Michael569

Buy a filtration jug on Amazon. They are quite cheap these days and help you rid of the substances with large molecules that are commonly found in tap water ( iron, mercury, copper) However they do bad job with smaller substances. Just make sure you change the filter as often as suggested on instructions manual. I am toying with the idea of trying distilled water but haven't done enough research to justify the benefitfor myself. What I found though is that even though it has 0 mineral value, it doesn't contribute to your bodily toxicity the way usual tap water does. If your diet is healthy enough, you already get sufficient amount of minerals / vitamins. Filter as much as you can, you will actually tastes the difference if you live in country here the water is quite "hard" with a lot of chlorine.

If your reason for heavy drinking is the social aspect and just "cooling down" it is still the better case. Unless you need the bottle to help you sleep or to let go of anxieties, you are still good. That being said as guys commented, it is fucking you up really bad. You are an intersection of 5 people that you spend most time with. If 2-3 of these are people who contribute to you getting wasted every weekend, you should consider cutting these relationships, as painful as it can be. I have terminated many of my past relationships with people that i only hang with due to certain obligation or legacy relationships from Uni or even primary school. You don't need many friends. You need people who challenge you and give you critical but constructive feedback. You need people that grow you spiritually and who you grow spiritually in exchange. Everyone else is an obstacle as arrogant as it sounds. These days I drink on average 1-2 beers per month. These I do home after a hard day or taught workout to cool down. Just don't see the point in doing it any more. It takes your money, your energy, your passion and your health most of all. The amount of damage a wasted Friday does to you is to kick back your whole healthily lived week even if you are a raw food vegan athlete living in Nepali mountains.

I try to keep my mindset and nutrition/exercise on optimum level so wouldn't blame it on stress or lack of movement/ healthy food but generally noticing that I am not as interested in sex as I used to be a year ago when I started the self-actualized journey. I'd actually go as far as see it being a distraction sometimes. Although when I have sex, is more intense than it used to be which is good I guess Any similar experiences?

I think what many of us face here is that once we identified out life purpose, we want to just drop every "sandback" and go all in 100% commitment. While that is great, you can't simply abandon all your obligations. Your plan is great and very realistic if you believe in it but the transition takes a while. That's why we get frustrated being in our current situation that is not fulfilling just because an all in transition could collapse catastrophically. There are few things you'll have to consider before cutting of your current lifestyle. * Will you be able to manage your life financially? * Do you have a source of income? Will you have one if your parents cut you off? Teaching student is a fine idea but first do your research, maybe print out few posters, post them around school, talk to people, do your advertisement and see if anyone is interested. Building momentum takes years. Work hard but be patient. If that means sticking to your major for now but spending all free time, weekends and nights working on your life transition, than be it. Also you can already start building your reputation on You-tube. If you are confident, make 2-3 videos, throw them out there and see how people react to it. Whenever you feel lost, revert back to your highest self, your top Core Values ( if you know what they are) often, that is a good guiding compass I find when in doubt. Your mind is good at coming with different options but your values will help you make a decision that generates happiness in your life. Start building habits like early waking up to give yourself the extra time to dedicate towards your mastery. If you really really want it and your vision is powerful, the law of attraction will bring you the life you want. Just be patient and avoid making a hasty decision. And one final tip: consider hiring a life coach if you have some extra money. Working with Life Coach opened my eyes and my mind to new opportunities and ways out.

