Ayham

@ardacigin hey, it is you! I love the dedication I see in your posts (along with @Consilience) this seems useful to do. also I have some questions if you will. I have been meditating for 7 months right now, I have missed very few days, at first 20 minutes was hard, now I can do 35 minutes (a bit hard). since the first session, I started seeing effects like: Super vivid colors, tingling in my body , hand shaking, laughing for no reason, feeling calm, other people telling me my face looks brighter (idk if this is related lol), and when I started I did Shinzen Young noting technique, and continued with it. these effects continued to get stronger for 4 months, until they disappeared? I am trying to not be attached to these states, but my practice has clearly went downhill, 25 minutes got hard to do. 1. I continued increasing, and struggling to sit the whole duration, And now I am struggling with 35 minutes, I find it hard to sit the whole time without moving, how do I increase the time effectively in your experience? 2. two weeks ago, I decided to switch from Shinzen to TMI, because I think I need to develop my focus doing focus technique first, even though currently I can focus during noting, so my plan is to continue with TMI, and whenever I reach access concentration during my session, I switch to Shinzen noting, so how do I know when I reach access concentration? 3. In TMI book, it says that you can go through the stages with Shinzen young system, does this work in your experience? since noting is a vipassana technique. 4. the effects I used to get from meditation rarely happen now, or when they happen they are weak, what is the reason for this?

well I remember getting into new age spirituality when I was 12, but I used to not go deep because I was Muslim and I thought there is something "haram" I am doing, so it probably does resonate with me. and hey! these are some cool names, I barely know two names, I am saving these names to my commonplace book, will research them. thanks.

well, that seems true, I think turning inwards is the best solution, relying on spiritual teachers to give answers is probably the reason this happened. Right, Spiral dynamics! this reminds me of the episode "awareness alone is curative" and that technique works in my experience, cool, I like this. yo I like this analogy. I have not seen that episode, but I will do something else, instead of watching it from Leo, I will go research the thing from another source, I consumed too much Leo and I trust what he says too much. Thank you very much for your informative answer sir. so. to conclude, I think, for me this forum has been unhealthy, and over relying on Leo too, so, what I will do right now is bookmark my journal on this forum, and open only the journal, this forum is not much different from social media, at least for me. and Leo too, I watched the videos on the start here section, and I think that is enough, I am doing the practices, but still, I think books and contemplation are enough for theory right now, so I will do a theory detox, then at some point I might return, but it will be with lots of sources instead, which was what I used to do until Leo came, since his videos are very holistic they trick you to think you do not need other sources.

Wake up cold shower (used to, but here in summer there is no cold water so, currently i don't do that) Meditation for 30 minutes (working my way up to an hour) Healthy breakfast Reading for 30 minutes

it is this time of the day. today I was frustrated cuz I woke up at 12 pm, so yes. also no physics today since i decided I wont study Thursdays and Fridays. Life Purpose well, I download GIMP, did not know how to use it, figured it out, collected shit ton of images, will organize them into a thing tomorrow, I will share my vision board here tomorrow. Diet clean. Reading I read like a chapter of the big leap. today I also continued with the mind illuminated. Meditation so, I did only 20 minutes, mainly because I was hurried since I woke up late. also I am thinking, what stage of TMI do you reach access concentration, I think when I reach that stage, I will add Shinzen noting meditation back, but it will be a combined thing, so I would start the session with TMI, until I reach access concentration, and when I do reach access concentration, I switch to noting, that means I would keep developing my concentration, but at the same time do noting, but that means I need a way to be able to reach access concentration within each session, which means I need advanced levels in TMI, so..... idk. I will keep this idea, will see where it goes.

yeah it is sneaky, I just read through this article. self reflection seems similar to contemplation but more practical, I think this journal is a form of self reflection, I will also do it when making weekly schedule on Saturdays. well I don't know about those, but I downloaded something called GIMP, its good, free, and open source.

