Paradigm

@eskwire I guess I viewed it as something that only pays off when you actually become Enlightened rather than something where it increases your awareness gradually over time, in the way meditation does. I have no idea why lol.

That's interesting to hear. I've done a bit of self-inquiry on meditation retreat but don't have it as a habit yet. I've always assumed it wouldn't have any practical benefits in day to day life. @DoubleYou I'm yet to watch the video on how the mind distorts reality, I'll have to give it a watch soon. That's awesome that meditation has benefited you so much. Which meditation method do you do?

Thanks for the responses guys, it's been very insightful. I'm going to go through it all carefully and see what I can implement into my life.

@AndreiC A strong mission is certainly something I'm lacking. I actually used to have a very strong mission and I had so much more motivation back then. I'm a bit more wishy-washy and uncertain in my current life purpose. @Empty Thanks for sharing. Could you please elaborate on mantras and how you use them?

@Scholar A valid point. I understand that Leo is using this style of teaching as a kind of "slap to the face" in order to really get our attention and call us to action. And it certainly works. But it also has its traps. In the end, there's no such thing as a teaching without traps. Every style of teaching has advantages and disadvantages to it. The advantage of Leo's style is that it gets people's attention and gets them taking action - but with this comes with many possible traps. One thing I'd really like to see is more vulnerability from Leo, more realness. The way he is in his videos makes him seem like this perfect guru who has everything figured out. Often I feel under pressure to live up to this ideal image that Leo portrays. I'd like to hear more about the things he struggles with, the things he's uncertain about, his own insecurities and fears. In the rare times he does this, it's very refreshing to see.

There were some pretty funny roasts in there. I did actually try to look past the humor and see if he had any good points, and while I didn't agree with everything he said, here are a few that stood out to me as worth considering: Leo does talk with a lot of certainty and authority. While he might verbally say to not blindly follow authority figures and to question everything etc, his entire vibe says otherwise. Humans are not logical creatures and the verbals mean nothing if the entire vibe he gives is "I'm right and you're wrong". Leo does talk down on us a lot. There's a general sense of "I know what's best for you, so listen to me or your life is going to suck". He often calls us too stupid or unconscious to get what he says. Basically, making us feel inadequate and in doubt of ourselves unless we buy into his content. I doubt he does this intentionally or consciously, but he does it nonetheless. There's a lot of talking down on the "99.9% of people" who are so unconscious that they could never understand what he's saying. This makes us feel superior when we buy into what Leo is saying and take it on as truth, because then we get to feel like we're not part of the unconscious 99.9%. We get to feel special and above everyone else. This means anyone with low self-esteem will get very sucked into Leo's channel because it allows them to feel better about themselves. I believe I've been affected by the above things. This may not be a problem with Leo's videos at all but rather a problem within my own inner psychology. I don't know. I sometimes find that I get anxious when I think about how I'm so unconscious and stuck in the matrix and how I don't want to get to my deathbed and realize that I lived my life unconsciously. I feel a lot of pressure to do everything Leo recommends otherwise I won't have made the most of my life. I feel that if I abandoned Leo's videos, I would "go back to sleep" or something so I feel locked into watching his content and practicing what he teaches. I also don't have the highest self-esteem so I do kind of cling to Leo's stuff as a way of feeling better about myself, because I get to feel like I'm more conscious or more intelligent than most people. I feel good about myself when I'm doing things that are "high-consciousness" and I feel terribly guilty when I'm doing things that are "low-consciousness". Maybe this is all just my own internal issues causing me to project outwards onto Leo. Clearly there are people who have greatly benefited from Leo's channel and who haven't experienced what I've described above. So I wonder how legit these criticisms are. I know that there is great information and insights within Leo's videos, but it's hard for me to take the good without getting sucked into all the things listed above.

This is legit and has cured many people's back pain where nothing else has. Check out the comments on the video.

I often see comments from people who say how Leo's channel has completely transformed their life and their inner wellbeing, and that they've been able to do deep self-healing on themselves or resolve long-standing inner problems. I watch Leo's videos, I read, I meditate, I eat cleanly, I'm working on my life purpose. But I haven't really seen any earth shattering transformation like many people talk about having. I'm a little more present/aware and have a little more direction in life. But overall, I still feel like the same neurotic person with the same insecurities and fears. Oftentimes I feel even more neurotic than before. Am I missing something? If you have truly healed yourself and transformed yourself on a deep level, what was the magic key(s) for you? What practices, concepts, teachings or whatever else actually created the most profound results for you? What specific things have actually created the biggest, most tangible transformation in your life and in your wellbeing and happiness?

