Zane

Oh yes it's worth it for you!!!!!!!!!!!! It will give you a huge advantage over your peers!!!

Goals and Vision for 2017 1. Your highest priority is discovering your freedom and your inherent creativity! Every day will be focused on creation and telling a story! Focus on re-capturing that childhood experience of getting so deeply immersed in a story. Discover new role models of creativity, passions, and outlets for creativity! 2. Focus on happiness and mindfulness by creating and telling stories, seeking out thrills and new experiences, getting actively involved in Quakerism and meditation, relaxing and enjoying life, laughing and making people laugh, and loving Life. Focus on detaching from inner and outer suffering! Life is short and you’re wasting your life when you’re creating needless suffering! Practice happiness! Continue your Twenties Journal and Happiness List 3. Go on adventures and pursue new experiences! There’s a whole world out there and I want you to travel as much as you possibly can. Dedicate your twenties to travel and adventure! In a year, you might be living in a whole new city like New Orleans or New York or Vegas or Seattle. Be open to the possibilities! Make travel your highest spending priority rather than material goods! 4. Keep making new friends! To make new friends use a variety of resources like Meetup groups, OkCupid, Facebook groups, Skype chats, and use all these outlets to make friends. Be persuasive but not forceful and express yourself genuinely. Re-connect with friends by inviting them for coffee! However, focus on avoiding toxic friends and focus on discovering soul friends! Focus on making one or a few friends per week even in different states! 5. Focus on creating a new life path! To create a new life path, consider all the possibilities and what you truly value and what you want to focus your purpose on and which alternative lifestyle is best for you. For getting a new job apply to programs like teachNOLA, NYC Teaching Fellows, Nevada Teacher Corps, TFA, City Year, Citizen Schools, and Urban Teachers. Use books for your job hunt but also strongly consider career alternatives like working abroad and teaching abroad and even other alternatives. I want you to have some big breakthroughs soon within a month or two. I want you to consider a new home to start your life! I want 6. The next four years could be politically turbulent with Trump as President and there will be a lot of outrage and fear. You won’t be passive during these times and you will create your own resistance! I want you to create a new counterculture that is anti-Trumpism and uses people’s enthusiasm to restore their sense of hope and sanity in a world going mad. Look at countercultural artists and writers, comedians, and performance art as your models! Focus on using eccentricity and enthusiasm to lead people against Trump. Write a vision of your counterculture! Connect with the Anti-Trump Group and propose counterculture ideas and get a dialogue started! Also focus on learning about the politics and like at past history to make connections but don’t overly-focus on it!! You need to avoid the extremes of blissful ignorance, dogmatism, or paranoia and Nihilism. Focus on how to re-create democracy!

Thoughts on 2016 2016 is widely considered to be one of the worst years in recent memory for the celebrity deaths and political turbulence. However, I honestly consider 2016 to be one of the best years in my life that I've deeply longed for!! I graduated from Guilford College and I'm proud of this experience. Yes, i regret some elements of it and it to ok time to adjust but Guilford has both mellowed me out and burst open my enthusiasm to AMAZING new heights!! I committed myself to so much creativity and immersed myself in my childhood nostalgia and returned home. Re-watching films like "Coraline" and classic Tim Burton triggered DEEP nostalgia in me and it felt PROFOUND and AWE-INSPIRING!!!!!! I took some of my all time favorite classes, I went to the theater so much and fully let go of the inner boundaries and surrendered to the experience and felt the deep rapture. I've had great trips and discovering new experiences and auditioned for a play and expressed myself with ZERO shame and complete freedom. I learned how to be completely free with my enthusiasm without any fear of humiliation because I don't worry or care about the humiliation. I made AWESOME friends who are truly my soul friends and who i can easily talk to and express myself to. I notice how deep and intimate I can be with my true friends and this feels AMAZING!!!! I deepened my passions for theater, monsters, poetry, and storytelling and movies!! I realize that 2016 didn't kill my spirits but raise my spirits!! I learned how to focus on creating a self-actualized life for myself and to detach myself from the world's suffering and collective cynicism!! I refuse to stoop to the low levels of people's toxicity!! I focus on detaching from toxicity and petty drama because it creates more inner pain!!! I've focused on coping with the pain strategically! As 2017, I'm hyped for the New Year!!!!!