AHAAHAHAHAHAH, this keeps getting better and better, i love this stuff so much. today I finished my contemplation tools (i have these small yellow papers, that are put in like a stack notebook you can pull from) so I got the bigger version after coming back from the gym. hmmm, what else, oh yeah. I realized I am starting to turn these spiritual stuff into dogma and ideology, and I don't know how to not do that, I will add that to my contemplation list. Life Purpose well I tried making a vision board, i was trying to download abode photoshop cracked but internet sucks so it starts downloading then stops midway, even when I use IDM. Diet clean. Reading did not read a lot, only introduction of big leap. Meditation my technique worked! I sat the whole time, i thought: its probably 25 minutes in now, then i heard the goddamn bell, its been 35 minutes! but my focus was weird, it would get so deep for like 30 seconds, like sooo deep, like everything other than the breath disappears from existence, then after 30 seconds or so i get sucked back in to distraction for like 2 minutes or even more. i also spent the whole day in spiritual bliss, and yeah I'm trying not to get attached to it. Physics watched meditation videos instead, F, BUT I WONT GIVE UP, I WILL DEVELOP GODLY WORK ETHIC. Gym yo, so currently I go each other day, i decided to make more structure into my routine, i would go the first day on Sunday, second day on Tuesday and third on Thursday. and in between them I will go do HIIT on the treadmill (Monday and Wednesday)

Motivational Speech - Oct 2021 This video is like an intervention to a drug addict. You are the drug addict. The problem of motivation comes from a lack of spiritual connection you exist, and you do not appreciate this gift of existence, honor it. You picked up the habit of complacency and taking the miracle of life for granted from those around you who are sleep walking through life, living for survival. Complacency is our biggest problem today Because life and survival have become too easy in first world countries, you take it for granted. It's too easy to distract yourself with entertainment for years without going after your vision, or not even having a vision. Be deeply conscious of the gift of life. This will make you realize that there's only one thing to do in life: honor the gift of life as much as you can humanly stomach. Realize that this is your duty to the universe. This life is more difficult than going through the path of least resistance, but that doesn’t matter when you want to honor life and take on all its challenges. Figure what will make you fully engaged with life, what can you really believe in? that’s what you should do every day. Don’t make excuses. As long as you have the vision, it will unfold. Cut through all the bullshit, all the limiting beliefs. Don’t get caught up in the details, it does not matter if you know how, or if it is impossible. You can use the internet to build skills and solve problems. Be willing to do whatever it takes. All the problem you face can be solved with: vision, clarity, focus and hard work. You need to develop a work ethic. Enjoy yourself on the process. The core of the work you are doing must be built on something you enjoy doing. Figure that out, what facet of reality fascinates you? Once you figure it out, all you have to do is keep working on it. Its gonna take years. Build your skills. Inner game and outer game. Expose yourself to experience, test the waters. Traveling. Reading books. Going to conventions. Talking to different types of people. Doing lots of research online. Etc. If you really fell in love with life and you worked towards it you would not have problems with paying your bills or feeding your children. You would have skills that provide real value for the world. To provide real value you must be in love with your work. There are two types of video games: Linear games: for sheep gamers, requires no vision. Sandbox games: hardcore, there is no clear objective, you create your own, you need vision. Linear games are not fun to play with again, what's the point of playing through the same thing again? Sandbox games are open-ended with endless possibilities. Life is a sandbox game. Because it is so open ended, nobody is telling you what to do, so you need to create your own objectives. Go your own path Other people have created corridors which they lead other people in for money (academia, religions, business, etc.). These are easy, mechanical and not fulfilling, but you can go your own path, creating your own rules and experiencing life for what it is. Don’t get influenced too much by others. Customize your life to suit you, but that needs vision, seriousness, and work. Nobody is stopping you but yourself. Your limiting beliefs. Your lack of vision. Your complacency. Start today, even if you wasted a lot of time. Life becomes shitty when you are not living according to principles. And becomes great when you live according to principles. Some principles: The pursuit of love for life is not a luxury, it is the core. You cannot have a great life without work ethic. Facing your fears. You are going to get from life what you put into it. Be constructive rather than destructive. Don’t take these as dogma, think through them and see them. You will fail a lot, but no matter what keep going back to the principles, eventually they will become ingrained in your psyche, and they will snowball. What you do has no ultimate meaning. It is a game, it is your way of expressing your love for reality. Don’t confuse your work with the subtotal of reality. Your spiritual work will help in this. Do not take life too seriously. Just like playing monopoly, it does not matter in the real world, but you still play as if it matters, you still try to win, but in the back of your mind, you know it is a game. Don’t forget that it is a game. Appreciate that not everyone is playing the game your way. Take action. Make the principles the core of your life It will be hard at first. If you do not take action, since you know about this, you will carry a burden, that is the burden of being aware of what you are missing. Don’t complicate it. Commit and refuse to live a passionless life. Disconnect from the harmful social activities that you are immersed in. It could be media. It could be tv. It could be the wrong type of food that you eat. It could be your family situation. It could be your friends It could be your trolling. If you can't follow through and you are easily distracted: It does not matter how many times you fail. Keep trying. Notice the deceptive nature of your mind. Be aware of your limiting beliefs. Example: your mind tells you that you can't lost weight, you have tried so much, but you keep failing, tell yourself that despite that, you will still go to the gym. Trying and failing is better than not trying. Do not over intellectualize, sometimes, even if you do not know the right action, you still need to take action You will get feedback from doing the right things, so continue on those. Your self-esteem will grow from growing your self-efficacy. What you need : Discipline Principles Independence of mind Strong work ethic Focus Solitude All sorts of opportunities will come as you do this. Random stuff will happen that will reveal what you need to do to move forward. If you are looking for it. You might be listening to the radio and you hear about seminars being held in your city about something you need. Trust that the universe will help you in this process, when you align yourself with the right principles, when you are asking questions, when you are doing spiritual practices, when you align yourself with love, when you are taking action, when you are contemplating, etc. Have faith Not religious faith. Faith in this process.

