlying beliefs maintaining their victim mindset. Journey to Self-Mastery: He conveys the journey of mastering one's mind and overcoming self-deception as arduous but rewarding, promising more content on developing self-awareness and positive habits to avoid falling into victim mentality traps. Reparo

Lifestyle Minimalism - Renouncing Your Busy Stupid Life https://youtu.be/XR7mjtoAdpM Slowing Down the Pace of Life: Leo emphasizes that the current pace of life is unsustainable for self-actualization, as it leaves no time for contemplation, introspection, or strategic thinking. He advocates for a strategic life change to slow everything down by 25%-50%. Being vs. Doing: Leo underlines the critical distinction between 'being' and 'doing', observing that modern society is excessively focused on 'doing', which undermines self-awareness and mindfulness. Structural Lifestyle Changes: To support self-actualization, Leo suggests a structural change to one's entire lifestyle, involving high-level, strategic commitments to slowing down permanently, not just temporarily. Principle of Lifestyle Minimalism: Applying the principle of lifestyle minimalism means engaging in fewer activities. For the activities one does engage in, Leo proposes doing them 50% slower for deeper mindfulness. Comparison of Material and Lifestyle Minimalism: Leo introduces lifestyle minimalism as a more crucial step than decluttering objects. It involves reducing time-consuming activities to create free time for reflection and being. Spartan Lifestyle Ideal: Reflecting on historical ideals, Leo suggests aiming for a simple, Spartan lifestyle to attain wealth measured by free time, ultimately leading to increased fulfillment from being able to contemplate and be aware. Conduciveness of Western Lifestyle to Self-Actualization: Leo critiques the modern Western lifestyle for being neurotic and unhealthy, which he believes is a barrier to self-actualization and personal development practices. Realizations from Meditation Retreats: After attending meditation retreats, Leo describes the profound sense of happiness achieved from ten days of silence and meditation, contrasting sharply with the hurried lifestyle that awaits outside the retreat. Inverse Proportion of Life's Pace: Leo dreams of inverting the current lifestyle norm, suggesting that most of life should be spent in a state similar to a meditation retreat—slow, mindful, and present, with short periods of fast-paced activity. Visualization Exercise: Leo guides viewers through a short visualization activity to imagine what their life would be like if it were slowed down by 50%, focusing on how this change would feel in terms of body, mood, and fulfillment. Emotional Response to Visualization: The exercise aims to help viewers intuitively recognize that a slower pace would improve their mood and fulfillment. However, some may react negatively, feeling it would lead to boredom or lack of success, revealing a disconnect from "being" and an addiction to overstimulation and success. Cultivating Being Over Doing: Leo emphasizes the importance of cultivating "being" over "doing." He suggests that many people have lost touch with the state of being, and it might take recalling childhood experiences or peaceful moments like vacations to understand its value. Strategic Decluttering of Life: He insists on the need for strategic decluttering of one's life by withdrawing from activities, commitments, and relationships that don't contribute to fulfillment. Continuous Rejection of New Distractions: Equally important is the relentless refusal of new distractions and the recognition that saying 'no' is essential to maintain this minimalist lifestyle. Committing to Renounce Material Life: Leo challenges viewers to consider making a long-range strategic decision to renounce material life to achieve true self-actualization. This involves letting go of materialistic metrics of success to focus on personal fulfillment. Psychological Resistance to Minimalism: He acknowledges the psychological challenges and fear of missing out on life that comes with such a drastic lifestyle change, likening the commitment to living a life resembling a wild animal as opposed to a comfortable but domesticated existence. Long-term Self-Actualization as Renunciation: Leo describes the self-actualization process as a renunciation of what society typically considers 'having a life,' leading to a truly fulfilling existence that might seem dull or boring to others. Living a Life of High Fulfillment: The proposed strategic life focus involves devoting oneself to a limited number of key areas such as meditation, enlightenment, life purpose, learning, mindful action, and being while minimizing distractions like relationships, social engagements, and hobbies. Potential Regrets of Materialistic Lifestyle: Leo warns that a materialistic lifestyle can lead to future regrets, urging the viewers to act on the proposed strategy to avoid an unfulfilled and average existence. Long-term Strategy Visualization: Leo invites the audience to envision a life dedicated to meditation, enlightenment, life purpose, learning, deliberate action, introspection, and being over the next few decades. He suggests that such a life would be extraordinarily satisfying, in stark contrast to an average life filled with superficial activities and unfulfilling relationships. Consequences of an Average Lifestyle: He warns that living like the average person—focusing on work, hobbies, social engagements, and entertainment—leads to a lack of focus on self-cultivation and being, ultimately resulting in a unfulfilling life that feels wasted, leading potentially to depression or anxiety. Personal Lifestyle and Monastic Direction: Leo shares his own simplistic, content-rich lifestyle which prioritizes reading and meditation, increasingly resembling that of a sage or monk. He speaks of the profound satisfaction derived from meditation and the joy involved in reconnecting with the essence of being similar to a child's state of existence. Benefits of a Minimalist Lifestyle: Leo elucidates the rewards of turning inward and focusing on personal growth and being. He emphasizes that the lifestyle he advocates for—akin to an endless summer vacation—is achievable through a long-term strategic focus on self-awareness and conscious existence, rather than chasing external accolades. Overcoming Carnal Cravings: Addressing cravings for food, sex, drugs, and entertainment, Leo asserts that overcoming such addictions is essential to successfully adopting a lifestyle minimalist approach, proposing that sitting and doing nothing can be a transformative practice. Execution and Practical Steps: Leo encourages viewers to genuinely apply the lifestyle minimalist strategies and stay engaged with his content through Actualized.org, his newsletter, and his life purpose course, stressing the importance of continuity and long-term engagement for realizing significant life improvements. Confundo

Grasping The Illusory Nature Of Thought https://youtu.be/BEQTk75XFjU Central question of 'What is a thought?': Leo emphasizes the critical nature of honestly inquiring into the essence of thoughts in our lives. If our conception of thoughts is misaligned with their true nature, it could be a source of unnecessary struggle and misinterpretation of life's events. Grasping what thoughts truly are goes beyond philosophical musings or dictionary definitions; it requires direct experiential understanding. Thoughts are real yet illusory: Leo clarifies that he doesn't dismiss thoughts as unreal; instead, he wants to highlight their real but deceptive nature. Thoughts, while not tangible like a car or a tree, possess a chameleon-like quality—presenting themselves differently than what they inherently are, which can mislead us into attributing unnecessary depth or meaning. Picasso anecdote - illusion of images: Leo recounts a tale about Picasso to illustrate the allure of images and the ease with which we can mistake representations for reality, such as confusing a photograph with the actual subject it depicts. This story emphasizes the necessity for critical awareness when engaging with representational forms, such as art, photographs, or symbols. Image 1 Symbols' arbitrary nature: Leo asserts the concept that symbols are fascinating due to their inherent arbitrariness—each stands for something it is not, and any object can potentially represent anything else. The significance of a symbol comes from the mind's power to map meanings, regardless of any resemblance to the symbolized object. Language as arbitrary symbols: Leo explains that language, composed of arbitrary sounds, acquires meaning through the mind's interpretations. Without this context, language can appear as mere gibberish—an important insight when considering how meanings get constructed and applied to thoughts. Significance of understanding symbols for personal development: Leo proposes that becoming aware of the arbitrary nature of meanings assigned by our minds is crucial to combating ill effects of misunderstanding thoughts and symbols. Understanding this can help us differentiate between the literal facts of a situation and the stories or meanings that we create around them. Mistaking symbols for reality: Leo suggests that we often mistake symbols and the meanings they evoke for actual reality, which can lead to flawed decisions and perceptions—e.g., one might be misled by the image of a pizza into believing it can satiate hunger, demonstrating the potential dangers of confusing mental constructs with the real world. Analogy of a book: To further drive home the point, Leo invites listeners to consider that a book is composed of mere black markings on white paper. The stories or information perceived come alive through the mind's interpretation, underscoring the importance of distinguishing between literal objects and the conceptual narratives we attach to them. Mindfulness of thoughts for self-actualization: Through these examples, Leo aims to guide viewers toward realizing the significance of being mindful of thoughts, as a means to live a self-actualized life. Unraveling the inherent illusions in thoughts and symbols is presented as a path to true freedom and personal growth. Coping with negative emotions through understanding meaning: Leo discusses that distress, suffering, and negative emotional reactions are largely related to the meanings we ascribe to events or situations, which are ultimately illusory. Being mindful about the nature of these meanings is key to self-improvement and reducing reactivity and distress. Introducing 'flattening the illusion' technique: Leo introduces a technique he created called 'flattening the illusion,' aimed at distinguishing between the appearance of an object and its literal existence. He emphasizes that understanding the literal nature of things without the mind's emotional projections reduces the illusory impact they have. Training with visual examples: To illustrate 'flattening the illusion,' Leo presents examples. First, he shows a two-dimensional image resembling a three-dimensional cube, challenging viewers to view it as merely flat markings on a surface. He also has viewers react to a potentially phobic image, encouraging them to differentiate their emotional reactions from the literal image. Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Real-world application of 'flattening the illusion': Leo emphasizes applying 'flattening the illusion' to one's thoughts, such as concepts of mother, gravity, and the external world. He urges viewers to see these concepts not as real physical forces but as sensations and ideas within the mind. 'Flattening the illusion' of God and self: The exercise progresses to more challenging concepts like God and the self. Leo encourages examining these thoughts literally, recognizing resistance to this process, and seeing them as mental constructions rather than external realities. Enhancing mindfulness through literal observation: Leo draws an analogy between his technique and art instruction, where students are taught to draw what they literally see, not what they think is there. He advocates for this level of direct, literal observation in all aspects of life to understand the true nature of one's experiences and thoughts. The impact of meanings on emotions and life problems: Leo explains that our emotions and life's problems stem from layers of meanings we assign to our thoughts and situations. Through his examples, he demonstrates that even deep-seated fears, anger, and depression can be deconstructed by addressing the meanings behind them. Practice to gain mastery over meaning assignment: Leo stresses the importance of consistent practice in mastering how meanings are assigned, which is not acquired instantly but through persistent effort. Mastery over meaning can lead to the alleviation of fears, anger, and other negative emotions. Complexity of mental constructs: Leo emphasizes the intricate web of meanings we create with our thoughts, which can become overwhelmingly complex. It may take consistent practice to unravel this web, but recognizing the potential in this exercise can be valuable for personal development. Mastering mental meanings: By committing to the practice of deconstructing and flattening illusions in our thoughts, Leo suggests that over months or years one can gain mastery over their mind. This mastery could allow one to dissolve issues that one faces, essentially becoming adept at managing one's own internal narrative. Assignment to flatten illusions: Leo challenges viewers to flatten 50 real-life thought illusions over the next week. Each flattened illusion should be recorded in a journal, breaking down thoughts into content and their literal components to differentiate meaning from factual occurrence. Three practical thought examples: Leo provides examples of how to dissect and journal these thoughts: Hating the boss: Divide the thought into emotional content (e.g., wishing the boss were fired) and the literal experience (e.g., imagining the boss's face, feeling physical tension). Feeling shy in a crowd: Separate the abstract self-judgment content (e.g., believing in one's inherent insecurity) from the actual physiological sensations (e.g., anxiety, mental imagery of appearing awkward). Aspiring to be rich: Distinguish the content (e.g., fantasizing about wealth and luxury objects) from what is literally occurring in the mind, such as visualizing bank balances and experiencing sensations of joy. Commitment and insights: To successfully complete this task, viewers need to remain committed, setting reminders and carrying a journal to capture these thoughts accurately. This practice is expected to provide insights and begin to untangle deeply held beliefs and meanings. Importance of actual mindfulness practice: Leo stresses that mindfulness should not just be an ideology but an actively practiced skill, akin to physical skills such as playing a musical instrument. There's a danger in believing one is already proficient without truly engaging in the mindfulness process. Resources for deepening mindfulness: To further this practice, Leo recommends his own videos on mindfulness meditation and other topics that explore the mind's illusory nature. These resources can open a door to a broader understanding that leads to a self-actualized life, offering freedom from mind-imposed limitations. Invitation to continued learning: Leo invites viewers to subscribe to his newsletter for ongoing content that will aid in mastering the mind. He promises that engaging with his material can lead to profound changes in perspective and achievement of personal goals that may have previously seemed out of reach. Expecto Patronum

Enlightenment Guided Inquiry - The Neti Neti Method https://youtu.be/Oq4NDMNDzSs Leo's Introduction to Guided Inquiry: Leo introduces a guided visualization using the neti neti method from Advaita Vedanta for initiating enlightenment experiences. This advanced method is aimed at individuals seeking to experience enlightenment directly, and Leo suggests that even those new to the concept might benefit significantly from the exercise if they approach it without preconceived notions. Preparation for the Visualization: Participants are instructed to allocate 30-40 minutes for the exercise, to relax their bodies, and to follow Leo's guidance with an open mind, setting aside all pre-existing beliefs about their identity. Challenge to Identity Convictions: Leo emphasizes the importance of doubt and openness in the enlightenment process, challenging viewers to consider the possibility that they are not their bodies, minds, brains, thoughts, feelings, or any self-concept they have. The Definition and Role of Experience: Leo defines experience broadly as everything that has happened since birth, including sensory perceptions and thoughts. He urges viewers to be open to the radical idea that they are not any experience they have ever had. Visualization Exercise Premise: Adopting the premise that everything in awareness changes, including the body and personal beliefs, Leo surmises that who we are cannot be consistently tied to these changing experiences. This concept sets the stage for the detailed inquiry to follow. Summarization of Human Experience Channels: Leo explores the concept that human reality is composed solely of sight, sound, taste, smell, touch (outer and inner), and thought. These six channels, constantly changing, form the entirety of our experience since birth. Inquiry into Visual Experience: Leo asks if one could be merely a visual experience, inviting viewers to open their eyes and observe the changing colors and shapes, concluding that since these aspects change, one cannot be defined as a visual sight. Sound as a Constant: The possibility of being a sound is dismissed because sounds change continuously, and there is no perpetual sound that could define our existence. Taste as Identity: The channel of taste is quickly reviewed, noting the fluctuating nature of taste and its weak association with identity. Smell as a Defining Characteristic: The smell is considered an even less likely candidate for self-identity due to its variability and the human's relatively poor sense of smell. Outer Touch as Self: Exploring outer touch, Leo clarifies that no consistent outer sensation could represent who we are due to their ever-changing nature. Inner Feelings as Identity: The role of inner feelings and emotions in defining self is questioned. Leo argues that these internal sensations change too frequently to be the constant essence of self. Thoughts and Self-Identification: Leo breaks down the identification with thoughts into two components—internal voice and visual thoughts—concluding that neither can be the constant 'self' due to their intermittent nature. Internal Voice as Self: He challenges the idea that one's internal dialogue constitutes their identity, pointing out the variable nature of this inner voice. Visual Thoughts as Self: Individuals are prompted to consider whether they are their visual thoughts, which also change, showing that pictures in the mind cannot define our true self. Impermanence of Mental Images: Visual images in our minds, such as picturing a purple elephant, change constantly and are not continuously displayed since birth, suggesting that our identity is not tied to these fleeting images. The 'I Thought' Inspection: The 'I thought'—the internal notion of 'I exist'—is not always active (e.g., during sleep or deep engagement) and is absent frequently, indicating that our continuous identity cannot be the intermittent 'I thought'. Identification with the Body: The concept of identifying with the body—a collection of thoughts, feelings, and sensations—is flawed, as these experiences are not constantly active, and the body