Apply ancient wisdom to thrive in the modern world.
Master Shi Heng Yi is as interesting as his name suggests. He has an MBA, two university degrees, and a bunch of other diplomas and certificates. Yet, he has also 30 years of practice as a Shaolin monk. If I had to ask someone about how to overcome all the obstacles of our modern world, he’d be high up on the list.
His answer is in line with what Brendon Burchard, author of the NYT #1 bestseller High Performance Habits advocates: First, seek clarity. Yi says self-mastery and living a valuable and meaningful life is all about seeing clearly. …
Lessons from hitting rock-bottom.
Two years ago, I was in a dark place. Mindless and pointless distractions ate away most of my time. A toxic relationship and negative friends held me back and sucked the energy out of me. I studied something I didn’t enjoy and had no idea what to do with my life.
Today, I’m earning money with what I’m passionate about. I’m in a healthy relationship with an incredibly supportive woman who checks most of the boxes. The toxic friends who once wreaked havoc in my life do so no longer. I know who I am, I’ve got a clear trajectory for my life and I work on my goals every day. …
You trust the wrong ones and turn down the right ones.
Have you ever wondered how many people you meet in your life? It depends on how long you live, how much you party, and if “meeting” means small talk or knowing someone’s spirit animal and favorite pizza. While Quora experts put the number between 10,000–20,000, there’s another, more interesting figure.
Dunbar’s number quantifies how many stable social relationships you can have. Your cognitive limit sits at around 150 people — any more and you’ll have trouble remembering every person and how they relate to each other. …
On habits, being authentic, defeating your ego, and eating frogs.
There are about 150 million books in existence, with another 2.2 million published every year. That’s a lot of books.
If you read one per week, it would still take you 2.9 million years — and a few pairs of strong reading glasses — to get through them all. You likely won’t live long enough, so you have to be selective. Especially if you — like me — read to improve your life and become a better version of yourself.
If a book doesn’t improve your life, change your way of thinking, or at least entertain you, you’ve wasted your time and a bunch of trees died for nothing. …
You can’t command your feelings, but you can make your choices.
Love is choosing to look at your girlfriend when you feel like ogling someone else.
Love is choosing to ask “What’s wrong?” when you feel like you’ve heard nothing too many times in a row.
Love is choosing to listen when you feel like talking.
Love is choosing to stay calm when you feel angry.
Love is choosing to call when you don’t want to pick up your phone.
Love is choosing to be in the present moment when you feel like zoning out.
Love is choosing to forgive when you feel hurt.
Love is choosing to compromise when you feel like doing what you want. …
#3: Taking psychedelics.
The recipe for happiness is easy — find out what makes you happy, then double down on it.
But how do you know what makes you happy? The Pareto principle states 20% of your actions drive 80% of your results. At the end of last year, I decided to not only apply this to my business but my life in general.
I read through all my journal entries from last year, reflecting on what made good days good and bad days bad. And I was in for a surprise.
Most of my happiness and growth came from simple things and decisions instead of buying fancy products, chasing the latest trends, or achieving an arbitrary metric of success. …
Turn “Good morning!” from a greeting into an experience.
Tell me how you start your day and I’ll tell you what your life looks like.
I used to hate early mornings. I was the prime example of a night owl and the snooze button was my best friend. Until one day, I realized an important truth.
The morning is the most decisive part of your day because you start with a clean slate. What you do in the first hour after you open your eyes determines how the rest of your day goes, so get a head start.
Unfortunately, most people start not only on the wrong foot, but crawling through a war zone on all fours. They wake up tired, snooze their alarm, spend 20 drowsy minutes on their phone before they wolf down two pieces of toast and their first cup of coffee hits, then rush out the door for work. …
Whatever you want could be just one question away.
Psychologist Stanley Milgram is most famous for his experiment in which subjects had to administer increasing electric shocks to someone until they collapsed in agonizing pain. The shocks were fake — but another one of his studies wasn’t.
In the 1970s, Milgram asked his students to embark on an almost unimaginable task. They had to venture into the New York subway and ask people to give up their seats so they could sit down. It sounds easy, yet the participants were shocked (pun intended) once they realized how difficult it actually was.
“I was afraid I was going to throw up,” says Dr. Kathryn Krog, a former participant, in a New York Times interview. The sheer fact she still remembers the incident 30 years later says enough about its traumatizing effects — and she wasn’t the only one facing troubles. …
You need to keep your four bodies healthy to stay happy.
I recently read James Altucher’s Choose Yourself. Even though it contains tons of lessons (and quirky jokes), there’s one that stands out amongst them all.
The Simple Daily Practice is mind-blowing. Not because it’s an uber-fancy concept that makes your biceps explode and your IQ double, but because it’s surprisingly simple. And in today’s complex world, a simple way of staying happy and going to bed with a smile on our face is exactly what we all need.
James Altucher is worth listening to. …
6 rules from the most authentic person I know.
While most of my friends are a bit special, there’s one who stands out even amongst them. Jascha is one of the smartest, most authentic, and non-conformist guys I’ve ever met. And it all starts with his job.
As a psychedelic coach, he helps people connect to their inner and authentic selves using psychedelic drugs such as LSD or psilocybin, the active component in magic mushrooms. While research showed the potential of these substances in recent years and they’ve been legalized in some places for therapeutic use, his work still raises a few eyebrows. …
