What motivates me to think outside the box is the crowd. The IQ of the group, is equivalent to the LOWEST IQ in the group. Let me say that again : The lowest IQ in the group equals the IQ of the group.
What does that say for trends in collective society? Think tiktok…
I hate being told what to do, and following my intuition and going against the current is something I aspire to. Simply because the decisions I make for myself are better when I’m not influenced by the mob. Thinking outside of the box in the context of life is simply a question of survival. There are structures which I find important, but following the rules everyone else has setup, I have found to prove unfruitful and counter productive when I have a vision.
Forging my own path and believing in myself is my way of thinking outside of the box. Because, contrary to popular logic, following what others tell me makes no sense to my life purpose. Though, it is useful to sometimes use paths which have been blazed before you. That’s just working smart.
Over all, it’s a question of adapting to what is RIGHT for you.
If my writing inspires you, take a look at some of the books which have inspired my writing. GO TO LIBRARY
-You’ll often see people living on some beach in Bali with a plastic surgery changed body.
Only what you don’t see, and what they don’t see, is the bigger picture.
-How the fuck can I see a bigger picture than that?! That’s the dream! One might exclaim.
Hold your horses, you’re not seeing clearly. You’re looking at these people from a place of lack and envy. They don’t actually have anything better than you do. They’re just putting themselves on pedestals. You are good enough.
Now, let’s have a look at an example. You’ve probably been to a pond, or a river at some point in your life, or you’ve been to the beach. We all know the icky sticky sand getting stuck in places we’d rather not… Only difference is that that beach you went to and that beach you’re seeing, is how well the pictures are taken and how much money people have invested into their bodies, how they look and what they wear. In fact, these amazing pictures you’re seeing, or videos.. are simply selling dreams.
These dreams aren’t any better than what you have right now. The difference is that where you are right now, you might just not appreciate it because you are focused on what you “Don’t have” instead of what you do have. This may be a tough one to grasp at first, because it’s difficult to value what we have, why we have it, etc in the face of comparing to other peoples lives. They’re no happier than you are. It’s simply appearance!
I like how people think that you succeed after planting one seed though. All the 20 year olds are peaking on social media. Yet it’s destroying your lives, because you’re focussing all your attention on them instead of yourself. Yet, wait a few years and you’ll watch them go through their most painful moments in life without the dignity of a private life. Think about it. Better still, they’ll just vanish from the public spotlight because they haven’t done the work.
Nothing that comes with fame is important enough for you to stop developing yourself. Yet everyone gives up inner development for appearance development. Imagine being exposed constantly. If you haven’t done the work, there is only so long you can stay exposed before becoming weak. At some point, the strength will become rigidity, and will then weaken.
How confident can you be with things that society doesn’t deem to be of value?
As an introvert, I enjoy spending time alone. Though, more so since I cut off my social media and have no reference point what so ever to the rest of the world. I wrote about this in a previous article. Not only have I come to like not being on social media, I’ve come to thrive. In fact, I haven’t seen anyone in months except a few family members, and I’m totally fine with this, because the work I get to do on myself is that much more valuable in the long run. Only when you are alone and isolated can all the stuff which needs to come out, come up.
Since social media, and probably a few years before, you’ve probably learn’t this: “Lets go, it’s no good for us here!” Though, people have no idea how to sit with their pain and understand it. People run away from anything ugly or painful, even if it ultimately transforms them into better versions of themselves… There is a process!
They spend their entire attention on that one seed. Then it blooms into a flower.
Have you seen social media influencers today? Anyone I knew before social media who looked like that, in fact no, no one looked like that. Or they were in music videos and they actually had ressources to pull off their looks. Today everyone is dressed in “Look at me!” colours, and talk “Look at me!” speeches. When, in fact they can’t sit still with themselves long enough to be forgotten. I say this because it’s important to know, if you can ask people to focus on you, then what is it that you are offering them? Is it really what you want to live to be known by your entire life?
But, people are too short term focussed and they don’t see the whole picture. “I want fame and fortune, I want to be known and loved!” These people are willing to do anything for this, yet not have what they want when they get there, because they’re running after something. Though, when they get there they still have to sit with themselves, and this is an impossibility. So they continu going on and on until it’s no longer possible and they burn out.
Where some people’s seeds have sprouted into brittle pretty insta-influencers, others have been forced to go through pain trials which have forged them against fear.
We’re not talking flower seeds here, we’re talking big oak tree acorns!
Hard exterior, can fall from high altitudes, is tough… As opposed to seeds, which get stuck in pets fur, blown around in the wind, grow into flimsy stalked flowers with no defence against harsh climates. I’d rather be the Oak any day.
Being the Oak is a difficult road though. You’ll have to go through periods of extreme pain, extreme pressure, isolation, trust in yourself, harsh storms, where your roots will grow deep in harsh environment. Yet, once it has grown into the majestic Oak nothing can move it, because it’s grown strong.
Sure flowers are pretty right now..;, this day in spring (2019-2020).
Maybe, let’s take a look at them in 10 years, when their autumn and winter come along. We all have our time to shine. This is why it’s important to continu working while the moon is out, so that when morning comes you can come out and show your brilliance.
With all this social media going on, it’s instilled in us a sense of needing everything now.
Though, life isn’t all now. It’s important to be here now, but it’s also very important to see that wanting everything now doesn’t work well. Like pouring too much water on a seed. You’ll spoil the individual. This is exactly what is happening right now. Everyone is getting greedy and they’re also spoiling. Not all is what it looks like.