itself changes over time. Intuition's Role in Identity: Intuition, often thought to be a core sense of existence, is dissected as merely being a transient feeling or thought and not a constant, thus failing to define our true identity. Behind-The-Scenes Existence Fallacy: The sense of existing 'behind the scenes' of experiences is reduced to merely another feeling or thought, negating it as the fundamental essence of our identity. The Elusive Source Self: Despite exhaustive introspection, the perceiving 'source self' or the essence of our existence cannot be pinpointed or described, challenging the notion of being a tangible, locatable entity. Perceiver as Not an Experience: The core realization that the 'perceiver' of experiences is not an experience itself, but remains undefined and unchanging amidst constantly changing experiences. Three Core Existential Assumptions: People's fundamental assumptions about existence (being real, object-like, and located in space) are questioned for their validity since they are not based on deep existential inquiry. Possibility of Foundational Misguidance: The suggestion that one's sense of identity, as an object or being located in space, could stem from lifelong societal and cultural indoctrination that hasn't been critically examined. Struggle to Define Existence: Attempting to define 'what we are' with physical or experiential evidence falls short, leaving us with an intangible and elusive understanding of identity. Existential Investigation and Indoctrination: An invitation to consider the role of indoctrination on our beliefs about existence and to entertain the notion that we may differ radically from our assumptions. Discovering Self-aware Nothingness: A profound realization that in the failure to concretely identify the 'self,' one might actually encounter an understanding of existence as self-aware nothingness, intangible yet real. Encounter with 'Nothingness': Leo Gura describes that realizing one's true self can be understood as becoming aware of being 'nothingness'. This is an inherently self-aware state that defies traditional concepts of existence, having no color, shape, or tangible characteristics—it's an infinite, boundaryless field where all experiences occur. Guided Visualization Outcomes: After the guided visualization, viewers may or may not have directly experienced 'nothingness'. Not experiencing it immediately is common and acceptable, as it usually takes multiple attempts and an open mind to achieve this realization. Transformative Experience of 'Nothingness': For those who did have a direct experience, Leo emphasizes that it's normal to feel fear due to the radical shift from one's previous self-concept. However, it is a positive and profound change, likened to awakening for the first time. Emphasizing Empirical Discovery: Leo clarifies that the concept of 'nothingness' is not based on belief but rather an empirical discovery that requires radical open-mindedness and persistent introspection. Misconceptions about Experience: He also points out that colloquial usage of 'experience' does not accurately describe 'nothingness' since it transcends typical experiences and conceptions, existing outside time and space. Importance of Self-Inquiry: Continuous questioning of why one assumes themselves to be a tangible object located in space is encouraged. Leo criticizes cultural and societal influences that shape such assumptions and that they might be as flawed today as they were in historical times. Combining the Mundane with the Divine: Leo advocates for a blend of self-improvement (self-actualization) and the transcendence of self-concept (self-transcendence) to lead a life that is both profoundly ordinary and divinely 'extraordinary'. Invitation to Continue the Journey: Leo invites viewers to stay engaged with Actualized.org for ongoing insights into mastering life from the mundane to the divine, emphasizing that the divine is accessible and integral to an extraordinary life. Incendio

How Your Mind Distorts Reality - Needy vs Non-Needy Perception https://youtu.be/8_E9KOBEmMw Foundation of Accurate Perception: Leo emphasizes the importance of perception accuracy, quoting psychologist Erich Fromm, who suggests that a person's stability is linked to their perception's adequacy. Inadequate perception leads to reliance on idols, while adequate perception allows independence. Deficiency vs. Being Cognition/Perception: Leo introduces the distinction between deficiency cognition/perception (D-Cognition/Perception) and being cognition/perception (B-Cognition/Perception), which comes from Abraham Maslow. D-Cognition is influenced by personal deficiencies, while B-Cognition is the perception of the world as it is, free from personal desires. Characteristic of Self-Actualized Individuals: B-Cognition is a hallmark of self-actualized individuals. It is undistorted by ego or self-agenda, allowing one to see things in their essence—passive, receptive, and benevolent. Abraham Maslow's Insights on Being Perception: Maslow describes B-Perception as an attentive, careful, and ego-less form of perception, allowing one to see objects in their completeness without the influence of self-agenda. Differences with Deficiency Cognition: D-Cognition, on the other hand, is an active perception influenced by ego needs, which distorts reality by projecting personal issues onto the objects of perception, leading to an anthropocentric and biased view. Problems with Anthropocentric Perception: Leo points out how an anthropocentric perception can be problematic in science, becoming overly abstract, model-driven, and failing to distinguish between abstractions and actual perceptions. Difficulty with Paradox in Deficiency Perception: D-Cognition struggles to handle paradoxes, leaning towards rigid rationalism and fitting reality into pre-set conceptual frameworks, resulting in dogmatism and ideological bias. Abstract Perception vs. Full Perception: Maslow explains that ordinary cognition often involves classifying or comparing rather than fully perceiving the object, which can lead to misconceptions by imposing arbitrary continuums and evaluations. Aristotelian Thinking vs. Self-Actualized Perception: Comparatively, less developed individuals may think in rigid categories as per Aristotelian logic, whereas a self-actualized person understands that opposites can coexist and interpenetrate within the same subject. Usefulness and Falseness of Abstractions: Maslow argues that while abstractions can be useful for understanding, they are also inherently false since perceiving objects abstractly means neglecting certain aspects of their reality. Perception and Egoic Deficiencies: Leo makes the case that our own egoic deficiencies, such as neuroses, warp our perception of reality. He emphasizes that the interface between us and reality is tainted by our mental health, and perception accuracy is closely tied to emotional maturity. Significance of Distortion in Perception: Leo argues that the distortion created by our egoic deficiencies is not minor but a major factor leading to many life issues. This distortion, Leo says, is responsible for recurring dysfunctional patterns that persist despite attempts to change external conditions. Maslow on Fully Objective Perception: Quoting Abraham Maslow, Leo underlines the importance of fully objective, desireless perception, which can only be achieved when nothing is needed from the object or person being perceived. This allows for the concreteness and abstractness to co-exist in the act of perception. Augmented Reality of the Human Mind: Leo contends that the human mind lives in an augmented reality, where our concepts, fantasies, and desires distort our perceptions, and he challenges the notion that humans are the most self-aware beings. Concept of 'Ego Smog' by David Bohm: Leo introduces David Bohm's concept of 'ego smog', which suggests our ego obscures our ability to clearly perceive reality. Thought affects perception in deceptive ways, creating systemic faults that influence all our experiences. Deep Systemic Problem of Perception: Perception is posited as a bug in the mind's operating system. According to Leo, this causes many problems both personally and societally, such as war and intolerance, stemming from the mind's biases. Practical Approach to Being Cognition: Leo stresses the importance of practice to develop being cognition. He encourages observing without imposing labels, judgments, or any kind of projection onto reality to see things as they truly are. Projections as a Function of Deficiency Cognition: The various projections like labels, judgments, and values that we place onto reality are all parts of deficiency cognition. Leo drives home the need to recognize these projections' pervasiveness and their role in distorting our perception. Nonexistence of Relationships in External Reality: Leo challenges the notion that relationships between objects exist independently of the mind. He points out that all relationships are mental projections, with the mind selectively focusing on relationships useful for self-preservation. Importance of Practice and Awareness: Finally, Leo calls for practice and awareness to turn around deficiency perception. He accentuates that true self-actualization requires the development of being cognition and a shift from egoic projections to more accurate perceptions of reality. Emotional Reactions to Material Loss: Leo describes how emotional attachment and perceived relationships to material possessions, like a car, produce strong emotional reactions when those possessions are damaged or lost. Value Assignments and Relationships: Leo explains that the way we assign value and identify relationships to objects, such as ownership of a car or dealings with insurance companies, creates a complex web of emotional responses when circumstances change. Web of Relationships Influencing Psychological Problems: Leo