UpperMaster

Hurt my lat muscle in the gym. Went to the doctor has pain was still present after two months, and the doctor gave me a prescription, telling me to take it for a while. It's a prescribed medicine, but I'm not sure why it was given to me. How do you decide whether to take prescribed medicine or not? To what extent should I be skeptical? I want to know how to balance trust and skepticism in this scenario

Before an exam I always have a habit to distract myself with something that seems more important. Usually it’s like an existential topic. But that’s all a trap. I know that. I’m not gonna fall into that trap anymore. I might also stop working out temporarily just to focus on school.

Male 19. First year university (currently taking reseat exams). I'm honestly afraid I might fail the year. I want to self-actualise. This is my journal as a reminder of my growth. Many problems and issues on my mind but right now, but quite honestly my biggest hurdle is my ability to work. I've grown convinced that there is actually something biologically wrong with me. I used be the smartest in my class in middle school, I would study for exams right before the test. After COVID, my capacity to concentrate is complete dogshit. I'm a horrible results maker. My parents have pointed this out to me in numerous occasions. They can't believe how poorly I turned out, as growing up I seemed productive, but right now I'm struggling to get by in life. I already tried all the techniques to improve my work ethic and focus. I've contemplated and designed models of motivation that I could use to get myself to work. I tried brainwashing myself to think that inaction would lead to a horrific event, to fear monger myself to work. This is the only thing that got me results, but its with huge expense. Right now the only thing that works for me is putting myself in a mental state where I think I am in competition with everyone. It's this deeply egoic, dog-eat-dog mentality thats most defenitly toxic. I hesitated to keep myself in this state of mind for two reasons: 1. I become dysfunctional in other areas of life that don't involve material success like family. 2. I can't turn it on or turn it off. 3. I'm constantly stressed, it's a constant fight or flight. Like I legitamatley don't enjoy life anymore. However this mental state seems to be extremely effective in getting things done, I can work 6 hours a day on a task, with high intensity. Otherwise I can barely work 30 minutes with very low intensity. I need to be able to work or I'll remain a failure. I also don't want to waste my life away feeling like shit. I feel trapped. It is possible that I might have some heavy metal poisoning. It can explain my inability to sleep great, inability to focus and work etc. It is completely not normal for me to struggle this much to work . I don't want to become a psychopathic neurotic monster just to be able to get some work done. Other people seem to work so easily. I know for a fact that "not wanting it enough" is not a problem. My success is pretty much all I think about, and I feel a lot of pain as I feel as though I am unable to progress in life no matter what I do.

Shroom Trip Report – 3g Psilocybin Mushrooms Setting: Started at a bird reserve (warm, fresh day, good mood), then shifted to a more comfortable park under conifer trees. Onset: - Felt strong body energy (like Chi-ish) centered in the chest and stomach and everywhere else too. - Early emotional memories of deep love for mother and grandmother surfaced. Peak Experience: I began to remember my childhood self, not just memories, but the feeling of being me as a very small child. I realized that who I think I am today, my personality: 20 years old, into self-development and philosophy —> is just a story. It's a recent narrative, constructed over time. Before that, I was someone else. Before that, someone else again. Back then, there was no "I" (I as in perceived identity) as I know it today. The "I" that I know today came later, the identity was crafted later. I took this process deeper — further back — before birth: Who was I before I was born? Where was I? At some point, it became obvious that I had always been there. Not "me" as a personality, but a deep, formless "I" that simply is. I couldn't define it. I couldn't put a form to it. Even calling it "source" felt wrong, it was just being, pure, formless existence, or even rather deep formless non-existence, or Im not sure something in between I can't explain. In that place, everything was perfect. I felt love, I think it was existential love, full feeling without any form attached to it. It was a knowing that everything is great, that there was nothing to fear. Fear, survival, separation, none of that existed there. Only being. Then, slowly, I opened my eyes. Reality — or the "physical" world — started pulling me back. During the trip, the physical world wasn’t even the main plot. Whether or not it existed didn’t matter. The main thing was my experience of life itself — and that was something I knew the source of all along (I remember thinking of "course its me and I already knew this"). As I came back, I felt a heavy sadness. "Oh fuck, but why?" — because I was leaving that state of pure perfection, and returning to being a someone. I felt the burden of existing as an individual again. I felt the obligation to protect myself, to survive, to defend this separate body. I felt disgusted at the heaviness of having to be someone. Because with it came the obligation of survival. I remember thinking "Why was I even born? Why did I have to be created?" Because now, having been created, I faced the fear of death, I don't want to die, I faced the burden of survival — but without creation, there would have been no fear. I wished I had simply never been created at all — no need for survival, no fear, no separation.

im losing my shit. I am not studying enough. I got a 2 on my midterm. I don't want to fail the year again. Im actually losing it. I know I strategized with a plan or whatever. But I am not able to work long enough. fuck fuck. I should get my shit together. I am lowkey panicking,

My mother started ranting about how the younger generation is incapable of feeling uncomfortable for a long period of time, and demand quick fixes to all their problems. She explained how this tendency to want to fix problems quickly can lead people to be emotionally reactive which intern leads to rash and wrong decision making. She gave an example of this in my life. I agree with her. She said that "its okay to be uncomfortable or have unresolved issues in life for an extended period of time" and that "problems take time to fix". I initially didn't take this seriously but upon reflection I agree with her. I think this is a powerful message.

