Vali2003

I’m pretty happy with the CS50 course so far, but I sense it’s going to become really difficult soon. Anyways, I like to tell myself that I don’t mind hard… Pretty happy with the decision to at least try it, and do it however long it takes me to finish Problem Sets zero through six. Leo’s video on how to become decisive has really had an impact on my life. I haven’t made any major decisions since then (except to be a decisive person, lol), but even the small ones have had an impact on me. Not the contents of the decisions themselves, but the process of being decisive and seeing the decision as absolute — not letting any room for backpedaling. Here are some moments where I was more decisive last week: Deciding to do CS50 Many times about what to eat, also whether to use condiments or not and small stuff like this haha About doing a dopamine detox for 3 days About how I time-block my day There’s a specific principle to making decisions that I discovered/experienced in the process. A decision binds you down, it takes away freedom from you in some sense, but paradoxically it feels freeing to just make decisions and stick to them. I also notice how it grounded me, which I usually struggle with (feeling grounded). And it made me feel more masculine in some sense too, I think. I’ve also noticed that my decisions are starting to carry more weight than before. They still don’t carry that much weight, I’d say, simply due to my past of constant backpedaling from my decisions. I notice now, that when I decide something, it actually means something and isn’t just empty words. I can see now, how powerful it is if you practice this over years. Make decisions, stick to them, repeat. More and more will that decision ground you to the reality you’ve decided upon. Hence you become much more powerful in creating your reality.

To everyone reading this right now: If you don’t drink sparkling water, you’re seriously missing out on life. ⚡️⚡️⚡️

I’ll continue thinking about this tomorrow. Need to go to sleep now…

Something bugs me about this though. Is it really logical to do another 3 year degree, to then build a business, and then use that survival security to find my Life Purpose? And then actualize my life Purpose?

You may wonder why I don’t just go to my Life Purpose directly. The problem is, I don’t know what it is. And I had the thought that even if I knew it, I’d need a steady income, before Life Purpose — or at least it wouldn’t hurt to have. I need some survival base first, because 1) It will take time and lots of experimentation to find a good bet as to what my Life Purpose could be. I need to sustain myself somehow during that time. 2) and after I found it, I need to finance myself in some way while I build up my Life Purpose and then transition to making money from it. I think needing money from my Life Purpose as quick as possible, would make me very prone to corrupting my vision for it. I could also, of course, just get a part-time job to keep my head above the water instead. Then, I’d try finding my Life Purpose and build it up, before I sooner or later can quit my part-time and work on my Life Purpose full-time. Sounds pretty decent, but it would put me in a desperate situation to find my Life Purpose quickly and make money off of it.

Doing this course now is a direct learning experience from the first time I signed up for a bachelor’s degree. I jumped in to cultural studies without even knowing what it really is, which was stupid, granted… I had fallen in love with the idea of cultural studies while I remained ignorant of what it really is and if it’s compatible with me. I won’t repeat that mistake. And that is why I now do CS50 to test the waters.

I enrolled now for the CS50 course, which is a Computer Science Introductory course by Harvard that anybody can take for free. https://www.edx.org/cs50 My goal is not to complete the entire course, but do the first 6 Problem Sets which is about half of it. This should take me roughly 8-9 weeks if I work on it for 3 hours every day. I will continue working on my business if I find the time, but I’ve decided, this has higher priority than my business right now. As far as I’ve read the material is pretty dense for an introductory course and it will be tough. However, that’s what I can expect for Computer Science in general… so it’ll be good to confront myself with the reality of it and see if I like it. I sure like the idea of liking computer science. Let’s see if it holds up.

I recently watched re-watched Leo’s video on How to become decisive and it gave me a lot of food for thought and a couple of insights. The first insight: I will only develop so far in life, as the challenges I encounter require me to. This can either happen unconsciously, or consciously. And I’ve been thinking about what decision I could make after my bachelor’s degree that would push me to grow the most. I’d gain the most new experience, by simply taking a part-time job, and trying to grow my business. This would be super ballsy. I’d have to go completely against the grain of what my gf, brothers, dad — my mom would be fine with it — would want me to do. This alone would be a very new experience for me. Then, I’d also have so much pressure to succeed, because I just couldn’t stand it if they were right and I would have to come back to them crawling, begging to take me in. The pressure would enable me to work harder than ever in my life, which would be good. And the risk really isn’t that huge. If I fail with my business, I still can get some job with cultural studies even if it’s nothing great. More so, I can just try again, and start a new business. But still, it’s not completely obvious to me that this is the best option. Because all the online-marketing stuff is relatively limited in the value I can provide. Maybe it would be smarter to, for example, do a three year computer science degree, and then start my business. I’d have a much more substantial basis to actually offer value to the world. It would also be a challenge but I’d have more of a safety net. if anybody is reading this, I’d really appreciate your input/help here :).

