Advice for a teenager

[Tearos]

Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read and possibly respond to this, even though it is very long (teenagers are very good at making their problems bigger than they might actually be, hehe)  I do not know why I am so naive to think that anyone would spend so much time and energy to read this whole post and respond with advice. I do not promote you to do this, but you might want to scroll down to the end of the section where I ask for your advice instead of reading the whole post.

I am a 17-year-old boy from Norway (50% Filippino, if you wonder about the color of my skin), seeking advice from you who may be able to suggest a solution to the situation I find myself in and am about to describe.

Note: English is not my first language, therefore I apologize in advance for any grammatical mistakes. I also want to let you know that I just registered on this forum and have not bought any products from Actualized.org, like the Life Purpose Course, yet . The initiative I have taken so far has been watching and learning from almost all video content provided by Actualized.org, practiced meditation every day for 6 months, read a few self-help books on various topics, cut out addictions and social media (unless as a tool) from my life, and done retrospection work by analyzing my old musical lyrics. Your advice will inevitably influence my decision.

Introduction:
I currently experience a time of difficulty regarding decision making. Right now, I am on an adventure in the USA as an exchange student, and next year will be my last at school before I will have to decide whereas I will either go to college/university, get a job, start my own business/non-profit organization/project, or do something else that you might suggest.
Fortunately, what I am certain about is what my vision is - what I want to achieve, what I am aiming for, and what impact I want to make. In a nutshell, I want to be a part of the most profound revolution of humankind. I will, for now, unofficially name this "The Happiness Revolution" . Let me provide you with a bigger picture to put you in my shoes. I will be referring to happiness as what we essentially desire to achieve: the unconditional, long-term, fulfilling, and peace of mind-version - the state of happiness.

Step into my paradigm: 
Norway is supposedly the happiest country in the world (2017), you can find this "fact" on articles from 'BBC', 'Time' and other sources as well by looking it up on the internet. I am from there - and this is a lie. I do not claim that it is not the happiest country in the world, but I know by personal experience that most of the people of Norway are not happy at all (if we speak of unconditional happiness). The question is, therefore:

• If Norway is the happiest country in the world - and the people there are not, in reality, happy - then what does that say about the rest of the world? 
  I believe the majority of people chase happiness but are never able to find it because it is taught by Western culture that happiness can only be found in external circumstances. However, it is ultimately found mainly when we are able to live in the moment, but also when we have a life purpose, reach Enlightenment, pass neuroticism, and other elements that Leo additionally talks about in his content. People are not taught how to reach both their fullest potential and the state of happiness, therefore there is a low percentage of people who are happy and are willing to die for their Life Purpose. The follow-up question is, therefore:
   
• What would happen, however, if only a slightly higher percentage of people would have reached their fullest potential with Self-Actualization, ultimately reaching Self-Transcendence, and would care about themselves, not as an individual Ego, but by identifying themselves as everyone and everything, as the oneness of absolute infinity, and so on?
   I believe that the Self-Actualized human being is, in a way, the next step in human evolution, where we move from the Neurotic era (all of history until now) to the Self-Actualized era. I also believe that The Happiness Revolution is what will create these extraordinary beings - because when we truly are Self-Actualized/Transcendent, we have reached the state of happiness.

This era is starting now. We are building an army of Self-Actualized/Transcendent beings with our weapons (symbolically) of passion to die for our life purposes about changing the world for the better. This army will be fighting our real enemies/challenges: ourselves, suffering amongst organisms, poverty, animal and world mistreatment, scarce of education, the state of unhappiness, ignorance, and the worst of all - neuroticism. The objective of this revolution is to clean up the mess we as humans have made throughout history. Something magical and astonishing is about to happen, are you ready? And more importantly, will you be a part of this?
There is a lot more to say about this, but this post turned out to be much longer than I intended, so I will get to my questions for you now. Sorry!