Equally, NOW isn’t for ever. If you’re going through a tough patch it can seem like it’s eternal and never goes away. It will pass though. I say this because I come out of about 8 years of pain, just dealing with inner stuff which drove me away from society and kept me isolated from most social contact any anyone who I knew before.
Do you see that the game doesn’t end after your reach that point you were aiming for in your 20’s? That you will reach what you were aiming for, only to reach it? It’s really not about outer success. It’s about how well you evolve inside yourself. If you can sit long enough with yourself, you’ll come to find brilliance. By transforming the way you see things, you’ll get to transform the world around you. This isn’t a quote, it’s my experience! — Though, it probably is someones quote too…
I peaked in high-school, I was at the top of my soccer performance, I was hyper confident and I knew how good I was. The thing is, when you peak, you also have to then go downwards afterwards and if you don’t cope well with whats in the valley, you’re going to have a rough time. Luckily enough, as life is well done, I had it in me to go through the pain and even though it would have been nice to go through easier things, it also taught me about my own inner strength to endure.
I chose to stay in the valley for a long while to, like Bane from Batman, “to be moulded by” darkness. Or in other words, to work with my inner darkness and overcome it.
I’d advise you do the same. Be an oak, not a seasonal flower...
A king needs not a crown but a sword to fight his demons, the heart of a lion,
and an iron clad will. My sword has been my pen, my crown my achievements.
Overcoming my fears, beating my demons and believing in love above all else,
my loyalty to believe in family no matter what, my belief in myself to go through my pain, my WEALTH of life experience, character and mind. I am truly wealthy.
And I have shaped and bent my reality to my will.
I have overcome the most painful of all and conquered myself.
My life has taught me that I am a King, for I’ve been forged with blood, pain, trial and error, and I’ve surmounted the insurmountable.
I’ve won the battle with my dragon, I’ve conquered my fear and I am grateful for being enough.
Real kings are hard to come by, they’re rare as its not inheritance but sheer force of inner will and faith to overcome ones inner dragons and prevail to overcome.
No struggle is as big as conquering our inner self, all the rest is rain in spring.
I am enough, I am strong, I am great, I am worthy, I am Royal in the noble sense of life.
From the ashes I will rise,
my head held high,
my prideful and courageous heart beating,
the world before me,
I am here to serve in anyway God see’s fit.
“We rise by kneeling, we conquer by surrendering, and we gain by giving up”
The reason you find the love of your life when you are at your lowest point,
is to show you they’ll accept you. This is why you need to fail in life,
and reach your lowest point. In order to show you strength, you face your demons.
In order to know your courage, you are to face yourself.
This is why we say
“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow.’ at a wedding.
We are here to find God, in doing so we find ourselves, we go through trials and have to overcome our biggest fears, in doing so we conquer the monsters and get to live in the kingdom of God for everything it has. It is by loving ourselves that we access the kingdom of God, and it is by learning the laws of God that we succeed.
You cannot access wealth and finance without first finding faith in God. Without it you will never know the true meaning of wealth which is not the meaning of the tool.
In Gods trials, we discover how to love ourselves and life, we overcome our demons and grow as a result, we become unafraid of poverty or sickness, and we rise to take off the crown imposed by ego, to carry the crown of our achievements, in doing so the kingdom is ours for everything it has to offer. You are free to be within the kingdom of God.
Money is a test. You can have as much money as you want.
But without accessing the kingdom of God first, nothing can be appreciated
Dieu est mon droit – In God we trust #Grateful #Faith
Before getting started, I’d recommend listening to the same songs I was listening to while writing this:
“Acceptance” – Johann Eder
“Little Diamond” – Mylo Rivers
For a long while, I’ve only solely wanted to be famous and rich and known, so that people would love me and people would respect me because I was in a high position.
Caught up in facebook ads with annoying clic bait videos which want us to subscribe. Fame filled with stressed out vindicative burnt out stars who are trapped in a merry-go-round of concerts and never get to leave their houses for fear something will happen.
They’ve succeeded, and then found peace only to find that their success takes it away.
Far from the world of social media where everyone is glamorous and never have a day off from their fake vacations and their surgically enhanced lives. Where everyone has decided to be famous and known, I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen it coming. Don’t get me wrong, in desperate times, before working on myself, the idea that wealth would come with being known had pushed me to try a few “I know it all attitude“ type videos.
The idea that we have to continuously be the perfect image of what society awaits of us, is a prison unto its self.
Only, right now in my life I’m in a very different place. I’m enjoying my life, I feel blessed, I feel happy, I am safe, I have no obligations, I can do what ever I want and I am genuinely fine with what I cannot do. This entirely frees me up to enjoy my life as it is.
I am free…
I have a Macbook pro, and I recently found my old toshiba c50 and got it repaired. As an observation from using them both. I am glad I have the power and stability of my mac. Though, I’m relived by the lack of importance my old Toshiba laptop has. Like mucking around while we were children, we weren’t focused on how we were dressed or how we looked. We were pulled towards what our curiosity gravitated towards.
This is something I had lost for a long while. The freedom to be carefree without living in the fear of damaging something expensive, or more importantly not damaging my “precious” macbook pro which could stop working because of a vibration or some shock while putting my backpack down maybe a tad too fast.
