How To Get Started With Self Actualization - Over 40 Techniques ( Complete Guide/ Video Summary/ Notes/ Discussion)

[Alii]

How To Get Started With Self Actualization - Over 40 Techniques (Complete Guide/ Video Summary/ Notes/ Discussion)

LINK TO VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn-pmRDauK8&t

A while back, Leo posted a video called “The Big Picture Of Self-Actualization”. In that video, Leo talks about the high level components of what self actualization looks like in a big picture understanding.

One of the biggest problems newbies (like myself) face is when they get into personal development, they get engrossed with so many concepts and techniques that they end up not understanding the bigger picture of their journey. They don’t know which technique is right and which is wrong. Which ones are shallow and which not shallow. Which ones are powerful or which are weak. The list goes on.

So if you’re a newbie, make sure you watch the big picture video instead of this one!
Link to the big-picture video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGw8IoqBt-c

Now, the current topic video is, in a sense, a continuation of the big picture video. Instead of high level insights, Leo will now focus on the more practical/low-level techniques to hopefully give us an idea of what it looks like to take action on the self-actualization journey.

Leo will be giving us over 40 different self-actualization techniques.


IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM LEO
————————————————————————
“Before I give you the techniques, let me tell you this. The reason why I’m even shooting this episode is because more and more people are telling me things like:

‘Leo you have so much content!’
‘You have so many episodes!’
‘What order should I watch your videos?!’

And so on. When I hear these types of questions, I chuckle. Why? Because it’s rather silly. YOU are suppose to be the architect of your life! How the fuck am I suppose to know what’s right for you? What order you’re suppose to read books in and what videos you should be watching? I don’t know what’s wrong with your life, I don’t know what your goals are, I don’t even know what your vision is! And neither do you! You see? That’s the problem. Again, YOU have to be the architect of your life! YOU have to plan it out and design it yourself! That, in essence, is why you’re even alive at all!”  - Leo
————————————————————————

Wow. When Leo said that, I knew shit was gonna be serious.

Before you read the list, please be aware that I will put a timestamp next to each technique so you can follow along as you’re watching the video. Leo says FIVE out of the forty can transform our lives tremendously! Notice that I will NOT be numbering the list, I want the reader (yes, you) to not look at this list mechanically! You have complete freedom in what you want, and I wish you best of luck in your journey ! 

ANYWAYS, HERE IS THE LIST!


Finding your life purpose
5:40 Leo believes this is a very important component for a self-actualized lifestyle. Life purpose is about taking your career and turning it into your greatest passion & your work of art.

Reprogramming your subconscious mind
7:30 Leo will soon be creating a course out of this topic (HYPE). To keep it simple, Leo says you can use affirmations and visualizations to help us locate our root subconscious beliefs. These can be the things we hold about life and many of the patterns that keep fueling the behaviors we want to stop! Our subconscious mind is responsible for most of what we think & do.

Meditation Habit
8:00 Leo believes that this is one of the most important habits you can install in your life! He has many videos discussion meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation With Labeling
8:50 Leo has an episode completely dedicated to this topic. He believes very few people have capitalized on this meditation technique.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPUWdhHDKS4&t=24s

Concentration Practice
9:55 Leo also has a video about this topic as well. He elaborates that concentration is very important for people these days because technology is making it harder for us to focus.

Self Inquiry
10:49 Leo tells us self inquiry is “like the ultimate method” for how to arrive to truth. BOTH deep and absolute levels of truths. Also, he says self inquiry is a good method if you’re trying to reach enlightenment. He has a video which covers this topic more deeply.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq4NDMNDzSs

Journaling
11:50 Leo believes journaling is an awesome technique for newbies. He recommends to journal at least 5-10 minutes every day. And, if you find yourself enjoying this technique, you can start to journal for much longer. To the point where you can do self therapy, self inquiry, analyzing, etc. ALL in your journal!

Learning The Theory
12:55 Leo tells us this is so fundamental that it shouldn’t even be it’s own technique. Learning the theory, to Leo, means reading, listening, and watching. Whether it’s reading a book, listening to audio programs, or watching courses, they are all critical to newbies who are just starting out. Make sure you do your research before learning the theories!

Taking Notes (I owned this technique today)
15:15 Leo insists for us to take as many notes as we can. He says we need to develop a “repository” of notes we should be taking for years. The point of notes is it helps us with all the information we get. We can not assemble all of the information Leo gives us in our hands. There’s too much of it, it’s too nuanced, too complex, and it’s not going to work for us if all we do is listen/watch. Also, make sure you develop a habit of rereading notes!!