posits that psychological problems, such as depression or insecurities, are not isolated issues but rather manifestations of a vast web of relationships and projections ingrained in our mental software. Illusion of Separations and Boundaries: Leo challenges the perception of objects as separate entities, suggesting that even common identifiers like 'car' create artificial boundaries within a unified phenomenal field, which in its essence has no distinct objects. The Ineffectiveness of Mental Knowledge Alone: Leo emphasizes that absorbing information about perception does not change one's actual perception; actual change in perception requires practice and experiential understanding. Challenges of Changing Perception: Leo acknowledges the difficulty most people have in grasping changes in perception experientially, which contributes to societal problems. He insists that solving these issues requires dedicated practice beyond passive listening. Existential Nature of Problems as Mind Fabrications: Leo invites listeners to consider that the problems they perceive as deep and insurmountable are actually fabrications of the mind and don't exist outside of their perception. Exercise for Developing Being Cognition: Leo offers a practice exercise to develop being cognition by objectively observing an object or person without assigning personal values or meanings, seeing it as it is in itself. Misconceptions About Rationalism and Being Cognition: Leo cautions against the misconception that rational or scientific thinking equals being cognition, clarifying that true being cognition transcends mental constructs and categories. Connection Between Mindfulness, Enlightenment, and Being Cognition: Leo links being cognition with enlightenment and mindfulness, emphasizing that these approaches help remove the 'ego smog' and allow for a more accurate perception of reality. Improvement Through Addressing Emotional Dysfunction: Leo advises that addressing emotional dysfunctions and neuroses can improve being perception by reducing the distortive effects of deficiency cognition. Impact of Deficiency Cognition on Relationships: Leo discusses how deficiency cognition can negatively affect relationships, with needy or pessimistic individuals illustrating the difficulty in perceiving reality without distortion. Being vs. Deficiency Perception: Leo underscores the distinction between an ordinary person and a self-actualizing person: the capacity to perceive reality objectively, without the 'ego smog.' Reactions to self-help: Some individuals respond negatively to self-help recommendations or resources, perceiving them as threats or as nonsensical information, which can lead to them disparaging the source or the person who introduced them to the concept. Perception on a spectrum: Perception is a spectrum with most people falling somewhere between perfect clarity and heavy dysfunction, with the average person having a considerable level of dysfunction and deficiency in their perception. Connection of rationalism to perception: Rationalism, thought to be a clear-sighted approach to truth, has a systemic flaw by which it warps and distorts perception. Rationalists may deceive themselves into believing their constructs are reality rather than figments of their own rationalization. Self-agenda versus reality: There is a fundamental choice between remaining loyal to one's self-agenda or to reality. Loyalty to self-agenda leads to distortion of reality, while loyalty to reality will eventually crumble the self-agenda, which is itself a distortion. Inaccurate perceptions as the root of problems: Inaccurate perceptions of reality create unnecessary problems and emotional turmoil, similar to a child fearing monsters under the bed. Clearing misconceptions can significantly enhance the quality of life. Importance of action for transformation: Leo emphasizes the necessity of acting on cognitive insights to avoid falling behind in self-actualization. He assures that although difficult, personal transformation through eliminating 'ego smog' is deeply satisfying. Self-help and personal growth: Leo encourages viewers to actively engage with his content and apply the exercises he suggests, promising that this will lead to remarkable and enjoyable progress in self-actualization. Reparo

Overcoming Addiction - The Root Cause Of Every Addiction https://youtu.be/G5ZYV-IMIUU Identification of Addiction: Leo Gura defines addiction through a simple test provided by Gay Hendricks. If a person abstains from a suspected addictive behavior for a week and cravings arise, addiction is present. This test reveals that many engage in addictive behaviors they are not aware of, such as overthinking, which leads to a broad definition of addiction in modern society. Existential Fear as Addiction's Root: The core of all addictions, according to Leo, is the fear of existential emptiness experienced when idle and alone. He discovered this through his own battle with food addiction, realizing that addictions serve as distractions from facing the void. Addiction and Inability to Be Alone: He connects the inability to sit alone in a room with an addiction. To overcome addiction, one must learn to be content with just 'being' without external stimuli. The need for constant stimulation reflects a lack of self-mastery and grounding. The Illusion of a Full Life: Most individuals' lives are filled with stimulation, such as video games, reading, and work to avoid confronting the emptiness within. This leads to a cycle of fulfillment and guilty overindulgence that ultimately does not address the underlying void. Existential Emptiness and Hedonism’s Limits: True satisfaction cannot be found in material possessions or activities. Leo describes the nature of existence as inherently empty, which is a concept people avoid but ultimately must face and accept for a fulfilling life. Embracing the Existential Void: Contemplating mortality helps understand the existential void that exists not only after death but also in life. Leo suggests that by sitting with and accepting this emptiness without distraction, one can tackle addiction more effectively and sustainably. The Purifying Fire of Emptiness: Facing the void during addiction recovery involves resisting the urge to fill the emptiness with distractions. Leo describes confronting cravings for stimulating experiences—food, love, socialization—as a means to purify oneself from these addictions by enduring the emotional labor without giving in. Mature Solution to Addiction: According to Leo, truly overcoming addiction requires enduring a psychosomatic and emotionally challenging process. Without this mature approach, one may relapse. He refers to it as a "purifying fire" that burns away inner demons, suggesting only then can one achieve complete victory over addictive behaviors. Catch-22 in Recovery: Leo describes a paradox where addicts seek to avoid emotional labor through short-term fixes, yet it's the avoidance of this very emotional labor that sustains their addiction. He emphasizes that confronting and embracing the emotional challenges is a critical step towards ending the cycle of addiction. Top Techniques for Overcoming Addiction: Leo highlights the "do-nothing" technique, mindfulness meditation, strong determination sitting, and as a bonus, existential investigation. These methods are designed to face the raw experience of existence and confront inner demons without distractions, helping to build psychological stability and internal grounding. Concept of Self-Actualization: Leo associates self-actualization with the absence of addiction. He presents the self-actualized individual as one who is internally satisfied and does not depend on external stimuli, emphasizing that happiness from simply existing is a sign of internal wealth. The Shortcomings of 12-Step Programs: While helpful, Leo criticizes 12-step programs for lacking a focus on self-actualization—merely tackling addictions without addressing the larger goal of personal development and fulfillment. Long-Term Commitment to Self-Actualization: Leo underscores the importance of patience and consistent effort over six to twelve months to absorb and apply the self-actualization concepts shared on Actualized.org and through his resources, suggesting that transformation takes time and sustained engagement with his teaching materials. Fidelius Charm

3 Step Formula To Be Ruthlessly Effective At Anything https://youtu.be/s_LoxHQWT5Q 3-Step Formula Overview: Leo introduces a formula for becoming effective in any area, emphasizing the exploitation of one high-yield tactic. Step 1 - Select Your Domain: Define a clear and specific intention for the domain you want to succeed in, from corn farming to dating. Step 2 - Identify an Effective Technique: Find a single high-yield technique that produces tangible results, which is empirically proven through personal experience. Step 3 - Set Up a Daily Habit: Commit to using the high-yield technique every day without exception, ensuring 100% dedication. Recognizing High-Yield Techniques: High-yield techniques emerge naturally when there's sincere commitment to an intent, observed through regular engagement in the field. Conscious Technique Selection: Vigilance is required to identify and consciously acknowledge techniques that deliver significant results with relatively little effort. Planning and Commitment: After recognizing a high-yield technique, plan a daily habit around it and commit to it completely for long-term exponential growth. Sources of High-Yield Techniques: They often come by spontaneously through trial and error within actively pursued fields rather than being ingeniously invented. Importance of Technique Recognition and Commitment: People frequently encounter high-yield techniques but miss their potential due to a lack of seriousness or follow-through with the formula. Example of Humor Improvement: Apply the formula by