self-development Archives

Give Yourself a Break!

It’s another fresh week with another fresh opportunity to move toward a higher version of yourself. Striving for more and challenging yourself is a good thing. Just don’t over-index on the self-criticism.

Protect Your Mental Harmony

Think about it. It really doesn’t matter if you are born on the right side of the tracks, attend the finest universities, and inherit a hundred million dollars: If you don’t have mental harmony a prosperous life will be out of reach for you. Because the benefits of being born in an advantageous environment, gaining valuable knowledge, and possessing great wealth can all be neutralized – if you lack the peace, clarity, and concentration that comes from possessing mental harmony.

Amnesty Day

Sometimes you might be tempted to start your week beating yourself up over the things you didn’t accomplish the week before. That doesn't serve you. There are enough people who are happy to criticize you; don’t add yourself to the list. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing.

You Didn’t Get Here by Accident

Once an urban myth takes hold, it never seems to die. For instance, the one that says an undercover agent has to admit that they are police officers if you ask them outright. (I guess the people who believe this have never seen an episode of The Wire or Miami Vice.) So it was no surprise that as I negotiated a deal with a drug dealer for the sixth time, for the sixth time he asked me if I was an undercover police officer. After assuring him I wasn’t, he produced an 8-ball of crystal meth, which I accepted and replaced with the cash.

Create Your Best Life

Christmas and Hanukah are in the rearview mirror and the New Year is beckoning. It’s a time for reflection and introspection. So as you do this, I’d like to share some thoughts about that…

Tell Yourself the Truth!

The reason your budget is tight isn't because the Saudis raised the price of oil, your boss is cheap, or big corporations are greedy. Your money is tight because you spend more than you take in. The reason your current girlfriend or boyfriend has some of the same neurosis as your last four has nothing to do with them. It is all about you. And that is the nature of the human animal. We find evidence that supports our foundational beliefs and if we can’t find any, we manufacture it to conform with our desired view of the world.

How You Are Slowly Driven Insane

You really are living in a Matrix; it’s just not configured like the one in the movies. The real Matrix is a collection of machines used for surveillance and data-gathering. (This includes every online search you perform, what you buy, every website you visit, your social media posts, the things you ask your voice assistants, the apps running in the background on your phone, and what you stream for entertainment.) Then this data is exploited to manipulate your habits, moods, identity, beliefs, and behaviors. The objectives are to make you feel powerless, needy, and helpless – and drive you to take self-destructive actions that reward the managers of the Matrix.

Frolic with the Orcas

If you’re swimming in a pool, the water is usually clear. When you move to a lake, the water gets deeper and can get cloudy. When you’re swimming in the ocean, now there are 30-foot waves and great white sharks. You’re probably safer in the bathtub, but that’s no way to live life.

Tag: self-development