I feel ashamed about telling people I do this. I would never tell my brothers (I have two older brothers) or my father about it. With my mom, I can talk pretty easily about it. I can feel their reaction in my bones just by thinking about telling them about my business. They would see it as a stupid, naive plan. They will project a picture of a stupid kid that just fell for some stupid pyramid scheme, and that they will have to convince now, not to do anything stupid and be responsible instead. If I’d tell them about my plans to become actualized, they would see me as an idealistic leftist kid that cannot accept the reality that life requires work. A kid that wants to cheat the system and find the quick way out. But that’s not the truth at all. I’m ambitious. I work harder than most people I know. It’s just that I’m willing to take risks, to go unconventional routes. I sometimes image how I’d live life without these familial pressures. I’d feel so free. Like in a video game, where I can build whatever type of character I want without anybody shaming me for it. If only I’d realize that the familial pressures exist mostly in my head, and that the chains that feel so heavy in my mind, can be lifted by the absence of thought about them.

I want to talk about my business for a bit (it’s not actually a real business yet, because I didn’t register it yet, but I will do that soon). it’s a online-marketing business. Basically my product is helping people convert more of their website traffic into newsletter subscriptions. I would do that by building a new dedicated landing page for them and creating a lead magnet (a valuable free thing that visitors get if they sign up to the newsletter) for them. I say “would do that,” because I actually haven’t built it for anyone yet, except for my mom. I think an online business is the easiest to start, because you need basically no capital to begin (assuming you have a laptop). I’m unsure if this business model I chose is specifically smart, but I think in general improving conversions is something that’s always demanded by people. It leads to them having more leads (people to sell to), which will end up making them more money. I do know that other people succeed with exactly the business model I have so it should be doable. The specific how of increasing people’s conversions — and if this conversion action should always be a newsletter sign-up — is something that can still change in the future. I still have a bunch of things to figure out with that.

Writing honestly is basically contemplation. You have an intuitive feeling about a truth and try to transform this intuition to language. edit: actually, it’s not about transforming the intuition to language. It’s about transforming the intuition into insight and then finding the fitting language to describe the insight.

Being honest is my number one priority for this journal. It’s also a reason, I just noticed, why I don’t want to focus too much on how good my writing is in here. Because when I do that, I start writing sentences and words just because they sound pretty, and not because they’re honest. This distracts a bit from the honesty aspect. But maybe I’ll be able to combine the two better as I go on.

It’s weird to write so honestly here, knowing it’s available for other people to read. It makes me feel vulnerable. And it makes me feel like y’all will think I’m a bum. Or looser would be more accurate. I think this is exactly what’s so powerful about these journals. It is, in a sense, real self-disclosure. Because even though anonymity mostly remains, we still showcase our authentic being here — maybe even more authentic in some cases than in real life. In that sense we also make ourselves vulnerable to be hurt. The point I want to make is, by opening up about difficult topics on here, sort of is already like opening up in “real life.” It’s like boxing sparring. You do engage in a fight with the other person, but there are some safety conditions. Your sparring partner is likely someone who you sort of like (you know they don’t want to seriously hurt you), you can rely on them following rules as you stem from a similar gym-culture, and the sparring gives you the chance to focus on a specific aspect — like improving your jab for instance. Despite all these artificial things, a sparring will still prepare you for a real fight. Not optimally, but it sure helps. This self-actualization journals is similar. I have to engage in a real challenge by being honest and making myself vulnerable. But I know that the members of this forum, and the conditions around it, form a culture of support and empowerment. This allows me to practice honesty and then take it to the “real world”

Looking back on this in a few years will be amazing.

I will try to write more beautifully in this journal, as time goes on, but for now gaining consistency is my main goal. I will do at least 2 entries per week. The plan is to do this over several years, and actually document my full journey of escaping wage slavery first, then finding my Life Purpose and building that up until I can live from it.

Speaking honestly, and transparently about my current degree has been easier for me the last couple of days. Normally I’d be ashamed about it, and be overwhelmed with regret. I would avoid the topic, or simply be dishonest when it came up. It came up so many times the last couple of days, it’s funny. Maybe it reflects that I’m thinking about it more and therefore bring it up more often or lead conversations there. I even spoke about it with a stranger at a fast food spot, lol.

