Bubba66

Have you ever noticed that flow states hit you out of nowhere, when you least expect or force it? The other day it occurred to me that flow states do not come because we simply want them to. Instead, the probability of Flow states increases as a result of forward motion, of momentum, and of disciplined action over time. There is a strange interplay between 1.Self-deception, 2. Higher consciousness theory, and 3. Flow states. This occurred to me as I was attempting to figure out how to get into flow more often. Flow feels good, flow feels like your life is meaningful and on track. So how can you uncover your potential for positive forward momentum by understanding the interplay between self-deception and flow? Answer the following for yourself: 1. How often do I use the excuse of "feeling overwhelmed" or needing to feel "regrounded" in order to get out of doing something productive? 2. Can I start to notice when my mind tricks me into inaction? What mechanisms are being used (journaling for hours, binge-watching Leo's videos, reading and never taking any action)? 3. Have I genuinely given the following habits the time needed for them to provide me with momentum towards flow states? Examples of habits: - Daily Meditation upon waking. -Exercising every day -Journaling to a 30 minute timer? -Setting 3 priority actions per day and executing them, regardless of resistance to action. 4. What is the longest I can go with my good habits before I self-sabotage? 5. How can I realize that the pay off for establishing my habits as standards is greater than the sacrifice and pain felt in the process? In other words, is feeling flow states every day worth breaking free of my self-sabotage cycles? These questions helped me uncover the fact that I often use meditation, journaling, or watching content on youtube as mechanisms of procrastination. Second, they uncovered how I never let any of my good habit gain the momentum to get me "in the zone" or in "flow," so my mind never had a frame of reference that felt worthwhile for breaking free of my procrastination mechanisms. Often we choose mechanisms of procrastination that feel like they produce flow or forward momentum. They often do so in a hollow, unfulfilling way if we are self-honest. We need to build the endurance of our awareness to realize that they produce FALSE FLOW states, and that discipline brings a much richer flow experience over time. If you feel stuck in a cycle of inaction, of being addicted to comforts of "over-journaling" and binge-watching youtube for hours on end, then the very first step in curing your predicament is building your awareness of this cycle. 1. complete the exercise above. 2. pick ONE habit, establish it as your new "mindfulness over procrastination" experiment. *For example, I chose doing 50 pushups every day no matter what. I asked myself every day, "what kind of momentum do I feel towards pushups today? Does it occur before or after I start doing pushups? Is this feeling worth it to me to continue improving my flow state frequency?" 3. forgive yourself for self-sabotaging in the past, move forward with your new lessons and experiences. *forgiveness is key, because self-guilt perpetuates the cycle of sabotage. You did not know or have the frame of reference before this point to do any better, so now is your chance to start fresh every day, and run the experiment of flow to see where it goes. If you complete this exercise, or have useful input on this insight, let me know! Good luck with achieving flow.

@TripleFly consider approaching this uncertainty you have from an experiential and experimental point of view, rather than logically. The following questions and actions helped me to establish the correct metaphysics before picking a career, and eventually led me to job satisfaction, security, and fulfillment as an emergency room nurse. 1. What problems do I naturally have a knack for solving in my own life? Would anyone pay me sufficiently to solve these problems for them? 2. Job shadow three careers: one that you think fits you, one that is opposite of your personality, and one that you have a vague interest in. *for example I job shadowed a neurosurgeon, an architect (I hate math, but found this job interesting), and a biochemist. I ended up repeating this "job shadow exercise" four more times before finding an experiential match to my personality in the career of nursing. 3. Read the Four hour work week by Tim Ferriss, complete all exercises. This helps to uncover limiting beliefs about free time and wealth, and gives you alternative lifestyles you could practice as a member of the "New Rich" society. 4. Pick one "dream item" on your bucket list when you "have the perfect career set up," and just do it. *this is nuanced, but we often fail to recognize the freedom we have already. I used to think about getting to visit the art museum to expand my mind when I had the perfect career that allowed me the time and mental energy to do it. But I decided one day when I was in school to just skip class and head to the art museum, and see if that was the sort of thing I really valued doing, rather than waiting for the career to allow me permission. Perhaps you owe yourself a similar call to action? Let me know if you have questions on how to optimally prepare for job shadow experience.

@Anon212 I think you have a unique opportunity in front of you. I have a ton of things I could tell you, as I sit on the other side of a really tough academic endeavor (I became a Registered Nurse). I would say the most important thing is to not get stuck in analysis paralysis, or "all or nothing" thinking. You can always start down a path, challenge yourself to stick with it; all the while using the trial by fire of a PhD program as the perfect context to isolate yourself and do SERIOUS personal inquiry. With sufficient struggle, you will find out your authentic desires (that's a nasty secret that gets glossed over; you don't get authenticity without suffering). Definitely check out this guy's perspective as a medical student for an example of what I mean. You never have to feel limited, you can definitely let your unique opprotunity compliment your personal development business. There may be insights for your business that are indirectly and directly related to your physiology studies; remember, open-mindedness is key. Heck, you might decide a personal development business was just a form of mimicry of Actualized.org, and a form of procrastination on your REAL purpose (which is often terrifying, but way more fulfilling and grounding). Stay on the path! Also, as a general tip, I find I make the best "gut decisions" after an hour of intense cardio. I get the most objective and long-term results from this place.