Hiring a business coach could be a viable option however be prepared to pay a bit more than you'd like. The greatest advantage is that you get an info that is very specific to your case and very much personalized. Usually you don't need more than 5-6 lessons, maybe even less. The first talk is usually for free for around 20 minutes where you explain what you are facing and they'll give you a brief overview whether this is something you guys could work on. I suggest going with a personal coach who runs his own business, not through an agency or a consulting company, as they focus a lot on corporate clients and you will be charged agency fees. Also don't go with a coach who focuses on anything from business to spirituality to money to relationships as they may not be well versed in specific topics. Try to find someone who specialises on starting businesses and even better starting consulting businesses. If you are in doubt watch Leo's coaching video that talks about ups and downs of this approach. And if you feel like this is not to your liking or maybe that it is too early, just google for "how to start consulting business" and see what you can find. There are also thousands of business courses and seminars for any topic you are interested in. Do your research. And lastly, look into some literature and just start taking notes. Books tend to be a great starting points if you feel lost as they can give you a good guidance for a start. Hope any of that helps

To those of you who engage in 24 hour fasting once a week or maybe once in a certain period. Could you describe how you prepare for it? What do you drink? What benefits have you observed or researched? Anything else that is important to know for a newbie to this topic? I'd like to give it a shot but wanted to hear few direct experiences. Thanks

@Siim Land thanks man, great article! Had a look at your web and some of your content, great stuff, I like the "early wake up" article, Currently experimenting with my regime but backsliding a lot You are doing an awesome job, keep it up ! Wish I was at that stage with my life purpose.

In Leo's concentration video, this was one of the suggested things to focus on. Your thumb and index finger create a pressure which becomes a source of your focus. However I've read that many of ancient oriental Mudras actually had healing or other spiritual purposes like elevating anxiety, energy circulation, increasing positivity, acceptance. Haven't tried myself and not sure I believe in them either but wanted to ask you guys whether you've tried any Mudras and whether they had any effect on you whatsoever?

@Arman thanks, awesome explanation! I'll take your advice and just leave it be for now. Also not sure if I want to base my results on some external "forces" that I have no knowledge about. I suppose the Law of Attractions play a big role as well. If you believe it works for you, it will..

@Shin yeah, you still need it but the urge even when you are super into it is just not as powerful. Not to mention things like tasty food, pc gaming, party, alcohol all of those I used to do a lot, the will to do those things is just not there anymore. Weird stuff indeed

@Prabhaker thanks for the insight. I think you are right. Quite often I thing about other ways I would prefer to spend the time & energy than to have sex. I assume for most (especially single ) guys this would sound completely nuts since that is often a number one priority. Or maybe it is like drugs that once you've had enough of it in your life and you feel this side of your life satisfied, you can move on towards higher values. Lot of my energy currently flows towards the my life transition, exercise and studies so maybe it is simply a question of having no energy left.

I've identified my LP as something being completely out of what I studied and work in. Decided to return to Uni and study for new degree as a part- time and work full time during it. Haven't figured out where exactly do I want to turn my career to but i suppose I will clarify this during my studies. Scared shitless and worried about finances and my future but I know that if I don't do it, I'd regret it till the day I sign out from this non existing reality.

You should see a medical professional for this sort of concern. Forums such as these may not give you the advice you really need.

Let's say you were to explain to a person who has never done any self inquiry and personal development, what spirituality is and why it is important. Not talking about religion or the standard understanding but about practical and conscious spirituality practice. How would you define it?

@pluto wow, amazing article. Love it! Especially the part about nutrition, exercise and peace of mind. I think this is the core triangle to apply in life. There is an institute in Florida, that you could actually visit and they follow a lot of this stuff. It is called Hipocrates Health Institute. Led by Brian and Anna-Marie Clement. Beware though, when you google HHI or Brian Clement for the first time, you will find a lot of trash talk by media. Mainly because his way of healing is controversial to modern medicine and pharmaceutical products. When you get cancer, most of modern medicine procedures will cut out your tumour only to grow back in 10 years and kill you. Also there has been an unfortunate incident of a young girl dying because she came to him very very sick, dying and they did not manage to safe her. Media don't tell you about 100 of thousands people he helped and educated so they can leave amazing lives transformed and detached from nowadays unhealthy way. I really encourage you to watch few of his online lectures and if you can pay a visit to HHI for their lectures. I am attending Brian's lecture in May in London. His knowledge of nutrition and medicine is far far supreme to most of experts in his area. He is a pioneer of alternative medicine in US and advocate of Longetivity through natural living.