Asking for advice:
So I have my vision of changing the world by creating this Self-Actualized army. I have goals like Self-Actualization, Enlightenment, financial independence, traveling the world, starting a family, and still have time for creating my own music as a hobby and maintaining my relationships/spend time with my loved ones. These are the questions I have for you are the following: 

1. I may decide to go to college/university, but I do not know what to study/field to study in. I would like to study psychology, but not what is taught in normal schools. I am interested in positive psychology, what Leo teaches us here, not dysfunctional psychology. I am looking for developmental studies, meditation studies, coaching studies, personal development studies, but I am not even confident about their existence. The reason why I feel I should go to college/university may be because of social pressure, because it is presumably the norm. Another reason might be because I feel because people will take you more seriously if you actually have some sort of degree. Anyhow, do you have a suggestion of what I can study if I choose to do so?
2. I may decide to find a job where I can earn enough money to travel around for a while or build capital for a potential future business. I might instead, however, want to find a job that fits my values. My problem is that I personally feel like I am (not to seem arrogant) too creative and to entitled to my Life Purpose to follow someone else's business idea. Who knows, maybe Leo would want to hire me? Hehe. What would your advice be to this?
3. I may decide to start my own business that will help me pursue my Life purpose and be a pioneer of The Happiness Revolution. This might help me reach my goal of financial independence. My problem is that I have no money and little experience with starting businesses. I have only had one job where I was paid - As a 15-year-old, I sold strawberries in a booth during my summer vacation. I was successful in my job, however, because I decided to bring my guitar to play some music to pass the long hours and to spread the message of creativity among youth culture, which turned out to be a good marketing strategy - the local news came to interview me and sales boosted. While I had this job I also read my first personal development book - Rich Dad, Poor Dad - which inspired me to someday start a business. Should I go for starting a business? If so, do you have any advice for me?
4. I do not pursue money as a goal, only financial independence. If I were to start a big project like a business, I would much like rather start a non-profit organization. I also have so ideas to change the educational system in Norway to implement personal development as a mandatory class. I think my biggest problem is that I have too many opportunities (what a luxury problem!). How can I start a non-profit organization and still be able to support myself, and maybe my family?
5. Do you have any other suggestion of what I could/should decide to do that adapts to my paradigm and values after I finish my last year of high school? Or do you have any suggestion of a different paradigm that I need to establish instead?

I think those were my questions for now. If you took the time and energy to read the whole post, you deserve an award! Thank you in advance for all responses. 
Sincerely, Tearos/Fred.

 

 

[Nahm]

@Tearos

If you’re going to start a happiness revolution, you’re either going to spend your life working up in politics & focusing on changing regulations in industries like food, etc, or you’re going to have to reach a large amount of people individually and actually be able to convince them to wake up and make changes. Tall order, but anything is possible. Leo is one hell of an example. 

One thought, make a website or FB that lists companies who meet certain sustainable, ethical, financial distribution equality and health oriented criteria, and develop a marketing plan that gets people to stick with companies on that list. It would force change for companies who are not. The universe showed you that you can do this using your creativity with the news and your strawberry sales. 

1. Business, marketing, nutrition & psychology. 

2. Make a YouTube channel to make money while traveling. You don’t have the knowledge and experience of someone like Leo, but the biggest market for YouTube is your age bracket, so make your channel highly relatable to your age / generation. What ‘they’re’ dealing with, and useful information on how to succeed and get specific things done. 

*Don’t make that distinction between business OR creativity. Be creative about business. 

3. Yes you should start a business. If it coincides with your YouTube channel, and you can get broad media coverage, you’ll be rockin. 

4. Think about money differently. That matters deeply. You’re going to need a shirt on of money to get any of this done, in the big picture of your vision you expressed.  Hold only positive, allowing thoughts about money. Keep your mind wide open to seeking investors, using crowd funding, etc. There is a certain reality to money getting things done, be in love with that and you’ll reach more people. Money is good. Money is good. Money is good. You can be a millionaire minimalist. Be radically open minded. The first step to starting a business is having a ton of fun learning about how people started businesses. Read books, search YouTube. Nonprofit org’s are run on money, from someone who to some degree dictates the choices, because they supply the money. Careful with the nonprofit route. PD in standard schooling is long overdue. 