My general sentiment is that of not being bothered by the value of something or having it damaged or always being on alert in case we do… This is something I enjoy. Not having to live up to “social standards” of being presentable or having to look picture perfect or any other of the things we’re supposed to do to be accepted and looked up-to in society .
Though, this post doesn’t focus only on computers, it focuses on life and more specifically that aspect before we have to uphold an appearance. I’m currently enjoying discovering myself again, taking my time to enjoy all the little things which seem to become unimportant in the grand scheme of life in the public eye once money and politics and business get in the way.
I recently purchased a 2008 Mac Pro 3.1, and before I compare it to being like an old mustang that I get to build in my garage, I’d like to talk about the memories previous years granted me.
I was in secondary school at that point and my neighbor and his older brother were into computers. I only knew how to turn it on and play Tomb Rader 3 from a cd. While I liked jumping from obstacle to obstacle and trying not to end the game by falling into pixelated piraña infested waters. My neighbors seemed to have different games and knew more about computers than I.
I devoted most of my time observing, trying to figure out what it was they knew, how they had come to have all these games and how come he was able to enter on to my computer without my password?!
Even though I had a tough start with computers, I soon caught up. By that time, we played Counter-strike and like little engineers, we’d unmount hard-drives, put them in our friends computers and move all the data around, format our drives, and reinstall with the latest OS we had at the time. We’d lug our towers and massive screens around to Lan-parties and stay up all night fragging the hell out of each other on half life.
I remember this vividly because, these were times where I found something I was good at, and I found a competitive purpose. I had my team, my friends and people who I enjoyed being around. I had my tribe!
Back to the mac! I recently purchased an old Mac Pro with the hopes of buying a graphics card which will be accepted under the latest mac OS. Opening up the old tower and seeing the physical graphics card and the hard disk drives brought me back to where I was before getting serious about life.
I’d update and I’d solve problems of how to install an OS on an old device, which one would work, what do I need to get it running. It feels like I’m back in the game! It feels good. None of this integrated macbook pro none-sense where everything is dismantled and soldered in micro-particles all over the device…
Maybe I can get this thing running! Fingers crossed. Its just a man-shed project… Either way…
Today, things are very different. I’ve since stopped playing games back in 2006, devoted my mind to more productive things like reading or writing or simply exercise.
My friends have moved on and they have jobs, and I’m back at my family home.
Since a few years, I’ve decided to take it easy on the career front. I can hear the “hard workers” already throwing a fit.
I’m at home. For a while, I lost the sense of feeling at home. I felt I needed to work harder and harder and push myself to the edge of all my limits in order to thrive. I felt I needed to become “special”, or have some unknown talent that the world needed. Only to find out that I’ve been exhausting myself trying to keep up with the world and the social movement of “Do anything to become famous”.
I write these words, knowing one thing in my heart. I’m sitting here with my black fuzzy cat who’s on the head of my armchair, I have a fuzzy blanket on, ambient music plays in the background, while I type. I feel a profound sense of belonging, I know I’m on the right path, I feel this is right. I’m happy and inside of me is a feeling of utter contentment.
I’m not striving for anything, I don’t need any money to live the “good life” which everyone is after, not right now at least. I enjoy cooking, I have fresh foods delivered from the local farmer, and I’m not stressed by anything external.
I can dream to my hearts content. I’m not worried about social media because I turned it off, and I’m not worried about missing out because I’m not. If anything, I’m exactly where I need to be.
I get to spend time with my family, as well as take time to heal my body after years of wear and tear. I’m inspired, I’m interested and curious. I’m not competing with anyone for once. I’m simply writing for the love of writing and this fills me with joy.
I live for these moments where, under no pressure at all, a heavenly feeling fills me with a bliss like inspiration. Under no obligation do I have to write anything that I’m writing, other than the effortless joy I get to express what I’m feeling.
This, my friends, is success to me. Being able to write how I feel as the inspiration comes up inside of me.
The freedom we have from being where we are, unknown, without any pressures, is utter wealth. My time is mine, I chose to be here. I have everything I need. I’m happy on my own creating and listening to music. I’m not worried about money. I’m not worried about other people. I’m just here, writing these words in sheer contemplation.
I’m able to focus on pure creation and value the process without it being a JOB. The lack of external obligation allows me to dive deep and evolve at my own rhythm without having to do anything, think about anything, or be trapped in anyone else’s intentions.
I can do my inner work while appreciating everything I have. I’m grateful, my life has changed so much. I’ve lost my anger, I’ve dealt with many of my fears, I’ve confronted my deep demons and I get to relax while my body heals.
The next door in life will come soon enough, that I know. A bit like in Mario 64, where we can push against certain doors as much as we want, but until we have defeated all the primary level boss’s we can’t open the door…
Fame will come or it won’t. I’m not bothered by this. I’m more concerned about not living everything I have to appreciate here first. If I’m always focusing on everyone else and how well they’re doing, I won’t get a chance to enjoy my own life and those around me.
I get this chance and I’m thankful for it.
My wonderful black cat purrs near my head, while overlooking my shoulder, looking at my screen. Who knows maybe she can read?
Is it not better to not make a new year observation? It’s a new decade!
Looking back over the years, we make new years resolutions every year, only to not keep them, or to find ourselves with gym memberships, hyper expensive gym equipment clogging up the front room or a years supply of weight watchers tasteless processed foods coming to your door week after week…
The point is, we don’t need to wait until a specific date to start doing something we know is good for us. Or anything for that matter. Waiting to start something.