Hello fellow youngster, I am also a from a third world country (Iraq). I recommend doing every single practice from Leo`s "Advice for high school and college students" which are: 1. Finding your life purpose 2.Meditating every day for an hour 3. reading a book a month 4. focusing on studying for learning not grades (i struggled with that but now I am now sharpening the saw in holiday to be able to study in school) 5. Dating (I cant do that, since it is taboo for high schoolers to date here + not interested, but will do that in college) 6. Eating Healthy (no wheat, no candy, no chips, no soda, no pizza, no junk food) that's what I have been doing the last 7 months, best 7 months in my life. also go to the main website, not the forum, go the start here section, watch all the videos there, you will have the foundation, after that point stop consuming too much Leo, you need other resources, do that for a while and start combining perspectives.

well. so um i woke up early today, its great, i was super motivated today, life purpose stuff is really lighting a fire under my ass. i also got back in the habit of watching videos after taking a break from theory (videos theory specifically). i watched a video from healthy gamer channel and Leo`s motivational speech (i am taking notes, i didn't complete it all, tomorrow i will post my notes in the summaries thread). Life purpose did new me sheet. only one thing i am not sure of is zone of genius, but i will read the big leap for that. i still don't know my ideal medium btw. Diet clean. Reading surprise surprise, i finished deep work and completed my notes for it and made an implementation plan. i will start big leap tomorrow. Meditation i sat for 35 minutes, i gave up at the last two, i still sat but i was just moving around, i also checked my leg once since i felt there was a cockroach on it. you know what, fuck it, i think i have got into a victim mindset about this, there is really nothing stopping me from sitting the whole time, enough bullshitting myself, i will sit the whole time tomorrow, and no i wont try, i will do it. Physics i did what i used to do in school to procrastinate, watching personal development videos rather than studying. F, will do better tomorrow.