@sholomar Your last sentence is empirically false. As you get older, you lose more and more muscle, which is why it get’s more important to workout. Otherwise you’ll become injured really quickly. I think with the help of fascia training, it will become possible to remain physically healthy and athletic for much longer than is currently thought to be possible. Because as we get older the fascia in our body loses structure, loses stiffness, which makes it easier for the fascia to entangle, hence forming adhesions. This can turn into pain, compensation patterns which lead to injuries, general stiffness maybe feeling less effortless in movement too. Now, it’s not proven yet that fascia training can reverse that, but I’ve felt the effects in my own body. At the beginning, my calf’s, glutes and quads felt absolutely riddled with adhesions. I could feel the entangled structure of my fascia. Now it has completely remodeled. It feels smooth when I roll over it now and pain free. Fascia remodels along the lines of tension (which is why it’s common sense that movement will actually improve yourself health, cause it keeps your fascia healthy), and the training that I do has found by far the most effective way to induce tension into your fascia, and remodel it holistically throughout the entire body.

I definitely see the distinction you’re describing now. I’ll try sprinting like you say, to drive the understanding home. It is true that my weightlifting is always mind-heavy. I’m not sure I know it any other way if I’m Being honest. I always tried to perfect my technique — and that’s a never ending pursuit because you can always tweak little things.

I had a good insight yesterday, while listening to Leo's motivational speech from 2021, which partly freed me from a load that's been bearing heavy on me for the last few years. I realized I haven't experienced enough of life to know my Life Purpose, which leads me to a problem. I get enarmoured by ideas about all kinds of things. Becoming a musician? That must be amazing! Becoming a tech-entrepreneur? Fantastic. Marine biology? tell me more. I hear about something interesting and directly, I create an idealized vision of what life would be like if I realized that. All without an inch of actual experience. This leads me to become like a leaf in the wind, which blows in the direction of my newest vision. Now to the part where that realization freed me. It's simple. I realized I just need more experience in these things. No need to become fully emerged in those things. I believe doing a thirty day challenge, where I complete a small project in Computer Science, would tell me if this is for me or not. And would free me from my ever-present FOMO. All I need to do is write up maybe the top 5 things that are most intriguing to me and create small projetcts for each of them, and follow through on them. This would tell me my domain of mastery (which is the part of Life Purpose I struggle with the most). I just realized that Leo actually tells us to do that in the Life Purpose Course. I couldn't see the truth in it, though, when I completed it...

I also realized, though, that life is about to get serious very soon. I realized that I can't -- and don't want to -- live of my dad's money forever. I'll have to get a job, build a business, or find some way to fend for myself. Now there's a decision coming up. How do I realize that? And not only how do I get a high-paying job, or business, but how do I get that while also thinking ahead in the future. I don't want a high-paying job. I want freedom that will help me self-actualize. Freedom, that will allow me to experience more of life, so I can continually edge further towards my Life Purpose. But to be honest, I also want money. I want material success so my father is proud of me. I want it so my brothers are impressed with me. And people in general. I'm aware this is a trap. But I'm not sure this will stop me from walking into it. Concretely these are the two main choices I face now: I could pursue a new degree in something pragmatic, like computer science, or some engineering degree. I could just finish my bachelor's degree, go all in with the business I'm building right now (I'll talk more about that business later), and get a part-time job to cover my finances while I try to build up the business. Number one would give me the recognition I crave so much. It also could form a good basis for a business -- especially computer science, I think. It would also be safe. I'm also in a very privileged postion where my dad would pay the tuition and costs of living for me. For the most part at least. Geez, I notice how easy I have it, just out of pure luck, and yet I sometimes feel like I've already messed up my life. Number two would be quite risky and would expose me to a lot of experience, which is good. But it would also be the one where I'd disappoint my father the most.

Some stuff about my current situation: I live in Germany, am 22 years old at the moment, and I'm almost finished with a bachelor's degree in cultural studies. I regret having gone for cultural studies, but it's only one more year so I'll just finish it now. I regret it, since it doesn't really contribute to my survival. In terms of career, this degree is pretty much useless. I think I regret the title of this journal too. lol. I could've come up with something sexier. Anyways, haha I used the imperfect title as an excuse not to start the journal so I just chose something. It feels a bit like having wasted precious time with the cultural studies degree. I could have done something really valuable with my life in that time. I could've done Computer Science. I'm not sure I'd be passionate about that, but at least it aids survival. Also doing cultural studies is hard on my ego. Everytime someone asks me what I do, I cringe. I avoid these talks, since it reminds me of the uselessness of the degree. I also avoid them, because I know other people think it's useless. I know they think "damn... what's this kid gonna do for a job with this useless ass degree?" And that hurts me. I crave people's recognition too much. I also know my dad thinks it's absolutely useless. And they're right. It is useless in terms of career. But I wasn't thinking about that when I chose it. How foolish. It's not like I spent the last two years doing nothing though. Actually, knowing I'm not doing something pragmatic gave me the motivation to at least excel at it. I have a lot of ambition. There are many positives about the last two years: I wasted less time than ever before on instagram, youtube, drinking, going out, partying, smoking weed I spent more time than ever reading books and doing personal development stuff Moving out and away from my mom (about 7 hours distance by car) helped my personal development My uni and degree is very stage green and I managed to open up to it. I learned a lot about the good and bad sides of stage green, and integrated a decent amount of that, I think. I'm also at the point now though, where I'm sick of some of stage green's facets from a higher, not lower perspective I had health problems (injury in my groin since I was 16), which I managed to completely resolve I got a lot better at basketball which isn't super important but was fun I learned a lot about how to study effectively and got good grades Also, I actually enjoyed the studies quite a bit, but I realized my Life Purpose doesn't lie there I developed a passion for writing My passion for understanding, studying, thinking increased

