Wisdom
"Spare the world your ideas of right, until you know that all is holy." - Hafiz
Don't argue until this can be established between all parties.
The world is run on envy, not greed.
What presents itself as greed is actually a nastier condition: envy.
It's a disease that makes you think you don't have enough relative to the competition. This could be social competition, business, or otherwise.
Conquer envy in your own life. Stop caring what another person has. It's an old virus of the ego. Even early spiritual texts refer to it. We live in an age of such advancement but we're still hung up on the person who has a bit more than us.
Weird.
Gratitude is the only sane response to the present moment
This is because, any other response is inviting insanity.
Any other response is calling for suffering. It's an absolute measure. Your gratitude MUST be absolute. And that just takes awareness and practice. You must recondition your system.
Here's a simple recipe:
- When I notice that I am not grateful,
- I will immediately become grateful and,
- Celebrate hard because it feels good to be grateful
It's literally that easy.
Learning is about changing your behaviour
If you take in a lot of things but don't change how you behave. Then you've just wasted your time.
Every inhale is followed by an exhale. So everytime you learn, make adjustments as needed.
Stay with the emotion, ignore the story.
When you feel strong emotions, they often stem from your thoughts.
For example, if you feel a sharp pain of hurt in your chest, your mind might start racing with questions like 'Why is this happening to me?' Rather than getting tangled in these thoughts, focus on the emotion itself. Notice how it changes and evolves. Whenever your attention drifts, gently bring it back to this observation. There's no need to interfere or alter the emotion; just be present with it in its pure form
After a while, it'll turn into different emotions, eventually dissolving into love.
Stop expecting things to make you happy. You make yourself happy. You never needed anything.
You bring it to the world. The world has no responisibility to "make you happy" but you can still be happy if you choose to.
Happiness = Your perception of life - Your expectations of life
Both are within you and under your control.
Stop giving your mind problems it can't immediately solve
Anxiety stems from the mind taking on problems it cannot solve here and now.
It can't know what will happen in the future, so why give it that problem to solve?
Instead, say "Mind. I am sorry for mismanaging you. You're now retired from solving problems that don't exist in the immediate, present moment. And if I need your help, I will ask for it."
You can write down tasks/problems that the future version of you needs to deal with in a more appropriate moment.
Live each moment like it is your last, because it is.
We aren't guaranteed anything. Each morning is a gift. Each exhale could be your last. Don't miss it. See everything with fresh eyes.
Always remember that there is a non-zero percent chance that you'll be struck by an asteroid at any moment. Beautiful right?
For decisions, big & small, ask the 100 year old version of you to make them.
We make poor decisions. Ask the version of you that is moments away from passing away to decide instead. They have the full picture of your life. They'll tell you what was actually important.
Develop systems that work on your worst days.
If you're trying to make a change, then create systems that work for you when your motivation is close to zero. Aim for consistency over large changes.
Excellence is the capacity to take pain.
People that excel have a high pain tolerance. That means they can endure what most cannot. They do hard things, which gives them outsized results relative to what everyone else gets.
Actions express priority.
Don't trust what people say, trust what they do.
Successful people listen. Those that don't listen, don't last long.
When we listen, we learn. When we learn, we grow. And when we grow, we succeed.
Don't do anything that someone else can do.
Differentiation is survival -- Bezos was right.
Go for great.
A simple heuristics for the choices you make in life. If you're going to do anything, go for great. Why not?
Watch your costs.
Those that survive, in business and life, keep their costs manageable. They understand that the goal is to survive.
Costs aren't purely financial. It can also be emotional costs that add up.
Become friends with the eminent dead.
Those who have played the game of life before us have left us clues. The stories of their lives give us a heads start. Why reinvent the wheel?
People are power law and the best ones change everything.
All it takes is 1 person with that 1 insight to change everything for you. To help you connect the dots when nothing else can.
By endurance we conquer
If you pour 1 million gallons of water into a valley in one day, you'll end up with a flood.
If you pour 1 gallon of water a day for a million years, you get the grand canyon.
If anything is worth doing, it's worth doing it alot.
To excess because that is where you get exponential returns on your time.
Find out what you're really good at and do it relentlessly
Because there isn't enough time to do anything else.
A great life is just a string of great days
And a great day is just a bunch of great hours.
Great hours are just great minutes.
Great minutes are just great seconds.
A great life comes from feeling that it's great right now and not losing that frame.
A goal is a place to come from, not a destination to reach.
A worthy goal will inspire action. It's not something to attain. It's an aspiration. It's an ideal.
"NO" just means "Next One"
Rejection just means it's on to the next one.
Freedom means never knowing what is going to happen, and never resisting change.
It's scary but you're free. Expectations bind us to illusion.
Don't sell yourself at a ridiculous price, you who are so valuable in God's eyes.
Is your life worth one more scroll? Is it worth that party? Is it worth that fight?
We've systematically undervalued our life.
What human lovers long for, mystics live.
What lovers look for in their beloved, the mystics find within themselves.
It is selfish to not contribute to the song of life. Fully express your talents as a thank you to the universe.
Don't hold back. Expand. There is enough space. It's okay to be seen, heard, and experienced. There is enough space.
Look for direct experience as the foundation of knowledge and truth.
Sometimes it's not enough to rely on anothers account. Find things out for yourself.
The world needs wayfarers
We've already got enough of everything else.
Be optimistic but honest
That way hard things can be appropriately approached and dealt with.
You are the answer to someone's prayers
Don't be stuck in your own head.
Change the unconscious by cleaning your memories
Elicite a timeline in your imagination and traverse your life. Go to the moments when you first felt anger, sadness, guilt, etc... And float up + before those moments.
Long periods of uninterrupted focus brings about resources you didn't know you had.
“If anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing to excess … My whole life has been spent trying to teach people that intense concentration for hour after hour can bring out in people resources they didn’t know they had.” -- Edwin Land
Who are you being right now?
Figure out who you're being.
Stop, pause and rest.
Change your energy and be who you want to be instead.