Buying/Doing Courses
15:52 There are an amazing amount of high quality courses available these days online. However, you need to do the research on your own and pin-point which one would be right for you. Don't be cheap! And don’t torrent the courses! If you pay for a course, you’ll feel more obligated to do them seriously!

Researching Books / Seminars / Courses
17:10 Leo says not only do we need to be doing research into the theory, but we also need to research into the research! Which things do we need to be researching? Which books should we be reading? Which course should we be looking at? Which seminars should we attend? All these require TIME to research, to plan, to mark on our calendars, to budget our money, etc.

Studying Various Spiritual Tradition
17:58 Buddhism, yoga, tantra, hinduism, christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc. There are so many spiritual traditions, ones we probably never even heard of before! Leo points out that a lot of them contain juicy wisdom but also contain a lot of bullshit/dogma. It’s up to us to figure out which are shit and which aren’t.

Seeking Out Masterful Teachers
19:00 The world is interconnected like never before! and there are many incredible competent expert teachers available in  any domain you wanna learn from. From business, to relationships, sexuality, diet, nutrition, enlightenment, consciousness work, etc.- there’s a teacher for it! 

Attend Workshops / Retreats/ Seminars
20:50 Just one these will change your thinking on a subject. Research, and find the place you want to go to!

Solo Retreat
21:40 Leo released a video not too long ago on his Arizona solo retreat (LOVED the video, you guys should watch it if you didn’t).  It’s pretty simple, find a place you want to retreat t, and for a week (or however long you plan on going) just do nothing but self-actualization work (but mostly nothing )

Psychedelic Retreats
22:20 Leo tells us we can go to Peru, to Ayahuasca, Mexico, Canada, and even America if you wanna do DMT legally !

Doing Psychedelics By Yourself
22:55 Doing a psychedelic trip by yourself will give you incredible life-changing experiences. Make sure you do them for spiritual/growth reasons, NOT for recreational use!

Ending Unconscious Relationships
23:45 A lot of newbies can’t even begin to grow themselves properly and live out their life purpose because they are mired in very negative, toxic, dysfunctional relationships. Specifically family / Intimate relationships / Old Friends. Some of them can be salvaged and some cannot. You need to be able to distinguish which is which and after a certain point, cut off the toxic ones. Why? Because they’re robbing you from all your potential in life.

Salvage the Salvageable Relationships
24:54 You can learn how to communicate better if you do this technique. You can also learn how to let go of your ego in relationships. You need to understand how you’re using these people for your selfish needs!

Radical Honesty
25:55 Leo recommends for us to read a book by Dr. Brad Blaton called “Radical Honesty”. Leo tells us the whole point of this technique is to…well…..BE HONEST!

Making New Friends
26:45 Leo makes it clear that when he says we need to make new friends, he doesn’t mean friends to go have fun/waste time. He’s referring to people who care about their lives and who are into high consciousness work.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
28:10 Leo hasn't talked about this subject much, but he assures us it’s a deep field. Leo was pretty vague about this topic, but he did tell us NLP techniques consists of various visualization exercises (pseudo-kinda way) which we can use to reprogram our subconscious mind. If you’re interested in this topic, It’s a web search away ! 

Shadow Work
28:45 Leo defines shadow work as “identifying the repressed aspects of your psyche” Examples could be:
- How you judge people
- Why you get angry
- Your deepest fears

“New-age Methods”
29:25 These methods include things like
-lucid dreaming
-Astral Projection
-Hypnosis
-Reiki
-Acupuncture
-Chakras

Leo says a lot of this stuff is legit as how it can grow you and how it can shift your emotions.

Cleaning up your Diet
31:15 Basic but VERY important. There's a lot of different diets you can implement. This was also, in a sense, how Leo got started with his self-actualization journey (though he wasn’t aware of it) (Also Leo, we need to see your overweight picture soon )

Physical Exercise / Gym
34:10 Also Basic but also very important. You can do various types of exercises. Whether it’s running, lifting, or doing yoga, all are important. (even though Leo preferred old school yoga the most)

Breathing Properly
35:15 You might not think much of this technique since you’re always breathing. However, Leo tells us that our breathing is mostly unconscious, not very deep, and also very shallow.

Holotropic (Breathwork)
36:00 Leo says this is a very specific shamanic deep breathing technique which can lead to mystical and psychedelic-like experiences which can release a ton of emotional baggage.

Body Work / Energy Work / Reichian Therapy
36:20 Pretty much just doing work on the physical body. Can be a special body exercise and special breathing exercise. Personal development is not all mental, you know….. 

Developing Body Awareness
37:15 Just awareness on how your body behaves and how you feel can greatly help with your self-actualization results.

