for - quote - it takes practice to recognize the wholeness and completeness already here, and don't turn our practice into "self-improvement" because that is an indication of falling into illusion that wholeness isn't present - Barry Magid

quote - Our practice is about experiencing - an underlying wholeness, - an underlying perfection and joy - that is part of our lives regardless of their content. - But like Bodhidharma’s answer, this is very deeply counter-intuitive to most of us, - yet we have to figure out what it means to practice - without turning it into a version of self-improvement.

Terms like locking in, ghosting, monk mode, winter arc, are common in the self-improvement scene on YouTube. A period of extreme focus and isolation to go deep into something.

Another spin (02:00) is that of an almost monk like quality. That of self discovery and inner transformation. So these terms have both a productive and (spiritual) transformational spin to them. I remember Tarik (friend) saying to me that you should become unrecognisable in these three months. Literally becoming something else (ie transformation).

NNN is a personal challenge, and nothing more.

13:00 adversity/challenge as tool for enlightenment & self-improvement

23:00 “can I take one more step” as way for improving self (achieving succes), creating momentum

(~14:00) The way to gain massive results is to have massive irrational goals complemented by small reasonable steps or milestones.

Big goals motivate. Big goals give focus and clarity, they are a filter (see Dr. Benjamin Hardy's content); they allow for easy application of the power law.

(~13:00) Koe argues for making information relevant (Dr. Sung always says you must make info relevant) through the learning for the solving of a particular problem, either for a client, your business, or your personal life. Your problem becomes the lense through which you learn.

For self-education this is ideal.

Dr. Sung's approach differs in that he advocates for the creation of relevancy through inquiry (the asking of relational questions) which is also incredibly powerful, however this is more suited to gaining more motivation for forced learning, i.e., in the formal education system.

In addition, Koe's lense is, I think, more of a high-level filter, whereas Sung's questioning is applicable on the content level. Therefore, both approaches could be, and should be, combined into the same overall (self-)educational system.

Ten minutes before sleep, do the following: PRAY

It's a combination of visualization, commitment, and meditation

Request the subconscious through this act of prayer.

Also visualize the outcome and process of that which you aspire to do the following day, and even that which you want to achieve the following month(s). Thus, visualize the following: Big Picture, Milestones, and yourself the next day.

In the morning, process your subconscious state by instead of immediately inputting, you start outputting!

This can be done through journaling.

Put the phone on airplane mode (in addition to blocking blue light) before sleep, for quite some time before sleep, in order to avoid (over)stimulation and the creation of dopamine which negatively impacts (falling a)sleep

What is done right before and right after sleep sets the stage for literally everything.

How you do anything is how you do everything.

(~10:00) "The context determines the meaning of the content."

Thus reframing is very powerful as you recontextualize the past, and therefore see it in a whole new light; the meaning of the past changed.

By asking what you have learned from the past, you become anti-fragile and flexible, as you turn the past into something useful; an asset.

"The past happens for us, not to us."

"How you frame the past influences your expectations for the future."

"You can't disconnect your view of the future from your experience in the present."

"You can't have meaning in the present without hope & purpose in the future."

One of the powerful things about journaling is that you can control the past; reframe it. What is the meaning of the past gets determined by both the present and the future.

Hardy recommends to often (even daily) reflect on the past and notice how different you are now compared to then. What you have achieved, what is possible now that was not possible then, etc.

What did I learn today?

(~4:00) We interpret reality in a (cognitive) schema. Reality exists only in the mind. We cannot view reality objectively because it is intertwined with perception and cognition (see also John Boyd's OODA loop).

Sidenote; because of this, time is also holistic; in our schema, the past, present, and future are basically all-existent at once.

Watch this video for much interesting information about journaling.

Journaling is all about agency

"Journaling is an opportunity to think the thoughts that we're not allowed to say out loud."

Another social factor influencing human behaviour. Beware of such factors when it comes to self-improvement and learning.

This is a pretty good example of a strawman argument. The author uses the correct exponential growth formula to describe a precise 1% improvement rate. But that's not what the 1% improvement idea is about. For instance, consider https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/get-1-better-every-day/19161/ or https://betterhumans.pub/continuous-improvement-how-to-get-1-better-every-day-from-today-a8128c942c61 The argument isn't based on a strict interpretation of 1%.

We need to slow down - in every aspect of our lives - so we can attend to the present more thoughtfully, seriously, and appreciatively. Now will never happen again.

This is clearly a political statement intended to get more people to contribute to the country's economy. It is, however, woefully wrong in the broader sense.

Persistence does matter, but it isn't "omnipotent". Persistence, like education, can and should be acquired. But without talent and intelligence (and curiosity, and honour, and truthfulness, and...), persistence alone will not suffice.

imitations and constraints, leaving you happily unoptimized and free to roam, to wonder, to wander toward whatever makes you feel alive here and now in each moment.

Some may categorize handbooks on note taking within the productivity space as "self-help" or "self-improvement", but still view it as something that happens outside of ones' self. Doesn't improving one's environment as a means of improving things for oneself count as self-improvement?

Marie Kondo's minimalism techniques are all external to the body, but are wholly geared towards creating internal happiness.

Because your external circumstances are important to your internal mental state, external environment and decoration can be considered self-improvement.

Could note taking be considered exbodied cognition? Vannevar Bush framed the Memex as a means of showing associative trails. (Let's be honest, As We May Think used the word trail far too much.)

How does this relate to orality vs. literacy?

Orality requires the immediate mental work for storage while literacy removes some of the work by making the effort external and potentially giving it additional longevity.

This is an interesting sounding take. Worth thinking about further.

References in this video

• 33:44 Rashi
• 34:43 Chofetz Chaim
• 34:52 Mishnah Berurah
• 39:57 Albert Camus . (The quote is from Notebooks.)

This seems a whole lot like what happens in MUSHs, especially ones with easily replaceable identities.