15th
Personal Development For Smart People
Personal Development for smart people
TRUTH
7: In order to grow, you must repeatedly tackle fresh challenges and consider new ideas to give your mind resh input. If you merely repeat the same experiences, you’ll stagnate, and your mental capacity will atrophy.
7: Excessive routine is the enemy of intelligence.
7: Think about where your life is headed and and yourself “how do i honestly expect my life to turn out?” imagine a logical impartial observer is assigned examine your life in detail and to predict what your life will look like in 20 years, based on your current behavior patterns. If you’re brave enough, ask several people who know you well to give you an honest assessment of where they see you in two decades. their answers may surprise you.
13: the best point to make new choices is when you feel alert, clearheaded, and intelligent. put those decisions in writing and fully commit yourself to them. when you inevitably sink back down to lower states and lose sight of that higher perspective, continue to act on those decisions even though you may no longer feel as committed to them. if your decisions are not perfect, when you use this process, you can at least trust that you made them correctly and from a place of truth.
16: When you sense a conflict between feelings, beliefs, and behavior ask yourself if you really believe what you’ve been taught. are your beliefs truthful and accurate? are they congruent with your perceptions? in order to align yourself with truth, you must eventually release erroneous, inaccurate, and inconsistent beliefs. cultivating self-trust frees you; self-doubt enslaves you.
22: Look at each area of your life and ask yourself, What do I truly want? What is my dream, my grand vision? What is the deep desire Ive been longing for, the one i hesitate to admit because i don’t think i can have it? what path do i most want to experience? accept that you want what you want, and stop living in denial of your true desires.
LOVE
27: the decision to connect is the essence of love.
28: if you want to grow consciously, you must deliberately decide which connections you’ll strengthen and which you’ll allow to weaken.
29: as adults we often forget that the best way to fulfill our desires is to walk right up to whatever interests us and engage with it directly. instead, we create all kinds of silly rules that limit our ability to connect with what we want. by consciously making connections that feel intuitively correct to you, you bring yourself into alignment with the principle of love.
31: when you understand there’s no such thing as an external relationship, you’ll become aware that the true purpose of relationships is self-exploration. when you feel a deep sense of communion with another person, you’re actually connecting deeply with an important part of yourself. by communing with others, you learn to love yourself more fully.
35: next time you’re with a group of people, imagine that each person there is inherently connected to you, and notice what happens.
40: Love is not an accident. love is a choice to recognize the deep nonphysical connection we all share. to love is to say “we are all the same.”
44: think of your relationships as external projections of the real you, and you’ll realize that the purpose of every relationship is to teach you how to love yourself from the inside out. WHenever you communicate with another person, you’re exploring the depths of your own consciousness because that’s where all your relationships exist.
POWER
50: What do you long for so badly that you can’t stop thinking about it, even if you consider it impossible. If you want to develop your power, you must accept your desires as they come, no matter how strange they may seem.
51: Your choices are yours to make and can never be dictated by others. you need never justify what you want. you want what you want, and that is enough. in order to wield power effectively, you must accept full responsibility for your life and be willing to make decisions under all circumstances. this includes ambiguous, challenging, and risky situations. there’s no rule that says you have to be right. the only rule is that no matter what happens, you’re responsible.
51:when you face important crossrowads in life, exercise your power to decide consciously. offer up a definitive yes or no. don’t succumb to the blind defeat of silent approval. to align yourself with power, you must make real choices.
51: life is constantly asking “what do you want?” you have the freedom to answer that question however you wish.
52: is makes sense to focus your attention on the current moment since it’s the only place you have any real power (past is over and you have no control over the future)
53: the purpose of goal setting is not to control future, but to improve quality of present-moment reality - give you better clarity and focus. set goals that make you feel powerul, motivated, and driven when you focus on them, long before the final outcome is actally achieved. avoid setting goals that make you feel powerless, stressed, or weak.
56: your goals don’t need to be specific, clear, and measurable. oyu don’t need crisp deadlines and you don’t need detailed step by step plans. you simply need a burning desire to take action. only goals that align with your truest, deepest desires can summon that kind of power. pick goals that are so exciting that making a serious effort feels almost effortless.
58: motivation is highest when you’re already in motion. if you can summon enough discipline to get going again, you’ll often find that your momentum reboots your natural motivation to continue.
59: no problems are big or small except relative to your self-discipline. the more disciplined you are, the lighter your problems are. building self-discipline is one of the hardest things you’ll ever have to do.
64: if you adopt a highly disciplined routine for your first waking hour, you’ll probably enjoy a highly productive day.
ONENESS
70: love is choosing to connect. oneness is knowing your already connected. found the easiest way to tune in to oneness is ask “where is the joy”
73: genuine honesty is truth tempered with love
86: there’s no higher authority in life than you. if you think anyone else has authority over you, it’s only because you yield your authority by choice. sometimes the consequences are so severe that you feel as if you have no choice, but in truth you always do.