What a fascinating life purpose concept by focusing on video games!! Paradoxically, games can be a rich investment of time or a waste of time! Games can be great because it deeply immerses you in a wide variety of worlds much like a great story or movie. However, it can be a waste of life if you get consumed by gamer rage and turn your back entirely on the world. I see nothing inherently wrong with video games when games have a purpose or push the boundaries of gaming or are highly innovative.

I would love to see a video distinguishing between an unconsciousness and low consciousness person in contrast to a high consciousness person. What is the psychology of a person with low consciousness and how do they sabotage themselves? Is it possible for them to raise their consciousness or are they destroying themselves and unaware of it? What are the qualities and motives of a high consciousness person? Now that's a fascinating video i would love to see? Perhaps, the video can give concrete strategies of skyrocketing consciousness!

Being A College Graduate This post is my realest and most authentic post!!! My four and a half years at Guilford is officially over and I feel like I've been on an amazing adventure and I feel like I've transformed myself. College has been a time of exciting changes, turbulent stress regarding my own life and the world, discovering my purpose, meeting new friends and yet feeling alone, losing myself and re-discovering myself and truly being challenged and learning self-discipline. College can feel slow and yet it can feel fast! It can feel isolating yet deeply connecting! It can feel exciting and yet boring! It can be the best four years of your life, a mixed bag, or a disaster. I feel like the first two years were paradoxically a period of excitement and yet intense stress and frustration. I will fully admit that I made bad choices like eating excess junk food, getting poor sleep and being tired and exhausted for my first couple years, taking on way too many classes than I can handle that were not at my level and burning myself out, creating a lot of stress for myself, and sabotaging myself. I would buy books and watching YouTube videos to fill the void and a lot of my time was wasted. My classes in my early years would've gone over a lot more smoothly if I learned to balance myself by reducing the course load and getting extensive help to make the work less work. I also should've eaten healthier and had more consistent routines ESPECIALLY my current tea drinking routine to relax myself. Late 2012 and all of 2013 was honestly, the worst and most stressful years in my life with a lot of inner turmoil and letting worries overwhelm me. I got so burned out, that I changed for the worst and I feel like I died because after that semester and 2013, I feel emotionally detached from myself and from people and I was stuck in a mind-numbing cycle where I would feel uninspired. However, this was only a phase to the Golden Years I'm in now. Late 2014-2016 were honestly the greatest years in college and it honestly felt like a Renaissance Age but what caused these great changes? I think that the main realization was realizing that I had freedom and that I can create freedom in my life. I also learned more about minimalism and how to master balancing my school with my free time! I also began discovering my authentic self and discovering my true friends and what classes aligned with my passion! I learned how much of my stress was creating by being unaware of what was causing the stress. I realize that I didn't want anymore stress in my life that burned me out! I also learned how to master my bubbly and outspoken nature to my advantage by focusing on the charm and charisma behind it rather than the awkwardness. This allowed me to be completely expressive of myself with no apologies. I realize that the great tragedy is how so few people realize this! They let the stress and the pain of the past limit them. Being authentic means to kill your self-consciousness and kill your inner critic and listen to your Muse and your intuition. I also committed myself to the passion project of re-discovering my creativity and it felt AMAZING!!! I'm focusing on being productive because I love stories rather than work for the sake of work. I focus on creating art and enjoying it!! However, I've been inconsistent with the portfolio and I need more balance and consistency. I've been discovering what happiness really is! Happiness is so broad and yet so simple! It can be as simple as drinking hot tea and savoring it and all it's aromas. It can be as simple as walking outside on a beautiful Fall day with someone special to you. It can be as entertaining as an AWESOME cuddling session or a flowing conversation with a best friend. I'm getting closer and closer to self-actualization but the process is lifelong and I'm seeing the results. I'm discovering my soul friends and purpose because I have a clear vision and that burning desire! Honestly, if someone was to ask me "do you have any regrets?" My answer would be "yes and no!" I do regret creating all the stress and problems with myself and burning myself out. However, if I would attend college again, I would've adopted the minimalist approach from the get go. I also would've been much more committed to my passions. By going to the theater, re-watching childhood favorites, and by committing myself to my creative writing portfolio, I'm getting closer and closer to discovering my freedom and my authentic self! I'm MUCH happier and honestly, i'm at the happiest point in my life. I'm also focusing on detaching from politics and petty drama and the stress of life for peace of mind! For the rest of my life, I'm going to dedicate myself to self-actualization and have SO MANY amazing new experiences and to help other people discover themselves.