setting an intention to become humorous, finding a high-yield technique (like a visualization explained in an episode), and committing to daily practice. Example in Business - Marketing: Set an intention to improve marketing, identify an impactful technique such as optimizing newsletter structure, and commit to writing promotional content daily. Incrementality of High-Yield Techniques: Such techniques could lead to small initial improvements but, accumulated over time, result in substantial progress. Example in Relationships: With an intention for a loving relationship, a high-yield technique might be daily expressions of appreciation, committed to unconditionally. Planning and Execution: Set a detailed plan on when and how to express appreciation daily to your partner, ensuring it's integrated into the routine with full commitment. Developing Appreciation in Relationships: To enhance a relationship, plan to express appreciation for your partner daily, improve communication skills, and commit to this action, anticipating significant improvements over months. Effective Learning at School: Commit to the simple, yet powerful, technique of reading the textbook and taking notes daily, persisting for a year to excel in academics, or alternatively utilize methods like new note-taking techniques or mnemonic devices consistently. Building Confidence through Eye Contact: For boosting confidence, practice deliberate strong eye contact in various social interactions daily, and observe confidence growing incrementally over a period of months. Deliberate Practice Principle: Deliberate practice involves repeatedly performing a skill correctly until mastery is achieved, as seen in musicians refining a piece of music note by note, which underpins the effectiveness of the 3-step formula. Application Across High-Yield Techniques: By applying the formula across different areas and self-actualization efforts, and considering the high-yield techniques provided by Leo, significant life improvements can be realized. Worldly Distractions and Focus: Vigilance is necessary to maintain focus and not be distracted by a world full of attention-seeking activities; recommitting to intentions daily is crucial. Resources for Continuous Growth: Utilizing self-actualization resources like newsletters, courses, book lists, and a community forum can help maintain commitment to improving one's life and achieving excellence through structured and deliberate practice. Legilimens

The Benefits Of Enlightenment https://youtu.be/YfMqtrbjiMs Benefits of Talking about Enlightenment: Discussing enlightenment is necessary because it's often misunderstood as an abstract, philosophical concept with no practical application in life. Leo recognizes this and wants to communicate a list of pragmatic benefits to get people's egos on board and to present enlightenment as an overarching strategy for life. Enlightenment Defined: Enlightenment is the realization of one's existential nature, which is not the body, mind, or neuronal activity. It's a state of union with all of reality, essentially an omnipresent field of pure awareness, outside of time and space, and not localized in physical form. Massive Reduction in Suffering: Enlightenment leads to a significant reduction in suffering on both large (like health, wealth, family issues) and small scales (day-to-day frustrations and discomfort), which are seen as unnecessary and a result of identifying with the body and mind. Freedom from Mental Distress: It allows one to be free from constant worry, fear, and anxiety about various aspects of life, thereby reducing a large amount of mental energy typically spent on emotional distress. Liberation from Fear of Death: Understanding that one is not the body or the mind leads to the realization that the concept of death is simply a belief, which becomes meaningless post-enlightenment. End to Chronic Overthinking: Enlightenment enables one to stop overanalyzing situations unnecessarily, fostering the ability to be mentally present and enjoy each moment fully without constant thought interference. Immunity to Intense Negative Emotions: Post-enlightenment, individuals become less influenced by heavy emotions like deep sadness, anger, or loneliness, which can still occur but won't overwhelm as they used to. Elimination of Addictive and Compulsive Behaviors: Enlightenment can lead to the cessation of both hard addictions and softer emotional dependencies, as well as self-sabotaging tendencies and compulsive behaviors, promoting healthier living. Freedom from Self-Obsession: An end to the obsession with self-image is possible through enlightenment, reducing stress over one's appearance and how others perceive them. Ceasing Life's Striving and Obsessions: Enlightenment can stop the neurotic striving for love, money, power, and status, leading to lifelong contentment and fulfillment without external acquisitions. Dissolving Loneliness and Neediness: Feelings of loneliness and neediness are seen as illusions with enlightenment, stripping away their influence and revealing them as ego-centric concerns. Cure for Neuroses: A wide array of neuroses, including depression, anxiety, negative and compulsive thoughts, can be eradicated, leading to a healthier mental state. Increased Physical Energy and Less Need for Sleep: By removing mental stress and worry, enlightenment frees up energy, allowing for increased productivity and less sleep required—potentially reducing the average sleep time significantly. Foundation for True Self-Actualization: Enlightenment marks the start of authentic personal development, providing a vital existential understanding critical for implementing advanced self-improvement concepts and techniques. Self-Actualization as a Lifelong Journey: Reaching enlightenment isn't the end goal but the commencement of an enduring journey of self-actualization, requiring ongoing dedication and exploration of various stages of spiritual awakening. Transformation of Life Post-Enlightenment: Enlightenment opens up the opportunity for profound life transformation, allowing changes in personality, career, and relationships that were previously limited by one's identity. Dealing with Chronic Pain: As age increases, chronic pain can become a significant issue; enlightenment offers a tool to manage and potentially reduce the suffering caused by chronic pain. Resourceful Handling of Disasters: Enlightenment equips individuals with the ability to coast through life's disasters, such as the death of a loved one or financial crises, with composure and resourcefulness, avoiding the common spiral into depression and anxiety. Reconnection with Bodily Sensations: Modern living often leads to a disconnection from our bodies; enlightenment helps to reestablish this connection, relieving stress and restoring the natural joy and vitality experienced during childhood. Improved Health and Longevity: Studies on advanced meditators suggest that enlightenment contributes to a longer life and better health due to a healthier mental environment, which positively influences the body through the mind-body connection. Deep Self-Acceptance and Love: Enlightenment provides the platform for profound self-acceptance and self-love by dismantling the ego, allowing individuals to truly love and accept themselves unconditionally. Experience of True Unconditional Love: By transcending the illusion of separate individuality, enlightenment enables a person to love all of reality without conditions, in a way that is non-needy and powerfully transformative. Authentic Relationships through Enlightenment: Authentic, non-needy and non-manipulative relationships become possible through enlightenment, as it entails a true understanding of oneself and others on a deep existential level. Immunity to Existential Crises: Enlightenment grants immunity to existential crises, including midlife crises, by resolving the false sense of ego and providing insight into the nature of existence. Deepest Comprehension of Existence: Those seeking the ultimate truth will find it through enlightenment, which offers the deepest understanding of reality, beyond what can be accessed through knowledge or logic. No Regrets at Death: Living in enlightened presence ensures that one can face death without regrets, having spent a life authentically connected to being rather than caught in constant doing. Positive Approach Towards society and Humanity: Enlightenment fosters a healthier and more beneficial relationship with society, humanity, and the world, reducing dysfunctionality and encouraging positive change. Honest and Ethical Behavior: Individuals who achieve enlightenment exhibit increased honesty and ethical conduct in their interactions, contributing to societal improvement. Prevention of Global Catastrophes: Addressing the risk of annihilation due to technological advancements outpacing emotional and psychological growth, enlightenment is key to preventing future global disasters. Return to Childhood Effortlessness and Satisfaction: Enlightenment rekindles the effortless satisfaction of childhood, where life is experienced as a continuous flow, enabling a permanent state of presence and joy. Cost of Enlightenment: To gain the profound benefits of enlightenment, one must be willing to pay the highest price: giving up one's entire sense of identity, ego, and deeply held beliefs, including the love for personal successes and relationships. It requires letting go of the physical sense of self and surrendering the fiction that one is a localized consciousness within a body. Destruction of Identity: Enlightenment will bestow numerous benefits but will simultaneously obliterate one's sense of identity, revealing life as inherently meaningless, all perceived truths as falsehoods, moral judgments as fictions, and the entire concept of the self as an illusion. Benefits as a Deception: Discussing the benefits of enlightenment is potentially