I've been slacking on meditation the past week. Im slowly getting into it again.

Success in life is all about strategic sacrifice.

3 grams bro

W share

This mushroom trip kinda destabilized me. I am getting back, but I remember especially the first few days, I was just super fucked. I just kept wondering why I was a separate self, and everything seemed like a burden. I felt somewhat trapped. Now its better, but I still feel it.

I don't know why I am not enjoying life that much. I have everything I need to be happy I guess, except maybe a girl. I am not fulfilled, it's scary. I feel empty, unsatisfied sad.

maybe also journal about when you humble brag. I subconsciously do it a lot. Idk just ideas.

be around funny people. Absorb their sense of humor. Try making jokes. Fail 1000 times. And then you'll catch yourself spontaneously cracking a funny joke and it'll be worth it. By no means am I master funny, but I've improved my sense of humor significantly. All because I kept trying, make so many jokes that weren't funny and learned from people much better than me. Enjoy it too.

I absolutely flunked my macro midterm. Out of 10 points I got a two. I went to the teachers office to review my test, I was almost sure that the teacher made some mistake. I studied really hard, and on top of that I even got the midterm from last year. A lot of questions from last years midterm came on this one. When reviewing my test I saw all the retarded mistakes I made. I low-key deserved the grade. I remember asking the teacher what more I should do to study. He was like "actually use the workbook and the textbook". He said it in such a way where it was implied that I was irresponsible and didn't bother studying. I felt offended because I did study. I went to the library. Embarrassed as fuck. I opened my mail and I saw this (attached). The attachment below is an email I got from Alex Hormozi, discussing the theory of constraints. As is written in the email, every business has ONE constraint. Addressing the constraint leads to growth. Addressing anything else that isn't the constraint doesn't lead to growth. I already knew about the theory of constraints, but, after reading this mail, I thought about how it applied to improving any facet of life, not just your business. I thought about when it has technically applied in my life, and to what extent is it valid. Examples of when the theory of constraints worked in my life: 1. Sleep: When I had poor sleep (>3 hours a day), it was the one and only major constraint in life. Attempting to do or succeed at any activity was pointless. Eating healthy was more or less pointless in improving my day to day. It's only when I started sleeping better, that I started living better. I started making progress in the gym, and started focusing better. 2. Meditation: I had huge focus issues. fixing my sleep helped me a bit of course, it's much easier to do anything when you aren't sleep deprived. That said I still had major focus issues and ADHD symptoms. Using focusing techniques like Pomodoro, mental tactics, motivational self talk only worked to an extremely limited extent. I realized that my bottleneck might be physiological, and so I tried addressing it through meditation. It worked, now I can focus much better. Limitation of this theory: I don't think this theory accurately represents reality all the time, but is nonetheless an incredibly useful tool. For example, when I had poor sleep, my body was practically shutting down. But eating purley unhealthy food probably would be worse that if I ate only healthy. Another example, besides meditation I was also attending counseling which probably improved my day to day mental state and ability to focus. Point is, in reality there are many factors that produce a problem, however addressing the biggest one at any given time is probably the best way to go. Knowing now the power of constraints, I tried to find what my current major constraint is in regards to achieving my academic goals. I already knew the answer, but went ahead and asked Chatgpt to figure it out for me. Chatgpt also agreed with my diagnosis. It said: Your constraint is the rate at which you can effectively process and complete schoolwork. Everything else (time management issues, stress, unfinished tasks) is a symptom of this core bottleneck. I think it was spot on. Speed is my bottleneck. Chatgpt is great because it gave me an actionable plan, which I turned into a notion template. Notion template: 🎯 Daily Focus Board ☀️ Morning: Daily Priority Filter (5 mins) ❓ Question: What’s the ONE school task that, if done today, makes the biggest difference? ✅ Top 3 Tasks (Max): 1. 2. 3. ⏱️ Deep Work: 50/10 Sprints Instructions: • Work 50 mins → Break 10 mins • No multitasking, no perfectionism. • Set a timer and stick to it! Sprint Tracker: Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 🧠 Smart Focus: Speed > Coverage ❓ Questions to Ask Before Studying: What’s most likely to be tested? What topic makes everything else easier? Where am I losing the most points? 🎯 Today's Focus Areas: 1. 2. 3. 🌙 Evening: End-of-Day Debrief (3 mins) ❓ Questions: What slowed me down today? How can I move faster tomorrow? 📝 Reflection Notes:

