Letsimprove

I requested this topic a while ago in a Youtube comment, but that wasn't very official. Title is just a suggestion, and seems to fit the bill. This is related to Leo's video, "Fake growth vs real growth, what if you're just tricking yourself?". It would be a very practical, foundational topic in my opinion, hence the word requirement in the title. What I want to see covered in this topic; the ramifications of total self-honesty and how to implement it. How the mind uses tricks to avoid being self-honest, and distorts facts and uses sleights of hand to make you look elsewhere for solutions. Using self-honesty as a way of taking stock of where you are at in your journey, what has/hasn't worked, what threshold guardians you may be struggling with most and why that is. Using Self-honesty as a way to truthfully self-reflect, and as a necessary and skilful antidote to bullshitting yourself and choosing an easier path that perhaps doesn't serve you as well in the long-term. The recognition that self-honesty also means being intimate with yourself, and not running away from who you are right now, and that it is totally an emotional game you play in developing it. Because total self-honesty is like a very bright light or a clean mirror for the ego, and it burns quite a bit to be seen in such a clear-cut manner. The topic can cover; self-honesty for how you are behaving in relationships, general personal development, spirituality, psychology+beliefs, health, and fitness etc. Very much hope to see this covered one day Adam.

@Serotoninluv Yes being hard on myself is a frequently run groove in my mind, it's used as a way to get myself to perform better. Because I feel that if I don't put the pressure on myself then ill just be lazy and not get engaged enough to do the work! And it's just so familiar to me, I've known this way of being for most of my life. The work in itself for me 'should' be actually changing my self-talk and be more self-encouraging and positive rather than using negative motivation. You are right it's best to let go and not fight or repress bad habits too much thank you :).

I've found it very valuable to come across Leo's warnings about JP's teachings because I was following him for a while and he is very convincing and speaks intelligently. So the danger was accepting most of what he was saying, when he would be slipping in his political views and I was unknowingly absorbing them all (seeing Post-Modernism as a threat to western society, with nothing positive about it, threats about the far left, basically stage green going too far). However, not everything he says on these points are false, Bill C-16 was an over-stretch by the Canadian government and is antagonistic of free speech. Also his claims were easy to buy into with all the craze that was going on on college campuses against him, and the whole Lyndsey Shepard affair. Although I know that these excesses of Green have been pointed out already in Leo's videos, and clearly there's an over-demonisation by JP I can see that now, but he's not totally wrong in every case he makes on this in my view either. The greatest value I've gained from him has been on the topic of responsibility and getting your act together he's motivated me a lot in that area and many others like me. With the necessary filters in place of what to listen to and what not to pay attention to with his videos, then there's real value still to be gained.

Hi everyone, I've been meditating twice daily for years and it's made a profound impact in my life so I will always have this habit. However, I've generated a bigger vision for my life now and the challenge has been seeing the gap between where I am and where I know I could be. There's old habits and addictions that I want to let go of, and whenever I break them for a while and step into the new healthier ways (reading books vs. screen watching, earlier bed times etc.) homeostasis kicks in. Also my mind justifies that since I work so hard meditating (for longer periods sometimes 2 hours a day), I deserve a break so I find it harder to resist the older unhealthy habits. Like my willpower level is already lowered from exerting it on said meditation practice, and shadow work etc. I guess there's a feeling of overwhelm sometimes with responsibility, because I want a passionate life with real purpose and everything else, so I kinda whip myself to do X, Y, Z actions that I know will bring those results. This neurotic motivation is quite habitual for me also, it's almost like a drug lol. My ego gets a twisted satisfaction out of whipping myself into shape because hey, I won't let myself be happy until I've done everything right. Sorry I'm rambling a bit, but i'm just looking for general pointers on how to approach the journey from a better perspective overall, how to take the pressure off myself, how to make big positive changes without so much ego backlash? Many thanks! Adam.

Scientific discoveries over people!