I notice there's a lot of resistance within me about being completely honest. But there's something powerful about being brutally honest with yourself and transparent, knowing there are people watching.

What's fast and forceful about letting the barbell fall on your chest on the eccentric of a benchpress? That was how I meant it. I understood what you describe as "the spirit of good moving through me" as what happens while I try to push the weight away from me with my last bit of power. So for me there was no contradiction. But I see the "face punching" distinction, I think. You mean, controling the eccentric control in this way pierces through the constant "face punching" vibe you want during a work out, right? I can't quote the other parts of your answer normally for some reason... I don't think I understand the distinction you make of it being the difference between punching someone vs. being punched. Being punched is a very kind of emasculating feeling. It feels like your boundaries have gotten seriously violated. I cannot line this feeling up in any way -- it's obvious you mean it more in terms of the direction, but even that way I can't understand it -- with controlling the eccentric and punctuating the deep stretch of an exercise. It's just peaks and valleys for me while lifting. It's like a spring loading, before it releases (or tries to in the case of lifting) the energy and springs up. The eccentric creates tension, because I know it will be difficult to move the weight, and the concentric is the release of that tension. This doesn't feel like a "neurotic self-inflicted torture technique" to me. Actually, I find the contrast of the eccentric (tension) and the concentric (release) turns the concentric into an even bigger flow state experience than it'd otherwise be. You're strawmanning my argument now, cmon. I am speaking from experience... Working out by punctuating the deep stretch was so much more effective than how I worked out before. I'd get sore after every single workout, even after working out consistently for several months. All with less joint pains, even though I did a larger range of motion than before on pretty much every exercise. It is "harder," but the rest of your points are fair. This is a more holistic picture of training. If concentrating on things like this negates the mental effects, then I think it's smart not to focus too much on controlling the eccentric or the deep stretch. One more thing. I believe you have an exaggerated picture in your mind of what it means to "control the eccentric." And I think this is the thing that bothers you the most about what Dr. Mike preaches. But "control" doesn't mean that you must have a 5 second descent. It just means that you should control the weight on the way down. Control just means not letting gravity do the task for you. Sam Sulek, in the video you show, also controls the weight. And this can be done much quicker than most people would think. So I believe it doesn't even contradict the "face punching" vibe you aim for all that much. The deep stretch is something different. And I think it can be added into the face punching vibe, without negating anything else, while increasing hypertrophy, no?

@Carl-Richard You misunderstand the type of lifting Dr.Mike proposes (I can’t speak directly Jeff Nippard as I didn’t watch a lot of his videos). He doesn’t say that you should go extremely slow on the eccentric. Just slow enough that you actually control the weight, rather than let it fall down. Obviously, this is different if you do powerlifting. The thing that he preaches the most in my experience is emphasizing the deep stretch of the muscle and maybe pausing there for a moment. Doing this has made my training so much more effective it’s incredible. If you understand the principle of stretching your muscle to its limits, the effectiveness of weight training takes off. At least it was like this for me. When I did this (I’m currently not weightlifting), I had to do less total sets per workout with less weight and got much more muscle stimulation. The reason most people don’t train like this is not because it’s boring, it’s because it’s actually harder and more painful to do. You lean into the growth-inducing pain this way. Also, you’re wrong in that it goes against what your body tells you to do, if what your body tells you to do is lift the weight super fast and forcefully. You can still do that on the concentric? And I always did it, because it’s fun and feels nice, like you described. Dr.Mike doesn’t at all speak out against it too. You should look at some of his old leg-training videos with guests on his YT. I’ll link a good one. The intensity is brutal there so I don’t think your description or perception is accurate here. I agree with you that you should listen to your body. Some people follow the advice blindly, try to lift “scientifically” and end up wasting their gym time in the name of science. It’s obviously fine if you don’t enjoy lifting like that, but if you want to maximize hypertrophy, that’s the way to go speaking from my experience. https://youtu.be/7Nhb7-zaws8 I don’t see this lacking the “the spirit of god moving through them” workout energy.

@Recursoinominado dude… this story sounds absolutely incredible.