Background: to be honest, I struggle with integrity My particular personality has plagued me with obligation and indecision all my life. I feel that it is starting to form a growth restriction around my personal development, and my ability to experience high consciousness states like Flow. Decisions I have chronically struggled with: 1. Staying in a committed, long-term relationship instead of pursuing diverse sexual experiences. 2. Sticking to a career plan that delays gratification: a two year plan to pursuing part-time wage-slave status, and project-oriented work full time. 3. Choosing to focus on mastering my writing/ improvisation, rather than my musicianship or filmmaking abilities. I believe that "analysis paralysis" has eaten away at my subconscious mind over time, and produced less focus and Flow States than I might otherwise have had. Hypothesis: Can frequency of "flow states" be used to measure one's integrity level? I am going to run an experiment on myself over the next 90 days. I am planning to keep a weekly updated Flow Journal. I am contrasting this Flow State data with data from this past quarter. My hunch is that authentic decisions lend themselves to a higher incidence of Flow states over time. Data measurement methods: Daily Check box template using a scale of 1-4. 1 = No Flow, distracted and anxious. 2 = Some reactive focus utilized. 3 = Actively engaged for a brief time 4 = Total Flow for hours, no awareness of time passing. Critical times to measure for me are upon waking, early mid-day, later mid-day, evening before sleeping. Same structure over a 12 hour work shift; start, midway, and final hour of the shift. I am keeping this log in a mini notepad, to be with me at all times. I am reviewing trends weekly. I will also keep a "notes and description" section, to be used once daily and in long form every week. This is the area for describing the activity that directly preceded my Flow rating. The weekly descriptions will be used to generate insights from trends. Precautions: I am not measuring flow if ingesting mind-altering substances since time of last measurement (data would be skewed, not an honest measurement of sober fulfillment levels). I am utilizing Maslow's Hierarchy of needs to correct for data errors (hunger, thirst, self-esteem obstacles). I am using a holistic approach in my underlying assumption that decisions made in various life categories (ie relationships, career, self-expression) tend to affect all other aspects of daily experience. Predictions: 1. Staying in a committed relationship will produce higher levels of intimacy, higher ROI in the future, and force myself to have more integrity instead of running and hiding from commitments. 2. My vision of deriving a living from Project-oriented work, and earning a firm control over my schedule within two years will motivate me a great deal, and spark Flow states in all aspects of my work. 3. Dumping all of my "skill points" into the medium that seems to impact all of the other things I enjoy dabbling in; pursuing writing and improv improvements will compliment all other aspects of life and Flow states. Interestingly, if I lack integrity in keeping committed to any of these decisions, this metric should measure that in exact proportion to my lack of integrity; for example, if I lose track of my 2-year career vision and give into becoming nihilistic about work and decide to waste free time on unconscious pursuits instead of projects and strategy and visioning, I may see a drastic reduction in Flow State frequency. Experiment end date, August 1st, 2021. I aim to report any profound findings and impacts on this had on my quality of life. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suggestions to optimize my experiment are welcome here. I have engineered it in hopes of solving my "indecisiveness" at its root by way of finding a reliable, unbiased subjective metric I can return to in the event that my intuition becomes clouded. I am working under the assumption that all life categories holistically impact satisfaction in others. I may end up isolating one of the variables above as a negative impact on my ability to achieve Flow states. Also, any and all advice on solving indecision at its root is welcome.

@Ethan1 overall you state similar thoughts to my own, on habits and relationships. I especially like your description here, of flow in relationships; it reminds me of the difference between a victim and proactive hero; between the growth vs the reactive mindset. If you are going to have a working relationship, you have to aim at this with the core of your soul, so to speak. My goal is not to micromanage every hour of my life here; it is to objectively measure, for a short time, the effects of "brute force" decision making on my states of Flow, because I suspect flow to be an easily measurable high state of being with simple and frequent self-awareness. I am testing whether or not this measurement can be a reliable short-term tool for helping me break free of false obligations, with an aim to achieve a sophisticated simplicity in life that feels complete (this is an aspect of living with integrity, in my experience). Obligation is "shallow," and it has been what leads me to take on a life of unnecessary complexity and social scheduling. I am doing this experiment with the awareness that the difference between obligation and inspiration is "depth" of service your self-actualization. An example: if you are "obligated" to work out, the motivation is short term and sustained only in proportion to the depth of your motivations. Your motivation might be "to get in shape." That is shallow, not personal, and not sustainable. If, however, your motivation source was more integral to your identity, like "I work out so that I can survive free of injury when I go rock climbing out in the wilderness this summer," that is more punch, more direct and deep ties to your personal wellbeing and identity. Eventually, I would like to lead an innovative edge on my life without the use of "calendars" or "to do lists." In fact, I already do; instead I use things like this tool which carry a lot more transformational power to disengage with the neurotic and dividing mind I was formally trained to organize life with while in school; instead leading with "vision-logic" guided by a direct and whole body memory of what works and what does not. Your sports example was a great reminder of some items within my direct experience: In sports, Flow is easily engaged in because the whole body is involved, and it is in the pursuit of something for its own sake. Few people play a sport for a reason other than playing; and if they play for a third-party reason like "scholarships" or "approval," that is when it starts to suck. Sports can be a much deeper metaphor for life; don't pursue something with your mind, nor your whole body, which cannot be justified unto itself in some way (ie, I go to work for a paycheck, yes, but I do have moments of pure flow when I effectively save a life, or do something cool.) For most other areas of life, the Left Brain leads disproportionally towards things that are not a ends to themselves (think of the prototypical programmer, developing code for which they have no personal passion, just to earn a paycheck.) Even flow pursued within purely Left brain domains (like playing a favorite video game, gambling, speculating and bullshitting) tends to produce a different effect on integrity, in the form of poorly sustainable and less quality states of Flow; especially when pursued addictively. It isolates the body from the brain state, if done without moderation. More important than simply "staying fit and not being a blob," the pursuit of Left Brain Flow sources at the expense of more holistic methods runs the risk of creating a schism, or a misperception on how living with integrity should feel. You get things like the hard working Blue Collar worker that takes pride in hating their job (prideful sacrifice, its seen as necessary suffering), and rewards their suffering with a crate of Left Brain numbing beer and Netflix every Friday night. A healthier person leading with whole body wisdom in the very same job might find what they enjoy the most about their work, and can disengage more healthfully from their professional obligations (like going out dancing on Friday night, instead of the former example). More food for thought: 1. Do you think I should avoid a risk of over-management by tracking Flow on a weekly basis instead? Less Tree-centric and more Forest-focused? 2. What is "Vision Logic", and is it a term that encompasses Body Awareness as a more accurate compass in life (checking "your gut" is just one example...) ? 3. What principle(s) apply when looking to balance a Requisite Variety (RQ) approach to higher states AND Simplicity and Authenticity/ Less is More? Balancing freedom and discipline, balancing a chaotic approach to life versus an ordered one...? My initial thoughts on these: 1. I might be making a mistake in "hunting" for Flow... it is something that should just come to you, and weekly reflection vs daily measurement may allow for more space for this state to emerge. 2. I need to research "Vision-Logic" for myself. Book suggestions? 3. Reflection and meditation can help identify a balance between too much variety and too few options. Also, RQ might be more effective short term strategy when pursuing specific Projects (like making a film happen, or making art, or crafting something), and Simplicity should lead the day-to-day social calendar, and should specifically compliment the projects or core values in your life. You need a rest period after using RQ for a quarter or so (a healthy guestimate is 90 days straight... I've been using it for three years straight, and I do feel a little burnt out!)