Thinking you are better for doing the work, developing a spiritual ego. Letting normies suck you back into society and "petty human bullshit". Thinking you don't need personal development because you reached the highest level so you go back to normal life. Becoming neurotic about the process and not enjoying it. not realizing that you can have all the answers by contemplating (in the beginning tho, it's important to have lots of outside resources). just a couple ones off my head

so today wasn't like yesterday, F. Life Purpose I figured out my impact statement, it did not change, but during my brainstorming session which was very deep, i think i also found my domain of mastery. my impact statement is basically: to make people reach their full human potential. combined with my zone of genius: finding answers that make people reach their full human potential. my domain of mastery is personal development. so in practice it would bel like choosing a topic, getting to deep level if understanding nobody has gotten to before through reading + experimenting + contemplating, then present in a practical way through my ideal medium (no idea what it is) to make people grow to extraordinary levels!! this lights a fire under my ass. Diet all clean, ate lots of fruits too. Reading i can finish the book tomorrow, after i finish i will sit with a journal and contemplate how to implement it. Meditation so i said i will be on a streak for full 35 mins without moving at all and without checking timer, but today, i also sat with strong intention, but the last 7 minutes i was restless and kept moving, but i didn't end it early. i also found i get whatever i push to, if i make timer for 25 mins, i will find it hard to reach it, same with 30, 20 and whatever. Physics did good work. gym i pushed my limits today

@Gesundheit2 like the simplicity of this journal.

Here's what I do with books: 1. read about author, look at the table of contents, and skim through the chapters then read introduction (Inspectional Reading). 2. each chapter i read, i first read the first sentence of each paragraph of the chapter. this way you would always have the big picture in mind, then continue with the other type of reading (analytical reading) 3. after reading first sentence of each paragraph of the chapter, start reading normally for details, and here's what you underline: only stuff that give you "aha" moment when you read them. once i week will open my commonplace book, and put what i underlined in bullet points, and put my thoughts about it in sub bullet points. Note: this is not a way to summarize the book, but get high level understanding from it. Note: Always track with a pencil, it helps increase comprehension. and if you want to get to the next level which is syntopical reading, read several books on the same topic one after another using this technique. then make notes on the topic itself combining knowledge from all the books you've read.

thanks, will do. i needed to hear that, i am really overthinking it.

I've been doing it for some long time now but my mind has gotten perfectionist about doing the technique right that i focused more on doing it right than doing it.

@Danioover9000 i get what you mean, like without stressing on capturing its details and becoming perfectionist about it (because that's what i am doing ahahaha) got it, effortless turning of attention and letting it engage you, that will probably change a lot in the way i am doing it.

@Preety_India oh, idk then, it works for me for some reason.

okay, today is possibly the best day i have journaled about here, for several reasons: 1. using covey's weekly schedule made me do stuff much better 2. i pushed my limits and meditated for 40 mins 3. i watched leo's last video and posted a summary in the summaries section (i stopped watching leo long ago, i watched all videos in start here section and started life purpose course, so i don't know a lot about his recent stuff, but i got the basics covered) the "how to fall in love with life" motivated me so much, i know i am on the right track and i am 100% committed to this, i ultimately want to reach a level nobody has reached. this makes me feel like I'm not doing enough, which got me researching about stuff to do and how to know if i am doing enough, then i had an insight, which is that to stop my research addiction but still research since it's important, i will make a list of what I want to research in my commonplace book and add to it everyday. But no, i won't just research them in a set time, the criteria to research anything on that list would be to contemplate it on my own with a, pen ant paper then research. this will multiply my research quality by 10x Life Purpose I found zone of genius, thanks to the schedule, i also used deep work to do it. basically it is to find the right answers to things, anything im best at, this is the exact thing im doing when im doing it. for example : research, contemplation, reading curiously, studying curiously, learning. with the exception of planning and developing myself. But maybe i am best when i am developing myself or planning rather than the above. Diet this is funny, my mom brought some sort of cake for me and my sister, i didn't wanna say no to her, but i did, i felt good for saying no, but felt bad for disappointing her, i think she brought it to see us enjoy it or something. Meditation well i meditated after i woke up and couldn't do 15 minutes, i was disappointed at how much mi practice is worsening. in afternoon, i decided to Meditate again, set timer for 40 minutes, and i was literally screaming to myself and promising that i will sit through it all without moving, i did TMI practice and a bit of mindfulness labeling on the pain at the end. but the last 5 minutes i wanted to kill myself, i actually teared up from the pain, i started shaking and trembling, i wanted to cry, but i sat through it all, i felt different afterwards, idk how to explain it. my plan now is to continue sitting 35 minutes with such strong intention, i will maintain a streak, next week i will make it 40. Physics yooo, i forced myself to sit but once curiosity got running i started to have fun. FUCK YOU @Leo Gura, I LOVE THIS SHIT!