And why do we have to wait until a New year to start something New, with our old habits still in place?
Isn’t it better to take our time, achieve the goals we already have and only when we have achieved the one’s we have can we set new ones?
Isn’t it better to take time to contemplate what we have achieved in the past year, and build on that instead of Starting anew? What was wrong with last years resolutions? – Aren’t you going to make pretty much the same this year?
Maybe not. Though, for many of us, the repetition of setting a goal, only to not go through with it until completion is probably worse than the having the ambitious goal in the first place.
Maybe we need to go about mastering the mindsets we already have, and build with our natural inclinations. Observe our essential state, what we respond best to, how long we take to recover from X and Y exercise, how long it takes for us to see a difference with such diet, or how we feel about what we want before setting out to get it.
So far, we’ve seen that it is not the possession of the objects that make us happy,
but in the striving for them. It’s the struggle to achieve such and such which grant us with the blessed results. It’s not the results. Once we have the results, we want more/better/different.
Maybe, we ought to search for ways of consistent change. Workouts that we live throughout our day to day lives. Like walking up flights of steps instead of elevators.
Using a bike to get a pint of milk instead of taking a car. Setting time aside for ourselves to reflect, reassess, resource ourselves, before the day or the next day comes.
Making lists of our negative traits, honestly, and asking for those around us to point out our negative traits in order to work on them more in depth.
Though, not forgetting to make Positive lists of what we are capable of, what we have achieved, and what we are to remind ourselves in our down times.
The idea of having a C.V. isn’t just great for work, its a reminder of what we have achieved academically, or what experience we have. Having the likes of a Modeling book, but for our accomplishments is a great way to keep us aligned with what we can do, while also giving us confidence and clarity that we can achieve it again during our times of self doubt. Worst case scenario, you can create an instagram page -anyone can do this- and take a photo of your achievement each time, and post it. You don’t need to have a fancy following, nor do you need to follow anyone. This is for yourself. In fact, I’d advise to create a private page, where you can simply have an online reminder account of what you have achieved.
Another idea would be to have a timeline. Create a timeline from your birth, or from your conscious years and along side that have a bucket list. With your timeline, observe the big events which you are proud of, what you have achieved, your failures and moments of changing paths etc.. and with your bucket list, you can then strive towards ticking off each entry on the list and consciously placing each element on your timeline.
You can use “Trello” for this which is an easy organising system.
Did you know that Aboriginal tribes people don’t celebrate birthdays, nor do they celebrate the passing of time? They will celebrate a success, an evolution, passing a difficult point in one’s life… in other words, they celebrate what matters.
What do we do? We add another itemised list of things to-do that we think we might need to accomplish in order to be happy. Then we sync our iCal and our Google notifications and spam ourselves with reminders to do more.
Maybe the secret remains in doing less. Coming back to our new years event, maybe we should take time out to contemplate what it is that isn’t working well for us, cut out what is holding us back, redefine what it is that we want, but most importantly take time to admire what we have accomplished this year.
Maybe it’s not all about achieving, but simply living. Do we need to achieve to feel content? In fact, that is what needs to be defined. What makes us feel fulfilled, isn’t necessarily about achievement, but meeting our needs and the needs of those around us with our basket of personal talents.
At this point in life, I want to be less hard on myself. This is about where I am in life. Not about what I want this year. In fact, life is more milestones and checkpoints, with inner confirmations and what feels right to us than it is about to-do lists, achievements, sixpacks and squats…
In fact, at this point I want functionality and efficiency. I’m not searching to be the best, nor am I searching to be better than anyone. Right now, my north star is having optimal health, being physically capable, having good relationships with others, listening to my body, my intuition, and how I feel. Having goals that show on the outside start from the inside. Since last October (2018), I’ve been planting some healthy seeds in my mind, reading interesting uplifting books, taking steps to get back to health, become aware of what I am doing that is affecting me, etc. and I’m taking my time about it.
I’m pretty much undisturbed by others at this point. I’ve cut myself off social media, hardly spend time on facebook (only for practical reasons like selling something, or a contact I don’t have on my phone…), I’ve deleted my instagram account, and I’ve started feeling better. No, actually I’ll correct that; I’ve started feeling great ! I’ve started going out again, I’ve started meeting people, going for bike-rides, setting goals outside…
By all means, clean out, make space for new things to come. Of course.
But, what I am saying is, accept what you have, be happy with it, and use it to get more of what you already have. Rejecting what you have/where you are won’t help you. It’s like shooting yourself in the foot because you don’t like your foot. Then you’ll be limping, might have to amputate your foot, and you’ll have a carbon foot instead which probably isn’t what you want. (Sorry if there are any amputees reading this, I mean no harm!)
This year,
Take a look at what you have done, instead of looking at what you want to do.
Take a look at where you are, compared to where you want to be.
Be grateful for what you have, instead of always wanting more.
Observe more.
Note down what you have accomplished so far, on your way to your North star (its an adventure!)
Define what has been working for you.
Define what isn’t working so far.
Redefine why we want certain things, instead of simply wanting them to please others.
Struggle well – Read Ray Dalio’s “Principles”
Efficient incorporated workouts in our day to day lives
Make a Bucket-list Timeline
Celebrate what matters over unconscious traditions
Have a North star to go towards, but don’t time it, go with the flow of life.