5. Do you have any other suggestion of what I could/should decide to do that adapts to my paradigm and values after I finish my last year of high school? Or do you have any suggestion of a different paradigm that I need to establish instead?

You’re very young. Why would you think things should adapt to your paradigms and values?  Blow out your paradigms, don’t try to accommodate them.  Cultivate your values, contemplate how to involve others with shared values in a mutually beneficial way. The paradigm game is won by transcending all paradigms. 

The inner game, the thought game, a mind for allowing, not a mind with resistant thoughts, is the most critical element to your plans. It likely does not seem so at your age, but it will eventually. The more you can grasp this now, the farther you’ll get. Notice even simple thinking and verbal phrasing - and choose to always think and say what you want, never state what you don’t want. This will unlock the world. I’m talking right down to saying I like bananas vs saying I don’t like apples. 

Love is the most powerful force. Don’t be a fool, us it. Good luck. You seem like a very ambitious dude. I hope you accomplish everything you can dream. 

[Haumea]

Quote

 Anyhow, do you have a suggestion of what I can study if I choose to do so?

https://www.mastersportal.eu/studies/281/innovation-and-entrepreneurship.html#content:contents

It's a Master's Programme, so figure out what you need as far as undergraduate studies to get in, but it seems right up your alley.

You need a lot of real world skills and experience to make your dreams a reality, so get as much relevant education as you can.

P.S. This was written on the assumption that higher education in Norway is free.  If that is indeed the case, this is a no-brainer.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Haumea

[Manjushri]

Fuck dude! Wow. I cried a little. A lot. 

[Tearos]

 @Nahm
Thank you for your answer!

I want to take the route of changing people's lives, instead of going the politics, etc. route. Like I was trying to say in the post, I want to create this Self-Actualized army which will engage in attacking problems in areas like politics, the food industry, etc. with true burning passion. I would much more rather want to create the spark in other people to become passionate about changing the world for the better because I believe not enough people have this spark yet. The army is, for now, too small to go battle with these global problems. We could say that Leo is one of the pioneers of The Happiness Revolution because he has already started a spark in so many people to become Self-Actualized, included me.

I will look into your idea about the FB site, thank you for the suggestion! It sounds like a good opportunity for me.

1. My brother has gone to business school and studied marketing and business development, etc. He told me he learned a lot more by reading books with his independent initiative than his whole school experience. He said that the most he got from that experience were the people he met. I don't know if I would want to choose that because it might cost a lot of money, but it is still a good suggestion. Psychology studies are, I believe, more oriented towards dysfunctional psychology than positive psychology. I would much more rather want to study what helps people live to their fullest potential than what helps people who are mentally ill - mainly because I'm not interested in that. The nutrition part sounds interesting though, why would that be important?

2. + 3.The Youtube channel idea is very interesting. My problem here is that my whole life I have felt like I don't fit into my age group and mainstream society. I've always had to "dumb down" and pretend to be more immature than I really was to fit in or be accepted in groups of my age or even a little older. Therefore I have problems relating to people of my age. I have thought about, however, pitching an ambassador program of Actualized.org on YouTube, to Leo. This would include creating the same content as Leo, just in Norwegian instead. It might be more attractive to the Norwegian people, and the same if people of other nationalities would do the same with their language to their country. Each country would be a branch under Actualized.org where Leo owns the rights, just that the message spreads more. Kind of like a franchise, I guess. That way people of other nationalities and I have an opportunity to earn money from YouTube. What do you think of this idea?