go to: Chrome://flags search for: "Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents" enable it, you will have everything in chrome in dark mode, this is basically experimental features from Google that you get to try.

How to Fall in Love with Life If you are doing personal development without increasing your zest for life, you are doing it wrong. "normies" have it easier in the sense that, with mindlessness comes a specific form of zest. But if personal development is easy, everyone would be doing it, therefore this is a cost you would have to pay upfront before most of payouts come. Don’t turn it into a grind Personal development and spirituality give you a different pleasure than for example, playing video games You will realize that dopamine hits you have been chasing your whole life is not true happiness Chasing dopamine will not work Here is what will work: Switch your paradigm from the one that your friends and society and everyone is living Switch to a new paradigm There are six pillars for the new paradigm. First pillar: fall in love with consciousness itself Ultimate pillar. Consciousness is everything, it’s everything you experience and it is life. Have some awakenings to realize consciousness. You need to be able to look at your hand (or anything) lovingly and marvel at its beauty. Use creativity to deepen your connection to consciousness. You can be creative in anything. Participate in consciousness with creativity When you are unsatisfied with life, that’s a signal your spirit is sending to you that you are not living in connection with consciousness. Make something out of your life, it does not matter what you do in life, but how you do it and the principles which you live by. Second pillar: fall in love with health Reprogram your mind to enjoy being healthy. When consciousness is healthy, it wants health, when it is unhealthy, it will chase unhealthy and bad food. Don’t eat healthy because you are gonna look fat or something. Eat healthy because you know that by not eating healthy, you are disrespecting god and disrespecting life. Not just food and exercise, health involves healthy communication, healthy information, healthy career. This is what gives you integrity Third pillar: fall in love with growth Get excited everyday by what will grow you. Reading a book today or going out to improve social skills won't grow you today, but you need to see how you will grow in five years down the road. Fourth pillar: fall in love with learning and investing in yourself Undertake a deliberate learning process every day for the rest of your life. Through books, podcasts, audio, etc. Highest form of learning is where you face an experiential problem, new experience or a difficult project and you commit to doing it no matter what (deliberately). Fifth pillar: fall in love with execution Not executing results in low self-esteem, since self-efficacy is half of self-esteem (credit to Nathanial Branden). All spirituality without execution does not help. There is a joy that comes from the habit of execution Sixth pillar: fall in love with creativity. To be fulfilled you got to be creative and have a purpose. Your life purpose, strengths, values, etc. are the meat and potatoes of a beautiful and fulfilling life petty human bullshit (pop culture, gossip, celebrity news, social games, status, money, sex, etc.). Others will suck you in human petty human bullshit. Petty human bullshit is a game you cannot win, and if you do win, it is not as satisfying. There are greater joys in life Journaling and planning Going out to talk to girls Being on your edge and facing challenges and fears Facing difficult trips Building up infrastructure for life Saying no Optimizing your health Exposing yourself to new experiences Adding massive value to the world Looking at beautiful things Human connection of consciousness Conscious leadership Become more self-less and loving In summary, the joy of sober living is the best possible life. Sober means truth, saying no to petty human bullshit, pleasure and hedonism. How to begin Decide that you want to and you will do whatever it takes. Start taking action every day. Sit down with a notebook and ask "what actions do I take that make me disillusioned with life" and "what do I have to do to convince myself to not do these actions again" Don’t be jealous of people who have it easy. They are not deep people, they are spoiled, they don’t appreciate it What you will appreciate the most is what you work your ass off. If you are deconstructing life through spirituality, you can know you are doing it right if you still maintain the zest for life