What are your top three highest impact, most authentic, and most engaging habits you have explored so far? What do you plan to keep doing regardless of course-demands and social obligations ?? (yes it is healthy to have these in school) For me, my top three habits that make me actually excited to start each day is: 1) fun outdoor workout. Sprint up hill, climb trees, outdoor chores, rock climbing. 2) Creative writing; I alternate from vision exercises, research on my business, or simply writing a story or song lyrics. No matter the intent; I write in a self-reflective way for 1 hour every single day. I use Onenote for my “commonplace book” (see Leos video on that) 3) take 10 minutes to break the day up into 90 minute segments; plan breaks and implement a “hard stop” time. This is usually 5:30pm for me; past this point, I free read and play guitar. I work part time, school full time (between both about 60hrs of obligations per week); and I feel like these 3 habits give me that feeling of free time I am always looking for. After implementing them, my mood and creativity increased, and my fitness habit is consistent bc I personalized it to be fun for me. just some ideas there, hope they help! Good luck in school!

Realizing a DEEP Self-deception, check this one for yourself... It has been stressed in many actualized.org videos over the years, including the more recent metaphysical topics like holism and integrity. All of personal development work starts with a direct experience of it. Recently, I became aware in a startling way of a self-deception that went DEEP with regards to my internet use, including this website. It is that I would walk "down the path of unearned wisdom"-- renounce my actual level of development (stage orange, getting good at basic survival, pursuing relationships), in return for a phony sense of pride in "stage yellow thinking abilities," just because I heard someone talk about meditation for an hour. Owning this work requires self-honesty first. Self-honesty is a decision you make not once, not temporarily while listening to Leo for an hour or two, but Every Single Day, three or four times a day or more. Honesty starts with a situational awareness of where your needs deficiencies are; because these holes will be the exact traps you fall into on your way to self-actualization. You are deficient in sex? Guess what you will always have problems with, despite your bank account status. You are deficient in physical health and fitness? Guess what you will always be tempted by (food), or what will restrict your growth pattern (body ailments/ confidence issues)? Own your deficiencies, your subtle addictions, and your bad habits. Watch them carefully, and suffer honestly. This is the foundational honesty from which all else good is built. My personal action steps in light of this situation are as follows: Mission: total self-acceptance 1. Contemplate my actual needs deficiencies, flaws, and daily addictions (subtle and gross). Journal on "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" every day for 30 minutes. 2. Keep an energy log, measure my mind state along "self-awareness", "alertness", and "flow/engagement" on a scale of 0-5. Measure these at each meal and before bedtime, with a brief note of what you are doing/ eating at each interval. 3. Keep a tension log, measure my mind state along "Restlessness or cravings," "Uncertainty, fear," and "fatigue, lack of clarity" on a scale of 0-5. Measure these at each meal and before bedtime, with a brief note of what you are doing/ eating at each interval. 4. Review these energy logs every Sunday, and write out "what works" and "what is not working." I invented this protocol for myself. I did not need a coach, a video, or a book. I simply sat down and contemplated what my highest impact personal development initiative should be for the time being. It can be hard to take the first step, so I would suggest to just pick a model of prioritization and try it out for a month. I chose Maslow's for now because it resonates. Others might choose spiral dynamics, or choose a different model entirely. This work is highly customizable (which is the cool part). One step at a time, choosing the highest impact experiments I have also become directly aware that Simplicity is key. Complexity fails. The proof of this revealed itself in the first week of this exercise. I found after only one week of trying several other "missions" at once. I tried to "take ownership of my fitness," and address my relationship deficiencies, and address my school/career development needs--- all at once. I failed to take action. I fell into an unconscious loop of distractions. I even lashed out at people I cared for, from the overwhelm and guilt of procrastination (procrastination is a deep and pernicious cycle of behavior for me, I will be searching for a root cure authentic to my needs soon). So I stuck to ONE mission for now: total self-acceptance. I defined a time frame to measure the results: at the end of this month. I found my state of mind changed completely with self-awareness at the helm of my decisions, rather than unquestioned impulses (procrastination, stimulation, distraction mechanisms: including Leo's videos). Sometimes, you eat an elephant one bite at a time, and climb the pyramid of "needs" one step On a final note, I have an interesting metaphor for listening to this content or any content authentically: In life you start out in the center of a corn maze. Here is where your authentic thoughts dwell, where you and your friends laugh and relate. it is where you are really at, developmentally. Here burns a pyre of home, of authenticity, for better or worse. Then, someone tells you to see if there is a way out of the maze, so you say "I am open minded" and you start down a pathway in the corn. Before you know it, you are in a completely different place in the corn, for better or for worse. You might even like this spot in the corn maze better than your starting point. But when the sun sets and it is getting dark out (life gets hard and challenges YOUR EGO, not Leo's thoughts and opinions) shit gets real. The wolves are howling in the dark, and you feel anxious as though you are being watched. You realize you are completely lost without a way back. You have this anxiety because you walked the path of Unearned Wisdom with a Bright Red Tether back to where you started. Tie that Red Tether to your original thinking on a subject, before you tread down a path of new ideas. With this approach, you can entertain a path without getting lost and losing who you were to begin with. This is your end of the bargain when entertaining new ideas. If you do the work to avoid getting lost, and trace your steps back to your thoughts on a subject after you listen to a lecture, podcast or actualized video; before long you will find that all progress you make on your way out of the maze will be authentic to you.

