26 Matching Annotations
  1. Last 7 days
    1. 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.

      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.

  2. Oct 2024
    1. 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).

  3. Mar 2024
  4. Nov 2023
  5. Sep 2023
  6. Aug 2023
    1. (~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.

    2. (~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.

    1. 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.

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

      This can be done through journaling.

    3. 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

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

      How you do anything is how you do everything.

    1. (~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."

    2. 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?

    3. (~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.

    4. Watch this video for much interesting information about journaling.

      Journaling is all about agency

  7. Jul 2023
  8. Mar 2023
    1. For instance, we used to think that the main cause of obesity was a poor diet at an individual level, leading to treatments focused on the individual. However, taking a networked thinking approach in a 32-year-long study with over 12,000 people led researchers to discover that the participants’ personal network had a great impact on their likelihood to be obese. “Discernible clusters of obese persons were present in the network at all time points,” write the researchers.

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

  9. Oct 2022
    1. 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%.

  10. Jun 2022
    1. We are used to instant gratification. Multiple opportunities for engagement and distraction surround us. If the result we are after does not come immediately, it is easy to seek an alternate path. An economy built on fast food, same-day home delivery, open all hours service model feeds our desire for instant results. Buy now, pay later, why wait when you can have it now.?

      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.

    2. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge

      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.

  11. May 2022
    1. You may find this book in the “self-improvement” category, but in adeeper sense it is the opposite of self-improvement. It is aboutoptimizing a system outside yourself, a system not subject to you

      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.

  12. Oct 2020
    1. Second, I have a not-very-well supported theory that’s paired with the book Thinking, Fast and Slow. The behavior design implication of that book is that you need to speak to two systems of the brain. Speaking to the rational, Slow System is easy. Just lay out the facts.Speaking to the emotional Fast System is much harder, namely because it’s so hard to see or introspect on what’s going on in there. But if you accept that difficulty (and this is the part of my theory that feels like pop brain science), then you realize that you need to start looking for ways to rewire your emotional core.Then, having accepted that rewiring your emotions is part of most behavior design, I’ve started to notice things — like that most self-improvement advice is not very rational. That’s by design. A self-improvement book is mostly emotional rewiring. That is exactly why you need to read the entire book rather than cheating with a summarized version.

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

  13. Oct 2016
  14. Nov 2015
    1. If someone gave you a perfect simulation of today’s world to play in and told you that it’s all fake with no actual consequences—with the only rules being that you can’t break the law or harm anyone, and you still have to make sure to support your and your family’s basic needs—what would you do? My guess is that most people would do all kinds of things they’d love to do in their real life but wouldn’t dare to try, and that by behaving that way, they’d end up quickly getting a life going in the simulation that’s both far more successful and much truer to themselves than the real life they’re currently living.

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