Leo, thank god I had this realization early on!!! I realize that the search for purpose has always been deeply inherent in me and I realize that I refuse to become just as miserable and be dragged into the stress of Corporate America! I've met people who have been damned to a life of misery. I refuse to be like Donald Trump and be "successful" on the surface and always pursuing success without realizing true fulfillment. I'm focusing on discovering true fulfillment and freedom is my highest priority! There's nothing wrong with pleasure or pursuing success but ask yourself 'do you genuinely want to have a position of power or are you under pressure from parents?" One of my core values is freedom and refusing to be blindly obedient.

YO MR. WHITE LET'S COOK SOME 5-MEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In a world going mad, I will rebel against the madness by dedicating my life to achieving self-actualization and living a purpose-driven life. I will focus on simplicity and happiness and I will use this crisis as an opportunity to shine my light rather than succumb to the misery and the madness. I feel like paradoxically I want to detach from humanity and be independent yet be intimate with my own social circle! For better or for worse, politics and history is ALWAYS in a state of flux! There's a couple more months until Trump is sworn in and the great news is that there are resistance groups rising up, protests in the streets, and clear expression of outrage and scandals being revealed. "Not my president" is NOT a denial of reality but a cry of rage!!! There's also the rise of movements with Obama and Bernie Sanders at the helm to re-create the Democratic Party. In times like these, there will ALWAYS be resistance! I will focus on NOT overwhelming my mind with politics because it overwhelms your mind, it angers you and it drives you crazy. I will focus on creating a new resistance movement through artistic self-expression much like the Modernist Poetry movement.

I love your middle ground strategy of reducing your time and still getting your degree so you can focus on your authentic desires!

Facing the Future In a few weeks, my time at Guilford College comes to an end! My four years at college are years that were exciting, turbulent, highly stressful, regretful, a period of adjustment, friendship, loneliness, and discovering new opportunities and experiences and learning to simplify. If you asked me "what if I did it again? or "any regrets?" it isn't a clear cut yes or no answer. If I did Guilford over again, I feel like what I would've done differently is have a reduced course load from the beginning, and healthy routines ESPECIALLY a bedtime routine where I took melatonin and tea regularly to sleep better at night. I also should've reduced my course load to a manageable 12 credits per semester and got more consistent academic help. The great news is that I did make those changes for myself but during my second semester during my sophomore year. The great news was that I learned from my mistakes of poor habits which greatly sabotaged my classes, academic performance, my mental health, and it made me miserable and neurotic. After a disastrous semester, I finally decided enough was enough and I began to recreate my life and focus on simplifying and slowing down which greatly benefited me and now the rest of college has flowed much better. Even though these failures created a lot of needless stress and personal drama, I learned that I can deconstruct them and create a solution. This taught me how to be a master problem solver who is dedicated to seeking and implementing a solution to the problem and I suffered the consequences of procrastination. I learned that you can wipe the slate clean and start over again! I realized that I could've EASILY have been in this dysfunctional spot for the rest of college or the rest of my adulthood if I didn't act. I learned how to break out of the prison of the victim mindset. I do regret a lot of the choices I made during my early semester but I learned from my mistakes rather than let my failures define me. I learn that "failure is painful but impermanent!" Now, I'm in a place where I'm much happier and much more grounded because I'm discovering what truly makes me happy and how poetry slams, storytelling, and writing stories gives me joy. I'm learning how to relax much more and to give time to just relax and detach from my stress! I've had moments where I was wandering on a sunny day and I was focused on relaxing in the moment and just enjoying the moment. This helps me keep perspective to see how "life is good!" However, the past few weeks and the coming weeks are a tense time because I'm finishing my last semester of college and the election results have come in! Sadly, Donald Trump is the Presidential Elect and there has been national outrage! The national outrage is justified because Trump beat the whole odds of the election and people are terrified of the future. However, I will focus on resisting Trump but my outlet for rebellion is spreading laughter and joy through practicing storytelling and comedy because people need hope in their lives. I'm so energetic and passionate because I noticed how joyless the world becomes when we grow up. I watched Leo's Top Ten Things You Want video and I realized that I fulfilled the wants Leo described and this made me realize that I'm on the right track to life feeling magical again and to authenticity. I realize that I have a major advantage over a lot of adults and my own cohort! When i'm in a flow state of laughter and enthusiasm, I realize how fluid identity can be and how it's like an instrument For the future, I feel deeply excited about it, and I feel like I'm already seeking opportunities to create the best future for myself. After I end classes, my plan is to transition smoothly and take time contemplating the semester and looking at the experience deeply and questioning it so that I don't overwhelm myself with regrets in the future. I will take it one day at a time and not make rash decisions that come back to haunt me and bite me in the ass. I will be a strategic thinker about the future and I will consider the many possibilities. I will focus at looking into the future and having a vision but balancing contemplating the past with enjoying the present! I'm so excited about the possibilities of what could happen in a year or two! Regardless of what happens, I will be flexible and creative and see the opportunities in the future! Who knows what would happen but I will be guided by vision and purpose! I promise that I will be a creator AND not a victim or a fighter!!