What are some examples of quality life coaching resources online, specific to the adolescents and college age range? I am interested in the actual practice of coaching as it is applied in person or by phone/skype, and would find YouTube or web recommendations useful. More specifically, I would love to know if there is a high quality resource with Coaching Case Studies, which are pretty much summarized scenarios based off of real coaching practice, that I can reliably study and learn from. There are some inauthentic case studies out there used as marketing tools. I am not interested in that sort of thing. My purpose in asking is to help me understand the utility and practical application of "coaching", and further define the difference between coaching and therapy in my own mind. Coaching is going to be one tool I use in my life's work, and I have decided to turn to this forum for help in investigating it further. Currently, I am reading some of the books on the book list, which do seem helpful but a little outdated. Any book suggestions would be awesome as well. I understand that there are coaching programs out there that would readily provide this information and training. I am not looking for information behind any sort of pay wall at this time. I don't discount the value of these programs, but I also do not intend to spend $9000 on IPEC training right now.

@peqkno thank you! This is exactly what I was hoping for in throwing a line out here! Great suggestions. What I mean by outdated may just be insecurity about a publication date older than 5 years; some academic PTSD about using good quality resources I am sure. @Leo Gura I probably was not clear, but I aim to research coaching the demographic of adolescents and college-aged people; not necessarily coach training geared for this population. This age range is ripe for discovering wisdom that can be gained through proper introspection, grounded in evidence-based psychology (I assume most coaching practice is evidence based, right?) My life purpose is born out of a passion for improving the lives of people who feel lost in public education. I became a nurse so that people take my credential seriously and trust my sources; and so that I know professional tact on some level. This purpose requires more than “improved guidance counseling”; it requires a systematic approach to coaching and mentoring young people who want more out of life. I am not a cheapskate btw, I am interested in iPEC’s training. I value learning things with discipline and structure. I am preparing by studying up and saving up. I was that kid who wanted more out of life when I started college four years ago; and thats right when I found Actualized.org. Pretty good fortune there; but personal development could become a standard, not left up to chance.

Congratulations, you are partaking in the purest form of free speech, and a form of modern philosophy. I did standup for three years on and off again, started the very same time that you did actually, in 2016. I rarely went up on stage with a script. I dont know how you feel about scripting your jokes, but times when I "killed it" I did so without a script, and with a recent and relevant anecdote from my life. Something that really helps me is to reflect on the type of people who laugh at my jokes: are they your friends who like to set things on fire? Are they your buddies from Law School with a dry sense of humor? Are they your siblings who laugh at your physical expense? This tells you your joke content and style (physical-pratt humor, Ryan Renolds-paced wit, Jerry Seinfeld story-telling, George Carlin Nihilism, Etc.). Really sit down and journal or ask yourself about WHO you are usually making laugh in your day to day, and then pretend to be speaking to that person once you are on stage. This also plays into that old public speaking rule of "speak to one person at a time, and you will do fine." Think about which is more fun and less stressful: trying to make your best friend laugh for ten minutes, or trying to make a whole crowd of strangers laugh. Also remember the Legend Steve Martin: Props, wit, music, and hell, even a skit or powerpoint presentation can be damn funny. Its the ultimate art form, left up to you and your audience's interpretation.

Also, people are dynamic creatures. Just because they work a "mundane" job and lack the knowledge of who Joseph Campbell was, does not mean that they are less human and creative than you or I. It means they make a different series of decisions, day in and day out, which then shapes their perceptions and abilities. This sort of thing can change, and it is the purpose of this website: to help break people out of the matrix called "unconscious living." Be careful in oversimplifying a whole segment of the population. Instead, see yourself in others, and acknowledge the difference in decisions you each make, and that really high quality communication can often guide people to the insights you find so valuable in your own life.

@PepperBlossoms I asked a similar question four years ago when Leo started this Forum. I asked "Why are some people ok with living mechanically, while becoming more conscious is always an option." I asked it of myself as well as those more "traditional" folks around me. Leo responded with something like "this work is really about killing yourself. You still think this is a game, but once you realize this, you will quit." To me, this was a little severe and dramatic, but it does hint at a clue to the question: Why are some people ok with NPC lives? Why aren't more people the Hero? If I may play "traditionalist's advocate" for a moment... I once listened to my friend's dad grumble about going to work one morning. He does a pretty important but traditionalist job, working in transportation of rocket fuels. I asked him point blank why he didn't try and find a career he was less stressed about. His answer was, "Somebody's gotta do it". Really think about this statement, and all that it says. this one sentence alone uncovers years of limiting beliefs constructed over time. It is absolutely true that we need hard working people who will support the infrastructure as such. There are problems every day behind the scenes that we are fortunate enough to ignore because of these individuals. Without Plumbers, we would have a hepatitis-ridden population. Without Nurses, we might very well have people dying in the streets. Without Coroners we would have dead people in the streets (yikes, I'm feeling morbid for the holiday I guess). Without Powerline workers, I'm pretty sure we would not be posting to this forum from our computers. To put this in simpler terms, you should consider re-watching (or watching if you haven't) Leo's video on Survival, and then his Self-deception series back to back this week. It will remind you of a few core principles that direct human behavior. That said, also acknowledge the crucial work that more traditionalist people play. I personally work as a Registered Nurse, and play my part in the infrastructure that way. I do approach my career with new innovations when I can, and also strategize to only work part-time, because at the end of the day it is a "moralistic" form of wage slavery, and its only a part of my life purpose, not the whole of it. I will leave with one final thought food: What if a self-actualized society started to develop, where those traditional jobs still existed. Instead of wasting our time in school, 14 year-olds are taught how to fix cars, and work on computers or even power lines. By 16 they can make a full time salary and save money for their education, or for their lives. Also consider a society whose employers acknowledge the existence of a life purpose, and act as coaches for people and not tyrants. Coaches who inspire the individual to use their mundane job, like accounting, as a launch pad to develop the financial and mental discipline needed to pursue their true passion, music theory. Even crazier yet, picture a world where everyone has a vital skill set, like plumbing, and everyone helps out in providing for the stability of the infrastructure; But only Part-time, so that each and every person has the ability to take 5 month retreats to awaken, or can work on their business or passions 5 days out of the week. Imagine a world where people's thirst for knowledge and creativity was rewarded, not stifled, all while we take on the honorable responsibility of taking care of one another. Brings a tear to the eye, almost. But then again, there is a life purpose for that (much like the saying "there's an app for that").