misleading, as it suggests there are tangible advantages to be gained, which feeds into the ego's narrative. In reality, there are no actual benefits, nor is there a self that could be improved or enhanced by enlightenment. Strategic Deception of the Ego: The mention of benefits is a strategic deception to trick the ego, which only understands self-centered language, into embarking on a path that ultimately leads to its own undoing. The process of enlightenment may be framed in egoic terms to leverage the ego's motivations against itself until it's 'too late,' but in truth, the ego does not actually exist. The Paradox of Enlightenment: While enlightenment may seem to embrace nihilistic concepts such as meaninglessness and the absence of self, it is paradoxically presented as the most desirable pursuit available to humans. True life, full of joy and splendor, only begins post-enlightenment despite pre-enlightenment life seemingly adequate. The Stupidity Barrier: Most individuals fail to fully grasp enlightenment due to a lack of wisdom, which leads to inaction and falling back into old routines despite understanding the concepts intellectually. Overcoming this 'stupidity' requires strategic life approaches that focus on wisdom and existential discovery. Struggle for Real Life: The journey toward enlightenment is a struggle against complacency and the illusion of comfort within one's current life, which is compared to dwelling in hell without recognizing the potential heaven that lies beyond. Wisdom Versus Material Success: Leo stresses that enlightenment should be viewed as the ultimate goal in life, not just a passing interest. He beseeches listeners to prioritize existential understanding over material success, which fails to improve the genuine quality of life despite appearing to do so. Staying on the Enlightenment Path: Actualize.org is emphasized as a crucial resource to stay dedicated to the path of enlightenment, offering newsletters, courses, and community support to keep individuals on track, especially when the journey becomes challenging and the commitment wavers. Petrificus Totalus

The Power Of Self Acceptance - How To Stop Beating Yourself Up https://youtu.be/GcNGtZPPSS8 Self-acceptance misconceived as 'feminine': Leo highlights the misconception of self-acceptance as weak, particularly by men, and emphasizes its importance in the spectrum of personal development strategies. Self-acceptance for deeper results: Leo proposes that self-acceptance brings more profound results than external achievements, like those at the gym or in business, by promoting inner growth. Resistance to inner 'sins': Leo describes our natural tendency to resist and hide negative traits or 'sins' such as anger and jealousy. This resistance causes internal fragmentation and disintegration. Integrating conflicting aspects: He suggests that to become well-rounded, an individual must integrate the different, often conflicting parts of their personality, instead of opting for brute force action-oriented solutions. 'Loving your sins to death': Rather than condemning negative aspects, Leo advises to embrace and love them, which can disarm and transform these traits. Self-acceptance vs. Achievement Paradox: Addressing concerns that self-acceptance negates motivation, Leo clarifies that it fosters authentic motivation, as opposed to neurotic motivation fueled by self-rejection. Guided visualization to practice self-acceptance: Leo provides a visualization exercise, asking listeners to relax, close their eyes, and bring a feeling of love independent of its source, and then direct this love towards various parts of themselves, especially the negative or conflicted parts. Loving the aspect of self that hurts others: Acknowledge the part that is capable of causing pain to others and offer it love and compassion. Accepting the critical and judgmental self: Recognize and love the part of oneself that is critical and judgmental, even when resistance to this love is felt. Compassion for financial struggles: Send love and acceptance to the part of oneself that has had difficulty managing finances, treating it as compassionately as one would a child or beloved pet. Embracing past embarrassments: Offer love and acceptance to the part that has felt embarrassment without reservations or judgment. Loving the mistake-maker within: Unconditionally love the part of oneself that makes mistakes, acknowledging the humanity in messing up. Accepting procrastination and laziness: Infuse the parts that procrastinate or act lazily with understanding and compassion. Addressing internal fears: Give love to the part of oneself that experiences fear, accepting this feeling with compassion. Nurturing the needy self: Love the part that feels needy, whether for love, security, or success, giving it understanding and compassion. Accepting one's own hypocrisy: Offer love to the hypocritical part of oneself that doesn't always practice what it preaches. Loving one's appearance unconditionally: Give unconditional love to the part that dislikes its physical appearance, fostering self-compassion. Supporting the lost aspect of self: Provide love to the part that feels lost or uncertain, assuring it with understanding and compassion. Comforting sexual frustration: Send love and acceptance to the part that feels sexually frustrated, without judgment. Caring for career and work struggles: Offer love and compassion to the part facing career challenges or work dissatisfaction. Addressing relationship issues with love: Extend love and compassion to the aspect that struggles in relationships, acknowledging the complexity of these interactions. Compassion for family issues: Direct love and full compassion to the part that is dealing with persistent family problems. Loving the part with addictions and bad habits: Unconditionally love the part responsible for addictions and habits, understanding its challenges. Boosting the self with low confidence: Send love and compassion to the part of oneself that feels shy or lacks confidence in social settings. Comforting the self faced with misfortune: Share love and compassion with the part that encounters bad luck or misfortune, without disliking this experience. Healing jealousy with love: Offer love and understanding to the part that becomes jealous or envious. Acceptance for overeating tendencies: Provide unconditional love to the part that overeats, releasing guilt and shame with understanding. Understanding to dogmatic beliefs: Love the dogmatic part that clings to beliefs, offering compassion and willingness to understand. Accepting the selfish and narcissistic parts: Give love to the selfish and narcissistic aspects, helping to heal these tendencies with compassion. Integrating all personal aspects with love: In a centered state, tie all these parts together with love, recognizing them as components of one's whole self. Reflecting on the non-judgmental nature of existence: Understand that existence does not judge our actions, and offers unconditional love, which one should mirror towards oneself. Practical application of self-acceptance in daily life: Continually practice self-acceptance and compassion, especially in moments of dissatisfaction, to transform one's approach toward personal shortcomings. Loving 'sins' to dissolve challenges: Accept and love personal flaws to naturally soften and dissolve them over time, rather than fighting against them. Persistence and revisiting teachings for lasting change: Maintain consistent practice, and revisit these teachings to strengthen the habit of self-acceptance for personal growth. Deep concepts for self-actualization: Leo concludes by affirming that his teachings are deeply rooted principles aimed at profound life changes, further than mere self-improvement tactics. Encouragement for viewer engagement: Leo invites viewers to engage with the content by liking, sharing, commenting, and subscribing for weekly updates to aid in long-term personal transformation. Reducto

Why Rationality Is WRONG! - A Critique Of Rationalism https://youtu.be/iaV6S45AD1w Leo's Enthusiasm for Critiquing Rationalism: Leo expresses excitement about discussing the limitations of rationalism, which has been a personal research interest for years. He indicates an intent to write a book on the topic. Rationalism and Naive Realism: Rationalism, inherently linked with naive realism, posits that the world is objective and can be understood through rigorous scientific exploration and rational thinking. Leo criticizes this stance, explaining that while it may serve certain practical functions, it fails to recognize the fundamental boundaries of rational understanding. Rationality as a Subset of Reality: Leo makes a case that rationality represents only a small fraction of reality. Rationality is a distinctively human construct, dependent upon human minds and not a universal feature. Leo challenges the assumption that the universe operates rationally, proposing instead that the universe is a-rational – without the inherent influence of human rationality. Existence vs. Rationality: Leo argues that existence is independent of rationality or logic – it simply is. He reasons that existence must precede logic, as logic depends on the prior existence of a conscious entity to engage in logical thought. The Limits of Rationality in Empirical Facts: Leo stresses that raw empirical facts, such as the color of snow or the existence of the sun, do not depend on rationality. Rationality is a lens through which humans try to make sense of empirical facts, but it is not inherent in the existence of these facts. Science as a Human Projection: Leo criticizes the notion that through science, humans can uncover deep existential truths. He states that scientific models and laws are human constructs projected onto the universe, not direct insights into its nature, and cautions against confusing these constructs with reality