Do what is essential, healthy. Don’t force against the river, you’re not a salmon!
Have a break from social media – you deserve it after all these years of saturation!
It’s time for a change from everything we have been doing.
Time for a different approach. Maybe it is the new year after all… 🙂
One word at a time, and then another, and another, until you’ve created an article so big, so interesting, and you have achieved it.
You can’t achieve a goal you don’t set. You cannot achieve a goal you are not aiming.
This then becomes simple. What do I want to achieve?
Just as a mile starts with a step, start with an idea and a small action towards what it is you want.
WHAT CAN I DO?
We are all capable of doing specific actions. These actions don’t have to be intensely difficult. Though, it is these actions that we have repeated over and over that have become habit. It is the Habit, the automatism of action, which is easy. It is because we have repeated these actions over and over that they have become easy, and if ease wasn’t enough, they have become refined too!
What habits do we partake in day in and day out that we don’t even think about anymore?
Once we have found the habits we have already practiced: DO I REALLY WANT THIS HABIT?
If the answer is NO, then it’s time to implement and find a goal which, when cracked open and simplified into small simple baby steps, becomes a series of easy TO DO steps we can take action on without breaking our heads open or feeling overwhelmed. It is crucial to break tasks down into bite size chunks which make sense.
Now, I have many aspirations in life, in fact I am ambitious beyond my wildest dreams.
My only problem… taking action. Yes, I am human too!
We stop taking action and go back to our comfort zones, or in other words we become stagnant and procrastinate ( because we don’t know where to begin, or we think we aren’t good enough, or we are afraid we won’t be able to live up to the task, or that we don’t have the skills required…). Though, once we become aware that we are living in paralysis around the idea of a goal, through observation, we’re able to make a change.
We make changes by introducing incremental changes in direction. And the directions we go towards are those we envision in our minds.
So, I decided, one October evening, to create lists of things I wanted. These lists are what define what we want and how we are going to break down the steps for each implementation we are going to take.
It’s important to note that we’ll fail enough times to solidify what we want and our Will, will then crystallize into a concrete course of action. We’ll fail, until we learn enough lessons for us to truly know what we want and if it’s really worth it.
1) Slow Down: We need to take the time to be centered and at ease with ourselves first.
2) Define: We must Take the time to define what it is we want and if what we want is truly worth it.
3) Break it Down: Once we know what we want. We Break down “our goal” into simple, easy, tasks which we will be capable of managing.
4) Takeing our time: Taking our time is ever so important. It’s one of our most important ressources if not THE most important resource we have. If we live in a permanent state of fear, that there isn’t enough,
or that we don’t have enough time, or that we have to get everything done NOW; we won’t achieve anything at all. (We’ll probably end up in a state of paralysis due to “not having enough time to accomplish…” what we’re supposed to achieve in a year or two years… Let’s give ourselves the gift of time.
5) Letting go: By all means we should go get what we want to get and achieve what we want, though learning to let go and give ourselves a time out from time to time. “Pushing ourselves beyond our limits” is a great quote for instagram, but we’ll push our self into burn out if we don’t let go once in a while.
6) It’s all meant to be: It will all work out! And if it doesn’t, know that the door we were pushing against wasn’t supposed to open at this time. Life is smart, so much so that it gives us what we need when we need it. Not what we want, but what we need, and most times that’s more than enough. Trust that it will work out.
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them”
On the one side, being exposed to all things all the time is an amazing source of development, we get to see what we are and by what we are interested.
In other circumstances, we’d have no idea that some things exist. This is a good thing. People also get to exchange and evolve no matter where they are which is helpful.
Discovering many amazing new things, not “feeling” as isolated than as if we had been alone and cut off in a cave the entire time.
It brings great competitivity and progress which comes with competition.
Though on the other, the downsides are felt in part due to the depth at which we are isolated or how “mainstream” we are. And also in part, to one’s degree of confidence or lack there of.
Comparing, which leads us to feeling lesser, unworthy or even unable to live up to “the standard” is a source of pain.
We can never keep up and this turns out to be draining.
No matter how much we share with others, we get nothing in return except confirmation about what we already know. “I’m great”, “I’m powerful”, “I’m rich”, “I’m pretty”… which are vanity criteria based on what we already know.
It also confirms that people who have more financial freedom will be able to show off more, or those who have a standard of beauty which appeals to the masses will be put on a pedestal and valued higher than anyone who is “different” in any way possible.
In a way, its back to high school with the rich kid/poor kid/ Confident kid/Unconfident kid again…
This sense of high school 2.0 is very unproductive for anyone who is observing. Also vain and an empty pursuit due to the fact that it promotes “The popular kids”. It really goes to show the reality of “wanting to fit in”. By wanting to fit in, you naturally aspire to be a product of mass consumption, a product of mass exposure.
Social media also gives the illusion that one is or isn’t necessarily liked based on superficiality.
This is a faulty parameter which cannot give precise and correct results. It bases everything on the Golden Circle but inside out.
Starting with What then how then why. This cannot work; as human beings we function from the inside out, not the outside in.
In terms of effects on our psyche and our time, it is an abomination. Our minds and nervous systems have become overstimulated and over saturated with information that we don’t necessarily need, want or even Should have in the first place.
Over 200 years ago, someones entire lifespan wouldn’t have even half of what we are exposed to in a single day. Imagine what our minds are capable of and what our mental limits are.
Faster, more, better, NOW!
