Blog
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How To Think (Part 1)
“To find yourself, think for yourself.” – Socrates
A teacher of mine once made a chilling statement:
”Once you start thinking, you’ll realize you’ve never thought before.”
“What is he talking about?” I asked myself.
I’ve built multi-million dollar businesses, produced ~80 online courses, managed teams, run retreats all over the world, and even did pretty damn well in school when I felt like it.
So what, in other words, the fxck is he talking about?
As it turns out, he was talking about exactly what he said he was talking about.
And, when I finally started thinking, I came to the mind-splitting realization that — just as he’d claimed:
I’d never actually thought before.
I’d felt as though I was thinking.
I’d looked like I was thinking.
I’d even thought I was thinking.
But I hadn’t actually been thinking.
It was as though I’d spent my entire life thinking I was walking, only to realize I’d been crawling on my hands and knees.
And when I finally stood tall, and started putting one foot in front of the other…
…An entirely new world of possibility opened up in front of me.
After all, how could it not?
Thinking is the foundational skill from which all other skills are sourced:
The world of work, business, and money is an exercise in thought.
(business is a game that is played with the mind; the mind is to an entrepreneur or executive what the body is to an athlete)
Communication is our thoughts expressed, and the clarity and power of our communication (and therefore the quality of our relationships) is dependant on the clarity and power of our thoughts.
Even our attractiveness is signalled by our intelligence, and our intelligence is a direct reflection of our ability to think.
As the Buddha (allegedly) said:
With your thoughts you create the world.
There is nothing our thinking doesn’t touch, which means there is, arguably, nothing more important than developing our ability to think.
So that’s what we’re going to do this week.
Stay tuned…
T
P.S. In case you missed it yesterday, here’s:
The Simple Formula For Speaking Powerfully
(remember, speaking is an expression of thought, which means your ability to speak powerfully is sourced from your ability to think) -
Why suffering exists
“The only thing you need to know to understand the deepest metaphysical secrets is this: that for every outside there is an inside and for every inside there is an outside, and although they are different, they go together.” – Alan Watts
Happy Friday.
Before I left for retreat last week, a long-time Path member (and DeepGame graduate) sent me a folder full of his favorite DeepGame Forum posts.
(shout out to the Don, Adan Maldonado — we all thank you)
And, since the DeepGame Forum is now closed, it seems like a waste to let these posts disappear into the ether.
So I polished one up for you below — if you enjoy it, let me know (there’s more where this came from).Why does suffering exist?
To answer that question (and it’s a good question), you might first ask:
Would I know what happiness is if sadness did not exist?
Would I feel pleasure if pain did not exist?
Would I perceive light if darkness did not exist?
There is no such thing as a single-sided coin:
Up exists because of down, right because of left, inside because of outside.
Remove one, and you remove the other.
Wanting reality to be one-sided is like wanting a painting to be nothing but a single color.
That’s not a painting, that’s a paint chip.
Art is an exercise in contrasts, and reality is the greatest work of art ever created.Hit reply if you’d like to see more of these, and in the meantime:
Have an amazing weekend over there.
You deserve it.
T
P.S. The second half of this track (J Cole’s verse) has been on repeat all week. -
Trust (Part 2)
“No wonder there’s so much tension, anxiety, and fear. Each of us actually believes that things should be the way we want them, instead of being the natural result of all the forces of creation.” – Michael A. Singer
Yesterday, I said:
”There is a deep intelligence guiding our rate of progress… And our job is not to speed it up, but to trust it.”
And, while it landed for many, it confused a few as well.
So let’s clarify it today.
What this statement doesn’t mean, obviously, is “don’t do anything.”
Action — dynamic, relentless, continuous action — is required, and most people vastly underestimate the amount of action needed to bring a great vision to life.
However:
While our actions may be within our control, the result of our actions is not; we don’t get to decide when our vision becomes our reality.
That part is obvious, and I know you’ve heard it a million times.
What isn’t so obvious is this next part:
If our actions are correct, but our vision still isn’t coming to life as quickly as we’d like…
…Maybe something smarter than us — life, nature, God, Tao, invisible eye in the sky, take your pick — has organized it that way.