itself. Mental Labels and the Conceptual Matrix: He explains that the models, labels, and images we construct in our minds form a "conceptual matrix" that is mistaken for reality. Leo warns that while successful in making predictions, these models should not be conflated with a true understanding of the universe. Thinking and Logic as Language: Leo points out that logic and rationality are part of language, with its own complexities and limitations. He implies that there is a need to be cautious when using science and rationality, emphasizing the importance of recognizing their role as interpretive tools rather than definitive unveilers of truth. Symbols and Language: Language operates on symbols, which can disconnect from their real-world counterparts through intricate systems of thought, creating a mental labyrinth easily mistaken for reality. Awareness of the distinction between the symbol and the actual object is critical to avoid this trap. Map-Territory Fallacy: It's easy for people to confuse mental constructs (maps) with reality (territory), failing to realize that no matter how detailed, maps are just symbolic representations. This mistake can affect all areas of life, leading to defensiveness when challenged. Thought vs. Awareness: Rationalists often conflate thought with awareness, not recognizing that thought is just a series of internal mental symbols and images. Awareness, which is primary to thought, exists independently and is the medium through which all experiences pass, including thoughts themselves. Awareness as the Master: Developing awareness, unlike enhancing thinking skills, requires silencing the incessant mental chatter. Increased awareness brings a much higher level of understanding and realization that thoughts are mere symbols, not existential truths. Awareness Development: Leo emphasizes the potential for exponentially increasing awareness, paralleling it with the enhancing power of a microscope that reveals unseen details. This expanded awareness transcends the confines of rational thought and opens up previously unimaginable realms of experience. Distinctions Made by Rationalists: Rationalists usually fail to distinguish between irrational (poor thinking) and a-rational (beyond the scope of rationality), which leads to dismissive attitudes towards non-rational ways of knowing and experiencing the world. Limits of Logic: Rationalists overestimate the power of logic, which in truth cannot prove anything on its own. Logic relies on premises that are often unverified and taken on faith, suggesting that the premises, rather than the logic applied to them, should be scrutinized. Raising Rationality to Post-rationality: Leo proposes a transition from rationality to post-rationality, not by abandoning rationality, but by transcending its limitations to improve overall life quality through emotional intelligence and the development of awareness. Rational Premises Founding Rationality: Rationality is based on premises that are fundamentally irrational. To understand rationality, one must question the very grounds it stands on and realize that the laws of rationality themselves are derived from irrational foundations. Overvaluation of Reason in Daily Life: Rationalists often mistakenly believe that reasoning through problems in isolation from the world is an effective way to live. Leo suggests that life is messier and actually driven by emotions, not logic. Emotion-Driven Behavior: Most human behaviors—such as responding to basic needs like hunger or major life decisions like marriage—are driven by emotion rather than logic, even if they might appear to be rationally considered. Rationalists' Disconnection from Emotion: Leo observes that highly rational people often display a detachment from their bodies and emotions, mistaking emotional repression as a form of rational strength, when it is in fact a limitation to becoming a fully realized human. Irony in Rationalists' Defensiveness: There is an ironic emotional investment in rationalism amongst its staunchest advocates. Rationalists often react emotionally and defensively to anything that contradicts their worldview, mirroring the behavior they criticize in religious fundamentalists. The Ego's Influence on Rational Thinking: Rationalists fail to acknowledge the impact of ego and psychological biases on rational thought, leading to closed-mindedness and a lack of personal life mastery in areas such as relationships, health, and self-awareness. Confusion of Post-rationalism with Pre-rationalism: Rationalists often mistakenly equate post-rational thinkers with pre-rational or religious thinkers, creating a false dichotomy and hindering progress towards a more holistic understanding of reality. Inability to Master Personal Life with Rationality Alone: Rational thinkers often struggle in mastering their personal lives because they discount the importance of emotion and awareness, which are key for managing relationships, emotions, and engaging in personal development. Undervaluing Key Areas of Study: Leo criticizes rationalists for not deeply engaging in studies like epistemology, philosophy of science, non-duality, psychology, and meditation, which are crucial for practical understanding and personal growth beyond theoretical knowledge. Indoctrination of Rationalism: Rationalists are ideologically indoctrinated in the same manner as religious followers, with the psychological mechanisms of belief being the same, only differing in content. This indoctrination blinds them to the need for heightened awareness. The Matrix Analogy: Leo uses the analogy of the Matrix to explain that mastering the laws within a limited construct (like the Matrix) does not equate to understanding the illusion of the construct itself, thus reinforcing the importance of awareness beyond rational constructs. Matrix Analogy for Awareness: Leo uses the matrix analogy to suggest scientists are often so immersed in their rational theories and achievements that they fail to see they are in an illusory construct, similar to the Matrix movie. They use the construct (the Matrix) to study itself, without recognizing the possibility of something beyond it. Awareness as the Escape: He emphasizes that awareness is the only way to escape the mental prison of the Matrix. Without awareness, individuals remain lost in concepts and mental justifications without realizing the potential for something greater. Thinking's Influence Overrated: Leo argues that rational thinkers place too much importance on thought, which he considers a trap. Thought reinforces itself in a circular pattern without truly grasping reality; an awareness is necessary to break out of this self-reinforcing cycle. Contradiction as a Construct of Mind: He questions the problem rationalists have with contradictions. Leo believes contradictions only exist within the mental constructs and languages we create, not in reality. Reality remains unaffected by our mental gymnastics and the symbols we use to describe it. Post-Rational Perspective on Contradiction: From a post-rational perspective, Leo states, contradictions are not actual problems but merely issues with the models we use to understand reality. He highlights that models are not the territory; they are approximations, not reality itself. Limitation of Models: He critiques the belief in models representing reality accurately, cautioning that a model's precision can lead to mistaking it for reality. Reality cannot be fully encapsulated by models, for they are simplifications for human use, not the truth. Awareness and Truth vs. Models and Practicality: In contrast to the belief that models reflect truth because they work (a belief held by many scientists), Leo emphasizes that the most accurate representation of reality is reality itself. He encourages thinking critically about models and building up awareness to realize the limitations of our rational constructs. Post-Rational Communication: Leo acknowledges he uses rational language and models to communicate because it's the common language understood by most people. However, he hints at the existence of a reality beyond the 'matrix' of models, suggesting an invitation to expand one's awareness and embrace post-rationalism. Exiting the 'Matrix': Leo discusses that even though one may continue to operate within the confines of rational language and thought (the 'Matrix'), it is possible to sense that there might be a higher level of understanding beyond this. By reading between the lines, one can intuit the existence of something beyond and consider the validity of post-rationalism, which is about becoming more in touch with the body, emotions, and raising awareness towards spiritual work and non-dual consciousness, ultimately leading to enlightenment. Understanding Post-Rationalism: Post-rationalism involves a deeper connection with emotions and body, as well as a significant increase in awareness. It's described as a key component of spiritual growth and enlightenment, where the self and thoughts are understood as illusions, and the idea of external physical reality is seen as merely a conceptual construct. The Nature of Transcending Rationalism: Leo clarifies that advancing from rationality to post-rationalism should not be viewed as regression. It might initially feel like a step backwards due to fear, but it's about transcending and including rationality. He describes his personal journey of becoming post-rational — still capable of rational discourse, yet internally recognizing the limitations and insignificance of mere symbols. Post-Rationalism in Personal Life: Leo emphasizes how post-rational thinking positively impacts various aspects of life, such as relationships, career, and emotions. He advocates for detachment from dogmatic thought and encourages a rich, fulfilling life that includes mastery over emotions, creativity, and transcending the ego. The Practicality of Post-Rationalism: Leo explains