Though, through fomo and needing to know what the “next thing is “social media has exposed us to an attachment to our devices. We needn’t fear governments putting Chips in us to see where we are. We are already here, our information is passed everywhere, all the time, to limits far outside of our reach.
Our minds are saturated, which means are nervous systems are saturated and this is a clear indicator that we need to let go of all outside stimulation, especially devices, screens, and anything which has power.
We are “PUSHING” ourselves to imbibe information which has nothing to do with us. We are exposed to too much information. None which serves us correctly for what is in front of us in actuality.
When traveling in another country, I have found that being confronted to constant New information, my mind is thrilled, though my body has no time to rest as it is constantly adapting to the upcoming change of scenery and people.
The same is valuable for our brains and nervous systems in front of screens. Day in and day out we are exposed to more and more information which never lets us correctly relax and heal our over stimulated sensors. This can be damaging.
The standards around us have risen above what is humanly possible to upkeep. Over consumption has taken part so much that the world and its natural resources are collapsing. The Ice caps Are melting. Our water is filled with plastic. Governments are actually putting nuclear waste into the sea.
Corporations, making mass profit are pushing their agenda onto us based on our social media usage, what we read, what we look at etc. Everything around us has become a product to sell. Everything we see is for sale. Our lives have become studies like labrats for usage and profit.
Our secrets we now expose with the vain hope that we too will become famous. “But for what?”
We are exposed to cultures and trends that have nothing to do with us. We are born in specific parts of the world and for good reason. While growing up in specific places, we have grown to understand and perceive the world around us. The world we see and have action over is what is in front of us, not what is happening half way around the world. This is a disruption in our ways of functioning and takes away our roots, our individuality and unifies everyone with the same styles, trends and exposure which otherwise wouldn’t exist. For example: I used to meet people and observe how they spoke, their linguistic rhythms and their mannerisms. Though everyone is now exposed to the same people. This makes everyone into a clone of someone else and empowers those who have more exposure and who have trend influence.
Everything you say and do, there is proof to keep you “consistent”. Though as human beings, we are changeable, we are evolving all the time, we make mistakes, we grow, we change… If there is proof of a mistake, you never get to move on, you never get to change, nor do you ever get to be free from something that hasn’t existed for maybe 15 or 20 years.
After traveling and going through foreign experiences a good deal in our life. We get to see the same people and places in a very different way.
For starters, once we’ve had a few experiences, it allows for a more diversified and confident standing in one’s perception of the world around. The development of our own world view creates differences in how we co-exist and exchange with others. Respect becomes more fundamental. As does the importance of taking care of ourselves; which in turn allows us to care for others at a greater extent. Just as the saying goes “It is by learning to love ourselves, that we learn to better love others…”.
Letting go of the importance of others opinions in the process of our construction. Being confronted with others long enough will fuel a need to focus more on ourselves as we come to expose what needs to be worked on. “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.” We discover the need for boundaries and limitations as we confront our newfound realities with our old relationships or in the words of Mahatma Gandhi -“A ‘no’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”
Depending on how open our mind is and how accepting we are of the unavoidable challenges life brings to us. We might find ourselves either putting our heads in the sand waiting for the tigers to pass us by, or decide to force on through the jungle of our illusions.
Moving to the other-side of the world isn’t necessarily where they find the answer they are looking for. In fact quite to the contrary. By taking a job in another country, I often find that I get to experience a variation of what I am living at home, on the inside. So it stands to reason that I’d want to do more inner work in order to experience better externalities.
Searching for answers only I can find inside of myself, spending any time outside can become futile and even repetitive.
In the book, “A technique for producing ideas” by James Webb Young, the process of “Digesting ideas” and “Different combinations” explains a good deal about how our mind takes in information and then spits it out in the form of perfect ideas. This process of creation is how many fruitful ideas come to be.
I normally find that, from boredom comes creation. It is when I sit still and stay with what ever is making me bored and combining that with something I want to do. That is when the creation begins.
With such technological advancement and such commercial competitiveness and innovation; nearly everyone has access to a smart device with internet. This access, even homeless guys in Barcelona with their shopping carts sitting on the side of cafés to get free wifi, have more or less the capacity to evolve on the same level as anyone at home in Paris. Information is out there in abundance.
Never have human-beings been exposed to so much information. “Information used to be as rare and precious as gold. (It is estimated that one weekday edition of today’s New York Times contains more information than the average person in seventeenth-century England was likely to come across in an entire lifetime.” Hence, the need to be highly selective with the curation of what we put in our minds.
Creating a plan or list of short term goals to accomplish is very easy to Execute.
It is by imposing the pressure of building a mountain in one night that we get crushed by that same mountain. This creates inertia or paralysis in our action taking. It is by placing a small stone everyday that a mountain comes to be formed, so to speak.
Though, in order to keep one’s mind vivid, it’s important to cut off from outlets like social media or youtube or netflix and others alike as they can rapidly take over our task at hand and we’ll find ourselves having lost a few hours listening or watching something unrelated to the task we had.
Being able to drift is important, even if you are working intently towards a project, it is very easy to forget the outside world and just focus unproductively on a task for hours at a time.
What’s so important about it?
The fact we drift while working, is simply that the task at hand is less interesting to us than what we think or what is actually on our phone. Our work is sometimes less interesting to us than what we would rather be doing.
Times of hyper productivity, and times of Sloth-like hibernation.