That's very true. I realize that there are a whole lot of beliefs I have that are stopping me from just pursuing my passions freely. Like "I'm not being strategic enough and not planning for the future" or "What I'm doing is just ego-motivated. If I was more conscious of truth I'd realize it's just a big ego game" or "I'm scared of wasting my time committing to the wrong thing". I do know what I want to do. I wake up everyday with the same burning questions. Maybe the problem is that I'm trying to fit that passion into a mould of what I believe it "should" be, instead of just living it.

@Nahm I actually didn't care at all about contributing to the world until doing the life purpose course. Leo stresses that contribution is what will bring a lot of joy and fulfilment, so I'm just taking his word for it. And books like The Way of the Superior Man which talk about having a purpose and "giving your gift" to the world. So I guess I've convinced myself that changing the world in some way is just something I should do as a man. I also need to earn a living somehow so it seems like I should at least do it through something I'm passionate about.

@Michael569 I had been staying at home way too much, just working on self-development which made me overly serious. I basically just started going out to clubs and doing pickup, but focusing mainly on self-amusement, and how I can make myself laugh and have as much fun as possible. I don't care if I pull a girl or not, having fun is all that matters. So dancing as stupidly as I can on the dancefloor, opening girls with random things that I find hilarious and just letting my crazy sense of humor come out like I used to do when I was a kid. It's so freeing, like I'm in an improv class and can just do whatever I want. I realize now I had been suppressing that part of myself which is really a natural part of me. It helps to sometimes watch comedy movies or youtube channels that make me laugh the most so I get a sense of what things I find most funny. @Shin I'm definitely not at the point of having any life purpose that could make me cry when I think about it. The most would be those moments of clarity where I think "holy shit, nothing could be more important than this" and just feel super inspired. That's the best wisdom that I have to go by at this point.

@Michael569 I know what you mean about becoming dry and serious. I think that's happened to me in a way from getting too serious about the life purpose thing. But I've become more in touch with my humor lately and have been feeling better about life in general. @Bodhi123 That is true.

@AndreiC "Fun shouldn't factor in" is an interesting perspective. I would have thought that fun is one of the most important things. I have considered trying to mix two life purposes together. Right now I'm just going ahead with my current life purpose and seeing how it goes.

After doing the life purpose course, I came to the life purpose of doing a personal development blog specialized towards inner self-mastery/consciousness growth. This is the first thing that comes up when I think about what's most meaningful to me. It just seems obvious that it's the most direct way of improving the world, the most direct way to true happiness, and that there's nothing more important in life. It's also the thing that's given me the most profound insights and realizations in life. I've had many moments of clarity where I just think "holy shit, this is the most important thing I can be doing". However, I'm worried that I may be falling into a trap here. I see two possibilities. I'm either: a) Taking on Leo's life purpose because it's all I know or because I can't think of anything better to do. I seem to do this a lot in life - I see someone who I look up to who's living an amazing life and loves their life purpose, and I tend to want to imitate them. b) I'm genuinely passionate about this life purpose and this whole thing of "maybe it's a trap" is just resistance, a way of avoiding doing the hard work. I took my time with all the exercises and this life purpose is what I kept coming up with. When I think about what I would do if I had all the money I needed, it would be this - developing my consciousness and pursuing self-mastery. One thing to note is that while self-development work and consciousness work has given me results that are nothing short of profound, I don't particularly find it enjoyable. I'm not waking up excited to do it - I have to force myself to do it. I only really care about the fruits of the practice. When I think about what's most fun for me, without worrying about how meaningful it is, I come up with different things, like humor and pickup. These are things that I really love to do - that is, I love the process of doing them. I lose track of time doing these things because they're just so much fun. The results they bring are just a bonus. But I don't see these as things that will change the world in a meaningful way. So it's like I'm choosing between what's fun and what's meaningful. How can I know if this life purpose is genuine or not? How can I know if this is a socially conditioned life purpose or if I'm just experiencing resistance to what is genuinely my passion?

That's funny, I'm the exact opposite I hate the idea of dumping problems onto others and only feel comfortable sorting things out myself. It would be hard for me to know what's going on in your case. Different people might have different reasons and underlying beliefs. For me, I know that I have beliefs such as: "I don't want people to know about my problems" "If I tell people about my problems, they might not like me or they'll think I'm annoying" "I should be able to handle things myself" Etc. So I'm pretty much working through these beliefs and inquiring into them while also challenging them by trying to confide in others more. You could see if you can figure out what the beliefs are for you.