The meaning of life can be anything you make it to be! You're free to create any purpose of your choice and you're free to have your own vision of life! I focus discovering happiness by enjoying the moment, and realizing what I'm grateful for so I can truly savor life in all it's richness before i die.

Leo make a video about dealing with breakups and dealing with failure. These videos focus on coping with rejection in the form of failures and breakups and how not quitting is a great and sustainable solution! 1. https://www.actualized.org/articles/fear-of-failure 2. https://www.actualized.org/articles/how-to-deal-with-a-breakup 3. https://www.actualized.org/articles/how-to-never-quit

@NutellaTC This video would be GREAT for you!! https://www.actualized.org/articles/the-dark-side-of-meditation Also keep watching Leo's meditation videos!

Realization About George Bush and Donald Trump My opinion about George W Bush has radically changed recently! From 2000 to 2008 was one of the most turbulent periods in US history and I remember writing a letter in 2004 requesting President Bush to stop the war. I had genuine anger at the Bush Presidency for the wars and worsening Hurricane Katrina with the procrastination and lack of response and I felt a sense of helplessness! When I learned about him painting dogs and wounded war vets, I have a growing admiration and respect for this man. He's using his golden years to create art and he seems to show remorse for his actions! I also strongly respect Mike Tyson for that. I deeply admire it when a person who made mistakes or bad decisions realizes the error of their ways and tries to do better! I will gladly write Bush a letter congratulating his choice to paint and express forgiveness, gratitude and to wish him well! Bush has discovered purpose, meaning, and beauty in life and for that I see him as a new role model! I wish Bush well in his future! I realized that George Bush is the new Bob Ross because both men had regrets and radically changed the direction of their lives! Bob Ross was a former drill sergeant and he regretted it because he thought it made him too mean. So he turned to painting and he mellowed out! If I wrote him a letter, I would thank him for his paintings and ask him questions about "why do you paint?" I admire people driven by a sense of purpose or who find it later in life! I feel like I can have an unlikely, multi-generational friendship with Bush over self-expression! I feel like Trump wants to be President because of the deep desire for his legacy, ego validation, greed, and a lack of fulfillment! I'm educating myself about self-actualization and life purpose and I've been applying that to look deeper at Donald Trump. Is it even possible for Trump to find fulfillment in life or will he keep lusting after power and is damned to be trapped in the vicious cycle? It can be possible but it might be too late for Trump! Trump is deeply trapped in his paradigm of Capitalism and Individualism and is deeply rooted in a winning mentality! I see BoJack Horseman in Donald Trump because of how they're seeking "fulfillment" in the most unfulfilling ways! Maybe Trump is trying to re-live the Glory Days of the 1980s and is living in a perpetual midlife crisis! What Bush made me realize is how I have a major advantage because I've dedicated my whole life to discovering my life purpose and now that i'm educating myself about self-actualization and purpose, the answer is crystallizing for me! It's like digging for buried treasure and realizing that the treasure map and the treasure is within myself and I need to dig it out!