@Paradigm care to share some of your techniques for implementing more humour into life?

The ego plays a big role as well. proving other person wrong becomes usually the dominance game where rationals go away and emotions come in play. No party wants to be the ridiculed one especially if peers are involved like a political debate. Wars have been wagered just for this simple reason. If Stalin listened to his advisers, third of his country would not get decimated by advancing Barbarossa before he put his blindfolds down. Beware of this, apply mindfulness to your discussions and don't let yourself fall into unconscious emotional state. Let other people be right and even go as far as making them feel important. They will like you for it even though they quite won't understand why. And if that doesn't ring right with your self agenda....well you're gonna suffer for the rest of your life for this thing.

@Visionary I'm still a newbie, I've done 4 speeches. Saw an improvement, especially reduction of fear but I see giant gaps in my delivery, body language, tone of voice as well as the ability to keep the audience entertained. But yeah I generally it gets easier every time, you just have to go there, sign up and get that first speech. And the next and the next. Maybe you'll become a public speaking junkie haha. Anything is possible.

Why not dedicate your LP to humour then? It comes to you naturally however to many people like myself not really. We struggle with finding the fun part of life and suffer from not being able to "sell" our ideas in a fun and relaxed way. We have all these filters of dryness and seriousness and perhaps all we need is a how to for dummies manual that would be simple, authentic and could be tailored to all individuals. Why not become an excellent public and motivational speaker, a personal coach perhaps? You can apply that in business, in pickup, in sports and life coaching, sales. Maybe try to create few you tube videos for a start and see whether people are interested Man...the options out there are limitless. Maybe your LP could be, "study and practice the psychology of humour to improve people's lives". ( or whatever you make it to be). Retake the practical part of the LP and try to focus on something more concrete and see how it resonates with your answers.

@Prabhaker thanks man, that was beautifully written. When you say that practices virtue becomes a dead weight. How about cultivating your virtues to become a better human? Let's say one of my virtues is mindfulness. There are techniques and practices to improve it, yet I would say it does not become a dead weight, far the opposite and it makes you more spiritual because it is not a moral value. Or if truth is one of my virtues and I would organise my life to seek for truth in my chosen field. Would that become a dead weight and a "spiritual trap"? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding the second paragraph that you wrote.

presentations skills come to you same as anything else. It is like riding a bike. You need to practice it to become good at it. While some people may naturally be disposed towards an extrovert behaviour and with it easier facing crowds, 95% is practice. The more you do it, the better you get. Agree with what was said above, joining toastmasters is your public speaking "bootcamp" especially your first speech haha, that felt like having a billion crazy monkeys in my stomach.

@Tibor interesting, Can you elaborate on the food frequency topic a little bit? What is it and why do you think it is important? y?

Deleting FB and IS is like smashing your hand every time you have a sugar craving. It works but subconsciously it makes you suffer to an extend and your willpower can only hold for so long. Eventually it is likely that something will bring you back. be it your friends or just a simple desire to see whats happening. What needs to happen very slowly over time is that you dissolve the part of your identity that craves these things. This is of course easier said than done since we live in a very surface-oriented society. I found meditation to be the best habit to very very slowly let go of these petty needs or to do when I get low value consciousness cravings such as PC gaming. However for full release of these needs a very deep and serious contemplation, even hardcore path towards enlightenment is probably needed. Also practice mindfulness, allow yourself to browse social media but remain mindful and vigilant every time you do that. Don't go into the state of unconsciousness and you will start to notice changes of mindset

@ElenaO ideally not, the healthy intake of sodium chloride is 1-2 gram per day ( preferably the lower value). Your bones need around 500mg of sodium ( 1/4 tablespoon of kitchen salt). With a balanced diet, you will achieve this quite easily. However a pinch of salt on your salad won't kill you Play around with different spices instead, many of them have great benefits to your health.

Sorry, this should be in different category...not sure if I can move it.