I apply my own dual function of sloth like rest and hyper productivity in to this idea.
When you focus on the task at hand , you have bursts of productive energy which becomes very creative and this ultimately makes for better work.
When I have the idea that I’m not working hard enough, (even if I am.) I go and make a chess move and this gives me the notion that I’m not working hard enough, because on one side of my mind I’ve allowed myself to play.
This “Play-work” Technique has allowed me to end my work days, with the entire notion of fulfilling all my tasks, having high results and being able to leave the office full of energy and creativity to complete what I want to complete.
Simply because I have played my Tetris or Chess for minor periods of time during my day. I get to decompress while I work, and focus intently and then go about my tasks and goals once I leave the office at full capacity of energy and creativity.
I find myself repeatedly agreeing to the fact that if something is important enough to us, we’ll get it done. Be it inside of our head or in physical reality.
Stepping away from people who need immediate results may be a solution which might bear its fruits on the long term…
Maybe I wasn’t in the right place, maybe they weren’t the right people.
When the people surrounding us matter, our phones stay tucked away and we go away feeling revived and awake rather than wondering why we lost our time.
To me it seems like the rise of social media is in order to at first give us importance ( facebook), then to diversify our intrests (pintrest/instagram), then for us to find our voice (twitter) after having searched if we are correct or not before (google). Though above all, learning to turn off our devices and just take a breath of fresh air…
Our standards have drastically been altered. Being confronted with a constant visual stimulus of change has hardwired us to pick, sift and sort what we think we most desire and/or (depending on our evolution) need in order to be happy, or in other words, what we think we need in order to fit into our respective groupe/tribe.
The emergence of social media and internet has given us insight, in fact tremendous insight, into our core fibers as singular individuals among the crowd in which we blend day in and day out in our everyday lives. Having a smart phone with access to everything happening everywhere all the time, has given us an almost God-like impression of power over our decisions and choices regarding what we do with our time, money and effort. Yet, if we look closely, we’re very far from God like action.
Mostly anyone with an instagram account has had access to entrepreneurial information, insight into beauty tips, luxury tips, photography, bitcoin, world pollution… ; this leads us to learn how to acknowledge our neighbors and understand a bit (a lot) about them. Which also creates an envy for others lives, which can be perceived as “healthy peer pressure” in order to up our standards. Or most likely, people can up their standards so high that human beings cannot attain them… This can also create pressure that we cannot support due to not being in the right frame or mind or health. Which can trigger profound things in us. This also leads to a downside, that some of us are starting to encounter. Virtual realities and especially make-believe realities do not exist or are physically unachievable and the actuality of the lives lived on Instagram aren’t always as glamorous as they seem.
Our attention span has been shortened and people who are avid users, tend to “log off” from their tangible realities as soon as what is being said/seen doesn’t interest them. This also applies for discussions, dating, and many other topics. Could we say people’s patience has been shortened too?
This breeds a lack of tolerance for anyone who isn’t already in a space of mastery. Which seems inhumain from the perception of anyone who is a little weak, or who hasn’t yet reached that level of success in their domain.
We witness a Big contrast between one’s reality and other peoples realities, which makes it hard to accept the realities some of us are experiencing. If we don’t own a 7 star hotel in Dubai, are we worthy of anyone’s attention? Lets hope kindness and humor make up for our apparent material lack..
Lots of time wasting dreaming about what others are doing in some distant paradise, while we twiddle our thumbs in our dingy humid caves.
Judgement precision bias. People are now judged on their profiles. Instead of actually knowing about the people at hand. We now get to see the people we are talking to, we see their photography skills, their surroundings, and we see what they stand for, or at least their capacity to sell or write themselves up, or not.
Will we get back to meeting people like we used to? Do we really need our phones in order to live optimal lives? Do we need to keep up with everything? …
Why social media is a painfully unrealistic indicator of comparison?
Before social media, and expanding our knowledge of what others have, we ultimately weren’t worried about missing out or even aware that other people had it so good, or had differently. The idea that everyone gets to see what is happening next door is also detrimental. For a number of reasons. 1- Constant need to keep up with what is going on next door. 2- We can’t compete with others without destroying ourselves in the process. We can only compete with our own limitations. 3- The fear of missing out paralyses the individual in a state of needing to constantly check what is going on which furthers the vicious loop. 4- Privacy no longer has any meaning. 5- Everyone wants what everyone else has. Originality therefore suffers. 6- What was once rare, is now common place. 7- Time can be spent going between our own inadequacy, and others over-achievements in comparison. 8- We lose track of our own rhythm and thus get stressed out. Is life good in contrast to everyone else’s success in life on social media? No, it’s shit and we all have to lose by focusing so much on content being thrown at us from the four corners of the globe. It’s insane. Today, in one single day, we access more information than that of a human in his entire life, only 400 years ago. It is crucial to sift and sort, and pick content value which gives us meaning, fulfillment.