Cleaning up your information intake
38:08 TV, smartphones, internet, youtube, news, politics, gossip, tabloids, garbage music, etc. all of these have to be eliminated ( or used properly) because most of this stuff is rotting your brain! It’s the most low consciousness crap you can be feeding your mind!

Eliminating hard addictions
39:30 You need to eliminate things like
-Porn           -Video Games
-Coffee        -Smoking
-Alcohol      -Shopping

Eliminating Subtle Addictions
41:08 These addictions could be:
-Nonstop Theorizing         -Judging
-Chasing Validation           -Arguing/Debating
-Chasing Success/Love      -Being Right All The Time

Getting More Life Experiences
42:07 Traveling, going out, being in nature, moving to a new city, interacting with interesting people, etc. These will give you more source material and allow you to see the complexity of life.

Building Socialization / Dating Skills
42:55 This (mostly dating) is something Leo spent years learning to develop. He has a few videos discussing these!

Finding Healthy Forms of Relaxation / Entertainment
43:25 Very tricky because most of the relaxation/entertainment we know are toxic. Good type of relaxation / entertainment can be playing sports (not watching), being in nature, meditating, etc. 

Getting Your Affairs In Order
43:51 Leo tells us a lot of people are living a very disheveled type of lifestyle. We’re disorganized, we may be in debt, we’re dirty, we got bills to pay, obligations for family / work, etc etc. All these types of things is weighing us down and not giving us any space. No emotional space, no mental space, nor enough time to focus on inner growth. We need to handle our affairs and set up automatic systems so that those affairs don’t keep nagging us into our future.

Minimizing Your Lifestyle
45:05 Leo has a whole episode of this topic called “Lifestyle Minimalism”. Basically, we need to declutter the crap that’s in our life so we can have more time to sit, and well, do nothing.

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR7mjtoAdpM&t=11s

Finding Quality Life Coach / Therapist
45:50 If you make over 50k a year, Leo highly recommends you do this. If you’re young (early 20’s) or don’t make that much yet, don’t do it.

Neurofeedback Training
46:28 This is new technology Leo has not talked about before (he will in the future). He tells us that this technology has potential to cure things like depression, anxiety, phobias, ADHD/ADD, OCD. It can also be very beneficial with meditation!


ANNNNNNNNNND THAT’S IT! Pretty long list, eh? ?

Q&A

Uhhhh......where do I start?! 

47:55 Leo tells us we have to start with just research. Don’t expect one person to be able to explain everything on the list to you, not even Leo! This is an extremely large domain, we haven't even scratched the surface to this whole self-actualization journey

OK. I did some research. Now, HOW do I start?

48:52 Leo gives us a simple formula. If you’re completely new to this, you need to start by just sitting down & locking out 2 hours of time with JUST a journal. From there, you pretty much just need to make an assessment of your ENTIRE life. Start asking questions like: 

“where am I?”
“Where have I been?”
“Where am I going”?
"Where would I rather be going?"

Consider ALL your options. Also consider how much money you have, how much time you have, what's holding you back, your biggest fears & sticking points, what you really want out of life, and so forth.. Make sure you DEEPLY think about these questions. Then start making a PLAN about how to get what you really want. And do this seriously! Make sure you keep returning to your plan, even if it doesn't apply to your current situation in life!


EXTRAS:

Leo’s Top 5 Most Important things for newbies

1. HAVE A JUICY VISION.
2. UNDERSTAND THE RIGHT THEORIES
3. REMOVE ADDICTIONS / DISTRACTIONS
4. INSTALL SMALL HEALTHY HABITS (LIKE MEDITATION) 
5. HAVE A GLIMPSE OF NON EGOIC CONSCIOUSNESS



LEO'S CLOSING STATEMENT (IMPORTANT)
————————————————————————
“You have now heard and seen the path. This is what your life is about. If you're watching my big picture video and also watching this one, you’re pretty much witnessing the path. You now know what it looks like from a big picture & smaller picture level. The biggest danger now is you forget this path, and that tomorrow you wake up and go back to your old routines. Old routines of making no changes, no commitments, and letting yourself forget about this whole thing & falling back asleep. That’s the biggest danger.

So now what you need to do is to keep this on your mind. Write it down, put some sticky notes on your bathroom mirror-or whatever AND remind yourself that you already found the path! And that all that needs to happen is to take your first step, your second step, and follow through on your path. REMEMBER, the first 24 months are going to be the hardest! Why? Because your results are going to be small, your follow-through is going to be shaky, and you’re going to be very tempted to fall back into your old routines… & THAT will be something you’re gonna have to resit!”    - Leo
————————————————————————

 

 

Edited May 29, 2017 by Alii
EDIT: There might be some typos, I will fix whatever I can :l  

[Extreme Z7]

Good work!

