Dinimal

Listening to criticism and social feedback, and thinking about it objectively, on the other hand, is a symptom of deep self-confidence. This kind of honest scrutiny is difficult because it’s when we feel the most fragile parts of our self-image are under attack that we get emotionally reactive.Those fragile points of vulnerability are the parts of our identity we defend most vigorously. The flaws you need to become aware of most are those that are the hardest to accept because they don’t fit into your self-concept. Accomplishing this is fundamentally challenging, but extremely powerful. Blindspots to our own flaws are completely natural, and you can’t expect to be so perfectly aware that you have a totally accurate self-image. However, it is possible to become more aware of your flaws and bad social habits, but it requires a counterintuitive approach. Remember that when you feel uncomfortable, the dialogue you tell yourself cannot be trusted because criticism and self-doub

Problems are part of the human experience. Wishing problems to go away so I can live a life of calm, peace and harmony isn't being real and in the end, isn't living. We need to learn adaptive strategies to deal with problems, rather than flash point solutions to the problem of the moment. Real learning is gained through adapting solutions to problems and generalizing these into my approach towards living. This is kind of vague, but still a step in the right direction: 1)  learn and try to understand the principles -- you will never truly understand them until you start applying them in real life on a regular basis. You will get some things right and other things will be missed at first. 2)  look for opportunities to apply principles to daily life -- every day comes with a new set of challenges (or problems, like you said) every single one of them is a chance to experiment with what you think you know. 3)  spend some time reflecting on what works and what doesn't

If these things aren’t present in his life at the moment (which is usually the case), human assumes they are “just over the rainbow” and will come in the near future. Thehuman uses a sort of faux rationality to escape death. He believes that salvation will come from technology, or social Progress, or when he finds a girlfriend. If these things fail to satisfy him, then salvation will be found once he gets rich or once he's able to retire. And so 'round and 'round the hampster wheel goes, as the beta male does every thing he can to distract himself from the creeping inevitability of his demise. He'll go his whole life without ever truly living in the moment. Death is a part of life. Mortality is an objective fact of existence and therefore needs to be included in the worldview you carry on a daily basis. Regardless of how much money you make, how often you go to co-ed Yoga, or how much your girlfriend’s parents like you, you are going to die. Make all of

Everything you own should be worth something to you and everything you own has a cost to own it. So if you want your life to be the best possible, you should evaluate what you have, and get rid of things which cost you more than they are worth.The things you remove from your life will either cost you more than they are worth in themselves, or will be things that stop you from having something else of greater value.We can call this concept value management. External value management is well documented - Your physical possessions can be seen and you know roughly what everything is worth. You naturally want to gain value and the only thing stopping you from doing so is your complacency.Internal value management is not so well documented. What distinguishes our ideas from our physical possessions, and the reason the management of our ideas is not so well documented, is that value is not easily attributed - It is harder to see how our ideas cost or benefit us. Ideas take up no p

What is a Habit - Within the brain, conscious decision-making is the responsibility of the prefrontal cortex. Due to its constant pursuit towards greater efficiency, it identifies repeated sequences of actions and, over time, converts them into an automatic routine (Known as chunking). When a routine is triggered, the Basal Ganglia, in its pivotal role of governing habits, takes over from the prefrontal cortex. This leads to a drastic drop in neurological activity, in which the mind is able to divert more energy and attention towards other tasks. There is a reason why a lot of the best thinking is accomplished whilst performing monotonous activities like walking or taking a shower. How to create new Habits - Both, the habit as a whole as well as each individual part need to be clearly defined when attempting to create a new habit. Take, a habit of meditating for example: The cue could be something physical such as a cup of coffee in the morning, or it could be an emotion

Your fear is the sharpest definition of your self. You should know it. You should feel it virtually constantly. Fear needs to become your friend, so that you are no longer uncomfortable with it. Rather, primary fear shows you that you are at your edge. Staying with the fear, staying at Lean Just Beyond your edge, allows real transformation to occur. Neither lazy nor aggressive, playing your edge allows you to perceive the moment with the least amount of distortion. You are willing to be with what is, rather than trying to escape it by pulling back from it, or trying to escape it by pushing beyond it into some future goal. Fear of fear may lead you to hang back, living a lesser life than you are capable. Fear of fear may lead you to push ahead, living a false life, off-center, tense and missing the moment. But the capacity to feel this moment, including your fear, without trying to escape it, creates a state of alive and humble spontaneity. You are ready for the unknown as it unfo

Did you know that there is no word for "the fear of living"? At least I couldn't find one. Pantophobia is the fear of everything. If you're afraid of everything, you'd be afraid of death (necrophobia), making it impossible for you to kill yourself. Apeirophobia is the fear of eternity. If you're afraid that life will go on forever after we die, you're probably not in a rush to find out. Not being afraid to die doesn't necessarily mean you're suicidal. You might argue that even suicidal people are afraid of killing themselves, hell it's kept me alive all these years. If you make the conscious effort to try, it's not death you are afraid of, it's pain. So why does this matter? Killing yourself doesn't mean you're not afraid of dying. It means you're afraid of living. If you're so afraid of living that you're willing to commit suicide, I would ask you to try living your life as if you weren

There is no consensus on one model or explanation of what dreams are, how they happen, and what their purpose is if anything. Current popular neurological theories include your brain fires randomly at the "pons" which is kinda in by your brain stem and this causes firing all over the brain. Firing causes you to experience things even when you're sleeping. Psychological approaches to dreams find practical uses in their implications of the subconscious. Some believe perhaps some dreams could be simulated scenarios in which the brain prepares itself for future outcomes. Or perhaps you're just sleepy and stuff you're scared of surfaces when you sleep. There is no reason that dreams must be profound windows into our mind, although there is quite a lot of support and anecdotal evidence that our dreams can be meaningful representations of crucial thoughts our mind feels we must address. The exact mechanism of how dreams are created isn't really understood, or why

If any of you have ever met a curious child, you've descended the staircase of "why" a thousand times. The ending is always the same, we get to the point where we can't explain why anymore and the only answer left is "because." For most humans, this answer isn't enough. So we spend our lives trying to explain why life is here when, at the root of it all, the answer is simple and non-consequential. We pull our hair out trying to give ourselves purpose or taking it from deities. The enigma of life's meaning has driven countless people mad as they try to fill their craving for an answer. Why life? Because. The view that I support is that the meaning of life is happiness. I refer to happiness as any feeling that makes someone feel good, whether joy, peace, love, or other pleasure. This is what makes me want to live; why live in constant misery with no hope? Pleasure or emotion is part of what makes humans humans, and is what most people work

SILENCE. What is silence? A period without any sound; complete quite. Silence can be the loudest non sound in the world. Have you ever sat in a room at night and there is absolutely no sound at all. No traffic, no voices, no birdsong, no noise from the refrigerator, no music, absolutely nothing. The sound of no sound can appear to be very loud and upsetting. We are so used to having some sort of noise in the background that an absence of sound can be disquieting. Silence can be time which is used as prayer, as a time of thanksgiving for a meal, a life, a loved one, a job, a tremendous view, indeed a silent prayer either to receive something, or to thank the Universe for what you have received. Perhaps you use silence in meditation. Maybe you use this silence to contact your Guides or to talk to your Source. Remember if you do, to listen more than you talk. It is so easy to do all the talking, give your requests, and say what is troubling you and not merely to be