The Election Is A Blessing In Disguise WARNING! THIS POST ISN'T JUST NAIVE OPTIMISM!! "A blessing in disguise" is one of those overused sayings that seems to be self help goobleygook like "believe in yourself" 'be yourself" "don't worry be happy" and "follow your dreams." While well-intentioned these aphorisms have became completely cliched and no longer resonate and are often mocked as Hallmark greeting cards or fortune cookie wisdom! The purpose of this post shows how unconscious people are regarding the Election cycle and how self-actualization NEEDS URGENCY in our society rather than pursuing material success. Donald Trump EMBODIES someone with ZERO self-actualization because he values material success, being rich, and unlimited power and greed and hubris which are Stage Orange at Best and Stage Red at Worst. After learning about the rising hatred and hatred becoming more normalized, I rebel against this by using my comedy and enthusiasm as my self-expression of my freedom! I'm also focusing on being strategic by getting involved in a new political club at my school called Democracy Matters, educating myself about politics, focusing on finishing the semester excellently and being strategic about my future and being flexible with my options and being an LGBT ally. The election is a blessing in disguise because humanity can realize their own failures and learn more about self-actualization but there is a darkness to it! I've observed how dogmatic beliefs ESPECIALLY political beliefs can be and the arguments it triggers and if you EVEN mention self-actualization, it could be denied at best and outwardly rejected at worst. However, I choose self-actualization over blind rage and hatred and I will create a better life for myself! I refuse to stoop to the blind hatred and be have my soul fucked up by toxicity. I'M FREE!!!!!!! The election can also have a silver lining because it could be a wake up call to Trump about how unfulfilling power is and how he's probably NEVER experienced real happiness and he focuses too much on his legacy and maybe his hubris will dawn on him! I picture this election being a huge downfall for him and the destruction to his ego but I bet he will cling to his power and deny it! I will cope with reality by NOT denying but being but by making choices NOT just to fight or cope but create solutions! I will spend next week fast tracking self-actualization through counseling, going to Study Abroad and Career Counseling and connecting with friends and making new friends!!

I feel like social media is a tool that like the Internet can be used or abused! It can be very low-consciousness if you engage too much in online drama and let it drive you lower and lower to the level of the trolls! I focus on resisting trolls by not taking part in the discussions. I focus on spreading authenticity and cheerfulness and meeting new friends who share my passions and i focus on creating my own social circle so I'm focusing on using it constructively! Yes, I can overuse it but I'm being mindful of my use by blocking websites for several hours during the week! For the news on the election results, I'm focusing on taking it one day at a time, being strategic about my future, and focusing on being authentic. For politics, I focus on making much more thoughtful political posts when I need to rather than make posts driven by misplaced emotions. I made that mistake before! I'm making sure that the Internet doesn't rule my life!

Why do you want to become a psychopath? Why do you want to repress your emotions?

@TeenVisionary98 It's my pleasure to give you my full support!