Okay so there has been many significant events in my life which I will go over. 1. Progression with Student Company 2. Mushroom Trip 3. Post trip weirdness --------------------------------- I realize I don't want to divulge too much into how the company is progressing as the details are too personal. But, the main take away is that I had to sell or present our student company (that has no service portfolio, nor does it even have a name) to a bunch of people in hopes of getting new members. 11 people showed interest in joining. This somewhat reinforces me as a salesmen, I couldn't believe my eyes. Secondly in terms of Student company, I will also contact other student organizations and ask for advice. This should really help us orient. --------------------------------- Shroom Trip Report – 3g Psilocybin Mushrooms Setting: Started at a bird reserve (warm, fresh day, good mood), then shifted to a more comfortable park under conifer trees. Onset: - Felt strong body energy (like Chi) centered in the chest and stomach. - Early emotional memories of deep love for mother and grandmother surfaced. Peak Experience: I began to remember my childhood self — not just memories, but the feeling of being me as a very small child. I realized that who I think I am today — 20 years old, into self-development and philosophy — is just a story. It's a recent narrative, constructed over time. Before that, I was someone else. Before that, someone else again. Back then, there was no "I" as I know it today. The "I" that I know today came later, the identity was crafted later. I took this process deeper — further back — before birth: Who was I before I was born? Where was I? At some point, it became obvious that I had always been there. Not "me" as a personality, but a deep, formless "I" that simply is. I couldn't define it. I couldn't put a form to it. Even calling it "source" felt wrong, it was just being, pure, formless existence. In that place, everything was perfect. I felt love, I think it was existential love, a bright, light, full feeling without any form attached to it. It was a knowing that everything is great, that there was nothing to fear. Fear, survival, separation, none of that existed there. Only being. Then, slowly, I opened my eyes. Reality — or the "physical" world — started pulling me back. During the trip, the physical world wasn’t even the main plot. Whether or not it existed didn’t matter. The main thing was my experience of life itself — and that was something I knew all along As I came back, I felt a heavy sadness. "Oh fuck, but why?" — because I was leaving that state of pure perfection, and returning to being a someone. I felt the burden of existing as an individual again. I felt the obligation to protect myself, to survive, to defend this separate body. I felt disgusted at the heaviness of having to be someone. I remember thinking "Why was I even born? Why did I have to be created?" Because now, having been created, I faced the fear of death, the burden of survival — but without creation, there would have been no fear. I wished I had simply never been created at all — no need for survival, no fear, no separation. Other Peak Insights: - Materialist worldview (science-first thinking) felt absurd during the trip; consciousness felt clearly primary. - Realized that separate-self satisfaction can never match the pure existential love of just being. Comedown: After the peak there were several thins I learned about my childhood etc, but that's personal. ------------------------------- 3. Post trip weirdness This trip is somewhat changing me. Firstly my priorities have been realigned slightly. I don't feel like chasing and chasing success. When I am on my own I feel the heaviness and the burden with being a separate self. Its annoying. It's not that now my life is worse. Its almost like this has always been a burden and now I am just realizing it.

Out of curiosity, and you don't need to answer. But how do you even have that much money? Does the Life purpose course alone really bring in that much that you'd be able to spend 100k on a game development side project and sea monster acquisition hobby?

Metapod

His business model is simple: he gives advice that helps people grow their businesses to the $3–10 million range. Once they reach that level, they’re comfortable with Alex and might even consider working with acquisition.com to scale. If acquisition.com buys their business, Alex Hormozi knows exactly how to scale it from $3–10 million to $30–50 million. Alex helps the business scale because of specific knowhow. That’s where he makes his money, but the original business owners also make a fuck ton of money. So honestly, I don’t really see where the exploitation is?

I wa gonna say something aswell. I think Alex Hormozi is fine.

sure

mhmmm. This is such an interesting point you bring up. I think regardless on whether she asked me out or not, I think in this scenario things would get boring quick. But then again I can totally entertain this narrative because prior to her asking me out the thought that she was boring hadn't occurred. I'm slightly confused on when you say "a man falls in love by doing for a woman" or that in a man - female relationship the dynamic should be one where the man does things to impress the woman. Isn't this almost people pleasing and shows neediness on the mans side which isn't attractive? Please clarify if possible, your response is appreciated. You've been more than helpful over the past few months whenever I post a question on the forum, really appreciate your inputs!

Hey guys, long story short: I wanted to ask girl out (she looked decent). Crazily enough, She asked me out instead. Me and girl go out. I meet her 3 times Girl likes me. I'm like meh. Me no like her. I have no experience in dating. Still a virgin. It's very heartwarming to see another person, a woman feeling attracted to you. I'll be honest I am not as attracted to her. Physically she's okay (not my usual type but actually quite pretty) but her personality really really really bores me. Humor and Deep conversation is very important to me and she doesn't understand my humor nor my deeper conversations. On paper she's fine, but the vibe isn't there. I am somewhat afraid that maybe I should capitalize on the relationship for experience (and I'm therefore hesitant to call it off), but honestly going out with her has been such a chore I'm not even exaggerating. Like imagine going out with a girl and feeling like it's a super complete drag, no excitement nothing. Do I keep pursuing her even though I don't like her for experience points, or should I ask someone else out? If I chose not to go out with her, how do I communicate that Im not interested without hurting her too much?

Really appreciate the response. Honestly don't want to end up in that position. I want to party and enjoy my life, and really only be in a relationship with a person a seriously fuck with.