Just absorbing information is the surest of ways to burn out our mind and nervous system. It makes for the need to be a specialist in everyone’s eyes. It gives exposure to people who have more resources. It pushes people to become loud speakers, and do crazy things in order to have fame and social recognition. It synchronizes us with the rest of the world and people who we don’t need to be connected to. Is life good in contrast to what you need in this moment in time? Yes, you likely have everything you could possibly need to get to the next step/level in your life and actually thrive. Without the fear of missing out, or trying to keep up with he who is next door. We likely feel more free to make mistakes, and take things slower. Taking things in a slower manner actually makes things go faster, because when we take life slowly it’s more fluid. If we find ourselves constantly pushing against doors that aren’t supposed to open for us, or trying to be better just to keep up with who ever is out there in the world, we lose our foothold and slip. As to progress it is up to us to focus on what we can do on a day to day basis. Though, social media also has advantageous sides to it. We have access to information even if we are cut off. We can learn from a distance focus on inner growth, tend to our wounds and pains from the battlefield. We have time to ponder what exactly will be our next step. We get to prepare, as well as tweak and take a step back from activities we’d be far too involved with if living in environments where the busy pace of life takes over our mind process. It gives us access to specific information. It opens doors to knowledge we would have not had access to otherwise. It gives us opportunities to see what is right and what is wrong in the world as well as synchronise our out of date beliefs and then bring back our perspective to ourselves and see what we think is right or wrong. With so many successful ways to achieve results being exposed to everyone, Is it time to focus on more down to earth qualities such as handmade personalised value? Or do we really need to do anything at all?
What you Need to Know about Social Media
On the one side, being exposed to all things all the time is an amazing source of development, we get to see what we are and by what we are interested.
In other circumstances, we’d have no idea that some things exist. This is a good thing. People also get to exchange and evolve no matter where they are which is helpful.
Discovering many amazing new things, not “feeling” as isolated than as if we had been alone and cut off in a cave the entire time.
It brings great competitivity and progress which comes with competition.
Though on the other, the downsides are felt in part due to the depth at which we are isolated or how “mainstream” we are. And also in part, to one’s degree of confidence or lack there of.
Comparing, which leads us to feeling lesser, unworthy or even unable to live up to “the standard” is a source of pain.
We can never keep up and this turns out to be draining.
No matter how much we share with others, we get nothing in return except confirmation about what we already know. “I’m great”, “I’m powerful”, “I’m rich”, “I’m pretty”… which are vanity criteria based on what we already know.
It also confirms that people who have more financial freedom will be able to show off more, or those who have a standard of beauty which appeals to the masses will be put on a pedestal and valued higher than anyone who is “different” in any way possible.
In a way, its back to high school with the rich kid/poor kid/ Confident kid/Unconfident kid again…
This sense of high school 2.0 is very unproductive for anyone who is observing. Also vain and an empty pursuit due to the fact that it promotes “The popular kids”. It really goes to show the reality of “wanting to fit in”. By wanting to fit in, you naturally aspire to be a product of mass consumption, a product of mass exposure.
Social media also gives the illusion that one is or isn’t necessarily liked based on superficiality.
This is a faulty parameter which cannot give precise and correct results. It bases everything on the Golden Circle but inside out.
Starting with What then how then why. This cannot work; as human beings we function from the inside out, not the outside in.
In terms of effects on our psyche and our time, it is an abomination. Our minds and nervous systems have become overstimulated and over saturated with information that we don’t necessarily need, want or even Should have in the first place.
Over 200 years ago, someones entire lifespan wouldn’t have even half of what we are exposed to in a single day. Imagine what our minds are capable of and what our mental limits are.
Faster, more, better, NOW!
Though, through fomo and needing to know what the “next thing is “social media has exposed us to an attachment to our devices. We needn’t fear governments putting Chips in us to see where we are. We are already here, our information is passed everywhere, all the time, to limits far outside of our reach.
Our minds are saturated, which means are nervous systems are saturated and this is a clear indicator that we need to let go of all outside stimulation, especially devices, screens, and anything which has power.
We are “PUSHING” ourselves to imbibe information which has nothing to do with us. We are exposed to too much information. None which serves us correctly for what is in front of us in actuality.
When traveling in another country, I have found that being confronted to constant New information, my mind is thrilled, though my body has no time to rest as it is constantly adapting to the upcoming change of scenery and people.
The same is valuable for our brains and nervous systems in front of screens. Day in and day out we are exposed to more and more information which never lets us correctly relax and heal our over stimulated sensors. This can be damaging.
The standards around us have risen above what is humanly possible to upkeep. Over consumption has taken part so much that the world and its natural resources are collapsing. The Ice caps Are melting. Our water is filled with plastic. Governments are actually putting nuclear waste into the sea.
Corporations, making mass profit are pushing their agenda onto us based on our social media usage, what we read, what we look at etc. Everything around us has become a product to sell. Everything we see is for sale. Our lives have become studies like labrats for usage and profit.
We are exposed to cultures and trends that have nothing to do with us. We are born in specific parts of the world and for good reason. While growing up in specific places, we have grown to understand and perceive the world around us. The world we see and have action over is what is in front of us, not what is happening half way around the world. This is a disruption in our ways of functioning and takes away our roots, our individuality and unifies everyone with the same styles, trends and exposure which otherwise wouldn’t exist. For example: I used to meet people and observe how they spoke, their linguistic rhythms and their mannerisms. Though everyone is now exposed to the same people. This makes everyone into a clone of someone else and empowers those who have more exposure and who have trend influence.
Everything you say and do, there is proof to keep you “consistent”. Though as human beings, we are changeable, we are evolving all the time, we make mistakes, we grow, we change… If there is proof of a mistake, you never get to move on, you never get to change, nor do you ever get to be free from something that hasn’t existed for maybe 15 or 20 years.
-You’ll often see people living on some beach in Bali with a plastic surgery changed body.
Cherokee.blog 