that although the discussion may seem philosophical, it is intimately connected to personal development. By letting go of an over-attachment to rationality, one can improve the quality of life across various domains including confidence, beliefs about money and business, and overall satisfaction. Overcoming Rationalist Dogmatism: He critiques rationalists for becoming dogmatic, resistant to new learning, and thinking they are superior due to their rationality. Leo's goal is to reveal powerful personal discoveries that can be made through a more open-minded, empirical approach to science and skepticism, ultimately leading to enlightenment and mastery in life. The Direction for Society's Future: Leo warns against the dangers of extreme rationalism, materialism, and scientism potentially leading to the extinction of the human race. He calls for shedding excess rationalism to attain higher levels of emotions, intuition, empathy, compassion, and consciousness, which are tangible and critical for societal progress. Integrating Science with Humanity: He advocates for a more humane science that serves humanity rather than corporate interests. By combining science with empathy and compassion, a new and improved direction for society could be achieved, moving beyond the current limitations and coldness of the existing scientific paradigm. Call to Action for Personal Growth: Leo invites viewers to engage with his content for personal transformation and fulfillment. He expresses his commitment to reaching advanced stages of growth and encourages others to join him in breaking old paradigms to embrace a happier life through consistent learning and self-actualization. Imperio

How To Be A Strategic Motherfucker - The 7 Pillars Of Strategic Thinking https://youtu.be/4oVrMpvtU8c Strategic Thinking Importance: Leo highlights strategic thinking as the difference between a successful life and one that is unsatisfactory. He cites a course by Stanley Ridley on strategic theory from military to sports as a rich source of insights that are applicable to personal self-actualization. The History of Strategic Studies: The long history of strategic studies in military, business, and sports, where competition, concrete results, and high stakes are prevalent, provides valuable lessons that can be applied to personal life. Self as the Competitor in Self-Actualization: Leo proposes an internal competition between a person's lower self and higher self, emphasizing the need for strategizing against one's own self-deceptive tendencies and inner conflicts. Struggles from Lack of Strategy: He observes that most people’s lives are filled with routine struggles, repeating the same issues due to a lack of strategic thinking and planning. Definition of Strategic Thinking: Strategic thinking is defined through various quotes as setting long-range goals based on careful assessment, deeply considering the future, crafting methods to achieve desired outcomes, studying competition, and responding to changing environments. Commitment to Self-Actualization Strategy: Leo urges the viewer to see strategizing for self-actualization as a primary focus of life, spending substantial time planning and adjusting personal habits to achieve this end. Common Strategic Blunders: Leo lists typical strategic errors like getting married too young, neglecting education or self-improvement, being seduced by immediate success, and failing to consider strategic factors in personal life choices. Failure in Micro and Macro Thinking: Many people lack the skill to switch between big-picture thinking and detail-oriented planning, resulting in either abstract daydreaming without action or getting lost in minutiae without a clear goal. Problem with Immediate Gratification: Leo emphasizes that failure in delay gratification leads to poor strategy formation, as marketing exploits this weakness, whereas true value in life is earned through delayed gratification and strategic effort. Unawareness of Life's Cul-de-Sacs: A lack of foresight into life's pitfalls, traps, and risks is a significant strategic failure, highlighting the importance of recognizing and planning for these issues. Intellect and Information Gathering Deficit: Leo stresses the importance of intelligence gathering in various life areas such as career, relationships, self-improvement, arguing that without comprehensive intel, one's strategy is significantly weakened. Lack of long-range decision-making: Leo points out that important long-term strategic decisions cannot be made without sufficient intelligence, implying that most people suffer from a lack of self-awareness, hindering their strategic capabilities. Consequences of overcompensation: He observes that people neurotically overcompensate for their issues, leading to a slew of strategic problems, much like a reactive rather than proactive general on the battlefield. Chasing short-term gains: Leo criticizes the tendency to chase smaller, immediate rewards rather than evaluating and prioritizing outcomes for larger, more significant prizes. Obliviousness to social and business traps: He warns against being blind to the various traps laid by society and business, which are often designed to profit at the individual's expense and hamper personal growth and self-actualization. Neglecting strategy in personal life: Discussion about the lack of strategic thought given to personal life decisions, noting that most people invest zero time per week in strategizing, much like a general who doesn't plan his military campaigns. Failure to address root causes: Leo calls out the common mistake of not addressing problems at their root, resulting in recurring issues instead of permanent solutions. Neglecting resource development: He stresses the importance of investing time to develop strategic resources necessary for achieving life goals, comparing it to a general who prepares thoroughly for battle. Overview of the seven pillars of strategic thinking: Leo summarizes strategic thinking into seven pillars: strategic intent, analysis, preparation, concentration of force, execution, adaptability, and the study of principles. Defining strategic intent: Emphasizing the first pillar, strategic intent, Leo describes it as a clear vision of the desired outcome that dictates all actions and steps towards achieving it. Detailing strategic analysis: The second pillar, strategic analysis, involves assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and efficiently allocating resources like time and energy towards achieving strategic intent. Incorporating Competitor Responses: Leo discusses the need to anticipate and incorporate responses from competitors into one's strategy. In self-actualization, the 'competitor' is oneself, including the ego and lower self. He underscores the importance of being aware of how one's subconscious might resist or sabotage personal growth. Strategic Preparation Revisited: Strategic preparation is likened to a general equipping his troops for battle. It entails building strategic reserves and laying groundwork, not just making tactical battlefield decisions. This includes thorough training, hard work, discipline, sound planning, and the development of unique capabilities. Concentration of Force Principle: Leo explains the military principle of concentrating force at a decisive point to achieve breakthroughs. He applies this to personal life, questioning how one concentrates time, energy, money, and attention, and whether they're directed toward the most impactful areas. Detailed Execution Importance: Leo emphasizes that both a great plan and great execution are required to succeed. He refers to his dedicated study on execution and unwiring bad habits to improve his efficacy in this area, encouraging others to do the same. Adaptability in Strategy: Strategy, according to Leo, involves flexibility and the willingness to adapt when external conditions change. He criticizes rigidity and promotes planning with contingencies, using the evolution of PayPal's business model as an example of successful adaptability. Study of Principles: The final pillar Leo discusses is the study of principles to shape one's thinking. He calls for deep immersion in the principles of life and self-actualization to allow for genius insights, encouraging a rigorous study of principles rather than a superficial understanding. Lifelong Study of Self-Actualization: Leo encourages viewers to be excited about learning self-actualization principles, suggesting it should be a continuous, life-long process. Self-Perception as a "Strategic Motherfucker": Leo invites viewers to adopt an attitude of being strategic in every action and maintaining a larger purpose for each life decision. Early Strategic Thinking: Leo shares that since childhood, he has always thought strategically about his life, from his career to his eventual retirement. Current Strategic Intent of Becoming a Yogi: Leo's current personal life goal is to become a yogi, which he views as the ultimate expression of living wisely after understanding the principles of life. Preparation for Yogi Lifestyle: He discusses the necessity of tactical decisions and adjustments in various areas of life like business, relationships, and diet to support his intended yogi lifestyle. Strategic Thinking in Personal and Spiritual Life: Leo stresses the importance of strategic thinking beyond business and money, highlighting its relevance in personal growth, relationships, and spiritual endeavors. Ultimate Life Strategic Intent: Leo expresses that his ultimate strategy is to live his life in such a way that, when he is on his deathbed, he can look back without regrets and feel proud of how he lived. Actualized.org Promotion: At the end of the segment, Leo promotes his website, Actualized.org, as a resource for individuals seeking a strategic approach to life and encourages viewers to commit to regular learning through his videos. Obliviate