If we haven’t found our ideal partner, yet…
…Maybe we aren’t ready for them (and/or they aren’t ready for us), and to meet them sooner would destroy our chances for a successful relationship, like planting a flower in the winter.
If we haven’t achieved financial success, yet…
…Maybe we aren’t ready for the challenges and complications that financial success brings, and to achieve it now would destabilize our ego and our lives, leaving us further behind for having achieved it.
If we haven’t healed the trauma causing us pain, yet…
…Maybe that pain is generating the specific type of growth that will lead us to uncovering the deeper purpose of lives, and removing our trauma would remove our fuel source.
If we feel like we’re moving too slowly…
…Maybe we’re going exactly as fast as our deeper psyche — our fears, our resistances, our capacity — is willing to go.
Maybe all the ways we slow ourselves down are the braking pads with which we are steering ourselves safely through our own unique process.
Maybe by going faster we would speed past critical lessons that will be needed at the next level, and rob ourselves of important wisdom that requires time to learn fully.
Maybe, just maybe:
Our rate of progress is exactly perfect, exactly as it is.
After all:
Life has been organizing itself for billions of years.
Our ego arrived a few decades ago.
So, if our ego disagrees with life, chances are:
Life is right.
Normally, I shy away from this sort of spiritual theorizing (God’s agenda is way above my pay-grade)…
…But this message message beat me over the head for four straight days during our retreat last weekend, and if I’m not sharing my insights I’m not doing my job.
So there’s that.
But I still don’t recommend believing anything I say on blind faith.
Instead, I recommend asking yourself this question:
“Would trusting my rate of progress instead of fighting and forcing it result in faster, smoother progress?”
And, if so…
…What’s stopping you?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
T
P.S. We had a big spike in subscribers over the past week, so if you’re new to this newsletter, I’d love to hear how you learned about it.
Hit reply to let me know, when you have a moment.
Happy to have you with us 🙂
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Crushing on chicks makes your brain goofy
“A good romantic partner makes everything in life easier. A bad romantic partner makes everything more difficult. Therefore, relationship skills are some of the most important skills for life.” – Mark Manson
Happy Friday.
We’ve had some valuable discussions on dating, love and relationships inside The Path recently, so I wanted to share a few of the highlights today.
Enjoy.They Aren’t Teachers, They’re Triggers.
Romantic partners are, in many cases, our most powerful teachers — but they rarely teach through words.
Far more often, they teach experientially:
By triggering parts of us (in pleasant and unpleasant ways) so we can look at ourselves more clearly.
This is far more valuable than linear teaching, but we need to read between the lines to receive it…Stop Approaching & Just Be Friendly
In the past I’ve found that “approaching” people is kind of the wrong angle…
What felt better for me was just generally chatting with people, not hitting on anyone, just being friendly with everyone and seeing which seeds sprout.
You could start with something really simple and add one sentence (“how’s your day going?”) every time you interact with a cashier or someone in your yoga class.
Don’t make it about finding a date / soul mate, just make it about being friendly.Crushing On Chicks Turns Our Brain Goofy
My working theory on love & neurochemistry:
Liking a girl, at least in the early stages, turns our brain goofy.
The serotonin / dopamine / oxytocin soup our brain cooks up when we’re crushing on someone makes us less productive, more reactive, prone to poor decisions, and overall, simply, dumber.
And yet, in the end:
Life is still better for it.
Monk mode is overrated fellas, get out there and mix it up.Have an awesome weekend over there.
You deserve it.
- T
P.S. Many, many thanks to everyone who left a rating and review for the new podcast.
And, in case you missed it yesterday, here’s the deal:
Everyone who leaves a rating and review on Apple Podcasts (turns out Spotify doesn’t allow reviews, so Apple is best) and replies to this email with a screenshot will receive access to one of the best recordings from this year’s retreat:
Happiness: A practical guide to life strategy.
(not even shared with our Path members, yet!)
Thank you, again and always, for your support of this work.
“I don’t believe in magic”, the young boy said. The old man smiled: “You will, when you see her.” – Atticus
- T