My Thoughts on Donald Trump! Donald Trump is the embodiment of my worst nightmares and my worst enemy! Whenever I hear him attack people, I seethe with anger but I also laugh hysterically and I also feel deep fear. When I first heard about him running for President, I thought that this was a huge joke but in the later months, through the Republican debates and the Presidential debates, the more I lashed out at him! On Wednesday morning, when I first heard the results, I was in shock for the whole day. "How could this happen?" I asked. Fortunately, I called my Mom and Dad to discuss the news and it felt cathartic to talk it out! My mom and dad both understood my concerns but my dad told me to wait and see! Yesterday, I decided that I'm not going to passive and be stagnant in a victim mindset. I re-grounded myself in a creator mindset and I decided "fuck it! I'm going to do whatever it takes!" I'm not just going to stop whining and deal with it! That would cause deep complacency! So I arranged a session with my college's mental health therapist and counselor, my career advisor, and a Study Abroad advisor to create a strategy where I can find a way to get out of a potentially bad situation but I won't make the choice rashly. I'm also focusing on an open dialogue at my college regarding money and politics, being an LGBT ally, a Donald Trump walkout, getting involved with a Facebook Trump resistance group, and participating in the protest on Inauguration Day. I will also follow the news BUT not religiously to keep track of any scenario! I will also focus on inviting friends to have coffee with in solidarity to give people a sense of community, purpose, and hope. I've focused on saying hello to people and wishing "stay safe please!" and "have a great day!" There is still time until Inauguration Day so there could still be hope and one thing to keep in mind is that Obama and Clinton have offered to counsel the new President Elect. There's also to consider that Trump's power is limited and he will be at conflict with both Democrats and Republicans and the democratic process is a very complex and bureaucratic process so it's possible that some of his ideas or most of them might be impractical and just demagoguery! Trump might not even be able to handle the power of the Presidency and can suffer from the huge stress and might not take it! I'm trying to look at the scenario broadly rather than be doom and gloom. Here's what I'll focus on 1. Being a strategic thinker, pragmatic, a creator mindset and willing to be flexible about any solution. ESPECIALLY being creative and expressing my creativity through stories and poetry! I refuse to be passive and just deal with it! Focusing on school and graduating! Also as a possibility consider moving abroad to someplace tropical and affordable! 2. Self-care 3. Making new friends and maintaining current friendships 4. Getting involved in on-campus events, the resistance group, and keeping updated with the news but also giving myself space from the toxicity 4. Entertain the possibilities of a Trump America. Consider the structure of American democracy, ask "what if?" scenarios, focus on how polarizing Trump's views could be, focus on Trump being pressured to rebrand his image, focus on Trump being incompetent, what if Trump turns out to hate having power and can't bear the stress, what if Trump's demagoguery has no practical grounding and is just meaningless rhetoric. What if this election is Trump's last straw? Or also "what if Trump decided to cooperate more with the Democrats and Republicans and strove towards unity?

I'm loving your journal!! It's amazing how you're concretely applying Leo's Life Purpose course! I love how you're disclosing what you're grateful for and I'm proud of you for discovering your life purpose at a young age! Most people your age lack a sense of trajectory or are uncertain or are lost but it's great that you're implementing these new habits. I also love how you're getting yourself back on track and grounding yourself with a sense of purpose!

I'm 22 years old and I'm still discovering my life purpose! I know that I have a deep desire for storytelling and creativity and I'm striving for that creative experience of peak experience and flow state where I get so deeply immersed in creativity that I feel a state of flow. Of course you can discover your life purpose! The great news is that purpose is completely subjective and it can be created however you want. It can be such a simple purpose or it can be a fairly broad and deep purpose. Introspect and ask yourself questions on your purpose and be both strategic and intuitive about your purpose! I created my purpose to tell stories and discover my creativity as a child and I was on track and fell off track with my purpose!

Ah one of the self-help classics!!! I've been focusing on winning friends by practicing balancing eccentricity and authenticity in a charming way not in a grotesque and deliberately offensive way. I focus on using comedy and enthusiasm to make myself happy and for it affect other people so it's a win/win situation.

I strive for authenticity and personal freedom and what makes Trump so infuriating to me is how he is a monstrous perversion of authenticity and freedom! Authenticity DOES NOT and I repeat DOES NOT mean being a drunken asshole who repels people with hate speech. Authenticity is embracing your creativity, vowing to discover yourself through creating your identity, willing to be a freethinker who balances openness and skepticism and who is willing to make his life and the world better. Trump is quite frankly a tragic anti-hero/villain right out of Shakespeare and Greek mythology because of his arrogance and blind ambition of flying too close to the sun and he is crashing and burning. He win could be a short-term victory but this could be a devastating Pyrrhic Victory for Trump in the long term especially in the upcoming months. He has so many inner demons and scandals and it's obvious they will catch up with him and destroy him from the inside. Maybe his bid for President will be a devastating wake up call for him! At this point, in his early 70s, I highly doubt self-actualization is in his priority and he probably rejects it or flat out denies it. For better or worse, anything is possible!

I'm focusing on aligning my major with my life purpose! My deepest passion is creating and telling stories and writing poetry and I chose to major in English but also balance purpose with practicality rather than major in Business, Science, or Math just because it's "practical." I'm using my major to my advantage by looking into teaching programs when I graduate particularly programs that pay good starting salaries. To use my storytelling and passion to my full advantage, I'm starting to get involved in public speaking particularly through my Capstone presentation and by open mic poetry and by acting.