4. I apologize if I expressed myself incorrectly. I did not mean that I demonize money, I just don't believe I can get any real fulfillment or happiness from it. I only want to use money as a tool to change the world for the better and support myself and my family. I'm also going toward the path of a minimalist. To make it clear, money = very good, money = tool, money = opportunities. 

5. I also apologize if I expressed myself incorrectly here as well. I did not mean that things should adapt to my paradigms and values. I stand for the transcendence of all paradigms. What I meant to say was, "Do you have any other suggestion for me, now that you have read briefly about my paradigms and values?". I identify myself as a very openminded person, but you may be right to say if I have a mind of resistant. In that case, I will improve myself. I agree with what you say about the simple thinking and verbal phrasing. I also believe that Love is the solution. If The Happiness Revolution is to be shielded by something, I would say it is shielded by Love and Truth.

Thank you for all your advice, suggestions support! If you were to answer this as well, I in advance will say thank you.

[Manjushri]

I'm 18, and my advice would be : cut off any contact from people that are our age, because you sound like a guy who  would be friends with everyone, even at the cost of 'dumbig himself down'.  Fuck that, actualize in school. Quality friends will ensue. Worked wonders for me I love your passion and ambition, gimme some pls. Im a bit depressed

[Tearos]

@Haumea

Thank you for your answer!

Yes, I have been looking at studies about Entrepreneurship and Innovation!  I agree with what you say about me needing as many real-world skills as possible.

To answer your assumption: Yes, higher education in Norway is free - at least in public schools, both for Norwegians and for people from the rest of the world! It's very expensive to live there, though, so our study loans go to paying for rent, food, etc.

[Tearos]

@Gligorije

Thank you, my friend! I put almost too much effort into this post, hehe!

I see what your point is in the advice you provided me with, but I with all respect disagree. I believe we can learn from every person we encounter in life. This could either be "I should improve myself to be more like this person" or "Now I know that I should not be like this person", or just from what they say to you.As a musician, I have learned that we should try to find as much inspiration we can in everything, including the people we encounter. This means, meet and hang out with as many and diverse people as you can! This way we have the opportunity to learn something very valuable from people we agree with, and even disagree with.
Fortunately, I have the best friends in the world, and I actually identify them as a family to me. 
What you say about wanting ambition and passion from me is exactly what my Life Purpose is! (I think at least, I haven't checked out Leo's course yet). I hope to inspire people to want to change the world for the better, and so should you! And you could when you find your Life Purpose. If you haven't read "The Alchemist" yet, I strongly recommend this book. It is very easy to read, and pretty short actually. It's all about how following your "Personal Legend" or Life Purpose is the most important thing to do in life.
I am no professional about depression, but what I have learned from Leo's videos is that your depression occurs because of your Ego. You might want to check out his videoes about Mastering Your Emotions. I shall instead learn more about the subject before I give you any sort of advice. 

[Nahm]

@Tearos Thanks. Food is perspective. We think what we eat. I’d even go so far as to say diet is 90% of consciousness work, specifically when someone is young or new to this type of work. 2/3 I had the same ‘issue’ when I was your age. That’s a very good issue to have.   Your Norwegian actualized idea is great. Good luck though. It’s like asking someone if you can borrow their baby. They’re inclined to justifiably say - make your own baby. I could see pure translating, but nobody can create the ‘same content’ as Leo. On the flip side, the same is true for you. 4?? 5??

You’re off to a hell of a start. Of course, the actualizing is the work, but you got this, you’re starting younger than most. You were born for this. One suggestion that comes to mind...I painted a couple walls in my house with chalk paint. I can’t even begin to tell you what a tremendous difference it makes to have so much room to move visions out of my head, and into the physical. Being able to see it visually increases overall clarity and ability to clarify details and get inspired quickly, not to mention the ease of sharing a vision with others.  In the last year or so, I swear man, I write shit on those walls, and it happens by itself. It’s unbelievable. 

Also, people, especially the kind of people you want to be networking with...love brevity. Not that I’ve mastered it.