same

oh, before yesterday i forgot to post, and yesterday post is not showing. F. also i started using seven habits planner, its AF. now im 100% sure of strengths, and zone of genius, values is a bit confusing, only in the top 2, i dont know which one is higher. This week, i will have all of my LP figured out (expect domain of mastery and ideal medium) Diet All clean Reading i can finish deep work in like 2 or 3 days maximum, i also set a time this week to sit with a pen and paper and make time to figure out how to implement it, im not gonna follow through things to the letter, for example there's a scheduling technique where you schedule every minute of the day, i will use covey's weekly scheduling. so i will apply everything, but i will combine it with other stuff for some things. also i will start the big leap afterwards to get my zone of genius clearer. Meditation i started with the mind illuminated yesterday, it's amazing, i am gaining so much clarity from little time (i am pushing for whole 35 minutes, but only the first 25 or 20 are actually meditation, the rest is basically me moving restlessly), i think this is what's missing from my practice, i literally started meditation with insight meditation instead of concentration lol. gym I had gym today and did amazing, i felt like a god. Physics haha, didn't have time, but i put it into the weekly schedule so.. easy.

i understand man, i am having the same problem for like 6 months now. just a few weeks ago, they peer pressured me into it, but im applying the technique from "mindfulness alone is curative" + limiting time to only after i finish all my tasks. remember: people are like crabs in a bucket, they pull you in when you try to get out. good luck!

@Gesundheit2@Gesundheit2 the previous post i made here was on the typing section and only the tag can't be removed (i guess a site issue on mobile). so anyways today im back to hermit mode, i woke up late but not the oversleeping late, it was like getting the needed sleep from previous nights where i didn't sleep enough. so it feels like my little vacation made me more energized and effective, i was better at things i do, much better in fact. one cool accomplishment i did was that i sat and contemplated why i waste time (i really don't know where my time goes, i seem to be unproductive because i haven't thought about time management much, not because i have poor work ethic) and i really looked at the clock and thought about each our, turns out most of my time goes to googling stuff related to personal development that don't really give answers (i use reddit and this forum on google to see posts where people ask questions about meditation/eating/cold showers/values/Lipe purpose to get answers) and i just seem to be circling around the same questions. so the rest of my contemplation was about how to solve this and how to be productive, i decided to specify time to Googling. and also opened the 7 habits of highly effective people since i remember there was something in it about time management (i have watched a yt summary of it long ago), so now i printed the weekly planner from it and will use it on Saturday, its so brilliant. Life Purpose reviewed values, and did three strengths assessments, typed the results, will organize them to a final list tomorrow. also the only part i have skipped of the course is the negative values release visualization, since i didn't end up with a negative value in my selection, but i chose two that seemed related to me so i could do it (certainty and approval) Reading i read 20 pages, the book rambled about why social media is unhealthy, seems like something i agree with, i also tried to implement something from time management from the book, then realized it exists in the 7 habits planner. Diet all clean again, finally. also ate lots of fruits and made banana smoothie. Meditation WOAH, so today i decided something entirely different, i changed the technique to do nothing with sds, and put the timer for an hour, my plan was to force myself to sit an hour of do nothing everyday for a week as a mini retreat, but lol I couldn't do an hour but guess what! i gave up at 35 minutes, and i could've sat more, it didn't get unbearable, so great, i thought instead of an hour i will make the challenge 35 minutes, i also know how to use deliberate practice for meditation now! i will bring a pencil and a notebook after my meditation session and write what went right and what went wrong and how i could make it better. also the meditation session results were there, i felt different, the results from do nothing are subtle and less obvious, but they're there. Physics will start Saturday, because i didn't do it today and i take Thursday and Friday as rest from studying.