[Guest Annetta]

I loved this video it helped me to feel better about the beginning processes of this work 

[Hungry for Truth]

Very useful  

[Alii]

@Extreme Z7 Thank you! spent my whole day taking notes on my journal 

@Annetta Same !!!

@Hungry for Truth Thank you  

[sgn]

Thank you!!! 

[Alii]

@sgn You're very welcome 

[Leo Gura]

Sweet

[Dan Arnautu]

Not all heroes wear capes. :')

[Alii]

9 hours ago, Dan Arnautu said:

Not all heroes wear capes. :')

Haha thank you ! 
 

14 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

 

Sweet

 

Glad you liked it, Leo ! 

[heisenburger]

Can someone share with me books resources on shadow work or nlp they have found?

[Philosoraptor]

As soon as I saw the title of this video, I thought "cool, there's going to be a bullet-point list of the techniques that I can save and refer to". This one, with the summaries, is great but I think there should also be one that just lists the techniques. (Too lazy to do it myself)

[Pallero]

@heisenburger Teal Swan is a great spiritual teacher of you are interested in shadow work. Check out her YouTube channel or her book The Completion Process.

Another shadow work related book I can recommend is The Healing Code by Alexander Loyd & Ben Johnson.

[elias]

Do somebody know great masters or sages who are currently living "like" Peter Ralston ?

[elias]

this inspires me to look deeper in the matter 

thanks for sharing!!

 

Sharing is caring. lol

[Alii]

On 5/29/2017 at 10:14 PM, Philosoraptor said:

I think there should also be one that just lists the techniques. (Too lazy to do it myself)

My friend, how can you start your self-actualization journey if you're too lazy to copy/past the list I provided & remove the summaries from each technique? 

NO WORRIES, FRIEND! Through the magic of moving around my plastic mouse, I will give you the full list without the summaries! 

It took me exactly 2 minutes and 39.42 seconds to copy the entire list, delete each summary off of each technique, and to number them for you. That's how long it could have taken YOU to start on this amazing journey Leo keeps nagging us about 

1. Finding your life purpose
2. Reprogramming your subconscious mind
3. Meditation Habit
4. Mindfulness Meditation With Labeling
5. Concentration Practice
6. Self Inquiry
7.  Journaling
8. Learning The Theory
9. Taking Notes 
10. Buying/Doing Courses
11. Researching Books / Seminars / Courses
12. Studying Various Spiritual Tradition
13. Seeking Out Masterful Teachers
14. Attend Workshops / Retreats/ Seminars
15. Solo Retreat
16. Psychedelic Retreats
17. Doing Psychedelics By Yourself
18. Ending Unconscious Relationships
19. Salvage the Salvageable Relationships
20. Radical Honesty
21. Making New Friends
22. Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
23. Shadow Work
24. “New-age Methods”
25. Cleaning up your Diet
26. Physical Exercise / Gym
27. Breathing Properly
28. Holotropic (Breathwork)
29. Body Work / Energy Work / Reichian Therapy
30. Developing Body Awareness
31. Cleaning up your information intake
32. Eliminating hard addictions
33. Eliminating Subtle Addictions
34. Getting More Life Experiences
35. Building Socialization / Dating Skills
36. Finding Healthy Forms of Relaxation / Entertainment
37. Getting Your Affairs In Order
38. Minimizing Your Lifestyle
39. Finding Quality Life Coach / Therapist
40. Neurofeedback Training

Edited June 1, 2017 by Alii

[barry]

I love this forum because of the passion and dedication I see in most of the people here

[Philosoraptor]

16 hours ago, Alii said:

My friend, how can you start your self-actualization journey if you're too lazy to copy/past the list I provided & remove the summaries from each technique? 

NO WORRIES, FRIEND! Through the magic of moving around my plastic mouse, I will give you the full list without the summaries! 

It took me exactly 2 minutes and 39.42 seconds to copy the entire list, delete each summary off of each technique, and to number them for you. That's how long it could have taken YOU to start on this amazing journey Leo keeps nagging you about 

I considered responding defensively, but a bit of awareness (emphasis- "a bit") has led me to perhaps an even more foolish course of action; attempted spiritual 1-upmanship:

I know your higher self would have responded differently, so I will look past the surface and see the buddha in both of us. Thank you for the list, I appreciate it and I'm sure many others will also.

Oh, I'm a son of a bitch, aren't I?

[Alii]

@Philosoraptor  fixed the last sentence, my bad dude . Good luck with your journey! 

[heisenburger]

@Pallero thank you I'm going to buy the book!