Just sharing an insight here. I realized recently that simply strategizing to “free up your time” is not enough to help you stay on purpose in life. I have often thought things like “if only I wasnt working so many hours a week, Id have the time and energy for Life Purpose work”; or “If I was single again, Id have so much time for inner work and music”. The mistake is assuming that simply having free time will equate to me becoming a more authentic me. This is false, unless you have done the inner work to handle obstacles to being authentic, like social pressures or a demanding career; or taming your inner gremlin and stopping those negative thought loops. As it stands now, I have carved out two weeks of free time. What happened? It was unconsciously filled with bullshit and obligations right away, While also falling back into ALL OF MY bad habits (video games, mindless youtube, sleeping late and not exercising). I have always struggled with three things in life: Time Management, People Pleasing, and Focusing. If you relate, just know that those tendencies are not a result of being too busy or obligated in life. The core of your problem is an emotional one and a Values one. You could be a trust-fund baby and have financial security for life, and all the free time you want; it would not help you. In fact, you’d be SOL, missing out on character level ups by staying true in the face of pressures. Today I got back in touch with my vision grounded in my top values, and magic happened. I suddenly feel like I have so much more energy, and so many things to do. Here’s a secret: if you are on purpose in life, there will be feelings that say “there just isnt enough time in the day!” Thats actually good, since its what helps you jump out of bed the very next day. Life is short, afterall. notice: it is hardest to get out of bed when you are off purpose; then boredom takes over and you get stuck in those nasty dopamine loops of horseshit time-wasters. Sit still and do nothing, when all else fails; you’ll reset and do just fine. Let me know what your insights are for managing the giant puzzle on the way to daily flow states and personal freedom. I feel like Im getting closer, even despite working full time and being in a relationship.

Hello actualized boys and girls. I am currently working as a nurse in an emergency room, and I have experimented with consciousness in my practice, with some profound results. Insight one: Mindfulness can save lives. I started to feel burnt out with the influx of Covid cases lately, and found myself returning to default consciousness and habits. I mean drinking too much coffee, watching bad youtube videos way past my bedtime, and eating fast food on the drive home from work. The fast food craving happened after seeing a decapitation case; I must have internalized a little stress from that one. I know several nurses who went out drinking at 6am, but I settled for a quarter pounder. Anyways, all this is to say that one day I stopped, and made it my intention to stop listening to crappy youtube on the way into work, instead practicing mindfulness with silence on the drive. Then I continued down the list of my default habits, until I found myself being mindful during CPR for a full cardiac arrest. The crazy thing is, my mindfulness helped me to realize that the reason this person's heart was not pumping was due to the fact that they were so overweight in their upper body area, that their adipose tissue weighed down to compress their heart, creating a tamponade effect. That is to say, my awareness led me to stop doing compressions at the two minute mark, and sit the patient up in bed. The pulse came back. Awareness at its finest right there. Insight two: Meaningful Work is not necessarily your life purpose.(for you young and indecisive people, like me) More and more lately, I am seeing the need for balance in the lives of our healthcare workers, myself included. This year has really highlighted that need, and the fact that there is a war on consciousness waged by big corporations (Hospitals are corporations who benefit monetarily from your well-insured ass having a heart attack multiple times in a year). That said, I am not here making a political statement. I am outlining a fact of modern employment that needs to be contended with, and I wish to create a realistic expectation in those of you who are young and have not started working a real job yet. I see a trend on this website a lot, ever since Leo's wage slavery video. I believe it is best described as younger people who think they can make the problems of survival emotionally easy just by aligning their income with a "conscious career" like Life coaching, nomadic web-based work, or being a gamer on youtube, or starting a podcast with an associated Patreon account. I was in this boat a short while ago, and almost pursued IPEC's $9000 training to become a Life Coach while simultaneously dropping out of nursing school. I am glad I did not do that, looking back. That would have been a subtle way of me running from painful growth opportunities in front of me. I am not going to say that any of these career choices are bad. But if you read that and are saying "wow, he described my aspirations pretty well there," I implore you to go out there and get some real world experience, and grow some fangs and claws before you pursue enlightened and creative work full time. Even though my career of nursing is not the most conscious and perfectly authentic path to me, it has taught me a lot about survival, lessons I would not have gotten any other way than by working a 9-5 (in my case, 3 12hrs in a row). And I would add that I chose nursing very intentionally. It was the only form of vocational training within my price range that even mentioned Self-Actualization and Maslow's hierarchy in its course curriculum. I took that as a sign I was maximizing my skill points in a strategic direction, and let me say, it feels like it is finally paying off. I went through some really dark times to get here, practicing as a nurse, but man I have a vantage point to work from. I might very well start my educational Coaching business this summer, given the population's infection rate backs off and the Covid vaccine does not create Zombies. Insight Three: Expand, because its your only option. Let me make this clearer with an analogy: You can grow into a little potted houseplant, seated in a comfortable little planter that you are familiar with, in a nice sunny spot in the front room that only gets shady after 2pm. You will be a potted houseplant, until your owner forgets to water you a few days while on vacation. Or you can become a badass Venous Fly Trap in the Amazon Jungle. You can ditch the potted soil, and sink your roots into some savage land, and grow into something of a force of nature. You can even grow up above the tree tops as a Kapok tree, with authentic roots that run deep, and become a form of flora that has survived floods and erosion, and has housed other creatures like Bees and Jaguars. Apply that weirdness to your own pursuits. Basically, accept the pain that comes with the freedom to grow, and remember that the species of plant your grow into is up to you at a certain point, only once you become tough enough. I see far too many older nurses who are "burnt out", who have been spit at, sworn at, kicked and even shot at too many times to find the mindfulness in the work that they do. They have become ungrounded, and often pursue unconscious and familiar pleasures that constrict their awareness roots, just to justify their continued torture of employment. That, my friends, is what I am talking about. Externally you can have the prestige of working in the ER, but on the inside you are a comfortable houseplant that struggles with making decisions, and always has fear and doubt that water will not come the next day. And you cannot reach shamanic levels of consciousness as a house tulip. Better to become the big ass tree the shamans smoke from, and risk enduring a flood from time to time. I see plenty of nurses and physicians who are entrepreneurs outside of their careers, even amidst the pandemic. Some leave work to go to the library to do market research. Others hit the gym after a 12 hour shift. Others still have a gig coming up with their band in a recording studio. One nurse even works part time during the holidays in order to make little holiday coffee cups as a side biz. In conclusion Perhaps that was not quite what your mind thought of when you read "insights from the ER", but I think the topic of life purpose and what to study is on a lot of people's minds this time of year. I know it was for me when I took final exams. I have more interesting stories and insights that are a little more bloody and interesting if you care to hear them some time. But for now, this one is long enough. Take care, keep meditating, and remember, Mindfulness can save lives. Ps: Id love to know your opinion of balancing a "real job/career" with life purpose and authentic consciousness pursuits like psychedelics or transcendant meditation retreats. I realize we need nurses, plumbers, and even lawyers. But maybe it is up to us to work on ourselves to bring consciousness standards into these professions, rather than running away from these professions all together.