87: if you fail to claim authority over your own life, someone else will surely claim it for you.
COURAGE
102: enables us to face long-term gain in the face of short-term obstacles. without sufficient courage, your default behavior will be to play it safe by favoring false security over purposeful action.
102: a good rule of thumb to follow is: whatever you fear, you must eventually face
102: before you embark on any path, ask the question: does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. If your path has no heart, you’re on the wrong path. the heart-centered path is that of courage, not false security. the illusion of security is the primary aim of the false path.
104: go out and actively create what you want. life is waiting for you to make the first move. use your power. fear is the shroud of opportunity. your greatest regrets in life won’t be the mistakes you made; they’ll be the opportunities you let slip through your fingers by failing to act. when you take the initiative, you pull back the shroud of fear and catch a glimpse of the opportunity behind it.
105: if you want something, ask for it. accept the risk of rejection and summon the courage to take action anyway. if you get turned down, you’ll survive. you’ll learn from the experience and grow stronger. if you don’t get rejected, you’ll achieve your outcome in the fastest and simplest way possible. when you risk rejection, either you get what you want or you build some courage. either way the outcome is positive.
107: the guiding force of honor is your conscience, which is your intuitive ability to discern right from wrong. right actions are aligned with truth, love, and power. wrong actions are out of alignment with these principles. a sense of honor enables you to perceive the difference.
108: when you feel lazy and unmotivated, the simple reason is that you’re feeling disconnected. you’ve fallen out of alignment with truth, love, and power. when you recognize that you’re in this state, reconnect with the real you. remember who you are. reconnect with what excites you. revisit those times in life when you were on fire - not because of external events, but because you were aligned with your truth, love, and power. turn your gaze within and ask yourself: where is the path with a heart, and what can i do to honor that path right now? whatever the answer, summon the courage to take immediate action.
119: when we creatively express ourselves, we’re honestly sharing what’s most important to us.
121: when you’re in flow, you’ll know without a doubt that you’re on the right track as you make progress towards something meaningful and important. what inspires you isn’t the achievement of any particular goal; it’s the endless flow of self-expression. you’ll fall in love with the journey itself.
CAREER
161: “work is love made visible.”
170: what is the career path with a heart - the path that terrifies you, the path that stirs your soul, the path you secretly fantasize about that’s the path that honors the real you.
173: answer: what must i do? what can i do? what do i want to do? what should i do? an authentic career is the place where all four of these questions produce the same answer. this is the career that meets your needs, leverages your abilities, fulfills your desires, and makes a positive contribution to others. this means that your body, mind, heart, and spirit are aligned with truth, love, and power.
MONEY
190: Often the simplest way to create value for others is by sharing what you love to do.
197: Perhaps the best path to wealth is to release your fear of being poor. Realize that life is still worth living, regardles of how much money you have.
RELATIONSHIPS
218: it’s important to accept the true nature of human relationships. all of them are guaranteed to be temporary. no matter how strong your bonds are, they’ll all eventually end in separation or loss. allow your awareness of this truth to give you a deeper appreciation of the people in your life. when you accept that your relationships are temporary, they’ll become more precious to you, and you’ll be less likely to take other people for granted.
230: dealing with rejection and occasional embarrassment is a small price to pay for the richness of human relationships.
231: from time to time, stop and ask: does this relationship have a heart? then consciously decide which you want to maintain, deepen, or break off.
232: since all human relationships are impermanent, live with the awareness that every one of your current connections will eventually end. take the time to appreciate them while they last, and don’t take them for granted. even when a relationship ends in death, it can still continue in your thoughts. the memories of loving relationships can become your most sacred treasures.
SPIRITUALTY
243: beliefs are lenses through which you view reality. attachment to one specific view of reality limits your power and curtails your ability to connect with people who hold different lenses.
AFTERWORD
253: summarizing the book:
seek truth with open eyes. courageously accept your discoveries and their consequences. rid your life of falsehood, denial, and fear of what is. make truth your ally, not your enemy. this isn’t easy, but it is correct.
share your love openly. connect with yourself and others by tuning in to the connection that already exists. the risk of rejection is overshadowed by the rewards of loving connections. whenever you feel disconnected, reach out and connect with another human being. remember that you’re always loved.
fully develop your human abilitiues, and use your power in honorable service for the highest good of all. false power corrupts, but true power elevates. the more you resonate with truth and love, the greater your ability to wield power wisely. no one is server by your refusal to shine.
embrace your unique path of growth. use your intellect and emotions to guide you in the conscious pursuit of truth, love, and power. invest in creative self-expression, service, and contribution, and you will suffer no scarcity. your greatest gift to the world is to share who you really are.
enjoy your incredible human journey. accept the highs and lows as equally valuable. recognize that your deepest sorrows reveal your greatest joys. share you stories with others, and know that you’re not alone. be greatful for your time on earth.
live consciously.