@Strangeloop right on! Yeah, coaching people is hard to do without some semblance of theoretical and practical study. Human beings are very complicated. But here are a few steps for you to consider: 1) keep trying 1/1 coaching, but READ Leo’s list of Coaching books on the book list. There are 5 or 6 there that are crucial reads. 2) google some “Life coaching programs“ and figure out your price range. iPEC has a great reputation and is what Leo went with, but it is pricey. Nothing wrong with a cheaper option, but check those reviews first so you dont waste your time. 3) treat your coaching practice as sincerely as a Doctor does. That means, get your priorities straight with each and every conversation. Are you sure coaching is for you? We often underestimate how hard it is to develop REAL listening skills. 4) get some coaching yourself. Hard to sell something you have never bought yourself, right? 5) great! After all that, consider your specialty. You could actually make your purpose about GROUP COACHING in the recording studio setting; or coach bands for a living. And interestinf possibility there for you, but you can take that and run with it Im sure! Best of luck my friend.

@SirVladimir I find it ABSOLUTELY LUDICROUS that I “technically” am not allowed to enjoy your Beautiful Mystical writings while having a toke, because the large corporate hospital setting is steeped in stage Orange consciousness that values mandated drug testing (we are truly in the dark ages!). The thing is, many healthcare workers experiment as psychonauts. Its partially what makes us empathetic and higher consciousness creatures, and if there was integration between an agency and the understanding that we nurses are “grown ups“ and wont come to work tripping balls, then I think we would have a higher quality of care and Love in our work again. Instead you have some folks who feel burnt out, and those who treated nursing as a life purpose feeling more like a wage slave at the end of it. Being a strategic motherf***er, I plan to take a 3 month retreat/ sabbatical from nursing a year and a half from now in between jobs. I have the whole thing planned out, and will be focusing primarily on higher consciousness strategizing during this time as well. If I return to the profession, my savings being depleted, I will do so as an independent contractor or someone with financial independence, because I have a specialized skill set and can do that sort of thing. I am building a sound foundation to launch from first, and collecting survival insights as I go.

Here I just want to thank Leo for posting a video a while back called "awareness alone is curative" NOTE: Before you skip, observe your resistance to reading all this text. Practice observation here. My lack of decisiveness is my core issue. Through simple awareness, with a dash of self-love and compassion, I have had these insights: 1. my lack of decisiveness = lack of time spent observing the truth. 2. Awareness can cure procrastination and suffering for good, here's how: realize that the duality between "what you'd rather be doing right now" and what you "have to do to survive/ pay the bills/ pass the test/ get fit" is nonexistent. There is no difference between suffering and discipline, and the freedom of relaxation and fun. In fact, I have used awareness to build a "positive feedback loop" relating to anything requiring discipline, such that i have been way more consistent and actually EXCITED to work! The harder I work now, the bigger my excitement becomes for the things my discipline will afford me on my off time. Just apply awareness to solve your suffering, again, with a dash of self-love and understanding. Note: this "excitement" to work does take a few cranks to get going. For example, school work usually requires that i am sitting quietly for at least five minutes becoming present. Its kinda like warming up and stretching your awareness muscle before a workout... Be sure to do positive self talk and love for added benefit. Dont knock this hippy dippy bullshit until you try it for yourself... "I am a hard worker, Look at my discipline right now, When i am done with studying i will feel great and a lot smarter!" just as an examplar. 3. There are some parts of myself which i can trust, and other parts of myself that i cannot trust. The difference is asking the question: "who would be ok just sitting and observing this right now?" ... whoever squirms or tries to distract you is the traitor. example: I needed to read for school. Parts of me resisted and said "lets do some dishes, or even laundry..." While the part of myself that I trust was OK with simple sitting and observing myself reading for school... observing the boredom and passage of time until i got interested in my work again... 4. You have creative responsibility in relationship to your habits and mental hygiene. I mean, that you literally create your own positive/negative feedback loops, so do this mindfully. For example, take the time out of your day to mindfully create a positive logical system surrounding getting gas for your car. Think it through: instead of taking the gas pump for granted and grinding your teeth at the gas prices, observe just how cool it is that you are putting a combustible fluid into an elaborate system of bio-mimicry, metabolizing this fuel for the sole purpose to automatize and optimize your travel towards YOUR GOALS and LIFE...you can literally think of filling your gas tank like an act of freedom and an ability, rather than a hassle. 5. sit and wait, and it will come... I promise you, that feeling you had when you were little and could play all day in the summer time. that memory you have of family holidays playing monopoly, or that feeling you had when you first played Skyrim or some other cool game, or that feeling of touching your first football or playing your first guitar. It all comes back to you, in your gut, balls/ovaries and bones. I promise, with enough patience, observation, and self-love not judgement, you will allow the deepest most passionate recesses of your past selves to have the courage to step forward and infect your current circumstance. I just found myself making jokes with a cashier the other day out of no where, and when i observed this for what it was, i discovered it was a previous self having the courage to step forward and be fully present in the moment, rather than my normal status of self-absorbed planning and worrying about work or school. And finally, 6. Courage is a muscle which is hypertrophied through continue self-exposure to work and suffering. I know, its not what i wanted to hear either. consider it like a workout the next time you just sit and observe your own emotions, the next time to resist an addiction through observation and love, the next time you listen and observe to your loved one without trying to manipulate them to your needs. Remember, positive feedback loops are your responsibility to build, so take full responsibility for the training required to stomach this work: take the time to practice observation and build courage. You feel that "gravel" like feeling in your gut at the thought of this work? Observe it. Feeling resistance to reading a long paragraph? observe it. Anything at all, just observe it. Observation is marching up the sled hill. Once you put that work in, you can enjoy the ride down

You can fall flat on your face trying to be a "yes man", "jack of all trades", or an "overnight Arnold Schwarzenegger". Here are words to live by: Perhaps consider your current mentors; are you employing a healthy comparison (inspiration) with these overachievers, or are you trying to snap your fingers and achieve their success by compelling yourself to take on "productive chaos." Really, how many successful projects do you need? (hint: just one).

This week: Simplify elegantly Get back in touch with my value of boredom. (boredom leads to my best work). Make 30 minutes for a boredom session. This will be like starter fluid for the carburetor to my creation engine. Do it Badly I will shadow during a neurosurgery this week. Hoping to ask the right questions to learn something. First time for everything. Shed some light on it; its medicinal Let's take some stock of myself. I will fight for my life this week, combating what people think of me. People change, and so can I. I cannot let my fear destroy me. Will I let myself be mindlessly painted into a safe cushy job, throwing away my potential, and leave this life with a wimper? No. I will go out at 109 with a BANG. I want to give myself security in my creative capabilities and insight. I want to be able to count on myself to live a dream life. I'll bet that making time to be bored with put me in touch with the thing I've been sick without for a while now. I believe my fuel is unrestricted creation. Living life in sand box mode is the life I aspire to. Will I create something this week?

I love music that makes me feel my heartbeat. I love making music with my friends; a good jam out is the shit. I am in love music>> I love writing a story. I love picking the details that interest me, and using language to illuminate them. I am in love with writing>> I love art. I love how life feels when we create things and we mean it. I am in love with art. Welcome to my journal. I will spread some positive energy here, as well as insights I glean from time to time via living my core tenants: Simplify elegantly Do it Badly Shed some light on it; its medicinal. We need art. We need self awareness. We need balance in life. If you're reading this, join me for some healthy entertainment. SPEAK FROM THE GUT.

I wonder why people insist on leading mechanical lives if left to their own devices. I mean, it certainly comes down to laziness, or a conservation of energy for survival in a more threatening environment. But even at that, wouldn't people want to be aware and fully in control (responsible) for their actions? Even after pointing out a backfiring mechanism to a friend of mine who has been mechanically avoiding talking to women, he still insists on sticking with his old ways. My guess, as Leo has also pointed out before, is that this method of avoidance has proven to be successful to his lizard brain; he hasn't died and still has the bare necessities, so why go out on a limb, right? But what I'm getting at is really deeper than my friend's love-life. It's this: why do societies, governments, and people at large design structures and institutions to promote low awareness, or mechanical and automatic living? Like, for example, the cookie cutter routes a student can take in university. Step 1 pick an "interest" step 2 pick a major step 3 get good grades step 4 get a connection, land a job and pay your debts. That is just one example of a process that, while not inherently evil, just promotes mechanical reactions to living life. Another example is with technology. Now-a-days, automated cars and machines are taking the place of people. Why? Because, on a deep and primal level, people assume that relieving themselves of responsibility is the right direction to move in, and that the more they do so, the easier and more fun life becomes. Anyone who has watched any of Leo's videos, or read any books about back firing mechanisms ("Taming your inner gremlin" is a good one), knows just how flawed this assumption is. So, back to my question: why do people at large stray away so strongly from higher consciousness and toward the easy, yet backfiring, path of mechanical living? Bonus question: If you were the president or a person of omnipotent power, what would be your first actions toward promoting a worldwide push towards awareness. (Please excuse the naivety in advance, I'm obviously not an authority on high consciousness living, but I do strive to self-actualize and honor my life purpose).

Hello all, I would like to share an idea that may or may not already be a thread on this forum. It has grown so huge since Leo started it a little over a year ago, and to be honest I don't really feel like doing a ton of searching to see if anyone else has had this thought or not. Anyways, here's whats up. I am in college. I am naive and young, and have a whole lot of experience to be gained yet. But one thing I have just figured out is how to take the reins back from a stagecoach driver called Fear. In other words, I was letting Fear- a fear of not learning enough, keeping the GPA stable, setting myself up to start making more money, what my friends and family would think of me if I said screw it and became a guitar teacher full time and dropped out; you know, typical college stuff- I was letting Fear run my life into the ground, like a little bitch. This week, that has changed. I dropped a calculus class that I was having a cow over every single day, as I havent really applied myself to math in the past and now calc. was throwing up things that I barely remembered, and I was falling behind this online course every single day that went by (stressful when balancing a ton of other projects and endeavors, but I digress). Now I know what some people might be thinking or assuming: I am just a kid who got intimidated by real work in college and decided to drop because it was the easy way out. That's what I was thinking at first, and I'll be the first to admit that I have done that in the past with a previous class that was kicking my ass under a 20 credit load before. However, this time was completely different for one key reason. That reason is the fact that I am done letting my fear dictate my personal growth. Keeping one eye on the road and one on the people in the car, for example, is not a safe or intelligent way to drive around and about, and much in the same way, thats what I was doing with my personal education and development. I noticed that I hadnt slowed the hell down the smell the roses in a long time, that just weeks before the semester started I was feeling creative and working on film projects that I was passionate about (once it started, all of the disintegrated immediately), and more importantly that I was failing to work toward strategically outlining my life purpose. If you are going through a similar process of letting fear bend you over a barrel and have its way with you, I would like to offer my insights to you. Truly be present to learn ANYTHING. You can learn anything if you set your mind to it. I was horrible at recall with calc., but I was understanding the concepts because I simply slowed myself down enough to just breathe and understand every symbol on the page for what it was, one at a damn time. The problem with this is that it was eating up my freedom of growth and time. If you put a specific kind of plant in a pot that is way to small for it, what happens? Also consider what happens if you drown the shit out of it with water and animal feces? It dies a little each day. The SAME THING was happening to me. I was seeing opportuinities pass me by because I insisted on pleasing others by being a good little boy and completing calculus so that I can serve society properly by being able to think at that level of logic as soon as possible. I didnt have enough time (small pot to grow in), and I was actually being drowned in information as calc. is semi- dense and practice intensive (too much water and fertilizer). So, I dropped that class like a bad habit, and while a small part of me does acknowledge that at some level I feel relieved to not have to work as hard on school this semester, that same part of me doesnt revel in that joy for too long, and actually begins to quake in its boots at the work to come. I am taking a charged and proactive approach and plan on mastering all of the math needed for calculus by the time I finally make the time next semester to take it, and also I have put myself under the immense responsibility of free time. What people fail to remember (mainly kids my age or younger who are addicted to youtube, porn, videogames, you name it) is that free and liesure time is a HUGE fucking responsibility. No joke. If you have been blessed in your life to be in a nice situation where all you have to worry about is going to school to learn and grow, and that you find enough time in the day to come home and procrastinate on the important shit and waste away on any of that shit listed above, I'll invite you to do some yoga: Bend over, put your head between your legs, and kiss your own ass in gratitude to the universe. Anyways, I just wanted to stoke up some self-courage as well as courage in any of you struggling with a similar situation. In case I came across as unclear and ranty, I basically wanted to free up my time and take back artistic control over the layout of my life, both long term and day-to-day, by slowing myself down, stopping all of the neurotic patterns by surrendering and visualizing death (really works!), and getting in touch with what is really important. For me, strategizing and making human connections for life experience was way more important than jumping through hoops like a dog (analogy courtesy of @Leo Gura) and playing the "hurry up and drown yourself in knowledge" game that so many people and college institutions push on people as a good idea nowadays. This is clearly an unconscious pattern, and one of the reasons I think education reform is the most important change you can make in any society. Just remember, there is no damn rush, live for yourself. Get your shit together before you go out an try to help others, and to do that, slow down and grab those damn reins from that asshat called Fear.

That's interesting. Any charities that you would suggest?

Hello! First of all, from one former over stimulant addict to another, you've made it. You made the crucial first (and only) step in changing your life of misery and addictions, to one of living in the moment and having energy for what life already is, not what you try to force it to be via all of your former habits. Meditation, watching all of Leo's videos under the Fundamental category, and watching whatever seems interesting to you will be a great couple of first steps to get ready for the course. One thing about the course is, it is basically an Authentic-self discovery process that doubles as finding your life-purpose, because the two are so intertwined. I have purchased the course, used it, and am about half way through. As to whether or not its worth it, it totally is. Great information that you wont find anywhere else, organized in a way that is very easy to follow. The other thing is that once you do buy it, work through it slowly. You are likely to quit (like I did) and not touch it for a few months, just wasting your time, if you don't take it in strides. I do the course for an hour and a half every Friday. I wouldn't say that you need to watch every single one of Leo's free videos first though. While the information is generally good in every one of his videos, you might just find yourself watching them to engage in some "mental masturbation" about things that sound nice or seem like really practical advice. WATCH WHAT YOU WILL ACTUALLY FOLLOW THROUGH WITH, just like you did with the overcoming addictions video. Sidenote: Self inquiry is a very important thing to start doing. Also, a book that a friend recommended to me that might help you is called Radical Honesty, by Brad Blanton. Great book that would pair nicely with the life purpose course.

Have you ever been a naïve college student like myself? Have you ever thought that it was so hard to just pick an interest and stick with it/ "Pick a damn career already!" ? Or have had great difficulty with decision making in general? These are the struggles that are defining my life right now. Albeit they are really good, first world problems to have in a society with an abundance of choice and opportunity, they are also a immense pain in the ass. That is why I am taking to this forum, as everyone I have encountered on here so far seems very reasonable and knowledgeable. My inquiry to all of you is this: What if I just said "screw it", and embraced the college experience and made learning my first life purpose? I am looking for your thoughts, support, criticism, suggestions on how to make this a reality given the current financial climate in the US, and personal opinions on how to get the most out of the college experience academically (I am already participating in plenty of clubs and cross country). The reasoning behind my idea of just forgetting all stresses about looking for a career and just learning as much information as humanly possible while I am in college is that I am stumped when it comes to trying to decide what is important to me in life. I love to learn. I have a few hundred different interests. I have read the book Mastery and I am definitely a Dabbler, however I am meditating and working on my awareness to fix this issue. Is this an immature response to the same issue every college student faces at one point or another? Or is it a legitimate approach to finding my life purpose in the context of the "real world"? I value your responses. Thanks!